Honestly, if you pay more than a couple hundred for an interface, either you're getting ripped off or you're buying for a band.

There are always deals at Micro Center, New Egg, 1SaleADay.com, Woot, places like that. You might be able to get a monster for less than a thou; a computer that will serve your music needs for years is easy.

And, if you're worried about the hard drive speeds, get an external drive and record to that. Many of them come with USB 3.0 now, and a PCI card for that is thirty to forty bucks. (I've been recording to external hard drive anyway -- that way, I'm reasonably sure to keep the data if the computer goes, and I can also take it with me to use on the laptop.)


Best,
Tom Smith
Win10/64 • i7-8700K • 24 GB RAM
BIAB 2025 • Reaper 7 • Izotope MPS
AKG C1000S • IK iRig I/O Pro