Upgrading from MOTU Ultralite to Audient iD22 - worth it?

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kuene
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Upgrading from MOTU Ultralite to Audient iD22 - worth it?

Post by kuene » Sat Mar 22, 2014 9:17 am

I'm finally ready to move past my trusty original Ultralite. Has this thing since day one but I find it pretty whimpy. I've narrowed down options to the audient id22. I don't need more than 2 analog inputs, and I can always expand via ADAT. Feature-wise it seems right on. I like the inserts, and also, want to move to USB to be more compatible with next laptop.

Question is: will these audient pres and the AD be a noticeable step up from the Ultralite? If it matters I mostly using DI bass/guitar/synth, vox through sm7b, acoustic through sm81, and the occasional fathead ribbon + 421 to capture my whole drum kit.

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ott0bot
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Post by ott0bot » Sat Mar 22, 2014 2:43 pm

I haven't had the chance to use the ID22, but if anything like other modern Audient pre's you'll be happy using this with dynamics and ribbons. Plenty of gain, very clean, but not sterile, plenty of headroom. plus the insersts, flexible monitoring, plus Adat...if I had to choose a modern compact interface, this would be it.

jhharvest
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Post by jhharvest » Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:34 pm

Their marketing copy says:
iD22 provides two classic Audient microphone preamplifiers - the same pre amps that have become renowned with over 50,000 channels in use worldwide.
I've really liked the Audient stuff I've used. Some people I know aren't so keen because they are pretty clinical, and also the gain pots are a bit funny. I'm not sure if it's really that much of a step up from the Ultralite though. Can you order it, try it out and return if you don't like?

kuene
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Post by kuene » Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:54 am

I guess I could evaluate and return. I need to settle on something new with USB in any event as my next comp will not have FireWire. I know the RME route would be good but the Audient is half the price and doesn't have all the excess io I dont need. Are RME and Audient pres and or AD comparable?

jhharvest
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Post by jhharvest » Sun Mar 23, 2014 6:13 am

Hmm. My experience is with the Audient ASP008 and in my opinion its pres and AD are better than with for example RME Fireface. I bought these for our location recording rack because of the decent SNR and gain, and a clean sound. But tastes are different, so ymmv.

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