Edirol UA-25 USB Audio Interface

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Product Feature

• Solid metal construction
• Balanced input and output
• Two professional grade mic preamps
• Built-in analog limiter and indicator
• USB bus-powered

Product Description

USB Audio Interface

Edirol UA-25 USB Audio Interface Review

I recently got into digital/software recording, and was looking for an audio capture interface to perform tracking using PC software. Edirol UA-25 was an impulse buy for me, but for the most part, it paid off.

There are many features provided on with the interface. While the 24bit/96kHz I/O advertisement is misleading, tracking in 24-bit at 44.1kHz presents relatively few problems and the sound quality is acceptable.

In addition, the digital I/O allows uncompressed PCM stereo to be sent directly to recording software, allowing zero-latency recording (meaning, you will only have latency from your software, not from the unit). However, direct monitoring will be disabled if you plug in digital input (so you'll be forced to use software echo to monitor from your PC).

There are several (relatively) minor drawbacks. First, only one of the analog inputs provides a Hi-Z switch, meaning that you either have to use a direct box or two Lo-Z inputs to record a stereo signal or two audio sources. Not a big deal for me (I record digital signal from my floor processor), but annoying enough if you want to get into more sophisticated functions.

The hardware limiter, which applies light compression to the analog signal, is less than it's made out to be. An instrument-level guitar signal will be too soft playing single notes, but playing full chords will cause clipping even when the limiter is enabled. Because you can't define the parameters of the compression, you still have to reset the input trim for different parts of the song. Again, not a major issue, but leaves more to be desired.

Finally, the unit operates in 24-bit exclusively. On one hand, that seems like a positive feature. However, you must remember that having a 16-bit soundcard in addition to the UA-25 may prevent your software from operating in 24-bit due to compatibility issues. Using an old SoundBlaster Live Value, I ran into numerous bitrate conversion and dithering issues that cause nasty "digital noise" which sounds like clicks of a CD skipping. Make sure your other hardware is capable of 24-bit processing, before adding a UA-25 to your system - otherwise you may have to disable it.

The unit is USB-1, not a later version. This is more than enough to process two analog inputs and two-way MIDI in real-time, but again I ran into compatibility issues. The unit uses USB power exclusively, so having other USB-powered devices might cause less-than-perfect operating conditions. I bought a USB 2.0 4-port self-powered hub to deal with this issue, but unfortunately UA-25 produced loud, distorted, noisy signal when plugged into it. I'm guessing that happens due to legacy USB configuration, as none of my other USB devices had comparable problems.

Overall, I don't regret getting the UA-25. It allows me to do what I need to do - record a stereo guitar signal, either analog or digital. It'll also allow vocal recording when I get around to it, plus I can record direct instrument straight into my software. However, I highly recommend examining the market for alternatives to deal with the problems I presented above.

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