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+--- Thread: Interface suggestions needed (/showthread.php?tid=1459)
Interface suggestions needed - MIL8 - 08-21-2020
Hello everyone, just found out about JamKazam this week and our band wants to start using it.
I'm looking for some suggestions on interfaces to use.
I play guitar in the band, don't sing. I already own this unit,
https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0B2J
I know it is overkill but I already own it. I do like to play in stereo so I will make use of at least 2 of the channels. Any known problems with this unit?
There are 3 other members in the band and they are all going to need interfaces, drummer, bass player who sings, other guitarist who sings.
I'm assuming a 2 channel interface would be a good choice for them, 2 channels for the drummer so he can be in stereo, 2 channels for the other two guys, one for their guitar the other for vocals.
I have a 16 channel mixer the drummer can use to mic his drums and mix that into the interface.
Any suggestions on my thought process here? Any suggestions on what interface the other 3 guys should get? The less expensive the better but I don't want to buy something so cheap it isn't going to work well.
Thanks!
Forgot to mention the bass player/backup singer uses an iMac, the rest of us use Windows.
RE: Interface suggestions needed - Chris Frost - 08-21-2020
(08-21-2020, 02:28 PM)MIL8 Wrote: Hello everyone, just found out about JamKazam this week and our band wants to start using it.There are some other posts on this forum regarding Audio Interfaces (please search through to find the list). You need a ‘Low Latency’ one ... but I suspect that they all offer that.
I'm looking for some suggestions on interfaces to use.
I play guitar in the band, don't sing. I already own this unit,
https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0B2J
I know it is overkill but I already own it. I do like to play in stereo so I will make use of at least 2 of the channels. Any known problems with this unit?
There are 3 other members in the band and they are all going to need interfaces, drummer, bass player who sings, other guitarist who sings.
I'm assuming a 2 channel interface would be a good choice for them, 2 channels for the drummer so he can be in stereo, 2 channels for the other two guys, one for their guitar the other for vocals.
I have a 16 channel mixer the drummer can use to mic his drums and mix that into the interface.
Any suggestions on my thought process here? Any suggestions on what interface the other 3 guys should get? The less expensive the better but I don't want to buy something so cheap it isn't going to work well.
Thanks!
Forgot to mention the bass player/backup singer uses an iMac, the rest of us use Windows.
I personally use Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 ... 2 channels (and I only use one of them as I play Saxophone). I have seen others mentioning the Behringer units and even some of the ‘USB Microphones’ (which might work for a vocalist).
If I were starting now (with what I know) - I would probably go for a 4 channel unit - as that would make it easier to play backing tracks.
Your drummer will need more mic inputs than ‘left & right’ - not sure what latency might be introduced by that mixer - but try it out anyway.
RE: Interface suggestions needed - MIL8 - 08-21-2020
I don't ever see us using backing tracks at any point.
The mixer is analog so there will be no latency with it.
RE: Interface suggestions needed - NickS - 08-21-2020
I use the Behringer UMC202HD. That can sample at 192 kHz and jamkazam latency shows as 4.2 ms with the Behringer UMC ASIO drivers in Windows 10. One channel is guitar, the other microphone. I am in the UK so bought mine from Bax; it took a while to turn up but they were up to £20 cheaper than other places.
I believe that all your inputs will be mixed into one output stream so stereo will not be carried across the network to your colleagues - so maybe no point in upgrading to a 4-channel interface, if that is a consideration. Certainly I only see our bass player's 8-channel Zoom interface as a single stream; vice versa, he sees my guitar and mike as a single stream. As his Zoom has a latency of 11.4 ms and he also has an analogue mixer he's considering buying the same as me.
Our keyboard player has also just bought one and is hoping to try it out next session (as the members in his other band grumbled about the latency with his Behringer U-Control UCA202 and asio4all).
RE: Interface suggestions needed - jazzpianousa - 08-22-2020
(08-21-2020, 02:28 PM)MIL8 Wrote: Hello everyone, just found out about JamKazam this week and our band wants to start using it.
I'm looking for some suggestions on interfaces to use.
I play guitar in the band, don't sing. I already own this unit,
https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0B2J
I know it is overkill but I already own it. I do like to play in stereo so I will make use of at least 2 of the channels. Any known problems with this unit?
There are 3 other members in the band and they are all going to need interfaces, drummer, bass player who sings, other guitarist who sings.
I'm assuming a 2 channel interface would be a good choice for them, 2 channels for the drummer so he can be in stereo, 2 channels for the other two guys, one for their guitar the other for vocals.
I have a 16 channel mixer the drummer can use to mic his drums and mix that into the interface.
Any suggestions on my thought process here? Any suggestions on what interface the other 3 guys should get? The less expensive the better but I don't want to buy something so cheap it isn't going to work well.
Thanks!
Forgot to mention the bass player/backup singer uses an iMac, the rest of us use Windows.
I have been on JK about 4 months.
Using Zoom R24 Mixer with ASIO4ALL and 8 tracks available, 5 in use currently. Running Win 10 on Dell Core i7 Laptop with 2TB SSD and 16 GB RAM and 6GB video RAM
2.5 frames, 96.1khz, keep all settings as low as possible per the instructional video
Internet is 100mb fiber. Connection to JK is generally 5ms and always green. Running Cat 8 Ethernet which is expensive(used in hubs and headends at ISP's) directly to modem/router.
Latency with local Seattle musicians very favorable as in the same room with 11-25ms most of the time. Latency to NYC/LA/FL or Canada 35ms at best generally 45-75ms. Latency to UK, EU or AU has been 90-120 ms. South Ameirica 140-160 ms.
It's important to resync when someone joins the room. One person with poor latency can bring down the entire session. NO WIFI, hard wired only.
You may have to tweak and be patient. Took me a month of trial and error to dial it in, but once there, it's pretty much rolling. NOTE> Recording function useless for the last 2 weeks, in terms of upload/mix. It still will record to your local HD and you can mix and sync in a DAW on you own.
Hope this helps.
Reuel
RE: Interface suggestions needed - SteveW - 08-22-2020
My band use a combination of Behringer and Focusrite (Scarlett) interfaces and those all work well with JamKazam. We have a combination of Macs and PCs. In the case of the Macs, the Focusrite can achieve much lower latencies than the Behringers by using a bit of software from Focusrite that tweaks the Apple Core Audio. On the PCs, both makes of interface achieve low latencies using appropriate ASIO drivers.
We all use wired internet connections (which is a bit of a pain, but really the only option). We all use a sample rate of 48kHz: opinion is divided about whether standardising the sample rate makes any difference, but we decided to eliminate that potential problem. We configure JamKazam to use the lowest frame size that works without crackles and glitches: either 1ms or 2ms, depending on the computer and interface. We don't use video and we discourage other family members from using the Internet intensively during our rehearsals.
With the above setup, we are having regular band rehearsals without any majro technical issues.
We are also sometimes joined by a singer who uses a Mac with a USB mic and no external audio interface, again without problems.
RE: Interface suggestions needed - jazzpianousa - 08-22-2020
(08-22-2020, 09:52 AM)SteveW Wrote: My band use a combination of Behringer and Focusrite (Scarlett) interfaces and those all work well with JamKazam. We have a combination of Macs and PCs. In the case of the Macs, the Focusrite can achieve much lower latencies than the Behringers by using a bit of software from Focusrite that tweaks the Apple Core Audio. On the PCs, both makes of interface achieve low latencies using appropriate ASIO drivers.
We all use wired internet connections (which is a bit of a pain, but really the only option). We all use a sample rate of 48kHz: opinion is divided about whether standardising the sample rate makes any difference, but we decided to eliminate that potential problem. We configure JamKazam to use the lowest frame size that works without crackles and glitches: either 1ms or 2ms, depending on the computer and interface. We don't use video and we discourage other family members from using the Internet intensively during our rehearsals.
With the above setup, we are having regular band rehearsals without any majro technical issues.
We are also sometimes joined by a singer who uses a Mac with a USB mic and no external audio interface, again without problems.
_________________________________________________________
It's going to boil down then for everyone ultimately to who has the poorest internet connection. Old phrases such as: You're only as strong as your weakest member, Water always goes to the lowest point. As I mentioned, you could have great low latency with everyone, then one last person joins who has 80ms latency. Latency is additive and it will slow down everyone else's connections in trying to negotiate streams. It may boil down to (if people are comfortable) to maybe having two or more people share connections. Larger groups were doing this pre-Covid where you have 3-4 musicians in one location sharing a mutual stereo out (and one camera if desired). Time of day is a factor because it's not only users on someone's home network, but the web as well. Late afternoon weekedays before and through rush hour tend to be bad, especially Friday afternoons, Monday mornings. Weekends can be bad, especially afternoon through evening when people are back indoors trying to stream content.
I just did a session last night with a young drummer and saxophonist. The latency was good. If you'd like to hear the session I put a link below, it should open in Chrome or any browser which supports ogg vorbis playback. Jam Kazam appears to be saving the final track mix as ogg vorbis rather than .wav.
https://d.pr/a/PbFsrN
Hopefully you'll have as much success as we've been having.
One last thing, don't forget it's additive. So if you get upwards of 6-7 people, latency can get dicey.
Peace and blessings,
Reuel
www.rlubag.com
www.youtube.com/jazzpianousa