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Audio interface question

M

mkanarchev

n00b
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
6
Hello everyone.
So I might be doing this backwards and if I am - I'm sorry.
I want to buy a good set of speakers for my computer and i liked the JBL LSR3005 but they only have a balanced XLR/TRS inputs :(. After spending a day researching and looking for an audio interface that doesn't break the bank I've only found a few DACs that have mic preamps and I'm not going to do any recording so I don't see why I should pay for things I won't use.
My question is is there an audio interface that has balanced XLR/TRS outputs that connects to a pc?
 
What is your budget. To get XLR ouputs you're looking at $400 and up for a USB DAC.
 
I probably should have said I have a set of Audiotechnica ATH-M50X headphones too. Since I live in the UK I aim to spend about £150- £200
 
mkanarchev said:
I probably should have said I have a set of Audiotechnica ATH-M50X headphones too. Since I live in the UK I aim to spend about £150- £200
Click to expand...

Can you stretch your budget a bit?

The Cambridge DacMagic Plus is well reviewed and available in UK for 250 with XLR as well as headphone out:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/dacs/cambridge-audio/dacmagic-plus/camb-dacmagic-plus-s

That being said if you can find the non-plus you'll get the same primary features for less (IIRC)...I don't think they're sold new anymore. AFAIK that is about as low as you can go and still get XLR.

http://www.headfonia.com/cambridge-dacmagic-review/
 
I was looking earlier at the FOCUSRITE SCARLETT 2I4 which in the UK is about £150 but I won't be needing the mic inputs, just the balanced outputs
 
mkanarchev said:
I was looking earlier at the FOCUSRITE SCARLETT 2I4 which in the UK is about £150 but I won't be needing the mic inputs, just the balanced outputs
Click to expand...

Yea the (few) lower price devices are intended to be recording sets to team up with ProTools and or a mixing console and the like over FW or USB or using aux sends. Making outputs really balanced is electrically difficult, which is why the units lighten your wallet a good deal.
 
for another option..I am using a Behringer DEQ2496 to connect via XLR/TRS to my KRK's. Pc is connected to the unit via optical. You can bypass the processor if you don't need it and can also be modded/upgraded.

I think I found mine on ebay years ago for around $200-$225.. new they are like $299 USD.
 
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The Behringer doesn't have a headphone output though.
 
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Perhaps i misunderstood your post, but I'm not sure you realize that you are not obliged to have balanced TRS or XLR outputs. It's nice to have them but usually overkill over a short distance in a home environment.

For example you can simply get a cable that splits a mini stereo jack into two TRS outputs and feed the monitors.

But if you insist on having balanced outputs here is an option:
https://emotiva.com/products/dacs/xda-2
 
^ what he said.
You can connect 2 of the three cables on the balanced connector to standard RCA.

Balanced connections have a central ground wire and the 2 wires carry the same signal, but one is an inverted version.
You can either connect both RCA leads to their respective gnd and +ve signal, or gnd and -ve signal.
 
Yeah, what the heck? Don't use balanced for a PC setup; that's a waste. Balanced is for longer wire runs where common mode interference is a problem - such as when you have to run long signal cables near power wires.
 
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Hello again. I have finally decided to order 2 of the lsr305's tomorrow and connect them directly to the soundcard on my mobo. At least until I save up enough money for a good quality DAC.
I have one more question. I will be listening to high resolution audio like flac, aiff etc.. so would the quality improve over XLR?
 
It is possible but both ends need to have properly implemented XLR connections, they often arent fully balanced and wont give the benefits.

The primary use of XLR is to allow long leads without much signal dropoff/variance and reduce external interference a lot.
If either of these are a concern, it can certainly help.
There are others that find it gives a more uniform frequency response across the whole audio spectrum on shorter leads as well.
ie where the lowest bass may tail off early with a lower quality RCA lead, XLR may improve on that.
I dont know how this applies when compared to decent quality RCA leads, it could be that the RCA leads they used were deficient?

I'm running pure silver RCAs so havent tried the XLR connections yet.
Perhaps I should, but these RCAs are amazing!
 
I went with shielded XLR's after the TS connections proved to pick up interference from other cables behind my computer (monitor cables specifically, the speakers made sound every time I scrolled!).
 
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