Coax+SUB active system: which DAC/interface with 6 or more line outputs?

[zermak]

Hello everyone!
My DIY monkey woke up XD
Right now I am using a pair of MarkAudio CHR-70 in a kinda ported enclosure with an old Energy ES-8 subwoofer from an all-in-one 5.1 system and I am looking for help to build an active two-way coaxial speaker (SICA 5.5C 1.5CPs in a possibly shaped sphere closed box) with a separate sub (10in or less: it depends on the cabinet size to sit near the table) for my desktop PC.

My struggle now is in choosing a cheap-ish USB sound card/interface with at least 6 line outputs (no matter if balanced or not) to be able to route the LFs, HFs and SUB properly.
I'll do all the crossing and EQing in windows through Windows/EqualizerAPO (and maybe the routing through the DAC/interface directly if possible).
My budget is about 350 euros and so far I found these devices that could fit the bill:
- TASCAM Series 208i;
- M-Audio M-Track Eight;
- some cheap Behringer and ESI interfaces with RCA outs.

If you have other suggestions and experience with such devices please tell me.
Thank you for your time and help.

 

[ppataki]

Hello everyone!
My DIY monkey woke up XD
Right now I am using a pair of MarkAudio CHR-70 in a kinda ported enclosure with an old Energy ES-8 subwoofer from an all-in-one 5.1 system and I am looking for help to build an active two-way coaxial speaker (SICA 5.5C 1.5CPs in a possibly shaped sphere closed box) with a separate sub (10in or less: it depends on the cabinet size to sit near the table) for my desktop PC.

My struggle now is in choosing a cheap-ish USB sound card/interface with at least 6 line outputs (no matter if balanced or not) to be able to route the LFs, HFs and SUB properly.
I'll do all the crossing and EQing in windows through Windows/EqualizerAPO (and maybe the routing through the DAC/interface directly if possible).
My budget is about 350 euros and so far I found these devices that could fit the bill:
- TASCAM Series 208i;
- M-Audio M-Track Eight;
- some cheap Behringer and ESI interfaces with RCA outs.

If you have other suggestions and experience with such devices please tell me.
Thank you for your time and help.

With regards to the Sica drivers, see this:

5.5" coax project using Sica 5,5 C 1,5 CP drivers

After building close to 20 projects using full range drivers and subwoofers and then a two-way system I have decided to strike out one more item on my DIY bucket list: building a coax driver-based speaker I have chosen the Sica 5,5 C 1,5 CP driver for this project based on the manufacturer...

www.audiosciencereview.com

With regards to sphere cabinet, these might help:

Search results for query: sphere

www.audiosciencereview.com

With regards to the audio interface, all that you mentioned shall be fine; I just would add these two:

Tascam US-16x08

USB 2 Audio Interface 24 Bit / 96 kHz, 16 Inputs, 8 Outputs, 8x Mic-input XLR, 8x Line-input 6.3 mm Jack (2 of them switchable to Hi-Z) -10 dB and + 4 dB, Usable as stand alone mic-preamp, 8x Line-input 6.3 mm Jack balanced, MIDI I/O, Stereo...

www.thomann.co.uk

Presonus Studio 1824c

USB-C 18x18 Audio Interface 24-bit / 192 kHz, Two front combo inputs Mic/Line/Inst: XLR/jack, Six combo inputs Mic/Line on the back: XLR/jack, 48 V phantom power, Eight XMAX L mic preamps, ADAT optical input: Eight-channel / 48 kHz, four-channel /...

www.thomann.co.uk

The cheap ESI might be worth trying too, it got great reviews, although I have not seen any measurements yet

I have real-life experience with the Scarlett 4th gen USB interfaces and I can confirm that those are excellent, very strongly recommended (but it might be over your budget)

 

[zermak]

I have seen your thread about your build already but I missed the other project and well I got to know these coax thanks to Sigberg audio Manta speakers.
I have a DATS v3 so I can measure the drivers I will get and I'll choose the cabinet size based on them. I'll probably go sealed and I would like to cross the LF arounf 80Hz and use the SUB for the lower end.
I am also learing how to use AKABAK. I'll run some sims to see if a sphere front baffle will help reduce some resonances or if it is not worth the manual labor.

I've seen the Tascam you suggested but it seems big and I should stuck it under the desk or it will use too much space on my desk and maybe the Series 208i is newer and maybe better? Who knows.

About the ESI, the Gigaport eX is cheap and could potentially work. What do you/other say?

Yes, the Scarlett looks too good, same for my deam interface is the MOTU UltraLike-mk5 but I think they are overkill for my needs and the drivers HD/IMD.

 

[ppataki]

About the ESI, the Gigaport eX is cheap and could potentially work. What do you/other say?

I would give it a try and if it is no good you can send it back within 14 days (or with Thomann I guess even more)

 

[zermak]

I have looked the ESI specs again. I didn't consider it in past because of its RCA outs: only -10dBV (0,316V RMS) which is way too low to even use a minimum of equalization (and using "normal" gain amps with it).
I'll have to get some better interface/DAC for this project. I'll try to find some measurements for the TASCAMs and pick the best one.

 

[digitalfrost]

Slightly over budget, but the Steinberg UR28M fits the bill.

But Tascam Series 208i is probably best bang for the buck.

 

[zermak]

Thank you for the suggestions.
What about the used market? I guess I could find good interfaces around 350 euros. And well there is a used Tascam US 16x08 on ebay for around 200euros which I could consider unless I can find something better on the used market.

 

[zermak]

I have seen the Behringer UMC1820 at 185 euros. Does anyone have experience with it?
Reading the recent Studio XL review by Amir on here it doesn't suggest it could perform at a decent lever for my needs but I could give it a try anyway and return it if it is really bad.

 

[ppataki]

I have seen the Behringer UMC1820 at 185 euros. Does anyone have experience with it?
Reading the recent Studio XL review by Amir on here it doesn't suggest it could perform at a decent lever for my needs but I could give it a try anyway and return it if it is really bad.

I would personally avoid Behringer
Rather go for the used Tascam (or any other decent one)

 

[ppataki]

Yes, the Scarlett looks too good, same for my deam interface is the MOTU UltraLike-mk5 but I think they are overkill for my needs and the drivers HD/IMD.

I wanted to comment on this
I think this system that you are about to put together would indeed justify the use of a capable studio interface
Those speaker drivers with a decent DAC and amp will be on par with (or even supercede) KEF speakers....(and many others too)
But this is just my personal comment

 

[digitalfrost]

I have seen the Behringer UMC1820 at 185 euros. Does anyone have experience with it?
Reading the recent Studio XL review by Amir on here it doesn't suggest it could perform at a decent lever for my needs but I could give it a try anyway and return it if it is really bad.

I have the Behringer ADA8200. While amir has recently measured a horrible Behringer device https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...behringer-studio-xl-monitor-controller.61862/

The ADA8200 is okay https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...hringer-ada8200-ultragain-measurements.49887/

So it's wrong to just shutdown Behringer because they are cheap and made in china. They have good devices, the problem is to know which ones are good.

e: I just realized I'm an idiot for not recommending the ADA8200 earlier. I own one but I rarely use it, so it was off my radar At least with this one you got measurements. Only problem is you need something to connect it to. If you can find some measurements of the UMC1820 it might be a bargain.

 

[Keith_W]

I have the Behringer ADA8200.

I hope you don't mind me asking you some questions.

1. When did you buy it and how much do you use it?
2. What is the driver support like?
3. Does it come with mixer software? Specifically, are you able to control your ADA8200 from your computer, like mute individual channels? Is a loopback feature available? Can you route audio from one channel into another channel?

I want to find out how cheap I can go before I start losing features that I consider essential in a mixer. I bought an RME many years ago because someone said that it's the last interface I would ever need. They were right, the RME has every feature I can think of and more. But it is so expensive and RME's mixer is so complicated that I hesitate to recommend RME.

 

[digitalfrost]

1. Years ago and I rarely use it
2. There are no drivers, it is not a USB interface
3. No, it's a "dumb" interface. I mainly got it because of the ADAT connection, and guess what I connect it to a RME Digiface.

 

[10PSPMemSticksForMiku2007]

Hi, I'm doing a similar EQAPO based crossover and surround setup, which I once ran from my motherboard's analog jacks. Since then I got a used AV receiver with HDMI for $25, also bypassing the need for an interface.

I'm not sure if you have a desktop or laptop PC. If you have a desktop, you might already have what you need for 6 line outputs. Sometimes the multichannel analog output from PCs are reasonably good. Even if your motherboard only has the pink, green, and blue jacks (for mic in, line out, and line in respectively) some models can be reconfigured to 6 channel output. Here's an example from ASUS z790-P manual. It's worth checking your specific motherboard model.

If you have no other options the cheap 7.1 USB cards on Amazon are probably worth trying, you can always return them if they're egregiously bad.