Which Audio Interface ? Need Help With Unbelievable Frustration !!!!!!

Wazmeister · February 2023

I've had one of those 'free' days today... so, I'll finally get around to finally bastard finally setting up some simple recording.

I've got a 2021 MacBook Pro, and I planned to use my Apogee Element 24. I bought a few interfaces before, and really liked the sound and simplicity of it.

How-bastard-ever, it does not play nice with my M1. Works fine with my 24" iMac, and I had hours of trying to resolve it. Seems like it is known issue with the M1...

________________________________________________________

So, good people, what do you recommend ?

Budget is about a £1000 I guess, and it needs to be fairly SIMPLE and M1 compatible.

I own a Tascam Model 12 (too complex), 2 x Genelec 8030C (love em), OP1 `field, geetars.

I would like some quality to it, so I'm assuming the cheaper end aint worth it ???

The UA Volt any good ? etc etc

I'm about to smash the 'kin lot up and set fire to it...

"relax...relax... relax..."

octatonic · February 2023

Have you tried contacting Apogee?

Wazmeister · February 2023

octatonic said:

Have you tried contacting Apogee?

I have mate - not heard anything yet...

monquixote · February 2023

This guy is brilliant and does really in depth reviews:

https://www.youtube.com/@JulianKrause

Lodious · February 2023

Maybe get the smallest Focusrite Scarlett with enough I/O for your needs? I’ve used one with a M1 Mac and it worked totally fine. Support is good, they are cheap and sound decent.

Wazmeister · February 2023

monquixote said:

This guy is brilliant and does really in depth reviews:

https://www.youtube.com/@JulianKrause

Would you believe, Im just watching that !

brucegill · February 2023

RME Fireface UCX II for me. Love it.

jasonbone75 · February 2023

brucegill said:

RME Fireface UCX II for me. Love it.

This^ I have the UCX first gen but that also works flawlessly on M1 Pro Macbook

octatonic · February 2023

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Have you tried contacting Apogee?

I have mate - not heard anything yet...

What is the exact problem?
I can see if I can find out a bit more about it.

Wazmeister · February 2023

octatonic said:

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Have you tried contacting Apogee?

I have mate - not heard anything yet...

What is the exact problem?
I can see if I can find out a bit more about it.

Well, the Mac doesn't recognise the Apogee at all.
Thats just the start...

Thanks for your help, appreciate it

octatonic · February 2023

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Have you tried contacting Apogee?

I have mate - not heard anything yet...

What is the exact problem?
I can see if I can find out a bit more about it.

Well, the Mac doesn't recognise the Apogee at all.
Thats just the start...

Thanks for your help, appreciate it

Have you tried a fresh system?

Wazmeister · February 2023

octatonic said:

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Have you tried contacting Apogee?

I have mate - not heard anything yet...

What is the exact problem?
I can see if I can find out a bit more about it.

Well, the Mac doesn't recognise the Apogee at all.
Thats just the start...

Thanks for your help, appreciate it

Have you tried a fresh system?

I have a few times; I’ve tried everything.

I’ll be getting a new audio interface now.

What would you recommend mate ?

dindude · February 2023

When you’re time poor and only get limited space to be “in the zone” it’s so frustrating when it doesn’t work - I feel your pain. Which is why I use iPad to record instead of PC/Mac.

I’ve had quite a few interfaces, mostly from the lower end (did also have an Apogee Duet once), including the VOLT which was fine but had some glitches with it (using it with an iPad). I’ve switched to a MOTU M4 and it’s awesome, simple, rock solid and sounds great - the headphone amp on it sounds several steps up from the price point competition to my ears, I often use it just as a headphone amp for listening sessions.

Not sure up to £1k you get much better sound, just usually loads of features which is fine if you need them.

octatonic · February 2023

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Have you tried contacting Apogee?

I have mate - not heard anything yet...

What is the exact problem?
I can see if I can find out a bit more about it.

Well, the Mac doesn't recognise the Apogee at all.
Thats just the start...

Thanks for your help, appreciate it

Have you tried a fresh system?

I have a few times; I’ve tried everything.

I’ll be getting a new audio interface now.

What would you recommend mate ?

Presonus Quantum 2626 is good.
Or any of the Apollos.

Wazmeister · February 2023

Thanks @octatonic and @dindude ;

I'll check those out.

Danny1969 · February 2023

One world of advice is always use proper Apple adapters ... even if they are twice the price. There's been so many times a customer has had an issue converting TB to firewire or TB3 to HDMI and had issues .. and I've just swapped a proper Apple adapter in place of their cheap Amazon one and the problem has gone away.

That might not be your problem though as the M1 is a whole different machine to any previous Apple

Wazmeister · February 2023

Danny1969 said:

One world of advice is always use proper Apple adapters ... even if they are twice the price. There's been so many times a customer has had an issue converting TB to firewire or TB3 to HDMI and had issues .. and I've just swapped a proper Apple adapter in place of their cheap Amazon one and the problem has gone away.

That might not be your problem though as the M1 is a whole different machine to any previous Apple

Thanks Danny, and I agree.

Funnily enough, Ive had a cable clear out today, and I cant believe how many genuine Apple Ive bought !

goldtop · February 2023

Can't believe that your Apogee is unsupported on Apple Silicon!

For me, RME - a FF400 with 3 of Apple's clagnuts on M1 MBA until recently, and an FF800 (£300 used - bargain) on an older Intel iMac. For my M1 MBA use, I swapped to a MOTU M4 recently, and that's very good. Choice was based on Krause's review and latency findings. (Long term, I am not sure that the M4 will be as well supported as RME, whose support for discontinued stuff always amazes me.)

swiller · February 2023

I would deffo go rme if thats your budget. I have a UCX mk1 and feels very solid, all you could want really and just sounds right. Still here 10 years later and never felt the need to upgrade. Not cheap but user satisfaction is pretty stellar across the board. Drivers always updated and work fine. (silicon currently is a workaround driver signing kind of thing, but works flawlessly once done).
Owned various over the years, many alongside the UCX and to me chalk and cheese. Others either sounded a bit muffled or coloured or drove monitors differently, latency not as good. (scarletts, maudio, motu, various PC cards).
Second hand a good option as they are built like tanks.

maharg101 · February 2023

I used a cheap Behringer UMC202HD with a M1 Mac mini previously and it worked very well !

spark240 · February 2023

Im on M1 Mini using Quantum 2626 no problem, Ive also use Irig Pro, and audient EVO8, also work fine.

Def Apple cables required...

pmg · February 2023

@Wazmeister have you had a look at the apogee site for the correct drivers?

https://apogeedigital.com/home-feature-news/apogee-products-and-macos-monterey-compatibility

Wazmeister · February 2023

pmg said:

@Wazmeister have you had a look at the apogee site for the correct drivers?

https://apogeedigital.com/home-feature-news/apogee-products-and-macos-monterey-compatibility

Yep, naturally

Thanks mate,
I’m done with it now… a Motu M4 as recommended by @dindude ;

dindude · February 2023

Wazmeister said:

pmg said:

@Wazmeister have you had a look at the apogee site for the correct drivers?

https://apogeedigital.com/home-feature-news/apogee-products-and-macos-monterey-compatibility

Yep, naturally

Thanks mate,
I’m done with it now… a Motu M4 as recommended by @dindude ;

Cool, let us know how you get on with it Waz

pmg · February 2023

Wazmeister said:

pmg said:

@Wazmeister have you had a look at the apogee site for the correct drivers?

https://apogeedigital.com/home-feature-news/apogee-products-and-macos-monterey-compatibility

Yep, naturally

Thanks mate,
I’m done with it now… a Motu M4 as recommended by @dindude ;

Ah right no problem, hope it works out well for you

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Which Audio Interface ? Need Help With Unbelievable Frustration !!!!!!

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