[x5_spoonman]

Hi
 
I am currently using my onboard realtek  sound chip to listen to audio, but the DAC sucks ass.
I can also use it to record guitar but the latency is too high and there is too much noise.
 
I need an external card that ouputs high quality audio, can drive demanding earphones (Starkey custom SA-43) and can accept an instrument input.
 
The USB interfaces such as the focusrite 2i2 seem like a good option but I am not too sure about the DAC and headphone amp section.
 
Any suggestions?
 
Thanks

 

[x5_spoonman]

bump

 

[x5_spoonman]

bump!

 

[Armaegis]

I have a Focusrite Saffire 6 usb and it works quite well as a dac and reasonably good headphone amp (though I have no experience in how it handles multi-driver iems). In general, Focusrite gear is very well regarded. 

 

[TheSurge]

I don't know if they're still selling it, but I have an M-Audio Firewire Solo. It has one 1/4" In (for a guitar cable) and one XLR for a mic, with phantom power. Obviously also has RCA inputs and a number of outputs and whatnot, including some very decent 1/4" outputs. It's quite portable as it can be powered trough the firewire cable, and can handle 24 bit / 96Khz audio, which is quite enough unless you're running a professional studio. The latencies I've experienced are quite low when the DAW is properly set up.
 
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FireWireSolo.html
 
If you can't find it anymore I'm sure some other products in this price range could have what you need.
 
Good luck.