Experience with PreSonus or Focusrite interfaces?

[nicotina]

I have 2 focusrite scarlets, and they work great. No latency problems (they have a direct monitor switch that I use), and they can drive dynamic or cardiod mics. I use sm-58's, so I don't know about sm-57's.

Vince

[jdstamper]

Thanks Vince, I really like the Scarletts.

Right now I'm looking closely at the PreSonus 1824 due to the combination of features, layout and extra gain in the preamps.

Jim

[jdstamper]

I contacted PreSonus with my question about their preamp spec, which states a gain range of 80 db.

If I understand their response, the gain range is from -15 db to +65 db

So the PreSonus preamp gain to compare with other manufacturers is actually 65 db (as compared to for example ... Scarlett = 50 db, Clarett = 57 db, etc)

[MBantle]

I have had a Focusrite scarlett usb and currently a Focusrite Clarett thunderbolt interface. Both have been rock solid, and Focusrite has been fast to update drivers and firmware. Never had one issue with either. Before that I had a TC Electronics interface and that came with all kinds of issues, so I have been very happy with the Focusrites. Latency with the scarlett was about 5ms, and about 2ms now with the Clarett.

No experience with Presonus interfaces.

I had the Focusrite Scarlett and was very pleased with it.
Cheers,
Matt

[Kolstad]

I contacted PreSonus with my question about their preamp spec, which states a gain range of 80 db.

If I understand their response, the gain range is from -15 db to +65 db

So the PreSonus preamp gain to compare with other manufacturers is actually 65 db (as compared to for example ... Scarlett = 50 db, Clarett = 57 db, etc)

Yeah, I’ll be interested with your results. Currently I use a cloudlifter with the dynamic mics. That pushes 25db of gain, which makes the sweetspot a lot better with the dynamic mics. 80db from Presonus sounds killer!

[jdstamper]

Following Up ... I ended up buying a PreSonus 1824. These were somewhat discounted prior to the new models coming out at Namm. The new models are basically the same but use a USB-C connector, and they're in a darker color scheme - which I like because you can more easily see the position of the knobs. But the new features aren't all that important to me.

The 1824 is doing OK so far, it has the right connections for my set-up. The sound quality is at least as good as my old interface, probably better but I haven't used it long enough yet to hear much difference. It seems like maybe the really low bass frequencies are more present in the mixes. My old interface was a Tascam FW1884 ... a combo interface / control surface / mixer, which I'm really going to miss ... but it finally died.

I did have a lot of trouble getting the PreSonus ASIO driver to work on my old Windows 7 PC. PreSonus tech support tried to help but eventually kind of gave up. Apparently there was some conflict or restriction in my Windows account which prevented Windows from recognizing PreSonus ASIO. I wasted a lot of time trying to find & fix it, because I'm just like that, and then finally used a work-around where I created a separate account which I'll use just for the DAW. The PreSonus works OK in that new account (the old and new accounts are both Admin accounts). I don't know if Focusrite ASIO would have been any better.

Having these separate accounts isn't ideal, but will work for now until I get a new PC or update the old one to Windows 10 this year. That's my next challenge.

Jim

[jdstamper]

An update to this old post ...

When I started this topic, I was shopping for a new audio interface, something with enough gain to drive dynamic mics without an extra pre-amp or cloud lifter, meaning mics like the Shure SM57 / 58 and SM7B. I ended up buying a Presonus 1824. It's performing pretty well, except for a few quirks. It's a pretty good value all things considered. And I'm happy with the gain levels.

Sweetwater has just posted a video on this very topic of native gain level, comparing some popular 2 channel interfaces, which might be helpful to anyone shopping for an audio interface today: [BBvideo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqDrYmX8BAc&t=0s[/BBvideo] ... You can listen to the output of each device using an SM7B, and also see how high the gain is set, both with and without a cloud lifter.

Jim

[jdstamper]

... Moving on from Win 7 will help avoid some potential driver issues.

Thanks much, I think you may be responding to the older posts from 2 years ago. Still, that's good info and valid points.

I mainly wanted to provide new information from Sweetwater (see above) about gain levels of various audio interfaces when used with dynamic mics.

[caral]

I started with a Presonus Audio box years ago. and it worked pretty well as a basic interface when I was recording one track at a time. Supports phantom power, XLR and TRS in the same ports.

I upgraded to a Presonus Quantum when I switched to a Mac with thunderbolt ports. 8 audio input channels, expandable to 24 (which I haven't done). Plus MIDI.
8 sub outs in additional to the mains outs, which I am using 6 to learn how to do alternate 5.1 mixes for some soundtracks, and 2 that I route out to amps for re-amping, monitoring or whatever.
I chose that because of low latency.

I'm using Studio One so the integration and Universal Control amp work well IMHO. I have not had any Quantum issues.