# Recommendations for < £250 interface (+ < £150 headphones and 1TB SSD [nvme etc.])



## Tom Ferguson (Apr 10, 2020)

Hi everyone!


*I’m looking*_ for a modern *audio interface* for ideally <*£220*, to absolute max <*£250*. _


I only really need *2* *inputs*, though *4* would be useful every so often.

The *attributes* I want weighted towards most are equally it's* latency/audio-performance* etc. (and stability, usb drivers etc.) and it's *main outs/speaker outs* quality and general output to speakers.

After them, I also would like some high quality inputs and converters etc. for when recording guitars please (so that the input signal doesn't sound way better when monitoring direct, compared to monitoring through the DAW and back, if possible? - I'm not 100% sure where exactly the fault lied [*UR22 original*])


I’m a bit torn between the *Motu* *M4* and the *SSL2+*, though I'm not 100% sure if there are any other good options.

I've heard some good stuff about the *Motu M4's* general quality and features, and 4 inputs would be useful, but also some slightly dodgy stuff about 'dsp dropout' or something along those lines. Though it is a new card and hopefully drivers might come out (if it hasn't already). How prevalent are these concerns, and what are peoples thoughts baring that in mind?

The *SSL2+* seems like it might have some cool parts, and sound great, but I've also heard middling things about performance, that is kind of the opposite of what I am looking for in a new interface atm.

IDK, I'm a bit torn and don't really know if there are any better options. I'm really wanting something that will play nice with USB drivers (unlike my UR22) and generally just work, though it's probably computer dependent partly. Anyway I'm very interest in everyone's thoughts please!

-

As a complete aside... I'm also looking to buy the flattest, generally truest pair of headphones you can get for only *£150*, and the best one or two *SSD's,* one for the fastest boot drive (some form of *NVME*?) of a size good for performance, and a good *1TB SSD* drive for samples (still Samsung stuff?) Do you need an expensive one for samples only? Either that or a very fast big one for both, if it would somehow be better?


----------



## Mornats (Apr 10, 2020)

For headphones, the Beyer Dynamic 880 Pro are open-backed and detailed and fairly neutral. They're around £148 on Amazon UK at the moment (although the price varies a bit so keep an eye on them). Someone will come along shortly and also recommend Sonarworks - a plugin that will flatten the response of headphones so bear that in mind too.

The 880 pros are on my wishlist for headphones for mixing, but I don't own them. I did read hundreds of forum posts when choosing them though  I currently use Audio Technica M50x which, being closed-back are great for listening to music but not great for the soundstage required for mixing. I can still mix better on those than anything else though but that's just down to my familiarity with them and the amount of music I listen to on them.

For the interface, I've heard good things about the the Motu but I'll leave others with actual experience to help you with that


----------



## Tom Ferguson (Apr 10, 2020)

Thanks for the advice! I was actually considering buying the headphones calibrated by sonarworks and they do those headphones, so could work out well.

Would they still be your pick if you are buying calibrated ones?


----------



## Mornats (Apr 10, 2020)

Probably not. They're selling the calibrated pair for 340 euro without the Sonarworks software (an extra 99 I believe) which seems a bit much. I've not idea how much better an individual calibration is vs the average calibration curve you get with Sonarworks. So as your budget would be around £400 for the calibrated headphones and the software this puts other headphones such as the Sennheiser HD 650 into your price range. No idea if they (uncalibrated but with Sonarworks) would be better than a calibrated pair of 880 pros. But this is all purely based on the vastly increased price in buying a calibrated pair.


----------



## Tom Ferguson (Apr 11, 2020)

Very good points! Do you know if there is any difference between the “880 Edition” and the “880 Black Editon”?

(***Wait I realise you mean 880 pro! Gotcha now!***)


----------



## Tom Ferguson (Apr 12, 2020)

OK! Went with 880 Pros. Headphones sorted thanks! 
Still looking for Soundcard and SSD advice please.


----------



## devonmyles (Apr 12, 2020)

I was using the UR22 and found it great. However, I gave it to my oldest boy and replaced it with the UR22C. I'm very impressed with it running Nuendo 10. Maybe worth considering and within you budget. It's worth shopping around for prices, certainly lower than the Steinberg site. 









UR22C: The Perfect Portable Interface


The UR22C brings you amazing sound quality in a remarkably compact, tough and versatile package for composing and recording anywhere.




new.steinberg.net





A decent review. 








Gear Review: Steinberg's New UR-C Models


We review the Steinberg UR22C and it shines as one of the best out there.




www.google.co.uk


----------



## SupremeFist (Apr 13, 2020)

I find the Audient id14 to be very good: it has excellent preamps and a good jfet input for guitars (though these days I use my Helix as the guitar interface). Also I love the ergonomics of the massive knob which you can press to mute monitors etc.


----------



## Instrugramm (Apr 18, 2020)

Interface: Native Instruments Komplete Audio 2
Headphones: Used HD 600s (for mixing) or 58X Jubilees for monitoring/ fun


----------



## bill5 (May 1, 2020)

SupremeFist said:


> I find the Audient id14 to be very good


But way outside of the stated budget -

As the OP has already decided on headphones, for an interface, I would suggest the MOTU 2 (or 4), Steinberg UR22, or Behringer 204 or 404. The 404 in particular gives incredible bang for the buck IMO, though I'm not sure of latency specs.


----------



## Wunderhorn (May 1, 2020)

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 or 4i4 might be an option too. I have the bigger model of the same line and it works flawlessly.


----------



## bill5 (May 3, 2020)

PS something to keep in mind is that the Audients and those Focusrites (at least the 2i2) don't have MIDI ports on back. It's not a hard workaround, again just FYI.


----------



## Bluemount Score (May 3, 2020)

Wunderhorn said:


> Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 or 4i4 might be an option too. I have the bigger model of the same line and it works flawlessly.


Got the Solo version, it just works


----------



## SupremeFist (May 3, 2020)

bill5 said:


> But way outside of the stated budget -


I didn't realise the id14 was so expensive in the US! In the UK it's only the equivalent of $200 or so.


----------



## bill5 (May 5, 2020)

Wow what a diff!


----------



## dzilizzi (May 5, 2020)

When you buy an SSD for samples, get the QVO version. Same read speed as EVO, just slower write speeds. Write speed doesn't matter on a sample drive.


----------



## el-bo (May 5, 2020)

dzilizzi said:


> When you buy an SSD for samples, get the QVO version. Same read speed as EVO, just slower write speeds. Write speed doesn't matter on a sample drive.



The problem with that is that if you ever decide to repurpose the drive, with the intention of doing anything that involves writing, it'd be a real nightmare (Write speeds can go as low as mechanical hard drives in certain scenarios).

Instead, money can be saved by going with a Crucial MX500. I've had an older Crucial SSD for a few years, and it's been a great experience. About to add another 2tb of the newer MX


----------



## el-bo (May 5, 2020)

I've also read many people having issues with dropouts on the new MOTU interfaces. Such a shame!


----------



## dzilizzi (May 5, 2020)

el-bo said:


> The problem with that is that if you ever decide to repurpose the drive, with the intention of doing anything that involves writing, it'd be a real nightmare (Write speeds can go as low as mechanical hard drives in certain scenarios).
> 
> Instead, money can be saved by going with a Crucial MX500. I've had an older Crucial SSD for a few years, and it's been a great experience. About to add another 2tb of the newer MX


This could be true, but I need more sample drives than anything else. If you are trying to save money, it is a good way.


----------



## el-bo (May 5, 2020)

dzilizzi said:


> This could be true, but I need more sample drives than anything else. If you are trying to save money, it is a good way.



Sorry, I should've been clearer: When I mentioned saving money, I didn't mean agains the QVO; rather, I was viewing them both as saving money against the 860 EVO.

As it stands, comparing the 2tb Sammy QVO against the 2tb Crucial MX500, the Sammy is cheaper by 7 Euros (Amazon). So the QVO is the real budget model, here. I'd definitely argue that it's worth the few extra pennies to get a full-fat drive  And if the op does end up wanting to use the ssd drive as a recording drive or backup/archive, movie storage etc, later down the line, he won't be hamstrung by the poor write performance.

Here is a good write-up for the MX500. While it does not compare against the 860 (It was still 850's, back then), the results are favourable in many tests. The few meg faster read time of the 860 will likely never be noticeable, in use:









Crucial MX500 SSD Review: Challenging Samsung on SATA


Crucial pulls out a competitive consumer SSD to cap off 2017. The new series threatens Samsung's dominance but costs much less in most capacities.




www.tomshardware.com


----------



## el-bo (May 5, 2020)

Tom Ferguson said:


> the best one or two *SSD's,* one for the fastest boot drive (some form of *NVME*?) of a size good for performance, and a good *1TB SSD* drive for samples (still Samsung stuff?) Do you need an expensive one for samples only? Either that or a very fast big one for both, if it would somehow be better?



This is all going to depend on your personal needs. However, unless you are working professionally at a real cut-throat pace, or you just want the bragging rights, then I think a larger SATA for everything might be the better move.

I have a five-year-old 1tb Crucial MX300, sitting inside an eight-year-old Macbook Pro. I also have a 2nd HDD fitted (In place of the DVD drive). Add another external drive, various peripherals etc. and I can still boot-up and into a Logic Pro project, ready-to-go, in 45 seconds. If I hadn't fumbled my password, it would've been even quicker  If you need faster, then by all means get an NVME. 

Of course, boot time is not the only thing to consider. However, even with this SATA, everything is really snappy e.g opening apps, folders, scanning plugins etc. Could it be even faster? Yes! However, the likelihood is that you will only be booting into the various apps you need once or twice in a day. The biggest bottleneck will be the loading of libraries into Kontakt. So unless you're going to spend huge amounts of money to have NVME for your samples, also, I wouldn't bother.

And yes, you can do it all from the same drive i.e Boot, streaming samples and the recording/playback of audio. 

All that to say, I think the money would be better spent on as large an ssd as you can afford, because those library gigabytes pile up, very easily


----------



## dzilizzi (May 5, 2020)

If you do an HDD, make sure you get it at 7200 RPMs. The external drives for sale are mostly 5900 RPMs and not really good for audio work. 

I do a mix of SSD and HDD. All my main/heavy use samples are on the SSD. Anything that doesn't really require a fast drive is on HDD. It works fairly well for me until I can get the really big SSDs. 

Edited because I accidentally hit post


----------



## el-bo (May 5, 2020)

P.S: To clarify, I'm just suggesting what I would do. As a hobbyist, my needs will likely be different. I also don't do any kind of video or graphics work, which might be considerations for you (op). 

Try to predict what the next few years will hold, and weigh any conclusions against a range of opinions, before making the jump


----------



## el-bo (May 5, 2020)

dzilizzi said:


> If you do an HDD, make sure you get it at 7200 RPMs. The external drives for sale are mostly 5900 RPMs and not really googood



I didn't know HDD was being considered. Bit of a hard-sell, these days.

EDIT: Ah, I see you edited your post


----------



## dzilizzi (May 5, 2020)

el-bo said:


> I didn't know HDD was being considered. Bit of a hard-sell, these days.


LOL! I accidentally hit enter. 

Sorry, read your SATA comment as HDD. I'm getting tired. And it is a cheaper option depending on how much drive is needed.


----------



## el-bo (May 5, 2020)

el-bo said:


> I didn't know HDD was being considered. Bit of a hard-sell, these days.





dzilizzi said:


> LOL! I accidentally hit enter.
> 
> *Sorry, read your SATA comment as HDD*. I'm getting tired. And it is a cheaper option depending on how much drive is needed.



Haha! Gotcha!

To clarify: My suggestion is that instead of getting a small NVME boot drive, with a 1tb drive (samples, audio tracks etc.), that the money might be better spent buying a 2tb SSD (SATA). Booting and opening apps, especially once cached, take inconsequential amounts of time, and might not be a priority on a tighter budget. And a larger, all-in-one, is more future-proofed for adding libraries, and holding more project files/audio.

If the all-in-one solution is chosen, then I'd definitely recommend the Crucial drive, at a minimum.


----------



## dzilizzi (May 5, 2020)

Actually, you shouldn't run samples off the OS drive if possible. At least on Windows. But I was originally taught that with Mac also. Really, you should have 3 drives. The OS with the DAW and plugins, the project drive with audio, and the sample library drive. And? That was with HDDs. SSDs aren't limited by a physical drive head, so it may be different now.


----------



## el-bo (May 5, 2020)

dzilizzi said:


> Actually, you shouldn't run samples off the OS drive if possible. At least on Windows. But I was originally taught that with Mac also. Really, you should have 3 drives. The OS with the DAW and plugins, the project drive with audio, and the sample library drive. And? That was with HDDs. SSDs aren't limited by a physical drive head, so it may be different now.



Yeah! Back in the day, it was necessary to have a drive dedicated to each job. However, like you say, SSD's no longer have the limiting factor of read/write heads having to jump back and forth across a spinning platter. They have a throughput (IOPS?) that handles all these jobs simultaneously. and with ease.

I've been using one SSD for all three jobs, for the last five years, with zero issues. The HDD I have in the 2nd bay holds an older OS (Sierra) and copies/archives. Now that the 1tb SSD is full, i will replace that with a 2TB SSD, and use the 1TB for audio recording/playback. The only reason being for organisational purposes. It will be nice to have all my project data on it's own drive, once again


----------



## DS_Joost (May 5, 2020)

I have no complaints about the ZOOM UAC-2 as my audio interface. Latency is really good, drivers stable. It's a really good interface all around. Maybe too little inputs perhaps?


----------



## el-bo (May 6, 2020)

DS_Joost said:


> I have no complaints about the ZOOM UAC-2 as my audio interface. Latency is really good, drivers stable. It's a really good interface all around. Maybe too little inputs perhaps?



Looks like a nice bit of kit! Do you happen to know any round-trip latency (RTL) numbers?


----------



## Tom Ferguson (May 11, 2020)

Sorry about being slow to respond and thank you for your responses everyone!

I ended up getting a 1TB 970 Evo Plus NVME SSD. I realise it's a bit overkill, but it should last me a while and I do do some gaming from time to time. Just one modern game can take up over 100GBs by itself, so who knows how many they might in a few years. It should do as a main drive and it liberates my current system drive (250gb SSD) so now I have 4 SSDs. One 1TB NVME system drive, and three sample drives (1x 1TB SSD and 2x 250GB SSD).

I'm still really struggling to decide on an interface. My UR22 Mk1 gives me a lot of grief (have to reset it in device manager regularly and not convinced it's particularly good at running at low buffer sizes), but I'm getting less and less confident that any other soundcard, other than an RME, is likely to do me any better. And I'm not sure I can really justify going up to an RME before other items I need (like a new keyboard and VEP).

Please keep coming with educated interface recommendations if anyone has any!


----------

