- Jun 22, 2015
- 12
- 4
- 3
Recently upgraded to RME Babyface Pro from My Scarlett 6i6 so I did an A/B of them.
Things to know:
-It's not supposed to be comprehensive
-The test only covers guitar DI recording with active pickups
-The DIs are level-matched and then are sent thru an identical chain
-More details can be found below, or in the dropbox link
To summarize my conclusion based on the test:
-Guitar DIs for high gain distortion tones don't yield drastic because the distortion masks a lot of stuff, GIVEN that the other factors are covered, such as that cabling is correct (not plugging your guitar to a line in etc) and that the performance is great.
-I hear a much bigger difference on the D/A conversion than A/D conversion so far. The playback audio quality is so much more clear and detailed than Scarlett's; also it has a much better depth.
Watch the shootout here:
You can download the raw DIs for your own comparison here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9x2zfruktf9l6b9/RME Babyface Pro vs Focusrite Scarlett.zip?dl=0
-------Details about the comparison--------
Recording Chain for JDI-ISA:
-Fresh D'addario Nickel Wound 46-10
-Schecter Blackjack ATX (Blackout pickups)
-Radial Engineering JDI
-Focusrite ISA One Mic Preamp
-Scarlett 6i6 (A-1s and A-2s); RME Babyface Pro (B-1s and B-2s)
Recording Chain for Direct In:
-Fresh D'addario Nickel Wound 46-10
-Schecter Blackjack ATX (Blackout pickups)
-Scarlett 6i6 Instrument In with Pad (A-1s and A-2s); RME Babyface Pro Instrument Jack (B-1s and B-2s)
To eliminate the variables as much as I can, I recorded the direct in and the JDI-ISA at the same time once for each interface by using the THRU jack on Radial JDI. So the perfomances in A-1s and A-2s are identical, and the performances in B-1s and B-2s are identical as well. Albeit in total there are two sets of performance, I tried my best to make them sound as closed to each other as possible.
There is no bass guitar because I want to make sure the guitars can be easily heard. Drums are not mixed; they are just there to create a context.
This is by no means a scientific or comprehensive test. Some factors to consider:
-Guitar DIs don't have a large range of dynamics, so something like a drum test will probably yield different results;
-Only active pickups are used;
-Guitar playing style is metal and the guitars are for high gain distortion; I noticed that the heavy clipping in Scarlett's direct in is masked by the distortion. Whereas if you just listen to the DIs you will hear the DI being clipped to hell;
-Different strings will yield drastic sonic differences;
-Different picking technique will yield drastic sonic differences
ETC.
My Conclusion:
The difference is much more subtle than I expected. Even Scarlett's bad clipping is masked by the high gain distortion. But I did notice that RME's results have a bit more open high end, a slightly tighter low end energy and a bit more depth. The biggest difference is actually the D/A conversion. With my Adam A5X monitors, the playback quality is much, much clearer and detailed than Scarlett's converter.
Things to know:
-It's not supposed to be comprehensive
-The test only covers guitar DI recording with active pickups
-The DIs are level-matched and then are sent thru an identical chain
-More details can be found below, or in the dropbox link
To summarize my conclusion based on the test:
-Guitar DIs for high gain distortion tones don't yield drastic because the distortion masks a lot of stuff, GIVEN that the other factors are covered, such as that cabling is correct (not plugging your guitar to a line in etc) and that the performance is great.
-I hear a much bigger difference on the D/A conversion than A/D conversion so far. The playback audio quality is so much more clear and detailed than Scarlett's; also it has a much better depth.
Watch the shootout here:
You can download the raw DIs for your own comparison here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9x2zfruktf9l6b9/RME Babyface Pro vs Focusrite Scarlett.zip?dl=0
-------Details about the comparison--------
Recording Chain for JDI-ISA:
-Fresh D'addario Nickel Wound 46-10
-Schecter Blackjack ATX (Blackout pickups)
-Radial Engineering JDI
-Focusrite ISA One Mic Preamp
-Scarlett 6i6 (A-1s and A-2s); RME Babyface Pro (B-1s and B-2s)
Recording Chain for Direct In:
-Fresh D'addario Nickel Wound 46-10
-Schecter Blackjack ATX (Blackout pickups)
-Scarlett 6i6 Instrument In with Pad (A-1s and A-2s); RME Babyface Pro Instrument Jack (B-1s and B-2s)
To eliminate the variables as much as I can, I recorded the direct in and the JDI-ISA at the same time once for each interface by using the THRU jack on Radial JDI. So the perfomances in A-1s and A-2s are identical, and the performances in B-1s and B-2s are identical as well. Albeit in total there are two sets of performance, I tried my best to make them sound as closed to each other as possible.
There is no bass guitar because I want to make sure the guitars can be easily heard. Drums are not mixed; they are just there to create a context.
This is by no means a scientific or comprehensive test. Some factors to consider:
-Guitar DIs don't have a large range of dynamics, so something like a drum test will probably yield different results;
-Only active pickups are used;
-Guitar playing style is metal and the guitars are for high gain distortion; I noticed that the heavy clipping in Scarlett's direct in is masked by the distortion. Whereas if you just listen to the DIs you will hear the DI being clipped to hell;
-Different strings will yield drastic sonic differences;
-Different picking technique will yield drastic sonic differences
ETC.
My Conclusion:
The difference is much more subtle than I expected. Even Scarlett's bad clipping is masked by the high gain distortion. But I did notice that RME's results have a bit more open high end, a slightly tighter low end energy and a bit more depth. The biggest difference is actually the D/A conversion. With my Adam A5X monitors, the playback quality is much, much clearer and detailed than Scarlett's converter.
