Tag: Sound cards

Lets continue our reviews of external sound cards with relatively new and very functional device Steinberg UR44. It is connected to computer via USB port, it is powered via it and additional power adapter. It works with sound with 192 kHz sampling rate ( and also supports rates 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 and 176.4 kHz ) and 24 bits precision. It has 2 XLR/TRS combined inputs for microphone and Hi-Z input and 2 the same connectors for microphone and linear input ( for them card has phantom power +48 V switches and indicators, volume level controls and clip indicators ); 2 monitor headphones outputs with separate volume control. As well as overall device’s outputs volume control.

On back panel it has MIDI input and output, 2 main linear TRS outputs, 4 linear TRS outputs and 2 linear TRS inputs; USB port for connection to computer, power adapter input, power button and Class Compliant mode switch. For all microphone inputs audio card uses high quality Yamaha D-PRE Class-A preamplifiers; it has built in hardware VST 3 effects, their processing is handled by Yamaha SSP2 DSP. Steinberg UR44 can be switched into CC ( Class Compliant ) mode, in which it can work with Apple iPad devices version 2 or newer; this way there is ability to obtain high quality mobile recording solution.

Steinberg UR44 is powered from separate line adapter, plugged in through separate port; its mass is 1.6 kg and sizes are 252 ( width ) x 47 ( height ) x 159 ( depth ) mm, it is released only black-silver color variant with fully aluminum body. Audio interface is supplied with DAW Cubase AI and VST effects and processors set Basic FX Suite. Dynamic range of device is 101 dB ( A-Weighted ), working frequencies range 20 Hz – 22 kHz ( with +0.1/-0.2 dB deviation ) and THD+N is equal to 0.003%.

For installation of DAW Cubase AI there is need in connection to Internet for downloading of additional data with 500 MB size. Steinberg UR44 supports following DSP effects : Latency-free monitoring with FX ( dspMixFx ), True Integrated Monitoring with FX in Cubase, Guitar Amp Classics, REV-X Reverb, Sweet Spot Morphing Channel Strip, Phase switch per channel and High-Pass filter. Cubase AI – is a simplified version of professional DAW of Steinberg, it is based on the same audio engine with 32-bits float precision of calculations; can work simultaneously with 32 sound tracks, 48 MIDI tracks and 16 instrumental tracks with ability to record completed compositions to disk in WAV and AIFF formats, and in MP3 after purchsing of according module. For audio and MIDI editing in program following editors are built-in : Key, Score and Drum, pitch-shift instrument AudioWarp with support of ACID files format, which allows to use large amount of already created sounds samples, and Chord Track editor. 28 VST effects and processors are built into it for work with sounds, sampling synthesizer instrument HALion Sonic SE with 180 sound; mixing console with 4 Inserts and 4 Sends for each track and equalizer. DAW Cubase AI can work in 32 and 64 bits operating systems Windows and Mac OS X.

Sound card is supplied with DAW Cubase AI, with which it is closely integrated, because card and DAW has the same manufacturer. Wherein it can work with other DAWs : FL Studio, REAPER, Cackewalk Sonar and others through ASIO 2.0 and WDM or Core Audio for Windows ( XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8, 8.1 and 10 ) and Mac OS X, accordingly. Body of audio card is produced from metal, this makes it easier to use card for mobile recordings and on the open scenes and reduces electromagnetic interference on the card’s internals. Also in the package with Steinberg UR44 device itself there are : CD-ROM disk with drivers and programs, USB cable, power adapter, warranty card and user’s guide. On optical disk there are following programs : Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver, UR44 Extension ( for integration with DAW Cubase ), dspMixFx UR44 ( for integration with other DAWs ), Basic FX Suite ( Sweet Spot Morphing Channel Strip – compressor and equalizer, REV-X – reverberation, and Guitar Amp Classics – program emulator of electric guitar amplifier ) and electronic versions of user’s guides of device and programs.

All in all Steinberg UR44 is very functional sound card, which has very good characteristics and high quality hardware and costs the same amount of money or even less, than similar devices from other manufacturers; its price is around 250 USD. There is also ability to look on other audio interfaces of Steinberg, Behringer, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio, Alesis and other companies production, which can have better analogue characteristics.

Steinberg – is a German company – creator of DAWs, VST effects, processors and instruments and also of audio interfaces, being based in Hamburg. It was established in 1984 year and now is being owned by Yamaha Corporation from 2004 year. At current moment Steinberg is one of the leading audio equipment and programs manufacturers in the world, for example, its professional DAW, instruments and hardware are used by following musicians : Hans Zimmer, Junkie XL, Justice, Kraftwerk, New Order and others.

Lets review external sound card AudioTrak DR. DAC3, which supports sound processing mode with 192 kHz sampling rate and 24 bits precision. It communicates with computer via USB port, through which it also receives power. Its digital to analogue converter ( DAC ) has 129 dB signal to noise ratio ( which is very good and provides very good sound quality, if all other sound card’s equipment supports audio processing with such high signal clearness ); it has unbalanced RCA outputs and monitor headphones outputs with separate volume level control and RCA inputs. Card supports digital optical S/PDIF input and output via TOS-LINK and RCA connectors. Sound card sizes are : 140 x 111 x 30 mm ( width x depth x height ), weight is : 400 g, and it consumes 3 – 5 W of energy, depending on workload level. There are drivers released for audio interface for Window XP, Vista, 7, 8 and newer and Mac OS X operating systems with support of ASIO 2.0 and Core Audio, accordingly; through which it can work with all modern DAWs : FL Studio, REAPER, Cackewalk Sonar and others.

As it can be seen from AudioTrak DR. DAC3 printed circuit board ( PCB ), it has operational amplifiers ( OA ), which can be easily replaced with better ones, and film or ceramic capacitors of low-pass filters, which filter out high frequency noise after OA. Use of such capacitors is much more preferable in analogue part of sound cards, because they have much better and much more stable characteristics, than electrolytic capacitors, which can boil-up and explode after some time of use. Key outputs of card has gold-plated surface : it provides good contact, when gold-plated connectors are used ( there is need to remember, that nickel-plated connectors can not be used in such case, because otherwise areas of contact after some time of use will be covered with oxide film, that lowers contact quality ). Overall AudioTrak DR. DAC3 is very good sound card, which can be recommended for home or semi-professional small studio.

M-Audio released external sound card M-Audio M-Track Plus with low power consumption, that is designed for use with laptops and other mobile devices. Card works with 48 kHz sampling rate ( which is not much for modern semi-professional audio interfaces, which able to work with 96 – 192 kHz sampling rate ) and 24 bits precision. It has large amount of hardware indicators and knobs, which allow to view sound parameters and control them directly without delays of signal sending to computer and its processing. Card has digital coaxial S/PDIF input-output and MIDI input-output; 2 XLR inputs with ability to switch on phantom power +48 V for them, 2 balanced 6.3 mm jack inputs, 2 TRS inserts and main 6.3 mm jack output. Also, there is ability to plug in monitor headphones to it with separate volume level control. Card is powered with 1 USB port, through which data is also transferred. Its body is produced from aluminum, its sizes are : 165 x 119 x 57 mm ( width x depth x height ) and its weight is 0.68 kg. M-Audio M-Track Plus is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 and newer ( 32 and 64 bits ) and Mac OS X operating systems. Sound card is supplied with DAW AIR Ignite, which allows to record audio, arrange and edit tracks, apply effects, switch musical instruments for MIDI notes and export tracks for use with more advanced DAWs like FL Studio, REAPER, Cackewalk Sonar and others.

Lets continue our reviews of semi-professional external sound cards with Infrasonic UAX2. It supports 1 microphone XLR/TRS input with +48 V phantom power for condenser microphones and 1 Hi-Z input ( both are unbalanced ), 2 balanced outputs, 1 linear input-output and 1 MIDI input-output. Card works with 24 bits precision and 96 kHz sampling rate; it is powered from 1 USB 2.0 port, through which data is transfered to computer. Microphone input has pre amplifier with level indicator and gain control. Most of recording sounds parameters can be monitored and controlled via hardware indicators and knobs. Sound card supports following interfaces : ASIO 2.0 and WDM for Windows ( XP/VISTA/Win7 and newer; 32 and 64 bits ) and Core Audio for MAC OS 10.5 and newer, with which it can work with all modern DAWs : FL Studio, REAPER, Cackewalk Sonar and others. Audio card is supplied with Native Instruments KOMPLETE ELEMENTS software, which contains 3 GB of production ready effects and sounds. Package contains : Infrasonic UAX2 sound card itself, DVD disks with drivers and sotware, USB cable and user’s guide.

Lets continue our reviews of sound cards with Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 device. It supports 4 analogue inputs ( 2 are balanced XLR and 2 are balanced TRS ) and 4 analogue outputs ( all 4 are balanced TRS ) and 2 digital channels ( SPDIF and coaxial ). It also has MIDI port for keyboard connection, separate monitor headphones output and USB port for card powering and data transmission. Card can send phantom power 48 V for condenser microphones and active DI boxes, if they require it. Card can work with sound with 44.1, 48, 88.2 and 96 kHz samplin rate and 16 or 24 bits precision. Drivers are released for it for Windows 7, 8 and 10 and for Mac OS X 10.8 and newer operating systems. It supports following audio interfaces : ASIO, Core Audio, DirectSound and WASAPI, with which it can work with different DAWs ( FL Studio, REAPER, Cackewalk Sonar and others ) and with recording and music and sounds playback software. KOMPLETE AUDIO 6 is supplied with following software : KOMPLETE ELEMENTS, TRAKTOR LE and CUBASE LE, and with 25 USD discount for purchasing of any KOMPLETE effects or instruments in Native Instruments online store. Card sizes are : 52 x 159 x 122 mm ( height x width x depth ), and weight is : 850 g.

In this article we will review Roland QuadCapture semi-professional external sound card. It can record and play 4 audio channels with 96, 48 and 44.1 kHz frequencies and 2 channels with frequencies up to 192 kHz. Card works with computer with 24 bits precision; digital to analogue conversion and opposite conversion are performed with the same precision; all other calculations are performed with 40 bits precision. It is powered via 1 USB port, through which data is also transmitted, and supports coaxial digital input and output and MIDI input and output. Other connectors include : balanced XLR and TRS inputs and TRS balanced and unbalanced outputs. Card has microphone VS preamplifiers, to which phantom power is connected ( for microphones, which require it ); also : low-cut filter, phase inverters and digital compressors ( which allow sound to not clip during recording ) are connected to them. Roland QuadCapture supports VS Streaming technology for audio recording and playback with low latency; also it supports ASIO 2.0 / WDM for Windows and Core Audio for Mac OS, which allow to use card with all modern DAWs : FL Studio, REAPER, Cakewalk SONAR and others. Card contains low noise power supply, its body is produced from aluminum, and it supports Direct-Box ( DI ) for use on open scenes. Card sizes are : 185 x 134 x 44 mm ( width x depth x height ), and its weight is : 570 g. Package contains : Roland QuadCapture sound card itself, USB cable, CD-ROM disk with drivers and software and user’s guide.

In this article we will describe external professional sound card AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION. It has high quality digital to analogue converter Wolfson, which works on 94 kHz frequency with 24 bits precision, and National Semiconductor LME49860 operational amplifiers ( OpAmps ), which provide high quality sound without addition of noticeable amount of noise. There is ability to replace them on OpAmps of even higher quality, because they are mounted via special socket. Card has built-in electrolytic capacitors Sam Young AHS Series in digital and in most of analogue parts of it; from one side : they have good enough quality, but from the other side : it is better to place into analogue tract ( and into digital also ) high quality ceramic or film capacitors, because they have much better quality and characteristics, than electrolytic capacitors, for audio tract. And only in Low-Pass filters after OpAmps it has film capacitors WIMA Film Capacitor.

It has : USB connector for signal input and card powering; 3.5 mm mini-jack, 6.5 mm jack and 2 RCA connectors for analogue sound output to headphones or speakers; coaxial and optical digital outputs for signal passing to other devices for processing and playback; microphone input ( card saves recorded sound in 48 kHz and 24 bits format ); output switch; and volume control. Card sizes are : 94 x 90 x 22 mm ( width x depth x height ) and mass is 0.54 kg. It has drivers for following operating systems : Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP and Mac OS X.

Dynamic range of AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION is 108 dB, THD+N is 0.00008 %; card can be used for sounds and music playback and for semi-professional work with sound; there is need to note, that AUDIOTRAK is long known for very good devices for semi-professional and professional work with sound. Package contains : AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION sound card itself, 2x RCA cables, USB cable and user’s guide.

All in all, this is a good entry-level audio interface, however it is slightly less functional, than modern devices of Steinberg, Behringer, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio, Alesis and other manufacturers production. Company Audiotrak currently is an ESI subdivision and produces PCI, PCI Express and USB audio interfaces, loudspeakers, microphones and other sound equipment. Its main office is located in Korea.

In this article we will review semi-professional external sound card ESI UGM96. It was released in 2008 year, but in this electronics segment devices become obsolete not so fast, as in other areas. It has 2 unbalanced stereo outputs and 2 unbalanced mono Hi-Z inputs. There is ability to switch one input into microphone input with preamp mode; and there is ability to switch one output into linear mode, so that signal is not processed by sound card’s amplifier. It supports playback modes up to 96 kHz and 24 bits and the same recording modes. There are drivers released for sound card for Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP ( with ASIO support ) and Mac OS X 10.4 and newer ( with Core Audio support ) operating systems; support of these professional audio playback and recording interfaces allows to do this with very low latency, which is extremely important in professional work with audio. Sound card is fully powered by one USB port. Card has 2 stereo outputs, but does not work in 4 channel mode : both outputs transmit the same signal; it does not support hardware acceleration of 3D sound in games and virtual reality applications ( but software implementation of these functions works without problems with this sound card in all applications ). Sound card sizes are 7 x 8 cm. Based on my experience of work with ESI UGM96, I can say, that this is great sound card : quality of music and sounds in films and games is great; quality of audio recordings with good microphone is also great, and card is supported by all moderns DAWs : FL Studio, REAPER and other. Package contains : ESI UGM96 sound card itself, USB cable, CD-ROM disks with drivers and additional software and user’s guide. There is need to note, that this sound card has one of the lowest prices among external semi-professional sound cards.