Best Sound card for $200 with Windows 10

[bjdj45]

Started with the Realtek onboard sound card, playback great, but no line in sound (there is input, but no playback) large delay in audio interface in mic in. Tried everything and no improvement. Disabled onboard Realtek and bought Soundblaster Audigy. It has it's own set of problems, distortion on playback of anything and sometimes line in works, sometimes not. Sometimes sound works (speakers) sometimes it will stop working entirely.

Frustrating cause it is virtually unusable right now. Windows 10 is a big pain in the ass cause most of my rack mounts and USB midi interface don't have newer drivers. Figured out a way past the UM2 driver and it works (had to rewrite two lines of code) but the Audigy just doesn't have new drivers (Windows 8.1 is as far as it goes) So I am pretty sure these are driver issues.

Before I go and buy another sound card and have someone install it, I'd like to get one around $200 that will WORK with Windows 10. Any suggestions??? Thanks for lengthy reading!!!!

[ukpdb111]

I was in the same position and couldn't be happier with the Roland UA, excellent bit of kit and the Roland ASIO driver plays nicely with Windows 10.

https://www.roland.com/uk/products/mobile_ua/

[valy]

Curious why you wouldn't want an external audio interface instead?

[Tone Deft]

Originally Posted by ukpdb111

I was in the same position and couldn't be happier with the Roland UA, excellent bit of kit and the Roland ASIO driver plays nicely with Windows 10.

https://www.roland.com/uk/products/mobile_ua/

that looks like it's playback only. no ADC inputs, only a DAC output. that's half a sound card. unless you know of a variant I missed.

I'm looking at the Line 6 POD Studio UX2 for a low end choice of a sound card replacement. partly because I have $200 worth of software for an old Pod that fried itself years ago that will only work with this series of Pods. (power button failed and eventually shorted.)

[DVDdoug]

large delay in audio interface in mic in.

There are USB audio interfaces with zero-latency direct-hardware monitoring (and it's not necessarily an expensive option).

Many interfaces have switchable mic/line inputs. Note that audio interfaces don't work with "computer mics". They have low-impedance balanced mic connections for stage/studio mics, and they usually have phantom power for studio condenser mics.

[nait]

I've been looking for a new audio interface to replace my flakey Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (Rev 1). Maybe I'll hook it up again and try the latest drivers, but it hasn't been stable for a while.

Anyways, the one I added to my Christmas wishlist was a Motu M2. Heard good things about it. If I don't get that for Christmas, I might consider between that or a Behringer U-Phoria UMC202HD or a Steinberg UR22C. They all fall under the $200USD range and seem to be pretty well reviewed/liked for that price point.

[panicaftermath]

Did your Scarlett 2i2 become flakey overtime or all at once, or was it always that way. I'm considering the 3rd gen.

The UX2 looks really cool. I have a POD X3, and the the Pod Farm software useful and versatile and sounds great. The mic models too. Been some time since I've used it.

[nait]

Originally Posted by panicaftermath

Did your Scarlett 2i2 become flakey overtime or all at once, or was it always that way. I'm considering the 3rd gen.

The UX2 looks really cool. I have a POD X3, and the the Pod Farm software useful and versatile and sounds great. The mic models too. Been some time since I've used it.

It was fantastic for a while. I've owned it for over 4 years now. I am thinking it's possible they worked out the bugs by gen 3. I had noticed a lot of people complaining about issues with them, and I wondered what they were fussing about. I started to experience problems in the last year sometime where it would need to be restarted on a fairly regular basis.

Now that I think about it, I think I've replaced the cord with a somewhat long USB at some point, and that can be a bit of a no-no for USB too in my experience with other devices. So, I may look at swapping that for something shorter and see if the results are good again.

Anyways, I know the Scarlett 2i2 Gen 3s get a lot of love from online reviewers for it's price/performance. I'd say keep an eye on reviews from actual long term users though, that'll be more telling, imo.

[panicaftermath]

Thanks for that info. Yes it gets a lot of good reviews. And it comes with a useful bundle. The Scarlett 3rd Gen line seems to have been introduced summer 2019.

Here's a comparison of the Scarlett 2i2 and the SSL 2

https://www.musicradar.com/news/ssl-...e-head-to-head

Didn't realize that SSL made and branded interfaces, but then why wouldn't they?

[ukpdb111]

Originally Posted by Tone Deft

that looks like it's playback only. no ADC inputs, only a DAC output. that's half a sound card. unless you know of a variant I missed.

You are correct, senior moment not reading the OP properly.

[martifingers]

Originally Posted by nait

I've been looking for a new audio interface to replace my flakey Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (Rev 1). Maybe I'll hook it up again and try the latest drivers, but it hasn't been stable for a while.

Anyways, the one I added to my Christmas wishlist was a Motu M2. Heard good things about it. If I don't get that for Christmas, I might consider between that or a Behringer U-Phoria UMC202HD or a Steinberg UR22C. They all fall under the $200USD range and seem to be pretty well reviewed/liked for that price point.

Hi. I just got the Behringer much against my better judgement TBH given a chequered history in the past with the long term performance of Behringer products. It was mostly cos I wanted a cheap interface to take advantage of its proven track record for using with Jam Kazam which as you may know is a jam-over-the-internet thingy. Apart from that my 8 input m-audio card is sadly redundant in these lockdown days!
It is actually OK. Preamps (allegedly "MIDAS") are usable even for recording although in some comparison tests they sound a little thin, build is good and it could not be simpler to run (the direct monitor switch for instance).
My only gripe is a somewhat quiet output on both headphones and monitors. Not a dealbreaker but worth checking for your own set-up I guess.
BTW in the UK the cost was a lot less than 100 pounds let alone 200 dollars.

Oh and Jam Kazam? Well with a bit (actually a lot) of tinkering it works! That is, it works well enough to feel that playing togther is meaningful. It takes practice and you have to adjust your playing to cope with the inevitable delay but yes, worth a try for definite.

[valy]

Originally Posted by nait

Now that I think about it, I think I've replaced the cord with a somewhat long USB at some point, and that can be a bit of a no-no for USB too in my experience with other devices. So, I may look at swapping that for something shorter and see if the results are good again.

Focusrite interfaces are notorious for not playing nice with long USB cables or USB 3.0 ports.

I have an 18i20, a Scarlett Solo, and a 2i2. The only time I ever had problems with any of them was when I tried to use long USB cables. In fact, it's best to use the exact one it ships with.

[nait]

Originally Posted by martifingers

Hi. I just got the Behringer much against my better judgement TBH given a chequered history in the past with the long term performance of Behringer products. It was mostly cos I wanted a cheap interface to take advantage of its proven track record for using with Jam Kazam which as you may know is a jam-over-the-internet thingy. Apart from that my 8 input m-audio card is sadly redundant in these lockdown days!
It is actually OK. Preamps (allegedly "MIDAS") are usable even for recording although in some comparison tests they sound a little thin, build is good and it could not be simpler to run (the direct monitor switch for instance).
My only gripe is a somewhat quiet output on both headphones and monitors. Not a dealbreaker but worth checking for your own set-up I guess.
BTW in the UK the cost was a lot less than 100 pounds let alone 200 dollars.

Oh and Jam Kazam? Well with a bit (actually a lot) of tinkering it works! That is, it works well enough to feel that playing togther is meaningful. It takes practice and you have to adjust your playing to cope with the inevitable delay but yes, worth a try for definite.

Thanks for all that info, martin! I do most of my work through headphones, so as to not annoy the wife, so that's probably a thing to consider.

And yeah, my dad uses Jam Kazam. Or at least, he used to. I'm not sure how much he plays nowadays. He's 72 and now suffers from both arthritis and Parkinson's, so that's inhibited his ability to play guitar much now. I think the past few years he was playing on a Dobro to help cope with the arthritis. Anyways, I'm rambling here.. Jam Kazam... he seems to really like it as well too, after some adjusting.

Originally Posted by valy

Focusrite interfaces are notorious for not playing nice with long USB cables or USB 3.0 ports.

I have an 18i20, a Scarlett Solo, and a 2i2. The only time I ever had problems with any of them was when I tried to use long USB cables. In fact, it's best to use the exact one it ships with.

Yeah I'll go back to the cable it came with. I should know better. I've had a few other non-audio devices run into problems due to long USB cables. I only used a longer one because I wanted to tuck it away nicely somewhere and route the cables out of view, but I can manage with what it came with.

[Tone Deft]

Originally Posted by ukpdb111

You are correct, senior moment not reading the OP properly.

didn't want to make you feel singled out, I loved your post. I've owned an Edirol (Roland) UA101 card for 15+ years, I thought I found my ideal upgrade. glad I know about them.

re: the Scarlett interfaces, is anyone tempted to take that further and go for the Clarret series?

I think the actual parts for a decent sound card are at least $150. anything lower than that and the quality gets dodgy. the Roland UA card is an example of this, just for the DAC half.


how comfortable are people in saying that USB cables cause a problem? I have a hard time believing that but I'm often wrong. anything over 10', I can see that.

[nait]

Originally Posted by Tone Deft

how comfortable are people in saying that USB cables cause a problem? I have a hard time believing that but I'm often wrong. anything over 10', I can see that.

I think there are a lot of people out there who had problems with Scarletts, and I don't think many of them swapped out USB cables. I think they likely had other issues. This just happens to be the likely cause of my Scarlett's troubles.

I'm actually not overly concerned with it though as I dont use my audio interface for input much anymore and my PC is pretty souped up, and I'm not doing any rendering or much heavy lifting right now, so even onboard audio is getting me by, for the moment. I think I'll try another cable today though, as it's a good likelihood of being the cause for my issue. I also have an almost entirely new PC since I last use the interface too, which may help.

I think with other people, I wonder what revision of the Scarlett they were using.. I wonder what drivers too. They've done some good work in the past year at fixing some problems. It's hard to know what problems people were having. I think if this works well again for me with the original cable and such, I'd have no problems recommending them to people. As I said, mine was problem free, up until the past year.


Edit: well, in looking to plug things back in just now, I do believe I was mistaken about the USB cable. By that, I mean, I think I've always used the original cable.. so that's a red herring for my troubles. That was actually my MIDI keyboard's USB cable I had swapped (which is working fine, just as a note). Now, I may have been plugging it in to a >=USB3.0 port, as Valy suggested. Not sure, and if so, not sure if that's caused my issues. I have it in a 2.0 port now, and will try the latest drivers and experiment for a while.

[valy]

Originally Posted by Tone Deft

how comfortable are people in saying that USB cables cause a problem? I have a hard time believing that but I'm often wrong. anything over 10', I can see that.

I've been told it by Focusrite support directly. I wanna say that it even says that somewhere in the manual or installation guide too.

[Tone Deft]

Originally Posted by valy

I've been told it by Focusrite support directly. I wanna say that it even says that somewhere in the manual or installation guide too.

my heart sank. wow. wow. wow.

+1 on seeing so many generation versions out there for the Focusrite series.

consumers having to bug about USB 1.0 and 2.0 back compatibility is hopefully a pain point the industry will get out like yesterday.

so often tempted to just get a magnetic tape based multitrack recorder from the 90s...

[nait]

Originally Posted by valy

I've been told it by Focusrite support directly. I wanna say that it even says that somewhere in the manual or installation guide too.

It wasn't the cause of my issue (as I just noticed I was wrong.. I've always been using the original cable), but lots has changed since I last used my Scarlett. I do know from past experience of me being a dummy and grabbing long cables for phones and console controllers that > 10' can be an issue, however. I think it's pretty standard fare though to cover your butt saying "use the original cable" in a manual. Just saying.. but at the same time, I do believe using a cable > 10' will potentially cause problems this and some other USB devices.

Anywho, almost an entirely new PC... and a fresh install of Windows now. Thinking back, I had some audio issues outside of the Scarlett too that were really annoying the heck out of me. My onboard device used to just mute/unmute rapidly. Replacing it with another cheapo usb audio device (note: this wasn't for DAW audio) had same results, even. I never did figure out the cause. So those issues might have all been intertwined. From memory, I just remember every once in a while I knew I had to unplug/replug the Scarlett. I think it used to just flash lights on the front, iirc. I'm really hesitant to blame my Scarlett for any of the problems.

Anyways, practically a new set up here, with the same Scarlett.. I'll definitely report back with how this works out for me. It will be several days before I can confidently say the problem is behind me though.

[Tone Deft]

I once debated USB cable length in a forum. it came down to this:
- the USB spec says nothing more than 15' (or 5 meters or whatever).
- the poster said he always used long ass cables to reach the studio from the production desk. can't argue with a (self proclaimed) Pro, I can respect that, this is just my hobby.

theory vs reality. we all lost that debate, went nowhere.

I feel like it's chip level USB 1.0, 2.0 compatibility problems. I finally figured out that was the problem with my drum module SPD-SX and my old sound card was only 1.0 for years and that detail escaped me. in the early days of USB ALL the documentation just says USB compatible. seems that nobody anticipated USB 2.0 and 3.0 or they just didn't want to let consumers to know about it because it can only hurt sales.

every once in a while I have to take a full day to just deep dive into a piece of gear to see why it's always been kinda flaky. pftpftpftpftpftpftpft

[nait]

Honestly, with issues re: cable length, it depends on the device and the cable itself too (build quality). In some cases, it might work just fine to have a long cable. Ex, my printer has no issues with a long USB cable. Other devices have completely crapped out. Others have worked. You're rolling the dice any time you use a cable that's longer than recommended, though. Will it work? Sure, it may work just absolutely fine. It might not though.. and you might not be sharp enough to clue in right away that the cable you swapped out was the cause (insert troubleshooting chaos haha).

Signal attenuation is a real thing. You can get cables properly designed for extending USB (or whatever else you're using), but unfortunately some of the cheap stuff on the market is just a super long USB cable with potential to degrade the signal too much for what you need. I've experienced that first hand, unrelated to my Scarlett.

[Tone Deft]

I forgot to add that a device can have USB but it can ONLY use the official USB logo unless it's been sent in to be tested by a certified USB compliance testing lab. IMO very few companies do that, they don't actually need it, users don't know this.


signal degradation...
I did a Burning Man project with a PIC controller driving more than 100' of other 5V off the shelf simple electronics with raw 28AWG ribbon cable. ZERO signal buffering or sane engineering standards applied. I've also done very high speed signal integrity circuit tweaks inside circuit boards. signal attentuation does exist, the Burning Man crowd kept yelling in my ear that my design would never work. I did the math, installed that shit and it worked for a week straight. I was nervous but if it failed I was ready to bail on that crowd, too many pompous a-holes that would not do actual work, except on their costumes and their social media displaying my work assignment TBD, wtf?


edit - [dear diary]I just quit an LLC as their Chief Engineering Officer because of the exact same Burning Man scenario played out. that post was my last thoughts on that scene. was supposed to be toys for disabled kids this time (ahem?), just more confidence men. exact same shit, all volunteer work for 6 months for this guy too. no, I will not build anything for anyone anymore. never. omfg. learn my lesson, just don't do it.[/dear diary]

[valy]

Yeah, I mean I've used a 50' USB cable with a built-in repeater to connect my Yamaha digital piano to the PC across the room and it worked fine. It really just depends on the device.

I can only say what happened in my experience with one particular Focusrite unit and one PC.

But overall, Focusrite has been really rock-solid for me, even going all the way back to the Liquid Saffire 56.

[bjdj45]

Originally Posted by valy

Curious why you wouldn't want an external audio interface instead?

I have the Creative Extigy and tried making that work. The problem I am having is finding drivers for anything past Windows 8.1 So frustrating.

[Stella645]

Originally Posted by bjdj45

I have the Creative Extigy and tried making that work. The problem I am having is finding drivers for anything past Windows 8.1 So frustrating.

Ok...but a modern usb audio interface with ASIO drivers is going to work ok and you have loads of options. There are no internal cards really designed for pro audio use I'm aware of that are within budget.

[AntonZ]

Here's a +1 for external. Years ago USB had a bad reputation and firewire was the only reliable way to go external. And then only if your pc had the proper firewire chipset, they did not all behave well enough for audio. Different these days, and I have long been reluctant to admit. I now have a larger and a smaller setup, both USB and both work fine.

The "big rig" is a pc with RME Digiface USB and a few 8 in 8 out adat boxes. The small one is just a laptop (several years old by now) with a Berrie UMC404HD, which is also a USB device. Both work flawlessly. The Berri is a great low budget device, phenomenal actually for the price point. Four in, four out. The 2-channel version is even cheaper.

Two things to keep in mind. First is to use USB 2 ports only, do not give in to the temptation to use those pretty blue USB 3 ports. For audio, the bandwidth of USB2 is plenty and USB3 can cause more harm than good for this purpose. The other thing is to be aware that USB is a bus thing, the B in usb is for bus. This means, among other things, that several physical ports on your pc or laptop can actually be on one logical USB port from the pc viewpoint. They share bandwidth and have to wait for their turn when other devices are also using the bus at the same time. Therefore, check documentation of your pc and connect nothing else to the usb ports that share the same usb bus in your pc. Mouse, keyboard, printer, whatever, make sure they are on a different bus.