USB Audio Interface?

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Member Since: Mar 15, 2003

Can someome please tell me the difference between a "sound card with a pre-amp" set-up on a computer as opposed to a USB Audio interface? do you still need a pre-amp or sound card with a USB interface??

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Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Mar 15, 2003 09:35 am

Well, whether or not the card has a USB interface is a completely seperate issue from it'shaving a preamp or not. They are completely unrelated. There are USB devices with and without preamps.

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
Member
Since: May 10, 2002


Mar 15, 2003 10:16 am

Lachlan,

To add to what Db had to write. No you do not need a sound card with a USB interface. The term "sound card" is often thrown around here as a generic term for an audio interface. In strict terms a sound card is an audio interface which plugs into an expansion slot in a desk top computer. A USB audio interface physicaly resides outside of the computer and the information is transfered to the computer buss via USB.

Now the pre amp thing. I personally do not know of any sound cards that have pre amps built in. I do know that some USB audio interfaces have pre amps built in as well as control slides and knobs that will interface with recording software.

A good example of a USB audio interface which offers all of these additional features is the Tascam USB 488. It looks like a mini mixer. The slides and tuning knobs will "move" the sliders and such in the software offering a control interface. It also comes with pre amps. Finally it offers the same audio interface that a sound card offers. All via USB.

Member
Since: Mar 15, 2003


Mar 15, 2003 06:38 pm

Thanks for the replys, undertand it a bit better now. So would the reason for choosing USB be because of faster transfer rate? What other reasons would there for choosing USB over not?

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Mar 15, 2003 08:26 pm

another reason would be a lack of slots or IRQ's on your PC, as well as portability.

Contributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002


Mar 15, 2003 08:54 pm

USB certainly does not have a faster transfer rate!

I used to own a laptop coupled with an M-Audio Quattro, however the combination gave me nothing but greif - the USB bus is simply too slow to handle the intensly wide data streams that digital audio creates - I mean, it was designed nearly 6 years ago to communicate between printers and modems - not 96Khz, 24bit audio streams.

You are MUCH better off with an internal PCI soundcard - unless you NEED portability - in which case I would reccomend a FireWire device over a USB one.

jues.

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