USB Soundcard

[Guest]

Hi

 

I tried to order myself a ASUS Xonar U7 the other day, a pretty neat looking sound card I intended to run to a mixer and then monitors out the rear phono and then use the Mic/line in to run the same mixer back into the PC for recording stuff in (loop danger I know, I got that bit figured) 

 

Problem is no where seams to stock this soundcard, I found a place that claimed to through their ebay store but as it turns out they didn't and have refunded me now.

 

Does anyone know what the deal with this card is and why I can't find it? Is it discontinued or something, if so does anyone know a good alternative, I'm replacing a Sound Blaster Recon 3D Fatility which just sounds awful and gets a lot of interference inside my PC for some reason, so I want something external (USB or Firewire) and I want something that I can route to a mixer (mixer takes balanced jacks in but I can get to them from jacks, XLR or Phono) also I need my mixer to route into the soundcard and in turn the PCs input as a line in (will carry microphone signal and audio signal usually for recording into Audition) and I also would like the ability to plug a pair of headphones directly into the soundcard, my headphones are Audio Technica ATH-M50Rs so are not massively powerful but could do with a little amp.

[ShearMe]

U7 is discontinued I think. FiiO E10 seems like it'd be good for you.

[defunkt]

@MayflowerElectronics

[Guest]

Does the E10 have a line in? Was just looking at it and it has a line out and coaxial out on the back and then a headphone out on the front, does one double as a line in or is it missing that?

[ShearMe]

Does the E10 have a line in? Was just looking at it and it has a line out and coaxial out on the back and then a headphone out on the front, does one double as a line in or is it missing that?

Oh, it's missing that. Sorry, missed that in the OP.

This is on sale RIGHT NOW:

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB Audio System with THX SB1240 by Creative Labs http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004275EO4/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_P.oLsb1J51EQP

[Guest]

Would you say the X-FI HD is the best option?

 

I'm a bit sick of Creative as a brand to be honest, my Recon3D is a load of rubbish and I was hoping to get something better from another brand, then again that USB one is an X-Fi which if I recall was the latest batch of truly decent cards they made?

 

As for the Mayflower ones they confuse me to be honest, I don't really understand the world of amps and DACs a great deal, I just want something USB that allows me to route to and from my mixer and has a headphone amp in it, also not looking at spending more than £100 UK money.

 

I was also looking at the Tascam US144 MK2, it has a few unnecessary mic inputs but it does have a line in and out on phono, no headphone amp but I think if I was to drop any feature it would be the amp, my mixer actually amplifies anyway, having an amp in the sound card was more of a "would be nice" thing,  I just want the best quality audio going between the mixer and PC

[ShearMe]

Oh, UK, shoulda noticed that too...

Well, if your mixer has a headphone amp, just get a cheap interface like the Behringer UCA202 or whatever UCA has the ports you want. Some of them do have a headphone port, but the output impedance is something crazy high like 50 ohms, so I would recommend you don't use it.

[mr moose]

Oh, UK, shoulda noticed that too...

Well, if your mixer has a headphone amp, just get a cheap interface like the Behringer UCA202 or whatever UCA has the ports you want. Some of them do have a headphone port, but the output impedance is something crazy high like 50 ohms, so I would recommend you don't use it.

 

What Shearme says about the 50 ohm output impedance being problematic is true, however if you are not interested in SQ, in other words you are only using it to hear other people speaking and so you can hear what you are recording, then it should be ok, just don't expect a good bass response and possibly even HF roll off depending on the headphones you use.

[Guest]

Well the primary use will be for recording but I also intend to use this for playing music through so would like something of pretty decent quality. My Recon3D has noise problems but looking beyond that the sound quality is not that great, I want to at least improve on that.

[ShearMe]

Ok, you think the Behringer is too cheap or something?

[Guest]

Oh no not at all, you was just saying the impedance output may be an issue, basically I want the best sound possible but not too clued up on how to get it, so I'm getting a little confused.

[ShearMe]

Oh, well I also said to use your mixer for headphones assuming it's good. What mixer is it?

[Guest]

The mixer is a Behringer Xenyx 1204USB, sorry when I said it has a headphone amp I actually may have wrote that wrong, it routes into a power play which is used to distribute signal to 3 headphone sockets, so the amp is a seperate unit from the mixer, but kinda forms part of its getting audio from it and then to my headphones, from what I understand the powerplay amplifies to a suitable level for the ATHM50s.

 

The logic behind the soundcard itself having a headphone amp was less to do with everyday use in the setup and more to do with being able  to unplug it all and take it away with me and still use a decent pair of headphones through it. in the general setup where the soundcard would go into the mixer I think the powerplay covers the headphone amp side of things.

 

 

Its mostly a ghetto studio setup thrown together in a fairly decent (acoustic wise) room out of mostly old spares with a few new parts and a couple of mics thrown into it, the real aim of it is to be able to record high quality content into the PC, a mixture of vocal and musical content all of which will come from the mixer in some way or another, but then to also be able to output decent enough sound through headphones or my cheap Behringer monitors when I just want to listen to some music, the big issue at the moment is my internal soundcard has a buzz everytime my graphics cards ramp up and as a result I just want to get the soundcard out of the PC and away from all that interference, and while I'm at it try to get the best sound as I was a little disappointing with the Recon3D

[mr moose]

Having thought about this, this is what I would do:   Buy the behringer and use the line in/out for recording when you have the other headphone amp connected to the mixer, Then also buy a fiio e10 for when you just want some high quality sound for a games, movies or music or even just as the portable dac for headphones/laptops whatever.

 

It's not much messing around to plug in the fiio (it can go in front panel) and when you aren't using it it can be kept in a draw.

[ShearMe]

This may sound like a dumb question, buy why don't you plug the mixer into the PC via USB instead of using a whole extra interface?

 

Maybe 2 units like Mr Moose suggested would be best.

[mr moose]

This may sound like a dumb question, buy why don't you plug the mixer into the PC via USB instead of using a whole extra interface?

 

 

Wow, I missed that completely.