Which External Audio Interface

[Starglider]

Hi,

 

My Tascam US 322 is starting to turn itself off for no reason and I think it's time to replace it. The question is with what?

 

I don't need or do anything with a mic or guitar / any instrument recording, however I do plug in 1 or 2 usb keyboards from time to time to use with FLStudio, so latency here is required to be as low as possible.

 

Requirements
 - Needs to have an output to my amp (it receives phono (rca) - Edifier S730)
 - Needs to have an output to my headphone amp (it receives phono (rca) - 02)
 - Needs to have low latency with FL Studio for when I use my usb keyboards

 

Everything I find is boasting about mic inputs and amps etc, which I don't care about and not much or no information that matters to my needs.

 

My current short list is:
 - Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 2nd Generation (I think this may be overkill)
 - Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 2nd Generation (My leading contender)
 - Behringer U-PHORIA UMC204HD
 - Behringer UMC404HD
 - Roland RUBIX24
 - Steinberg UR22 MKII

 

I also found that my Tascam US322 doesn't work at all in ubuntu, I was lucky enough to get the internal speakers in my monitor to work when using ubuntu, it would be nice if it worked on linux but this is not a must have as I spend most of my time in win10 due to adobe creative suite requirements.

 

What are your thoughts & recommendations?

 

Thanks

[anothertom]

From what you've said, you're only using usb keyboards (presumably midi-over-USB). So you don't need an interface at all. You can simply go with a decent DAC for your outputs. Since your headphone and speaker amps only take phono (rca) inputs there's no point getting a decent interface with balanced outputs. Something like a Schiit modi 2 with a phono switch (to switch between headphones and speakers) would do what you need.

[Soujiro89]

What anothertom said is quite correct. If you're using modern technology, like keyboards over USB, then you don't need a DAC for them. If you wanna have the option of connecting old midi keyboards then I'd say go for the  Focusrite Scarlett 2i4. It will give you the output to monitor and headphones that you need. Plus the pre-amp on the Scarlets is quite good for their price. I currently own a 2i2 and it's a beast, wouldn't change it for anything of any other brand (unless I went professional level).

[anothertom]

12 minutes ago, Soujiro89 said:

If you wanna have the option of connecting old midi keyboards then I'd say go for the  Focusrite Scarlett 2i4. -snip-  Plus the pre-amp on the Scarlets is quite good for their price.

If OP is only using MIDI then there's no need for anything more than a £/$ 5 MIDI-USB interface. MIDI is digital, so preamp quality is worthless, and buying an interface and not using the input side is just a waste of money.

[Soujiro89]

5 minutes ago, anothertom said:

If OP is only using MIDI then there's no need for anything more than a £/$ 5 MIDI-USB interface. MIDI is digital, so preamp quality is worthless, and buying an interface and not using the input side is just a waste of money.

You do have a valid point. I'm just imaging possible future uses for a quite low price DAC. I bought my 2i2 and used it for recording. Now I'm not recording much with it, but I use it as a daily driver while gaming, watching movies or using discord. It may be overkill, but I've had it for more than 3 years and there is no need to change it yet. If OP wants good quality audio from those speakers he's gonna get that, if he finds himself recording later down the line he has that option, and if he wants to have a convenient way to manage audio set up when doing voice chats then he can. I love to have my volume level managed in a physical way. I love that I can have both headphones and speakers plugged and be able to switch that without having to alt-tab. I love that I can raise my volume when somebody doesn't listen to me in discord without having to alt-tab.