I thought I would give an updated review since my OctaCapture has served me so well over the years. You can read my original 2014 Review to get my first raving impressions on the ROLAND OctaCapture which still haven't changed an iota.

Two of my main concerns when shopping for an audio interface was quality of product and product longevity, I just didn't want an audio interface, I wanted an audio interface built by a company that stands behind their products... Enter ROLAND/BOSS, who stepped up to the plate and met that challenge above all other audio interface manufacturers, Roland has kept up with software and OS updates as promised, making their Audio Interfaces the Premium Choice above the competition. Roland is very responsive and quick with fixes, patches, and updates, etc. etc., that right there should tell you everything you need to know... ROLAND STANDS BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS.

An investment in a ROLAND/BOSS Audio Interface is as solid an investment as investing in any of their built like a tank pedals or other products. If you are considering getting a new Audio Interface a ROLAND Octa or Studio Capture will become a prized center piece of your studio. The OctaCaptures 8 premium-amps, auto-sens feature, VS software, constant OS updates for Win 10/11, and responsive customer service resources have yet to be matched by any other audio interface manufacturer to date! While other audio interface manufacturers seem to be racing to catch up and accomplish that which ROLAND/BOSS accomplished years ago with the OctaCapture... Well take it from me and other reviewers, keep it simple stupid, just get one of these bad boys, and you can rest knowing you will be way ahead of the curve far into the future.

ROCK ON ROLAND!

I bought two of these units from sweetwater and they work great, but when one adds a second unit for more inputs
all of the second units inputs /sounds go to the first units 9&10 (digital in ) on the first units 9and 10 tracks,this is how two units work / connect together.But in doing so,unlike the first units inputs / outputs
which go to 1&2 3&4 5&6 7&8 here, all of the second connected outs / sounds can not be separated =all will go thru and be on your daw's 9&10 track
it's too bad that the second units inputs don't turn into tracks 11&12 13&14 15&16 17&18 when two units are connected and then are assigned on your daw that way --it's just a shame they haven't or can not update this feature--everyone would want to separate their inputs / sounds---not pre-mix all of the second connected units sounds because of this problem

Great product, after thoroughly researching and reading the manual before purchasing it was better than I expected, more than what I currently need but will be exactly what I need when my studio is done. Great customer support from Roland as well.

Moving up from a 2 preamp presonus to this is like moving up from a cheap underpowered compact to a luxury Sedan .. you didn't know what you were missing out until step into one and take it for a spin.


The unit has near zero latency ( assuming your PC/Mac has no competing needs for cpu/gpu ...I have a 10 core cpu, 32 GB RAM and NVIDIA RTX 2060 ) ..I can monitor my guitar/vocals on the DAW output And perceive barely any delay... The eigth preamps are more than enough to simultaneously record vocals ,guitars and tablas in stereo.. play and record live .. and actually have fun doing it ...

All of us get out own custom mixes in our ears ..thanks to the 8 outs..

If you plan to record live with your band mates ...get this.

I work with this Roland OctaCapture for some years now. And I purchased a used one, so it's probably 7 or 8 years old. Basically it's flawless. Works very very well. I also used it for recording of some of my albums with all the inputs! Plus is't my production interface for every work I do, with multiple monitors plugged in, my whole DAW with MIDI.
It's worth every price. The amount of funtions is great. Plus you can connect two of these together making them a 16 track inputs. And also - it's one of the fiew interfaces you can control also from the unit itself, wihout opening the ctrl panel on your computer.
I recommend! Love Roland

I'm a Audio system Tuner which works with multi microphone measuring setups
I purchased my first Octacapture as soon as it came out (Actually I pre ordered it). I had traveled the world with it in a backpack together with the rest of my rig, tuned systems in every possible environment, and used occasionally to record live gigs. It has never let me down. Years afterwards, when looking for "upgrading" my measuring rig, I examined all the competition and decided to buy another Octacpature! No other interface offers me 8 preamps in such a small rugged casing, pristine, accurate sound, digital preamp control and awesome metering. And I can link them and have 16 preamps as if it was one huge interface! Kudos Roland!

I purchased the Octa-Capture back in 2013 and it is still my go to interface!
What's not to love about this interface?
Is pretty small and light! The auto input feature is pretty cool if you are a drummer and need to record yourself for example (like my case).
It comes with a computer software that is pretty cool where you can control pretty much everything, the preamps, rout the inputs and outputs digitally, make sub mixes, add reverb, each channel has a digital compressor and gate, for the price this interface is a great great deal!
I've travelled with it to several countries and this thing is rock solid!
Highly recommended!

I purchased the Octa-Capture back in 2013, I believe and it has been going strong. I started using it with Windows 2007 and it is still working strong in Windows 10 Professional. Previously I used it Cakewalk Sonar Platinum until Gibson stopped supporting it, however, now I use it with Cakewalk By Bandlab; this is a more updated version of Sonar but instead owned by Bandlab which they give away for Free.

I love using all of the inputs for miking instruments or singers and using all of the outputs for separate monitor mixes. Using the 3/4 out is great for a cue mix inside the DAW and using the built in reverb for the vocalist to hear in the headphones. I low my Octa-Capture.

I've owned the OctaCapture since around 2010, using it in a small home project studio running SONAR X1P initially; now Cakewalk Platinum because of a system crash/rebuild.

Even today; 2019, I don't see an interface out there at its price point that offers the array of features the OctaCapture has.
I biggie for me was EIGHT OUTPUTS. This allows me to use 1/2 for my studio master (Mackie Big Knob and 3 sets of monitors for referencing), and THREE STEREO HEADPHONE MIXES ( 3/4, 5/6, 7/8) running into a ART HeadAmp6. Then I can generate 3 Send Busses in the DAW and assign them as such.

Another thing not mentioned in the reviews here is that INPUTS 1/2 can be Hi-Z, and that INPUTS 7/8 are made for high output-level devices. I use them for the two main RODE vocal mics, one of which goes through an ART Voice Channel, so the extra headroom is a big bonus.

Using the ASIO Driver, I get latency values so small I cannot detect ANY; and I monitor the OUTPUT of my system, not the input. I get about 3 or 4 ms going in and 5 or 6 ms coming back. That's faster than MIDI!

After my crash I had to update the firmware but once I actually READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ( lol ) it worked perfectly.

In 9 years of daily use, I have never encountered ANY sort of problem or failure of the unit, it is virtually invisible and silent in use. No hiss no hum no noise of any kind. I have to give it five stars if only for THAT reason, never mind all the extra features AND the price point.

This is a really nice interface for the price. The selling point for me was the individual phantom power in each channel. For those wanting to use all eight channels out of the box, you want to have a full version DAW. I knew this before buying it but seems other reviewers didn't understand Roland can't give you everything to make a professional album.

This was an upgrade from a 2ch steinberg ur22 and I had absolutely no issues changing over. You can set your input levels from your computer instead of a knob for each channel inconveniently located on the interface!

Let's just say I had the budget for an $800 interface but didn't hesitate when I saw this actually fit every need I had.

i really like this interface. have nothing to compare it to, but it does everything i want. super clean.

this is only good for kids or some guitarist play together ,,not good for drum set .. and 8 preamp is not real only 4 line work in DAW ,beware

Great piece of Equipment

Why One Star??? Because I was duped into thinking that I would be able to use this product out of the box. This is not true. I can not record a drum set that requires 6 mics. The Ableton Live LE software that comes in the box has a 4 input limitation. At which point I'm supposed to invest another 399.00 USD to purchase the "upgrade" to the Ableton software or purchase some other DAW to use the device to the potential that one would expect "out of the box". It does NOT make sense to me that I should be required to purchase more software just to use the device out of the box. I really do like this device and I would probably have given it a much higher 4.5-5 rating. But because I can not use the device out of the box to record my drummer, I am quite frustrated and disappointed in Roland.

I was a little apprehensive about jumping into the Roland OC for a couple of reasons: 1) rumors of latency with USA 2.0 units in general and 2) how good are the preamps? My sales rep Greg Savino was able to address #1 (super knowledgeable about all the products I have bought so far) and my ears tell me all I need to know about the pres - super clean and natural sounding, audibly better than my old ones. Setup was a no-brainer, this thing just works. It can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, lots of great features. This is the latest in a series of great choices Greg has helped me make, thanks Greg!

The Roland Octa-Capture is ridiculously useful and effective. I started out recording in the '80s with reel-to-reel, then transitioned into DAWs around 2000. When I took a break from recording to join a band in 2006, I had a roomful of gear: two rack-mounted Tascam digital mixers, a Mackie Universal control surface, Tascam-to-optical converters, headphone amps, powered monitors and a bunch of ancillary gear. These days I get it all done with a MacBook Pro, the Octa-Capture and a headphone amp (still have my studio mics, stands and so on). I like the fact that I can select +48 phantom power on individual tracks (I also use a ribbon) and that the graphic display on the laptop is so useful. I have up to 8 XLR inputs and I can plug my monitors directly into it. Downloading the latest software was fast and easy. There have been absolutely no issues with it.

I'm very happy with the Roland Octa-Capture. Having had a number of headaches with audio interfaces/DAW/desktops/laptops/etc. over the years, I was super stoked that the Octa-Capture worked right away with my Asus laptop and Sonar X3 producer. I don't even recall having to mess around with settings. I mostly composer with midi, but also do vocals and the Octa-Capture has handed anything I've thrown at it so far.

This thing is awesome. I'm new to recording and mixing, thus I took my time and I looked at a lot of AI devices around the $500 mark that were very similar, but what set this thing apart was it's AutoSens feature which eliminates the guess work of dialing in my guitars and mic's. It interfaces well with my computer via the VS app so I don't have to fudge with the buttons on the interface. The pre-amps are quality, as well as the internal components, which are separated and designed to limit latency. I can literally listen, record, and mix in real time, off the device, if there is any latency I'm not hearing it. True this thing is about 100 bones more than the competition like Presonus and Focusrite's offerings, but it's well worth it for the AutoSens and hands free features this thing offers. You won't be sitting there twisting dials hoping to get the right mix, AutoSens does it all, and any mixing can be done on your computer through the VS app! I run REAPER on this thing no problem, but word to the wise when you load this thing on REAPER be sure to revert to the original version of REAPER after download, that's a problem on REAPERS end not Roland's. And when you monitor, do it through the AI not your computer. The reverb on this thing is pretty impressive to, it really gives my vocals more presense and my guitars more depth.

But the most awesome thing about the Roland is not the bells and whistles in as much as the awesome customer support team at Roland and BOSS. These wonderful and helpful people have gone to bat for us, to make certain this device works on both AMD and INTEL systems and with virtually any DAW you can throw at it. They were quick to respond to all my technical questions and are on standby if I ever need their advice or expertise. Be sure to register your product as well, Roland has a great online community and library's of awesome advice to help and inspire your sound.

And special thanks again to the awesome staff at Sweetwater for hooking me up with Roland!

I run a small but pro-level studio. The Octa-Capture interface was recommended to me by Sweetwater, and I bought 2 of them with a bit of trepidation, along with a new Sweetwater music PC and SONAR, to upgrade my system from an outdated one.

I've been an audio engineer for 30 years, and I've been using this setup daily for about 2 years now, and I'm overall quite pleased. I've had the opportunity to compare the Octa-Captures with some very high end converters, and there is very little ascertainable
audio quality difference to my ears. By the time you add in all the variables you'd get in any listening environment, the quality difference simply isn't worth the extra couple grand you'd need to spend (IMO).

Without going into all the operational details, the interface is nice, the menus, though you have to scroll through them, are to the point and easy to navigate, and are replicated on your computer monitor screen through Roland's driver interface. Overall, the device works well and with good stability. I have 2 chained together for 16 inputs.

The only real thing that bothers me is as follows:

Driver setting templates have to be saved individually for each Octa. This means that when you set up 2 Octas for a recording session utilizing both devices, and you want to save your driver settings in the SAVE SETTINGS menu, the settings for both devices are NOT saved under 1 name - even though setting parameters for both Octas appear in the same online screen. The settings are saved only for the Octa currently displayed as the active device on the screen. You have to make a file and save the settings twice, one for each Octa. This is stupid, and it cost me lots of time until I figured it out. Now it's just a goofy inconvenience, to name and call up settings for Octa A and Octa B if I want to recall a session using both Octas. But it is something that really should be corrected in an update, as it's a significant oversight in an otherwise pretty elegant software design.

This was a most impressive interface. I am a sonar user. I have been using the delta 1010 Maudio for years. After 15 hard years, the card started actiing a little weird, pops, and things. I'm thinking, crap, got to get a new card. Started looking around, Sweetwater came through, Mark Chapman helped me. He went over a few technical topics with me. Roland is a great product. The thing connected without any problems at all to Sonar. The features on this thing make recording a snap. The Auto-Sense feature is awsome. It also comes with a screen link that you can use the interface with your mouse. This is a no brainer! Great buy. Plenty of inputs for home studio.

This is a very well put together unit with tons of features that don't disappoint. I'm loving the preamp with its gate and compressor for every single input.

For a band rehearsal monitoring solution, this thing is a dream. I can leave it stand-alone to monitor without being connected to a PC. The AUTO-SENS feature is just killer, and having 4 direct mixers is ideal for a small band where each member can have his/her own individual mix. Unfortunately, I have to split one of the mixes between two members for a 5 piece band, and the reverb unit is only available on mixer A, but that's fine for the lead singer. The only thing missing for a monitoring solution is a parametric EQ strip per each input channel. That's what caused me to knock down the rating from a 5.0 to a 4.5.

A few minor gripes:
The HI-Z inputs are a little noisy for reamping purposes (apparent high end hiss) when sent through a Radial JCR reamp unit to a high-gain guitar amplifier (MESA Boogie Mark V). This problem was solved with a Radial J48 DI box on the input side and now I can reamp through the J48 into the OCTA-CAPTURE and back out through the JCR with much less noise.

On the PC control panel UI, on the preamp screen, the compressor graph and the IN and OUT meters do not line up visually. This is irritating when you want to visually line up the compressor threshold level (or gate level) with the levels on the IN meter. The meters are offset by 8 pixels or so and have different scales. This was apparently done to make room for the unnecessarily large "BYPASS" button above the compressor graph. This can be solved by a software update, so it's not an issue with the unit itself.

I have used this with both Sonar X1 and Pro Tools 10, and it's rock solid with both. The mic pres are transparent with plenty of headroom. The virtual mixer is a snap to use. The Auto-Sens leveling system makes getting levels really easy, especially if you're both the engineer and performer in a session. I have mine sitting on the desk but the included rack tray is a nice option. A great all-around interface!

I've owned a Roland Octa-Capture for a couple weeks now, recorded a few songs and put it through the paces. From my point of view, the Roland Octa-Capture sounds flawless... until you start interacting with it. Adjusting the level of the main knob on the unit -- the Sens knob, which maps to each input and output -- results in a crackly, "digital" sounding noise that is entirely unacceptable for an engineer. (Let's say you want to raise or lower the gain during a performance; you pretty much can't do it, unless you want to introduce that crackle sound permanently into the mix).

Strangely, the Roland Octa-Capture product manual, page 37, states that "...you might hear crackling while you turn the Sens knob; this does not indicate a malfunction." Sorry, Roland: this is by definition a product flaw.

Another negative observation: the product's industrial design recalls the anti-analog design wave of the early 80s, back when rows of knobs and sliders were replaced by sleek black units with a small LCD screen and a single jog wheel. This forced engineers and synth users to drill through menus and settings to find that one variable they were looking for, always at the cost of speed, intuition, and tactility. It's the same with the Octa-Capture. If you're a hands-on, visual user, then this is not the audio interface for you.

The Roland Octa-Capture may have a conveniently small footprint and a good price, but I can't in good conscience recommend this product. It's just too frustrating.

I own several different USB interfaces for both Pro Tools and SONAR. I was shopping for a new interface for SONAR since it is the DAW I actually use. I called my Sales Engineer Kevin Scott with the intention of purchasing another product, however Kevin highly recommended this interface for my needs. Man am I happy that I listened to my sales engineer! The day after I received it, I was doing an on site session, and this interface worked better than I was expecting. First off since this is a Roland product and my DAW is SONAR, after loading everything and firing it up, SONAR immediately recognized the device and automatically set itself up. Now let's talk about the AUTO-SENS function, it Rocks! This system allows you the ability to let the Octa-Capture listen to the inputs during a sound check, and then automatically dials up the perfect levels. It just could not be easier! Thank you Roland for taking USB interfaces to the next level, and thanks to Sweetwater and my sales engineer Kevin Scott for giving me direction to take my recording paradigm to a higher plain!!!

works great out of the box. seamless interface to cakewalk

Fantastic device! Unit is extremely well designed & built. Very simple to operate as well. The only issue I had was that the device would not communicate reliably when connected to a USB 3.0 port...even though USB 3.0 ports are supposed to be backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices. I found that my recording & editing applications would hang severely, causing a manual reboot of my workstation every time. I then connected the Octa-Capture to a USB 2.0 port on my workstation & the issue was resolved. The device works perfectly every time now. If you need up to 8 XLR or 1/4" inputs, I highly recommend Roland's Octa-Capture audio interface.

So there I was, looking to expand my VS-700 rig. I didn't want another VS-700R, necessarily -- it was overkill, and I didn't really want to spend another two grand if I didn't have to. One Fantom was plenty for my needs.) I wanted the VS series' legendary clean preamps, though, and I wanted six to eight more of them. I also really wanted to stick to products that supported Roland's V-LINK system, so I could use both at once in Sonar.

I didn't expect to be quite as impressed as I have been. This may well be Roland's more versatile and useful product in years -- and I'm a significant Roland fan to begin with.

The preamps are excellent, the drivers low-latency, tight and stable. Upgrading the firmware the first time, with the 1.x and 2.x driver differences, is a bit of an adventure -- one must install the 1.x driver to connect to the device, update the firmware, then uninstall the 1.x driver, reboot, then install the 2.x driver. Still, this is a one-time hassle, and once it's complete, subsequent firmware updates require no such dancing about.

The preamps are indeed VS preamps, clean, quiet and efficient. The first two support Hi-Z instrument direct input, while all eight channels offer individual low-cut filtering, phase inversion, phantom power, and their own compressor/limiter. The Octa-Capture supports four discrete mixes (Mix A-D), too -- and these can be running simultaneously, routed to different pairs of outputs. The obvious application for this wiould be in recording, sending different performers mixes that boosted their contributions over others', but I also see a huge advantage here in using an Octa-Capture in live sound for a school, small theatre or church environment, being able to vary the mix to different banks of monitors in a house PA system, to better take advantage of the room's resonant qualities.

The Auto-Sens system is nothing short of a "killer feature" -- it'll save an experienced engineer a little time by auto-setting volume levels for each channel based on the signal levels from a bit of instrument play, but in the case of an inexperienced engineer, it may well be the difference between a good capture and a damaged one. Just press and hold the button, play some music, and let the box figure out how to balance the signal levels.

I haven't worked much with the onboard reverb, but I do seem to recall it's limited to Mixer A only, and presumably there to give the vocal channel a bit of reverb if desired.

Finally, since the Octa-Capture supports V-LINK, two of them can be ganged together for simultaneous use. This offers a really excellent option for expansion, and with two of these plus a laptop for easier management, a fairly robust mobile sound desk with robust recording functionality that fits into a backpack. There are certainly options at its price point that offer more inputs, but seeing this many quality preamps in a device at this price point is unusual, and frankly, kind of delightful.

I'm kind of amazed, really. At its price, it's a natural choice to pair with a VS-700 or just to run by itself as a project studio IO solution, but its applications in live sound as a control center for a small performance hall should not be overlooked either. This isn't just an IO box -- it's a highly portable, highly versatile virtual soundboard for live sound work, that can also produce amazing captures. One of these, plus a basic laptop with the Octa-Capture's software for easier access to all the settings, would be a very cost-effective solution for mobile sound desk work. The ability to run concurrent mixes to different banks of speakers, and to automatically set levels, make it a "magic bullet" when dealing with most live sound concerns.

Focusrite and M-Audio both have offerings with eight preamps in the same price range that are worth exploring too. In my own case, need to stay within the V-LINK family made the Octa-Capture a foregone conclusion, but the Auto-Sens feature in particular makes it a formidable contender even to those without such a requirement. Furthermore, folks who are considering a second VS-700R, but don't quite need the massive iron and second Fantom it provides, would be well-served to take a look at the Octa-Capture as a very cost-effective alternative for V-Studio expansion.

I don't regret this purchase one bit. Clean sound, great drivers and easy to use. Coming from the EMU 1616m, this is a breeze.

I am using this as a sub-mixer in my live rig. Very clean with no apparent coloration to my sounds. Relatively intuitive interface with the right features for my gear (Pod X3 Live, Kork M50, TC Helicon VoiceTouch Live.)

Just want to say
I was blown away
By the clearness of the sound
When using Garage band just sitting around

Our set up is in our hearth room
AKG's are on the boom
Our kids walk by as we record
Without picking up the sound off the floor

The refrigerator is humming
The freezer is doing its song
And the Octa-Capture is ignoring
As we record along

The recordings sound amazing
And we're in this open room
I would recommend this portable interface
For it delivers a mighty fine tune...

My needs for Audio are really pretty simple. I read audiobooks and now and again when the mood takes me, I dig out the guitar and piano and sing a bit.

When I do, I record it to a DAW, either Reaper or Sonar producer. Currently, I'm liking Reaper a whole lot:)

I've had a ton of equipment and software that worked and half worked with varying degrees of complexity down the years.

This works brilliantly and does exactly what it says on the tin. I know I'm over engineered for my requirements, but who cares? I switch it on and it works.

I'm a very happy bunny.

As far as Sweetwater is concerned, I _know_ they stand behind what they sell. I know the value of that. Sweetwater are a first class outfit.


brendan (atlanta)

I've never been so happy with any piece of equipment as with the OCTA-CAPTURE. The quality and durability is incredible. There was a hugely noticeable difference in sound quality and fidelity when I played songs back through the unit. It's got a superior time-clock, and the whole auto-sens feature is super handy.

The only drawback is not having more knobs to dial in settings, but the pros far outweigh this single issue. Besides, the program that comes with it can handle most settings, so you can easily tweak anything there.

I hooked up my Octa-Capture and all I can say is AWESOME,... AWESOME,... AWESOME!!

This units it just incredible. Oh my goodness.. I could not believe how easy it was to install the drivers, and get sound out of the unit. It only took about two minutes from connection to driver installation to have sound heard. The built in Mixer and Patch bay for routing sounds are excellent and the built in reverb for monitoring is very useul for vocalist while they are recording. This unit works very well with CakeWalk Sonar X1. The device is simple tu use and controlls are accessible from the buttons on the front of the unit.

Peace

I have used other audio interfaces, but this (at the price point) is amazing! The construction is sturdy and the recording are clear. I have been using this with Sonar producer and I have gotten great results. The auto sens is good and the pres are decent. There is plenty of headroom to record a good drum track. Love it!

Very good product. Has plenty of well-thought-out features such as the auto-sens that work the way they should. What a time saver when recording band practice! the mic pres seem clear and transparent, though I'm not sure I would use this in place of my UA mic pres for actual tracking, though the difference in price is huge. this thing will be a great work horse for writing, recording scratch tracks, band practices, and small ensembles where you have access to decent post-processing equipment. the reason I gave it 4.5 stars instead of 5 is that the manual it comes with is not that detailed, and I did have a weird experience where muting a track in the output mixer still let the sound through. It was only after I muted it on the input mixer that it actually muted, which is weird.

All in a ll I highly recommend this product!

I have just had these for a week but they have surpassed my other interfaces by a wide margin.

I bought 2 of these for portable recording on 16 channels at the same time with a laptop with usb. 2 units are very easy to connect together and have exceeded my expectations. great units


Install was smooth no troubles (win XP) I was up and running with both interfaces working together in 15min. The software mixer is basic (no led meters) but gets the job done and is very responsive. Preamps are low noise and sound great. They have enough power to work well with my (sorta power hungry) shure SM7B and still have 20+db of gain to spare with no noise. On-unit controls have a little learning curve but after a few hours of fiddling they become very useable. audio output including headphone amps is loud and clear. Latency with two units is the same as with one on and faster than my other units (very fast, under 10 ms round trip). The units are compact (about 2/3 of a rack space wide) and just less than 1/2 a rack deep. They have metal outer shell and the display has a fairly high resolution (for what it is) and is bright and clear. They do have a metal lip surrounding them that sticks out so they were a slight pain to rack mount (the ears are included though) but they will fit everywhere but the top of angled wood racks -which is where I first tried to put them. Normally, I am not crazy about the feel of soft buttons (all the lighted buttons on this are the soft jelly-ish ones) but these buttons do provide good feedback and the lights have extra functions (clip indicators). Overall very happy with these thanks Roland!