Cheap interfaces?

[FormerlyKnownAsMaddnotez]

Are they basically all the same?

In the market and need to buy one. I've used Tascam, Focusrite and Universal Audio.

They were all $200 budget options and I'm looking to stay in that range but it's been years so I'm just inquiring are there any out there these days that are clearly above the rest?

 

[creep66]

I use focusrite, I get pretty good results at home. I've never had an expensive one to compare it to however.

 

[RaceU4her]

ive never had any problems with my focusrites. ive heard the new presonus stuff is good. that SSL two channel looks cool

 

[Will Onyx]

+1 for the focusrite.

 

[Monkey Man]

MOTU M2 / M4 FTW.

Best bang-for-buck out there by a mile.

 

[Juggernaut]

MOTU M2 / M4 FTW.

Best bang-for-buck out there by a mile.

This. I have the M2, love it. Much better than my previous focusrite.

 

[Spaceboy]

Yeah, MOTU.

 

[jchrisf]

The one thing to look out for with the cheap ones is their ability to get good amp tones from your Reactive Load if you are wanting to go that route. I've never been able to use my Suhr RL and get a good amp tone from my amps and I've heard people say the same about cheaper interfaces. But for everything else my Focusrite has been great.