Thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking for a used ones now as I decided to go with one with Studio monitor outputs too.
Also, I'm looking for the onces with lowest latency. I don't record much other than the vocals. Does all the programming in DAW and hence latency is important.
Shortlisted the following now. Kindly let me know if you have a preference or order of preference for these.
1. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
2. Behringer UMC 202HD
3. Presonus Audiobox 96
4. M-Audio M Track 2 (Old model)
5. Steinberg UR22 mkII
Budget Audio Interface
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 10 posts since 4 Mar, 2019
Is itnevis wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2019 11:42 am Hi Sarin,
I can wholeheartedly recommend the M-Audio M-Track 2x2, which is currently available for ~ USD 90 at a big US internet book store.
I have the 2x2m (under Win10) which uses the same parts to my knowledge, and I was just a few days ago suprised again by how great it sounds when recording.
All the best.
https://m-audio.com/m-tracks/2x2
OR
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/M-Audio-M-T ... SwXKtb17BL
?
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- GRRRRRRR!
- 15968 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle
Are you talking about RCA connectors? I imagine Steinberg chose them because they are the most common connector for amplifiers. That means that you can go to any music shop or electronics store and buy compatible cables - jack (full-size or mini) to RCA - without having to pay any kind of premium. If you are going RCA to RCA, you can get those cables from the supermarket. Personally, I use the cables that came with some piece of Roland gear I bought in the 1980s, which is jack to RCA with RCA to jack adapters. Perfect for every occasion and still going strong after more than 30 years. My Presonus Eris 3.5s have both jack and RCA so I can use them with or without the adapters.chk071 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:05 pmDunno. It easily becomes annoying when you always have to order some exotic cables or adapters. E.g. i just don't understand why the Steinberg UR12 only has chinch outputs. Does anyone audiophile really use chinch cables for his monitors? For serious studio work, i mean.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.
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- Boss Lovin' DR
- 12630 posts since 15 Mar, 2002 from the grimness of yorkshire
I can't comment on the others but I have 202HD (and a 204HD) and they are excellent - built like tanks, have good stable drivers, very low noise preamps, good set of connections, decent headphone output. In terms of latency, with a few things running you can easily get down to 64 samples with no dropouts. Of course both have direct monitoring so if you're happy (as I am) recording vocals etc without reverb in a monitor mix, then it's not an issue for recording anyhow. I'm sure all the others will have direct monitoring as well in some form.sarincv wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:24 pm Thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking for a used ones now as I decided to go with one with Studio monitor outputs too.
Also, I'm looking for the onces with lowest latency. I don't record much other than the vocals. Does all the programming in DAW and hence latency is important.
Shortlisted the following now. Kindly let me know if you have a preference or order of preference for these.
1. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
2. Behringer UMC 202HD
3. Presonus Audiobox 96
4. M-Audio M Track 2 (Old model)
5. Steinberg UR22 mkII
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 10 posts since 4 Mar, 2019
But don't RCA connectors have the noise issue if not properly placed. That's why I opted out from Steinberg UR12 & Focusrite Scarlett SoloBONES wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:57 pm Are you talking about RCA connectors? I imagine Steinberg chose them because they are the most common connector for amplifiers. That means that you can go to any music shop or electronics store and buy compatible cables - jack (full-size or mini) to RCA - without having to pay any kind of premium. If you are going RCA to RCA, you can get those cables from the supermarket. Personally, I use the cables that came with some piece of Roland gear I bought in the 1980s, which is jack to RCA with RCA to jack adapters. Perfect for every occasion and still going strong after more than 30 years. My Presonus Eris 3.5s have both jack and RCA so I can use them with or without the adapters.
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- GRRRRRRR!
- 15968 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle
Not that I'm aware of.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.
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- KVRAF
- 3080 posts since 17 Apr, 2005 from S.E. TN
Depending on the internal design of the jacks used, possibly rca could have more metal-to-metal contact than quarter-inch phone plugs. Though (also depending on internal construction) generally quarter inch connections are fine as well.
For line level stuff like this the interface output impedance will be max around 1000 ohms and typical min around 50 or 100 ohms. Lower impedance in the better interfaces, in general. Typical line input impedance to a mixer, amp or powered speaker maybe rarely lower than 10,000 ohms nowadays.
It would take a rather bad dirty plug connection to measure more than an ohm or two across the dirty metal to metal contact. Such small resistance would be negligible compared to the impedances of the source and destination.
Nowadays you generally WANT the source output impedance significantly lower than the destination input impedance to avoid loading down the source driver. Long ago in the days of audio coupling transformers you might want to closer match out and in impedance but that was "different rules and objectives".
Now three wire +, -, shield balanced connections are more noise immune, and the way a four wire +, -, ground and shield connection as with a balanced xlr cable is potentially somewhat better than +, -, shield three wire balanced that you get with ring tip sleeve quarter inch balanced connectors.
Given a choice especially for long cable runs or live use I would rather have balanced xlr than balanced ring tip sleeve quarter inch.
But generally in non-demanding situations quarter inch balanced and xlr balanced are about equally good. And in non-demanding situations especially with short cable runs, unbalanced will OFTEN work as good as balanced regardless what kind of plug is carrying the two wire unbalanced aignal.
However I would be reluctant to use an audio interface whose only output jack is a tiny eighth inch stereo unbalanced out typical of computer built in sound or portable media player outputs. Even that might work ok in many cases but IMO eighth inch stereo unbalanced is just getting too small for confidence in long term reliability or solid connections.
Well actually I want xlr if at all possible but it really isn't that big a deal for small home studio.
For line level stuff like this the interface output impedance will be max around 1000 ohms and typical min around 50 or 100 ohms. Lower impedance in the better interfaces, in general. Typical line input impedance to a mixer, amp or powered speaker maybe rarely lower than 10,000 ohms nowadays.
It would take a rather bad dirty plug connection to measure more than an ohm or two across the dirty metal to metal contact. Such small resistance would be negligible compared to the impedances of the source and destination.
Nowadays you generally WANT the source output impedance significantly lower than the destination input impedance to avoid loading down the source driver. Long ago in the days of audio coupling transformers you might want to closer match out and in impedance but that was "different rules and objectives".
Now three wire +, -, shield balanced connections are more noise immune, and the way a four wire +, -, ground and shield connection as with a balanced xlr cable is potentially somewhat better than +, -, shield three wire balanced that you get with ring tip sleeve quarter inch balanced connectors.
Given a choice especially for long cable runs or live use I would rather have balanced xlr than balanced ring tip sleeve quarter inch.
But generally in non-demanding situations quarter inch balanced and xlr balanced are about equally good. And in non-demanding situations especially with short cable runs, unbalanced will OFTEN work as good as balanced regardless what kind of plug is carrying the two wire unbalanced aignal.
However I would be reluctant to use an audio interface whose only output jack is a tiny eighth inch stereo unbalanced out typical of computer built in sound or portable media player outputs. Even that might work ok in many cases but IMO eighth inch stereo unbalanced is just getting too small for confidence in long term reliability or solid connections.
Well actually I want xlr if at all possible but it really isn't that big a deal for small home studio.
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- addled muppet weed
- 105895 posts since 26 Jan, 2003 from through the looking glass
my focusrite scarlett is pretty good.
more ins and outs than the 2i2 but should sound the same?
the internal loops are pretty good for sending signals to different software (should you need to)
more ins and outs than the 2i2 but should sound the same?
the internal loops are pretty good for sending signals to different software (should you need to)
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- KVRist
- 273 posts since 17 Dec, 2016 from Germany
This.
Sorry for the late response.
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 10 posts since 4 Mar, 2019
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- addled muppet weed
- 105895 posts since 26 Jan, 2003 from through the looking glass
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240 - KVRAF
- 35191 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from the wilds of wanny
Komplete Audio 6 is what I'd go for if I needed a new interface. I'm using a NI Audio Kontrol 1 (had it 12 years ) which is totally solid & reliable. I've used it with my last 3 laptops (XP & 8.1).
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- GRRRRRRR!
- 15968 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle
My bandmate uses my Scarlet 2i2 with Win10 and he's very happy with it. Personally, I thought it was OK but nothing outstandingly good (which is why he's using it now). That's the thing, though, they'll all do a good job so just look for the best deal you can get.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.
