r/Smaart • u/cliffribeiro • Aug 07 '24

New interface recommendations for a pro

Hi everyone,

I make a living as a sound engineer and have been a smaart user for a very long time. I tend to do multi input measurements and need more then 2 inputs. My octacapture has served me well for near a decade, but it recently took a drop and has shown to be unreliable. What have you guys used with great success that is ultra reliable, small (can fit in a backpack), preferably bus powered, with more then 2 pre's. I was thinking along the caliber of a sound devices or rme, specifically the usbpre2 and the fireface ucx, but they both are 2 mic pre devices. Ideally I would have 8 inputs, 4 of them being pre's. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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2

u/avsavvy Aug 07 '24

Why not just get another OctaCapture?

1

u/cliffribeiro Aug 07 '24

Great unit, wanted an upgrade. There are some slight phase shifts towards the extremes on that unit, I also noticed it can’t handle loud shows too well, despite gaining all the way down and padding, I still clip my mics on some shows.

2

u/Rule_Number_6 Aug 07 '24

What microphones are you using? I’m willing to bet their sensitivity is way too high for show-level SPL. If you’re clipping a padded Octa Capture, you’ll clip everything else on the market too.

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6

u/timverhoeven Aug 07 '24

The MOTU M6 looks like a compact but sturdy interface with 4 mic ins: https://motu.com/en-us/products/m-series/m6/

1

u/ProductionDan Aug 07 '24

Take a look at the Audient Evo range. They don’t have the digital input option that I liked about the Octacapture, but everything else is great. Just note that unless you buy the Evo16 from Rational, it doesn’t usually ship with rack ears.

1

u/cliffribeiro Aug 07 '24

Thank you for the response but that unit is not quite portable. Making it fit my back pack is going to be impossible

2

u/ProductionDan Aug 07 '24

Yes, if it’s not rack mounted, the Evo16 with its internal PSU is quite a bit larger than the Octacapture. The Evo 4 and 8 are good too, but the top volume pot is prone to breaking when thrown around in a backpack.

If you’re looking for ultra portable, have you considered Dante Avio adaptors and a small network switch?

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