recommended low latency low cost audio interfaces

[dport1226@att.net]

I'm helping a friend figure out what audio interface to get to use with Jamkazam. Budget is always a concern. It seems like the interfaces I'm seeing recommended are legacy gear now (e.g., Steinberg CI1 and Behringer UMC202). Would you recommend any currently manufactured interfaces? I'm using a K-mix (https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/k-mix/) or my Zoom H6, both of which are in the "yellow" ranger in terms of latency. Thank you! 

BTW, if there's a list of recommended interfaces, I apologize for posting. I haven't found it yet.

I am using the Zoom H6 but the ASIO drivers won't work.  I am using the WDM with the same yellow range.  I was jamming with some friends last night but the audio had unacceptable delays for me.  I am looking to see if anuone has a solution other than buying a new audio interface.

[CParmerlee]

I'm helping a friend figure out what audio interface to get to use with Jamkazam. Budget is always a concern. It seems like the interfaces I'm seeing recommended are legacy gear now (e.g., Steinberg CI1 and Behringer UMC202). Would you recommend any currently manufactured interfaces? I'm using a K-mix (https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/k-mix/) or my Zoom H6, both of which are in the "yellow" ranger in terms of latency. Thank you! 

BTW, if there's a list of recommended interfaces, I apologize for posting. I haven't found it yet.

I am using the Zoom H6 but the ASIO drivers won't work.  I am using the WDM with the same yellow range.  I was jamming with some friends last night but the audio had unacceptable delays for me.  I am looking to see if anuone has a solution other than buying a new audio interface.

I initially used a Zoom H6 on JamKazam.  I had only planned that as a temporary solution.  I keep my H6 with my road kit, so I didn't want to shuffle it back and forth.  I was able to get on to JamKazam.  I am not 100% certain, but I thought I did get ASIO to work.  My latency was borderline and I ended up with lots of noise (lost packets I assume).  It was good enough to test out a session with some friends, but not really satisfactory.  I was connected to a Surface 3, which is a 5-year-old computer that wasn't really a fast machine when it was new.  With a better computer, the H6 might work OK.

For a more permanent solution, I picked up a used Zoom U-44.  The reason I went that direction was because I already had  the 2-channel add-on module, so that was a cheap way to get a 4-channel interface.  It works, but not great.  I have two problems with it:

1. (Unrelated to JamKazam) I am getting a very strange grounding loop problem when using the 2-channel module.  I use that module to pipe in Band-in-a-box tracks from my studio computer.  When I connect the studio computer and the Ethernet, my headphone jack on the U-44 plays a local AM radio station really loud.  If I disconnect the studio computer, no radio.  But if I connect the studio computer and disconnect the Ethernet (which in in the same USB hub that connects to the U-44, no radio.  I only get the radio when BOTH connections are made.  I tried using ferrite filters on the Ethernet and that didn't help.  It makes no difference whether the U-44 is powered by batteries, by its own AC transformer or from the USB on the Surface.  I can set the levels low enough that it isn't a huge problem, but it is enough for me not to recommend the U-44 in this case.
   
2. I still have marginal latency.  At various times I get a lot of noise (again, presumably packets dropouts).  If I try to use the video on JamKazan, the noise makes it almost impossible to hear anything.
   

So as much as I love Zoom products, I would not recommend any of them for using with JamKazam.  Again, one might have much better results if using a newer computer.

[Chieffan1]

I'm helping a friend figure out what audio interface to get to use with Jamkazam. Budget is always a concern. It seems like the interfaces I'm seeing recommended are legacy gear now (e.g., Steinberg CI1 and Behringer UMC202). Would you recommend any currently manufactured interfaces? I'm using a K-mix (https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/k-mix/) or my Zoom H6, both of which are in the "yellow" ranger in terms of latency. Thank you! 

BTW, if there's a list of recommended interfaces, I apologize for posting. I haven't found it yet.

Hi Toracat! I'm brand spanking new to JamKazam and have only made some test recordings so far. I bought a Focusrite Scarlett Solo audio Interface with 2 in, 2 out, and headphone jack capable of "Direct Monitoring", for $110 on Amazon. I've been jamming with friends over Zoom and the latency is a problem despite optimizing our Zoom settings for music collaboration. Zoom is a freaking mess for live jamming! The microphone in Zoom constantly switches back and forth from one player to the other depending on who's playing the loudest. I found that adding the Solo audio interface improved the Zoom experience tremendously, but it's not ever going to get there. We hope to be using JK very soon!

---

BTW...Focusrite makes a whole line up of audio interfaces with more I/O, etc.

[mark@butterill.plus.com]

Some experiences in just setting up our band might be useful. The cheap Behringer interfaces (UMC202HD as an example) are excellent on Windows but be careful to install the driver on the Behringer website for Win 7 to Win 10 if you're on Win 10. My bandmate installed another (for some reason they list 3 or 4 drivers) and it was hopeless. The correct driver will give 4msec audio latency. For my Mac I started with the Behringer but couldn't get lower than 11.9msec latency so i got a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and installed their own low latency driver. That got me to 8msec. With that our band got a workable overall latency of 28msc.

Now here's the big tip - as long as your processor can handle it go to Manage / Audio Settings / Audio Booster and change the Frame Size parameter to 1 msec. You have to be in a session to be able to change. That really revolutionises the latency, with three of us playing it's like we're in the same room. We'll be trying with 4 of us later today; the full band is 6 of us so we're coming on board one at a time.

By the way we're finding that we need to keep video off as it soaks up the bandwidth too much

Hope this helps

[Fonfon]

Hello gentlemen!
I am totally new to JK and I have no experience with all the sound gear.
I have a Behringer UMC202 and some JK users have been telling me about an ASIO driver...
I'm on a Mac and I can't find anything on the internet about ASIO drivers for UMC202 on Mac...

MacOS Sierra 10.12.6
JK Build 1.20 1.0.3680

Any help much appreciated!!

Annie

[Jeff S]

Thanks very much Kevin, for the list

[GDJ]

Hello gentlemen!
I am totally new to JK and I have no experience with all the sound gear.
I have a Behringer UMC202 and some JK users have been telling me about an ASIO driver...
I'm on a Mac and I can't find anything on the internet about ASIO drivers for UMC202 on Mac...

MacOS Sierra 10.12.6
JK Build 1.20 1.0.3680

Any help much appreciated!!

Annie

There are no 3rd party drivers on the Mac for the 202. It uses the Mac core. If you're getting yellow in your session, don't fight it. Best you can do is fine tune your Audio Booster settings to make sure you avoid scratchiness in your sound via Frame rate settings. I jam with a few folks who have that AI and no complaint. It works just fine. The real bottle neck is internet latency. Good days, bad days depending on the internet traffic.