[asmileforyou]

I've had for several years some Altec Lansing MX5021 2.1 speakers. They were quite nice and for me they were a best-buy at that time. Since I had felt that they could sound better with a dedicated sound card, I had bought an M-Audio Transit, USB powered audio interface. The difference was obvious and they sounded better.
However, about 5 days ago I made a big step and bought myself two Yamaha HS80M monitors. They sound great, but I think that they need a better audio interface than my current M-Audio Transit.
I've made some research on the internet and found the E-MU 0204/0404 USB audio interfaces.
Will those be enough for my Yamaha monitors or I must buy a better audio interface than those to feel some difference ?
I listen with foobar2000, using ASIO drivers and FLAC 16bit/44KHz audio.

 

[JRG1990]

It won't be a huge difference but the emu would be a slight upgrade, if your using long cable runs 3+metres you could use balanced cables with the emu which would also bring a slight improvment in sound.

 

[asmileforyou]

OK, so I will stick with my current M-Audio Transit. I've read about the upcoming Asus Xonar Essence One...it looks promising...I don't know what to do...I'm not willing to spend more than 200$-250$ on this. Is there something (other audio interfaces on usb) that will make a diference in this price range compared to my Transit usb device ? The Xonar Essence One might be grat...but I think it will cost about twice as my current budget. Any help or suggestion will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[JRG1990]

I notice the hs80m has a trs & xlr jack, how do you have them connected to the m-audio transit?.

 

[asmileforyou]

I have connected the monitors using TRS cables , and then they are connected using a TRS-to-3.5mm jack connector. I made a photo with my camera so you can see exactly how they are connected to my Transit usb interface.

 

[JRG1990]

You should use a fully unbalanced cable, you want TS to 2x rca not TRS , a TS jack is pretty much the same as a TRS just without the ring.
-6db of signal is lost going balanced to unbalanced.

 

[asmileforyou]

Thanks for the tip I will try that.

 

[asmileforyou]

So, any other recommendations regarding and upgrade from my M-Audio Transit ? Something around 200-250$, but something that will make a difference regarding SQ. I also want the usb DAC to have HP amp for my Grado SR60i  
 
Anyone ? I am open to any advice
 
Edit: currently I'm choosing between E-MU 0204 , Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and Maverick TubeMagic D1.

 

[asmileforyou]

I've got the EMU 0204 and it sounds great. I use it with my Yamaha HS80M pair of monitors and I am satisfied. I guess the EMU 0204 sounds a bit better than 0202 and I recommend it over 0404 because of newer drivers that work great on Windows 7.