Best budget usb soundcard for recording in 2022 ?

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

After many moons faithful service my Alesis soundcard definatelly need upgrade/replacement.
I need something better to record electric guitar and voice with 'pro' quality,single input is enough ,preamp is must have,bonus software is welcome:)
Budget i have for the moment is 200 euro.
There is few affordable soundcards in my list,advertisement say they are 'the best' for home recording artists - if somebody have experience with some of these, please share personal opinion:

1.Focusrite Scarlett Solo - super affordable,expensive preamp 'air' simulator,original drivers,cool
software as addition.Seems like perfect soundcard for solo artist,it's too good to be truth?

2.Universal Audio VOLT 1 - seems like super quality card,vintage pream mode,for sure can't be wrong with such - minus is missing top notch software they develop and don't offer with this card.

3.Solid State Logic SSL2 - more expensive,but 4k button is like mini consol in your home studio,so definitionally worth attention.

4.Audient iD4 MkII - overall nice card for multitask usage.

5.Steinberg UR22C - overall nice card,especially 32bit conversion,but after all issues i had with asio ,probably will prefer card with it's own drivers like Focusrite Scarlett.

P.S: After half year hesitation i just received Scarlett 2i2,installation was like 60 sec,the sound is very pleasing,especially when AIR mode is turned on, it gives that PRO touch of the guitar tracks.

Please share thoughts about usage,issues and decisions you make when purchase your usb card.

[chk071]

5.Steinberg UR22C - overall nice card,especially 32bit conversion,but after all 8ssues i had with asio ,probably will prefer card with it's own drivers like Focusrite Scarlett.

What do you mean with "own drivers"? The Steinberg interfaces of course have their own ASIO driver.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

asio is something i try to avoid - Focusrite Scarlett use some control software,not sure what is exactly,if somebody have experience with it will be helpful...
So many videos in youtube,but can't find comparision of drivers so on...

[chk071]

Hmm... no ASIO drivers? The DAW has to support whatever they are using then. The only other thing I could imagine is Windows Audio/WASAPI. But, that's not nearly as good as ASIO.

I'm pretty sure Focusrite also uses ASIO drivers. That control software is for.. well... control (changing the sample rate and buffer size, probably). Not the actual audio driver. You get a control panel with any other manufacturer's ASIO driver as well.

[chk071]

Check here: https://fael-downloads-prod.focusrite.c ... 20V2_0.pdf

The Scarlett Solo is compatible with any Windows-based DAW that supports ASIO or WDM or any
Mac-based DAW that uses Core Audio.

So, nothing out of the ordinary. Uses its own ASIO drivers. That additional control software simply lets you change some settings of the audio interface. You get the same with the other manufacturer's interfaces.

[vurt]

yeah, focusrite is asio.
the software is a mixer for routing and channel settings
probably not much use to be honest on one input?
the software is more useful when you have more channels to route to different applications and output different mixes to different monitors/headphones

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

asio is pain in the as...s:):):) flexasio is better,but for some reason i can't record anything with it,nether to adjust latency...drivers drive me crazy :)Cheers

[BertKoor]

I'm 90% sure your bad experience with ASIO is due to whoever made a bad ASIO control panel.
Focusrite used to be not so good. I heard they have improved.

FlexASIO is a shell on top of PortAudio. To be fair, equally hacky as Asio4all. For a good ASIO driver all generic software <-> hardware abstraction layers should be skipped. The manufacturer does that best. imho.

[vurt]

ftr, i do use a focusrite scarlet myself, albeit more ins an outs. have no issues here

[Etienne1973]

I need something better to record electric guitar and voice with 'pro' quality, ...

Apogee BOOM? Ok, outside of your €200.-- budget range with $299.-- but seems the perfect device for what you are asking for.
Link: https://apogeedigital.com/products/boom

I'm working with Apogee audio interfaces since 20 years. Sonically in all aspects very good. Never had a problem technically and in regard of functionality.

[Korg Supporter]

I recommend the MOTU M2 (or M4 if you need another pair of inputs and outputs). It has preamps, sounds great, supports sampling rates up to 192khz, and can be used easily with a computer or mobile device.

[Unaspected]

I would definitely choose to use dedicated ASIO drivers over any emulation such as ASIO4ALL or FlexASIO. Proper ASIO drivers will afford much more functionality.

Not had issues with Focusrite's ASIO drivers. I've owned the original Saffire; Saffire 24 Pro DSP; Clarett 2Pre USB. Main reason for my purchases has been the low price for the quality of preamps. Not had any issues with their routing control software.

[mixyguy2]

I recommend the MOTU M2 (or M4 if you need another pair of inputs and outputs). It has preamps, sounds great, supports sampling rates up to 192khz, and can be used easily with a computer or mobile device.

Seconded.

PS not to get nit picky, but we're talking about audio interfaces, not "sound cards." Sound cards are just that, a card you put in your PC.

[Hink]

I recommend the MOTU M2 (or M4 if you need another pair of inputs and outputs). It has preamps, sounds great, supports sampling rates up to 192khz, and can be used easily with a computer or mobile device.

Seconded.

PS not to get nit picky, but we're talking about audio interfaces, not "sound cards." Sound cards are just that, a card you put in your PC.

back about 20 years ago I bought an Edirol UA25, basically the same thing but Edirol (I bought it from audiomidi.com), I paid 10 dollars more for it than the MOTU is now and obviously I would prefer the MOTU (the edirol is probably buried in my garage with a lot of other obsolete gear).

We are doing a ton of work on the house, during this time instead of the studio I am gonna use my laptop for some things (like just jamming) so I am looking for a new similar interface, ty guys appreciated

[Tendou]

motu m2/4