Audio interface recommendation for audiophile, gamer and a guitar player.

[celest spire]

I'm in an interesting situation. I'm a gamer that likes nice audio and also plays guitar.
To make this easier here's my current gear in relation to this post:
Headphones: AudioTechnica M50X (easy to drive with most devices)
Mic: DIY Mod Mic alternative I designed (for purpose of this post imagine it's a real Mod Mic, also pretty easy to drive electet microphone like most gaming headsets)
Along this in terms of guitar I have one acoustic, a strat, a 339, a tube amp, and an analog pedal board.
I should also add that I'm based in Europe.

The reason for posting this is problems with my motherboard. I have an MSI B450 Tomahawk Max that has a lot of audio problems. The main issue is very high noise floor of audio input. It's unusable at this point.
Here's a link to proof that his is not just my motherboard: https://www.reddit.com/r/MSI_Gaming/comments/cq4vdw/b450_tomahawk_mic_volume_quality/
Nobody can hear me on Discord and it' very noisy when they can. Due to this I started looking for an external audio solution.

Some of the stuff I started looking into was:
Schiit Gunnr and Creative G8. Schiit is expensive in EU and with Creative I'm afraid of the drivers. Then a fellow guitar player urged me to get an interface instead. I wanted to try recording some of the stuff I play but I've never felt confident to record my playing.
My biggest confusion is if I can even use electet microphones like the ones on headsets on such interfaces I tried figuring it out but I can't find anything concrete?
Secondly which one of the interfaces can I use that if I decide to upgrade my headphones will be able to drive something that has 400+ ohms and finally which one to get in my case?
Can I use external headphone amps with such interfaces if I decide to upgrade?
If I decide to go this route and decide to get a proper microphone for recording which one do I get?
Which one has good driver support on Linux and Windows?
Help please...

[craggy jolt]

Driver support on Linux really depends on class compliancy of the device. I use a behringer 202HD on both Linux and Windows without any problems. I don't know if the headphone amp can drive such high resistance headphones though

They are super inexpensive so just trying one won't break the bank and you'll know quickly enough if it works for you

But seeing that it drives my 90 ohm headphones with such ease that I barely have the output gain over 9 o'clock

[indigo rock]

How many inputs do you need

Because if it’s only two

https://www.amazon.com/MOTU-M2-USB-C-Audio-Interface/dp/B0812B26TN

[craggy jolt]

Or the Audient stuff ... ID4... Evo4

[indigo rock]

If it’s 8

https://a.co/d/1h22GO3

[indigo rock]

Hard disagree with the audient evo4, it has known EMI issues and the single knob controlling everything is not worth $130

If we’re going budget, behringer umc22 or focusrite vocaster one

For the audient ID4? It’s just too expensive for what it is

[craggy jolt]

The umc22 I wouldnt touch ... The 202HD or 204HD work great though

I agree that the pricing on the Audient stuff doesn't make sense

[indigo rock]

Why not umc22?

UM2 is completely understandable since it’s garbage

Though 202HD and 204HD is just a very similar thing with just the next line up

UMC1820 is effectively the highest end of that line

[craggy jolt]

No dedicated driver from the manufacturer iirc

[indigo rock]

Fair enough, it is using asio4all

Oh yeah since vocaster one only has mac and windows, then I could probably slash that too

So in summary

-202hd for 2 inputs
-204hd for 4 inputs
-umc1820 for 8 inputs
-Motu M2 for 2 inputs but more fancy

[craggy jolt]

you can use FlexAsio too which is alreadt a step up and there is some sort of aftermarket driver for it ... lot of hassle though

[craggy jolt]

204HD for midi in too

the Presonus Quantum SE2 is also pretty nice

[indigo rock]

Tbf, bro was already look at schiit stuff, so like I’m pretty sure he’ll come for the more higher ends

Also umc1820 and motu m2 has midi in too

Motu M4 is also here and is just the m2 but with more inputs

[indigo rock]

Universal control knob/single knob practically controlling everything

Wait

I might be an idiot

[craggy jolt]

i know ..that's the shit we are heading to for new stuff, where your device needs firmware updates and shit like that

[indigo rock]

Unfortunate

Tbh my meta recommendations these days is just buy a umc1820 + a cheap 8 inputs slave interface like a focusrite saffire pro 40 or behringer ada8200

And if you don’t need a lot of inputs, motu m2/motu m4

And if you’re on a budget, umc22, vocaster one, 202hd, 204hd

Just didn’t know about umc22 only using asio4all

[craggy jolt]

Focusrite would be nice if they finally just added a simple fucking 10/20dB pad to it

high output pickup generally destroy the headroom on those things

[indigo rock]

It’s like the blue yeti where it’s just circlejerked as the standard and stagnates

Never get a scarlett 🔥

[craggy jolt]

or an SSL

[indigo rock]

True!

Or a twin apollo

[craggy jolt]

The appolo stuff is really good ... the pricing .. not so much

and I feel it's kind of designed for Mac users

[indigo rock]

It is designed for mac users

It’s so hostile to anything else that it’s ridiculous

And also the reason ppl buy it isn’t for the interface itself, but for the plugins which you have to pay a monthly subscription for

And like after paying like $900? Actually hell naw

[craggy jolt]

i will never...ever ... fall into the subscription trap

i rather pay a shitton to own something

[indigo rock]

Oh boy

But universal audio is asking you to do both lmao

$900 for the interface

[craggy jolt]

for an interface it's ridiculous ... same with Neuman

but for something like Superior Drummer I rather shell out the cash than having some drum plugin as a subscription

[indigo rock]

https://www.uaudio.com/products/uad-spark?srsltid=AfmBOop7gYluJ8q5n8lgiW4XB1Qrnj_OgaO7ig8JZ0IBFIEN8bNfGOqq

$20 for each month

For their plugins

Never buy a UAD product 🔥

[indigo rock]

True

I ended up taking the route of playing and miccing acoustic drums

Which is WAYYY more expensive

[craggy jolt]

my office is 4x3 meter ... on top of that..i cannot play drums

[indigo rock]

Completely fair point

Anyways that’s 300 gigs of space gone woop woop /j

[craggy jolt]

who cares ... drives are cheap

my drumss sounds amazing 😛

[indigo rock]

They used to be cheaper until samsung artificially doubled the price of it

[craggy jolt]

by the way ... i see this brand pop up a lot

[indigo rock]

Yeah nothing comes close to superior

[craggy jolt]

https://www.thomann.nl/swissonic_audio_2.htm

although it's unknown I feel it might be a better option than any focusrite shitbox

[indigo rock]

Thomann in house brand

[craggy jolt]

aha

probably works fine for the price

[indigo rock]

It probably does

Though I haven’t delved deep into thomann’s side of interfaces since behringer has been filling that hole quite sufficiently

[orchid ravine]

Have you checked out focusrite 2i2

[celest spire]

I currently have a borrowed fosucsrite 2i4 from a friend. But I haven't gotten around to testing it out.

However I have also asked this in another discord server specifically for home studio and got a great recommendation.

Topping E2X2 OTG

Also got my answer for how to use a desktop mic with such an interface. I need something like Rode VXLR+. With those two I can actually use up to like 600 ohm super hard to drive headphones, and any mic I really want

Plus it runs both on windows and Linux no problems

[craggy jolt]

what's the actual point of high ohm headphones ?

[celest spire]

Well some of them have much higher quality audio than something that's easier to drive. We are improving in terms of headphones efficiency but there are still a number of high end headphones that would be hard to drive on something like a Scarlett

[craggy jolt]

I probably won't hear the difference anyways .. especially not with listening to sources like spotify or youtube

[celest spire]

Fair

[craggy jolt]

us peasants with our MD7506's and without superhuman hearing like most audiophiles have are such a drag, i know

[indigo rock]

The problem with the modern audiophile scene is that the basic concept of fidelity is lost on them (which basically is to represent the audio as accurately as possible).

[indigo rock]

Please do not buy a Scarlett 2i2 new in the big 25

[craggy jolt]

I thought the big problem was the unending cork sniffing and delusional mentality

"if i buy this cable that is 10 dollar per 10 cm my sound will improve"

[indigo rock]

That’s actually in the same field

The entire purpose of actually getting good audio equipment was to accurately represent audio. We already do got that shit with the Sennheiser HD600 as the industry standard reference for headphones for the last 28 or so years (HD6xx essentially making it more accessible and affordable for a similar enough product), and if we wanna do even deeper, the Kali LP-6 making studio monitors with accurate response within the average person’s reach. Perhaps with room treatment and good care, that’s all you’ll ever need.

But modern audiophiles don’t accept that definition of fidelity. Instead, they buy shit like the shp9500 (ass) and say “oh, its emphasis on the high end gives it this crisp and detailed imaging” like stfu.

So yeah, it’s totally cork sniffing and delusional mentality, but it’s also chasing something that doesn’t exist

[craggy jolt]

I saw a doc about some Japanese dudes, one even tapped his own power ...the other one lived in a shoebox apartment with 40K speakers or something like that

[indigo rock]

That wsj youtube video? Everyone’s saw it.

Although there’s some true facts here and there, I think the main goal with this setup is converting the entire room into an audio device and make it so that you can comfortably listen to it… but the shoebox guy didn’t even treat his room properly, so I can call delusion

But for me, if you wanted like accurate live stage representation, just get like an orchestra/concert membership or something. Studio audio will always about the recording being honest and accurate, and it’s kind of pointless to upgrade to higher end stuff unless you’ve treated your room first.

But ok a tad off topic

[indigo rock]

This is a good recommendation too

[craggy jolt]

'tad' .. and yes ... the WSJ one

[indigo rock]

Elaborating on this, I think it’s explicit purpose is to try and undercut the motu m2, but you’d end up having to buy it from aliexpress instead… though price aren’t like that these days at least from what I can find

If it’s the same price, Motu M2. If the Topping E2x2 OTG is $159, buy that.

[indigo rock]

Though, if you really want my take, I highly disagree with the use of this diy mod mic alternative. There’s just too many barriers to cross for what it is.

https://www.amazon.com/CAD-GXL2200-Cardioid-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B0002EKEHS

I would recommend this instead

Also I would like the say that the headphone amps on motu, topping, behringers are already very strong either way

Well I say very strong that the behringer able to run my hd6xx at 12 o clock and the motu and topping like 10 o clock, but if you ever need power, find a schiit magni or some shit used

[celest spire]

This was the idea. If the interface can't push the headphones just get an external amp.

[indigo rock]

I mean it’s gonna push your m50x easily either way

Hell it’ll totally be enough for like hd600s either way

I think you won’t really end up in this sort of situation

Unless like you get some really specific high ohm headphones

[celest spire]

So with the link you shared for the mic and the interface. I'm based in EU which changes stuff a bit. Pricing and availability primarily but also support. Mic I really want to keep for now even with th Rode adapter i still feel that it's acceptable since I spent my hobby time to get that thing working and running I really want to use it now and test if there's something to improve. That being said I will get a proper mic when I decide I want to try my hand at recording.

In terms of headphones I just don't know what I want yet. I know I'm not really happy with M50X 's anymore. The build quality leaves a bit to be desired. They are now creaking and even with replaced gel pads they are still hot and the top has fully disintegrated. It's honestly not just about the ohm value but rather if I'm going to get an interface I just want to be sure I can run any headphones I decide I want down the line and I want something a bit better than the M50X. I just need to figure out what I want next.

[indigo rock]

Ok ignore the link, but you get my point

[indigo rock]

HD6xx

Yipee

Ok jk, but

Yeah continue

[celest spire]

Also an important bit is Linux support. I'm a former Linux dev and I know how some stuff can be if there's no proper manufacturer support and not a lot of interest from open source community to get tings working properly. Windows support for these devices is esentially a given but Linux can be a bit of a hit and miss especially with audio stuff (ALSA is a bitch and I've been to that hell hole). I'm currently running Windows due to being forced by the 3D design tools not really wanting to work on Linux. My understanding is that with the OTG mode on the Topping it essentially works like a basic sound card thus not requiring any other driver or software just to use as an mic/headphone interface. I want to jump on back on Linux on my main PC once Microsoft rolls out Recall since I no longer feel like it's something I want to have on my PC.

[indigo rock]

True!

[celest spire]

I will for sure take a look at the M2 as well and weigh my options so thank you for your input

[indigo rock]

Need to run debian on my system again one day, but that’s for a later project, BUT ANYWAYS

Yeah, I guess the topping works for that specific area then

There’s a lot more friendly interfaces for linux specifically, but I haven’t really gone down that route so I remain relatively uninformed, but topping does in fact work

Anyways, sudo rm -rf

[celest spire]

This is where I found Topping in EU with warranty: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/digital-interfaces/topping-professional-e2x2-otg-black-p-19297.html

I'll keep looking if there's a better deal but considering the price I think this is the best solution

[indigo rock]

It’s a great solution

[celest spire]

This is the DIY microphone I made. It only requires, audio cable, 3.5mm jack 2pcs of 6x3mm magnets, mic capsule and a 3d printer that can print parts.

Oh and a goosneck thing that can run the wire. I plan to publish the design once I'm happy with it. It costs in parts close to 20$ probably and uses the same capsule as Mod Mic.

The Mod Mic costs almost 80 euros in EU.

It's not going to change the world but I'm really proud of it and it does sound awesome on a good sound card

[indigo rock]

Pretty cool engineering project

[craggy jolt]

this is also a great video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbcEgxm6RTU&ab_channel=APMastering

[indigo rock]

Yeah this video basically lmaooo

[lean crystal]

better options? probably

but i have the ur22c and im very happy with it

hope it helps

[craggy jolt]

not audiophile enough 😛

[lean crystal]

probably yeah lol

[indigo rock]

I hate people who call themselves audiophiles unironically man like

Buddy you aren’t a superhuman weapon, you’re like everyone else