Recommendations for an entry level XLR to USB audio interface?

Hades

Hades

Hades

Man of Honour
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
29,751
Location
Surrey
I currently have an unopened USB microphone which I am considering returning and upgrading to an XLR setup. If I take this route then the Focusrite Scarlett Solo seems a good starter interface at around £90. Are there any other interfaces I should consider at this price point? I only need one input at this point in time.

EDIT: How are Native Instruments Komplete? This looks a similar price point.

Thank you.
 
Last edited:
Thanks. That's a lot cheaper and woiuld acually make the XLR setup (UMC22 + AT2020) cheaper than the USB setup (AT2020USB+), although without a stand.
 
Hades said:
Thanks. That's a lot cheaper and woiuld acually make the XLR setup (UMC22 + AT2020) cheaper than the USB setup (AT2020USB+), although without a stand.
Click to expand...
I was going to go with this, but the Behringer was on backorder everywhere I looked. So went with the Focusrite Solo 3rd Gen - got the same mic though :)
 
Phate said:
I was going to go with this, but the Behringer was on backorder everywhere I looked. So went with the Focusrite Solo 3rd Gen - got the same mic though :)
Click to expand...
Thanks. Yes I think I will get the Solo too. But I haven't yet decided on the mic. I am going back and forth between dynamics and condensers. I like the clarity of the condenser but I am in a fairly echoey room with my PC, so a condenser may be better. I've also realised I get around 20% discount on some of the Sennheiser mics. So it's become a bit of a rabbit hole :eek:
 
Wouldn't go with the Behringer. I've got lots of Behringer gear, and it's great, but the cheaper interfaces use ASIO4ALL rather than proprietary ASIO drivers, which can be ultra sketchy. I've also had several Scarletts, good kit. Audient ID4 is the cheapest interface I've owned that I'd recommend.

Edit: Sorry, not sure how I managed to update a mega old thread! Oh well :)
 
Hades said:
Thanks for the advice anyway :)

I got a Focusrite Solo in the end.
Click to expand...

A wise choise. As someone who has had interfaces from both brands, I would say Focusrite stuff will trump Behringer any day of the week (unless you're looking at the X32, which is apparently pretty good). The Behringer interface I had was just noisy but my Focusrite is clean as a whistle. I also think Focusrite continue to support their discontinued products and on the one occasion where I had to use their technical support, they were very helpful (problem with my Firewire chipset rather than the device).
 
Just to be clear-- like I say, I have several bits of Behringer kit (including audio interfaces and mixers with USB) and from an audio perspective they are great--quiet, loads of headroom, even the preamps are great. It's only the use of the generic ASIO4ALL driver on the cheaper interfaces that can cause issues in some setups. Never really worked out why- it works fine for some people! Stuff with dedicated drivers (XR18 for example) are ridiculously good for the money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom