Hey guys…I need a cheap soundcard as I’ve finally gotten my first gig ready to go in about a month, and it’s for a friend’s birthday at a bar. I’m expecting them to have at least equipment or at least a mixer, but I’m worrying a little bit because I only have a Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro which works perfectly with my headphones to monitor my mixes that I do at home and so on. The thing is, I’m about to order a VCI-100 SE and it’s going to arrive just before the gig, so I don’t have much money left for a soundcard. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to lower end soundcards that are basic and can still carry the load of this task. I’m hoping to spend as little as possible. I’d probably say around $50 and even less if possible, but I know it’s a really tight budget so I guess I could go up to a $100 if necessary. I really just need 2 output channels for the the main output which will get lined into their mixer or sound system and also a slot for my headphones to go in (or 4 channels…I guess I could split my headphone wire into two channels using an extension wire). I don’t really need input channels at the moment. I have a MacBook Pro, so I don’t really care whether it uses firewire, usb, or the express card slot. I have been looking at the Maya 44 usb and I like it because it’s fairly simple but it’s still a bit pricey for me. It also have 4 input channels if I’m not mistaken (which i do not need).
Thanks and sorry if this has already been asked but I couldn’t find anything useful as the article about soundcards under $200 wasn’t really going to cut it for me because I’m not even getting paid for this gig so I’m not earning any cash from DJing just yet.
that’s definitely an option of mine
but before I go and give in i want to know if there are any cheaper choices as $100 at the moment is still a bit steep for me and I’m sure my parents won’t agree to spending another $100 on top of the $550 (VCI-100SE) + shipping and so on
does anyone know if the Behringer UCA202 USB is any good? http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHUCA202
or do you think my Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro and my built in macbook pro drive can handle a small gig like this?
Its hard to find a sound card for under $100 that provides you the channels correctly for both an out and another channel to monitor on. You can use a 5.1 channels sound card and asio4all driver, but results are spotty at best that way.
The maya 44 usb is an option but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get it due to it’s price. I’m sorry if i sound super cheap, but considering the fact that I’m just starting out and I’m not getting any money from my first gig, I really don’t feel like i should be spending that much. Any other solutions out there? Are the creative 5.1 usb soundcards at least acceptable in quality (ex. http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=873&product=17751&nav=1) Like just to get me started so that eventually, when I land gigs that require more from my soundcard I’ll be ready to dish out the cash.
That sucks about the Behringer UCA202 USB but would it be feasible to just use the two channel output to be connected to the clubs mixer and I just route my monitoring channel to my built in soundcard as I can manage with bad quality sound because I’m the only one who hears it. Does that work? Does anyone have a Behringer UCA202 USB? does it do the job well enough?
** I looked up another behringer device…the UCA222 http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/UCA222.aspx which has a headphone output…any clue on whether this is good?**
I say just bite the bullet and get an audio 4. its not the cheapest but dollar for dollar its the best. IMO. you may not be getting paid now, but if you sound the best you can sound ther is a better chance of you getting more gigs, Also if ou do start giggin more you are gonna eventually need a quality soundcard. Your most important gear is your laptop and soundcard. Trust me I started with a Maya 44 and I totally feel like I wasted my money when I hooked up my audio 8 in the same systems. Its well worth the extra effort to get some extra scratch in your pocket.
honestly I would love to on and buy the audio 8 dj or even settle with the indigo djx but I really just don’t have the cash for it. I don’t have a job as I’m still a student and my dad would probably kick my ass and tell me to get something cheapo soundcard made in china haha
yeah so I think the most I can do is buy something cheaper and upgrade after landing a few small gigs then go in and spend for something with a little more power. I just wanna know more about good soundcards under $100 that can keep me satisfied for now even though I’m asking for trouble because I know it won’t be highest quality. Any other suggestions? Anyone know if the behringer ones i mentioned earlier can suffice? what about those 5.1 stero sound cards. I just need need it not to be super shitty…average is fine for now. I’m thinking about that second hand gigaport but I wanna know about my other options first.
There’s loads of bog standard surround sound cards that can do the job if you have access to a mixer and can use that to do your monitoring levels and split/cue’ing etc.
I’ve used a creative soundblaster USB 24bit 5.1 card before and its totally fine.
Remember that the sound card is only one part of a long chain through which the audio travels, including the mixer/crossover/amp/speakers.
And remember that virtually all audio is currently recorded and sampled at 16bit /44.1 khz, so you don’t have to worry too much about 24bit/96khz as a DJ, unless you also produce, and want a perfect copy for your archive.
So.. find a surround sound card, and use traktor to separate out the channels to each deck.
Sometimes I’ve found traktor can’t see all the channels, but you can easily get around this by using something like asio4all.
The behinger UCA 222 won’t work. Although it says its 2 in 2 in, thats just ONE stereo pair.. so thats no good.
You need a card that has at least 2 stereo outs.
This is what I’ve used before and had no issues with at all;-
Then you can either set traktor to internal mixer and have a master out and headphone out, or go external mixer and have up to 3 decks out via the 5.1 sockets on the back.
The soundblaster card lasted me a good 2 years before I upgraded to a pro card.. so it should do you fine for a while. Much more durable than it appeared (I gig ALOT).
just out of curiosity do you know of anything similar that would work as well?
otherwise i might just settle for this…if i can find it where I am (Philippines = hard to find dj gear)
