[LAU] Affordable well-working USB interface with low latency at 48kHz?

[Giso Grimm]

Dear all,

On 23.11.20 02:03, David Kastrup wrote:
> "Jeanette C." <julien at mail.upb.de> writes:
> 
>> Nov 22 2020, David Kastrup has written:
>> ...
>>> So I am lacking a reasonably solid recommendation of (possibly older but
>>> reasonably quality) hardware with 1 or 2 mic inputs and +48V phantom
>>> power and likely USB2.0 HiSpeed class compliant, possibly 2 headphone
>>> outputs
>> ...
>> Is it worth investigating the Focusrite Scarlett interfaces? I have read
>> here - a few weeks ago - that the 3rd generation is now supported on
>> Linux. But the 2nd generation is still listed in some stores. The
>> Scarlett 2i2 with two mic preamps +48V phantom power costs about 139EUR,
>> the solo - with just one mic preamp - is less than 100 EUR . I think
>> these smaller Scarletts used to be a favourite with RaspberryPis, as
>> well.
>>
>> I don't know the latency, but many people speak very favourably about
>> them.

I recently measured latencies (analog to analog) for some sound cards,
including the Focusrite Scarlett solo 3rd gen (2i2 should be the same):

https://github.com/gisogrimm/ovbox/wiki/Soundcards

>From all the USB sound cards I tested the Focusrite Scarlett was the one
with the shortest delay.

Best,

Giso

> 
> This is basically a no-budget hunt (I don't have the means to make
> excessive presents), so store-bought is essentially out.  I think one
> guy has already gotten a Behringer interface new (I'd not be overly
> surprised if it's some laptop-like USB1.1 chip of the "don't expect more
> than 15kHz" kind with some somewhat more tolerable preamp, which would
> not be the first time I've seen gear from Behringer where the outside
> was more impressive than the inside) and there are more dropout problems
> than previously (with my old Tascam soundcard) even though it's on its
> own USB connector (hopefully on its own controller/port but I don't know
> the laptop in person).
> 
> I'd not want to suggest anything for which I've not had good experiences
> myself, and the budget would likely be at most around what the Behringer
> cost new.  So realistically, it's definitely going to focus around
> something preowned, and likely no longer in current production.
> 
> The budget situation would likely not be all that much different even if
> I had plenty to spare: "oh, I'll gift you all with interfaces if we go
> ahead" is not going to cut it.  It has to feel like something everyone
> is willing to go through with, and selling the effort is going to be
> hard enough without also having to admit that the cost will become
> non-trivial.
> 
> I think you are right that Focusrite had a reasonable reputation for
> their preamps.  I'll take a look at what the first generation was about.
>