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Good external ASIO soundcard (sub-100 quid)

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  • 12-12-2015 11:00pm
    #1
    SuprSi
    Registered Users Posts: 6,946 ✭✭✭


    So my Fiio E18, although sounding good, doesn't have an ASIO driver and I'm beginning to struggle with my DAW. I'm looking for a good USB soundcard that will give my setup a boost and allow me to pump more tracks and audio through it, for less than 100 quid.

    Any suggestions?


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    #2
    iLikeWaffles
    Registered Users Posts: 4,325 ✭✭✭iLikeWaffles


    SuprSi wrote: »
    So my Fiio E18, although sounding good, doesn't have an ASIO driver and I'm beginning to struggle with my DAW. I'm looking for a good USB soundcard that will give my setup a boost and allow me to pump more tracks and audio through it, for less than 100 quid.

    Any suggestions?

    Its not the ASIO driver that will give you more tracks its processing power and RAM. What's your pc specs and what DAW do you use? Without knowing much about what you do with the current soundcard its hard to know or give you guidance so to speak.


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    #3
    SuprSi
    Registered Users Posts: 6,946 ✭✭✭SuprSi


    iLikeWaffles wrote: »
    Its not the ASIO driver that will give you more tracks its processing power and RAM. What's your pc specs and what DAW do you use? Without knowing much about what you do with the current soundcard its hard to know or give you guidance so to speak.

    Sorry, I didn't realise anyone had responded to this! I had been using Cubase and my ASIO indicator was in the red constantly, whereas my CPU and memory readings were fine. It was quite frustrating as I had to record channels as audio and add them back rather than play them live.

    That was then! I've now made the switch to Ableton Live and I'm impressed with how lean it is on CPU and ASIO resource. I've loaded maybe 10 different Omnisphere synths, plus loads of samples and fx and it barely reaches 50% on any measurement. That's aside from how Live works and how it's made it easier for me to create a track.

    Can't see myself going back now.


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    #4
    iLikeWaffles
    Registered Users Posts: 4,325 ✭✭✭iLikeWaffles


    Try ASIO4ALL?


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    #5
    SuprSi
    Registered Users Posts: 6,946 ✭✭✭SuprSi


    I tried that in Cubase but it made no difference. I tried all sorts of settings but nothing really helped. To be fair, the version of Cubase I was using was old-ish, especially compared to Live.


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    #6
    iLikeWaffles
    Registered Users Posts: 4,325 ✭✭✭iLikeWaffles


    Well live would be 64bit now so right there it can access more than 4GB ram. What is your pc specs?


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    #7
    SuprSi
    Registered Users Posts: 6,946 ✭✭✭SuprSi


    That's true, Cubase 5 was only 32-bit. It's a good, if now slightly old laptop. Samsung Ativbook 8, with 8Gb RAM and an i7. I put an SSD into it, which has obviously made a big difference too.


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