Good USB soundcards?

Custom Guitars · #1 06-30-2013, 06:00 PM

Can someone please recommend to me some good USB soundcards for my laptop, unfortunately the current soundcard must be terrible as my Yeti sounds horrible through it. I did a Google search and realised that I can't change the soundcard in my lappy, so the best option would be to get a USB soundcard. I also don't have those larger ports for those other types of external soundcards. Thanks for any recommendations.

knurlman · #2 07-05-2013, 11:29 AM

I recently got a Motu Ultralite MK3 for my laptop. It's a bit spendy, but works and sounds great, has a virtual mixer with amazing EQ, is small and portable if needed. I don't know what the preamps are like, because I haven't tried them. I only use external preamps, but I think they're not bad. There are many less expensive external cards that route via USB and have just two inputs for stereo that cost much less. I'd recommend one that'll handle 24 bit sound, though.
Cris

theotigno · #3 07-05-2013, 02:03 PM

There's a quite a few out there! One to look at is the Sound Devices USBPre 2 (you can view a YouTube video of the USBPre 2). I have the original USBPre and it works great for me.

There are a lot of other options out there as well, including ones from MOTU, Presonus, M-Audio, and more. I have also had good experiences with Echo products and they have the Echo 2 that would fit the bill.

sdelsolray · #4 07-05-2013, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Custom Guitars

Can someone please recommend to me some good USB soundcards for my laptop, unfortunately the current soundcard must be terrible as my Yeti sounds horrible through it. I did a Google search and realised that I can't change the soundcard in my lappy, so the best option would be to get a USB soundcard. I also don't have those larger ports for those other types of external soundcards. Thanks for any recommendations.

How do you know the Blue Yeti sounds "horrible"? What is your monitoring chain? I realize this question may be a bit circular if you are using your laptop's audio output to feed your monitors. Nevertheless, isolating what your monitoring chain actually is is a valid inquiry.