[nbohaychuk]

I've been looking at interfaced like the Steinberg 24/192 2-In/2-Out USB 2.0 Audio Interface, but I'm not sure how good the DAC and headphone amp in it is. It seems like professional equipment focuses more on the mains out than headphone out for monitoring. I'm looking for balanced mains out (XLR preferred, but 1/4'' is fine), phantom power for mic inputs along with a good mic preamp, and a headphone output suitable for audiophile-listening. My headphones aren't currently insanely high impedance since I currently only have the ATH-M50S and ATH-M35, but I'd want the card to easily power at least 250Ohm headphones. I'm running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit on my laptop and have USB 3.0 ports but not FireWire. It would be nice if it were powered via USB, but a wall-wart is also fine. As a reference point, the theatre my school rented for our musical has well over $250 000 of equipment in the sound booth alone, so I'm looking for a metal enclosure. I'd like to stay under $300. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.