USB Audio Interface for 100€

Quick question: “What audio interface can I buy with 100€?“. At the moment you have some good devices to check out (even if the answer to this question have to be considered within a certain time frame, things are always evolving these days :D), you just need to understand what your needs are.

Let’s suppose we need the following:

  • At least 2 input (XLR and jack inputs, to have more flexibility)
  • Phantom power (if you have a condenser mic, this is mandatory)
  • Headphone output (everyone wants to hear what’s going on while recording)
  • Capable to record at least at 24 bit / 44.1 KHz (frankly speaking, I think 24 bit is the minimum requirement if you want to avoid problems with clipping. With 16 bit you may clip the input signal way easier, just go with 24 bit and you’re done)
  • USB interface

Here you are what the market can give:

Focusrite Scarlett Solo

Focusrite Scarlett Solo
Focusrite Scarlett Solo

AVID Fast Track Solo

Avid Fast Track Solo
Avid Fast Track Solo

PreSonus AudioBox USB

PreSonus AudioBox USB
PreSonus AudioBox USB

Repeating all the specs for each device is pointless, they all have what we listed above, moreover each one comes with a DAW (which is good if don’t have one already…). I really like PreSonus products, but the choice is personal, so choose whatever you like most 😉

Another quick advice, if you want to stay even lower with the budget and you don’t need a DAW, I recently found the ESI Maya22 USB. I never tried it but the specs are quite interesting!

ESI Maya22 USB
ESI Maya22 USB

For any question or comments please write me below!

2 Comments

  • Matteo
    at 9 years ago

    Ciao! Innanzitutto complimenti per il blog e per le produzioni :D! Volevo chiederti, se hai avuto modo di provare queste schede, se la avid e la presonus sono compatibili con ubuntu e se sia possibile riprodurre audio ad esempio da video di youtube o da player come VLC mentre la DAW è in funzione. Grazie mille per la disponibilità!

    Reply
    • Santo
      at 9 years ago

      Ciao! Grazie per i complimenti 🙂 Personalmente ho avuto il piacere di provare la Presonus in ambiente Windows, gran bella scheda. Per quanto riguarda la compatibilità con Linux ti consiglio di verificare sempre sul sito del progetto ALSA http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main in modo da essere sempre sicuro di acquistare una scheda compatibile 😉 per quanto riguarda il playback da altre sorgenti durante l’uso della DAW purtroppo non posso darti delle risposte dettagliate perchè è un test che non ho mai fatto 😀

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Santo Clemenzi.

Software engineer, music producer and bass player (From The Depth, Mindohm, Outerburst). Welcome to my blog! I (rarely) post about music production but sometimes I also rant about anything else.

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