bruce Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Hi, I'm looking for recommendations for a simple USB-connected external sound card. 2-in/2-out would be fine. The critical features are: it MUST have balanced outputsthese outputs MUST be at +4dB - the device to which it is connecting does not have particularly sensitive inputs. An external preamp or mixer is not an option.Ideally sub-£100, but that's not critical.Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Hi, I'm looking for recommendations for a simple USB-connected external sound card. 2-in/2-out would be fine. The critical features are: it MUST have balanced outputsthese outputs MUST be at +4dB - the device to which it is connecting does not have particularly sensitive inputs. An external preamp or mixer is not an option.Ideally sub-£100, but that's not critical.Any recommendations?There are a lot of USB audio interfaces that have balanced out. It should be simple to find one that fits your needs. Here is one example, that has some extra features, and is right at your upper limit on cost. Here is one that is half the cost, but just introduced, so no track record. It is unusual to see a spec on maximum voltage output, so it may be hard to find one that says "+4" out. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamplighter Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 BruceEdirol UA 25 has balanced outputs at +4, Digital Village list is £132Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlinford Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I'd second the Edirol UA25. If you've got a bit more money available the MOTU ultralite is about £350, and does an awful lot more. Alternatively as they've just released a new version, you may be able to pick up an 828mkII for a good price, which also has 8 ways of ADAT in/out which is great for interfacing with digital desks to do a quick recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I used a borrowed UA25 on a project a couple of years back and it seemed fine. Installation worked first try on an XP machine, inputs seemed nice and quiet and there were no noticeable noise or funnies on the outputs at musical-theatre type levels. "Assuming" is always dangerous but, unless specified, gear with balanced outputs is generally standardised so an output indicated at 0dB on the meters will be at +4dBu. I didn't do any specific measurements on the UA25 when I used it, but its outputs arrived at my mixer (as far as I can recall) at a level similar to other pro gear so it can't be far off your +4dBu level. It certainly wasn't a -10dBu device which is the other "normal" level. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted March 22, 2008 Author Share Posted March 22, 2008 It is unusual to see a spec on maximum voltage output, so it may be hard to find one that says "+4" out. That's exactly the problem I'm facing! The device that I'm interfacing to expects a +4 input, and there's not a great deal of adjustment on the gain. At the moment I've got a small mixer in the chain to boost the signal a bit, but I'd like to get rid of that. I'd second the Edirol UA25. If you've got a bit more money available the MOTU ultralite is about £350, and does an awful lot more. That's a nice unit, but it does far more than I need - I just need a couple of outputs - this is a device that will be put into a rack, cabled up, and the rack door locked, so I don't need the flexibility. I'll have a closer look at the UA25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 That's a nice unit, but it does far more than I need - I just need a couple of outputs - this is a device that will be put into a rack, cabled up, and the rack door locked, so I don't need the flexibility.The M-Audio Fast Track Pro I linked t previously has a maximum output of +10dBu according to the spec sheet. If this is going to be permamently mounted in a rack, why not use a lower cost unbalanced interface and an RDL Stick on unbalanced to balanced interface? Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted March 22, 2008 Author Share Posted March 22, 2008 If this is going to be permamently mounted in a rack, why not use a lower cost unbalanced interface and an RDL Stick on unbalanced to balanced interface? It's in a very electrically-noisy environment - I'd rather not have any unbalanced connections. But the RDL unit looks interesting for another project.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 Just to "close the loop", I thought I'd let you know what I went for... The application is in a community radio station. From the DJ pressing the "go" button, to you hearing the sound (either via radio or on the internet) the signal path goes through several digital<>analogue conversions. It starts off as either a .wav file on the playout machine (1), or as CD. It's converted to analogue, and runs through the main mixing desk. It's then digitised(2) again, and this stream is either sent to the transmission site and converted to analogue(3), or streamed over the net to you. We also have a logger/recorder system(4) that satisfies the Ofcom requirements, and also makes hi-quality copies of key shows for later automated retransmission. The main playout system (1) has a decent 8-channel audio card. But (2,3,4) were put together on a tight budget, and just used the onboard audio on the PCs. Amazingly, it was actually not too bad! But I had always intended to replace the audio cards on these 3 machines with better interfaces. I looked at several options; in the end I went for 3x Lexicon Alpha units. That's the box suggested by mackerr above. If you shop around you can get them for about 60 pounds. And they seem to work very well, both on Windows and Linux. The windows install, of course, meant some faffing about with drivers and reboots, the Linux one worked straight away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoLiEn Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 TAPCO USB works wonders, google it. is also cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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