Best budget usb soundcard for recording in 2022 ?

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Arguments are getting stronger in opposite direction to what i prefer and can't defend my point or ignore arguments posted...:):)
Just listened an old records i made years ago with my old electro acoustic guitar and was nice surprised,that my alesis is pretty decent sounding,neither guitar,nor the record sounds cheap.
I guess you are right about wasting money on stuff which doesn't offer 5-10 times better sound for 5-10 times more money.
Most kids do records without knowing basic stuff about the sound spectrum and the result is awful.
May try first ur22c in comparision with my old card,if no audible difference,will buy revolution 2x2.
I love how records made with apollo twin sound,but 1000 euro for interface,sugest guitar for 1000 and mic for at least 500...
Some day will upgrade everything in my studio,but now i have 200 euro to spend on a new card ,so probabloy will make them 300 and will wonder how much is enough for what it does

[vurt]

i used to think "one day ill upgrade everything in my studio..."

then i got better at the technique and realised, the only upgrade i needed was me, over time and experience.

[vurt]

if i was working as a musician/engineer, then i might indeed change things up.
but as an almost 50 hobbyist with no big dreams, beyond enjoyment, what i have is more than enough.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

strong point:)
i spend 9 years and thousands of hours sound designing,so i gues there must be some upgrade to my ears
Cheers

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

[vurt]

strong point:)
i spend 9 years and thousands of hours sound designing,so i gues there must be some upgrade to my ears
Cheers

exactly!
imagine, if instead of those 9 years doing it! you'd have thought "ill save up for nine years to buy super equipment"

you'd be nine years behind the you that got stuck in with not so super gear.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Multi billion industry called 'I don't need it,but i want it' works perfect:):):)
The moment you'v got some extra money you gonna buy something you don't need
I start to wonder why i even feed my guitar playing passion when it obvious and i realize it ,i'm not amazing player,neither ever dream about it,but yet this young guy with long hair i was 20 years ago wanna play and record rock songs...
300+ eu for guitar,now 200+ for usb card - for 500 euro could buy few top notch vst synths or a hardware unit...
The 'Nonliear dynamic modulation (for now don't have better short name:)it's not something under label 'I'm big deal',pretending to do something,which is only in my imagination,i was just blown away when realize what limitless aplication has what i accidentally start to develop...
It's all about making better music...
There always be needed better tools,skills and ideas,which actually came last...
Anyway you guys seriously demotivating me to buy expensive sound cart and start to think to continue buying new synthesizers instead hihihihi(not that 50-60 licenses i already have are not enough)but as i started,when you don't need it but want it,there always be extra money for it
Cheers

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

[vurt]

Multi billion industry called 'I don't need it,but i want it' works perfect:):):)
The moment you'v got some extra money you gonna buy something you don't need
I start to wonder why i even feed my guitar playing passion when it obvious and i realize it ,i'm not amazing player,neither ever dream about it,but yet this young guy with long hair i was 20 years ago wanna play and record rock songs...

theres nothing wrong with being passionate, thats why we are all here
also, nothing wrong with buying things you dont need if you have the cash

the important thing even if you want to for example, spend a thousand euro on the interface, that the performance and playing are still the important parts. and of course, the skills to use the equipment.

ill take the synths and 9 years above again to give you another way of looking at it.

you have spent nine years, using lots of different synths, some probably better than others, but even when you only had the not so good ones, you pushed on and made sounds you liked?
im betting, the sounds you make now are a lot better than when you first started patching?

now, lets take that nine years again, but have you saving money to buy some big hardware synth, the polybrute lets say.
youd spend a shit load of cash one one synth, and now you are making the sounds you did when you first started.

the skills you have learned in those nine years, probably mean you dont need to go for the polybrute, as you can get really good sounds out of a lot of cheaper synths.
ok, not the same sounds and the polybrute is lovely, and id happily own one, given a decent wage coming in.
but you wouldnt "need" it.

as for the best synth to buy right now?
that really depends what you are after, huge range or something with minimal range but lots of character? (a 303 might be an example of the latter)

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Multi billion industry called 'I don't need it,but i want it' works perfect:):):)
The moment you'v got some extra money you gonna buy something you don't need
I start to wonder why i even feed my guitar playing passion when it obvious and i realize it ,i'm not amazing player,neither ever dream about it,but yet this young guy with long hair i was 20 years ago wanna play and record rock songs...

theres nothing wrong with being passionate, thats why we are all here
also, nothing wrong with buying things you dont need if you have the cash

the important thing even if you want to for example, spend a thousand euro on the interface, that the performance and playing are still the important parts. and of course, the skills to use the equipment.

ill take the synths and 9 years above again to give you another way of looking at it.

you have spent nine years, using lots of different synths, some probably better than others, but even when you only had the not so good ones, you pushed on and made sounds you liked?
im betting, the sounds you make now are a lot better than when you first started patching?

now, lets take that nine years again, but have you saving money to buy some big hardware synth, the polybrute lets say.
youd spend a shit load of cash one one synth, and now you are making the sounds you did when you first started.

the skills you have learned in those nine years, probably mean you dont need to go for the polybrute, as you can get really good sounds out of a lot of cheaper synths.
ok, not the same sounds and the polybrute is lovely, and id happily own one, given a decent wage coming in.
but you wouldnt "need" it.

as for the best synth to buy right now?
that really depends what you are after, huge range or something with minimal range but lots of character? (a 303 might be an example of the latter)

You are giving me a lot to think vurt
There is always something more and better man to want and say can't afford it now,even billionaires have such moments i guess,money are never enough for everything man want to do...
At some point i'll demo convincingly usefulness of my research/technology for producers and their commercial products,but (i'm gonna say a big words again:):):) most popular vst synths have many limitations and developers are hard to collab with,despaite they are interested to support any innovation like this and for now i just continue to develop new applications and most interesting part is the more i simplify the user control the more interesting new stuff i discover as options - when find right synth and develop to start serious project ill be available more sonic matterial,for now is just a research...
I have tech limits too,mostly equipment and hardware,that's why must upgrate d studio and most
annoiyng is when something broke like obs stop recording quaity audio few week ago and still cant record normally new stuff....
I feel that this research/technology i do is a little step ahead to something better,don't need it to be amazing invention or big deal,just the moment you hear the difference in the sound with vs without nonlinear dynamics in real time,the beauty of the sound convince you.
I wouldn't spend my time even to talk about it if it was an assuming it's something - working on this 4+ years,almost stop releasing normal soundsets,just because of that difference in the sound when apply it...it's like to cook experimental food with bad ingredients,but some combination make it super delisious,it's not a formula or recipe,but final result of interconicting moving parts .
Around 2019 was some sreaming bass which every time you move the mod wheel change the starting pint of all modulators and never have same sound twice...at first was amazing as single sound from designer point,the try it in a project and realize it doesn't fit any mix,so had to go back and limit number of modulations so to be usable.
Years ago was pointless to me to invest in expensive hardware or software,cuz my skills and understanding was nothing special at all,then i start to think what am i missing,what better can do with a powerful synth,instead just turning the knobs and 2018 first make this transforming bass you hear in video of front page of my site,that was first step,just an fantasy a bass to become a symphonic hit or something epic,not a big deal from today pint of view,but the next few years this idea continue to grow to more useful transformations inside the structure of the presets,mostly shaping dynamics and harmonic structure.
Anyway...
Hardware synths somehow are behind software in some aspects yet.
I didn't realize how useful is multi layer structure before,cuz in the daw you'v got more tools to mix,but from sound design point it's more easy and for users will be way more impressive to hear vienna symphony inside single preset,instead of using 20-30 tracks and hundreds of euro/dollars kontakt libraries.
It's a lot of work to do such and there is not many synths capable of such stuff,so the future of the synthetic sound is promicing:)
Actually man can do a lot more interesting symphonic type sounds with synth instead of real playing and recording instruments,the computer is the new player :):)
And that's just one thing,there so many areas impossible for real playing like ambient,atmospheric,experimental,futuristic...call it somehow but electronic music in next few decades will need something like what i now call nonlinear dynamics,so to push boundaries ahead...
Need multilayer serious synth,but can't pick one yet.
Haven't decide about the new usb card yet,old1 is still playing well,have to record something with it to hear opinions here about how record made with my alesis io2 granny sounds to you,but in the end probably will spend more money for upgrade i wanna do:)
This synth sounds really nice for that price:

[BONES]

RME are great, but by no means a requirement for kick ass results.
their strongest points are on the "professional" side as you pretty much don't have to worry that your new investment might be a dud

This is exactly what I'm talking about - why would you assume that if you buy a cheap device you might get a dud but if you spend more money you won't? I see more Mercedes-Benz and BMWs on the back of tow trucks than I do Corollas. I've owned close to a dozen I/O devices, maybe more than a dozen, and even the cheapest of them was completely reliable. None of them have been duds.

Some day will upgrade everything in my studio,but now i have 200 euro to spend on a new card ,so probabloy will make them 300 and will wonder how much is enough for what it does

What point are you trying to make here? If I close my eyes and listen to this through my Genelecs I cannot tell when it switches from one to the other. It says to me that you get no extra benefit from the Apollo. Even if you can hear a difference - my tiny Genelecs don't have a lot of bottom end and my ears no longer have a lot of top end - it would be easily compensated for with the subtlest of EQ settings. Great song, though.

i used to think "one day ill upgrade everything in my studio..."

then i got better at the technique and realised, the only upgrade i needed was me, over time and experience.

Still, the two things aren't mutually exclusive! I upgrade stuff because I get bored with the old stuff and I find that new gear is generally inspiring. I write more songs when I am playing with demo versions of things than I do with the tools I've been using for years. Buying a new interface might lead to modifying some process and improving the quality of the final product.

That said, upgrading myself is definitely where the biggest gains can be made. If you listen to our albums, you hear us getting better. Ourt song writing gets better, our production technique gets better and it leads us to creating better albums.

Better tools help, too, of course, but not as much as I used to think. With our last album, we originally finished it in Orion but before we'd finished, Steinberg had their 25th anniversay sale and we decided to buy Cubase while it was half-price. Then we decided to re-do the whole album in Cubase and choose whichever version of each song we thought was better. I think we ended up with 7 or 8 Orion versions and 9 or 10 Cubase versions and I'd defy anyone to listen to the album and pick which is which.

It was an interesting exercise because, in Orion, we used a lot built-in instruments and effects, all of which we had to change over to Cubase or 3rd party plugins. We'd started using Battery so at least we didn't have to re-do all the drums, but most of the basslines and a lot of other stuff had to be completely redone with different instruments and effects. In the end, I learned that the tools don't really matter, that it's about the ideas and execution.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Absolutely agree - i start dealing with sound design when i bought this little usb card with cubase 5le disc inside,this was my inspiration for years,despite i change a lot of things since then.
Cubase is probably the best daw for pro-duction,the interface is kind of ugly compared to cakewalk,but it's tank solid workhorse,can't say the same for cakewalk,which have other pluses aside its totally free.
For sure upgrading things gives inspiration and better performance,if i'm lucky to find few thousand euros on the street :):)i'v got very specific tools i'm gonna buy immediately next day,but as everybody know money are hard to be found this way :):)
I play both electric and acoustic guitar almost everyday last few months,after i was stop doing seriously for decade,so maybe that's my inspiration now:)
Art need inspiration,whatever it is ,wherever it comes from...
Cheers:)

[fedexnman]

The Black Lion Audio is nice I seen some negative reviews on gearspace though , noise issues , this is BLA 1st interface too. Redflag for me . This in this order
1 Motu M2 or M4
2 Focusrite 2i2
3 Native Instruments ( I own this )

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

The Black Lion Audio is nice I seen some negative reviews on gearspace though , noise issues , this is BLA 1st interface too. Redflag for me . This in this order
1 Motu M2 or M4
2 Focusrite 2i2
3 Native Instruments ( I own this )

Yep,noise will be prob if use dyn mic via bla revolution2x2 and i am hesitating why to spend more than 150eu when nobody will even notice it,so now i just wanna find what sounds ok for my taste and willmake me feel happy with the purchase:)
The list was reordered and now looks like this:
1.Audient id4 - best dynamic input,but there is some sort of treble booster,can't say is it good thing or not.
2.Komplete Audio 2 - sound nice,comfortable, great look.
3.UR22C - reliable,decent,but imput noise is higher
4.Volt1 - nice sound,but drivers may be prob.
5.Motu M2 - tech data seems impresive,but all the guitars i heard recorded with it was awful.
6.Focusrite Scarlett solo - too many complains,but the included vst's are sweet.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

After all listening,comparing and reading to my taste of musicality ,the choice have narrowed to:
1.Volt 2
2.Scarlet 2i2
Actually thinking to buy them both...
It's silly probably,but i like these air and vintage extras plus software a lot,despite it's not decision maker,but nice extra...
Will wait for black friday discount offers first with hope not to spend all the money for synthesizers :):)
Anyway for sure next year will have at least one of these two...
What most people want is plug and play and scarlett seems people's choice in that department.
I kind of slightly like Volt2 sound bit more,but need to check it for myself,so probably best will be to buy both and to return the one i don't like or if like them both to keep them...
Will see...