Is it worth using an external audio interface with an S4 MK3?

Reverend Roberts · 2022-03-10T17:59:12+00:00

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I play out a lot and have been thinking about using an external audio interface. I have always had my eye on the RMEs but at over 1000 GBP they are cost prohibitive. They are also a bit heavy and need an external power supply.

I have recently been looking at the Motu M4 which at 220 GBP is very good value and is bus powered. It also has 24/192hz over the S4s 24/96hz. It also has an excellent dynamic range on the outputs at 120db where I cannot find the S4s.

Also with four outputs I can send to both main outputs and monitors.

If it does also seem with it, I may also get an S2 for backup as the lower end audio interface in that is then moot.

Thoughts anyone?

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Comments

Sûlherokhh

I've have tried all versions of the S4 so far and i liked all of them soundwise. At the moment i really enjoy my modular setup and have to say it's a good thing i could outsource the audio interface from the main controllers. XoneK2 interface works in a pinch, but the Audio2 MK2 for Traktor is absolutely awesome, although they both lack any input sockets. If you don't need those, get one second hand. It's also bus powered and has smaller dimensions than a pack of cigarettes.

Reverend Roberts

Even though the K2 sounds ok, your audio2 will definitely be an improvement on it. If you do want to improve on that the Motu M2 may be worth looking at. It is getting fantastic reviews everywhere. I use my K2 with my Xone mixer and love the sound quality, unfortunately its not that portable against the S4.

As I am using the S4 MK3 the audio interface is already very good, it's just trying to work out if the Motu 4 is good enough to make a noticeable difference.

Sûlherokhh

I'll have a look at the Motu M2. And I'd like to hear about it if you are in a position to compare the two and it's no bother. :)

Aquadics

I don't think that in a club environment someone would be able to determine if you are using an S4 MK3 or an external audio interface. For my opinion, there are completely other aspects which should be considered to get better sound.

Reverend Roberts

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/9140#Comment_9140

I play more bars than clubs and most do have a decent system in there and if not I do take my own. Can I ask what other aspects are you on about? I'm already playing Flac files and even with them I am choosy about which ones I play and anything badly produced gets binned.

Aquadics

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/9147#Comment_9147

This is exactly what I was thinking on. The audio files you are using and even more the production quality of the songs.

olafmol

To quickly answer: nope. Unless you’re playing venues with esoteric PA’s, excellent acoustic treatment, high end FoH equipment, sober audiences with pristine hearing etc.

In other words: the built in output is not your bottleneck ;)

Oxy

The S4mk3 sounds ok for the price. It does not however when playing on a mid to high end hifi system. The highs are smeared and the lows are definetly not clear and also smeared out. I fixed this by using a real mixer, in my case a DB:4. This made me enjoy playing again.

EDIT: The bitrate of your audio device literally has NOTHING to do with sound quality. It's all about the circuitry around the DAC chip and power delivery. Obvious this lacks the attention to detail in an all in one device.

Dinos Georgiou

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/9140#Comment_9140

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/10014#Comment_10014

you are right! You will notice a big difference in sound when you connect s4mk3 in a big sound system vs playing directly with most qood quality mixers like 900nxs2, Allen&Heath etc.

Kubrak

IMHO, good audio interface would make difference... With decent audio system. But audience often does not care.... Many even do not recognize if one plays mono instead of stereo.... :-(

Concerning RME. Just GREAT, great audio interfaces. Rock solid drivers, super low latency, excellent quality, very low jitter. They have also small USB powered ones.

https://www.rme-audio.de/babyface-pro-fs.html

Or bigger one (I am not sure if it is USB powered, but I think it is...)

https://www.rme-audio.de/fireface-ucx-ii.html

I am not using any of those two, but bigger brother Fireface 802. But not for DJing...

Aquadics

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/66086#Comment_66086

How can we know which hardware if fulfilling the required high standards. Is there some kind of list or a 1 to 1 comparison which hardware would be "club ready" ?.

Oxy

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/66093#Comment_66093

Added the ADI-2-Pro after the DB:4 (digital record out) and it's absolute bliss. The cheaper version would sound the same but lacks analague input, the new, more expensive unit has RIAA build in for high quality vinyl recording/playback.

Oxy

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/66172#Comment_66172

I'd suggets to look around here. All science with data to back it up, no audiofoolery.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php

Aquadics

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/66177#Comment_66177

Cool, I will take a look on it. Thanks !!!

PZZO

For those complaining about the S4 sound quality or smeared highs and lows in sound systems, you're probably hearing the effect of the limiter in the Traktor software. Switching to a new audio interface is not likely going to help with that.

In my opinion, if you can see the master and channel levels and can control gain from your DJ controller (you can do both of these on an S4), you should be able to do your own gain staging and you can disable the limiter and autogain from the Traktor settings.

If you can keep the levels around 0 (the first orange peak on the mixer usually) and out of the red just by manually setting your gain properly, the sound quality is gonna be wayyyy better. If you're worried about it not being loud enough, you can always turn up the volume or adjust EQ from the sound system to balance the room.

As someone who started on an S4 MK1, this is an easy bad habit to develop because Traktor turns these on by default to sound good enough out of the box. Once you play out or change to different gear, that's when the default no longer are enough and the bad habits have caught up.

In summary, please learn how to set your own gain. Don't depend on software to fix your sound, and don't buy thousands of dollars of new hardware with the expectation that it will magically make things sound better. Hope this is helpful to somebody👃

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