I have a yamaha motif xf and i need an audio interface that will work well with it. I know you can buy a firewire to the yamaha so it has an audio interface in it self but i don’t want that. Is there anyone here that can give me some advice?

That depends.  Most will work well with the Motif XF, so your choice will really depend more on other factors and how you plan on using it.  Will you be using this with a Mac or PC?  USB or Firewire?  Do you also need MIDI?  How many inputs and outputs do you need, and what type?

moxrox - 31 August 2014 01:07 PM

That depends.  Most will work well with the Motif XF, so your choice will really depend more on other factors and how you plan on using it.  Will you be using this with a Mac or PC?  USB or Firewire?  Do you also need MIDI?  How many inputs and outputs do you need, and what type?

Thanks for answering! I’m using PC and i was thinking about getting the “Focusrite Scarlett 2i4” as an audio interface i’m fairly new to music production so i don’t wanna get me an expensive audio interface for now, but i’m afraid if the sound will sound distorted or if it will be making crackling sound with this audio interface, i readed another post about someone that bought a “Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6” and he was very unhappy cuz with all the distrotion and crackling. What do you think? Also Motif can give midi with just an usb cable so MIDI isn’t not really an option but it can be nice to have midi if sometime in the future i might need it.

I’m using PC and i was thinking about getting the “Focusrite Scarlett 2i4” as an audio interface i’m fairly new to music production so i don’t wanna get me an expensive audio interface for now, but i’m afraid if the sound will sound distorted or if it will be making crackling sound with this audio interface

I have a Scarlett 18i8, which is basically the same thing except with more inputs and outputs.  I have used it on a PC and on a Mac without any problems.  When set up properly, there is no distortion or crackling.  Distortion is usually caused by gain being set too high, and crackling is usually caused by either the buffer size being set too low or by a noisy cable.

moxrox - 31 August 2014 04:58 PM

I’m using PC and i was thinking about getting the “Focusrite Scarlett 2i4” as an audio interface i’m fairly new to music production so i don’t wanna get me an expensive audio interface for now, but i’m afraid if the sound will sound distorted or if it will be making crackling sound with this audio interface

I have a Scarlett 18i8, which is basically the same thing except with more inputs and outputs.  I have used it on a PC and on a Mac without any problems.  When set up properly, there is no distortion or crackling.  Distortion is usually caused by gain being set too high, and crackling is usually caused by either the buffer size being set too low or by a noisy cable.

Ok, i’ll buy a Scarlett 2i4, Thanks for responding man! Greatly appreicated! :)

Look for an interface with a SPDIF (digital) input. That way you can go digital straight from the XF to the PC, no analog, no level setting, no distortion, noise, etc.  Look at Scarlett 6i6 for example.

meatballfulton - 02 September 2014 09:07 PM

Look for an interface with a SPDIF (digital) input. That way you can go digital straight from the XF to the PC, no analog, no level setting, no distortion, noise, etc.  Look at Scarlett 6i6 for example.

I can’t believe that I did not know this.  I own a Presonus Firestudio Mobile interface that has eight audio ins + S/PDIF.
All this time, I have been using the Audio Ins, and constantly tweaking levels in my DAW (Sonar).

I just did a test- using the S/PDIF is 10X simpler.  Wish I knew this before.  FWIW, I did an search through the Motif XF manual and could not find a reference to the digital output.

Live and learn.  Thanks for the advice, meatball

piano39 - 03 September 2014 12:34 PM

...FWIW, I did an search through the Motif XF manual and could not find a reference to the digital output....

See DIGITAL OUT connector, page 14 Motif XF Owner’s Manual.

Out of curiosity, since you already own what should be a good interface in the Presonus Firestudio Mobile, why are you interested in buying another one?  It would seem another audio interface would work the same way as your Presonus does (albeit perhaps via USB). 

Are you unsatisfied with some aspect of your current interface?

cmayhle - 03 September 2014 01:04 PM

piano39 - 03 September 2014 12:34 PM

...FWIW, I did an search through the Motif XF manual and could not find a reference to the digital output....

See DIGITAL OUT connector, page 14 Motif XF Owner’s Manual.

Out of curiosity, since you already own what should be a good interface in the Presonus Firestudio Mobile, why are you interested in buying another one?  It would seem another audio interface would work the same way as your Presonus does (albeit perhaps via USB). 

Are you unsatisfied with some aspect of your current interface?

Hello Cmayhle!
Another mystery solved.  The XF shipped with a hard copy “Owner"s manual” and PDF versions of the “Reference Manual” and “Data List”.  I forgot all about the owner’s manual.  When I searched the reference manual for the digital output, I couldn’t find a thing.

The section of the owner’s manual that you refer to is very poorly worded: “Audio signal output from the DIGITAL OUT connector is equivalent to the one output from the OUTPUT L/MONO and R jacks with the exception that audio signal is digital or analog”

Huh?  I understand what the output does because I experimented with it.  It would be very tough to grok this from the documentation, though.  Thank God for this forum.

Also, you must have misunderstood my post.  I have no intention of getting rid of my Firestudio.  It works great.  I only wish that I would have been using the Motif Digital Out to the S/PDIF ins of the Firestudio all this time.

piano39 - 03 September 2014 09:11 PM

...Also, you must have misunderstood my post.  I have no intention of getting rid of my Firestudio.  It works great.  I only wish that I would have been using the Motif Digital Out to the S/PDIF ins of the Firestudio all this time.

My sheepish apologies piano39, I didn’t misunderstand your post, what I did was mistake you for the OP, who is looking for an audio interface!  And your handles aren’t even similar!  I’ll be sharper next time.

Also, I agree that the lone citation in the Owner’s Manual dealing with the digital out would win no writing awards!