Inside The Arturia AudioFuse

Arturia today released a new video that explores the technical details of their upcoming AudioFuse audio interface. 

The AudioFuse – introduced at the 2015 NAMM Show – is a new audio interface, designed to combine the superior sound of high-end mixing consoles with massively flexible connectivity options, all in a compact device. 

 

The AudioFuse is expected to be available in Q2 2015, priced at US $599/549 Euro. See the Arturia site for more info.

23 thoughts on “Inside The Arturia AudioFuse

  1. Looks like a great audio interface but at the end of the day it all comes down to the drivers. Curious to see how stable they are on Windows systems.

  2. Arturia is taking aim at Apogee with this. At $550 street, it is priced a bit too high for most of the home studio market, but with all of the features, I can see why they priced it where they did.

    When it hits the stores, I really want to take a careful look at this device.

  3. They claim the round trip latency is as low as 3ms. I wonder how realistic that is, that’s thunderbolt speed.

    Also I wish they’d gone for full midi jacks, it would have only increased the size slightly and 1/8 mini jack cables are definitely not the most reliable or durable.

    Otherwise, lot’s of great features but I’ll probably be going thunderbolt with the next interface, unless this one really can get down to 3ms.

    1. They do need to explain this, but these sorts of times over USB are unheard of on any OS, and should technically be impossible with those pesky USB PC buffers. If they can show anything close to those speeds on USB then I’ll get one. But I guess the reviews will tell it all.

    2. I like a lot about this interface in terms of hands on control. However, I also want my next interface to be Thunderbolt precisely because of the latency issue. I also want at least eight inputs. So I am waiting for the Clarett 4-Pre from Focusrite: http://us.focusrite.com/clarett-range#clarett-4pre

      They are claiming latency of < 1 ms.

      $699 MAP

      https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2015/01/23/focusrite-launches-new-clarett-series-of-thunderbolt-audio-interfaces/

    3. Hello,

      FULL MIDI : checked
      there is 2 full midi jacks IN/OUT, we used a mini jack like like the beatstep does, for those needing this.

      WIN DRIVERS : checked
      We use well tested drivers, that have been out on the field for years. This is full USB compliant, and compatible Win XP and later

      THUNDERBOLT : no
      The reasons are various, first the latest macbook
      http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/10/8181551/thunderbolt-lightning-usb-type-c-new-macbook
      Indeed, Thunderbolt is mostly a proprietary technology that has the disadvantage of NOT being compatible with USB 2 PC, Macs, that exist all over the wold , quite pricy, and might now be an endangered kind of plugs.
      I would even add, the proof by Apogee that you don’t need Thunderbolt for Audio : http://www.apogeedigital.com/knowledgebase/quartet/why-doesnt-quartet-use-thunderbolt/
      (nb, I do agree thunderbolt is a good technology, just not the good choice for this kind of product)
      Last, and ot least, we are FULL USB compliant (no driver required or adaptors – even works on windows without our driver, you just don’t get as good latency -)

      PRICE : checked
      We did not price it to make it look high end, we just made a very very fair price for a unit build out of top range materials (consider you have all the plus, good connectors, hands on POT, and buttons, 7 electronic boards inside). You also get a very well built unit out of 1 piece aluminium.

      Best to all

  4. Seems like arturia has picked up where apple left off in regards to hyping a product by telling us vague and suggestive ‘facts’

    They day it sounds like neve? How many output transformers if any on the preamp?

    It has low latency? Prove it

    So many things were just supposed to believe!? At least apple is for better or worse, mostly reliable.

    Ill say this to any kids who are rushing out to buy arturia products: they are like a used car salesman, they are your best friend until you sign on the dotted line, but as soon as you need support they are not there at all. Then you drive away realising you bought a lemon with no driver support and which crashes constantly. Or a piece of hardware with a bank of faulty potentiometers.

    Its not about whinging, its about educating people where not only myself but many others have fallen

    BEWARE OF ARTURIA. they will make you hurt

    1. Arturias support might be weak but perhaps it depends on what kind of problems you have. I only have their hardware – beatstep and microbrute. I’ve had to contact support for both of the units, they seem to lack the understanding that perhaps users are intelligent beings too, but otherwise they’ve never left me without an answer.

    2. The only product I own from them is the original Spark CDM. It was released with a lot of bugs and issues, but they kept consistently updating it and it turned into my favorite VST drum synth. They even offered a free upgrade to the 2.0 software for those that had 1.0. The encoders on the midi controller occasionally jump values but that seems to happen with most encoders these days so I can’t single out Arutria too much on that, and this Audiofuse looks to be much higher end than the original Spark controller.

      My point of this is that if the hardwares solid, and it probably is, then I’m sure they will update the drivers to the point of being fast and reliable. I wouldn’t buy one until I see some reviews though.

  5. this incredibly well made video probably cost more to do than developing the soundcard. ha

    j

    0=0

    p.s. my RME babyface gets crazy low-latency audio on USB (insanely fast no-jitter midi too). but they write their own USB drivers (a lot of companies use off-the-shelf ones)

  6. How low of latency do you really need? I ran a band from my low end 2012 Macbook Air with guitars, vocals, VST synths, and reatime effects in Live with my Focusrite Scarlett USB interface with ~8ms roundtrip latency with no problems or complaints from anyone.

    1. the average for people to notice is around 10ms. some people are more particular. I can just function with an output latency of 10ms for audio stuff..but for realtime midi/drum/synth work i need under 5ms.

      it’s pretty reassuring to have silly low latencies with your audio device..especially if the drivers aren’t taxing the cpu too much. but that’s up to the individual. rhythm and response is a habitual thing. if you are used to something that thing is great for you. 15 years ago i could muster like 50ms with no care. now that i’m used to lower latency i can’t go back. I’m particularly bothered by midi jitter..which i’ve tuned my windows pc to have virtually none of.

      j

      0=0

      p.s. Maschine’s (mk1) midi in and out has VERY fast low latency and low jitter midi. As does the RME’s Babyface card.

  7. On average humans can hear latency after about 30 ms. I feel like I can hear it around 20-25. Anything under 10 is not perceived for sure, and certainly won’t effect you dope synth pass into your DAW.

    1. I seem to be pretty sensitive to latency and would like sub 3ms latency because it would be nice to be able to use the laptop live for VST guitar modelling with Bias (hardware modellers like Axe FX II have about 2ms latency) and Vocal processing through Valhalla Room and various stutter/glitch/delay effects. Also just punching in beats with a drumpad is going to be groovier if your locked into that groove.

    2. I don’t mean this as an insult, but you are completely incorrect.

      Most musicians, including myself, and especially with percussive instruments like piano and drums, can clearly hear a latency at and above 5ms.

      1. Same here. At some level, it comes down to feel. The notes speak at a different point in the key-throw. I like to feel like the bottom of the travel is where the note speaks and not at any point after.

        Also, it is cumulative. If you can set your audio buffer at some low level (ideally, less than 128 samples) , and not have performance issues (like audio ticks/clicks) that lets you use your hardware effectively. If you have to have a stripped-down, no-frills setup for recording in order to reduce latency, then you have to leave out things like a little reverb or other things to make the tracking sound “inspiring”. In a live setting, you don’t want to have to ‘recalibrate’ your rhythm/groove for some low-latency setup.

        But as Aymat put it above, the real challenge is to have impeccable drivers– especially if they can write better drivers than the core drivers of Mac OS. The next thing is for them to respond quickly to problems and write frequent updates as conflicts arise.

        I had some issues with RME and Mavericks (10.9.5), but RME releases updates and fixes issues (even if they don’t always acknowledge them). Things are working now.

  8. this is just another audio interface ,,a digital interface at that ,,if digital is sooo cool why does the old music from the 60’s and seventies have more life and soul????????????????

  9. Just like their intro Hype video several months ago, this is the most insulting bull#%it video I have ever seen from a pro-audio company.

    Compared to the hundred or more quality usb audio interfaces that have been on the market for years, the AudioFuse adds nothing but another overpriced interface to the market and has nothing innovative in it, period.

  10. I had my first experience with Arturia support team. Just bought a 2nd hand Keylab88 and had some problems with re-registering. They replied and solved my problem in about ten (!) minutes. I was shocked, positively.

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