whiteletter wrote:Putting the actual amount of inputs and outputs out of consideration a moment, and focusing on the quality, would the ADI-2 Pro FS R BE be a step up in quality for taking analog audio into a DAW compared to something like an UCX II as well as sending it out?
If you ask me: not audibly.
But this is a question you can only answer by yourself.
Get both units and compare.
Record the same analog source into your DAW, align and level match the tracks and listen.
A lot of people are profoundly convinced to hear night and day between various USB cables, a whole industry is living from selling such stuff at prices that can top those of ADI-2.
My precisely level matched blind A/B comparisons say different:
It‘s very hard to impossible to clearly determine e.g. between AKM and ESS DAC chips (ADI-2 Pro vs. ADI-2/4 Pro SE), IF THE SAME SHAPED DA-FILTERS ARE CHOOSEN, which is not trivial.
One thing to consider:
If the usability is bad, your sound will suffer, as you cannot concentrate on the music, but have to fight with technology.