[caddie444]

Hello,
 
I currently use my computer mainly for music composition. I use Cubase 6.
 
I am looking for a recommendation for a new sound card. My needs are:
 
a) I must be able to switch between my speaker monitors and my Logitech Z 5500's
 
b) Must have a headphone amp that can handle 600 ohm cans
 
c) Must provide good sound latency for when I am composing
 
budget is pretty flexible, I'd say ~$200 - $600
 
Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[imdos]

Personally I'm rocking a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 but you can do better than that for that budget. I'm quite pleased with it myself but I wish I'd have gone for the 8i6 instead because of the extra inputs. Right now I have my Senn HD600 plugged straight into it but I wouldn't recommend it, it doesn't sound as good as from my Objective2 (though you'd expect that). I've only got it plugged into the sound card because the new cable I got for it terminates to a 1/4 inch jack and I haven't got the right cables right now to change that right now.
 
The sound quality is good, I didn't notice a considerable difference between it and my FiiO E17 which it replaced, although the E17 probably sounds a tiny bit better (but if you look at the prices, that makes sense) but it wasn't big enough of a jump to bother me at all.
 
Latency is pretty good, I find it barely noticable. It does have a nice feature where you can listen to your input signal directly with 0 latency though.
All in all, I do recommend it but it's a bit below your budget, so you can probably get something nicer.