Soundcard for production under $200 new or used?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Soundcard for production under $200 new or used?

Alright I need to buy a soundcard for production. I was hoping to get away with using my audio 8 for a while but it just doesn’t have the right ins and outs and no dedicated volume knob so I would need to add a small mixer or run out of the 1/4" stereo headphone jack which has volume how I am now which kind of sucks and my monitors have some noise when plugged in so I need balanced outs.

I missed my chance to get a new Komplete Audio 6 for $199 new the other day since the sale ended and they got sold out… :disappointed:

So what are some other USB interfaces to look at? It must be USB bus powered, have 2 pairs of balanced 1/4" outs a mix in, and maybe another line in plus a headphone jack all with gains so I don’t need a hardware mixer, so pretty basic stuff.

Anyone have experience with the NI Audio Kontrol 1? They seem to go cheap used..

2

get a focusrite saffire 6 USB my buddy uses it for both production, and his dj’ing interface

3

Apogee is the way to go by far, Duet if you can find them

4

Yeah? Seems a bit out of my price range unfortunately but looks slick.

I would love to hear how the Audio Kontrol 1 is since they are selling for $120 which is pretty sweet.

5

Well, you said new or used right? Maybe a ‘bit’ more than you were wanting to spend but well worth it. It matches up to audio interface’s 3 times more expensive than it

6

What about NI Kontrol 1 or Komplete 6?

7

just research the saffire 6. it is great comes with a plugin suite. 6 outs, spdif, midi IO, headphone out/cue out.

8

Hows the NI Kontrol 1? Thats what I’m looking at now and I can get one used for $120- wondering if I should go for it.

Is the Komplete 6 much better?

9

looks good on paper but I’m not familiar with the company, how is it?

10

I’d pass on them, the NI is good for the money so scoop that up and save up for a Duet in the meantime

11

some Apogee’s are Mac only, but RME makes a competition that is pretty equal in quality. it is called the babyface

12

Yeah, how do you think the Kontrol Audio 1 compares to the Komplete Audio 6?

I can get a used Kontrol Audio 1 for $115 shipped or a new Komplete Audio 6 for $199 shipped, the the 6 worth it? Apparently the deal is still valid.

13

I went ahead and grabbed the Komplete Audio 6 for $199 :slight_smile:

14

Yeah…they have a good rep, but I haven’t been thrilled.

Not bad. I wouldn’t have done that, but…meh. I still don’t quite trust NI to make a really good audio interface, but I don’t know what’s better for $200.

15

I picked up a Presonus bc it comes with Studio One wooot!

16

Yeah on paper it looks pretty good and I’m pretty happy with the quality of the Audio 8 and the main reason I got it is I know they have solid driver support and continue to offer good drivers and support for all their hardware.

Plus since they’re on sale for $199 (sold out everywhere except B&H) if I wanted to upgrade or sell it later I’m sure I could actually make money off it in a few months and sell it for $240 easy when they all go back up to $299 retail January 1st.

17

Komplete 6 for $199? That’s a good deal! Congrats! :slight_smile:

18

How is Studio One (quickly)? I haven’t used it…seems kind of pointless as I already own Logic and Ableton and would buy Pro Tools in a heartbeat (and drop Logic) if Avid ever certifies the 13" 2011 MBPs. I’m just kind of curious.

19

i also use studio one. and it is rediculously simple. studio one professional is worth every penny.

don’t be sucked into the PT fad. because the PT studios use and what a consumer uses are two completely families. a studio will not be using PT10, they will use PT HD.

you can start recording with Studio one within 1 minute. literally. drag and drop effects. no crashes so far(knocks on desk). im not looking back at any other DAW (PT, cubase, reaper, sonar, logic, ableton)

figure, PT9 came out 8-9 months ago, and PT10 just came out in OCT. Avid charged around $300 for an upgrade.( the only new thing was 64bit compatible, and a few plugins) Studio one was created 2 years ago, and they just made studio one 2, and charged i believe $99 to upgrade. so take that into consideration

20

Can you not use your DB4 for this?