Soundcard help for a friend

M

maryslittlesecret

New member
Hi, all. I'm trying to set up a friend of mine (who's not very computer savvy) with a PC studio and am looking for a simple, reliable, entry level soundcard with one or two 1/4 inch ins, one or two XLR ins and one MIDI I/O.

It's been so long since I've bought a soundcard (and never really looked for one this basic) that I could really use some help weeding through the options. Any suggestions? Thanks!

J

P.S. The only ones I've found so far that seem to meet all those specs (at an low entry-level price of around $200) are m-Audio Audiophile and Tascam US-122. Others I've looked at are the Line6 TonePort, Lexicon Lambda, and m-Audio Delta 44
 
What is your friend's budget?

If he/she needs mic preamps built in, then I would probably be looking into a firewire interface/card. Some of the 2-input USB devices are probably ok, too (Tascam US-122, M-Audio Fast Track Pro), if the budget is really tight.

If the budget is a little more flexible, I would look into getting external microphone preamps and a soundcard with just 1/4" balanced ins (like the M-audio delta 44).
 
Thanks for the quick reply, scrubs. His budget is around $200. I'll have to look into the Fast Track Pro, but the Delta 44 (which was one of my initial picks) doesn't appear to have the MIDI I/O.
 
You could get an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 and an M-audio Audiobuddy preamp for under $200. This combo meets the requirements and is much better than any of the low budget USB devices.
 
maryslittlesecret said:
Is there an inherent problem with USB cards (slow? unreliable? poor sound quality?) or are they just not preferred to Firewire/PCI?
Click to expand...
For one or two inputs at a time, USB can work fine. It's when you get into mutitracking that problems arise.
 
maybe an intenal soundcard like the E-MU 1212m , which i believe is $200. That has some flexability to it.i think it has ADAT and spdif, and 1/4". You would need a mic preamp with that though as there are no xlr in's.
 
My friend probably won't record more than 2 channels simultaneously anyway. He's planning on using EZDrummer for drums and, from there, the most he would record is maybe a stereo guitar track or something...

And someone outside the board suggested the E-MU too, though the lack of a breakout box is still a sticking point for me. Thanks for your suggestions!
 
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