TC electronic interface

[Rainer Straschill <moinsound@googlemail.com>]

> I've checked out the Motu ultralight but had some compatibility issues 
>and wondered if anyone has used the TC electronic Konnekt 24 
>http://www.tcelectronic.com/default.asp?id=11055.
> On paper it looks real good and I've always had good luck with other 
>equipment of theirs that I've had.
(Note that while you say "Konnekt 24", your link refers to the
"Konnekt 24D" - which I'll also refer to. And I'm going to do only a
quick, early morning review here).

* Lots of (sometimes knowledgeable) people have mentioned the high
quality of both the pres and the converters (the latters being
referred to as "the best converters in a complex interface below 1500
bucks" e.g. at recording.org). With only superficial comparisons, I
can second that.

* The thing is really big and heavy in comparison with other
interfaces with a comparable feature set. This may be of relevance in
a mobile performance setup; it won't fit into some of the more shallow
racks.

* The quality of the built-in effects is top-notch, both the Fabric R
reverb and the Fabric C channel strip. No wonder, these algorithms
reportedly come from the System6000.

* TC Electronic have issues both with stability and performance of
their drivers/chipset. Lots of people have reported this. In a
comparable application setting, obtainable latency settings have been
over double of those of other, sometimes considerably cheaper
interfaces (e.g. Presonus Firebox).

* In comparison with a lot of other interfaces, routing is VERY
inflexible in the onboard mixer. This does include that the Fabric C
algorithms can only be applied to input channels 1 and 2.

* In the same realm, the gain structure of the Fabric C and the mixer
is very inflexible. For that reason, level setting for some line
signals which come in below +4dB is at least impractical.

* won't go into the obvious (number of channels etc. here, you've most
probably already reviewd them in detail on their website).

Summarizing: the biggest issue for me is the drivers/chipset thing.
Here, they really don't live up to what we've come to expect from
their non-computer gear. The big size and weight may or may not be an
issue for you. If both items aren't a problem for you (e.g. if using
the interface for stationary recording purposes), then you get the
reportedly best converters in that price range, some high-quality pres
and some outstanding algorithms for the money which is not the
cheapest for the feature set.

Otherwise...you might look at a Marian UCON CX. Marian obviously faced
the problem that customers weren't able to accept a USB interface with
a professional feature set. But if you're able to accept that drivers
are available only for XP, you get them dead cheap at some factory
sales - if you get them.

              Rainer