I will soon replace my computer (probably a silent mini ITX rig with intel 2500K processor), and I need a new soundcard. Here are my needs :
- good intrument inputs; I am mainly a bassist/guitarist, and process my intruments with Guitar Rig among others.
- USB connection (not necessarily bus-powered); I am not sure my next motherboard will have firewire and prefer to avoid extra PCIe cards.
- good, reliable drivers, that allow low latency (see #1); I am using Win 7 x64, and may upgrade to windows 8 later this year.
- price around 150€, I will not go beyond 200€.
I also need MIDI ports as my main keyboard (Kurzweil K2500X) has no MIDI over USB.
After a bit of googling, I narrowed down my search to the Presonus Audiobox USB (130€) and the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (140€), which both seem to fit the bill. The Focusrite lacks MIDI ports, but I could add a 30€ USB to MIDI interface if its sound quality justifies that I ditch the Presonus. According to your experience/knowledge, wich of the two is the best one? (take sound quality in account, in addition to the aforementioned criteria)
I am open to other suggestions, if they do not exceed the 200€ mark.
edit : well, the Focusrite Sapphire 6 USB seems to fit my needs, at least in theory. Is there anything negative I should be aware of concerning this interface ?