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Are there any USB class compliant hardware synths?
While Roland have missed the boat with their boutique line I am curious if there are any usb class compliant hardware synths out there. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.
Simply put. I have run out of i/o on my 4 input behringer and really don't want a full size mixer for my small setup so if there are any class compliant synths with a usb output I would like to know!
Comments
Novation X-Station and Xiosynth are apparently both class compliant. Not tried it though, iOS only allows one USB audio interface at a time.
Since you can only have one audio interface in iOS, class compliant synths for audio are useless. You're better off buying a nice class compliant audio interface with lots of ins and outs. I use the Behringer UMC 1820 + ADA8000 for 18 ins and 20 outs. I have all my gear connected to it. I use AUM controlled by a pair of Novation Launch Control XLs in place of a full size mixer. Works great!
www.youtube.com/chisel316
Electrons modal samples is supposed to be, but the usb audio in AUM would just stop every 5 minutes or so. People on Mac had same issues so may be underlying issue in iOS/Mac. Of course Elektron knew nothing so I returned the Modal and just use GR16 ( which is better than modal sample anyway).
Isn't OPZ as well?
Why do you need the ADA8000?
In retrospect this was a pretty dumb question. Completely forgot only one USB interface at a time. Looks like I'm getting a UMC 1820
To get the full 18 ins and 20 outs you need to add the ADA 8000 or 8200 to give you eight additional ins/outs through the ADAT ports.
Thanks. Still much cheaper than many of the alternatives. So I guess I could just start with the 1820 and expand if necessary. Do you have them in a rack?
Nope. They're resting upright against either side of my desk.
I've been holding off buying the ADA8000 for feer that IOS would not recognise that additional ADAT I/O.
Thanks for the confirmation... I can save money that way instead of buying the XR18 (which is also MASSIVE)
Cheers
How are you handling stereo inputs? I’m assuming the UMC 1820 channels are all mono, so they appear as separate input channels in AUM. Do you feed each pair to a mix bus panned left and right respectively to recreate stereo channels for recording?
I think it depends on the budget...
Yamaha MX V2 range can act as core midi in/ut as well as Audio Out (you can also record the internal sounds but not external connected to the aux port).
The Yamaha MODX and Montage act ass class compliant audio & midi in/out interfaces.
The Korg Kronos is also class compliant. Don't know about the Kross line.
I think the best way to find out is to either read the manuals to the synths that seem interesting or drop down to the local music shop with the iPad and a CCK
For stereo inputs, make sure the L/R inputs are in adjacent odd/even channels and set the AUM channel to stereo (e.g. 1/2, 3/4, etc...)
Ahh, I hadn’t discovered that feature in AUM.
I’ve just been reading up on the Tascam US-16x08. It costs a little more than the UMC 1820, but you get all 16 input and 8 output channels up front without additional hardware. 8 of the inputs are all XLR mic sockets though, so that’s something to consider.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tascam-US-16x08-Audio-MIDI-Interface/dp/B00N4LTFV2
The XLR inputs aren’t necessarily a deal breaker, if they can take a line level signal. My behringer X32 is like that, you just turn the gain all the way down and plug in line sources with an xlr adapter. You can get 1/4” to XLR snakes pretty reasonably.
The thing to check is the minimum gain you can set the inputs to. If it is like 20dB, that would make a line input too hot, and clip. From a noise perspective (and sometimes a D/A resolution perspective) it’s better to have the volume up on your synths, than down and followed by a bunch of gain on the input of the audio interface.
The specs state minimum gain is -12 dBu, although it also says max gain is -68 dBu, so maybe I’m reading it wrong...
Mic inputs 1-8 (balanced) XLR-3-31 (1: GND, 2: HOT, 3: COLD)
Input impedance 2.4 kΩ
Rated input level −68 dBu (0.0003 Vrms, gain knob max.)
Rated input level −12 dBu (0.195 Vrms, gain knob min.)
Maximum input level +8 dBu (1.947 Vrms)
Maximum gain 56 dB
Interested know how this works out. I haven't pulled the trigger on the behringer yet and if this works well with all 16 inputs I think it's a better deal. Haven't owned something by tascam since the early 90s heh.
I’m afraid I don’t have the funds to get one any time soon...
Is there anybody wih Access Virus TI (prefferably Snow) ?
I would be interested how it works with iPad - can it work as sound card for iPad ? Is it possible to route MIDI into virus and receive audio from virus back to ipad via USB ?
(it should be possible if soundcard part is working with ipad)
Can you add multiple ada units to increase the input total?
@dendy
I just tried this with my Polar and was not successful. AUM could see the Polar and all six (!) audio channels from the the device, but AUM barely registered the audio when I played sounds. I say barely because I was able to record a VERY VERY VERY faint signal but it was ruined by a terrible digital whine.
With respect to MIDI, the TI line is not class compliant for MIDI, only audio, so MIDI does not work over usb. You have to use the physical ports (which means you could try Bluetooth MIDI!).
I would offer to try and troubleshoot some more but I ended up putting the Polar back in storage for various reasons. I wasn’t able to finD anything on the web about this issue, so I’m glad I can finally post this somewhere for the record.
Did you try to turn the volume up on the ipad? Sometimes the audio device resets the volume on the ipad and has to be manually adjusted.
I believe so. I tried many things because I really really wanted it to work. It’s entirely possible I didn’t try that though, because I ran out of time. Maybe if I have another opportunity I will try it again.
ok this is VERY interesting... i would expect it would not work at all, or it would work completely .. this one sounds more like just somewhere in Virus settings (in some menu?) is turned down gain of how much synth output is sent back to USB audio input ..
O that's a shame ..
Anyway thanks for your reply ! I had few years ako TI Snow and was considering purchasing it again as combined soundcard/external synth, but looks like it is no-go ..
No, just the one, it’s a bandwidth limitation I think.