Best budget usb soundcard for recording in 2022 ?

[Hink]

my motu 4x4 will be here wednesday

edit: and next spring and summer I'll have my outdoor studio thanx to this I think it will fit in nicely and the indoor studio should be in good shape by then.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Thanks for sharing experience,i could buy something more expensive,investment in quality products always worth it.
Will make deeper research what worth it long term.
Entire driver drama may be fixed with new generations usb interfaces, especially these with USB-C seems have better parts and technology inside and problems i had with asio before to be caused of my obsolete device,don't know,need upgrade,but don't have enough info to decide what exactly is 'the best':)
Cheers

[Logga]

You can try a MOTU M2. There were reports of reliability problems when it came out, but maybe they're fixed by now.
You get good audio performance and digitally controlled volumes, which is not that common for that price point.

A cheaper option, but still okay, is the Arturia Minifuse line.
The Focusrite 2i2 is probably fine too.

But I don't see any point in those "Air", "Vintage", "4k"... effects. They look like gimmicks and you get no settings (unlike with the millions of plugins that can do the same thing).

And I would get something that has the loopback feature. It's not a must for every user, but it's available in many cheap soundcards nowadays, so why not.

Apogee BOOM?

Nope. It can't even output audio to speakers and headphones at the same time. You have to physically unplug the headphones just to listen to speakers.
Same with the Audient EVO line, big fail.

[chk071]

Entire driver drama may be fixed with new generations usb interfaces

If you would describe the "driver drama", maybe somebody could say something about it.

I never had a driver drama with my Steinberg interfaces.

[Unaspected]

But I don't see any point in those "Air", "Vintage", "4k"... effects. They look like gimmicks and you get no settings (unlike with the millions of plugins that can do the same thing).

The "Air" setting on the Focusrite preamps switches an alternative physical circuit that emulates the ISA 110 mic preamp. In use it gives a different tonal quality. Definitely not a gimmick.

[Logga]

I didn't say that it doesn't do anything. It's a gimmick in the sense that it's mostly there for marketing purposes and is of very limited use otherwise, because you just get a fixed "magic sound" setting and that's it.
I don't see users asking for such features (at least not professionals). It's pushed by the companies for product differentiation in the entry level market.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

But I don't see any point in those "Air", "Vintage", "4k"... effects. They look like gimmicks and you get no settings (unlike with the millions of plugins that can do the same thing).

The "Air" setting on the Focusrite preamps switches an alternative physical circuit that emulates the ISA 110 mic preamp. In use it gives a different tonal quality. Definitely not a gimmick.

'Air' and 'Vintage' 'magic' switches could be useful for chords and vocals to warm the sound naturally.
UA Volt seems like best choice In term of dynamics - somehow more musical to my ears,more dynamic output,with better resolution...
DAC converter specifications are different i guess - not sure is it technological difference even audible to human ear,trying to feel it ...
My first impression is that Focusrite and UA are the brands,which fit my taste,but in this price range everybody make compromises with something,so may entire research to be wasting time - same quality different brands,just some put these 'magic' buttons to attract the users'.
It's kind of childish but i am very impressed with Focusrite Solo plugins bundle so if the quality under 200 euro is the same and the rest is trade tricks,probably will take it because of these candies.
Cheers

[vurt]

the focusrite also adds the monthly freebies you can download, some better than others admittedly, but a nice bonus imo.

[vurt]

Entire driver drama may be fixed with new generations usb interfaces

If you would describe the "driver drama", maybe somebody could say something about it.

I never had a driver drama with my Steinberg interfaces.

agree, if there's major issues with asio drivers (even asio4all) on your computer, i think the issue is elsewhere.

any one of the interfaces mentioned will work on a system that is powerful enough to handle the audio.

[The Noodlist]

Computer Music has a "Best cheap interface" article in November 2022.

Also, I often find reviews hard to believe, biased maybe? They are mostly all positive, in favour of sales and revenue.

I've been curious about the MOTU M4, it's on my radar. I also get good results from a Presonus Audiobox 96, it sounds superior to my MOTU Traveler MK1.
 

[Etienne1973]

Apogee BOOM?

Nope. It can't even output audio to speakers and headphones at the same time. You have to physically unplug the headphones just to listen to speakers.
Same with the Audient EVO line, big fail.

For me no deal breaker. But agreed, not an elegant circumstance.

[Unaspected]

But I don't see any point in those "Air", "Vintage", "4k"... effects. They look like gimmicks and you get no settings (unlike with the millions of plugins that can do the same thing).

The "Air" setting on the Focusrite preamps switches an alternative physical circuit that emulates the ISA 110 mic preamp. In use it gives a different tonal quality. Definitely not a gimmick.

'Air' and 'Vintage' 'magic' switches could be useful for chords and vocals to warm the sound naturally.
UA Volt seems like best choice In term of dynamics - somehow more musical to my ears,more dynamic output,with better resolution...
DAC converter specifications are different i guess - not sure is it technological difference even audible to human ear,trying to feel it ...
My first impression is that Focusrite and UA are the brands,which fit my taste,but in this price range everybody make compromises with something,so may entire research to be wasting time - same quality different brands,just some put these 'magic' buttons to attract the users'.
It's kind of childish but i am very impressed with Focusrite Solo plugins bundle so if the quality under 200 euro is the same and the rest is trade tricks,probably will take it because of these candies.
Cheers

UA's Volt is a very nice looking interface in terms of specs - though it looks like it's missing optical connectivity, which I need for my rig. The additional features seem perfectly functional and useful. And whilst the preamp is presumably using transistors to model tube amp behaviour, I think it's good to have such options - and if it comes close to the sound of the 610 (as it claims) it should sound very nice. You also get an analogue compressor - which is really useful when tracking. This isn't something that can be replaced with plugins as it's all ahead of the converters.

Not that you *need compression ahead of converters. I've made plenty of good recordings straight through console preamps to tape without any additional processing, ready to process using plugins. But I do like to use compression on vocals and experimental sounds that might otherwise clip when tracking. Sometimes this is because I want the sound of the compressor in the recording though.

As for converter quality: You're not going to get something that will sound as good as a dedicated unit for a grand+ but it will certainly be good enough. And yes, the difference is audible with high quality converters.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

But I don't see any point in those "Air", "Vintage", "4k"... effects. They look like gimmicks and you get no settings (unlike with the millions of plugins that can do the same thing).

The "Air" setting on the Focusrite preamps switches an alternative physical circuit that emulates the ISA 110 mic preamp. In use it gives a different tonal quality. Definitely not a gimmick.

'Air' and 'Vintage' 'magic' switches could be useful for chords and vocals to warm the sound naturally.
UA Volt seems like best choice In term of dynamics - somehow more musical to my ears,more dynamic output,with better resolution...
DAC converter specifications are different i guess - not sure is it technological difference even audible to human ear,trying to feel it ...
My first impression is that Focusrite and UA are the brands,which fit my taste,but in this price range everybody make compromises with something,so may entire research to be wasting time - same quality different brands,just some put these 'magic' buttons to attract the users'.
It's kind of childish but i am very impressed with Focusrite Solo plugins bundle so if the quality under 200 euro is the same and the rest is trade tricks,probably will take it because of these candies.
Cheers

UA's Volt is a very nice looking interface in terms of specs - though it looks like it's missing optical connectivity, which I need for my rig. The additional features seem perfectly functional and useful. And whilst the preamp is presumably using transistors to model tube amp behaviour, I think it's good to have such options - and if it comes close to the sound of the 610 (as it claims) it should sound very nice. You also get an analogue compressor - which is really useful when tracking. This isn't something that can be replaced with plugins as it's all ahead of the converters.

Not that you *need compression ahead of converters. I've made plenty of good recordings straight through console preamps to tape without any additional processing, ready to process using plugins. But I do like to use compression on vocals and experimental sounds that might otherwise clip when tracking. Sometimes this is because I want the sound of the compressor in the recording though.

As for converter quality: You're not going to get something that will sound as good as a dedicated unit for a grand+ but it will certainly be good enough. And yes, the difference is audible with high quality converters.

Basically i need a card to record guitars and vocals of old songs i compose for the most unsuccessful rock band in the history of unsuccessful rock bands hahahahaa
We made few nice songs,but never made a record of them back in 2002(exactly 20 years ago.kind of anniversary hahaha - my plan is to record my guitar parts,then to use sound design to recreate other instrumental parts the way i can do it now and eventually to release them if final result of all this job worth it as sound.
Probably every 100 euro card will do decent job,dac quality matters for realistic capturing me playing,but honestly i am not sure any of these 100-200 euro interfaces could record something pro ...i guess these cards are made for kids playing like we do 20 years ago - more fantasy and enthusiasm than professional sound hihihi:):):)
Cheers

[BertKoor]

The preamp or Analog-Digital converter in an audio interface is usually not the weakest link.
I've made pretty decent recordings 20 yrs ago with nothing but the cheapest SoundBlaster I could get. These were on the same level as whatever was "pro" in 1985.

[Unaspected]

The preamp or Analog-Digital converter in an audio interface is usually not the weakest link.
I've made pretty decent recordings 20 yrs ago with nothing but the cheapest SoundBlaster I could get. These were on the same level as whatever was "pro" in 1985.

Very much. Most anything you can find today will suffice.

If you're capturing a live performance, the most important aspect is the performance - not the gear used to capture the sound. The gear isn't the star. Well - it can be for us - but the end listener will likely neither know nor care what gear was used as long as the sound holds their interest.