So I just got home and compared the TI2 interface track counts to my old Zoom H6 which supports up to 2048 buffer. I set up a session at 44.1/16 with multiple ridiculous Serum tracks each with 34 waves, 6 unison, reverb, delay, simple multiband compression, high-cpu multi band compression, tube compression, and a granular reverb on each. Oh, and 4 voice polyphony. The Virus crackled negligibly a couple times at 17 but could pull 18 with crackles, while the ZOOM was clean up until 17 and actually crackled, went silent, and malfunctioned at 18. I can pass this difference up to a simple trade-off in optimizations. The funny thing, is that experiment showed when my Cubase performance meter says it's at max, it is nowhere near max. So on my album that I'm working on, I can expect to have at least double the max on the meter.
My scientific method has shown that 512 on the TI2 equals that of a higher buffer size on another interface. This likely means higher quality buffer processing. I'd still like some feedback on high quality standalone interfaces like UAD, and if it's a worthwhile companion to enhance the Virus production experience.
