@Tryptych You may want to consider Radial USB-Pro ($229) or Peavey USB-P ($53). They are basically USB to stereo DIs and of course have two XLR outputs. They seem to get reviewed very well and by many people who are using them to play vsts on stage. However they are plug and play so do not have a dedicated driver.
I’ve been doing a fair amount of research into this and what I have come to believe is that WASAPI in Windows 10 is basically on par with ASIO drivers. Of course WASAPI is generic and a driver written specifically for the device has potential to be more reliable for that device. But if you’re on Windows 10 they may be worth a try. Send it back if it doesn’t cut it.
@LilyM Thanks for the heads-up.
I’m still running Windows 7, eternal cynic that I am
I have everything currently running on ASIO, so I would be a little worried about the latency issues on a less than pristine laptop, it basically needs all the help it can get.
It also looks like the Peavey has been discontinued, and the Radial is out of my price range.
Right, probably not worth trying… but I don’t think the Peavey has been discontinued… just on back order…all online sites show it shipping on 11/22. Markertek has them in stock, but wants $79 for it. B&H says it is their #1 best seller!
Sweetwater has a Whirlwind version of the same thing for $150. But haven’t seen much talk about it.
I’m still on Windows 7 myself…and quite happy with everything. But my laptop is getting near the end (one USB port already bit the dust)… and with MS support coming to an end, I’m having to start looking to the future.
IMHO, you simply can’t have it all. If you’re shooting in the budget market, you are going to get budget performance. This may be good enough for you but that’s impossible to tell without trying.
Things you get with RME -
Best in business driver performance (they write their own and they’re good at it, many companies don’t)
Best in business driver support (even their older interfaces have Windows 10 compatibility)
True multi-client functionality with both midi and audio
Top notch sound quality (just consider that ALL of your awesome VSTs go through the same outputs)
Best in business channel routing/patching (even with a few channels, this could be useful, sending out patches over different outputs easily, or patching in a vocoder)
All that is worth paying for, even if you may not need an ADAT hookup. While it is true the initial investment is higher, I honestly believe the performance and incredible product support is worth it. You paid 150 bucks for GP3, some hundreds for your laptop and multiple hundreds for VSTs (I’m assuming), I don’t see where the audio interface is the real cost here.
@sanderxpander
I get your point, but right now we are a small band just starting up, have limited resources, and I’m just the tech, not the keyboard player!
I just need to get us gigging with a half-decent interface until we can raise some decent cash to buy something worthwhile.
As for the rest, the plugins are mine, bought over many years, the laptop was donated by the drummer’s company
If you’re the tech and you’re planning to upgrade to something better later on, maybe get something you can still use? Like that Radial-Pro DI? Always useful to have in the box. Additionally, I don’t know what kind of desk you use but I use an X32 Rack for my band which can double as a great stagebox (AES50) for Behringer or Midas live desks and it actually works great as an interface. They’re a bigger investment with way too many ins and outs but if you can utilize it in another way… You could swap out the USB card for a Dante or MADI option if you want to use it as a stagebox with a different desk. Just some ideas. Tbh if you’re the tech I would look to the keyboard player to get his stuff in order, but I don’t know the entire situation of course.
Good luck with whatever you choose! If you find an affordable option that turns out to work well enough, do post back.
Well it’s early days yet. We’ve just purchased a Tascam 24 channel desk.
I was actually a professional keyboards tech for over 20 years, so it’s what I do best.
Many keyboard players are musically brilliant, but technologically inept, as in this particular case, so I am using GP to make life as simple as possible for him so he can just concentrate on playing.
Wow, I just don’t understand this cult of the RME. Yeah i understand and appreciate the quality… and if it works for your budget,and needs, fantastic. I’m just not sure why the need for the proselytizing.
Those of us with lesser budgets,and or different needs and requirements understand we are probably not getting the best there is out there…we get it. But we still want to try and get the best we can and what will work best for us…
I have spent wisely and within my means on all the components in my rig… and yeah it all adds up to some real money…but $750 for an audio interface just isn’t going to work for me. Particularly when all I need is a DAC , which also seems to be the case for @Tryptych
I agree.
The RME is primarily for studio use where you need that audiophile quality.
One can get away with far less in a live environment.
Basically, I just need something that gets the audio from a laptop to the desk with reasonable quality and no lag that doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg.
The cheapest USB interface I’ve seen widely available with balanced outputs is the Behringer U-Phoria UMC22, which is under $60 in the US. If all you want is cheap decent balanced outputs, I don’t think you’re going to do much better. It’s 1/4" TRS, though, line level.
I’ve heard people say they get under 10ms latency, but I can’t vouch for that.
If I were in need of something in this price range I’d just buy it from any of the big music places (preferably with one of the 10% off or 15% off coupons one of them emails me like once a month) and if it doesn’t do what you need just return it.
@Vindes Thanks for the advice, but I wouldn’t touch Behringer with a bargepole.
You get what you pay for and their stuff is renowned for being notoriously unreliable.
I had a friend recently bought one of their interfaces and it didn’t work straight out of the box.
He sent it back and bought a Focusrite for not much more.
I get most of my gear from Thomann in Germany.
A very helpful and well priced company.
Rme is not primarily for studio use there is much better for that. The reason rme is raved on about for live use is not because of the sound quality it is because of their drivers, they are rock solid. So they are the gotu for professional musicians who need reliable gear.
Right… so I’m a professional musician, and I need reliable gear. I have been using an Echo Audio PCMCIA card, bought for under $200 I believe, for over 15 years now with never a single issue. And I suspect there are many other professional musicians, who need reliable gear, that use something other than RME.
Again no one is debating the quality of RME and their drivers.
I can’t speak for their cheap interfaces, but Behringer has come a long way. I actually use the X32 Rack digital mixer as interface when I don’t use my RME and it has been rock solid. I get slightly higher latency but I figure I will get similar latency using my RME and THEN going through the X32 anyway (it’s the main mixing desk for my trio). I wouldn’t instinctively discount Behringer like I would’ve 10/15 years ago.
Echo makes good stuff too. I’m not saying there isn’t anything that won’t work equally well for you. I’m saying if I need to make a recommendation to you for something that I know for sure isn’t going to be the bottleneck of your system, will have excellent audio quality and port and driver support basically forever, I’m going to recommend RME everytime. For the rest it’s basically it may work or it may not. Focusrite makes decent stuff too. So do PreSonus and Audient. But if you really go for their budget interfaces I won’t vouch for the driver quality or compatibility. I’ve personally seen Audient and PreSonus interfaces work fine on one system and be impossible to get stable on others.
Other than RME I could only recommend Apogee (the Duet in your case) but they’re similarly priced and I have no experience with their Windows drivers.
Yeah I know but I can also just use a USB cable and skip bringing the RME and its flightcase altogether. I have to run it at 256 samples buffersize instead of 128 with the RME just to feel safe, but at 48KHz and just using it as an output it’s not an issue.
