I was the owner of four Quantum 2632s and two Quantum 2s. Switched from UA Apollo. Never played around with the 2626, but I got the impression that people like them. Blazingly fast, stackable, and rock solid. While I read reports of people having driver issues, I never experienced anything but quality and dependability. I took them on tours for work and used them for years reliably and never really had a complaint.
I needed to update interfaces for a specific job and so I did, but I gave my collection away to various bands and people in the area with the stipulation that I be able to use them if I'm in a bind. A friend who had one suffered a flood and so I was asked what he should get to replace the wet quantum 2632. I told him the new Quantum HD8. After getting the unit, I went down yesterday to check it out and help him set it up.
Am I wrong in feeling like it's a bit of a step backwards? Yeah the 32bit preamps are nice, I guess. But no longer being stackable and USB 2 (I think? We can't find documentation concerning this) make a noticeably longer roundtrip times. There's no more talkback, which meant we had to find a different solution. No dedicated AB signal path selector. No more front panel feature. But just the biggest is the lack of Thunderbolt, which was the actual draw of the Quantum line.
I understand that I'm probably overreacting and have a bias towards my old units. That said, unless I am missing something, what...is advantage of the new units over the old ones? Just the 32bit preamps? Have you had both and prefer one over the other? Just want to know what I'm not seeing here.
