Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
good entry-level unit, May 24, 2005
I recently got into digital/software recording, and was looking for an audio capture interface to perform tracking using PC software. Edirol UA-25 was an impulse buy for me, but for the most part, it paid off.
There are many features provided on with the interface. While the 24bit/96kHz I/O advertisement is misleading, tracking in 24-bit at 44.1kHz presents relatively few problems and the sound quality is acceptable.
In addition, the digital I/O allows uncompressed PCM stereo to be sent directly to recording software, allowing zero-latency recording (meaning, you will only have latency from your software, not from the unit). However, direct monitoring will be disabled if you plug in digital input (so you'll be forced to use software echo to monitor from your PC).
There are several (relatively) minor drawbacks. First, only one of the analog inputs provides a Hi-Z switch, meaning that you either have to use a direct box or two Lo-Z inputs to record a stereo signal or two audio sources. Not a big deal for me (I record digital signal from my floor processor), but annoying enough if you want to get into more sophisticated functions.
The hardware limiter, which applies light compression to the analog signal, is less than it's made out to be. An instrument-level guitar signal will be too soft playing single notes, but playing full chords will cause clipping even when the limiter is enabled. Because you can't define the parameters of the compression, you still have to reset the input trim for different parts of the song. Again, not a major issue, but leaves more to be desired.
Finally, the unit operates in 24-bit exclusively. On one hand, that seems like a positive feature. However, you must remember that having a 16-bit soundcard in addition to the UA-25 may prevent your software from operating in 24-bit due to compatibility issues. Using an old SoundBlaster Live Value, I ran into numerous bitrate conversion and dithering issues that cause nasty "digital noise" which sounds like clicks of a CD skipping. Make sure your other hardware is capable of 24-bit processing, before adding a UA-25 to your system - otherwise you may have to disable it.
The unit is USB-1, not a later version. This is more than enough to process two analog inputs and two-way MIDI in real-time, but again I ran into compatibility issues. The unit uses USB power exclusively, so having other USB-powered devices might cause less-than-perfect operating conditions. I bought a USB 2.0 4-port self-powered hub to deal with this issue, but unfortunately UA-25 produced loud, distorted, noisy signal when plugged into it. I'm guessing that happens due to legacy USB configuration, as none of my other USB devices had comparable problems.
Overall, I don't regret getting the UA-25. It allows me to do what I need to do - record a stereo guitar signal, either analog or digital. It'll also allow vocal recording when I get around to it, plus I can record direct instrument straight into my software. However, I highly recommend examining the market for alternatives to deal with the problems I presented above.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
New Software Issue, October 13, 2008
Just was told by their great toll free customer service that the problem I'm having is not something they intend to fix via driver update since they can't (!) and it's a Microsoft problem, namely the device started to no longer allow full volume turn down when I updated to the official Win XP SP3 version from my old SP2 version. Google searches of forums are proving useless, especially since SP3 was only released a month ago, in Sept. of '08. Roland/Edirol claims this is an "known issue" with SP3, and also claims most of their customers "steer away from Windows" and build their own computers from parts and in a friendly tone arrogantly told me they were not much concerned with the problem. It's just frustrating. Lots of utilities exist as third party software volume controls, which I will have to try a few of, but I prefer the physical knob on this otherwise wonderful little box that indeed runs power hungry microphones quite well, though I haven't checked those under SP3 yet either.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Saved Me Thousands..., May 3, 2008
I have Windows XP Media Center on my HP Pavilion dv6130us. As I was looking to buy a Digital Audio Interface, I discovered that many of them were unable to work with Windows Media Center. I searched the web forever, and finally settled on a Mackie Firewire product. After getting it, I discovered that the Firewire port on my computer was no longer functional, and I spent another day searching the web. Finally after finding one person (out of about 10,000 searches) that said they were able to get Edirol to function with Windows Media Center, I decided to risk it, and buy the product. IT WORKS BRILLIANTLY. Less bulky than the Mackie. I hadn't been able to get Asio 4all to work with my existing audio software (Mixcraft 4), and the Asio drivers with the Edirol work perfectly, and I always have low latency. High quality 24/96 audio input and output that provides clear, crisp high definition sound. I have yet to connect it with my MPD16, and I'm excited to do so. This is exponentially better than my already capable Conexant High Definition Audio on a 945gm Intel chipset, and that records up to 24/192....If you have Windows Media Center, I can't guarantee it will work, because I don't know the technical details behind the Windows Media Center problems, but, hey, I'm at least the second persons who's got it work, and it works brilliantly.
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