[MoeFizzy]

Hey guys,
 
Was wondering if any of you had any suggestions for any decent audio interfaces to drive my AKG K 240 headphones, I'm using a laptop with pretty good specs for EDM production. Preferably under $100.
 
Would appreciate your suggestions/recommendations! So far, I've checked out the M-Audio Fast Track II but from what I've heard it's built-in headphone amp doesn't go loud enough for good mixing levels with the K 240's. Also have checked out the Tascam US100, but not sure if it fits my criteria. My 240's have an impedance of 55 ohms. Would really appreciate your help guys! Also, I only use soft synths so don't need any MIDI inputs, just a headphone out to plug in my headphones!
 
My criteria are:
 
1.) To have a built-in headphone amp, that can adequately drive the AKG K 240's specifically.
2.) To have a bypass button/function to disable any sound enhancements to get a flat frequency response.
3.) Has its own sound driver, as I am looking to use it for online desktop streaming while I produce (my onboard sound card's driver can't take the load of my projects, since I usually use the asio driver but unfortunately asio isn't supported in the streaming software.
4.) USB connectivity.
 
EDIT: New budget is $100~$150.
 
Thanks.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Hey guys,
 
Was wondering if any of you had any suggestions for any decent audio interfaces with a built-in headphone amp to drive my AKG K 240 headphones, I'm using a laptop with pretty good specs for EDM production. Preferably under $100 and with USB connectivity. Looking for something that has it's own sound driver, and if it has any built-in FX/sound enhancements a bypass function would be nice so I can have a flat frequency response.
 
Would appreciate your suggestions/recommendations! So far, I've checked out the M-Audio Fast Track II but from what I've heard it's built-in headphone amp doesn't go loud enough for good mixing levels with the K 240's. Also have checked out the Tascam US100, but not sure if it fits my criteria, as well as the fact that my 240's have an impedance of 55 ohms
 
Thanks.

Only think that comes to mind is the Fiio E10, USB-DAC-Head amp.

 

[MoeFizzy]

Quote:

Only think that comes to mind is the Fiio E10, USB-DAC-Head amp.

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not sure does the E10 have it's own sound driver?

 

[MoeFizzy]

Anyone else guys?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not sure does the E10 have it's own sound driver?

Most external DAC & Amps use the default audio driver/software that comes with the computer.
Creative Labs sells external sound cards that come with their own software.
But I would "guess" something like the E10 offers better over all audio quality.
 
Sounds like you need a separate software package for doing your audio stuff.
Would Foobar work for you (it's free).
 
Check the website Majorgeeks, lists lots of free software for PCs

 

[CashNotCredit]

Quote:

Hey guys,
 
Was wondering if any of you had any suggestions for any decent audio interfaces to drive my AKG K 240 headphones, I'm using a laptop with pretty good specs for EDM production. Preferably under $100.
 
Would appreciate your suggestions/recommendations! So far, I've checked out the M-Audio Fast Track II but from what I've heard it's built-in headphone amp doesn't go loud enough for good mixing levels with the K 240's. Also have checked out the Tascam US100, but not sure if it fits my criteria. My 240's have an impedance of 55 ohms. Would really appreciate your help guys! Also, I only use soft synths so don't need any MIDI inputs, just a headphone out to plug in my headphones!
 
My criteria are:
 
1.) To have a built-in headphone amp, that can adequately drive the AKG K 240's specifically.
2.) To have a bypass button/function to disable any sound enhancements to get a flat frequency response.
3.) Has its own sound driver, as I am looking to use it for online desktop streaming while I produce (my onboard sound card's driver can't take the load of my projects, since I usually use the asio driver but unfortunately asio isn't supported in the streaming software.
4.) USB connectivity.
 
EDIT: New budget is $100~$150.
 
Thanks.

I produce EDM too. I'd take a hard look at the PreSonus Audiobox USB. Has two AWESOME class A pre-amped XLR inputs, a MIDI in/out, phantom power, awesome construction (all solid metal), and it's own drivers. It uses a Cirrus CS4270-CZZ DAC, I have no clue if that's good or bad, but all of the producers recommend it for its awesome mic preamps. I, with my 4 year old computer, can get down to 6ms of latency from FL to my MIDI controller using Presonus's ASIO drivers (THIS is what ASIO was intended for, audiophiles.) 

You can get one new for $140, but pretty much every Guitar Center has one used for under $100. (http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm?page=1&sort=price&dir=asc&location=331 , scroll 2/3rds down and they have one for $70)

If you purchase it and it sounds "static-y", change the USB cable. Typically, this wouldn't do anything, but these have been known to ship with defective cables. Other than that, it's dead-silent, and can drive headphones more than adequately.

 

[MoeFizzy]

Quote:

I produce EDM too. I'd take a hard look at the PreSonus Audiobox USB. Has two AWESOME class A pre-amped XLR inputs, a MIDI in/out, phantom power, awesome construction (all solid metal), and it's own drivers. It uses a Cirrus CS4270-CZZ DAC, I have no clue if that's good or bad, but all of the producers recommend it for its awesome mic preamps. I, with my 4 year old computer, can get down to 6ms of latency from FL to my MIDI controller using Presonus's ASIO drivers (THIS is what ASIO was intended for, audiophiles.) 

You can get one new for $140, but pretty much every Guitar Center has one used for under $100. (http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm?page=1&sort=price&dir=asc&location=331 , scroll 2/3rds down and they have one for $70)

If you purchase it and it sounds "static-y", change the USB cable. Typically, this wouldn't do anything, but these have been known to ship with defective cables. Other than that, it's dead-silent, and can drive headphones more than adequately.

Dude, awesome thank you so much for the reply man!
 
$140 that fits right in my budget . My main concern isn't MIDI controllers are I don't use hardware in my production, what is a DAC though? I heard it some kind of lossless audio thing? Lol please explain. Also, does it not lag/stutter at all during production due to USB connectivity? And also, I'm a bit edge about the Presonus drivers being ASIO, since I will want to stream my production sessions online sometimes, and unfortunately the ASIO4All driver that I had didn't support audio streaming through my browser, unless the Presonus ASIO driver is different and can support that. From what I heard, some brand specific ASIO drivers can do that (such as the Creative ASIO driver). A friend of mine has a creative internal sound card in his desktop with the Creative ASIO driver and can be in skype call, hear people talking, AND produce at the same time using that creative ASIO driver. In that case, since the ASIO driver isn't limited to one program/application with sound output, shouldn't it allow me to stream online without any problems? That is really important for me man!
 
Lastly, does it have a bypass function to go past all those sound enhancements?
 
Again, thanks for the reply man!

 

[CashNotCredit]

Quote:

Dude, awesome thank you so much for the reply man!
 
$140 that fits right in my budget . My main concern isn't MIDI controllers are I don't use hardware in my production, what is a DAC though? I heard it some kind of lossless audio thing? Lol please explain. Also, does it not lag/stutter at all during production due to USB connectivity? And also, I'm a bit edge about the Presonus drivers being ASIO, since I will want to stream my production sessions online sometimes, and unfortunately the ASIO4All driver that I had didn't support audio streaming through my browser, unless the Presonus ASIO driver is different and can support that. From what I heard, some brand specific ASIO drivers can do that (such as the Creative ASIO driver). A friend of mine has a creative internal sound card in his desktop with the Creative ASIO driver and can be in skype call, hear people talking, AND produce at the same time using that creative ASIO driver. In that case, since the ASIO driver isn't limited to one program/application with sound output, shouldn't it allow me to stream online without any problems? That is really important for me man!
 
Lastly, does it have a bypass function to go past all those sound enhancements?
 
Again, thanks for the reply man!

No problem!

A DAC is the thing in your computer/sound card that turns a typical audio file from your hard drive (just 1s and 0s in Binary code) into something you can hear. It stands for Digital to Analog Converter, because it's converting digital stuff (the audio file) to analog stuff (soundwaves from your awesome sounding AKGs). Some people think that different DAC models make a HUGE difference. I disagree with this. However, because of all of the electronic stuff inside of your computer, there's sometimes interference. This can cause static/clicking, so I personally like interfaces that are out of the computer and away from interference (like the FiiO and the AudioBox) more than internal soundcards that are right next to electrical components.

The typical audio driver, which the Audiobox supports, is called DirectSound. In DirectSound audio files will start at the hard drive, do some crap inside with the processor and RAM, and get doctored up by Windows/MAC OS before going to the DAC and turning into soundwaves. Why would Windows doctor up the sound? Volume control and simultaneous programs emitting sound at different times. You turn up and down the volume in Windows, and it effects the audio files. Pretty spiffy, right?

WRONG! Especially in production! Going through Windows adds a lot of latency (time between say, a press on a MIDI controller and an actual soundfile triggering), because the audio stream has to get doctored up by Windows. This is where ASIO comes in. ASIO tells audio files to skip going through Windows. As a result, it spends much less time going from computer files to soundwaves. The biggest downside is now you can't control volume or run multiple sources of audio at once (say, iTunes and FL Studio/Ableton/whatever you use to produce to see how you stack up to Skrillex/Tiesto/Daft Punk/Calvin Harris/Etienne de Crecy), because all of that is controlled by Windows, which is now being bypassed. The good news is that the Audiobox has a volume knob, which still works during ASIO, but the Windows Volume Control ceases function in ASIO.

The default driver for the Audiobox is DirectSound. I really recommend using ASIO for production whenever possible (i.e. when not streaming).

About MIDI, I don't use it either, but there are some pretty cool hardware synths out there for cheap from eBay/Guitar Centers these days. It's always good to have room for expansion. I do all of my stuff ITB (in FL studio using software), but who's to say we don't win the lotto and both get a bunch of Moog Voyagers and some awesome mics and acoustic treatment. Honestly, nice mic preamps and decent MIDI support open up your possibilities as a producer BIGTIME. Almost every big EDM single I can think of has someone singing on the hook. 

There really aren't any "sound enhancements". The AudioBox plays nice with DirectSound (normal, regular soundcard drivers), ASIO, WASAPI (pretty much just Microsoft's version of ASIO. They do the same thing.) and just about everything else I've thrown at it. It defaults to DirectSound, but you can change this (and I recommend you do when producing whenever possible) inside all applications that support ASIO/WASAPI. And it drives both my ATH-M50s and my Jaycar Pro Monitors (the cheap exact replicas of the Fischer Audio FA-003/Brainwavs HM5) extremely well. For a producer/audiophile, it's probably one of the best purchases under $200 you can make.

Good luck, and best wishes with the producing. Always good to see another EDM producer around these parts! 

 

 

[MoeFizzy]

Perfect reply man, thanks for taking the time to clarify. I guess the only question I still have is does the Audiobox have a dedicated/native Presonus ASIO driver, or does it only work with ASIO4All? Also, if it has its own ASIO driver, would it work while streaming? i.e: would that ASIO driver support multiple sources/outputs of audio (as is in the case of the Creative ASIO driver)? If not, if I need to stream my production is the DirectSound driver good enough to handle heavy music projects without lagging? Or is it as bad as the onboard soundcard genric windows sound driver (which is by all standards complete **** for streaming audio) since it can't handle my projects lol.
 
Thanks again!

 

[CashNotCredit]

Quote:

Perfect reply man, thanks for taking the time to clarify. I guess the only question I still have is does the Audiobox have a dedicated/native Presonus ASIO driver, or does it only work with ASIO4All? Also, if it has its own ASIO driver, would it work while streaming? i.e: would that ASIO driver support multiple sources/outputs of audio (as is in the case of the Creative ASIO driver)? If not, if I need to stream my production is the DirectSound driver good enough to handle heavy music projects without lagging? Or is it as bad as the onboard soundcard genric windows sound driver (which is by all standards complete **** for streaming audio) since it can't handle my projects lol.
 
Thanks again!

It has its own ASIO driver (it's actually pretty nice, loads up as an executable with a nice user interface that lets you select the buffer size.) 

Some RME interfaces allow for you to run a DirectSound program and an ASIO program simultaneously. Too bad they cost an arm and a leg.

What program are you running to produce, and what program are you using to stream?

Best,
~Will

 

[MoeFizzy]

Quote:

It has its own ASIO driver (it's actually pretty nice, loads up as an executable with a nice user interface that lets you select the buffer size.) 

Some RME interfaces allow for you to run a DirectSound program and an ASIO program simultaneously. Too bad they cost an arm and a leg.

What program are you running to produce, and what program are you using to stream?

Best,
~Will

Yeah haha I went to an audio shop today and asked around what audio interfaces they had, showed the guy my criteria and he showed me the M-Audio Fast Track C400, told me it should have what I need, including a multiple output ASIO driver so I can stream my system audio while producing (in FL Studio) using ASIO instead of the DirectSound/any generic onboard sound driver. I am using Xsplit broadcaster from Xsplit.com (haven't paid for the full package yet until I sort out my audio issues) but I did download the program, ran it (obviously with some limitations such as mono audio and non HD video until I pay), everything worked except I had to switch to my generic onboard sound driver to be able to stream the system audio. The program streams to ustream.com. I mentioned this today to the guy at the shop and like I said before, he said that usually these good audio interfaces have ASIO drivers that support multiple outputs which would mean I can stream using ASIO while producing using ASIO as well at the same time.

 

[Minto]

I'm thinking about buying akg k 240 mkii headphones, and i need to know what audio interface i need. Is Focusrite Saffire 6 USB good? The headphone output impedance is 7 ohms, and the headphones are 55, so it's pretty much 8 times bigger (if the 1/8 rule is true). Or would the presonus audiobox be better? Please help i have no idea what i should buy. Btw i don't have amp, but 55 ohms probably doesn't need one?