With the new OS and driver, the StudioKonnekt 48 works fine and I haven’t encountered any issues with my setup. It seems there’s still some problems on Windows PC, in particular with the plug-ins (there’s an available beta which seems to fix some issues). TC forums and others will be helpful to watch Windows developments closely.

If you add up the very good audio quality, the many I/Os, the great routing capabilities, the preamps and clock quality, the remote, the native and DSP powered plug-ins, the monitoring functions with three speaker sets (no more needs for a Central Station, a Big Knob...), the Integrator plug-in and its handling of external gear and the daisy-chaining capability, you’ll see that the SK48 is a top-notch complete solution for the studio.

There are some flaws and shortcomings however: the switchable but shared phantom power (the only design error), the pot-meter issues (TC changes the defective pieces or the interface), or the lack of AES/EBU I/Os (to give the DigitalKonnekt X32 a free hand) and M/S handling, and the few bugs in TCNear and its CPU consumption. Apart from this, the SK48 has performed without fail and has managed audio between 10 to14 hours a day for the last two months without any trouble. Even though its competitors (Apogee Ensemble, Metric Halo Mobile I/O DSP, Mackie Onyx 1200F, RME Fireface800 are in the same price range, they can’t rival with its features and the excellent quality of its effects.

In short: I’ve seen and heard lots of audio cards and interfaces, but I’ve always remained loyal to my RMEs. Then came the SK48, which has established itself as the ideal solution (for me). So goodbye Multiface, mixing desk, Volume Controller and hello simplicity, stability, power and excellent sound quality.

Pros

Four preamps
Preamps sound quality
12 simultaneous analog channels
ADAT S-MUX and S/P-DIF
Neutrik combos
Programmable remote
Digitally controlled output volume
TCNear software
JET and clock
Clock AutoRecovery
Powerful routing capabilities
Multi-channel and BassManagement handling
Three independent speaker systems
Presets
Native and DSP top-notch plug-ins
Integrator plug-in
Tuner
Two independent headphone outs
Daisy-chaining capability

Cons

Shared phantom power
Some bugs in the TCNear software
TCNear is a CPU hog
No AES/EBU
No M/S capability
Faulty input knobs on some models