I've recently replaced my main computer with a laptop, this means I've lost any audio inputs (line level) that I used to have. I'm looking for a usb external card but searching on here finds only (relatively) old threads and seaching online is leaving me a bit confused due to lack of specs and full information.
My "must have" features are a line-level input and a line-level ouput (or headphone), 2-channel capability and compatibility with W10 and Linux. More channels, optical or more inputs/outputs and so on aren't required but obviously I don't have to use them if they happen to be there. I'm not looking to break the bank with an audiophool gadget but I do want a Hi-Fi solution (i.e. in the sense of sane Hi-Fi), so good noise specs and supply immunity would be needed. Yes, I know these things are easily achievable nowadays. I'm just struggling to find what fits the bill, so I thought I'd ask for intelligent input.
What about the line input. Are you planning on recording stuff or are you just accustomed to the fact that you had a line input before?
USB dac's without line input are far more common. I use a FiiO E17k for playing music, but a FiiO E10K would be just fine.
There are cheaper options, but they mostly lack the volume control.
These kind of USB soundcards are also cheap, but I don't know about quality:
https://www.fasttech.com/product/1022700-usb-20-external-sound-card-with-51-channel-surroun
TASCAM and Focusrite both make devices that meet your requirements for about $150. Less expensive options are available from Behringer ($30) and several others. Suggest you go to Amazon and search "USB audio interface".
What about the line input. Are you planning on recording stuff or are you just accustomed to the fact that you had a line input before?
A bit of both, I do want to have the means to record line-level input. I never made much use of the old PC's line-in capabilites simply because of physical constraints on connecting it to sources. The laptop obviously doesn't suffer such restrictions and would get used more. Line-in is a must for any device I get. I could possibly use the laptop's mic level input by reducing the audio input level but that isn't the sensible way to go.
P.S. I should have mentioned, I'm in the UK not USA. Dollar prices in the US are likely to translate to £ prices here.
Behringer UCA202:
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/behringer-uca202-review.html (http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/behringer-uca202-review.html)
Mediocre as a headphone amp as delivered due to highish output impedance, but for about $8 in parts I performed the NWAVGUY mods which reduce it to about 1 ohm, and I didn't need to hack the housing. I found that the volume control for the headphone outputs tracks decently too.
Behringer UCA202:
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/behringer-uca202-review.html (http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/behringer-uca202-review.html)
Mediocre as a headphone amp as delivered due to highish output impedance, but for about $8 in parts I performed the NWAVGUY mods which reduce it to about 1 ohm, and I didn't need to hack the housing. I found that the volume control for the headphone outputs tracks decently too.
I read his review and pulled the trigger on one. Don't really need the headphone socket but I might do the same mod in the future. It's cheap enough that if it doesn't fit the bill I can relegate it to a second laptop I have.
Thanks to all for the input, I'll report back when it's arrived and been tried out.
Just thought I'd update this thread - the UCA 202A has arrived! It does "just work", no drivers or fiddling, just change the settings as appropriate. Yes, the headphone output isn't the greatest but as a monitor facility it isn't terrible. I'll probably look into modifying that at some point. For the cost I'm not disappointed.