Home Studio DAC

1se7en

Looking for some advice on a DAC, I have an Audiotechnica AT2020 XLR mic. 2 Yamaha HS5's and Beyerdynamic dt770's. 

Got a focusrite 2i4 2nd gen but I constantly have issues with the USB power. My PC doubles up as gaming pc and office pc so there are a bunch of peripherals that use up power and I cant really change that and the focusrite often disconnects for a second and you hear a lovely crack through the audio. Ive tried changing so many settings, updating firmware, plugging in different USB slots, external USB adapter, nothing really fixes it. Another issue with the Focusrite is to get the AT2020 to work at a decent volume I need to pretty much max the volume of that input. 

So looking for a DAC thats normal plug powered and not USB, can record guitar and vocals while also having PC playback through the studio monitors and headset at the same time. Also with the focusrite im able to say play youtube videos and have my guitar running through like guitar rig and jam along. Not sure if thats standard functionality of a DAC but any suggestions. 

Thanks

siremoon

Probably a very stupid question but why don't you just unplug some of the usb devices that you don't need for DAW work whilst recording? 

guitarfishbay

Have you tried plugging the interface into a powered USB hub?

1se7en

siremoon said:

Probably a very stupid question but why don't you just unplug some of the usb devices that you don't need for DAW work whilst recording? 

No not a stupid question at all, I appreciate the response. I actually did unplug a few devices last night and still had the random disconnect issue. 

I tried some further troubleshooting from the focusrite page with changing settings on windows but that hasnt helped either. 

My worry is maybe the unit is faulty possibly. Its not within warranty so id need to buy something new anyway, My concern is what if it is my PC's power output via USB and not the device, I dont unfortunately have another way of testing easily and If I buy another device and have similar issues. Also like I said the Focusrite 2i4 just doesnt work well with the Mic unless its on just about full volume, so looking for a DAC that will power that Mic. It has the phantom +48 volt but doesnt pick up anything unless the input is on just about full. 

siremoon

So it would seem to me that you haven't established if it is the pc or the Focusrite which is at fault.  If your pc is otherwise functioning properly then my first thought would be to suspect the Focusrite.  Before you are certain which end the problem is at you'll never sort this out.  The simple way to find out is to try the Focusrite on another PC.

siremoon

Further to this. 

I don't have a Focusrite box but I've got 4 DACs from 3 different manufacturers and the installation procedure for them all has been the same:

a. Install the driver
b. Plug the DAC into a usb port on the back panel of the PC (not the front)
c. Adjust the ASIO latency to the lowest value which doesn't cause clicks and pops

All of them just work after doing those three things.  If you've done them and it doesn't work then, as I said above, I would suspect the Focusrite box itself has a problem.

wave100

May be worth trying a different USB cable as well.