Best sound interface for gaming and online work calls.
Two separate mixes are brilliant. Why nobody else does that. Every single other mixer is designed to output only one main mix for PA or a stream. The headphone output is usually a secondary addition, most you can get is "mix minus microphone" or "solo" or something very limited like that.
For gaming and online meetings, headphone output is as important as "main mix". Roland somehow got this. The next cheapest alternative is a Rodecaster.
Multiple USB output channels and channels assignable to knobs are also great. Each knob has a visual realtime meter of channel's volume level.
But there is a problem. All knobs/meters can either be attached all together to "streaming" mix, or "personal" mix. Can't assign knobs individually. And the worst part is that the headphone output is changed together with the knobs, with the same button. You can control and see only what you hear. It's impossible to control or see any meter in "streaming" mix while listening to "personal" mix. Seriously, Roland? It wasn't easy to ruin the outstanding design, but you managed to do that.
I would very much like to see meters of my "streaming" mix, to visually control what the listeners hear, while not hearing it myself. I don't need to stare at meters of what I currently hear. How somebody got an idea that this use case should be restricted.
Alright, but there is a line out. I can connect a separate headphone amplifier to it and listen to the "personal" mix while the knobs and meters display "streaming" mix, right? NO. There is no option to output "personal" to line out. Only "streaming" or "sync with headphones". Seriously? Even a workaround was prevented carefully.
However there is a workaround for seeing the microphone meter while not hearing it, and having visual "mute" button for it. That's why I can still use the device in a limited way. For the microphone channel, unmute all mixes, set "personal" level to 0, "streaming" and "microphone output" level to the desired one, and display meter for "microphone output". The mute button should be "mute to all channels". Hard to explain, you'll get it.
Sound quality is unknown. There are no specs declared for frequency response and noise. There is no single technical review on internet. My voice sounds harsher than with "noisy" Yamaha/Steinberg preamps. I would prefer Yamaha/Steinberg, but maybe it's just personal preference.
Linux has support for the multiple output channels on this device, which is rare. No Linux support for the configuration software of course.
How to use it for online gaming:
1 ch - microphone
2 - music via separate USB channel from software player, or via AUX from smartphone
3 - voice chat (e.g. Discord)
4 - game sound
It's a bliss to set volume or mute those sources independently and with physical controls.
For work it's the same, except "game sound". The device allows to pre-record presentations and run them via a separate input channel, being ready to take over with microphone any moment.
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