[Tablix]

I am a music fan far more than a head-fi expert and have been happy with  my current set up of foobar>FiioE7>Beyer DT770.
 
Now I have a little ambition to start making my own music int he future and am researching audio interfaces, active monitor, midi interfaces etc and have hit a point where my knowledge is not enough to help me make any informed decisions.   The serious question I have is where does the point of deminishing returns lay with audio interfaces, as I currently have a DAC and want a similar level of quality for both DAC and ADC.  The price points vary greatly froma very reasonable entry level of a similar cost to the average sound card right up to thousands of pounds with hundreds of I/O combinations.  I understand that I need only a basic number of I/O ports for MIC MIDI etc but how do I research the quality of the DAC and ADC in equipment.  I am on a pretty limited budget as this is far more of a small hobby than any attempt to set up a serious studio.  Is this audio interface the key to the whole business, as this is where the true "quality" counts just as much as in the monitors and cans I use.  
 
Maybe not the best place to get answers but figured the community here could help point me in the direction of good unbiased information.  Any help greatly appreciated, as my Fiio E7 is about to be ebay'd  

 

[awolf97]

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking... Could you clarify what you're trying to find out

 

[Tablix]

How much am I likely to have to spend to get good quality audio interface that will offer me just as good sound quality of output for playback and recording as a device like the FiieE7 that I currently have for listening to my music collection.  I am happy to spend approx £1000 on monitor speakers and a similar budget for my DAW software and audio interface.  If I spend £3-400 on an audio interface am I going to find myself wanting to replace/upgrade further down the line.  Should I spend less on speakers and more on the interface?  I am basically a complete noob at this and want general advice on how to split my budget on equipment.  When you read threads here that people will spend in excess o £1000 on a simple balanced DAC am I seriously going to get a reasonable quality audio interface for less than that considering the added functionality and number of I/O options.
 
I would greatly appreciate any help, even if its a link to some information where I can do further research.  TIA

 

[awolf97]

You can certainly get something that would suit you for not too much money. What do you need from this interface? Will you be recording through microphones, do you need midi input...?

 

[Tablix]

Mainly will be recording from midi although the option for vocal recording would also be handy later down the line.  At this stage I am thinking of around the £2-300 mark maybe a little more if it will offer me many years of use without needing to upgrade.  I currently have Beyer DT770 phones that are 250Ohm and will likely be looking to replace these for mixing but would also want to keep them for listening pleasure, so a reasonable dedicated headphone output is a pretty high priority.  In terms of monitors I am looking at either ADAMs or possibly KRK VTX speakers, this is still in the research stage as well.
 
If you have any useful sites that can help my research I would be grateful ...