Audio interface

[PriZm]

Yo.

So I recently bought a new computer and audio monitors but I couldn't decide on an audio interface. I browsed a bit and asked some people around here in IRC but I'd like to maximize the input I have to make the right decision. I'm not looking for ultra-pro sound, but I'd like to make my guitar and vocal recordings decent and reduce the load on my poor CPU to process as many DXi/VST or whatever I choose to use later as possible. What I recently acquired is a Pentium D 940 (dual core 3.2GHz, usually slower than AMD but with faster disk access) with 2GBs Kingston DDR2 (533MHz) RAM.

I have a Behringer UB802 with SM57 mic.

Here's what I found:

RME Multiface 2 (PCI): way too many I/O for what I need, a bit pricey (735 USD on ebay) but guarantees pro quality and reduces CPU load. It should be extremely awesome considering sound quality and all, but will I really hear it with my 300$ monitors ? And will the reduced CPU load be necessary or is my system fast enough as is to process anything ?

E-MU 1212M: only one stereo in/out without headphone out, which is kind of a pain. Reviews say sound quality is pretty good but it does not support GSIF2 drivers so if I decide to take the Gigastudio plunge, I might be fucked (slower playback).

Echo Gina 3G: This is what I think I should buy. There's a deal on ebay right and I could it for 200USD or less. Has mic preamps (are they better than the ones on my Behringer ?), 2 inputs (which is enough for me), headphone output, supports GSIF2.0 drivers and sound quality is supposed to be pretty good too. I don't really know if the chipset will help e with my VSTs but it should be better than my crappy former laptop anyways.

your input is much appreciated, thanks.

[suzumebachi]

whoa, GigaStudio is only $129 now? (not including Orchestral version)

anyhow, GSIF is pretty much a moot point these days. two reasons mostly. 1) nobody really uses GigaStudio anymore. yeah it's a nice sampler and all, but there's other ones that can get the job done without an eclectic hardware interface (and even the .gig format is on the decline). 2) as of GigaStudio 3, GSIF is no longer required so long as your software is ReWire compatible, which both Cubase and FLStudio are.

that said, $129 for GigaStudio is a hella good deal.

[PriZm]

thanks for your comment

In light of what both what you told me here and what Compyfox told me on IRC, I decided to buy an E-MU 1820M with Emulator X (hardware accelerated with GIGA support). So far, what I'm hearing is awesome. I have preamps with that that are a lot beter than me previous Behringer UB-502. I haven't tried Em-X now, I just set up my card, but I can't wait to hear the 2G worth of samples. I just paid that 770 CAN, which would be about 690 USD...

What do you guys think ?