Recently, I upgraded my 5 and a half year old PC and built a new one. Part of the process was deciding if I should stick to my old Yamaha MR816 CSX Firewire audio interface and buy a Texas Instruments PCI-card, since those are the most compatible and reliable ones or if I should save the money for the card and buy a brand new USB Audio Interface instead.
There is always this ongoing debate whether Firewire, USB 2 or 3 or even Thunderbolt is the best and most reliable solution to connect audio interfaces to a computer. But since Yamaha announced that they will no
longer support the MR816 CSX and its drivers, I felt even more convinced that it was time to say goodbye to firewire and to take the plunge and buy a brand new audio interface that will work with a variety of devices such as my pc and my ipad pro 2020.
Since an audio interface is the heart of any studio, I did a lot of research and it took quite some time to find the perfect audio interface for my needs.
So I decided to shoot this video to guide you through my decision process and hopefully to help anyone who is currently looking for a new audio interface themselves.
I purchased the Yamaha MR816 CSX back in 2008 when it came out and had been very satisfied with it. The only thing that bothered me, was its size, because I never used all the input and output jacks and it took so much space on my desk, space that I could otherwise use for other things. For example my new UltraWide LG monitor. By the way, if you are interested in that review, I posted a link for you in the top right corner.
Some of you may be wondering why I purchased such a big audio interface in the first place.
Well, I mainly produce music for advertising, film and music industry. I produce music all by myself and just occasionally I record vocals and/or instrumentalists. That’s why it is mandatory for me to have two individual headphone outputs, so I can deploy different mixes to the singer or instrumentalist and myself while recording.
Back in 2008, and still true today, it is hard to find a compact audio interface with two individual headphone outputs. Of course you can buy an additional preamp. But what’s the point of buying a compact audio interface when you have to spend extra money for additional gear to make it work.
Another very important fact to consider when buying an audio interface are the reliability of its drivers and the overall latency performance. Those two things were the reasons why I first looked at what RME has to offer. RME audio interfaces have a very good reputation and I did own a RME Fireface 400 back in 2005 and was very satisfied with its performance and the audio quality of the preamps and the a/d - converters.
The babyface pro fs is the latest addition to their audio interface range and it was one of three audio interfaces I considered getting, before I eventually purchased the one I am using right now.
The two problems with the RME babyface pro fs were that it does not come with two individual headphone outputs and that it doesn't have a S/PDIF connection. The RME support was very helpful and suggested other interfaces that would have matched my needs, but I would have ended up with the same form factor as the Yamaha MR816 CSX, loaded with features I would never use and a very high price tag.
The second audio interface of choice was the Universal Audio Apollo Twin X. Everybody seems to rave about its sound quality, unison preamps and high quality converters, but what kept me from getting this one was that only the Apollo X4 comes with two individual headphone outputs along with a super expensive price tag of 2.249.- EUR.
Another thing to keep in mind when purchasing an UAD audio interface is that it needs a thunderbolt connection that requires an additional thunderbolt pci card on pcs. Important to know is that Thunderbolt on pc is not as reliable as on the mac platform. And the last reason why I didn’t want to buy an Apollo x4 was that you basically buy into an ecosystem that is very expensive due to their proprietary plugin format. And honestly I hardly used the DSP effects on my Yamaha interface, so why spent all this money for something you don’t really need.
Then all of a sudden Motu announced their brand new Motu M2 and M4 line and I was really interested in those, since they're priced at around 200.- and 290.- EUR - depending on which model - seemed very reasonable. But unfortunately those two also only come with a single headphone output and on forums, users started to report driver problems and performance issues on pcs.
Then finally I came across one audio interface that has all the features and form factor I was looking for plus reliable drivers and a one of a kind user interface:
The Arturia - AudioFuse rev.2
The rev.2 version is the 2020 model and successor of the AudioFuse Rev1 that was released in June 2017.
The AudioFuse rev.2 now comes with a refined audio path, new mechanical design, and a firmware upgrade that also comes with the AudioFuse Creative Suite - a collection of software effects and instruments.
First of all I need to highlight the packaging. It reminds me of an apple product. The box looks very well designed and is also perfect to transport the audio interface should you ever consider travelling with it and need some additional protection.
The box includes the audio interface, all necessary cables and a registration code for the AudioFuse Creative Suite.
I really love the design of the AudioFuse and Arturia seems to have put a lot of thought and effort in its usability and appearance. Compared to other audio interfaces, the AudioFuse contains all the important buttons and controllers physically on the device itself, it can be used without you ever needing to open the software for it. Having said that it is important to point out that while all controllers are accessible on the device itself the AudioFuse remains one of the most compact audio interfaces on the market.
The chassis is made of a unibody aluminum housing that has a very robust build. When transporting and to prevent the audio interface from collecting dust, it comes equipped with an aluminum lid, that keeps it protected and also doubles as a stand. This makes it great for use in the studio, on the road or even on stage djing. And did I mention already that it looks very cool on your studio desk.
The AudioFuse provides three different power modes.
When you use it on your computer, it is recommended to use the included universal power supply to enable its full power mode. Doing so will let you take advantage of the maximum input and output level of +24dBu.
If you are using the AudioFuse on the road, you can use the custom two-headed USB cable that comes shipped with the device. This allows you to switch to the on-the-go operation without even having to use the power supply. The so called green mode will minimize the battery consumption of your laptop.
The third option is that you can use the AudioFuse with a tablet or phone by using a powerbank. This allows you to make music literally everywhere.
The top panel is divided in three sections: Monitoring, input channels and a dedicated phones section.
The monitoring section includes a big knob wheel to adjust the overall volume output. Additionally you can mute, dim, sum your mix to mono, and quickly switch between 2 sets of reference speakers at the touch of button.
On the top right corner there is also a mixing knob that allows you to adjust the mix of the direct input signal with the computer signal. This comes especially handy, when you record an instrumentalist or singer and you want to avoid any latency. Listening to the dry input signal makes recording an ease.
I have to admit that I was never really a fan of the DSP-effects the YAMAHA MR816 CSX came with, so I really didn't miss those on the Arturia AudioFuse rev.2 at all. You can always use effects on your DAWs input channel, depending on the buffer settings you can tweak it to little or no latency. And as I mentioned earlier, the AudioFuse rev.2 comes packed with the Arturia Creative Suite, including some of the best software effects and instruments on the market.
The 2 main input channels feature all the controls that you need to record. A 48V phantom power button, a phase / invert button to correct any issues before recording, a pad and instrument button and an input gain knob to adjust the volume of the input.
This brings us to, in my personal opinion the highlight of this device, the headphone jacks. AudioFuse has two independent headphone outputs, each with their own volume control. Another great feature is that each output comes with ¼” jack and mini jack ports so you can plug your headphones in and start monitoring without having to search for those annoying adapters, we all lose sooner or later.
The headphone section contains a mono button and the option to switch between cues, Along with a knob wheel where you can adjust the volume.
The headphone input jacks are located at the front of the audio interface. The rest of the jacks are located on the backside of the device.
Altogether the audio interface comes with the following input and output jacks:
2 Microphone Inputs
4 Line inputs
2 Line outputs
2 pairs of monitor outputs
2 Headphone outputs
2x 6.25mm
2x 3.5mm
DC coupled
MIDI I/O
2 Effect inserts
ADAT 8 in, 8 out up to 48khz
4 in, 4 out up to 96kHz
SPDIF In / Out
Wordclock In / Out
Data connection Micro USB 2
Worth mentioning is the USB 2.0 hub that allows you to plug in up to 3 USB sticks. I use those for my Steinberg and ilok dongles.
Now lets talk about the most important thing all of us consider when evaluating an audio device - the sound quality.
The preamps and a/d converters are top notch and compared to my YAMAHA MR816 CSX I can definitely tell that they are a huge step up in quality. To my ears the preamps sound more transparent and more dynamic than the ones on my old audio interface. Other users and reviewers even say that they are on par or even better than the ones UAD uses. Well, I think everybody should decide for themselves and trust their own ears. Each unit also comes with a certification that includes detailed measurements of each preamp.
All of them have a very low Signal-to-noise ratio (EIN) of round about
<- 131.5dB
A Dynamic Range of about 119.3 dB
A very low distortion (THD+N) of -107,9 dB
And a flat frequency response of +/-0.02 dB in the range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz
Arturia is very proud that they designed the microphone preamps from the ground up and that they’ve decided not to use any third-party integrated
operational amplifiers, in order to have total control over the performance of each component. And as I mentioned earlier the sound quality is really, really good. Also the a/d-converters, but since I own a Neumann KH 750 DSP I use the S/PDIF connection with my Arturia AudioFuse rev.2 and bypass any conversions between the analog and digital realm.
Another important topic I want to tackle in this video is the latency performance. Compared to my previous Firewire audio interface the AudioFuse outperforms it in every regard. Setting Cubase 10.5.2 to a 128 Sample Buffer results in a 5,4 ms input and 4,5 ms output latency.
Despite of the Firewire connection, the MR816 CSX had almost double the latency.
So are there any negative sides of the Arturia AudioFuse Rev.2?
The interface gets really hot while using it and I was hoping Arturia will fix that with the 2020 model.
Some owners complain about the MINI USB connection on the back of the device, which tends to come loose. So far I did not have any issues with the USB connection, but I have to admit that I use my audio interface stationary at my studio and leave it basically untouch.
Some people on the internet also seem disappointed that the audio interface only supports USB 2.0. Arturia claims that they ran many tests with different connections and got the best results using USB 2.0. As I mentioned before, the AudioFuse surpassed the performance of my previous Firewire-Interface in every respect and so far, I have yet to miss the USB 3.0.
So, this brings us to my verdict.
For me personally, the AudioFuse rev.2 is the most perfect and compact audio interface to date. The audio interface delivers uncompromising audio quality and is packed with all the features a musician, with the same profile such as myself, will ever need.
I added a link to the Thomann shop where I purchased the Arturia AudioFuse Rev.2 from below:
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.
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Thank you so much for reading & watching and have a great one.