Difference in overall volumes in Audio Interfaces....

[dea-man]

When I say "overall volume", what I mean is the overall volume level possible, within each unit.

I have three audio interfaces:

1. TC Electronics Impact Twin (FireWire)

2. Focusrite SaffirePro 26 (FireWire)

3. Behringer U-Phoria UMC404hd (USB)

The first two are loud enough in any situation to never even approach turning up an input gain more than halfway up in the studio.

The Behringer is adequate but a bit on the soft volume side. I often have to crank well over halfway.

Why is that?
Is that normal?
Is it due to a difference between USB and FireWire?

Thanks in advance.

[dea-man]

No one even has a comment?

[ashcat_lt]

Are you talking about input volumes or output volumes? Levels in Reaper or levels in your ears? You really shouldn’t be adjusting input levels to compensate monitoring volume.

But yes different interfaces have different input sensitivities AND different output levels. When you’re recording an external signal 0dbFS is as loud a signal as the input can handle and when you’re playing back 0dbFS is as loud as the interface can possibly make the output, but how that relates to actual real world voltage can be just about anything. There is no actual standard and different interfaces are more likely than not to be different.

To make it even worse, even within a given interfaces the inputs often don’t match the outputs so that “unity” actually isn’t.

[Allybye]

....but to answer part of the question not down to the different interface Comms method of usb and FireWire.