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Audio Interface as DAC recommendations under $300?

TwinkledEars

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First off, I found this website after googling "UMC204HD DAC performance" and I found this website. I was surprised someone picked up the idea on those being used as DACs. That said, I also have it, but despite that a better mic-pre is a second must, as well as lower round trip latency is a third must, The biggest must for me is it having the best possible DAC chip for my budget. And don't worry, I'm not using its headphone out, I'll be using its main or rca outs and passing that to my amp.

Anyone have recommendations?
 

Blumlein 88

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I'd suggest the Audient ID14 for $299. Although I can't comment too much on the latency values of it.

If you don't mind used, I'd suggest the Focusrite Forte which is around for $200-225. Has a very good pair of mic pres with 75 db of gain. Has a very good DAC (and a pretty good ADC).

You might also look for demo or used Focusrite Clarett 2pre. There is a USB version (note it uses USB C connectors) and a Thunderbolt version. These are said to use the same mic preamps and ADC/DAC chips as the Forte though there are some other differences.

http://us.focusrite.com/thunderbolt-audio-interfaces/clarett-2pre#techspec

https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id14/tech-specs/
 
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TwinkledEars

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I'd suggest the Audient ID14 for $299. Although I can't comment too much on the latency values of it.

If you don't mind used, I'd suggest the Focusrite Forte which is around for $200-225. Has a very good pair of mic pres with 75 db of gain. Has a very good DAC (and a pretty good ADC).

You might also look for demo or used Focusrite Clarett 2pre. There is a USB version (note it uses USB C connectors) and a Thunderbolt version. These are said to use the same mic preamps and ADC/DAC chips as the Forte though there are some other differences.

http://us.focusrite.com/thunderbolt-audio-interfaces/clarett-2pre#techspec

https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id14/tech-specs/
I've been asking in other forums and discord servers as well, and what's been scaring me with Audient is the apparent poor customer service (though those were based on their experience, and alot of the issues they said can be read online... but its been two years, so, I'm not sure if Audient has improved in customer service and QC or not unless someone can confirm). Focusrite is a bit of a no-no since, to this day, along with some of my co-workers in a different division, have been having problems since we all use Windows OS (but as far as I've been told, its like a tank in OSX and Linux), and I'm way too used to the Windows OS (plus I game rather heavily).
 

amirm

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I researched ADC/DAC combos in that price range and as you, kept finding people that were unhappy with whatever I found. So at the end, I purchased the RME ADI-2 Pro which at $2,000 is "a bit" more expensive. :)

If you are in US, buy it through Amazon and return it if there are issues.

I will also be interested in testing whatever you purchase as there is a good market need for a quality offering in that price range.
 

Blumlein 88

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I've been asking in other forums and discord servers as well, and what's been scaring me with Audient is the apparent poor customer service (though those were based on their experience, and alot of the issues they said can be read online... but its been two years, so, I'm not sure if Audient has improved in customer service and QC or not unless someone can confirm). Focusrite is a bit of a no-no since, to this day, along with some of my co-workers in a different division, have been having problems since we all use Windows OS (but as far as I've been told, its like a tank in OSX and Linux), and I'm way too used to the Windows OS (plus I game rather heavily).

I don't have experience with dozens of interfaces. I do have two Focusrite interfaces which have never given a single problem on Windows 7, 8, or 10. I recently started using a Macbook Pro (six months ago) and they are fine on that also. One of these will play on Linux (my preferred OS), but not record. The other is useless on Linux.

So I'm not saying reports of issues aren't true only that my experience has been fine with Focusrite.

You do find 10-15% of users having problems with nearly all brands. It probably depends on usage. I normally record a few channels with no processing going on. I do that after the fact. Some people run tons of channels and process while recording, and I'm not surprised that causes more issues.
 
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TwinkledEars

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I researched ADC/DAC combos in that price range and as you, kept finding people that were unhappy with whatever I found. So at the end, I purchased the RME ADI-2 Pro which at $2,000 is "a bit" more expensive. :)

If you are in US, buy it through Amazon and return it if there are issues.

I will also be interested in testing whatever you purchase as there is a good market need for a quality offering in that price range.
As much as I'd prefer to get an ADI-2 DAC or Pro, its way above my budget and the ADI-2 Pro can't take in mics. I've only been able to try other Steinbergs and PreSonus interfaces, as well as some Focusrite interfaces. They sound like an upgrade to the UMC204HD from personal hearing, though never able to borrow them long enough for measurements. That said, I don't wanna just limit my options to Steinbergs and Presonus just because they're around. But the biggest reason I've needed to upgrade is due to the DI input of the UMC204HD being bad, and getting a DI box doesn't solve that much, thus why I want to upgrade... but I do want to use it as something of a DAC and a bit of simplicity in a way.

I don't live in the US, but I'm fine with buying it from Amazon (and depending on the shipping fee, I may just have it sent to my country's proxy service to pay less for shipping).


I don't have experience with dozens of interfaces. I do have two Focusrite interfaces which have never given a single problem on Windows 7, 8, or 10. I recently started using a Macbook Pro (six months ago) and they are fine on that also. One of these will play on Linux (my preferred OS), but not record. The other is useless on Linux.

So I'm not saying reports of issues aren't true only that my experience has been fine with Focusrite.

You do find 10-15% of users having problems with nearly all brands. It probably depends on usage. I normally record a few channels with no processing going on. I do that after the fact. Some people run tons of channels and process while recording, and I'm not surprised that causes more issues.

Well, a few of my coworkers who were basically just trying to record voiceovers would somehow get bluescreens on their Windows machine (and its pretty decent spec'd PCs, no OC's) with a Focusrite interface using Reaper and Ableton Live. That said, yeah, even my other coworkers experience problems and what not. I guess I forgot to specify that what really scares me is that the Focusrite interfaces they used can even introduce bluescreen problems despite troubleshooting (uninstall and reinstall drivers and programs, even to go as far as formatting and reinstalling the OS and somehow the problem still arrives, and I even wonder what is going on that causes it to even reach those kinds of issues).

I even asked other Focusrite interface users if they experience this specific problem. While a very few did, outside of my co-workers, so many more said they haven't come across them.

And regarding latency, the ID14 has relatively low latency, as well as Focusrite. Their mic pres are also pretty good. I just wanna go for which one that may have a better DAC chip since I will have some downtime and I wanna relax and listen to my music, which I'll have to pass through to my Little Labs Monotor
 

Blumlein 88

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Again I can only report my own experience. One of the laptops I used with Focusrite units in the past week is a 2007 Dell Inspiron with an early Core 2 Duo. Originally a Vista machine currently running Win 8. If you look at a couple measures of the interfaces I've posted they were done with that machine. My "new" Windows laptop is a higher end Lenovo from 6 years ago. So I don't think it is a horsepower issue. DAW in use is almost always Reaper though I too have used Ableton in the past. Windows issues like that can be baffling.

You can look somewhere like Gearslutz and there is a small vocal percentage who have software issues with any of the major brands of sub $1k interfaces over USB. While I've been lucky with these interfaces I've had similar tales about other things with Windows over the years. Something about drivers and certain hardware that just won't work for me and make you want to tear your hair out. Yet work for 90% of everyone else.
 

Beherit

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Performance and Behringer should not be mentioned together given their track record. Don't use cheap interfaces for real work. They all have major issues that will have you kicking yourself. Steinberg had the least back when I messed around with them years ago but don't take that as an endorsement. The Focusrite drivers were less reliable and the mic pres clipped all the time.
 
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TwinkledEars

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Again I can only report my own experience. One of the laptops I used with Focusrite units in the past week is a 2007 Dell Inspiron with an early Core 2 Duo. Originally a Vista machine currently running Win 8. If you look at a couple measures of the interfaces I've posted they were done with that machine. My "new" Windows laptop is a higher end Lenovo from 6 years ago. So I don't think it is a horsepower issue. DAW in use is almost always Reaper though I too have used Ableton in the past. Windows issues like that can be baffling.

You can look somewhere like Gearslutz and there is a small vocal percentage who have software issues with any of the major brands of sub $1k interfaces over USB. While I've been lucky with these interfaces I've had similar tales about other things with Windows over the years. Something about drivers and certain hardware that just won't work for me and make you want to tear your hair out. Yet work for 90% of everyone else.
Sorry for the late reply and sorry if I sounded like a negative-nancy. Its just that I didn't really want to go for an interface that would have issues such as sometimes randomly needing to reinstall drivers for some reason after reboots or, in terms of the Scarlett line, BSOD level issues. In the end, I just decided to bite the bullet and go for the ID14 since the mic preamp and the DI on it sounded so good for the money. I guess I can live with 96khz sample rate playback since I don't really hear the difference, even with my ADX5000 headphones.
 
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