Some notes from my point of view after full-time using it for about 5-6 weeks. Other interfaces I use or have used are Roland Quad-Capture, Focusrite Scarlett, Focurite Clarett and some RME stuff.
Positive:
- Very nice sounding pre-amps with mics. Instruments also sound fine. Really nothing bad to say about the pre-amps.
- Knobs turn well, feel nice. A bit too small for my taste, since turning them only a little bit (like 0,2 mm or something) is a bit easier with bigger knobs (for me atleast). I like it that all the buttons are on the top panel and that all the cables are on the back panel. Some other interfaces have buttons on the back and I dislike that greatly.
- Two headphone mixes are a welcome addition!
- When pressing the phantom power button all inputs are briefly muted, which is a nice feature that I haven't seen before on units in this price range.
Neutral:
- Latency is comparable with a lot of other of these bus powered interfaces. Nothing to write home about, but also not bad.
- The 4K mode adds high end, boosts overall volume and seems to add a bit of additional gain. It's not bad in any way, but the same effect can be achieved with software. I like the mode for darker sounding acoustic guitars. It's more of a (marketing) gimmick though.
- Build quality-wise it's fine, but nothing special.
Negative:
- The db meter is practically useless. It ranges from -40 to 0 db in 5 steps and well... It sucks big time.
- About once every ~18 hours of using this device, audio stops and the interface need to be turned off and on again (by pulling and reinserting USB cable) in order to be able to use it again. I have not found logging data or the cause.
- It misses features that I would expect on a brand new € 300 audio interfaces. Most - if not all - price competitors offer additional features such as auto sensing, loopback, second monitor out or USB 3.0. Loopback would have been a welcome addition for example.
- Hyperlinks in the box for 'free' software were not working for days and the website didn't function correctly. Maybe they fixed it now, but since this is about my experiences with this purchage I also mention this. Also the 'free' software seemed to requires personal data and seems to require rootkits on your operating system. So this was (because of multiple reasons) a big no-no for me.
All in all a nice and usable audio interface with good quality pre-amps. You don't see small interfaces with top controls that much, so in that regard it's a nice addition. I feel the unit is overpriced/doesn't offer enough features for the amount of money paid, but it still delivers excellent sound so that compensates the high cost a bit.
