Zoom UAC-232 - 32 Bit float - USB Audio Interface - Review

[@jaffasplaffa1]

I am here for the hedgehog joke ;)

[@aptudo]

I know how to set levels, but this is objectively better. Audio is unpredictable. People make mistakes. This solves both problems. If you're a musician, just have this thing recording every time you sit down to practice or jam. You might capture some magic and the levels will be fine no matter what.

[@_BangDroid_]

Unless it's not set up correctly, like one of those people mistakes you mentioned

[@pirojfmifhghek566]

Exactly, it's a HUGE quality of life improvement. I also noticed that using this changes how I use a lot of my microphones. It's no longer about which mics capture the most information within that narrow decibel band during recording. It's about the tone quality that I get _after_ I adjust the levels and compress it. Some passive dynamic mics are able to give me much more detail and fuller sound than my condenser mics in post. Also, no longer needing _extra_ preamps on things like ribbon mics is a huge win in the battle against the noise floor. Biggest drawback, though... you gotta be really on top of your room treatment. You're also gonna become keenly aware of the inherent noise in your setup.

[@shawnmarko7131]

Exactly! My Dixieland band recordings all saturated and horrible lol. Can't wait to not be pissing with levels!!

[@shawnmarko7131]

So happy I liked my own comment

[@dmc3489]

Love the segue at 3:14! Perfectly delivered. Great work...

[@tporter23]

I’m still laughing over that

[@LinleyZA]

Lol perfection😊

[@DNGMaestro]

Julian Krause is my favorite robot in youtube.

[@abnorth2276]

Always happy to see that you have uploaded a video. I really enjoy your reviews Julian. Awesome as always.

[@CulturadelWhisky]

You have an amazing channel Julian. As an engineer in electronics, it is refreshing to find a technical channel like yours, among many KZbin channels of "producers" who it is pretty obvious that do not have a proper degree to talk about technical subjects such as digital analog conversion, component specifications and performance measurements. It would be great if you could get an Apogee Duet 3 in your hands to see your interesting analysis. Cheers

[@ProdDJD]

Whether they have a "proper degree" or not isn't as important as whether they know what they're talking about or not 🤔

[@givemeajackson]

that is pretty badass! as a guitarist, there are so many smaller interfaces that just cannot handle really high output pickups, even if you set the input gain to minimum. so you'd need to mess with DI boxes or find an interface with a pad switch. this seems like a really good interface overall, especially at the price. 5ms-ish RTL is acceptable to me.

[@AugmentedNick]

Bro.. I tried everything I could but the sound is flickering everytime I open KZbin to play a backing track.. or if I start guitar pro.. I think it is not taking input from multiple sources ( as in guitar and KZbin/ Guitar Pro.. Please help - here's the video to show what the problem is kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnqwkmeJebqgmtk

[@jamespowers8826]

This! I'm hooked on Zoom's 32 bit recorders. Been waiting for someone to incorporate it in an interface.

[@reverb.deluxe]

Terrific video, Julian! So 32-bit float audio with two ADC's is somewhat analogous to High Dynamic Range technology in cameras, where two images are taken at two different sensitivities in order to capture detail in both bright clouds and dark shadows. The end goal with both technologies is to capture the dynamic range of the real world without clipping and then eventually compress the information into smaller range for playback: 1.6 billion nits for the sun compressed down to 2,000 nits of brightness on your iPhone screen; or 190 db of sound compressed down to a CD-quality stream for your earbuds.

[@joesalyers]

On MacOS Core audio supports 32 bit float and even Apple's own ARM based laptops have a 32 float converter for the internal microphone for Macbooks. Even though MacOS supports 32bit float recording though out the OS but there are certain applications do not. Logic Pro and Mainstage does not yet support recording or inputing 32 bit floating point audio only 20 and 24 bits. But Reaper, and Pro Tools do support it already. As well as MacOS's screen capture software and Quciktime recording does support it. I think this years OS update will have full 32 bit compatibility across all Apple made Mac Apps that support audio recording. The Logic/Garageband/Mainstage team have said 32bit float recording will come before the end of the year to those app and it will probably come to final cut very soon after that! Cheers Julian always great work!!

[@GeekTherapyRadio]

I have a Zoom M4 that records in 32 bit float and has a USB interface mode with 48K/32-Bit Float. However, in Reaper on Windows, it is an unusable nightmare currently. I'd like to blame Windows...but I have a feeling it is simply the firmware itself within the M4. I'll try with my M1 Mac and edit this comment soon with the results.... EDIT: Seemed to work just fine on my M1, make sure to go into Project Settings and under "Media" make sure WAV is set to 32 Bit FP. Still no luck on my Windows Laptop. Could just be my very new laptop is waiting for more updates (2023 Gigabyte Aorus 17H) EDIT2: Zoom M4 48K/32-Bit Float works flawlessly in my Windows 10, Ryzen 3900X, RTX 3090 desktop PC in Reaper. My laptop must be so new that it needs more updates.

[@joesalyers]

@@GeekTherapyRadio It might be the CPU if its AMD, maybe look to see if there is a Firmware update for your CPU. I know AMD Ryzen is notorious for audio issues and its such a shame since they are super good cpus. I know my Antelope audio interfaces have 32 fixed point converters that work at 32 bits on MacOS but on my Windows and Linux laptops it only will show 24 bits unless I use a usb 3.1 port or higher so maybe try your other USB ports.

[@GeekTherapyRadio]

@Music Factory Studios Awesome suggestions. Laptop in question is a 13700H Core i7. Latest. It has trouble with every interface I've used. I'm chalking it up to the chipset needing updates. My AMD 3900X CPU works flawlessly with my interfaces, including 32 Bit Float from my Zoom M4. But it's a mature platform. Hopefully Gigabyte will role out chipset updates for the Aorus 17H. It's still a bit buggy.

[@royw9196]

32 bit fp con't work on my windows 11 too.sad...even i setup ASIO.

[@Blewis-Diarrheo]

Great video as usual. Of course I pulled up the manual while I was watching, and the inputs can take +24dBu. Although that's enough headroom for almost everybody, I will attest to once getting a signal that hot, when I streamed a music festival on the island of Sardinia in 2019.

[@artysanmobile]

From what source?

[@techmed-rainer]

Danke!

[@JulianKrause]

Immer wieder gerne, danke auch für den kontinuierlichen Support!!!

[@techmed-rainer]

@@JulianKrause Sehr gerne!

[@ajiraditya]

Excited everytime you post. Thank you Julian.

[@artysanmobile]

Big props for the belt loop design.

[@gpag12]

Hey Julian, I would love to see you do a video on the Zoom F3. While I know it is similar to the UAC-232 and likely uses the same ADC schematic, it includes for example, a 24-bit MME driver mode for plug and play interface capability, which you asked them for in this video. Thanks as always!

[@pauls3993]

I've been using 64bit FP for the past 10+ years in Cakewalk with an internal PCI card, so this is definitely great news for the interface market.

[@SoMyungJung]

It's been a long time! So great to watch your contents. Awesome video as always \m/

[@stephenmcculloch3025]

Love your videos Julian! Always thorough, informative and you have a sharp and quirky sense of humour. Stephen.

[@Markste-in]

As mentioned in the video oc it can still clip... people should not forget that 32 bit float is just a "storage format". Everything before that is still hardware and has a physical limit. Starting from the microphone that has a maximum peak pressure all the way down to the ADC that has a maximum voltage input

[@artysanmobile]

The design for FS= +24dBU at the input connector makes that, if not impossible, at least practically so. Power supply voltage is the limiting factor. Sources would need a 40+VDC power supply, almost unheard of today. The key is that any conceivable operating scenario will be physically unable to reach that voltage, hence no input gains.

[@jtsotherone]

@@artysanmobile the maximum output of a good few recording consoles running on +/-18v is +26dBu

[@mjodr]

@@artysanmobile It seems like you are putting artificial limits on what you think is possible. Having designed and built amplifiers I feel like I could overload any input easily. Also, the PSU voltage doesn't have much to do with what the output voltage is capable of. The circuit can always multiply voltage above whatever the PSU voltage is. And why do you think 40V DC is some kind of limit? What if I hooked my vacuum tube amplifier up to the input of this audio interface? It has a PSU voltage of over 800V DC! lol

[@jas_bataille]

Yes obviously, but in practice, it's almost impossible to ever reach those. For example, the average maximum peak pressure of a condenser is around 130dBs SPL, which is the sound of a shotgun at 3 feet (yeah I know, this isn't a very scientific thing but that's the best we got lol).

[@jas_bataille]

@@mjodr ...No one is saying that it's impossible period. We are saying : unless you specifically wanted to, used a variAC to drive whatever you're gonna input above limit, or made whatever you're gonna input clip by default otherwise, it's not gonna happen unless you want it too. I mean, statistically, the possibility to clip if you don't want it tom is so low, that it's virtually impossible. No one is saying that this is impossible in the absolute. If you want to set the thing on fire... you can

[@dragonstone6594]

Most excellent review! Been waiting for it and you did not disappoint! Next up, can you please review the SoundDevices MixPre 3 II? Which also has ASIO drivers. Thanks!! You're the best!

[@MartinLeschinski]

Danke für die Vorstellung! Das ist echt spannend

[@metalheads-golf]

I will be recording a lot of guitar soon and was looking for a new audio interface. This info was great and it makes it to my shortlist. Coolio. 🤘🏻😎🤘🏻

[@HalfPopcorn]

I Think it you be a great video if you made a top 10 list of the audio interfaces you reviewed so far!

[@erwickdsouza]

ANother outstanding review. Thanks Julian!

[@mickymack1230]

Excellent Video review .My default Audio reviewer, top delivery.

[@cmd_f5]

I think the biggest thing for this interface is super hot active guitar pickups or active bass preamps. No internal clip and just setting the input properly in the app, I'll be good to go. The Focusrite 2I2 second gen can't handle hot pups without mild to moderate cliping. I generally don't care as I play metal, high gain ampsims, but it does effect cleans and edge of breakup tones. Excellent video.

[@thomaspaul311]

I have checked. Amazon US does carry the Zoom USC-232. It is $199 and in stock at this moment.

[@Doug-Didgiridoo]

That is the best imperial measurements rip I have ever heard.

[@beer_ruamchai]

Nice review. Thank you for always include hp output in the review 👍🏼

[@sonidojamon]

I have my eyes set on the 8 channel rack-mountable version Zoom will release later this year! (UAC-832). Looks like Zoom are taking notes on UAC-232's users feedback to improve the tech and features. They should hire you for their Consulting Team 😂

[@avocadochoe]

Is there any details on whether they'll have expandable inputs and outputs? I would also like the 8 channel rack version of this!

[@sonidojamon]

@@avocadochoe They have a Clock Source selector (with "ADAT" being one on the options) on the front panel picture/3D mockup on their website, so I'm guessing yes!! I think it's still in development, cause I haven't found anything anywhere else.

[@avocadochoe]

@@sonidojamon Oh my I am very excited for this! Hope they flush out some of the minor down sides mentioned in the video before the launch and I'd be sold! Should make an excellent home recording environment.

[@synclavier5405]

Sadly, Zoom have recently announced the discontinuation of UAC-832 development due to cost issues. A real shame

[@AllenCavedo]

Nice review. You did make me laugh about not letting the 32 bit magic out.

[@ridingdriving]

thumbs up, incredible detail overview

[@emorcen]

Thanks for the amazing review as always Julian! Hope to see you eventually get your hands on the new Boss Gigcaster digital mixer / interface to see if they are any good!

[@ObscureMics]

The "not going to open it" transition LOL. JK is on 🔥

[@alejandrosm8955]

Great video as always!!, a year ago you made a video about how to plug your headphones to your interface so I followed the instructions and it works perfect but you never showed how to unplug.

[@juancisneros725]

Can you review the new Newman MT 48 interface? It has a very similar dynamic range, so it would be very interesting to see the similarities and differences given the huge dynamic range of the UAC-232.

[@holgieselchen7033]

Top brauchbare Informationen, danke Julian ☺

[@jahstafari4606]

3:54 supernice 4:36 even supernicer ....tnx Julian always good info from you

[@exdafrianz3939]

15:47 is it digital gain? or does the software controls preamp gain on the interface?

[@nj1255]

First audio interface I've seen that has wheels. I guess that's an industry first! Jokes aside, I'm probably going to start recommending this interface to anyone starting out recording at home. It might be a bit counterproductive for actually learning how to properly record stuff, but they will at least not have tons of good takes and recordings being ruined from constant clipping. Even if you disregard the 32-bit float feature, it's still a very competitive interface. 5-pin MIDI I/O, individual phantom power for the two mic inputs, digitally controlled pre-amp gain (in 24-bit mode), simple control and mixer software that also has loopback routing, and all this at a price point that most people can afford.

[@JulianKrause]

@@nj1255 I totally forgot to measure the 0 - 60 mph performance 😃

[@nj1255]

@@JulianKrause Hahaha!

[@wightwulf]

Thank you for the review! I appreciate the part about 32 bit float compatibility with different capture programs such as OBS. Do you think you could try the obs-asio plugin with OBS to see if that fixes the issue?

[@peterparker9997]

Julian, nice review as always. Could you consider testing the Rode NT1 5th generation microphone as with it's in build Pre-amps etc, it is effectively a 1channel audio interface which offers 32 bit float capability.

[@LegendaryMike]

I appreciate your dry humor

[@666tonsofsquirrels]

Love the little jokes 😂 Excellent video 💪

[@ronmaison8690]

Excellent video.Can you please test the Motu m6 against mk5 , thanks.

[@tcttvradio]

when i record radio ads at the radio station the 'lawo ruby' listens for the first ten seconds and sets the perfect volume for my voice or anyones voice.

[@summarity]

10:22 yes! especially since the F3 has this feature for the monitor out

[@ivanfaigenbom5300]

excellent as always!

[@zuminlair92cp]

9:05 FL Studio do support 32-bit float with it own FL ASIO netually. Also, FL Studio has all mixer channel simulate at 32-bit float

[@b-b0t]

love the metric system shoutout

[@philipp594]

Could you test cardiod / hypercardiod small diaphram condensors for video conferencing setups?

[@DiogoCocharro]

Great review! Thanks 🙏 Please, one day can you do a review of a high end UAD and RME. 😅

[@하윤준-k4g]

Thank you for making a good video. I'm thinking about using UAC-232 as a portable audio interface. If bus power is possible, it is attractive that 32-bit recording is possible just by connecting to a MacBook. (Although F3 alone can solve the problem, I think it can be used as an audio interface that supports balance output.)

[@jordimoraguesmassanet1179]

The old Balance audio interface from Propellerheads had a Clip Safe mode that used both AD converters to record a mono signal with extended headroom.

[@PaulLembo]

I had one. it was great. I lost it in a move.

[@williamevans9426]

The rubber buffers/rollers should have been no surprise - the unit is called 'Zoom' so could be expected to roam around one's desk!

[@dare2liv_nlove]

Good one! 😂

[@bluesjeon]

17:05 Hello, I have Zoom F6 32bit floating usb audio interface or field recorder but consider if i should change it to UAC-232. .. Please let me know your pc specification like cpu, ram , nvme, os, daw version and model number, so that I can check the comparison of RTL latency between F6 and your UAC-232

[@Devinop]

Hi, what do you think about comparison of Zoom 232 and Arturia MiniFuse? I have an Arturia MiniFuse and looking for more urban variant. I think that 32 bit float technology is very useful, and I hope that all manufacturers will be doing such interfaces in the future.

[@delicrux]

wow fantastic review

[@aymanabboud5253]

Nice . Thanks a lot ... What is the programme you use for vocals editting

[@luisbarrera5740]

I actually understood the weight once he compared it to a hedgehog. I'd like zoom to make an 8/10 input interface so it measures up to their new L6 32bit mixer. On a side note, you meed to review RME UCX ii.

[@teedybear391]

Excellent video 👍 also would like to know if the antipope zen go has the same ad/da converters as the zen tour? Thanks a lot

[@nachoseret5480]

Would love a review of the Merging Anubis, or Neumann MT-48 since they are essentially the same

[@drfleka]

Rode implemented that kind of limiter for stopping the clipping in recordings when you are too loud.

[@Sarsour_]

Very good content!

[@BojanBojovic]

I purchased Rode NT1 5th generation which has 32bit recording capabilities. I still do not understand how it works other than it has 5 AD stages so it has a lot of dynamic range, but how it stores that data is beyond me at the moment. :) In the same time I really think this is a gimmick for many users, not sure who would need this except those who need to record something on the fly when there is no time to set the input level, but in the studio this seems like an overkill.

[@steverolfeca]

Lightning strikes in the studio, not just during field recording. The talent unexpectedly kicks on a pedal part way through and creates a great moment, but you can't use the track because it was too hot, and they clipped your interface... 32-bit float seems like it could be a timesaver (lifesaver?) in that situation, but only if it truly works as advertised, and your DAW co-operates.

[@BojanBojovic]

@@steverolfeca Of course you could think of many such situations, however this is really a minor concern. I know many people having problems with setting the input gain properly, and the KZbin is full of instructional videos showing how to do it, but in my reality this is a 3 seconds task and I never had any problem with this, nor I understand what is that fuss all about. It works well, I tested it in Reaper and sure the dynamic range is there. Maybe you are right, maybe this is the future. I remember many complained about Reaper not having separate midi, audio, group, and aux tracks, but only one type of track to be used for everything you need. It is a brilliant feature, maybe 32 bit recording will feel the same soon, I do not know really, but for now it looks a little bit gimmicky to me personally.

[@johnyang799]

​@@steverolfeca You have to understand that even though it happens the same time in the product, the trick of merging two different adc stages has nothing to do with 32bit float. Even with the trickery the dynamic range is still only 130db or so which is easily contained in 24bit fixed point. And the current 32bit fixed point availible in many audio interfaces has 192db dynamic range , this would be more than future proof for audio recording.

[@melaniezette886]

You find tutorials on YT about floating point. I wouldn't be able to explain it. For audio purpose, no clipping because you can exceed 0dB fs and accuracy tends to be infinitely good, you can exceed 10^-38 up to 10^-45 values, very small values. Though adc should be integer, that's a lot of wasted space

[@dare2liv_nlove]

As usual, came just for dat JulianK smoooth voice & jokes, eventhough i'm not interested in any of these new interfaces (happy with my Motu M2)! 😁

[@michaelscott9266]

Thanks for the video. Can you do a review of the Zoom F3

[@bugracelayir]

These things leave a lot of work to the engineer... :)

[@ObscureMics]

Us Americans had no idea how much a baby hedgehog weighed lol. We only know the weight of Marijuana 🤷

[@VirtuelleWeltenMitKhan]

I bet there are people in the US using the baby hedgehog measurement :D

[@zimbot_KWB]

Good grief, I'm still using Cool Edit Pro 2.1 from around the early 2000's, and I do everything in it using 32bit floating point format. Of course, CEP was way ahead of its time, and IMHO much better than what Adobe replaced it with (Adobe Audition), but it wasn't really set up to support the more modern workflows that have evolved since, especially when they rely on GPU's. And no other ADC has yet output 32bit floating point for recording, but I would record from any normal 24bit ADC as 32bit float in CEP (and of course, you have to set the levels to avoid clipping, but with 24bits that isn't hard to do). But I'm astonished to hear that people are still using software that cannot record in 32bit floating point format! I mean, really, I've was doing it 20 years ago with CEP!

[@MisterGribbles]

cool edit pro, now thats a name i havent heard in a very long time.

[@PaulLembo]

Cool Edit! I still miss it.

[@NORRATHBEAST]

Hi Julian, what do we have to do to get you to review the new Neumann mt 48?

[@EasyHeat]

For hi-z direct guitar this is important. Early entry level interfaces drastically lacked the dynamic headroom for things like active pickups. I've recently been using a Vox ValveEnergy "Nu-tube" pedal as a (clean-ish) preamp into digital amp sims. IMO it "feels" more authentic and makes using analog pedals direct noticeably more convincing.

[@DigIntoGaming]

Wait, can you independently mix the computer volume and direct mic monitoring separately on the zoom uac232? I only see one knob for monitoring.

[@PaulPaul-vj2vx]

Can you do a comparison to the zoom F6 and zoom F8npro … noisewise (not functional wise - there differences are clear) …. Love your channel!

[@lwrncl8329]

are you ever gonna review the apollo twin x?

[@jorcis67]

Thanks so much for your great reviews. I wonder if you have heard about iConnectivity AUDIO4c due to its capability of being shared simultaneously by 2 different devices. Would love to see a technical review from you. Cheers! ✌

[@tonn333]

I also would like to see that!

[@VideoArchiveGuy]

The UAC-232 owner's manual actually explicitly states that they use two DACs, one low sensitivity and one high sensitivity and blends the two on pages seven and eight. zoomcorp.com/media/documents/E_UAC-232_.pdf

[@FrankVRens]

Is there a paper or video explaining for dual adc switching? Great proffessional video anyway, thanks!

[@erinburke9711]

You can look at the Sound Devices patent. I'm not sure if Zoom is licensing that or doing their own thing, but should be similar most likely.

[@DigIntoGaming]

Hey Julian, can you test the zoom f3, tascam x6 and x8 Porta capture and the steinburg ur44c? These are 32bit audio interfaces. But I am unsure if they have low pre amp noise or if the portable recorders can actually be used on a computer and properly capture 32bit float. Thank you so much for your videos! I wouldn't be able to pick out a good audio interface without you! Edit: so the steinberg ur44c is 32bit integer not float. I really want a 32bit float interface with 2x independent headphone monitoring Jack's.

[@Lu_Woods]

Just saw the UAC-832 development was discontinued in November. That would've been cool.

[@andreasu.3546]

4:39 - Dynamic range in dB(a)?

[@plusone.network]

Single handedly saved the music hardware part of the feed from another MPC X LE video lol Question/Concern: "Everyone's" argument usually goes something like "32 bit is unnecessary, cant reasonably capture or perceive that range, the file size!" & some other Hot takes... Answer: "Cool, don't use it then... 😆" Seems to be good for non-Audio Engineers, especially those with a noisy home studio or those who record out and about with mobile setups (outdoors or even all types on non treated rooms ie hotels & so on) Of course the mic/outboard preamp situation is a big factor but simply capturing everything after that fact enables ONE to do the rest in the box without jumping through a labyrinth of hoops Another interesting product is the Rode NT1-A 5th Gen USB/XLR mic. The catch is that the 32-bit float recording is built into the mic and is only possible when using the USB port. XLR is only 24 bit. Regardless would be interesting to see a side by side with that mic on USB (32-bit float) and then running through the 232 via XLR at 24 bit 🤔

[@tonn333]

What a great idea for a comparison... but why did you put it at the end where not many will see it 😂

[@plusone.network]

@@tonn333 🤦‍♂

[@maksym_chabarai]

Could you help with the audition settings? I've tried asio driver but it still cannot record anything above 0db

[@felixneun]

Can you review the Neumann MT48 pls ?

[@dannybullo7844]

@Julian Krause, great review! I'm so disappointed to see that ZOOM made a new driver that has an average performance. I have a Zoom UAC-2, with is among the best USB interfaces performers! The RTL latency is at pair with RME but this one seems to have a different driver/engine. See Below: Sampling Rate: 44.1khz ----------------------- Buffer Size: 64 samples Total RTL: 5.49ms Buffer Size: 32 samples Total RTL: 4.04ms Buffer Size: 24 samples Total RTL: 3.67ms Sampling Rate: 48khz ------------------------- Buffer Size: 64 samples Total RTL: 5.04ms Buffer Size: 32 samples Total RTL: 3.71ms Buffer Size: 24 samples Total RTL: 3.38ms Sampling Rate: 96khz -------------------------- Buffer Size: 128 samples Total RTL: 4.47ms Buffer Size: 96 samples Total RTL: 3.80ms Buffer Size: 64 samples Total RTL: 3.14ms Buffer Size: 32 samples Total RTL: 2.47ms Observations: 1) I tested the performance by playing Reason Demo Song. I'd say it is "low/medium" load. I also tested it using a stand-alone version of Amplitube. 2) Using an OLD Core 2 Duo @ 2.4GHZ computer, with Windows 8 and connected to USB 2.0, I only got some clicks using the 48k@32 Samples and 96K@32 samples 3) Using my main laptop, I7-3630m, 8GB RAM, connected to USB 3.0, I got NO CLICKS or POPS WHATSOEVER. Yes, the computer is optimized for Audio and it is pretty clean. 4) Using the SAME i7 Laptop, but connected to USB 2.0, I DID GET SOME CLICKS in the lowest settings, but less than with the "old" C2D laptop. 5) As reported, there is just a VERY slight RTL latency difference when connected to USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0. Don't remember now, but less than 0.2ms., so I did not even write it down..... Conclusion: I had so many interfaces during the past few decades...PCI, FireWire, USB....the ZOOM UAC-2 is BY FAR the MOST STABLE and lowest RTL latency I even tried/saw in person. Yes, I never compared it to an RME, so I leave that window open...but as a Portable/gigging device, it is a no-brainer. And I hope the other manufacturers learn the lesson because it is incredible that in 2018 we are still suffering from this...nothing worse than an unpredictable interface...no one can play live and feel relaxed if there is the slightest change of interface crash. gearspace.com/board/music-computers/618474-audio-interface-low-latency-performance-data-base-70.html

[@soundbelch1600]

Absolutely agree with you here on the need for better software. Far too many manufacturers go on about specs and give scant regard to the software. Never tried the UAC-2 but the software performance always seemed remarkable on paper and plenty of user experience reports out there to say those figures stood up in reality. Reliability is why I went with RME (Digiface and ADI-2 FS combo).

[@momosbreath9713]

This is the way!

[@KlausKusserow-ClassicalGuitar]

09:00 Apple is always a bit late, but "we" (Macies) have 32bit float in Logic now🙂

[@welkinvale]

"Huge dynamic range" is a bit misleading; the maximum effective dynamic range of a 32-bit float is exactly the same as a 24-bit integer (due to the sign + mantissa being equivalent to a 24-bit integer); it's just that the clipping point (i.e. the maximum integer value before overflow occurs, usually represented by 0dBFS) is able to "float" to higher or lower values as the exponent changes to accomodate louder or quieter signals. If all you wanted was the largest effective dynamic range, a 32-bit integer would beat a 32-bit float; what's actually happening is that in exchange for the extra 8 bits, we get protection from clipping at 0dBFS rather than an increased dynamic range.

[@0LoneTech]

You missed a detail in the float format. While it stores 23 fraction bits in the mantissa, there's an implicit 1 in front of them. The integer precision range matches a 25 bit integer when you're including the sign bit in both. The format functions like switching full scale range per sample to the lowest linear doubling which does not clip and recording that gain level in the exponent. Of course, just because the format supports 25 bits of precision doesn't mean your ADC can; with two overlapping ADCs, your best range would be just below clipping as usual, but there are two places for that. The higher amplitude ADC offers a lower precision fallback, so you'd target the low amplitude ADC's peak level. Having that fallback could let dynamic gain be useful (misses wouldn't be disastrous), if the gain levels are precisely calibrated to the large scale range.

[@erinburke9711]

You mean resolution, not dynamic range.

[@MichaelW.1980]

The more I learn from you about 32 bit float and merging two DACs, the more skeptical I become, wether this would be of any use to be. My current setup consists of a MOTU M4 Interface and a Shure Beta 58A dynamic microphone. I have set it up for about 25dB of headroom over normal talking. And my SNR at 64dB even after 21dB additional gain via a maximizer plugion vs Selfnoise is already extremely low as is. So... I don't know... Dual DAC and 32bit float seems to be quite gimmicky, at least for most uses. Stil.... adding that much dynamic range is quite a nice job.

[@GuyGamer1]

It's not really useful to anyone who knows what they're doing, but it makes it idiot proof.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

@@GuyGamer1 I’m from back in the day when they used double system location recording in movie making, recording on a nagra (reel to reel) with some sort of mixer between the mics and the nagra. The crew position was called “mixer”. The mixer was responsible for getting the best audio recording possible, which as you can imagine was/is pretty important. Good mixers were paid well. Bad audio can be fixed in post, but back then post production processing was expensive. Mixers (and their boom operator assistants) were not to be trifled with, as they could listen in to private conversations. But they were also in the know with all sorts of useful insider information, such as when’s lunch? I don’t think we regular crew people gave them enough credit or patience. We’d grumble about delays while the mixer chased down ambient noise, like a refrigerator in the next room. We’d groan when they had to track down the source of line noise. “Hold for sound” is not what you want to hear when you’re one or two takes away from lunch. Anyway, these days the demand for people that “know what they’re doing” far exceeds the number of people with those skills, no matter the level of production. While 32-bit float is going to be perceived as a magic bullet for many “content creators” (especially solo creators and small teams), the need for skilled technicians such as yourself is not going away. The float is just another tool.

[@transunicorn]

Hi! Is it better this one than the Scarlet Focusrite? I can see the price is 200 euros which is more than Focusrite that cost a bit less.

[@MikeO01]

Hi Julian, you have great comparison graphs e.g. for “noise floors” of different preamps, but how are they measured…. with the same gain, or its maximum. Like, would a preamp connected to a gain hungry mic, requiring a maxed out gain setting with low noise floor (SOLID STATE LOGIC SSL 2) be better than a preamp (ELGATO WAVE XLR or F3) with higher max gain, needing less gain for the same mic, but having a higher noise floor according to your graphs? Thanks for clarifying.

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

Depends. If you're a streamer who needs a ready-to-use signal out of the box, you would likely prefer higher gain. When recording, applying digital gain after the fact is trivial. (A number of interfaces are actually doing just that internally to extend the gain range of their input amps.)

[@jazzlehazzle]

Also 32b-fl requires your DAW (or any audio software) be capable of handling 32bit data, which apparently OBS & Discord (& likely many other apps) are not, so they still clip.

[@lolilollolilol7773]

Julian, I would like to see a review of Roland interfaces.The old Quad and Octa capture interfaces were highly regarded because they had a very good mix of hardware and software. I would like to know if it's still the case.

[@MikeO01]

Hi Julian, great infos. What I didn’t find anywhere on the web, is comparing the F3 to the UAC-232. As the F3 can be used as an interface too. And is it practicable to use either with an iPad (with usb c) and do you get 32bit in the iPad? Thank you.

[@ianl.9271]

F3 is 2x the price, I'm waiting for the H1 XLR but the EIN would be poorer at -122dBu (IHF-A). Zoom claims the mic preamp of the UAC232 are the same as F6 at -127dBu (IHF-A). The F3 specs is the same. So effectively you get the audio interface of the F3 without the recorder. 😅

[@jayhillraps]

*at the Panera checkout* See, but having the *option* to record ultrasonic audio is what matters...

[@sireveman]

This is awesome and would be an instant buy if it supported Linux.

[@Gamer.plusplus]

What converter is used in it? AD DA converter ??

[@muzickolchers968]

Could you please review the Apollo Twin X or Apollo Twin USB?

[@jackedkerouac4414]

I second that. I'm this close to getting the Apollo twin x duo

[@ShadovvV]

So easy to use, even a 3-4 month old hedgehog can handle it..

[@anthonyroberts9232]

I will check to see if my Zoom F4 supports 32bit besides 16 & 24 bit.