Audio Interfaces under Windows for Theater Productions: Which One? Updated question

Gaspar

Re: [Multichannel Audio Interfaces under Windows for Theater Productions: Which One?](/topic/6237/multichannel-audio-interfaces-under-windows-for-theater-productions-which-one)

I saw the old post but since several years went by in the meantime I've decided to relaunch the query.

Last week my Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 (I blame it but can't say for sure it was its fault) failed twice during perfomances. Once running ableton on W11 and once on Isadora 4 on a W10 machine.
Now I'm a bit scared and I'm looking for alternatives. I saw the MOTU 4 is generally regarded as very robust, but then in the old post referenced at the beginning, @Fred mentioned that he had issues with it and would rather go for RME (which today is about three times more expensive).
I've had a look at the RME Babyface Pro FS, but it seems to have 4 analogue inputs (2XLR + 2 JACK) and 2 XLR Outputs, whereas I would like to have at least 2 inputs and 4 outputs.

Any suggestions? Reliability is probably the most important thing I'm looking for (more than sound quality itself).
I use the inputs just for MICS, at least for now.

A BIT MORE INFO ON WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ISADORA CASE:

The sound suddenly started crackling, so I slowly turned down the volume on the focusrite, muted the sound desk, switched it off, and turned it on again after some seconds. ISADORA did not recognise it again, even after restarting isadora. It saw it, but was listing it twice (once as "not found"). Regardless which one I selected, it turned to "not found" a few seconds later. Finally I went with the output of my laptop and could go on. MY FAULT... I just didn't notice that ISADORA switched back to NATIVE, when I turned off the Focusrite. Possibly if it had not been listed as an "available" card, I had noticed. Not sure if ISADORA could handle this in a better way. Now, after setting the drivers to ASIO again, instead of Native, the Focusrite works fine again. But I don't fully trust it.

Gaspar

Short update: I've updated drivers and now get sound output through Isadora from my Focusrite even when Native drivers, and the Focusrite(not found) are selected.

Maybe also the other issues are solved with the driver update, but still not sure to risk another painful fail. So any comments are welcome.

DusX

@gaspar said:

even when Native drivers

That sounds like a very positive change. I am surprised that wasn't the case before, perhaps the drivers became corrupt of something.
I have found that occasionally I can introduce audio crackles if I am using virtual audio cables, and my sample rates aren't matching between the virtual cables and my audio device. I would also ensure you have a clean USB connection with a trusted cable.
In studio I use a Roland Rubix 24 (much like a scarlett 24), and it has been stable.

bonemap

@gaspar

I have had growing connectivity issues with my focusrite Clarett pre8, but It is stable at the moment when wired into a desktop setup. The unit is a bit older now and has a Thunderbolt 2 interface. I assumed that some of my issues were a result of having to use converter dongles and docking devices to use the Thunderbolt 2 interface with current types of connectivity. When the interface is physically connected but not connected in software, I go back to the focusrite control app and it is usually also not detected there either- at that point I try to restart everything. I did have some nasty noise coming from one monitor when using Isadora directly with the focusrite - which was a surprise - but I turned everything off and restarted and didn’t have another hint of it.

I have used Motu and Behringer interface before - some time ago - I was happy to leave the Behringer behind and have had less issues with the focusrite than I did have with the Motu.

I think it will be great when Isadora releases a major audio update.

Best wishes

Russell