Audio Interface AD/DA and Latency...???

[Chew_Bear]

It makes more sense for a producer to get an audio interface based on its DAC quality rather than its ADC quality...Especially if they are performing little (0-10%) recording...Right...?

Trying to decide on a Audio Interface and am browsing and researching as much as I can. I keep coming up with DAC quality as my stand alone number 1 priority. Don't really need that many I/O or Midi.

High quality DAC, decent preamps, decent headphone out and decent latency is probably all a beginner producer would ever need.

Is low latency...something a producer really needs for arrangement/producing with native & 3rd party plugins/VST's...???

Or is low latency mainly for people who record/track instruments...like...singer/songwriters and bands/instrumentalists...???

Sorry for the newbie questions.

 

[krushing]

Well, frankly - reading things on the internet might make it feel like the converter quality is a huge issue; it isn't. On the contrary, while maybe 10-15 years ago there were significant differences between your basic sound card AD/DA converters and those found in professional audio system, nowadays you'd be hard pressed to even find a DAC that truly sucks. The high-end stuff is marginally better, but basically "oh man, great song but that DAC...shiiit" is something you're never ever gonna hear. Because even the high-end guys will - no matter what they'll say - have trouble discerning between a cheap and an expensive audio interface. They might sound a bit different but that's about it. I'm not saying the converters don't matter, I'm just saying that people at other than the very top end studios need not to worry about converter quality, as long as you get a somewhat decent interface.

Latency basically comes to play whenever you're recording something, be it just MIDI from a controller or audio from something else. If you're purely just clicking everything in with a mouse and never recording anything at all - not even controller data, then you don't need to worry about latency.

 

[mikecore]

Just decided to stop by and put my 2c in. Well, first of all, what is your budget and purpose of getting a new interface? How many channels do you need (or you think you need) to record simultaneously? And if so, consider asking yourself a question, where and at what environment are you going to record, is that a bedroom or a well treated room?
I absolutely agree with krushing on his statement "The high-end stuff is marginally better, but basically "oh man, great song but that DAC...shiiit" is something you're never ever gonna hear." And believe me, if you end up with a decent sounding record, no one will ever consider asking what kind of adc you used in the first place anyway... they might ask just as well (if they are a sound engineer or recording enthusiast), but frankly most of the people won't ever care.
Just one more thing to mention and consider, if you will... The stuff you can get nowadays for as low as $200 sounds way better than some high-end studios had back in the 60s & up to the very beginning of 2000s. And I think, this makes sense especially if you're doing most of your stuff ITB (in-the-box) using virtual instruments and need an audio interface just to record vocals or do some minor recording of guitars or woodwind/brass instruments. Everything else has already been sampled in amazing studios with best of the world gear for you and sold for as low as $100-200 or in some cases... uploaded online by some people through a bit torrent.
Anyway.... There are dozens of manufacturers to consider and once you answer the questions I've mentioned before, it'll be much easier for you to decide which interface to get... So, my list of brands to go for is: Steinberg/Yamaha, RME, Roland, Audient, SPL, Apogee, Antelope, Universal Audio, MOTU, Roland. These companies put out, to my mind, some really amazing stuff for as low as $200 (I got my Roland Quad-Capture for $130 used off eBay) and as high as a couple of thousand bucks.
Yeah, and latency is primarily an issue for those who record live, BUT this comes down to your laptop not the interface itself. Some interfaces would allow you to go direct monitoring using just your interface, but in case you decide to monitor from your recording software, than you end-up working with latency and it all depends on the clock of your processor and RAM unless you're recording 48 channels simultaneously, because then you end up dealing with some other issues as well.
And so to speak, I still use my Quad-Capture when either recording or tuning a PA system when on tour.

 

[YOung Fizz]

As an engineer, I've been owning Roland Octacapture for a while now. It works well with my iMac. 10 Inputs, 10 outputs.I was nervous purchasing it at first because i did not really see to many people that had it. Its capabilities are amazing. The now make others models if you need more inputs or less inputs.

Best Wishes

YOung Fizz | Free Listening on SoundCloud

 

[I'mNoGuru]

My setup has grown since I started - I'm currently using a crappy mixer as a patchbay of sorts as the Focusrite 2i2's 2 inputs just aren't enough - having played in store (a couple of times now) and at other friend's home studios the Roland StudioCapture is top of my current want list but I reckon it'll be the OctaCapture that I pick up.
A mate has the QuadCapture and same spec computer as me (very similar setup) and his is much more stable in general - neither of us notice latency issues.
Other mate has a dual PC/Mac setup with a Delta10, an aging Mackie desk and a 2i4.... For the most part he relies on the old Delta and desk for production and the 2i4 for live use.
His recordings are phenomenal but that's down to him not his gear.

 

[krushing]

His recordings are phenomenal but that's down to him not his gear.

That's the thing though - if you know what you're doing, there's just no excuse not to be able to make great sounding recordings with just about any modern setup, whether it cost $200 or $20,000. We're simply past the point of crap gear - sound-quality-wise - that it'd be an issue. That's not to say high-end gear doesn't have its place, it's just that the gap has gotten a lot smaller. From time to time you see people pondering about these "should I upgrade my converters" things and the answer more and more frequently is "probably not".

That said, there of course are lots of gear that might have a crappy software counterpart (like drivers or a control plugin), crappy build quality, not suitable for what you're actually doing or the controls might be finicky, or stuff like that. So in that sense, yes, of course cheapo gear is still cheapo gear. But most of the time, when you know what you're doing, it'll sound at least ok if not stellar.