PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production Recommended audio interfaces / soundcards for use with BIAB.

Hi Guys, My first Forum post and about to build an i7 PC rig so apologies if this has been asked before. What audio creation soundcard / interface would BIAB users currently recommend as I am looking to buy BIAB 2024 and, like all of you, will be looking for the best possible sound output. Either an internal or USB soundcard is acceptable.
Many thanks in advance for your time.
Regards, EasternDriver.

eastern.

see my post i started in realband
load of pg user suggestions.
and also see the multi client thread i started in tips forum.

note i highly recommend you rent before buying OR get a 30 day return on any interface you settle on.
it would help to have added info on your needs..
eg audio only ? audio and midi ?
how many mic inputs ?
drive two sets of speakers ?
individual phantom switches on each mic input ?
how much mic pre gain ?
do you need high gain for some gain hungry dynamic mics ?
do you need fancy control features so mic inputs arent overloaded ? need multi client ? ie running many different music apps at same time ?
multiple headphone outputs ?
high z istrument inputs ?
budget ??

more info please re your needs so the right recommendations are made.

ps see my tips re tips forum re acquiring or using a pc for music production and its optimisation.
if you are new... particularly look at the importance of low microsecond dpc in useing a pc and other tips.
NOTE ...
IF BUILDING YOUR OWN PC DO LOTS OF RESEARCH ON BEST
MOTHERBOARD AND OTHER COMPONENTS TO REALISE LOW LATENCY IN MUSIC PRODUCTION . LATENCY CAN BE THE BANE OF MUSIC PRODUCTION.
A GOOD RESOURCE OTHER THAN THE NET IS GEARSPACE.COM WHERE LOTS OF STUDIOS HANG OUT THAT BUILD THEIR OWN PC'S. I LOVE THE NEW M2 TECH.
SEE IF YOU CAN BEAT MY SPECS LOL...
i boot into win or any music app in seconds...and get a asio
latency of 4 millisecs on a 400 buck ryzen mini pc with no bloatware.
(thanks gordon for suggesting i look at mini pc's.)

best

om

How many inputs do you need?
Are you recording one track at a time or do you want to record 8 at a time?

That can be a big concern, or none at all, depending on your target setup.

The previous replies are spot on, and you should follow them. But assuming you're building the "best possible" DAW platform and don't need help with that, my recommendation for a "best possible" audio interface would be an RME Babyface Pro. Pricey for sure, but it will meet any likely need for a long while. Happy building!

Biab is right at home with the PC's onboard audio device, if you want to record you could use any USB ASIO Audio Device.

Many thanks Guys for the quick replies. I have now discovered the thread in RealBand and am currently reading through it.
I actually dabbled in BIAB back in 2016. My PC rig has recently been upgraded to Windows 11 and at present am still using an i7-3770 processor, ASUS motherboard and an ASUS Essence STX11 PC Card (which works well with Windows 11!
8 years is a long gap and I assumed an audio upgrade would be necessary. I would require poss 1 mic input, prob audio and midi driving 1 set of M-Audio studio speakers with headphones. Defo a low latency audio interface, probably up to £200.
My old BIAB won't work with ASIO, only MME - would I need ASIO drivers for BIAB 2024?
So good to talk. Regards, EasternDriver.

eastern...also read these 2 threads so i dont have to retype
pages...

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=718708#Post718708

AND...

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=795663#Post795663

if your pc has never been optimised for music production.

best

om

ps i'm a long time whufc hammers fan !!
i need a 'knickerbocker glory'....lmao

OK, in your price range, I recommend a Focusrite audio interface. It comes with its own ASIO drivers.

But let's first talk about what you have. ASIO drivers are developed for each manufacturer and sometimes need to be upgraded for new operating system versions. They would come with your sound card, not BIAB. If ASIO didn't work on your ASUS sound card, which is ten years old and stopped with Windows 8, are you sure you have a driver for it that works in Windows 11? Check the manufacturer's website and download a new driver.

Your i7 is adequate to run BIAB 2024, assuming you have more than 4 GB of RAM.

Matt.

the thing that concerns me with the the focusrites are in this video..but i think the comparison is gen 3 ?



best

om

Interesting.

If I were looking for a new interface, it would definitely be one I'd look at. It looks nice and flexible, and mostly nice to use, though I have some doubts (e.g., the big press control mutes what exactly?).

But ... many of the performance specifications are several dB poorer than the Focusrite (4gen, anyway).

Your man says the Focusrite is the one against which other interfaces should be judged, which high praise.

It's notably lower cost that the Focusrite 4gen 2i2.
At this moment, Focusrite are selling the 3rd gen 2i2 and 4i4 for less than the H224.

Gordon

for detailed info go to sterlings site.
i think the mute is prolly mute main monitors while
recording ?
looking at the big pic i feel if the only option years back was the h224 it would have sold like knickerbocker glorys on brighton pier...lol.
the one thing that the frites dont have is re useing 2 monitors. only one i believe.

i might get a h224 for my back up rig for s's and giggles.
the trouble is this tech is moving very fast.

a guy you would like with your deep tech background
is julian krause on you tube...he uses test and measurement fancy gear to test interfaces.
no bs from him. straight shooter and shows all the technical graphs etc

happiness.
om

Well, I recommended a Focusrite unit because many people here will be able to use firsthand experience to help the OP with his next questions.

I stopped watching the video; he didn’t appear to have a solid grasp of the Focusrite he was using. If he went on to show that the Sterling has some specs that are better, that’s fine, but I seriously doubt that most of us could hear any difference.

I'm not personally wanting a new interface. I have several different Focusrite boxes, plus the SoundCraft Ui24R mixer, so I'm more than covered.

I've watched a few of Julian Krause's videos, though not for a while. He does have reviews of gen4 Focusrites, but apparently not of the H224, which is a shame.

He does have his "How to choose" video, of course: here

Matt.

re frite support here at pg makes sense.
but no midi on the budgrt model ?
i just feel other interfaces should be given a fair shake.
the one advantage i see with the h224 over many other budget interfaces is ability to set up different mixes and being able to have it drive 2 sets of stereo monitors plus midi.

amongst other offerings from my perspective the ssl and motu m4 and new audient interfaces people are raving about. my audient is flat out the best budget interface ive used and has not given me one iota of probs from day one. check out what people say about the new audient id range on the net and you tube.
also as i said j krause in depth tear downs on you tube of loads of interfaces.
but i recognise the ssl and m4 are very well recognised.
the nice ssl has a very good mic pre gain.
the m4 excellent ess sabre tech.
it'll all change anyway...lol.
happiness.

Gordon.
i heard your scraft u has studer preamps ? is this right.? but ive heard they are a bit noisy ?
i loved studer multitracks...and uk trident mixers in studios.

another interesting new interface ...see you tube...tested by krause is the zoom uac232 which apparently is 32 bit so a muso never has to worry bout pre overload ?

happiness.

om 🇨🇦 🇬🇧

The Ui24R is off-topic as it's a 24-channel mixer, not a sound card.

One of Mike's (sorry, forgotten surname for the moment) observations about sound cards was the lack of gain range for use with low sensitivity mics, and indeed yours also. I note that the 4g 2i2 claims 69dB, my Ui24R claims 64 and the H224 claims 60. That suggests that the 2i2 may be notably better than either of the other two. Whether that's real or specsmanship I'm uncertain.

<< The Ui24R is off-topic as it's a 24-channel mixer, not a sound card.>>

It shouldn't be off-topic. The The Ui24R is a quite robust audio interface that's well suited for both this discussion and use with BIAB/RB or any DAW as a digital multi-track recorder.
Mackie, Yamaha, Korg, Zoom, Behringer and Tascam all offer Mixers with USB audio interfaces that offer good pre-amps and analog mixing, digital Fx's, aux outs, Groups, Busses, and recording direct to flash drive or SD cards and multiple routing options.
Ui24R | A quick guide to multi track recording

Gordon.

i include mixers that have usb interfaces just in case someone is looking at such.

All.

1..RE…high gain mic preamps in budget usb audio interfaces.

This can be a big problem for people needing lots of gain, say 70 db or higher low noise mic pre gain at a budget level.
so what ive sometimes had to do in the past is resort to a separate mic pre feeding the interface
input.

I am only aware of one budget interface with high gain.

el gato wave xlr…up to 75db gain.

https://www.elgato.com/us/en/p/wave-xlr

once again ymmv/do your own testing/get a 30 day return etc blah blah.

Does anyone know other budget friendly interfaces with high gain ?
which might help others that might read this.
i checked the ssl 2 specs…they go up to 62 db gain range..

.2..I also want to mention something re Audient as I suspect some of you think I might be biased.but actually I'm not. Among the many reasons I like audient is the following..
a major reason.
We have all seen over the years people on the pg forums asking for help with new interfaces re biab and having to faff with biab driver settings a lot.
Let me explain. with the audient it was a doddle to install. easiest install ive ever had.
and here's the KICKER..
After install i was astonished that i had no faffing around with bb driver settings.
bb ran right off the bat !! FIRST TIME. didnt have to touch the pg driver settings.
Also the drivers are asio multi-client.


3..From what I'm reading people like the new audient id interfaces.but ymmv etc.
What's interesting is this range uses the big commercial studio mixer mic preamps I understand.
notice how they can be expanded.



Krause says on a sm7b no in line preamp is needed. but if you need very high preamp again I would check this.
NOTICE IN THE VID ARE VARIOUS USEFULL TABLES COMPARING MANY DIFFERENT INTERFACES DONE BY KRAUSE.
he IS very detailed in his reviews.

4..here's krause review of focusrite 4th generation scarlett 2i2.


notice in the review that 48volt phantom is global like lots of budget interfaces.
whereas my audient has switches on each channel.
notice the comparisons with other interfaces in his various tables. no in line preamp needed.
notice his comments later on re headphone output and wrap up.

frankly i think the sterling h224 interface is a very good low budget deal for just 100 bucks assuming it operates properly. (note i dont know if it's multi-client ).
i have the feeling we will hear more from sterling
at the budget level.


I invite anyone to suggest other interfaces to help any users who might read this.

happiness.

om

I guess that's perfectly reasonable.

I rather felt that a 24 channel mixer was too far away from the usual audio interface boxes, both in scale and price, and jom and I were straying somewhat. It is, though an audio interface and I do use it like that. It's also a very capable mixer with the features one expects from that. EQs, gates, compressors, busses, aux outputs, per-musician mixes and so on. Having no hardware control surface is a mixed blessing. It works superbly with a touchscreen/tablet/mobile-phone, not so well with a mouse and keyboard. Soft surfaces like this are not so good in sunlight, but I guess any digital mixer with display would suffer that. The whole mixer can sit on/near the sage as a stage box, which is great, though then one may well need to get headphone outputs to an operator. It'll work either an a multichannel ausio interface, or will save to a USB stick for later remixing, which is handy when the main task on the day is mixing a live performance.

The interface is web-based (Java I imagine) and works very well including on my usual Linux platform.

Edit: Caveat: I personally have only used the Ui24R as a live mixer, or attached to a DAW, never with BIAB.

Please, guys. This would make an interesting separate thread if you want to discuss the fine (minuscule) points of audio interfaces, but remember how the thread was started by EasternDriver. Let’s not overwhelm.

A USB Mixer that appears on paper to be ideal to purpose with BIAB is the Yamaha AG series of USB Mixers. The entry level mixer is in line with the OP's budget and head to head comparison to both Focusrite and Sterling, is an equal value to either. Particularly with routing, pre-amp quality and monitoring. It's DSP software has reverb, compression and amp modeling. USB-C connection @ 24/192 It has more versatile input options and it's loopback feature should receive BIAB stereo Mix directly as I interpret the documentation.

Yamaha AG06 Mk2 6-Channel USB Mixer

EDIT: From the original post, "What audio creation soundcard / interface would BIAB users currently recommend as I am looking to buy BIAB 2024 and, like all of you, will be looking for the best possible sound output. Either an internal or USB soundcard is acceptable. "

The Yamaha AG06 is a viable option to recommend for use as an interface to BIAB/RB providing equal recording capability, more outputs, more inputs, DSP and direct steaming from BIAB it appears and is an option within the proposed budget. Yamaha provides it's own ASIO drivers that should make installation and integration with BIAB without issue. I'm presenting this as a recommendation that's hopefully not off-topic.