Topic: Considering buying FireFace UC in 2020 and I have some questions
I was considering getting a MOTU M4, but i've heard some people complaining about drop out issues, problems with the drivers and so on. I also don't like the fact that it has a super bright frontal panel LED, which would be annoying to me specially when im trying to watch a movie.
My main questions are:
-Is this still worth it in 2020? I see it has USB 2.0. It's a 10yo+ unit. How is the sound compared to MOTU M4? And how its the sound compared to the UCX? they just sound as clear and you can't differentiate and it would just be audiophile nonsense trying to claim there's audible difference? (im not talking about sound quality from the mic/pre amps, again don't play any instruments and stuff so I don't really care, I make electronic music all programmed and all with VSTs basically). I don't want the UCX because I don't see a justification for the price increase compared to UC.
-Are the drivers as solid as they say?
-Does RME support interfaces forever? Can I be sure to still be able to use it in 20 years because they will update drivers for Windows 15 or whatever is out by then?
-The fact that there isn't a physical knob dedicated to volume only worries me. In the sense of the unit malfunctioning for some reason and ignoring the knob position and blasting volume at max. Can this happen?
-Can I get rid of the lateral metal mounts for the rack? Im going to place the thing on top of my computer, so it would look better without those 2 metal flaps at the sides. I assume the box has 4 points of support below it to make it it sit on flat surfaces, or it's a rack only unit?
-If I put it on top of my computer, can this create any problems? Like sound interference, or eating? I've seen this guy say that the thing gets really warm in summer, this worries me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RhyEGD9jFs
I make electronic music and I don't use any hardware, other than my headphone pre amp from Schitt and my monitors. That's all. I like the clean look on my desktop, I don't want stuff on it, flashing lights and so on.
In any case I like the extra i/o that this box gives compared to the alternatives like the MOTU M4 in case in the future I decided to connect more stuff. But im just not convinced about buying a unit that by now it's considered rather old. But im not willing to spend more on it, and I would only buy it if RME is going to support it pretty much forever because after this I would see no need to ever replace it, so assuming they don't buy stuff with planned obsolence it may actually be worth the extra money compared to alternatives. If im not convinced i'll just get the M4.