Ableton Forum

Ok - here's the deal. I am looking for some kind of solution to my problem.
I have invested in a good set of monitors, Tannoy ellipses, but I am also looking to invest in a half decent set of cans for referencing as well, as I can't listen loud all the time, plus I have room issues affecting translation of mixes. The headphones might help me in the meantime, till we move house so I can get another room organised.
Anyway, the problem is that I only have an MAudio 2496 soundcard, which doesn't have any headphone out.

I don't use a big mixer - all of my mixing is done on my PC - I just use soft plugs to write my tracks.

So my quandry is this. Do I get a new soundcard that has a built in headphone socket? Or do I get something like the Mackie Big Knob which ahs built in headphone socket and good controllability. Or do I go for a mini mixer with headphone jack. What about maybe one of those Mindprint Trios?

The problem I have is that I don't want to sacrifice the sound quality too much, and this would happen if I throw a cheapo minimixer into the equation.

Thing is, I don't want to spend too much on the solution, so any advice would be great!!!
I'm really stuck with this.
Don't know what to do.

Cheers

what about a good minimixer?

i use a mackie 1202, good sound for value and excellent routing possibilities (for a minimixer)

as second option i would suggest to upgrade the soundcard

Get yourself a nice minimixer! About £40 for a nice one that should do the job. Have a look on dolphin music for some

Like I said, my own concern here is that using a cheap mini mixer may affect the sound quality adversely. I have heard that mini mixers are ok for cueing stuff, but are dire for directly linking to monitors for critical mixing.

(I say this whilst using a 50 quid MAUDIO 2498 soundcard).

Are there any alternatives to the Big Knob?
It seems quite pricey. It does look interesting tho...

Samson c-control, cheap. It collors a little but not much

Could be an idea. Ideally I wanty something that won't colour the mix, but this is only around 70 quid to buy anyway.

Alternativelly, would I be better off with a new soundcard which has a headphone out?

If your spending money why not just get a decent audio interface?

My $0.02

I use a mixer, but I would suggest getting the audio interface anyway since it will give you more options later when you want to play live and cue things.

Well, if the audio interface is probably the best route to go down, does anyone have any suggestions (that aren't too pricey)?

Peyotero wrote:Well, if the audio interface is probably the best route to go down, does anyone have any suggestions (that aren't too pricey)?

This is asked about 5 times a week on here. Try browsing through the forum.

Fair comment. I never thought.
See - for live stuff, all I am using is my Indigo DJ card. Works well enough for me just now. Only doing the very odd DJ set here and there.