USB Audio Card Suggestion?

[BobOnTheJob]

I tried a very cheap USB card to see if it would serve my purpose & the results look promising with the exception being that it's mixer output level has a habit of being reduced to zero after some reboots. Looking to upgrade to something better (more stable/predictable). Balanced Audio in & out would be nice, but not an absolute must. Anyone have a favorite one they've had excellent luck with? Plug & Play without having to install software is a plus, but again, not mandatory.

 

[OttoM]

I personally like the Lexicon Alpha (although it requires driver installation) because the level controls are on the card itself, not done through software.

Another good choice is the Griffic iMic - it's driverless and works with both PCs and Macs.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I personally like the Lexicon Alpha (although it requires driver installation) because the level controls are on the card itself, not done through software.

Another good choice is the Griffic iMic - it's driverless and works with both PCs and Macs.

Rob,

I like what I see on the Lexicon Alpha. Balanced ins & outs for well under $100...sweet. Can you verify that it operates as a standalone sound card without having to use the accompanying software suite (once the software has been installed)? The card needs to be recognized & available at start up just like Soundblasters, Marian Alphas & M Audio Deltas do. If it clears that simple hurdle, I think I found my card.

Bob

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Yeah. There's a driver installation software but from what I can see it's just a driver installer only. No other goofyness.

 

[radiorob2.0]

I personally like the Lexicon Alpha (although it requires driver installation) because the level controls are on the card itself, not done through software.

Another good choice is the Griffic iMic - it's driverless and works with both PCs and Macs.

Rob,

I like what I see on the Lexicon Alpha. Balanced ins & outs for well under $100...sweet. Can you verify that it operates as a standalone sound card without having to use the accompanying software suite (once the software has been installed)? The card needs to be recognized & available at start up just like Soundblasters, Marian Alphas & M Audio Deltas do. If it clears that simple hurdle, I think I found my card.

Bob

I too, like what I see. The price is especially nice considering its versitility.

 

[OttoM]

Bob et. al - only the driver needs to be installed. Once done the card shows up as another sound device on your computer.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Awesome...thanks for a great tip!

 

[OttoM]

The card needs to be recognized & available at start up just like Soundblasters, Marian Alphas & M Audio Deltas do.

I should mention the Alpha WILL do that, but like any USB peripheral you need to connect it to the computer BEFORE booting up for it to be there on startup (once the driver is installed).

 

[BobOnTheJob]

The card needs to be recognized & available at start up just like Soundblasters, Marian Alphas & M Audio Deltas do.

I should mention the Alpha WILL do that, but like any USB peripheral you need to connect it to the computer BEFORE booting up for it to be there on startup (once the driver is installed).

Understood. This will be a permanent installation...in this case, I'm out of PCI slots & need 1 more sound card. And this one looks to fill the bill just fine.

 

[LA_Guy]

The Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro is a real good sounding play only USB dongle and it also has SPDIF optical output. I run 2 of them on my netbook with 3 concurrent versions of Winamp running for simultaneous audio outputs for live assist (the third output is the normal sound card).
With XP and better no drivers are required.

 

[LA_Guy]

Of course there are also these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-to-3D-A...otn=12&po=LVI&ps=63&clkid=8900755973847870185

I have a half dozen of them about and they sound suprisingly good! For $4.35 shipped what do you have to lose?

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

I love the Lexicon stuff, but here's a couple words of warning just so that everyone knows upfront. First, it doesn't play well with Win 7 right now. There is some driver issues with 7, so if you are running that, be aware of a potential problem. Also, I recently discovered that you cannot play something out of a program like winmedia or winamp and record into Adobe at the same time. Personally that doesn't bother me because I just import tracks instead of trying to play and record at the same time. Some Soundblaster cards will do it, and the 'talent' that was using a production machine got used to be able to do it that way. They are having to relearn their ways of doing things now... Overall the sound interface is a AWSOME buy for 80 bucks at Guitar Center, etc. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew the few limitations before going out and getting one, etc.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I love the Lexicon stuff, but here's a couple words of warning just so that everyone knows upfront. First, it doesn't play well with Win 7 right now. There is some driver issues with 7, so if you are running that, be aware of a potential problem. Also, I recently discovered that you cannot play something out of a program like winmedia or winamp and record into Adobe at the same time. Personally that doesn't bother me because I just import tracks instead of trying to play and record at the same time. Some Soundblaster cards will do it, and the 'talent' that was using a production machine got used to be able to do it that way. They are having to relearn their ways of doing things now... Overall the sound interface is a AWSOME buy for 80 bucks at Guitar Center, etc. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew the few limitations before going out and getting one, etc.

I'm going to use this to interface Breakaway Live to the outside world, so I will need audio going in and coming out simultaneously. Hope I didn't just waste my money

 

[OttoM]

I love the Lexicon stuff, but here's a couple words of warning just so that everyone knows upfront. First, it doesn't play well with Win 7 right now. There is some driver issues with 7, so if you are running that, be aware of a potential problem. Also, I recently discovered that you cannot play something out of a program like winmedia or winamp and record into Adobe at the same time. Personally that doesn't bother me because I just import tracks instead of trying to play and record at the same time. Some Soundblaster cards will do it, and the 'talent' that was using a production machine got used to be able to do it that way. They are having to relearn their ways of doing things now... Overall the sound interface is a AWSOME buy for 80 bucks at Guitar Center, etc. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew the few limitations before going out and getting one, etc.

I'm going to use this to interface Breakaway Live to the outside world, so I will need audio going in and coming out simultaneously. Hope I didn't just waste my money

I've never had any issues running full-duplex on an Alpha, with either ASIO or WDM. But I wouldn't use ANY USB card for 24/7 audio processing - too much can go wrong to risk it (cable pulled out, USB power issues, etc). .

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I love the Lexicon stuff, but here's a couple words of warning just so that everyone knows upfront. First, it doesn't play well with Win 7 right now. There is some driver issues with 7, so if you are running that, be aware of a potential problem. Also, I recently discovered that you cannot play something out of a program like winmedia or winamp and record into Adobe at the same time. Personally that doesn't bother me because I just import tracks instead of trying to play and record at the same time. Some Soundblaster cards will do it, and the 'talent' that was using a production machine got used to be able to do it that way. They are having to relearn their ways of doing things now... Overall the sound interface is a AWSOME buy for 80 bucks at Guitar Center, etc. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew the few limitations before going out and getting one, etc.

I'm going to use this to interface Breakaway Live to the outside world, so I will need audio going in and coming out simultaneously. Hope I didn't just waste my money

I've never had any issues running full-duplex on an Alpha, with either ASIO or WDM. But I wouldn't use ANY USB card for 24/7 audio processing - too much can go wrong to risk it (cable pulled out, USB power issues, etc). .

It's for an in-house part 15 station...if it croaks, I'm the only one who'll notice. Thanks for the reassurance that it does work in full duplex. I'll try & report back once it's running next week.