# Best audio interfaces under $250



## synthpunk (Dec 5, 2016)

http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/13-of-the-best-budget-usb-audio-interfaces-570850?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=16347&utm_term=9633085&utm_content=286332


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## elpedro (Dec 5, 2016)

i would pick the audient out of that lot


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## TGV (Dec 6, 2016)

I did pick the Audient's smaller sibling, the iD4, recently. For the mac, it's a class compliant device, so I'll never have to worry about audio drivers not being updated anymore. It sounds good, feels solid, and has a large input gain, but I can't tell how the others sound, of course. It doesn't want to run from a powered USB hub, unfortunately.


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## Grizzlymv (Dec 6, 2016)

Which one would you recommend for the lowest latency for VST usage (not recording from the Analog/digital input)? The Komplete Audio 6 seems to be the one that claims the best results there. How is it compared to the others? I was considering the Steinberg UR22mkii but I can’t find details about the latency using VSTs. What you guys are using, and what’s your latency value?


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## synthpunk (Dec 6, 2016)

Absolute best interfaces for low-latency are RME. You will have to pay a little more for it though

Love the preamps in those audients


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## Grizzlymv (Dec 6, 2016)

thx @synthpunk. I've read about the RME ones and they seems to be the best absolute, all categories, but they are 3-4 times the price of the others. I was looking for one, but they are a bit out of my current budget. I think the cheapest one is like 750$ or so. I was looking for something in the 200-250$ range more or less. The end goal is really to reduce the latency for when I use VST. No need to pristine recording sound or multiple inputs. 

Like I said, I'm not going to record much if any at all. so it's really the output sound quality and the VST latency that matters in my case (and the latency before the sound if I have to choose), but not at any cost.


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## muk (Dec 6, 2016)

Grizzlymv said:


> No need to pristine recording sound or multiple inputs.



In that case the dawbench test should be interesting for you:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/mus...nce-data-base.html?highlight=dawbench+latency

As you can see in the results, the Esi [email protected] is a lowcost interface with the lowest latency. It costs around 170$, and it does in fact outperform some of the highly rated RME cards. If you don't need bells and whistles the Esi would be a solid choice.


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## Symfoniq (Dec 6, 2016)

As a point of reference, I'm using a Steinberg UR44 with Cubase Pro 8.5. At 256 samples, my input latency is 9.592 msec, and my output latency is 11.565 msec. The drivers have been rock-solid for me over the last couple of years.


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## ComposerWannabe (Dec 6, 2016)

Symfoniq said:


> As a point of reference, I'm using a Steinberg UR44 with Cubase Pro 8.5. At 256 samples, my input latency is 9.592 msec, and my output latency is 11.565 msec. The drivers have been rock-solid for me over the last couple of years.




Do you know if UR12 and UR22 have the same preamps and converters that are in UR44?


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## Symfoniq (Dec 6, 2016)

ComposerWannabe said:


> Do you know if UR12 and UR22 have the same preamps and converters that are in UR44?



I'm not sure, though I'd be surprised if they were different, since it's the same series. Best check with Steinberg.


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## Grizzlymv (Dec 6, 2016)

hmmm. the [email protected] seems to be a very old card. Hard to obtain (most vendors list it as discontinued). Although I'm sure I could find it somewhere, it just raise some questions regarding its support in the future...not sure I'd feel comfortable spending that much money on a "expired" product? 

Glad to see some comments about the steinberg ones. They seems to be the best overall (price vs quality vs feature), and I'd assume, considering it's provided by Steinberg, that the VST latency would be very low considering they also provide Cubase, which is the DAW I'm currently using. That's also the reason why I was considering Komplete Audio 6 since they do Kontakt, but I've seen a few comments about bad drivers from NI...


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## storyteller (Dec 6, 2016)

Good suggestions here. If I only had $250, I'd go for a refurbished Apogee One direct from Apogee ($249). You get an extended warranty (compared to the original), and the A/D D/A conversion is pretty darn good for this little guy! If nothing else, you have a wonderful headphone preamp for a later time when you upgrade to a bigger piece of hardware. In fact, if you are using headphones only, this little guy will power the best ones with ease. It may not have a ton of features, but with any device, I prefer quality in a few features rather than quantity of okay features. Plus, it works with iOS devices in a pinch!

http://www.apogeedigital.com/store

Note: It's $299 now for the refurbished model, but their holiday sale will put it at $249.


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## Grizzlymv (Dec 6, 2016)

Thanks for the suggestion. The Apogee seemed very nice. However, seems more targeted into recording, and this wasn't my target. I ended up getting the UR22mkii and pretty please with it so far. Dropped my latency from 1024 buffer/ +/- 40 ms latency on the native mac (CoreAudio) down to 128 buffer / 5 ms latency on the steinberg driver. Quite an improvement!


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## pmcrockett (Dec 12, 2016)

Grizzlymv said:


> hmmm. the [email protected] seems to be a very old card. Hard to obtain (most vendors list it as discontinued). Although I'm sure I could find it somewhere, it just raise some questions regarding its support in the future...not sure I'd feel comfortable spending that much money on a "expired" product?


The PCI version apparently came out in 2004 and the PCIe version was 2012 (source: http://prosound.ixbt.com/hardsoft/esi-julia-xte.shtml). Both versions have Win 10 drivers. I'm impressed that they're still supporting 12-year-old hardware, and I think it bodes well for the longevity of the PCIe version. I'm gonna have to pick up one of these; I need a solid, no-frills audio card that doesn't focus on mic inputs, preamps, etc.


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## trumpoz (Dec 12, 2016)

Grizzlymv said:


> Which one would you recommend for the lowest latency for VST usage (not recording from the Analog/digital input)? The Komplete Audio 6 seems to be the one that claims the best results there. How is it compared to the others? I was considering the Steinberg UR22mkii but I can’t find details about the latency using VSTs. What you guys are using, and what’s your latency value?


You can pick up a 2nd hand RME PCI interface for under $250. Its 10-year old technology but still works really well.


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## pmcrockett (Jan 7, 2017)

For anyone who's researching audio interfaces via this thread and is interested in the ESI [email protected] XTe (the PCIe version), https://www.jrrshop.com/esi-juliat-xte-pcie-audio-interface-w-swappable-i-o-socket (JRR Shop) is the only US retailer I can find that currently has it in stock.


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## tigersun (Jan 7, 2017)

My Steinberg MR816 has been extremely great for me. Can get single digit latency, but I can't remember the bit rate I've used. It's not as critical for me anymore but back when I was doing a lot more guitar recording it was fantastic and they can be had pretty cheap used.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jan 8, 2017)

I work with iConnectivity (doing manuals, product boxes, press releases, etc.), but with that full disclosure I'd suggest looking at the iConnectAUDIO2+ or 4+. They support two computers at the same time, have inter-computer audio and MIDI, and sound at least as good as anything in the price range.


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## passsacaglia (Jan 8, 2017)

ps. just saw this american friends:

*Apogee ONE for Mac (Refurbished)*
ONE is a pocket-sized USB microphone and music interface featuring award-winning Apogee sound quality.

NOW $149.00 ($249.00)


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## synthpunk (Jan 9, 2017)

Ehhh, mono in.



passsacaglia said:


> ps. just saw this american friends:
> 
> *Apogee ONE for Mac (Refurbished)*
> ONE is a pocket-sized USB microphone and music interface featuring award-winning Apogee sound quality.
> ...


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## passsacaglia (Jan 10, 2017)

TGV said:


> I did pick the Audient's smaller sibling, the iD4, recently. For the mac, it's a class compliant device, so I'll never have to worry about audio drivers not being updated anymore. It sounds good, feels solid, and has a large input gain, but I can't tell how the others sound, of course. It doesn't want to run from a powered USB hub, unfortunately.


Great mate! I'll go for the id14 I think. Thanks to master synthpunk.


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