Modmic 4.0 audio interface

[Frozhax]

snip

This was basically me a few weeks ago and then at one point I even started looking at mixers. 

 

Be careful though ordering from the manufacturer's site incase there are additional fees because they decide to ship it to you from outside the EU.

 

I'm pretty sure the products you listed have the exact same function as the S/L; Sound cards, just like the S/L. What I'm afraid of is that you might be paying a premium for the brand, but of course I don't know anything. 

There's however also another factor that might influence your purchase decision: Do you even need all the extra outputs? I sure don't, the only thing I need is a good mic-input.

[ShearMe]

Even a cheapo dongle works fine:

[Frozhax]

snip

There's an absolutely horrible low frequency hum from the cheapo dongle. 

[Oni07R]

Even a cheapo dongle works fine:

Fun fact: you took that video from the topic where I was asking for help and linked that video. You also answered "nice" or "good" or something like that

 

PS: I've linked that topic in the previous page. However I guess that both Frozhax and me are currently looking for something with a bit more quality. The USB dongle solved my volume problem, however it has a small background electric noise. Not a problem on TeamSpeak but for sure annoying if you have to record or use a program with constant audio stream (and not voice activation level as TS).

[Frozhax]

Buying the Alesis Core 1 tomorrow. Will report back unless I forget it or get hit by a truck.

 

Still open to suggestions

[Oni07R]

Buying the Alesis Core 1 tomorrow. Will report back unless I forget it or get hit by a truck.

 

Still open to suggestions

I have found the LogiLink DAC-AMP for 43,94 shipping included.

However since you bought the Alesis Core 1, I will wait a test soundclip of the ModMic on that

[Frozhax]

I have found the LogiLink DAC-AMP for 43,94 shipping included.

However since you bought the Alesis Core 1, I will wait a test soundclip of the ModMic on that

Haven't bought it yet (tomorrow) and my Modmic is not going to arrive till at earliest 3th July.

 

EDIT: Order has been placed.

[Oni07R]

I ended up buying this for 67 euros, sold and shipped by Amazon.

http://terratec.com/details.php?artnr=12002#.VYAsZjDtlBc

 

It seems a good product with many features. In fact the software is nearly identical to the Asus Xonar one, but it also has a mic boost slider, which is absent in Xonar U7 (check the manual PDF of both products). Plus the Terratec's has higher voltage RMS in headphone output (1,6V instead of 1,3), microphone input (1,6V instead of 1,0) and other (1,1V instead of 1,0) compared to Xonar U7. Which should be louder headphones and microphone.

The plan is testing both headphones amplification/quality AND microphone amplification/quality.

My current onboard audio (Realtek ALC898) is good for output quality but the amplification is at its limit for my headphones (Sennheiser HD558, 50 Ohm impedance). I'm not planning in buying a new pair of headphones anytime soon, but since I have to solve a problem (the mic), let's solve another (future) one too.

 

So the idea is: if both headphone and mic tests are successful, then I will keep it. Otherwise I will send it back, take the refund and test something different, maybe the Xonar U7.

[Frozhax]

I ended up buying this for 67 euros, sold and shipped by Amazon.

http://terratec.com/details.php?artnr=12002#.VYAsZjDtlBc

 

It seems a good product with many features. In fact the software is nearly identical to the Asus Xonar one, but it also has a mic boost slider, which is absent in Xonar U7 (check the manual PDF of both products). Plus the Terratec's has higher voltage RMS in headphone output (1,6V instead of 1,3), microphone input (1,6V instead of 1,0) and other (1,1V instead of 1,0) compared to Xonar U7. Which should be louder headphones and microphone.

The plan is testing both headphones amplification/quality AND microphone amplification/quality.

My current onboard audio (Realtek ALC898) is good for output quality but the amplification is at its limit for my headphones (Sennheiser HD558, 50 Ohm impedance). I'm not planning in buying a new pair of headphones anytime soon, but since I have to solve a problem (the mic), let's solve another (future) one too.

 

So the idea is: if both headphone and mic tests are successful, then I will keep it. Otherwise I will send it back, take the refund and test something different, maybe the Xonar U7.

Nice find, looks promising. Can you share how you found it?

[Oni07R]

Nice find, looks promising. Can you share how you found it?

Of course I will! It will arrive on thursday, however I don't know if I will have enough time for testing and posting results (university exam session ongoing )

[Oni07R]

Okay, the product arrived today in less than 24 hours!!

I unboxed it, installed the driver and I'm absolutely.... disappointed

 

Ok, let's start from a physical tour (I feel like Linus now ):

The product is well constructed. It is mostly metal with just the lower face being in plastic. The volume knob has a nice clicky motion and there is a blue light ring around it when the card is turned on, nice touch. The box contains the CD diver (useless, downloaded from website), 1x 3.5mm jack to RCA adapter, 1x 3.5mm jack (male) to RCA cable, 1x USB cable, 2x optical cables.

Very good content for a product in this price range.

And here is where good things end.

 

1) The very first problem is the software: it likes to crash. Sometimes it works flawlessly, you use the product, then you go to change a setting and boom: crashed. You have to unplug and plug again the product for make it work again.

This product is not new and the drivers are not at their first version, so there is no excuses for this behaviour. You can set it to work on USB1 audio (as a normal USB plug&play sound card) but you sacrifice all software features.

 

2) The listening experience is not that bad though. The volume can go really high on my HD558 headphones and the quality seems reasonable. I haven't done deep testing in listening because of the main problem of this product...

 

3) the microphone. It is exactly the same sh*t as onboard chip. Except it has a bit lower max volume. So much static noise, unbelievable.

 

 

These are recordings made with each card: onboard, cheap 3 euro USB and Terratec Xfire (links to SoundCloud below)

Realteak ALC898 (volume 100/100, boost +20dB/30dB)

Cheap USB sound card (AGC on, volume 40/100... yea, not even half!)

Terratec Aureon Xfire 8.0 HD (AGC on, volume 100/100)

 

Now I'm even more surprised of the high quality of the cheap sound card. The only problem is that if you unplug it, then you will have a hell of a time to make it work again. I don't know what causes this but it's a pain. But unfortunately it is better than a 67 euro product. Shame.

[Frozhax]

Damn, even the onboard sounds better and has less noise

 

Hopefully we'll soon find something better.

BTW, the Core 1 is scheduled to arrive between the 19th and the 25th. I sincerely hope that it isn't as bad as the Terratec.

 

EDIT: Got the mini jack to jack adapter today

[Oni07R]

Damn, even the onboard sounds better and has less noise

 

Hopefully we'll soon find something better.

BTW, the Core 1 is scheduled to arrive between the 19th and the 25th. I sincerely hope that it isn't as bad as the Terratec.

Yea, I hope it too.

However the cheapo sound card surprises me again!! The best 3 euro I've ever spent on eBay!!

[Frozhax]

Yea, I hope it too.

However the cheapo sound card surprises me again!! The best 3 euro I've ever spent on eBay!!

Also I asked Alesis about a datasheet for the Core 1 yesterday. I still haven't gotten a reply yet

 

From this video it doesn't seem like it has any noise issues but it might just have been post production though... aaannddd it's on youtube.. sooo, meh quality

Start at 2:03:

[xeromynd]

Damn, even the onboard sounds better and has less noise

 

Hopefully we'll soon find something better.

BTW, the Core 1 is scheduled to arrive between the 19th and the 25th. I sincerely hope that it isn't as bad as the Terratec.

 

EDIT: Got the mini jack to jack adapter today

 

The Alesis should serve you well for basic mic capturing purposes. The 1/8in to 1/4in adapter introduces another point of degradation though, especially if the quality is shitty. Luckily they're relatively cheap to replace.

[Frozhax]

Received the Core 1 earlier than expected.

 

Good and bad news:

1. Noise is very low volume
2. Sound is clear and easy to understand
3. It sounds very thin
4. I think I need a microphone preamp.

I was unable to hook up any microphones to the unit and get a signal. At first I thought it was DOA, but then I hooked the input up with the output of my Schiit stack (Magni+Modi). Suddenly the device was able to get a signal... it actually works

1. https://soundcloud.com/frozhax/schiit-stack-alesis-core-1
2. https://soundcloud.com/frozhax/realtek-alc892-alesis-core-1

 

As I can't use any microphones yet before I get a preamp, here's a recording of a LinusTechTips video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DyUitTVWlw) recorded through the Core 1 with some pauses in between.

 

Will report back again (unless I forget) when I'm able to connect a microphone.

[Oni07R]

Afaik you need an adapter to hook the ModMic to Core 1. The Core 1 input has both XLR and 6,3mm jack so you need something that goes from 3,5 to 6,3.

 

Anyway, if you get a mic pre-amp then you don't Core 1 anymore. We are looking for stuff like Core 1 just because we need more power on ModMic, right?

[Frozhax]

Afaik you need an adapter to hook the ModMic to Core 1. The Core 1 input has both XLR and 6,3mm jack so you need something that goes from 3,5 to 6,3.

 

Anyway, if you get a mic pre-amp then you don't Core 1 anymore. We are looking for stuff like Core 1 just because we need more power on ModMic, right?

I have the adapter, the microphones simply just doesn't output at line level. And yes, I'm using the input at the back, because that's the only input there is.

 

I'm just looking for something that isn't shitty with decent quality and low noise and I think the Core 1 is it... just need to amp up the signal from the microphones to be able to connect to it now.

[Frozhax]

Bought a Behringer MIC200 preamp. Awaiting delivery dates.