Back when I was pretty broke I got an Alesis Multimix 4 USB mixer. For how stupidly cheap it was, I'd recommend it. It has never given me any problems, and it has a two channel phantom-powered (though not very nice-sounding) preamp, which is pretty good for $50. I've mostly just used it for digitizing stuff from tape decks; I don't think I'd want to record an album through its preamps. But it's a good option, especially for someone who's poor & doesn't want to deal with RCA ins.

behringer uca222

pros:
- cheap as chips
- class compliant (no driver issues)
- mostly works

cons:
- the i/o is RCA which i guess is for use with turntables and tape decks and stuff. nothing i use has RCA so i had to use a bunch of adapters. if you have a gameboy with RCA on it like i've seen a few cm.o members using i guess this could be considered a pro rather than a con
- sometimes has weird inexplicable crackling or just flat out refuses to work, often these things seem to just resolve themselves

7/10

also own a 222 and agree with neil, though mine never had crackling issues. RCA was a plus for me as I kept it plugged into a mixer and a tape deck, from which I frequently sampled to Ableton with zero problems. The 222 is usually the same price as the 202 ("cheap as chips" is about right) so I'd say go for it unless you're really really worried about quality.

anyway, hardly anyone is going to have used more than a few audio interfaces so most of us won't have a clue how they stack up against the rest of the competition and i think people will tend to just tell you to get whatever they've got themselves

i'll review the 3 i've owned

m-audio fast track pro

pros:
- lots of inputs/outputs
- midi i/o
- decent-ish price for the features you get

cons:
- crackled a lot
- randomly stopped working one day
- drivers are a massive PITA
- not class compliant
- drivers won't even install with my new laptop
- biggest piece of shit i've ever owned
- massive waste of money

2/10

behringer uca222

pros:
- cheap as chips
- class compliant (no driver issues)
- mostly works

cons:
- the i/o is RCA which i guess is for use with turntables and tape decks and stuff. nothing i use has RCA so i had to use a bunch of adapters. if you have a gameboy with RCA on it like i've seen a few cm.o members using i guess this could be considered a pro rather than a con
- sometimes has weird inexplicable crackling or just flat out refuses to work, often these things seem to just resolve themselves

7/10

zoom h2

pros:
- built in high quality microphone (good for skype )
- class compliant (no driver issues)
- just works
- uses 3.5mm TRS jacks (headphone style) like everything else i own
- can record onto an SD card without using the PC at all
- portable

cons:
- quite expensive if you aren't going to use the microphone or the SD card recording
- headphone jack can be a little bit noisy

9/10

The thing is that it's not just about sound quality. That's actually a factor that doesn't change much between the lower grade interfaces. What will matter though is how good the drivers are, and I think you will have much less hassle with something tried and tested like Focusrite. Plus, it most probably has got better conversion and pre-amps than the Behringer.

CHECK!

@Manukinuki & Crashmast: This was quite an interesting read: http://nwavguy.blogspot.nl/2011/02/behr … eview.html

More tips & advice is more than welcome ofcourse

Most important, if you spend a bit more money on a soundcard, think about what in/ouputs you want, not now, but in the (near) future.
(I would also recommend a NI audio 6, My audio 2 is still one of my best sounding cards)

Any tips and/or recommendations?

Thanks!

M