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Review: Roland OCTA-CAPTURE 8/10-channel USB 2.0 audio interface

Preamp/ADC quality, and how I made my tests

For this review and several similar ones I am doing on other devices, I decided to use TecnoTur´s revered Heil PR-40 large diaphragm dynamic microphone as the reference microphone in order to evaluate the preamp and ADC (audio>digital converter) in each device. Since the PR-40 microphone is dynamic, I did not use any phantom power. To be fair with all of the devices, I left filters, compressors and limiters off during the tests. With all of them, I recorded the best audio level possible, although with some, there was not quite enough amplification even at maximum gain. Although generally when I record audio podcasts, audio spots, or audiobooks, I record at 44.1KHz, for any audio to be used with video, I do it at 48KHz, which is the standard for digital-audio-for-digital-video. That’s why I recorded all of the samples made for this and the other related reviews at 48KHz. Following you will find downloadable raw 48KHz WAV files to compare the audible quality of each.  When I say ˝raw˝, I mean that no post-processing has happened on the original 48KHz, other than to export it as a mono 48KHz WAV file. Depending upon your browser, you can right-click and Download linked file as… or Save link as…:

• Edirol/Roland FA-66 (now discontinued). This is the audio interface we have been using for quite some time in the TecnoTur studio, and is the only one of this group that connects via IEEE-1394 (FireWire). The FA-66 is quite comfortable to use with a Mac, since it works natively, without installing any other driver. The FA-66 uses bus power, so it requires no other power source. Download FA-66 audio test file here.
• Edirol/Roland OCTA-CAPTURE. This is the main one being reviewed in this article and connects via USB 2.0. Download OCTA-CAPTURE audio test file here.
• Sony PCM-M10 standalone recorder with Heil PR-40 microphone connected directly (without a balancing transformer, floating the ground). Download PCM-M10 without balancing transformer audio test file here.
• Sony PCM-M10 standalone recorder with Heil PR-40 microphone connected via a Hosa balancing transformer to reject hum and radio stations when using a balanced microphone with a long cable with a recorder that has an unbalanced input. Download PCM-M10 with the Hosa balancing transformer audio test file here.
• Sound Devices USBPre2. Like the FA-66, this one also works natively with Mac, without having to install any other driver. Download USBPre2 audio test file here.

Feel free to download each recording and form your own opinion. Although the FA-66 has always sounded good to me and many other people (especially after the post-processing I use), all of the other ones I tested sound even better than it does. To be more specific, to my ear the OCTA-CAPTURE and PCM-M10 both sounded extremely good, while the USBPre2 sounded superb. Standby for upcoming articles about the QUAD-CAPTURE (a little-sister to the OCTA-CAPTURE), the PCM-M10, and the USBPre2.

Compatible Mac audio software to record each track independently on its own track

As stated in the introductory paragraph of this article, there are advantages to recording each source on its own track. Although the OCTA-CAPTURE comes bundled with Cakewalk Production Plus Pack software, I did not install it or use it. Instead, I tested this important feature of OCTA-CAPTURE using three different Mac audio software which are capable of recording each track independently, and with which I am more familiar. These applications are Adobe’s Audition CS5.5, Apple’s GarageBand ´09, and Apple’s QuickTime Pro 7. As illustrated in the following screenshots, the operator can assign each desired source channel from the OCTA-CAPTURE to a particular recording track in Audition or GarageBand before recording. There is no requirement to assign all of them. You can assign as few or as many as required.

In the above screenshot, I had already assigned the OCTA-CAPTURE input 1 to track 1, and was in the process of assigning input 2 to track 2 in Adobe’s Audition CS5.5.

Here I was preparing to capture the entire audio stream with QuickTime Pro 7.

On the other hand, the multitrack recording in QuickTime Pro is a clone of the entire audio stream from the OCTA-CAPTURE, including all of the tracks. Of course, after recording that as an audio-only multitrack .mov file, you can import it into a program like Adobe´s Audition and convert the multirack to individual mono files, export them, and re-import them. Even though some operators may own high-end editing audio apps like Audition for editing, they may prefer the idiot-proof simplicity of QuickTime Pro´s multitrack recording in order to be sure that the recording is done perfectly, and then use Audition later, only in post-production. Others may prefer to do the multitrack recording directly in Audition to save steps.

Advice to colleagues who reject recording audio onto a computer

I have some colleagues who completely reject recording onto a computer and insist on recording to a standalone digital audio recorder. They have that opinion because in the past, they have lost an irreplaceable recorded interview when the program crashed. To you I say that you can always make a multitrack recording on your computer, and simultaneously send a stereo output of a device like the OCTA-CAPTURE to a standalone digital audio recorder like the Sony PCM-M10 or the Zoom H4n as your backup. That way you are covered either way, and can have your cake and eat it too

Conclusions

Up until now, I have been using the discontinued Edirol/Roland interface, the FA-66, which connects to the computer via IEEE-1394 (FireWire). I have been evaluating other interfaces which connect via USB 2.0 instead of IEEE-1394, since it´s likely that my next computer will no longer have any type of IEEE-1394. I would highly recommend the OCTA-CAPTURE to anyone who needs to record more than two microphones simultaneously and would like the flexibility of having each one on an individual track.

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Read Allan Tépper’s latest book

Read Allan Tépper’s latest book, Unleash GoogleVoice’s hidden power. More info about both the print version and the new ebook version at books.AllanTepper.com. The ebook version is DRM-free and now available from the Amazon Kindle store, Apple iBooks store, Barnes & Noble NOOKbook store, and other popular ebook sources.

Allan Tépper’s consulting, articles, seminars, and audio programs

Contact Allan Tépper for consulting, or find a full listing of his articles and upcoming seminars and webinars at AllanTepper.com. Listen to his TecnoTur program, which is now available both in Castilian and in English, free of charge. Search for TecnoTur in iTunes or visit TecnoTur.us for more information.

Disclosure, to comply with the FTC’s rules

None of the manufacturers listed in this article is paying Allan Tépper or TecnoTur LLC specifically to write this article. Some of the manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. Many of the manufacturers listed above have sent Allan Tépper review units, including Adobe, Edirol/Roland, and Sony. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs.

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