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YuriW « Pristine quality »
Published on 07/21/14 at 08:24The TC Electronics Impact Twin is a firewire interface with a total of 14 inputs: 10 of them are digital (the signal comes from either the ADAT or the S/PDIF inputs) and 4 are analog, with line inputs at the back of the unit and two mic/line inputs at the front with phantom power available and two very good preamps. It also has MIDI in/out, four output channels (or two stereo pairs) and a headphone output.
On the processing side, the Twin's converters can go up to 24 bits/192kHz of resolution (but only 48kHz for the ADAT channels), and it has an awesome control panel software with built-in eq, compression, reverb, etc.
I use it with my mac mini (2011, i5, 8GB RAM), with Logic Pro X and sometimes Reaper, mostly to produce soundtracks for videogames.
UTILIZATION
I usually record only one or two channels at once, but have used the Twin with all the 8 ADAT channels (audio coming from a yamaha digital mixer) a couple times and it worked flawlessly. Latency is very low, and thanks to the control panel you can use the built in effects to have a nice sounding chain without using any plugins from your DAW - and still record only the dry signal. The patching on this control panel is pretty simple and while some effects have only one knob (like the compressor) you can hear that it affects different parameters at the same time (ratio, attack), which keeps things simple and efficient during a session. The reverb sounds great.
The pre amps are really good, transparent and nice sounding. A friend of mine who also has one said once that "it sounds a little too harsh in the upper mids", but honestly I've never really noticed it. I also like the headphone amp a lot, no matter what headphone I plug into the Twin, it always sounds clearer than the same one in another interface. Another good thing are the two phone outputs: one mutes the output to the monitors and the other doesn't, cool resource.
GETTING STARTED
Never had any issues with drivers stability or compatibility with the mac, I pretty much just installed the Control Panel thingy and was ready to go. The basic stuff is plug and play, and if you want to go into everything that the control panel can do for you, a look at the manual might help.
Never needed the customer support, but other people I know had and they say is pretty good. Also I've never dropped the unit, but it looks like it wouldn't suffer much, it looks very well built, sturdy.
OVERALL OPINION
What I like most about it, in comparison to the equipment that I've had and used a lot in the past:
- I can make my regular (two channels) recordings at home and easily plug it into any ADAT (from a mixer in a studio, for example) to get more channels if needed.
- The audio quality, both from the pre amps and the headphone output.
- The effects in the control panel and the bundled plug ins.
What I don't like about it:
- In 2014, let's face it: firewire is kind of a problem, we don't know how long this is going to last. It's the only thing that would keep me from buying another one.
Overall, if you already have a computer with a firewire connection and don't plan to change it too soon, the Twin is definitely a great choice. In my opinion, the best audio interface in it's price range, probably even better than some other ones $100 or $150 more expensive.
On the processing side, the Twin's converters can go up to 24 bits/192kHz of resolution (but only 48kHz for the ADAT channels), and it has an awesome control panel software with built-in eq, compression, reverb, etc.
I use it with my mac mini (2011, i5, 8GB RAM), with Logic Pro X and sometimes Reaper, mostly to produce soundtracks for videogames.
UTILIZATION
I usually record only one or two channels at once, but have used the Twin with all the 8 ADAT channels (audio coming from a yamaha digital mixer) a couple times and it worked flawlessly. Latency is very low, and thanks to the control panel you can use the built in effects to have a nice sounding chain without using any plugins from your DAW - and still record only the dry signal. The patching on this control panel is pretty simple and while some effects have only one knob (like the compressor) you can hear that it affects different parameters at the same time (ratio, attack), which keeps things simple and efficient during a session. The reverb sounds great.
The pre amps are really good, transparent and nice sounding. A friend of mine who also has one said once that "it sounds a little too harsh in the upper mids", but honestly I've never really noticed it. I also like the headphone amp a lot, no matter what headphone I plug into the Twin, it always sounds clearer than the same one in another interface. Another good thing are the two phone outputs: one mutes the output to the monitors and the other doesn't, cool resource.
GETTING STARTED
Never had any issues with drivers stability or compatibility with the mac, I pretty much just installed the Control Panel thingy and was ready to go. The basic stuff is plug and play, and if you want to go into everything that the control panel can do for you, a look at the manual might help.
Never needed the customer support, but other people I know had and they say is pretty good. Also I've never dropped the unit, but it looks like it wouldn't suffer much, it looks very well built, sturdy.
OVERALL OPINION
What I like most about it, in comparison to the equipment that I've had and used a lot in the past:
- I can make my regular (two channels) recordings at home and easily plug it into any ADAT (from a mixer in a studio, for example) to get more channels if needed.
- The audio quality, both from the pre amps and the headphone output.
- The effects in the control panel and the bundled plug ins.
What I don't like about it:
- In 2014, let's face it: firewire is kind of a problem, we don't know how long this is going to last. It's the only thing that would keep me from buying another one.
Overall, if you already have a computer with a firewire connection and don't plan to change it too soon, the Twin is definitely a great choice. In my opinion, the best audio interface in it's price range, probably even better than some other ones $100 or $150 more expensive.