USB Soundcard Shootout

Hey sports fans,

A friend of mine just sent me an email, asking me about my home studio setup, and for advice about which would be the best USB soundcard to go for, for home recordings and practice.

Now I hasten to add, for those of you who are new to the home-studio malarkey, or who are bulding or revamping their old rig, that a good soundcard, although necessary, is but one very small link in a long chain of stuff that you'll need to get your recordings set up on your hard drive. Indeed, I don't use a USB soundcard at all. I use a basic ASIO audio soundcard with an old Tascam desk routed into the stereo input (the desk also handles the monitor mix). It's not the most elegant of solutions, however it does have the advantage of totally avoiding the monitoring latency issue.

As much as I was an early adopter of digital recording technology (I was already bouncing down tape mixes to HDD for mastering in the mid-nineties), one philosophy I've tried to stick to as much as possible is to keep as much of my signal chain as hardware as possible. This has its drawbacks (noise, extra space etc.), but it has the crucial advantage of keeping the processes, for lack of a better term, "real". When you put a mic into a hardware mic preamp, you're using actual circuits to treat the signal, it's being warmed by actual valves, when you boost the low-end or add a touch of compression, that's really happening. When you use a plug-in, you're employing a lot of background processes that bear very little resemblance to the functions they're supposed to emulate. We could argue for days about the resulting sound quality, but I prefer to just point out that the best-sounding recordings of all time were all done with analogue gear. That's why all of my signals are routed, balanced and EQd through analogue machinery before they're even slightly digitised.

That being said, since we're here to compare some USB interfaces, let's get to it.

The first item is a Tascam US-122mkII

Two XLR inputs with phantom power, two 1/4" jack inputs (one balanced, one not), MIDI throughput, USB-powered, distinct phones (jack)/monitor (RCA) mix, stereo input gains, that's your lot. It has a smallish footprint and will suit the large majority of uncomplicated home-studio applications. They also chuck in Cubase LE4 with it. I don't use Cubase and never will, because I find their layouts and processes completely arse-backwards, but some people swear by it. Go figure. Either way this piece of kit isn't tied to it, so you can use whatever DAW you feel like. The Tascam retails for about £100.

The next one is the E-MU 0404 USB.

This one boasts largely the same functionality as the Tascam, with the differences that the XLR/jack inputs are combined here, the monitor outs are 1/4" jacks, and there's a shedload of S/PDIF and optical functionality on tap. Now say what you like about these cards and how they're used, but I put it to you that very few if any of the people who use a budget USB interface ever employ S/PDIF or optical connectivity. The cards are built for people to jack a mic or guitar or MIDI keyboard and a set of monitors into their PC in under five minutes. That's what they're for, and that's why the Tascam doesn't bother with extra bells & whistles that are only of any real interest to people who are going to spend a little more than £150 on an interface. I should also mention the visual metering available for the inputs - which is totally pointless, seeing as you'rer going to be visually monitoring your input gain on your PC screen. And finally, this card isn't even bus-powered, which significantly reduces its portability.

The third item is the Cakewalk UA-1G

This is your bare-bones option, for little over £75. No XLR, no MIDI, just a jack input and an input gain dial. You can also connect another desk via a stereo RCA input, and next to that your monitors are connected via another RCA connection. This card turn the tables on the E-MU in that instead of adding pointless functionality, it subtracts useful functionality. Simply put, this card is only of use to a guitar player who works on a laptop with a decent piece of amp modelling software. As soon as you take the XLR mic connectivity out of the equation, you've reduced what could be a serious and useful home-studio tool to the level of practice gadget. It's even funnier because they've given you RCA connections so you can plug your desk into it - but if you've got a desk, what's the point of the card?

The verdict, in case you hadn't guessed, is that the Tascam is the most serious option here. It's a reasonable price for the product, and it does pretty much all you need. If I worked on a laptop and absolutely had to have one of these cards, this would be the one I'd go for.

There is of course a fourth option. A basic soundcard with ASIO functionality goes for around £30 or less. You can get a good 4-track desk off eBay for the same again. Hook the two up and you have a better, more versatile solution that any of these cards propose - most likely with better preamps and some form of EQ. It's what I've been doing for ten years. I've tried many USB solutions and none of them offer sufficient functionality at a sufficiently attractive design and price point to make it worthwhile.

An additonal aside -
I just reread my friend's email, in which he points out that he's using a Macbook. Macbooks, as you may be aware, have only one audio jack input, which also serves as the audio jack output. I won't dwell on why this design is moronic, but I will say that this is yet another item on the long, boring list of how Apple chooses to make their products incompatible with pretty much anything that isn't pointlessly expensive and over-designed. As a result of this, my friend is essentially bound to use the USB port if he wants to produce recordings.

So my recommendation to him is this:

The Lexicon Ionix U22

The same price as the E-MU, it substitutes useless S/PDIF crap for better mic preamps. It also ships with not only Cubase LE but also EZDrummer Lite, one of the best virtual drum packages available, and the Lexicon Pantheon II reverb kit. 2 XLR/Hi-Z 1/4" combi-inputs, MIDI I/O, zero-latency monitoring and 1/4" TRS monitor outputs. This is the best for the money on the market, and has the additional advantage of not looking like a cheap gadget. It's not bus-powered, but that's a compromise worth making. If I were to start using USB interfaces, this would be the one I'd pick.

Max

Max's guide to buying music gear on eBay

Seems fairly straightforward, doesn't it. You want to buy an item, you bid on it and a week later you win the auction. That simple?

No.

It can of course be that straightforward, given "goldilocks" conditions (the item is exactly what you want, the price is right, the seller has great feedback and no-one else is bidding). With guitar gear, however, that is rarely the case. Over several years of transacting on eBay (around 90% of which was music gear) I have learned some helpful tips.

1. Know your item
The trouble with buying guitar gear on eBay (or via any internet retailer) is that rarely will you have the opportunity to see, touch and hear the equipment you're buying. The piece of advice I give people most frequently is to not buy a guitar unless you've played it first. I don't mean the same model, I mean the actual guitar you're buying. The reason for this is that, as any experienced musician will tell you, two examples of the same model of guitar, built in the same factory by the same person on the same day, can feel and sound radically different. Guitar building is not an exact science. There are some companies you can trust to be consistent (e.g. Ibanez, who use frighteningly accurate processes), and there are some companies where you have to play a dozen of the same model before you find one that feels right (e.g. Gibson, whose quality control has of late been the subject of much criticism).

That advice applies when buying both used and new. But it's also important to bear in mind that things get considerably more difficult when it comes to buying used gear. When you buy new, you have a warranty and you're entitled to expect a factory-fresh item, or you have the right to return it. When you're buying used, you're taking a risk on how well the seller has treated the item since he's owned it. That's why it's important to look for items with lots of detailed photographs on the listing, as well as all the information not only about the item but also on how it's been used and cared for since it was new.

It's also really important to know exactly what you want to buy before you even consider making a bid. This might sound like a tedious process (and it can be), but being absolutely sure that the item you're bidding on is the one you want can save you lots of time and money. Buying something similar to what you want because what you want isn't available doesn't always work out for the best. Here the "watch" list comes in really handy. Just do a broad search (e.g. guitars>fender), scroll through the list, view the items that catch you eye and set to watch all those you think you might be interested in. When you've done that, go back to your watch list. You'll notice immediately that there are some items on there that you probably wouldn't really want after all. Remove them right away. Then start whittling down the remaining items, trying to keep only the items that are the closest to your criteria for both what you want and how much you want to spend. If you've done the job properly you should have no more than ten items remaining. Repeat this process as necessary until you've started bidding - remember, people add hundreds of items every day.

Finally, if you think you've found something you want to buy, spend some time researching it. I'll personally spend hours because I'm obsessed with music gear, but even a few minutes will find you spec sheets, reviews, photos, youtube demos and the like which will help you decide whether it's the right piece of gear for you. Apart from anything, this will help you determine whether the item is priced correctly - new items are not always cheapest on eBay (sometimes they are considerably more expensive than on other web retailers), some sellers frequently attempt to get new money for used items, and some sellers try to con you into paying more for an item by using terms like "vintage" or "rare", which are more often than not pure fabrication.

2. Know your price
One of the most important things about buying effectively is sticking to your budget. And I mean really rigidly. This has an advantage for both yourself and others: For you, it obviously stops you spending more than you planned and possibly more than an item is worth. For others, it avoids driving average prices up.

I'm currently trying to purchase a used Fender '59 Bassman amplifier. A week ago one sold for around £440. A few days later, the same model sold for £680 (this was the starting price and it was the only one available, obviously the buyer wanted it enough to overpay). It drove up price averages, and '59 Bassman amps are now selling for between £50 and £100 more than they were last week, purely because of that single transaction.

Without getting too much into tactical bidding, eBay has a very useful function in that it allows you to enter your maximum bid (i.e. the most you'd pay for an item) but keeps your current bid at what is required for you to win the auction. the downside to that is that you have to bid on the item, and items with bids are more likely to get other bids than items with no bids (where possible, wait until the last minute to place your bid). Another effective solution is to use an auction sniper, which is a third-party web application which you can automatically set to bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid right at the end of the auction.

When considering the price of the item, it's also important to factor in the cost of delivery. If someone is charging £50 delivery for a guitar, either they don't actually know that it's far cheaper than that to ship a guitar, or they're looking to make an extra profit on shipping. Either is a good reason to think twice about dealing with the seller: If they don't know what shipping costs, they probably won't have done it before and your item could take longer to arrive or might be improperly packaged. If they're just overcharging, that means that they're trading in bad faith, and from experience those people are not good to deal with. It's a good idea to check for yourself for an estimate of what shipping would cost, and compare it with what they're charging.

NB: Remember, if you don't win the item you want this week, chances are someone will be selling another one next week. Don't overpay under the assumption that it's your only chance to get the item you want.

3. Get in contact with the seller
If you're buying used musical equipment, chances are you'll have a question about the item you're looking at. Don't hesitate to contact the seller with your question. Apart from getting the answer to your question, it will also allow you to evaluate how the seller treats potential buyers. If they take days to get back to you, or don't reply at all, that might be a reason to think twice about bidding. The same goes if they're rude to you, or if they don't know the answer to your question.

When looking at used gear I sometimes make a point of asking a very specific technical question to find out if the seller is clued-up on what they're selling - If you're selling a Les Paul that you're claiming to have owned but you don't know what the scale length is, I can't be sure that you know enough about guitars to have maintained it properly.

Contacting the seller is also helpful in the case of items that state pick-up only. More often than not, the seller would actually be amenable to shipping, as long as you ask politely. Unless the seller categorically states that they will not ship in their listing, it's worth asking for an item that you want but are unable to collect personally.

It's also absolutely necessary to contact the seller if they have zero feedback. This happens rarely, but if you do encounter a zero feedback seller with an item you want, get in touch with them, and see if you can get a phone number to speak to them directly. If they're a legitimate seller they should have no problem with this. Remember that this is a person that you might be sending a lot of money to, and it's unfortunately still relatively easy to set up an eBay scam. Don't take any unnecessary risks.

4. Be a good customer
If you win the auction, send a message thanking the seller and advising him that payment has been made. Make the payment as swiftly as possible. Once you've agreed to pay the end price and the shipping fee you're no longer in a position to negotiate, so it's not a good time to start making alternative payment or shipping arrangements. All of those should have been discussed before the auction end. Stay in touch with the seller until you have the item and have inspected it, and where possible get a tracking number for the parcel so you can follow its progress until it reaches you.

I hope that this has been helpful to some of you. If you think I've missed anything or made a mistake, please don't hesitate to make a comment or drop me a message.

Max

Gear List

This is a list of all of the gear I have personally either owned or extensively used.

As well as satifying my OCD need to rigourously list everything I own, it will also hopefully fulfil the useful function of providing you with a useful reference: If there is any item of gear on the list you are interested in and you would like me to review in detail, please ask and I will oblige as soon as possible.

Electric Guitars
- Carson Les Paul Custom clone
- Ibanez S270
- Ibanez RG7213
- Fender Standard Telecaster
- Ibanez Destroyer
- Epiphone Korina Flying V 7-string
- Epiphone Korina '58 Explorer
- Gibson Les Paul Classic '60
- Gibson 60th Anniversary Flying V
- Kramer Imperial (modified to ESP Lawsuit Explorer specs)
- Fender '60s Classic Telecaster
- Gibson Les Paul Standard (1991)
- Gibson Les Paul Custom
- Fender '72 Custom Telecaster
- Fender '72 Deluxe FSR Telecaster
- BC Rich Mockingbird Special

Guitar Amplifiers
- Vantage VA-10
- Hughes & Kettner Attax 80
- Fender Super 210
- Marshall AVT50 halfstack
- Marshall AVT150 halfstack
- Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
- Randall RH100 halfstack
- Orange TT-15
- Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
- Marshall Vintage Modern 2266

Acoustic Guitars
- Vantage Dreadnought
- Ibanez AW800CE
- Yamaha F370
- Yamaha LL16-12

Electric Basses
- Washburn Bantam BX-300
- Hohner fretless Jazz
- Hohner B-Bass V
- Schecter Stiletto V
- Manhattan V
- Squier Standard Jazz

Bass Amplifiers
- Fender BXR-100
- Ashdown MAG300 4x10 + 1x15

I've also owned too many effects and bits of peripheral equipment to list, and I have a good amount of experience using hundred of other models of guitar, bass and amp, so if you ask me I'm sure I'll be able to help you out with any questions you might have.

Max

Max's guide to selling music gear on eBay

Seems fairly straightforward, doesn't it. You want to sell an item, you list it and a week later someone's bought it. That simple?

No.

The basic fact of an auction site such as eBay is that most people who sell on it haven't the first idea of how to be a successful retailer.

Of course, very few people do, and that's why a lot of people waste and lose money on eBay (and also how eBay itself derives a large portion of its profits). I myself have nowhere near the kind of knowledge and experience it would take to be a successful retailer. However over several years of transacting on eBay (around 90% of which was music gear) I have learned some helpful tips.

1. Know your item
This one should be a no-brainer, so it's surprising how many people are selling stuff they know nothing about. That's just about forgiveable in the case of someone selling a large volume of randomly acquired stock, but it's unacceptable when you're moving individual items. If you walked into a store and the staff didn't know anything abouttheir products, you wouldn't buy anything. The same applies here.

The thing about music equipment is that it's by its very nature a specialist product, and therefore being vague about it will not be satisfactory. Tell me the make and model of your average guitar and three minutes on Google should in most cases tell me what I need to know about it - So, really, there's really no reason why the seller shouldn't do that and save the buyer the trouble.

The plot thickens, however, when you're dealing with an older discontinued product. Necessarily, details about that kind of product will be less easy to find. You of course don't have to put the extra effort in to find them, but I suggest you do if you want the item to sell well. Fortunately the internet is a virtually inexhaustible supply of detailed information about even the most esoteric of products. A few months ago I sold a dusty old amp head I found in a corner of a practice room. A couple of hours of research with just the make, the model and the serial number told me the year of production, the place it was made, a host of relevant technical specifications, and crucially how much I could expect it to sell for. As a result of that, people viewing the item knew exactly what I had for sale without having to look elsewhere - which they may not have bothered to do themselves.

The point is that knowing what potential bidders want to know about your item, and including it in the listing so they don't have to go off and do hours of research, is essential if you want your item to sell well. Don't swamp your listing with paragraphs of detailed text. A few bullet points covering the essential features of your item, followed by comments about its condition and past use should be fine.

Guitars, basses, similar instruments:
- Make and model
- Date and place of manufacture
- Type of woods
- Main technical features (number of frets, type of bridge, pickups etc.)
- Any modifications from stock, any repairs

Amplifiers:
- Make and model
- Date and place of manufacture
- Main tech features (wattage, number and size of speakers, type of valves, channel functions etc.)
- Any modifications from stock, any repairs

2. Be honest
I wish this could have been an NB of point 1, but unfortunately there's so much bullshit out there that this deserves a point all of its own. This is perhaps more specific to guitar gear because of the ridiculous prices that some vintage and rare items go for, but I've seen it in all areas of eBay.

"Vintage", when it comes to guitar gear, has a more specific definition than you'd think (especially given the way the word gets bandied around in some circles). Vintage implies not only items over a certain age, but also of a certain quality. Generally for music gear, in order to be considered "vintage", your item needs to have left the factory before 1/1/1980. But that doesn't mean that any old junk built in 1979 is vintage. The item also needs to be all original, i.e. not refinished, not refurbed, not had any significant parts replaced; and the item needs to be collectible, i.e. it is likely to increase in value from the point of sale.

As an example, a Fender Stratocaster from 1963 with all original 1963 factory parts and the original finish intact, will be a highly desirable vintage piece and will sell for in excess of £10,000. However, if that Stratocaster has at some point had a 1992 neck added to it, it is no longer vintage and will sell for a fraction of that amount. On the other hand, an old Kay acoustic guitar from 1969, even all original, is not considered to be vintage, because it has no collector value, and it would be expected to sell for no more than a current model of similar specification in similar condition.

Fortunately for bullshitters, "rare" is a much more vague term, which can be used to describe pretty much anything if you broaden your parameters enough. I just don't use the term in listings at all, even when selling an item which is genuinely rare, because on eBay it has become meaningless. If you really want to make the point that your item is rare, however, you need to be sure that it meets the following three criteria:

- It is no longer manufactured
- It was only manufactured in very limited numbers
- It is extremely difficult to find one for sale

Beyond the "vintage" / "rare" consideration, it's obviously just important to be truthful about your item - even if it's an honest mistake, if you falsely describe the item in your listing, the buyer would be entitled to ask for a full refund. If in any doubt, just stick to information you can be completely sure of, and explain any gaps in your knowledge in your listing.

NB: Remember, when selling music gear, a large portion of your potential customer base will know a lot about your item, possibly even more than you - if you accidentally make what might seem to them like an obviously false statement about what you're selling, they might mistake your ignorance for dishonesty.

3. Know your price
I've already touched upon this, but there are two figures you need to know when selling. The first is how much you're likely to get for your item, and the second is the lowest figure you'd agree to sell it for. If the latter is a higher number than the former, the answer is simple: DON'T SELL. If the item is worth considerably more to you than its current market value, it would probably be a mistake for you to sell it. If you'd like just a bit more than it's currently going for, maybe wait a few months for the market to pick up a little.

To find out how much your item will go for, the easiest method is to look for the same or very similar items on eBay, and watch how much they sell for. You may notice that some people put higher than average starting prices on their items, which don't sell; you may also notice that the same items will sell for quite different amounts. I will explain this in detail in my next article about buying on eBay.

There are several techniques to get your desired price, but I'll just explain the one I tend to use, because I have found that it solicits the most interest and therefore the most bids: Whatever the value of your item, start it off at £0.99 with no reserve. This has the advantage of saving you the eBay listing fee, and crucially it can make you more money. Experience (not just my own) has shown that an item that did not sell at all when listed with a starting price of e.g. £400, might make as much as £500 when started at £0.99.

When starting at £0.99 without a reserve price, you need to know that you will be able to check back on your item when it ends, in case it doesn't make your minimum acceptable price. If people haven't bid as much as you were hoping within five minutes of the auction end, just end the auction and relist it later.

NB: If the item is only a little short of your minimum acceptable price just before the end of the auction, it might be advisable to let the auction end - some buyers use applications called auction snipers, which electronically swoop in with their maximum bid in the last few seconds of the auction, and this can from experience add tens or even hundreds to the final price - if you have lots of watchers on your item, there is a good chance there will be several "sniper" bids in the last moments.

NB2: I'm not sure to what extent having a reserve price influences the final value of the bids, however what I do know is that having a reserve costs significantly more than keeping an eye on the auction until it ends.

4. Offer postage
I'm frequently surprised by the reluctance of some sellers to ship their items. Common sense would tell anyone that offering shipping is a crucial way to generate the maximum amount of bids - and ultimately, the number one goal for an eBay seller is to get as many bids as possible. Some claim that the cost is prohibitive, but that doesn't make sense because the buyer pays the postage. Some claim that the item is "too heavy" to post, which might be understandable when talking about a grand piano, but slightly ridiculous when describing a small guitar combo. Some claim that they don't want the item to get damaged in transit, which suggests that they weren't planning on packing it carefully. I fear that in most cases, sellers are just being lazy and would like to be able to sell their items without leaving the house. This is a stupid move, as it essentially limits potential bidders to those within short driving distance of the seller's house - a good way to decimate your customer base.

If you want to make the best price on your item, it's essential to offer it to as many bidders as possible. It's also a good idea to know how much postage on an item will cost (you can find this out by checking Royal Mail's site, or the sites of other popular couriers). If you underprice your postage, you'll be spending some of your profit on it, which you don't want. If you overprice it, people will think that you're trying to rip them off (just two days ago a seller told me it would cost £70 to post a guitar to me - the Royal Mail pricing guide said around £17.50).

NB: It's also a good idea if possible to offer local pick-up and cash exchange, both of which can save you money, time and hassle if the buyer lives near you.

5. Be a good salesman
I'm not suggesting you put on a suit and start lying though your teeth. I'm talking about your reputation as a seller. Try to be as available as possible. Try to answer all questions from buyers as soon as you can. People will ask you stupid questions, or ones you've already answered in your listing. Answer those as you would a relevant question. People will occasionally ask you to end the auction and let them buy your item outright for insultingly small amounts of money. Resist the urge to tell them where to stick it, and just politely decline. Although it's unlikely that you'll build up a word-of-mouth reputation as a good eBay seller (very few people do), you will at least be ensuring that you don't lose any potential customers.

NB: I don't advise trading with people who offer you immediate payment to bypass the auction. My stock response to those people is that if they want to buy the item they should bid on it. Even if it doesn't pose an immediate security threat, it can lead to significant inconvenience. I have in the past (only once) pulled an auction that had £500 of bids on it because someone offered me £600 in cash. That person then pulled out, and I had to relist the item, which ended up selling for £460. If you're thinking about accepting this kind of offer, tell the person you'll end the auction after they've paid in full. More often than not they will pull out - That tells you all you need to know.

6. Be on time
This is a simple one. Once a customer has paid you for the item, ship it as soon as you can. If it'll take you more than three days, say so in your listing. Most people like to have their purchase within a week of payment. Maybe five days is an acceptable limit, but beyond that you're asking for negative feedback. How soon the item reaches the customer is perhaps the second most important consideration in awarding feedback, after whether or not the item was as described. It's a simple fact that having less than 100% feedback on eBay will cost you customers.

Also, packing is important. Especially with guitars, but also with amps and other equipment, there is always a risk of damage in transit. When shipping a guitar, beyond using lots of bubble wrap and a sturdy box, you should also downtune the strings to relieve the pressure on the neck. Some people even take off the neck entirely, which is not a bad idea if the buyer is happy with reassembling it on arrival. When shipping a valve amp, it's a good idea to individually wrap the valves to protect them from breakage (new valves aren't cheap). Every extra bit of care you take to ensure that the item arrives swiftly and safely is an extra guarantee that the buyer will happily deal with you in future.


I hope that this has been helpful to some of you. If you think I've missed anything or made a mistake, please don't heistate to make a comment or drop me a message. My next article will deal with how to get the best out of buying gear on eBay.

Max

Welcome

I'm writing this first post to welcome you, and I guess me, to this new blog where I'll be sharing my general thoughts about music gear, and the world of music in general.

My name's Max and I'm 29 years old. I started playing guitar when I was twelve, joined my first band a year later, and I've been an avid gear aficionado (or "nerd", if you prefer) ever since.

I certainly don't claim to have any definitive answers as far as relative quality of this or that music, or which piece of gear is better, but in most cases I hope that my personal experience and the conclusions I've drawn from it will help you gain some insight into the subjects discussed. Please don't hesitate to join in and share your own thoughts and experience.

Thanks for reading
Max