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Audio interface (recording) suggestion

bennetng

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I like the idea of internal soundcard + external mixer as I think it is quite silly every time you buy another interface you have to buy everything else, especially if the mixer has good functionality and high quality components.

EMU, M-Audio, Echo, ESI made cheap, high quality, multiclient and low latency PCI(E) studio soundcards with balanced I/O, some of them have MIDI and ADAT I/O as well, but now they are all discontinued, and dead.
 

miero

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If one microphone input (with phantom) and one instrument input would be enough for you, then Audioprobe Spartan A (€ 123) could be an option. But mine piece required a soldering mod, not sure if they already fixed interference issues (I reported them to manufacturer).

More info with a basic measurement in a loopback [be warned not a full scale input & output]:
- https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ments-do-you-like-to-see-next.2343/post-92920
 

sharpty

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Universal Audio is pretty renowned in the recording industry for their interfaces, analog gear and plugins.
They also have integrated DSP in their desktop interfaces for near zero latency effects with their plugins.
Unfortunately to get in the door it's about $700 if you want realtime effects processing.

I can't find any 3rd party measurements unfortunately, but here are specs from the manual of the Apollo Twin mkII
ua twin.PNG
 
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rwortman

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I have a Focusrite 2i2 and have used a Behringer UMC404HD which I am sure is a 202HD x 2. Both have produced some very nice sounding recordings. I haven't used the mic preamps in the Focusrite, only phono preamp into the line inputs. I have used both on the Behringer to record an electronic piano and a girl singer. It depends on what you are planning to do with it. They probably all do a decent job. The Behringer can record at 24 bit and the Focusrite 16. 24 gives you a bit more to play with in your DAW in theory but I haven't noticed a real difference in sound output. I have done the most recording with one of these Soundcraft SI Impact but I am sure that isn't what you are looking for.
 

AnalogSteph

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The Behringer can record at 24 bit and the Focusrite 16.
You may want to investigate why that is, since I am pretty sure that the 2i2 should support 24 bit as well, like most any half-decent recording device made in the last 15 years or so. Sounds like a setup / driver / software issue to me.
 

rwortman

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I just did and I think you're right. I only used it once to record an LP and I got 16/48 files which were more than enough to capture the dynamic range of an LP so I didn't look into it any further. Perhaps on my laptop I wasn't using the ASIO driver. Mostly the 2I2 I have gets used to run my JBL LSR305 desktop monitors.
 

CountMackula

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Presonus Audiobox USB if you just need two class A pre-amps for stereo micing. Comes with StudioOne Artist included.

I have that and their 8 channel version
 

Reinhold

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Hi,

i am searching for an usb audiointerface with a good headphone out, because i cant use the active monitors the hole time. especially in the night :)
max. budget 350$ / 300€.

The Focusrite Clarett USB looks good.

While searching for new interfaces i stumbled over the new Tascam SERIES 102i. I like the style a lot and it has an integrated DSP.
https://www.tascam.eu/en/series_102i.html


It also has 2 headphone jacks, but when you look at the specs it seems the output from the jacks is very low
(
Maximum output power (THD+N ≤0,1 %, 32 Ω)18 mW + 18 mW )

18mW per channel?! my smartphone is more powerful or have i overseen some informations?
do someone know how powerful the Clarett´s amp is?

regards,
Reinhold
 

sharpty

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@Reinhold , I own the Tascam US-2x2 and must say that the drivers are trash. Hopefully the new interface has a better support team but I wouldn't cross my fingers. If you really want DSP, spend a few more bucks on a proven Universal Audio interface. (Looks like the $500 UA interfcae has some issues, and the next step up is $900) If you care more about your budget and don't mind living without DSP, you might want to check out Audient. The specs page looks pretty solid.

MAX LEVEL INTO 30ohms: +4 dBu, 0.005% THD+N, Power: 101mW
MAX LEVEL INTO 60ohms: +5 dBu, 0.004% THD+N, Power: 64mW
MAX LEVEL INTO 600ohms: +13 dBu, 0.0025% THD+N, Power: 39mW

https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id14/overview/

Otherwise, you could always get something like the Behringer UMC204HD and a JDS Atom headphone amp to compliment it. The 204HD has a killer DAC for the money.
 
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Reinhold

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@sharpty
thanks for your help. The specs from audient looks good.
The UMC204HD looks great too, i will give it a shoot.
How can i connect my headphone amp to the dac, have i use the cinch out at the back?
 

sharpty

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How can i connect my headphone amp to the dac, have i use the cinch out at the back?

If I recall correctly, the RCA outputs on the 204HD, bypass the volume control for the main outputs. That would make it perfect for connecting to a headphone amp. That's how it is done on the 404HD at least.
 

Reinhold

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the 404HD has XLR output too! for only 149$. i will give it a try. thanks for help.

the reviews are great.

comment from a youtube channel.

the greedy bastards at Behringer just raised the cost to 149.00 on Amazon those a**holes. :D
Youtube Review
 
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sharpty

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the 404HD has XLR output too! for only 149$. i will give it a try. thanks for help.

the reviews are great.

comment from a youtube channel.

the greedy bastards at Behringer just raised the cost to 149.00 on Amazon those a**holes. :D
Youtube Review

Lol yep, I'm pretty sure that Amir's review of the 204HD made the price go up too. It used to be $90 on amazon, now it's $130.

I just bought a 404HD like 5 days ago because I found a sale from circuit city, sold thru google express, for $95 after coupon. Unfortunately it looks like they sold out. Bummer :confused:

One warning is that these interfaces do not have true balanced outputs. Not that it's a big deal for most people.

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/impedance-balancing/

Impedance balancing can be effective, but If the balance resistor is not precisely matched to the output impedance, you end up losing a lot of the noise rejection benefits.
 
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SIY

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One warning is that these interfaces do not have true balanced outputs. Not that it's a big deal for most people.

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/impedance-balancing/

Impedance balancing can be effective, but If the balance resistor is not precisely matched to the output impedance, you end up losing a lot of the noise rejection benefits.

It's disappointing that they make the same mistake many others have done by confusing balanced with differential. Equal impedances = balanced, period, not "pseudobalanced" or some other inaccurate term.
 

sharpty

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It's disappointing that they make the same mistake many others have done by confusing balanced with differential. Equal impedances = balanced, period, not "pseudobalanced" or some other inaccurate term.

Good point, I have never considered this difference before.

So a standard studio console or mixer will typically have balanced differential outputs (essentially a push-pull setup if I understand correctly?), but consumer gear will usually just have a resistor balanced output? (single ended output with a resistor in the other signal wire to match the SE output impedance?)

Even though you would only be able to tell if it is truly "balanced" by testing the impedance of the matching resistor and SE output? So I assume it could be labeled as balanced and actually be unbalanced (to a certain degree) still.
 

SIY

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Lots of studio equipment use a simple resistor to balance the outputs. If you measure source impedance to ground on both legs and it's equal, the circuit is balanced by definition. And it's pretty easy to do- most active circuits have a very low source impedance, so if you stick (say) a 100 ohm resistor in series with the output and a 100 ohm resistor to ground for the other leg, you'll be quite close. Of course, it can also be trimmed to optimize balance.

There's some really excellent explanations of this stuff from Bill Whitlock from Jensen Transformers, which you should be able to turn up pretty quickly. And Bruno Putzeys did a nice article on this called (I think) "The G-Word."

edit: https://www.diyaudio.com/archive/bl...d1460406090-bruno-putzeys-micropre-g-word.pdf
http://davel.datatruck.com/Balanced Lines in Audio Systems - Bill Whitlock - OCR.pdf

This will get you started.
 
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sharpty

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Lots of studio equipment use a simple resistor to balance the outputs. If you measure source impedance to ground on both legs and it's equal, the circuit is balanced by definition. And it's pretty easy to do- most active circuits have a very low source impedance, so if you stick (say) a 100 ohm resistor in series with the output and a 100 ohm resistor to ground for the other leg, you'll be quite close. Of course, it can also be trimmed to optimize balance.

There's some really excellent explanations of this stuff from Bill Whitlock from Jensen Transformers, which you should be able to turn up pretty quickly. And Bruno Putzeys did a nice article on this called (I think) "The G-Word."

edit: https://www.diyaudio.com/archive/bl...d1460406090-bruno-putzeys-micropre-g-word.pdf
http://davel.datatruck.com/Balanced Lines in Audio Systems - Bill Whitlock - OCR.pdf

This will get you started.

Wow, great articles. I think that clears up all the misconceptions. Thanks!
 
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sharpty

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i hope the pseudo balanced outputs helps against ground loops.

If you want to understand ground loops and balanced signals, definitely check out those articles that SIY posted.
What people call "pseudo balanced", is actually balanced. (I didn't understand this) There is no need to have audio signal on both wires. All that matters is the voltage difference between the two wires, so one can be 0v and the other can be 4v, or one can be 2v and the other can be -2v. Either way, the potential between the 2 wires is the same. And if the impedance of each wire is equal, then the common mode noise is rejected.
 
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