Looking for Audio Interface

[byllsong]

Hi guys,
Right now I transfer my songs from my Korg to my computer via audio cable to Cakewalk.
I have a Samson CO1U that I use to records vocals with.
This setup seems to work ok.
But I'm wondering if using an audio interface would increase the quality of what I record.

I am not able to purchase on locally, so I would have to get it from Sam Ash in Florida.
I want to buy the right audio interface the first time. Something basic.
Any ideas / thoughts?
Thanks

[Paulie]

Are you on a Mac or PC?

[byllsong]

Dell desktop PC.

[Paulie]

I'd start browsing here, these are USB interfaces. If you have a thunderbolt port you can find a different product with faster performance.

http://www.sweetwater.com/c695--USB_Audio_Interfaces

[byllsong]

I went online before coming to the forum.
If there was only one I'd know which one to choose
There are so many and my lack of knowledge
is not helping me make an educated decision.
I don't need a $300 one if a $80 one will suffice.

[Len911]

Right now you are using your computer soundcard for line in and then doing the A/D conversion.
The Samson mic is already usb with it's own A/D conversion.

The question would be whether or not you would be getting any better A/D conversion by buying a separate audio interface, plus the advantage of being outside the noise of the computer.

Steinberg UR22 USB Audio Interface $149.99 Sam Ash

That would be my choice, because I would feel confident you would be getting better A/D conversion, not to mention the Yamaha preamps. Also the headphone jack, D/A converters might be much better than your computer soundcard. Plus if you ever wanted to use a regular mic, you've got the phantom power and preamps, and also midi interface.
https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/a ... /ur22.html

I know that all you are looking for is a better A/D converter basically, I just don't know if you are going to get that in anything lower priced, you might spend $80 and not have anything truly better.
Plus, by going through the preamps in the Steinberg before the A/D conversion may help as far as better sounding?

[byllsong]

Thanks Len
I'm going to go online this weekend and read up...also youtube.
I usually make my post from work where I'm not able to do a whole lot of research.

[mojobone]

If your goal is broadcast quality, there are good and better options at just about every price point, but I'll agree that $80 doesn't buy you much that you don't already have. You could maybe score a gently used Presonus TubePre preamp off eBay, or you could get roaring drunk, and have a story next morning you could turn into a song and maybe be money ahead. You could, if you're handy, spend $80 treating your recording space. Or maybe even if you're not so handy. Maybe the biggest game changer could be having a choice of microphones, by adding a Shure SM57, but that works best with a fairly studly preamp; if you're recording a sound in a space, (which is really no longer necessary to produce broadcast quality music in many genres) I would weight any potential interface purchase in favor of mics or preamps; if you're doing in-the box hiphop or EDM, I'd weigh in favor of D/A conversion and MIDI.

[eeoo]

I hear good things about the Focusrite Saffire series. I think they're in the 250 - 350 range for the smaller ones.

[TheElement]

Hey Billy, I've been using a NI Komplete Audio6 interface with my Dell PC and Cubase. It works. Its a good quality interface.

There is some times where it loses sound and I have to unplug and plug back in but thats rare and usually when I'm maxing out my 16GB of RAM.