All user reviews of 5/5 for the Roland UA-55 Quad-Capture

What motivated me to buy it: The brand combo inputs, self-supplied function "auto-sense" the advice of an engineer.

I use this sound card on an iMac and a MacBook Pro Home Studio or live session and I'm very satisfied
(Config: Intel i7, 12GB RAM)

UTILIZATION

For my part I have used on Mac, and drivers have never posed a problem for me on this point, no crash sequencer (Logic Pro), really ultra-stable!
- When recording, I am limited to two tracks Jack / XLR and I am using almost never optical inputs.

- In reading, I read projects 8-24 tracks without problem (be careful to have a computer that runs behind!)

- The drivers are updated with each new version of Mac OS!

- On my iMac I get a latency of 8ms and 6ms on my MacBook Pro.

GETTING STARTED

Installation without any difficulty (on Mac always), the panel is very clear, with the ability to adjust the compressors.

OVERALL OPINION

I use this sound card for 2 years, I have also tried other sound cards or almost the same range (M-Audio, Line 6, etc.) and there really is a big difference between these cards and the Quad- Capture! We really feel like spending a beginner to a pro really sound!
Indeed, this sound card has everything a great preamps since embarked worthy of the biggest sound cards and is found in incredible detail whether recording or playback!

So I think the quality / price is really unbeatable in this range and I even thought about buying a second to increase the number of tracks!

I wanted a not-too-expensive soundcard to be able to compose without the master set to the minimum (I'm on a 1.8Ghz desktop PC, so it was a bit hardcore...). All the soundcards I saw were the same to me.
What caught my eye was the looks of the UA-55. The connections are somewhat ordinary: Two xlr/jack combo inputs, midi in/out, RCA output (which I have used as SPDIF with a Presonus Firebox, two jack outputs, a HiZ switch, phantom power. Something to meet my needs for some time.
I use (now) a Dell 17R, intel core i7, 8Gb RAM, 1Tb, an M-Audio Oxygen 49, MDP 26, and Mackie MR8.

UTILIZATION

Unless you really put some strain on it (I abused Reaktor with the "replayer"...), the drivers won't give you any trouble. Further, like on any other soundcard I guess, you can adjust a fader according to ten levels, going from "stability" to "real time," which is really useful depending on the situation.
With my i7 and with maximum stability (I don't like to keep it low-key when adjusting the parameters...) I run 96 tracks, most of which have at least 2 inserts, and some of them have even 8 inserts, and I can hear no crackles, the master is set halfway
I have 10ms when recording, and if I really push it, the latency goes to 30ms, but you have to try really hard. In other words, if you optimize, you have no latency.
You can control it via the potentiometers (with LED level indicators, which are really nice and useful). The auto-sens function adjusts the sensitivity automatically, which can be very useful when you use the built-in preamp, which is very useful.

It's made of solid metal to withstand transport. It is very sturdy, mine has no scratches yet.

GETTING STARTED

I use it with Cubase 5.1 and have no issues. The driver is very useful and well thought-out.

OVERALL OPINION

I've been using it for almost a year. I just tried the firewire Presonus Firebox. I don't know what to say regarding its value for money, but I love to think I made the right choice. It is very cool, nice-looking and sounds good. To wrap it up, if you are starting out with your home studio, it's a good choice and a very good value for money, given all its features (level LEDs and pots, drivers, etc.).
I think I would buy it again.

Which technical specifications motivated your choice?
Compact, user-friendly, self-powered USB interface

What do you use it for?
To record demos (vocals and guitar) and as main output for laptop and desktop PCs.

What's your setup (motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive,...)?
Gigabyte H55/Core i3/16Gb DDR3
I don't recall the laptop specs, but it doesn't matter. Both run on Windows7-64

Do you use it with other instruments or systems (mixing console, preamp, DtD, ...) and what's your setup? ...
Zoom guitar preamp, Joemeek vocal preamp, Mackie mixer, jack/XLR balanced cables.

UTILIZATION

Are the drivers stable?
Yes, very stable.

Are they up to date?
Enough to be manifestly stable

Which software do you use?
Cubase, VLC, Foobar2000, Audacity, Firefox

What's the latency of your system?
With the default buffer sizes, about 6-7ms

How many tracks can you record/playback simultaneously ? ...
- Personally, I only record one track, but according to the specs you could record 4 tracks simultaneously with inputs 1 and 2 on the front panel and tracks 3/4 via S/PDIF, but I have never tried it.
- Up to 90 tracks for playback with Cubase, with more tracks you have to adjust the buffer size but the latency increases...

GETTING STARTED

Was the installation hassle-free?
Absolutely!

Did you have any incompatibility problems?
None.

How complicated is the overall configuration?
It's pretty easy.

Is the user's manual clear and comprehensive? ...
No problems, so I think yes

OVERALL OPINION

How long have you been using it?
1 year

Which feature do you like the most / the least?
The most: The ease of use, the compatibility, the sound
The least: It would be nice to have a separate volume control for the headphones, the lack of progressiveness of the pots, the digital I/O on S/PDIF RCA only

Did you try any other models before buying this one?
Yes, but not with the same application in mind, so not within its niche ^^'

How would you rate its value for money?
A safe bet.

Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? ...
Sure, it simplifies my life a lot. I only regret not having bought it 10 years ago, but it didn't exist or didn't work so well ^^

Which technical specifications motivated your choice?

I wanted a USB soundcard capable of supporting 24/192, a simple unit with stable drivers to stay away of PC soundcards.

Do you use it with other instruments or systems (mixing console, preamp, DtD, ...) and what's your setup? ...

What do you use it for?
It depends on my mood. I use it with my laptop or desktop PC or the Mac, I also use my MiniDiscs, my studio live, my iPads, Ipod or iPhone, Neumann or Shure beta 87a vocal mic with a Voice live2.

Ditto on the Mac. Nothing to say, except that it works perfectly.

What's your setup (motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive,...)?
FYI, I put my PCs together myself. My main setup is a real beast, which nevertheless is starting to be outdated.
Quad core AMD, 8 GB Ram, 1 sdd for Windows...3 HDDs for storage, an Nvidia gtx680 for a bit of 3D (with a nice 27" display (a requirement for 3d ^^).

UTILIZATION

Are the drivers stable?
Nothing to say, impeccable.

Are they up to date?
Not right now, but what should I update for? ^^

Which software do you use?
Audacity, Soundforge, Studio one ,Capture

What's the latency of your system?
The what?

How many tracks can you record/playback simultaneously ? ...
My needs aren't' too demanding, but I do anything that comes to my head.
I'm not too limited in terms of Ram.

GETTING STARTED

Was the installation hassle-free?
No problems.

Did you have any incompatibility problems?
None. Neither on the Mac nor on the laptop or desktop PCs.

How complicated is the overall configuration? It's very easy.

Is the user's manual clear and comprehensive?
No, it's useless.
You have to get it from the CD, which I don't like.
It's true that it's not hard to get it going, but then again...

OVERALL OPINION

How long have you been using it? Several weeks.

Which feature do you like the most / the least?
The most: The sound, it's awesome.

Did you try any other models before buying this one? I used an old card on the PC or the Studio Live.

How would you rate its value for money? It's exactly what I was looking for, a solid unit (great sound, easy detection)

Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? ...
Without hesitation!

2 inputs, preamps and converters quality for its class. Hi-Z input for guitar.
Microphones used with static wide membrane (voice / percussion / guitar) and guitar line input on PC windows vista, cubase.

UTILIZATION

Stable no surprise but not too soon to judge the long term.

GETTING STARTED

Installation and configuration quick and efficient, no compatibility issues with Windows Vista and cubase.
English manual clear and sufficient.

OVERALL OPINION

I hesitated with the presonus audiobox including 22 in the same range but does not have a Hi-Z input for guitar by roland against the monitor and headphone outputs use the same gain as said before, the only default I use (and even the knobs are in front of my monitorings).

Value for money very good given the effectiveness of equipment and rendering accurate compared to my sources. A very good card in this price range.

What characteristics have motivated your choice?

- Nomade USB 2.0 (3.0 would have been better ... But I do not rattle with an impedance of 8ms no bug ... and 48kHz ...)
- Quality preamps
- Hi-z and Phantom

For what purpose?

- Use basic: recording voice and guitar recording. Soon battery through a mixing desk connected to the coaxial amplified.

What is your config (Motherboard / CPU / Ram / Hard, ...)?

- ASUS laptop ... Intel I5 2.4GHz, 8G ram.

UTILIZATION

The drivers are stable?

- No crash and 8ms in 48kHz.

What software do you use most often?

- Sonar X1 LE comes with .. Enough for what I do!

How many tracks you get to record / playback simultaneously?

- Register ... Two thanks to two xlr plug / jack.
- Read ... I did not go far enough, but the 8 tracks + 1 record and Roll!

What latency you get?

- Already said, I repeat: 8ms ... 6ms at its best and 20ms to go to 96kHz

GETTING STARTED

The installation is done it without problems?

- I had problems at youtube with a sampling frequency of 41kHz ... So always put it back in if you want to surf 41kHz quietly ... Or if I missed something, tell me!

The general configuration is easy?

- Patient, I read the doc ... It's easy!

Have you encountered any incompatibilities?

- No

OVERALL OPINION

How long have you been using?

- Now a year

Did you try many other models before buying it?

- First purchase!

What is so special that you like most and least?

- The most ... There are so many as to the preamp quality, well made knob ...
- The less ... THIS headphone that hurts my ears when I forget to readjust the volume ... The same headset / speaker!

How do you rate the quality / price?

- Perfect although I can not say too much about ... Without experience.

With experience, you do again this choice?

- Not disappointed, it would be a pleasure! I even tried to take his girlfriend octo!

Quality of the two preamps 24 bit / 192kHz.


I use it with an Audio Korg M3, otherwise mainly with various Midi sequencers and other VST.

UTILIZATION

Tested on XP and W7, no worries whatever the operating system.

Used with Ableton Live, FL Studio and Studio One: no pb particular

GETTING STARTED

Breeze.

No inconsistency so far.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 2 months.

Previously I had a USB Aubiobox: a real difference in audio (best gain preamps, more noise ...)
After side latency, it is not obvious (at identical config PC)


I love the automatic calibration gain level ("auto sense")


The only bemol: volume of the headphone output and speaker common

J (I needed a map to save my components, generally box of acoustic guitar and voice. So I had the preamp quality, flawless audio reproduction. Map perfectly fulfills the specifications.

UTILIZATION

No crash so far, Assistant reaper cubase and the drivers are extremely stable. I can get off at 8/9 ms latency config recording, I go up much higher in situations of mixing. The Roland responds without any worries that I ask.

GETTING STARTED

No worries installed on my PC, even on my little laptop. The manual is clear, no worries either on that side.
No incompatibility reported.
on the other hand I drop a little note in the operation because there's something quite annoying: no separate volume between monitoring and headphone.
From the test published on AF, I bought knowingly, but use it proved quite compelling.
I found the solution by taking a small external controller for my speakers.

OVERALL OPINION

Very positive assessment of these first months of use. The preamp is indeed excellent. It is clear, breathless, with lots of headroom.
I had a lot of sound cards in their hands.
In terms of value for money, I had a USB mindprint trio which was higher, in fact I bite the fingers of the selling. the preamp was different, less precise, less headroom, more breath but a fun character, but the ergonomics of the device was fantastic.
My old Audio Kontrol was interesting, but below the level of preamp.
The Konnect 6, with me it was a disaster.
No, ultimately, the Roland is really a great card. Currently the best (in these rates)? to see, the VSL Presonus looks very nice too, but the Roland is a great choice for a home studio

What characteristics have motivated your choice?

I am of computer music for 15 years "samplant" guitars that I previously recorded. So I was looking for a card with the bare minimum with respect to the number of entries.


What instruments or systems (console, preamp, DtDs ...) the use and how you connect? ...
Guitar direct connection in the card ...

What is your config (Motherboard / CPU / RAM / Disk, ...)?
I7 6GB of ram

UTILIZATION

The drivers are stable? yes

How often are updated? no idea

What software do you use most often? Cubase 5

What you get lag? 17 ms (without optimization and with no audible latency)

How many tracks do you manage to record / play simultaneously? 15 tracks with AmpliTube guitar rig 3 or 5 on each track and Ozone mastering ... 5 until you have small cracks in 24/96 (but not ozone, there is still room ...)

GETTING STARTED

The installation is done it without problem?
it took me two facilities before the card is working properly ...

... And sometimes, while the card works under Windows, my DAO (cubase 5) or other VST autonomous tell me that the card is not connected
Solution ==> restart the PC ... therefore unclear whether this is the card or the computer that makes his but I incline to the computer.


The manual is clear and sufficient? ...
In English, but understandable
here is the link in French:
https://www.rolandce.com/mediafiles/manuals/QUAD-CAPTURE_fr.pdf

OVERALL OPINION

How would you rate the quality / price? very good! ! !

With experience, you do again this choice? yes

to give you an idea:
www.myspace.com/warlus2
all demos with the title in 2012 ...

In addition to Article Will Zégal, which gives rather like, I read enough stuff about the quality of drivers, which is not the case in these price ranges. After the rest, the two pre-amps, power supply via USB and the indispensable ground lift (if I may counsel, never buy a USB self-powered lift without the possibility of ground, the current brings a lot of noise, unbearable).
The switches on the back are the same as those on the Edirol FA-66 (not surprising), then almost as strong as the dip-switches, loggers, attention.

UTILIZATION

So the drivers are very stable, latency worthy of internal PCIe cards. I work at 24bit 48kHz, with a latency of 3.56ms and 5.33ms input into output. The configuration tool allows you to go lower, but at these levels the audio may deteriorate in some circumstances (I think particularly during refresh of the various graphical applications running, which can happen frequently).
Cubase 5, I record my guitar and bass tracks using HP simus convolution and a convolution reverb send in for the project in general. No worries of delay, the game is perfectly smooth and synchronous direct monitoring.

GETTING STARTED

It goes pretty quickly on it, trouble-free installation in Win7 64bit, the card is not yet compatible with Linux, which will be soon.
Just as I wrote above, the ground lift is essential: its power via the USB brings a lot of noise, I had the opportunity to try a lot of USB interfaces without this capacity, I have sold pronto.

Regarding audio quality, for monitoring I did not identify any obvious defects, the quad-capture is plugged into my Yamaha HS50M and my Sony MDR-7506, no breath, good headroom for the headphones. The potentiometer is not very linear, but hey, it does not matter.
For starters, I plug the DI above, it is as transparent as one could wish. Again, no defects identified.

OVERALL OPINION

A great little USB Roland which I am perfectly satisfied. The audio is clean, the implementation is simple, the price is right, brief as you ask for? Yeah, a separate volume for the headphones!

Thank you to Will Zégal whose article guided me well.

what motivated my choice is the 24 bit / 192kHz quality sound to a neutral and very correct!
I use it on a PC with Windows 7 64bit intel 2500k I5 to 4.3 ghz 8gb ram kingston 1333MHz Asus p8z68 pro-v and corsair 90gb ssd drive (yes it is rather good stuff hehe! ) I connected my fantom x6 with my srx cards are small and as you say via asio card compresses its all set up on a sonar that disconnects max! on the other hand I use SONAR 8.5 Producer I just to purchase the update for x1 The only problem I had is having to install it in 32bit and not 64-bit to use all its soft (yes all is not compatible out of 64) I was able to test a micro audiotechnica it was the T2050 and the rendering was really good (very light)! the card is no one who had little more stable TerraTec m-audio and I think the motu to the rank of the motu yes TerraTec not stable and my m-audio has burn (my motu I made the con I spill my morning coffee !!!!! I argghh 1024samples 5.3 ms with its own asio and 2.7 ms it operates in 512samples!

UTILIZATION

as I disai drivers are stable but soft attention to what you have to use a friends fruity loops 6 (fruity is not my friend) and had a malfunction like sounds that are triggered or even crackling sounds so vinil Reason if not 5 pffff nickel!! I do not know where this comes personal fruity I think has some problems (I mean the edition after 6 .....) I have drivers for those original but I have not had any problems so not really need to update!

GETTING STARTED

installed in 3 minutes!!
config super simple to use windows wdm or asio card asio4all dropping it will not render 24/192khz and use self direction which is really an asset to avoid the saturation a recording!
pfff not need a manual!

OVERALL OPINION

yes I had the opportunity to test many sound card before I decide the quad capture was the only one I have not tested but being faithful to the brand roland a whim I bought 179 euros and really I wanted no regrets octa only I did not need as many inputs and outputs that fact that some days I have e jen but not let go and I often work 16-track it does not move !
most is the price for its quality bluffing you it will crush the competition has put the preamp vs. the 700 on this card??
for those that possess the sonar x1 8.5 Show do not think twice unless your budget allows there are certainly better but not for that price I do not find it!
the least one can be so volume for headphone and monitor but having a room and a composite recording room sound insulation I do not have this problem!

I wanted a small sound card to mock my songs guitar + bass + vocals, not too expensive and unreliable. Also I play on my own and do not need more than two entries
Little reaction on the advice of very negative ps235: Are you sure it's not your PC or your config that is the problem?
At home in any case it works well, though my computer is far from a beast: AMD Athlon 1.8 GHz and 3 MB of RAM
I get a latency of 2.5 ms ASIO

UTILIZATION

Small problem with Sonar (version LE included) that loses sync every time you launch ASIO (but just the software, not the card)
Recording two tracks without problem
I have not read Exceeds 6 tracks + some effects, a jump sometimes (but never answers) but hey if I had a little more RAM, or if my computer was not connected at all times ....

GETTING STARTED

installs and configures in less than 10 minutes

OVERALL OPINION

This is my new toy for a month and I spend most of my time registering, mixer etc ...
I did not have many other cards, a soundblaster live (with connections on the front), a DSP 24 Hoontech
At this price what more?
for those who regret that there have not any particular option one piece of advice: invest in 1000 MOTU or RME

The product is recent and current (and therefore necessarily compatible with Windows 7 64-bit) has greatly motivated my choice. Also, the preamp quality borrowed from the V-Studio 700 have inspired confidence and, of course, all previous opinions greatly influenced me!

I use it as his main card on Windows 7 64 bit as well as to the computer music with FL Studio v10.0.9 (32 bit). The entries in the Quad-capture I use to record my electric guitar as well as taking voice with a Shure SM-57.

My PC is a 3.4GHz Core I7 2600 with 8 GB of RAM and SATA 7200rpm.

UTILIZATION

The installation was no problem the first time and I have not seen any instability so far. I did not install the drivers from the installation CD, but version 1.01 is available on the website of Roland. The CD contains a French version of the PDF manual.

With the latest version of FL Studio (10.0.9), everything works perfectly! With my guitar and Guitar Rig or Amplitube 5 3.1, I can easily go down to 6ms latency while playing a few other tracks, Addictive Drums, and some VST Kontakt, etc.. For now, I have not gone further, but say it bodes very well! Just to say, when I mix up the Direct Monitoring of 50%, I do not even have a difference or chorus!

I look forward to, with more tracks and effects, how far I'll be able to hold below 10ms latency.

GETTING STARTED

The control panel of the Quad-Capture and simple (unlike other cards), but effective: Lo-Cut and phase inverter for each input and a compressor / gate to have I was particularly surprised. The Gate works perfectly without crushing! Of course, levels of mix knobs for each input.

As others have mentioned, the Auto-Sense avoids fiddling with the input levels and works very well. It can be used both by the button on the card as the software interface.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it only for a few days so be relative to the stability, but it bodes very well so far. Before I had an EMU-0404 PCI working fine (and still had good A / D converters), but the Quad-Capture seems to me a notch above! The sound is sublime, without artifacts or background noise and is very well defined! I am not a professional, but I do computer music for almost ten years and I have pretty good ears "sharp."

This is my first sound card external USB and scared that latency is not as good with my EMU-0404 connected to a PCI card or FireWire, but I am pleasantly surprised by both the low latency than the sound quality!

I must stress that my PC is connected to the internet, but it is also relatively optimized for computer music (some services / processes disabled, disabling the power saving for USB hubs, HD and OS on the first Bank of samples other physical HD, etc.).. And good, with 8GB of Ram and I7, it certainly helps!

In short, as the other, except for the fact that we can independently control the volume of the headphone and the monitor output, this external sound card seems to me perfectly so far (in its price range). Its metal case also inspires confidence and the look is nice.

So for the USB, less than 200 €, I will in the same direction as the previous opinion: I think it's a, if not the best moment of the USB card in early 2012!

Recording high-definition at a fair price

UTILIZATION

Soon

GETTING STARTED

soon

OVERALL OPINION

First Notice express:
Purchased over the Internet in Orbit at a price of 199 euros.
Printing for purchasing a quality product and strong. The metal is really pro. The power is with the usb ... a joy not to bother with an external power supply. Driver installation: two fingers in the nose with Windows7. Tested quickly with FLStudio the headphone: it works very well ...
Following soon .. with Sonar LE X1