M-Audio 2X2M: Got some questions for you guys!

[Clockworkmike]

Alright, so I bought this M-Audio 2X2M C Series interface off of Reverb last week, got it yesterday. Was trying to upgrade from the stuff Im using now and found this in " Mint Condition" for about $74, while it lists new on Amazon for about $300.

First thing i noticed was how scratched up it was for "mint condition"

Now being an interface, wasnt too worried about some scratches. But when i went to use it? God awful scratchy sound: crackling and popping.

I checked my mic, 2 different cables, ran it into 2 different DAWs ( Reaper and Audacity), updated the drivers with the most recent, lowered the buffer speed and rate: everything and it still sounds awful. The Line 6 POD X3 LIVE thats wayyyy older than this works fine with all the above mentioned: zero issues.

Am i missing something here and not setting it up right? Or, is this just a case of getting burned?

Any advice is welcomed

 

[eSGEe]

@Thatbastarddon might be of more assistance. I have the M-Audio M-Track SOlo -- bought new for 49.00 on Amazon new (to avoid exactly the possible problem your having) -- I dont know enough to KNWO if I got took or not in the digital daw interrace realm so I went with a lesser unit but new..... since I dont record and am just patching "in" to Bias FX ....it seemed a no brainer.

but all the digital stuff I have messed with is typically DEAD QUIET .... no scratchy scratchy --- and no THAT IS NOT MINT! --even is you squint!!!

 

[Clockworkmike]

@Thatbastarddon might be of more assistance. I have the M-Audio M-Track SOlo -- bought new for 49.00 on Amazon new (to avoid exactly the possible problem your having) -- I dont know enough to KNWO if I got took or not in the digital daw interrace realm so I went with a lesser unit but new..... since I dont record and am just patching "in" to Bias FX ....it seemed a no brainer.

but all the digital stuff I have messed with is typically DEAD QUIET .... no scratchy scratchy --- and no THAT IS NOT MINT! --even is you squint!!!

Yeah, i really hate buying second hand for this very reason. A guitar is one thing but when you get to electronics, there's a whole mess of problems you can get into. Probably should've sucked it up and just bought a new one but saw a deal too good to be true and yep, probably was lol

The old Line 6 processor I use is at least 12 years old now and can record with a single mic input ( or direct out with effects and emulation) with zero issues. This should've smashed that on paper but is absolutely terrible thus far.

I know im stupid as hell when it comes to all of this recording stuff, but i figured out my old one quickly and its way more complicated than this and sounds 100x better.

And yeah if this is mint, then Im declaring myself as mint-like new, despite being a busted up hack lol

 

[Clockworkmike]

I messaged the seller and he was super nice. As i was writing him back, he issued a refund without even asking for one and said to just keep it. But im not that kind of person and a fair deal is a fair deal, so i will be sending it back tomorrow I guess. Kinda sucks because I really wanted it but, it is what it is and its currently got some issues

 

[smitty_p]

I messaged the seller and he was super nice. As i was writing him back, he issued a refund without even asking for one and said to just keep it. But im not that kind of person and a fair deal is a fair deal, so i will be sending it back tomorrow I guess. Kinda sucks because I really wanted it but, it is what it is and its currently got some issues

Glad to see it worked out for ya. What are you going to do now?

 

[Amp Mad Scientist]

Alright, so I bought this M-Audio 2X2M C Series interface off of Reverb last week, got it yesterday. Was trying to upgrade from the stuff Im using now and found this in " Mint Condition" for about $74, while it lists new on Amazon for about $300.

First thing i noticed was how scratched up it was for "mint condition"
View attachment 82250View attachment 82251
Now being an interface, wasnt too worried about some scratches. But when i went to use it? God awful scratchy sound: crackling and popping.

I checked my mic, 2 different cables, ran it into 2 different DAWs ( Reaper and Audacity), updated the drivers with the most recent, lowered the buffer speed and rate: everything and it still sounds awful. The Line 6 POD X3 LIVE thats wayyyy older than this works fine with all the above mentioned: zero issues.

Am i missing something here and not setting it up right? Or, is this just a case of getting burned?

Any advice is welcomed

The scratches come from cleaning the plastic improperly.
The scratchy pop sound may come from oxidized controls that need to be cleaned with lubricated non conductive spray cleaner.
Deoxit 100, G 100, LPS 1 etc.
Switches are basically the same way.
The contacts surfaces oxidize, but cleaner can do wonders.

As far as the unit itself, whoever sold it knew it was wonky.

 

[Clockworkmike]

Glad to see it worked out for ya. What are you going to do now?

Back to the drawing board i guess lol
The Line 6 I have works but it has issues

Namely, you have all of these fx and emulations but if you record out via a USB? It sounds thin and kinda crappy because while it says it has speaker emulation, its not like a true cab simulator and you cant choose power amps just preamps. So imagine just a preamp going into software: thin and generic

So the solution? Use its mic inputs and mic your amp and cab to record it as a real sound. Only downside is when you do this, you lose any FX from the guitar side as it can only do really A or B.

So that leaves 4 viable, affordable options: either A)go buy an EQ, Noise Gate and maybe a Chorus pedal ( already got an Overdrive) and just use the line 6 as a mic interface.
B) buy a separate interface like I attempted here and use the Line 6 as the fx unit.
C) buy said pedals and interface, ditch the line 6
Or D)say to hell with it all and just go back to playing for myself with no recording lol

 

[Thatbastarddon]

I’m sorry I’m late… @Clockworkmike you said that you “lowered the buffer settings”? That would be bad…very bad…don’t cross the streams bad….
I kid, a bit.
if you are experiencing popping sounds with audio, often times it is a result of the buffer being set too low. The computer/interface system may not be able to perform properly with low buffer settings. Raising the buffer will allow the processing more time to complete, and provide you with less dropouts/pops.
Is that the factory protective plastic film still on the face of the unit?

 

[smitty_p]

Back to the drawing board i guess lol
The Line 6 I have works but it has issues

Namely, you have all of these fx and emulations but if you record out via a USB? It sounds thin and kinda crappy because while it says it has speaker emulation, its not like a true cab simulator and you cant choose power amps just preamps. So imagine just a preamp going into software: thin and generic

So the solution? Use its mic inputs and mic your amp and cab to record it as a real sound. Only downside is when you do this, you lose any FX from the guitar side as it can only do really A or B.

So that leaves 4 viable, affordable options: either A)go buy an EQ, Noise Gate and maybe a Chorus pedal ( already got an Overdrive) and just use the line 6 as a mic interface.
B) buy a separate interface like I attempted here and use the Line 6 as the fx unit.
C) buy said pedals and interface, ditch the line 6
Or D)say to hell with it all and just go back to playing for myself with no recording lol

Something's not right. I've recorded with my X3 Live and have been able to use the power amp models. I can basically record any patch I've built.

Here are some old recordings I've made with mine. These are several years old. The one song here, "Garrett's Song" was made on Fruity Loops by one of my kids. But, all the others were recorded with my X3 Live.

In retrospect, I probably could have done a better job building some of these patches. But, you get the point that you should be able to record the full content of any patch.

https://soundcloud.com/id%3Dsmitty-p-1%252Fsandman-clip1%3Btrack_id%3D92943713

 

[eSGEe]

There he is !

 

[Clockworkmike]

Something's not right. I've recorded with my X3 Live and have been able to use the power amp models. I can basically record any patch I've built.

Here are some old recordings I've made with mine. These are several years old. The one song here, "Garrett's Song" was made on Fruity Loops by one of my kids. But, all the others were recorded with my X3 Live.

In retrospect, I probably could have done a better job building some of these patches. But, you get the point that you should be able to record the full content of any patch.

https://soundcloud.com/id%3Dsmitty-p-1%252Fsandman-clip1%3Btrack_id%3D92943713

Ha, that's cool!! Should post more by the way! Just saying lol

So there IS a way to use this damn thing then?

 

[eSGEe]

DONT CROSS THE STREAMS! lol

 

[smitty_p]

Ha, that's cool!! Should post more by the way! Just saying lol

So there IS a way to use this damn thing then?

Thanks! Like I said, those clips are pretty old. All of those were recorded with just Audacity using a pretty ho-hum, nothing-special computer. It was some Best-Buy special Compaq, or something lame like that.

Anyhoo...yes. You should be able to record yourself using any patch using everything in the patch.

 

[Sapient]

Alright, so I bought this M-Audio 2X2M C Series interface off of Reverb last week, got it yesterday. Was trying to upgrade from the stuff Im using now and found this in " Mint Condition" for about $74, while it lists new on Amazon for about $300.

First thing i noticed was how scratched up it was for "mint condition"
View attachment 82250View attachment 82251
Now being an interface, wasnt too worried about some scratches. But when i went to use it? God awful scratchy sound: crackling and popping.

I checked my mic, 2 different cables, ran it into 2 different DAWs ( Reaper and Audacity), updated the drivers with the most recent, lowered the buffer speed and rate: everything and it still sounds awful. The Line 6 POD X3 LIVE thats wayyyy older than this works fine with all the above mentioned: zero issues.

Am i missing something here and not setting it up right? Or, is this just a case of getting burned?

Any advice is welcomed

I'd return that interface. Not the starting point you want to be at. No reason you should have to settle for that when for even less money you really can get a mint one.

 

[Clockworkmike]

I'd return that interface. Not the starting point you want to be at. No reason you should have to settle for that when for even less money you really can get a mint one.

Well bizarrely enough, the seller issued the refund and said " just keep it". I at the very least offered to send it back because thats only right but he says he doesnt want it lying around and sold it to make room, didnt care about the money. So i then said " well can you possibly just cancel the refund? Id feel a lot better then at least paying for it since you shipped it at your cost, if you dont want the device back". He said " if you know how to cancel a refund , sure. If not, dont worry about it and keep it".

I would feel like a complete and utter piece of poop taking for free, something a guy sold initially and paid for the shipping. That's just not how I was raised or how I do business in life. Id rather just eat the $70 myself and call it a gift than to take from someone else and have them eat it. But figuring out how to return his money is another logistical problem...

 

[Sapient]

Well bizarrely enough, the seller issued the refund and said " just keep it". I at the very least offered to send it back because thats only right but he says he doesnt want it lying around and sold it to make room, didnt care about the money. So i then said " well can you possibly just cancel the refund? Id feel a lot better then at least paying for it since you shipped it at your cost, if you dont want the device back". He said " if you know how to cancel a refund , sure. If not, dont worry about it and keep it".

I would feel like a complete and utter piece of taking for free, something a guy sold initially and paid for the shipping. That's just not how I was raised or how I do business in life. Id rather just eat the $70 myself and call it a gift than to take from someone else and have them eat it. But figuring out how to return his money is another logistical problem...

Yea, conditions change. You kinda got into a pickle on that one. What to do. Still his fault it was NOT mint at all.

I had a full refund given to me once and it, like you said, sucks. It's like "Ummmm ..just gimme 10 bucks back. That would be fine." Lol.

I'd just move forward knowing this is not your error. I'd probably upgrade the interface to avoid possible hepatitis though.

 

[Thatbastarddon]

The interface is no longer in production, and may lose support(drivers for future operating systems) fairly soon.
You may be better off with something more current.