Cheap audio-interface recommendation

Yeah I'm looking for a cheap (150-250 €) & good audio-interface with at least 4 outputs... I guess the M-Audio Fast Track Pro is a good choice for that?

I will use it mostly to DJ with Traktor, so I was thinking, I could get something like the BEHRINGER BCD3000 (http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_bcd3000.htm) , but I'm asking myself, if that's really a good choice.

So, what do you think? I need some help!

novation nio

  On 5/5/2011 at 12:54 PM, soundwave said:

novation nio

That one looks nice... forgot to mention I will use it with a Mac.

Mh... now I am even more confused cause I've noticed some usb mixers have an audio-interface on board as well. So maybe I should get a USB mixer instead ?

I use a Focusrite Saffire LE for Traktor, it has been good.

http://www.musicradar.com/gear/all/computers-software/peripherals/input-devices/audio-interfaces/saffire-le-21565/review

It doesn't look like that Behringer one has enough outputs for monitoring with Traktor? I can only see 2 on the back

I own an Echo Audiofire 4 - http://www.echoaudio.com//Products/FireWire/AudioFire4/index.php

'tis good and has 4 outputs (and is Mac compatible), I paid just under 200 quid for mine which is €228(.33624)

If you are lucky enough, you may find a second hand MOTU 828MKII (firewire) in this price range.

I got my FireWire Edirol FA-101 for £180 second hand. fantastic 10 in 10 out interface.

Hrhr you made a good deal there...

Well the Behringer BCD 2000 would work with Traktor, it has four In/Outs via its audio-interface. But I guess it'll sound a lot worse than a proper soundcard... on the other hand it has a lot of knobs and controllers so I wouldn't need to misstreat my Midi-keyboard for mixing.

What's the pro & cons with firewire or usb? Didn't they stop bringing firewire products for some reason?

FireWire is faster than USB, better latency, greater bandwidth etc. Never really caught on like USB though for some reason so sort of died out a bit. Some manufacturers still make FireWire stuff nevertheless although the FireWire ports have disappeared from a lot of computers in the last couple of years - my MacBook (late 2008 model has FireWire but the new MacBooks don't). But if you have a FireWire port and can get an interface for it at a decent price, then you should see "better" performance than an equivalent USB model.

it's never really the audio quality. behringer does what it does, but a pot might break off or something.. you know.

lomechanik party?

I've got a Focusrite Saffire 6 although it wasn't cheap. It cost £150 brand new. Has 6 outputs but you can use 4 at a time so yeah good for monitoring. Why not try and pick something up secondhand you could get what you want for half the price.

  On 5/12/2011 at 1:07 PM, BCM said:

I got my FireWire Edirol FA-101 for £180 second hand. fantastic 10 in 10 out interface.

Nice. I could definitely do with at least 2 more outputs.

I just got a Presonus FP10, 8 analog I/O, and S/PDIF I/O for 10 24bit 96khz Ins and Outs. I got it for used for $250 USD, which is about 162 quid. Excellent interface.

http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=3

  On 9/22/2011 at 8:22 PM, missingsense said:

it's never really the audio quality. behringer does what it does, but a pot might break off or something.. you know.

i got the bcd and after half a year one slider is broken because of beer, a knob is fucking around because of the same beer and today i broke another fader by just pushing it to hard. i hope this one i can fix. the audio quality is shit. its frightening bad, but i have good monitors, so maybe with a worse system you wouldnt notice it that much. and the support from behringer is shit. so... its cheap and does its job and is a tool for people want to try djing out. but if you know you want to do it save for something better!

yeah I hear you on that haha, my BCF2k is doing pretty good still, considering that USB functionality stopped working and the on/off switch is a bit loose.

I opened it up once to see if I could find some loose connector and get the USB working again, and there was hardened glue everywhere! these guys don't mess around, they want their cables and connectors to stay put. I think I messed something up in the process, but it's still working. the faders/knobs are great on this thing.. and I really love it for the sysex stuff, I've currently assigned it as a remote for my sampler which is incredibly useful.