Best under $200 sound card?

[Hermanus]

go on with firewire.

If you're going to move from a FW card to an usb one, you can only be disappointed.
my opinion

[commuter]

If you're going to move from a FW card to an usb one, you can only be disappointed.
my opinion

i'm coming from a MOTU ultralite (firewire) that worked perfectly, but too much ins/outs for what i do now..
So, i sold it to get something smaller...
and i'm no disappointed at all with the mackie blackjack....it sound a lot better than my MOTU ultralite MK1....
it's all about the sound, performance (latency etc..) and functionality ? no ?

my opinion....

[Hermanus]

Yes, I'm just saying that because my setup is now fed with direct audio [microphone for voice and flute]
So about external audio source, With usb the latency is hell, much less latency with my tiny firewire audio card.
I got both an usb and FW, but had very bad results with usb in live performances.

Off course it depends on how you use it.

Berhinger FCA202 is around 75€

Kindly

[Donnie]

That Mackie interface looks pretty decent for the price actually. First time ive seen it.

As far as USB 1.1 devices go, dont be deceived into thinking that means they are slow. The Saffire 6 ran better than many USB 2.0 and Firewire devices ive used to be honest and that was USB 1.1. Unfortunately Windows 7 has problems with allowing USB 1.1 devices to connect to root hub, which leads to occasional problems, so I wouldn't recommend a USB 1.1 device to a Windows 7 user.

...and Firewire is to be avoided whenever possible in my opinion. Ive never liked it and its on its way out as far as I can tell. A necessary evil at times though.

[Donnie]

Yes, I'm just saying that because my setup is now fed with direct audio [microphone for voice and flute]
So about external audio source, With usb the latency is hell, much less latency with my tiny firewire audio card.
I got both an usb and FW, but had very bad results with usb in live performances.

Off course it depends on how you use it.

Berhinger FCA202 is around 75€

Kindly

I think those results are more dependent on how good a cards drivers are, and the platform its being run on, rather than firewire vs usb.

[Hermanus]

yes indeed.

I'm still with dualcore, just straight to run live8. That count for sure

[Omniology]

Echo audio fire 2