Roland Octa-Capture Interface - Now with Conclusions

[zzzxtreme]

hopefully a pro review soon

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by wolfereeno2

I think I'm getting close to making the plunge for one of these. So far it seems to meet all of my requirements. Just a simple, kind a stupid question tho.

Can this device be powered on and off quickly?

 

There's a button that you push and hold to turn on, push and hold to turn off.

 

Does it make sense to use this for general PC audio, games, itunes, youtube... Ie, would you leave it on all the time?

Or would one typically use this kind of interface just for recording/editing and then just use the built in soundcard for general audio? And if so how do you switch sources and still use one set of monitor speakers?

 

If you make the Octa-Capture the default sound device in the control panel (which also involves specifying the desired outputs), then it will play back computer audio as if it was a sound card, through the same speakers, except of course with much better fidelity. I use it for YouTube, Windows Media Player, etc. all the time.

[wolfereeno2]

Thanks again Craig! Glad to hear that you're still using yours.

Re steinberg UR824, seems nice but no midi in/out.

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by wolfereeno2

Thanks again Craig! Glad to hear that you're still using yours.

 

Yes, it's become part of my Windows setup - a major contributing factor is that it works with the V-Studio 700. The Octa-Capture's lack of ADAT I/O is a limitation for me, but the V-Studio has it so I'm covered no matter what.

On the Mac I switch among various other interfaces. MBox Pro gets used the most; when I need more ins I plug in the Phonic Firefly. On my laptop, PreSonus FireStudio Mobile gets the nod.

[DinoMorrison]

Hey, awesome review! It swung my vote and made me purchase one! I am having some issues though unfortunately.

I originally installed the driver that came with the Octa-Capture and then found the 1.5 version and promptly uninstalled the original one and tried to install v1.5 but it failed. So it made me go through the uninstall process for that driver (which uninstallation requires a reboot everytime). So I thought maybe I need to download the System Program Ver.1.5 first and then install the v1.5 driver (the instructions on the Roland website seem very vague to me as to which one to do first). Same result though, the driver failed to install and I had to uninstall it.

After that I decided to just install the old version that came with it again. The driver installed fine but my computer would then freeze after a few minutes of use and the only way to get it working was to do a hard shut off. I then deleted the System Program Ver.1.5 I had downloaded and the installation files for the v.1.5 driver and uninstalled the v.1 driver and reinstalled it. This seemed to do the trick. A few days later I recorded 5 tracks for drums added some guitar and everyone was hunky dory but earlier today I was mixing and my computer froze in the same way (mouse doesn’t even move) and it has since happened twice today (without my DAW open).

Sorry this was long and confusing. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

Thanks a lot!

[Anderton]

You might be overthinking this. I just installed the 1.5 while the original was installed, the program took care of uninstalling the old one and installing the new one...it was all very painless, so I'm sorry you're having difficulty.

Depending on whether you're using Windows or Mac, can you use System Restore or Time Machine to go back to when you had only the original driver installed?

[DinoMorrison]

Thanks for the reply!

I am thinking now that being opening my DAW (Cubase 5) without the Octa-Capture connected is maybe triggering the episodes. I haven't had any trouble after restarting my computer (without it freezing). I used Cubase with the Octa-Capture and everything is going well so far, no more freezing yet.

I would like to have this settled so I can safely use Cubase on the go though. The Roland website says to upgrade to v1.5 you have to uninstall the old driver so I did the uninstall before trying to install v1.5. You are saying that installing the new driver takes care of the uninstallation of the old one?

And also, the website says you must use upgrade to the Octa-Capture system program v1.5. In what order should I install the driver and the system program? I am assuming driver first and then the system program?

I am reading their manual for updating to the system program v1.5 right now but I still would like someone with previous experience to confirm what worked!

Thanks!!

[SEVerstraten]

Hi. I just got my OCTA_CAPTURE a couple of weeks ago and I've got a question about the routing possibilites for the OCTA-CAPTURE:

I want to record the sound of my amp with a mic, but put some Amplitube Stomp FX before it and some Amplitube rack Effects after it. So how can I best set this up?

I was thinking, having my guitar in the Hi-Z channel 1 of the Octa-Capture, put Amplitube on the track in Sonar.

Send the signal to output 3 of the Octacapture and feed the signal to my amp, and then recording the signal with a mic.

And have this mic to channel 2 of the Octa-Capture. And apply any extra effects on this track.

Anyone ever tried a signal path like this?

[colourofsound]

Hi Craig,

I had my heart set on the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, until I went into a music shop and they started praising the Octa-Capture. Now I have no idea what to do.

I run a Macbook Pro 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo, and pretty much use Logic exclusively. How does the Octa-Capture compare with the Saffire Pro 40, Mac-wise? I see you've reviewed the Saffire Pro 24, which as far as I know is the same interface with less inputs and the added VRM feature (which I'm not too bothered about - I didn't spend money on KRK Rokit GP6's to start mixing through headphones!)

Which ever interface I use will be replacing an ageing Presonus Firebox (one of the preamps has started to crackle), however I wrote off buying a Presonus Firestudio because I heard that the pre-amps weren't as good as the Focusrite.

I currently compose music for video games but am looking at opening a small home studio for local bands. Auto-Sens sounds super useful for both these applications, but the Focusrite just seems like a more...serious product.

Help me out! I'd love some guidance.

Many Thanks,

Chris

[zzzxtreme]

just upgrade the firmware to 1.5. then un-plug the roland and install the new driver. it will take care of uninstalling the old one.

and saffire pro is firewire, roland is usb. roland's drivers are so good, as you can read in this review, the latency is ultra low. you can use it as a mixer without a computer. its capable of 4 different mixes. you can daisy chain two units.

however if I don't ever need to daisy chain, and I have $700 to spend, I'd take a look at the new Steinberg UR824

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by SEVerstraten

Hi. I just got my OCTA_CAPTURE a couple of weeks ago and I've got a question about the routing possibilites for the OCTA-CAPTURE:

I want to record the sound of my amp with a mic, but put some Amplitube Stomp FX before it and some Amplitube rack Effects after it. So how can I best set this up?

I was thinking, having my guitar in the Hi-Z channel 1 of the Octa-Capture, put Amplitube on the track in Sonar.

Send the signal to output 3 of the Octacapture and feed the signal to my amp, and then recording the signal with a mic.

And have this mic to channel 2 of the Octa-Capture. And apply any extra effects on this track.

Anyone ever tried a signal path like this?

 

That should work, but of course, you'll have latency issues--going through the computer the first time, then monitoring off the rack effects and going through the computer a second time.

If you can forego hearing the rack effects until mixdown, that would reduce latency.

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by colourofsound

Hi Craig,

I had my heart set on the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, until I went into a music shop and they started praising the Octa-Capture. Now I have no idea what to do.

I run a Macbook Pro 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo, and pretty much use Logic exclusively. How does the Octa-Capture compare with the Saffire Pro 40, Mac-wise? I see you've reviewed the Saffire Pro 24, which as far as I know is the same interface with less inputs and the added VRM feature (which I'm not too bothered about - I didn't spend money on KRK Rokit GP6's to start mixing through headphones!)

Which ever interface I use will be replacing an ageing Presonus Firebox (one of the preamps has started to crackle), however I wrote off buying a Presonus Firestudio because I heard that the pre-amps weren't as good as the Focusrite.

I currently compose music for video games but am looking at opening a small home studio for local bands. Auto-Sens sounds super useful for both these applications, but the Focusrite just seems like a more...serious product.

Help me out! I'd love some guidance.

Many Thanks,

Chris

 

These days it's hard to go too wrong with just about any interface, but as zzzxtreme points out, they all have their differences. I agree with him that the Octa-Capture's high points are excellent drivers and you can cascade them for more inputs. I also find auto-sens exceptionally convenient, and it has 5-pin DIN MIDI in and out, which some interfaces don't have any more. These days I'm trending toward USB over Firewire...I'm seeing fewer laptops that come with Firewire onboard.

As to preamps, there are more similarities than differences. Actually the PreSonus XMAX preamps are very good, with lots of headroom. I use the Firestudio Mobile for live performance with my laptop.

[rch_nash]

I suspect the Octa-Capture is right for a kind of weird project, but I could use some advice.

I have what I imagine is a somewhat atypical requirement for my interface -- and the difficulty is compounded a bit by not being exactly sure how to ask the right question. I'm hoping some patient soul in this forum could perhaps point me in the right direction.

---

The short version: is each channel on the Octa-Capture recognized by Windows as a discrete 'soundcard' (or, audio input, etc.) so that each can be used as a separate audio input (simultaneously) in different standard Windows / non-multitrack recording applications -- for example, m3w ( http://m3w.sourceforge.net/ ).

---

I'm looking for an interface to run 24/7 with a PC running Windows XP or Ubuntu that will allow me to stream 6 individual audio streams to a network server. The streaming part is pretty well figured out, but no streaming software we've found is designed for interfacing with multitrack interfaces -- in the software we're stuck with choosing the source from the standard list of windows audio inputs. So, in a nutshell, that's the tricky bit -- I need an interface that shows each channel as a separate Windows input. (We actually run multiple instances of the streaming software -- one for each stream, each listening to a different source.)

Someone suggested a M-Audio delta 66, which we tried, and also a PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL -- both almost worked, but neither made every channel available to be selected individually as a windows input.

Our other requirement is that every channel needs amplification (it's roughly mic-level audio) and we need one channel that is a mix of all other channels.

Forgive anything ridiculous I've said, and feel free to correct me or send me elsewhere :-) Also, I apologize for the length.

Cheers, Ryan

[Anderton]

I think I understand your question correction...in the Sound part of the Windows control panel, the inputs and outputs show up as stereo pairs (1+2, 3+4, etc.). So if you have a way to pan signals in order to separate the left and right channels, that might work; otherwise you would need to cascade two Octa-Captures, which would give you eight stereo pairs and you could choose the six you want from those.

[DinoMorrison]

Can you use other preamps with the Octacapture via SPDIF?

Specifically I am thinking of using this unit to add two higher quality tube preamps to my rig:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_MPA_II.html

This will allow me to have 1o inputs total right? The MPA II won't just be substituting any preamps from the Octacapture if connected via SPDIF correct?

Thanks!

[Alliende]

Hi Anderton,

I am new at the forum, and also to recording so it is really nice to have a place where one can read a good review. I would like to ask if the octa capture is the right choice for my project. I want to record 8 individual microphones on individual wav files using Windows 7 and Sound Analyis Pro (http://ofer.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/sound_analysis_pro).

I have asked Roland if the could test or tell me if this software would be compatible with the octa capture, their answer was "The UA-1010 supports all major DAW platforms through ASIO 2.0, WDM (Windows) and Core Audio (Mac) drivers. The Sound Analysis Pro website states it is compatible with "most standard and ASIO sound cards"--the UA-1010 fall into this category. This would indicate a compatibility with our product. You may want to contact Sound Analysis Pro to verify."

Would you be so kind to tell if I undestand correctly and just with a PC and the octa capture I could get 8 individual files one for each mic? What do you think about the M-Audio fast track Ultra 8R, I now its compatible with Sound Pro, but I seems to me that Octa would be a better choice.

Thanks in advance to you or anyone who can help me with this doubts.

pd: I apologize if this is not the rigth place to put this question:

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by DinoMorrison

Can you use other preamps with the Octacapture via SPDIF?

 

Yes!

 

This will allow me to have 1o inputs total right? The MPA II won't just be substituting any preamps from the Octacapture if connected via SPDIF correct?

 

Correct.

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by Alliende

Hi Anderton,

I am new at the forum, and also to recording so it is really nice to have a place where one can read a good review. I would like to ask if the octa capture is the right choice for my project. I want to record 8 individual microphones on individual wav files using Windows 7 and Sound Analyis Pro (http://ofer.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/sound_analysis_pro).

I have asked Roland if the could test or tell me if this software would be compatible with the octa capture, their answer was "The UA-1010 supports all major DAW platforms through ASIO 2.0, WDM (Windows) and Core Audio (Mac) drivers. The Sound Analysis Pro website states it is compatible with "most standard and ASIO sound cards"--the UA-1010 fall into this category. This would indicate a compatibility with our product. You may want to contact Sound Analysis Pro to verify."

Would you be so kind to tell if I undestand correctly and just with a PC and the octa capture I could get 8 individual files one for each mic? What do you think about the M-Audio fast track Ultra 8R, I now its compatible with Sound Pro, but I seems to me that Octa would be a better choice.

Thanks in advance to you or anyone who can help me with this doubts.

pd: I apologize if this is not the rigth place to put this question:

 

This is absolutely the right place to ask the question

Yes, you can get 8 individual audio streams from microphones with the Octa-Capture, and there are 8 XLR connectors.

I haven't used the Fast Track Ultra 8R so can't comment on how it might compare.

[Dortamur]

Hello!

I'm part of a fledgling band who're quite tech-savvy, and we're looking for an interface like the Octa-Capture to suit our needs. I've read quite a few reviews for different products around the place, and the Octa-Capture, and the Phonic Firefly 808 both sound like they could do what we want.

Our band is currently a 4-piece, with Drums, 1 Guitar, 1 Bass, with a lead vocalist, and the 3 of us doing backing vocalists. What we'd like is an interface we can use both for performances, and home studio recording, with support for separate monitors for the guitar & bass. The idea of live recording separate stems (plus before/after DAW effects) is also very appealing.

ie; 4 Mics in, 1 Guitar in, 1 Bass in, with separate outs for Guitar monitor, Bass monitor, and the front sound-stage final mix. The lead vocalist may want his own monitor eventually, as well, plus there's potential for adding another Guitar and/or Keyboard to the mix later on.

Our guitarist likes using Guitar Rig (and I may succumb myself - I'm the bassist), so the idea is the guitar goes directly into an interface, through to a DAW, processed, with the output also going back out a monitor.

Does this sound like something the Octa-Capture and/or Firefly 808 would comfortably do? From my reading, the inputs & outputs cover our requirements, although more instruments would require DI/preamp interfacing as they both have only 2 Instrument ins.

Given the In->Effects->Out->Monitor, and that we want to use this for performance, I'm guessing low latency is an important feature that is hard to judge solely from specs & reviews (although your detailed reviews have been fantastic and enlightening).

Cost is a factor - and living in Australia, it's either get stiffed extra for living here, or take our chances on importing. I do prefer the Octa-capture from reading the reviews, but I'm trying to evaluate if the extra cost is worth the extra functionality. The auto-level stuff sounds very convenient - but not critical for a setup that'll remain largely static. The added transparent compression options sound very useful, and doing that in the interface, rather than the DAW, would be quite an advantage, I think.

What do you think? Are there any other interfaces that might better suit our requirements & budget?

Thanks.

[sanych]

I have a problems with octa-capture but can't understand the reason.

Mac OS X 10.7.3, 2TB hard, Intel core i7, 16GB ram.

On channels 3,4,5 of octa-capture there are 3 condenser mics input. Mics on channels 3 and 4 get phantom power from octa-capture, mic on ch5 is already input powered through another preamp.

Monitors are connected to main outs 1 and 2.

When I click on direct mixer tab in Octa-capture control panel, system dumps. Does anybody know solving this problem?

Here is the video:

http://youtu.be/VvIbVMRaG-Y

Here is the system report:

Fri Mar 9 20:54:43 2012

panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff80002c266d): Kernel trap at 0xffffff7f808ab691, type 14=page fault, registers:

CR0: 0x000000008001003b, CR2: 0x0000000000020002, CR3: 0x0000000000100000, CR4: 0x00000000000606e0

RAX: 0x0000000000000001, RBX: 0x0000000000021a02, RCX: 0xffffff81fa175708, RDX: 0x000000000000000c

RSP: 0xffffff81e6a0bc80, RBP: 0xffffff81e6a0bcf0, RSI: 0x000000000000000a, RDI: 0x0000000000020002

R8: 0x000000000000000a, R9: 0x000000000000000a, R10: 0x0000000000000000, R11: 0xffffff800063d444

R12: 0xffffff81fa1756e0, R13: 0x000000000000000a, R14: 0x0000000000000060, R15: 0x0000000000004091

RFL: 0x0000000000010202, RIP: 0xffffff7f808ab691, CS: 0x0000000000000008, SS: 0x0000000000000000

CR2: 0x0000000000020002, Error code: 0x0000000000000002, Faulting CPU: 0x2

Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address

0xffffff81e6a0b940 : 0xffffff8000220702

0xffffff81e6a0b9c0 : 0xffffff80002c266d

0xffffff81e6a0bb60 : 0xffffff80002d7a1d

0xffffff81e6a0bb80 : 0xffffff7f808ab691

0xffffff81e6a0bcf0 : 0xffffff7f808abd57

0xffffff81e6a0bd60 : 0xffffff7f808ac111

0xffffff81e6a0bdb0 : 0xffffff7f80832754

0xffffff81e6a0be00 : 0xffffff7f80848da2

0xffffff81e6a0be50 : 0xffffff7f80b8de20

0xffffff81e6a0be70 : 0xffffff7f80b8aabd

0xffffff81e6a0beb0 : 0xffffff7f80b8c75b

0xffffff81e6a0bed0 : 0xffffff7f80b837da

0xffffff81e6a0bef0 : 0xffffff8000639946

0xffffff81e6a0bf30 : 0xffffff80006386c0

0xffffff81e6a0bf70 : 0xffffff8000638564

0xffffff81e6a0bfb0 : 0xffffff8000820057

Kernel Extensions in backtrace:

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(4.5.8)[1FEB88C1-AD15-3AEF-8379-CA51810FD38E]@0xffffff7f80830000->0xffffff7f8087efff

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6.8)[F63D4ABE-42DA-33EF-BADD-3415B0CB0179]@0xffffff7f80812000

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI(4.5.8)[6EE5E214-3967-3FBA-989D-1F6A62D52EE4]@0xffffff7f80b80000->0xffffff7f80b96fff

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(4.5.8)[1FEB88C1-AD15-3AEF-8379-CA51810FD38E]@0xffffff7f80830000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6.8)[F63D4ABE-42DA-33EF-BADD-3415B0CB0179]@0xffffff7f80812000

jp.co.roland.RDUSB0120Dev(1.5)[2562EA8D-78D4-A332-53CA-3D6F2AAFE88C]@0xffffff7f8087f000->0xffffff7f808bffff

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily(1.8.6fc6)[345E325F-3E96-3FEB-8C50-E446305F4ED8]@0xffffff7f807e8000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(4.5.8)[1FEB88C1-AD15-3AEF-8379-CA51810FD38E]@0xffffff7f80830000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

[Anderton]

Here's a heads-up for those using the OC to expand a VS-700: You need to download the 2.0.1 driver for the VS-700. If you're still on 2.0.0, then trying to do expand will give a "version does not match" error message. Also note that in Preferences, Sonar does not show the words "Octa-Capture." The OC I/O is referred to as "VS-700 EXP" so if you just glance at preferences, you might not think the OC is there.

Finally, remember the VS-700 and OC USB need to feed off the same USB contoller.

[kevtehc]

Hi there, this is my first time on this forum and I'm desperately in need of some help! Ive just recently bought an iMAC running on osx 10.7.3.. Im trying to install my Roland Octa-capture. The control panel has installed and so is the driver so i believe. The octal-capture is being picked up under system information (USB tab), however it says not configured. Also when run the octal-capture control panel, it just says device not found. Obviously I've connected it and its switched on etc. Ive tried uninstalling and re-installing but no joy. Can you someone help me please??

Thanks in advance

[tofutodd]

Hello everyone. Unlike others I am having a lot of trouble with latency with the Octa-Capture. Before, I used the M-Audio Fast Track 8R at 256samples and had no noticeable latency. The Octa-Capture SHOULD be just as good or better I assumed (especially for the price tag). If anyone could help with a suggestion I would appreciate it.

To get more specific: Some background - I run a Dell Studio XPS 9000, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, I7 chip, 24GB's of RAM. I use Reaper 64-Bit for mixing and Ableton 32-bit for creative. I was having terrible latency with the initial install in Reaper so I thought in troubleshooting that maybe it was the particular driver I installed (64-bit vs 32-bit) needed to be like my 64-bit system (there is a generic install in the driver folder plus specific ones for the various versions of windows and bit rates as you know, I had installed the generic one). So after installing the Windows 7 64-bit driver the latency was gone in Reaper 64...phew problem solved! Wrong!

Now when I use Ableton IT has the terrible latency. Even with much lower sample rates. It seems it might look like I need the driver to match my DAW? If that is so, can I have the 32-bit and 64-bit Octa-Capture drivers installed at the same time? And if so, how do I choose between them depending my DAW choice (if this is even the problem at all).

I have to admit SO FAR I am pretty bummed with the Octa-Capture. It was $579 plus Cali tax making it over $600. I'm no noob with home production, but this thing has me on every forum there is. Can anyone help me not have to put this on EBAY and try to salvage what I can to get a MOTU ULTRALITE or even the crappy M-Audio I used to have lol!

I appreciate any suggestions or wisdom, thanks!

[Anderton]

I've used the Octa-Capture with Live using 64-bit Windows 7 and have no issues at all with latency. I'm using the 64-bit drivers. Have you tried driver protocols other than ASIO to see what happens? Are you sure it isn't something like Live's latency resetting itself to some default or something? It definitely does work, so there's got to be something misset somewhere...

Also, are you using the 1.5 drivers, or the ones that shipped with it originally? There have been some updates.

[zzzxtreme]

there's one thing you could try, install a second windows OS (without graphics or any other drivers) and see if you get the same problem.