Any suggestions of small portable audio interface (to replace an Apogee Duet)?

Question

I'm looking for suggestions to replace my "ancient" Apogee Duet. I'm interested in something small, simple to opperate (not a lot of extraneous features), durable (i.e. without a lot of fragile knobs and buttons), reliable, and (it probably goes without saying) a good, clean sound ... to serve as my portable/travel audio interface. I probably don't need more than 1-2 inputs and stereo output ... though 4 outputs might be nice, if the overall package size was still compact. I've only ever used 16-bit/44.1 kHz audio in a concert setting in case that expands the possibilities ... and  I'm becoming an "agnostic" on the firewire/usb debate.

And ... a corollary question: Is there some reason that there is no support for RME interfaces ... like this one:  http://www.rme-audio.de/en/products/babyface_pro.php

Several of my non-Kyma friends who do a lot of traveling with their audio interface swear by this company's interfaces, especially their "babyface" interface.

Comments

Hi Mark, I've made great use of the M-Audio Fast Track Pro in my mobile set-up. I don't know if it's any less ancient but it offers all the other things you said you wanted.

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Hi Mark,

RME uses a proprietary protocol so we would not be able to write a driver for the Pacarana to communicate with the Babyface.

If you are ok with stereo 48 kHz and some latency, you could use the Dante AVIO USB adapter to get the audio from Pacarana to Mac where you could then use the RME as your Mac converter. But this may not be a good solution for realtime performance (due to the delay of sending audio through the Mac).

Several people have recommended the Mackie Onyx Blackjack (very rugged and small) USB interface.

MOTU UltraLite is also a nice balance of audio quality, small size, and ruggedness.

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It would be fantastic to add the Expert Sleepers Es-8 onto the list. That way Kyma would  integrate wonderfully with Eurorack.
Thanks

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Well ... I have finally gotten around to addressing this matter. I bought a Mackie Onyx Blackjack on eBay for under $100. It just arrived today and I got it up and running in less than10 minutes. Very small footprint, ergonomic form, USB powered (no extra power supply), super-easy setup. I think it will be really good for travel when stereo out is all that's required. I'm a tiny bit worried about the "ruggedness" of the small volume knobs (similar to the ones on all those compact Mackie mixers), but I'll just try to be careful of them.

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Neither of these suggestions have inputs, but I've used both the Dragonfly Red and iFi iDSD Nano to get sound of the Pacarana. The iFI is small and the Dragonfly is tiny.

Both devices can do higher sample rates, but not when connected to the Kyma. 48k is the sample rate limit when using any (correct me if I am wrong here!) USB device connected to the Kyma. Something to keep in mind if you work at higher sample rates.

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I'm using an Expert Sleepers ES-8 with a MOTU Track16, which is the smallest thing I've found so far that has ADAT optical ports for the ES-8.

I've soldered up my own small breakout cable for the Track16 which just has power and two 3.5mm line inputs. Along with the stereo 3.5mm input on the front of the Track16 I've now got 8 ins and 8 outs. Four ins from the Track16 and four ins from the ES-8.

The 4 ins from the ES-8 are DC coupled so good for CVs. The other four from the Track16 are AC coupled and good for audio.

All the outputs are DC coupled (ES-8)

Answer 1

For my "small" interface I've been using a PreSonus FireStudio Mobile (they don't make them any more but you can find them)

https://www.presonus.com/products/FireStudio-Mobile

It's got 2 mic ins and 6 lines in. Stereo output. It's firewire. If I was getting a small one again I'd go for the Mackie Onyx Blackjack because it's USB so a bit more flexible (I can lend it to my Faust-ian friends)

Comments

FYI: I just acquired a Mackie Onyx Blackjack on eBay for under $100. (See comment above.)

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Snap! I also got a Blackjack on ebay recently. It's the smallest bus powered interface I could find with two phantom powered mic inputs both of which are switchable to hi-z which seems to work well for contact mics.

It's a shame they don't make those any more!

Day to day I'm often using a very cheap ($10) sabrent usb interface, especially for travelling around. I've got a sony camcorder tie-clip mic which you normally plug through a small pre-amp it comes with but you can unplug the mic element and plug it straight into the sabrent which gives it the laptop headset bias voltage. Great for testing and making Sounds on the move.

I'm using Sennheiser IE4 headphones as output.

The Sabrent with the sony mic and IE4s makes a tiny kit.