Advice on buying an USB audio interface

Which low budget USB audio interface would you buy?

  • Lexicon Lambda

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mackie Onyx Blackjack

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Edirol UA-25 / UA-25EX

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    15

luispa

New member
Hi Folks,

This is my first post here. I found a lot of useful information at this forum so I decided to join it.

After years using Firewire interfaces (Yamaha GO 46, Alesis IO14 and Alesis IO26) I realized I need and USB interface for using it with my tablet and my laptop. I should buy a new laptop soon and there're not too many models with Firewire or ExpressCard slot so I guess Firewire is getting obsolete for laptops, I could be wrong but most of newer laptops only have USB ports. I'll keep my Firewire interface for using them with my desktop.

Since Most of times I use my laptop for recording 1 or 2 channels only I don't need more than that.

My new interface should...

- Allow to record at least 44.1/48K and 24bits. Two channels or more.

- I don't care about if the interface is USB 1.1 or USB 2.0.

- Work on Linux.

- Work on Android devices (USBAudioRecorderPRO)

- Have nice and neutral Preamps and Phantom Power because I use condenser mics.

- Have headphones output with power enough to let me use my Audio Technica ATH-50 headphones. I'm a saxophone player so the headphones output should be as powerful as possible to avoid the playback tracks sound weaker than my saxophone.

- Low noise floor and good SNR.

- As cheap as possible, best price/quality ratio.

These are the interface I'm considering:

- Alesis IO2 / IO2 Express (Test: Alesis IO2 Express - Seite 2 von 3 - AMAZONA.de). I'm more than happy with my Alesis IO26 and IO14, if this interface share the same preamps and converters it would be a great product but I can't find that information. This is one of the cheapest alternatives (around $50 used on eBay).

- Lexicon Lambda. I heard wonderful things about this interface but I can't find a serious review with Rightmark tests. As the IO2 this is one of the cheapest alternatives (around $50 used on eBay).

- Presonus Audiobox. Not heard good opinions about this interface, but I never used one nor found a serious and objective review. (around $50 used on eBay).

- Steinberg UR22 USB 2.0 (ProSound: Ïðîôåññèîíàëüíûé çâóê / Steinberg UR22 review : UR so small - Audiofanzine). This interface works on Android devices and probably on Linux. (Around $80 used on eBay).

- Mackie Onyx Blackjack (Mackie Onyx Blackjack / http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/mackie-onyx-blackjack-289531/). Despite it weird aspect with that metal piece it seems to have a good reputation.(around $100 used on eBay)

- Presouns Audiobox 22VSL (http://voicecouncil.com/review-presonus-audiobox-22vsl/). It seems similar to old Audiobox but 96/24 capable due the use of USB 2.0. (around $100 used on eBay).

- Edirol UA-25/UA-25EX (http://www.k5.dion.ne.jp/~amelabo/equipment/UA25.html / http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20080728/44k.htm). Not stellar performance on Rightmark tests but very popular and reliable. (around $100 used on eBay).

- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (http://www.practical-music-production.com/focusrite-scarlett-2i2.html / http://html.midifan.com/review/2i2/%5BMME%5D%20Scarlett%202i2%20USB%202448.htm). Lot of good subjective reviews but Rightmark test leaves a lot to be desired. (around $100 used on eBay).

If I'd consider a not bus powered unit I'll surely get an EMU 0404 USB. I'd like to know your opinions about the listed interfaces, mostly if somebody had the chance to compare between them.

Thank you very much in advance,

Luis Pablo
 
Hi Luis.
The only interface I know of that positively works on Linux is the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 and I know that because I lent it to a guy for a month to try it out and he bought one!

You might however have a problem with all bus powered* AIs and headphone level? Basically there is not a lot of juice to spare so you might have to budget for a headphone amp whatever you get!

BTW, the KA6 is a really good interface, super clean (RME designed converters it is whispered!) and super low latency.

*Where TF are the USB 3.0 interfaces??? We could really use that extra 400mA!

Dave.
 
Thank you very much for your advice Dave! Native Instruments makes excellent products, however Komplete Audio 6 costs more than I'm willing to spend, KA 6 is in the $150/200 range used on eBay and my limit is $100. An afordable alternative from NI is the Audio Kontrol 1 (discontinued), but it has only 1 mic preamp. All the interface in my list are supported by Linux drivers, maybe the UR22 could be a bit more tricky than the others. I'll be more than happy if I could satisfy my requirements with a $50 interface (Alesis IO 2 / IO 2 Express, Presonus Audiobox, Lexicon Lambda).
 
I have tested two, Presonus USB and Tascam 1800. Presonus worked no problems. It is a pretty decent interface.
 
HI DM60,
Thank you for your post. How does the Audiobox compare with the Tascam 1800 in terms of sound quality?
 
I found additional information:
- Presonus Audiobox: PreSonus | AudioBox USB - Techspecs http://www.presonus.com/downloads/products/pdf/AudioBoxUSB_OwnersManual_EN1.pdf - Specs on page 56.
- Lexicon Lambda: http://rdn.harmanpro.com/product_documents/documents/857_1331323539/Lambda_Manual_18_0350VB__original.pdf - Specs on page 36.
- Alesis IO 2: http://alesis.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/fa5bb2535475d272afc3ef56c93e588e/file/io2_referencemanual.pdf - Specs on page 14.

Based upon the information in the previous links I made this comparative chart:

Weight
Alesis IO 2: 1.5Lbs
Audiobox: 5Lbs(1)
Lambda: 1.9Lbs

Mic. Preamp Max. Gain
Alesis IO 2: N/A
Audiobox: 35dB
Lambda: 44dB

Headphones Max. Power
Alesis IO 2: N/A
Audiobox: 30mA/Ch(2) at 60 Ohms
Lambda: 20mA/Ch at 50 Ohms

Mic. Preamp SNR
Alesis IO 2: 95dB
Audiobox: 95dB
Lambda: N/A

THD+N
Alesis IO 2: 0.007%
Audiobox: 0.008%
Lambda: 0.005%

EIN
Alesis IO 2: N/A
Audiobox: -115dB
Lambda: -120dB

(1) I'm not sure about this, I got this info from the website.
(2) In the website says 60mA/Ch at 60 Ohms

Do you have the lacking information (N/A) or more information?

Thank you very much in advance,
Luis Pablo
 
HI DM60,
Thank you for your post. How does the Audiobox compare with the Tascam 1800 in terms of sound quality?

I will be honest, I do not have a good enough ear to hear a difference. I use the 1800 for live recording and its 16 inputs, my goal was to capture a good sound and it does. I was going to build a Linux laptop for my mobile sound, but since the 1800 didn't work, I went with Win8 and a inexpensive laptop.

I think at the lower level, you will find the Audiobox to fit your sound needs. I do know that the headphone output is much better on the Presonus than the 1800 by far.
 
First, as a card-carrying computer scientist, I am pleased to hear that people are working in linux. Please let me know the general status in the community either by private or public post.

I have used an Audiobox 44VSL for a couple of years and could not be happier. It has all of the I/O I have ever needed. You can listen to some tracks on "Escher's Enigma's playlists on SoundCloud - Hear the world’s sounds"

All non-midi instruments recorded through 44VSL. In addition, the no-latency VSL software is terrific. Further, fyi, I do use the S1 Pro DAW, which I very much enjoy.
 
Hi DM60,
There's some hope about the 1800 and Linux, take a look at this thread:
LinuxMusicians ? View topic - Tascam US1800. any way to get it working?

I may revisit. But, at this point it is very difficult to work with Linux. I do love the OS, I use the Ubuntu variant. But, I really didn't want to focus on the technology, I wanted to record, so Win8 worked for me.

I do think if there were more efforts on building out a Linux OS focused on recording and supported by major DAW and hardware owners, Linux could be the way to go. Stripped down OS to save resources, speed increases, there could be great performance gains. But as far as I am concerned, Linux is little more than a hobby OS or good for those companies that want to recompile it for a targeted use, like a portastudio setup.
 
Linux is improving all the time, there are audio production specific distros like:
Ubuntu Studio
https://spins.fedoraproject.org/jam-kde/
KXStudio

There're really polished and complete software like ardour - the digital audio workstation and http://qtractor.sourceforge.net/

Also hardware support is improving every day.

That's very good to hear. I'm a Unix/Linux from way back. Workstations, supercomputers, grids, and everything in between.

However, when I moved to computer-based recording, I decided that i wanted to use well supported systems, so I weighed Apple vs PC and came down on the side of Win 7 Pro and have not been disappointed. My bandmate uses Apple. We have no problem collaborating long distace. Mine is a dedicated system that sits in my studio and does what I need it to do so I can enjoy the music part of my life and not intermingle the two.
 
Linux is improving all the time, there are audio production specific distros like:
Ubuntu Studio
https://spins.fedoraproject.org/jam-kde/
KXStudio

There're really polished and complete software like ardour - the digital audio workstation and http://qtractor.sourceforge.net/

Also hardware support is improving every day.

Not arguing that point. Improving doesn't mean it is there. 90% of the new folks who want to record want to install, plug in, go. Most have a hard time regardless of the OS. Doing that in Linux is not that simple, yet.

Now, here is what I would like to see, a DAW, say Reaper (just picking one), create an entire DAW setup from OS up (using Linux as base). That means, you boot up inside the DAW. Everything is cleared in the OS, no optimization required, drivers are set, and that bootup would be for recording. That would optimize, and make it so easy it would be hard not use to it. It would be like, bring your own hardware portastudio. They could list what interfaces are supported. That would actually be a good model for portastudio's as well. Have a old laptop sitting around, install ReaperOS, plug in the interface, controllers, record. Now that would really be a nice DAW!
 
Now, here is what I would like to see, a DAW, say Reaper (just picking one), create an entire DAW setup from OS up (using Linux as base). That means, you boot up inside the DAW. Everything is cleared in the OS, no optimization required, drivers are set, and that bootup would be for recording. That would optimize, and make it so easy it would be hard not use to it. It would be like, bring your own hardware portastudio. They could list what interfaces are supported. That would actually be a good model for portastudio's as well. Have a old laptop sitting around, install RaperOS, plug in the interface, controllers, record. Now that would really be a nice DAW!

I guess the the 3 listed distros offer that kind a simplicity. You can try them from an USB stick and see if you like them.
 
I guess the the 3 listed distros offer that kind a simplicity. You can try them from an USB stick and see if you like them.

No they don't. I am not sure what has changed in the last 6 months, but I had tried the Ubuntu Studio. It is better, but not there yet.

But you are right, you could boot from disk (CD/DVD), USB stick, SD card, run and see how you like it for sure. Nothing to lose.
 
I'll be honest about it, I have not had that great of luck with Lexicons. The Lambda was introduced back in '06 and while it will do what you want at the price, you can expect the Phantom power to quit working properly and I don't know that it will ever be USB 3 adaptable. So, it will not be long until you outgrow this interface.
 
I'll be honest about it, I have not had that great of luck with Lexicons. The Lambda was introduced back in '06 and while it will do what you want at the price, you can expect the Phantom power to quit working properly and I don't know that it will ever be USB 3 adaptable. So, it will not be long until you outgrow this interface.
Hmmm? Saw a Lambda in Cash Generators some weeks ago. Checked it out on'web and it did not seem to offer me any advantages and I think they wanted 80quid? Sounds like I was WELL out of that one?

Over the B moon with the iO2 mind! Cracker for 40 notes.

Dave.
 
I can't comment on the Linux part of the spec but I have an M Audio M Track (the same interface as the Alesis IO2 with a different label) and have been pleasantly surprised. I bought it for a specific project but now use it for a lot of basic 2 track recording. The ASIO drivers are stable (in Win7...as I say, no Linux experience), the pre amps are quiet enough to run all the way up as needed, the direct hardware monitoring is fine and, so far, it's survived more than a year of being thrown in and out of bags travelling to locations and hasn't missed a beat.
 
I can't comment on the Linux part of the spec but I have an M Audio M Track (the same interface as the Alesis IO2 with a different label) and have been pleasantly surprised. I bought it for a specific project but now use it for a lot of basic 2 track recording. The ASIO drivers are stable (in Win7...as I say, no Linux experience), the pre amps are quiet enough to run all the way up as needed, the direct hardware monitoring is fine and, so far, it's survived more than a year of being thrown in and out of bags travelling to locations and hasn't missed a beat.

Ah Bobbs! ASIO drivers, do you mean ASIO4ALL or are there actual M-A drivers? (lazy sod! I COULD go and look couldn't I?) .
The instruction for the iO2 say to use the drivers on the CD but I don't have that and Alesis UK are playing hard to get.

If there are ASIO drivers I bet they would work for my interface. If you have a link that would be bOOOtyful!

Dave.
 
I'm sorta in the market for a new interface myself. Not entirely sure if my problems are entirely Tascam 1800 related, but recent fresh windows install hasn't solved the random drop outs (even seeing the USB light toggle on the unit itself, as if it resets). I don't have a spare computer or sound card to troubleshoot, and it's likely I'll just drop $150 on a new interface before $1000 on a new PC. The Tascam can go hours without problems, or dropout/need power cycling 3 or 4 times in an hour session. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to when/why it crashes, and the fresh windows install should eliminate most software causes. I need more reliability than that.

So take my input with a grain of salt. The Presonus I had (lower end model) had latency problems, the Tascam has improved latency but still gets bogged down before I think it should. So there's no perfect low end solution from what I've read, yet. In this price point there's going to be compromises. My plan at this point is to suffer with the Tascam until it finally dies (starting to suspect I have a dud), I can afford a proper upgrade, or a better low end model hits the market.
 
Back
Top