monitor connection for non-recording

A

AdamThing

Guest
Is there a product out there thats very cheap for connecting studio monitors to a laptop or desktop without using a full featured interface? So far i only found two products thats just for mixing /editing/mastering and not for recording which is what i need i am not recording anything. I found the m-audio m track hub. its $79 which is a decent price but i read negative reviews about it. the next product i found was the novation audiohub 2x4 which had good reviews but is too pricy for me. any other suggestions or methods? I know you can also use an RCA connection with a mixer but that just doesnt sound professional to me id hate to use RCA quality im leaning more towards using TRS or XLR outputs. this is strictly for electronic music production.
 
You are a basically looking for standalone DACs (digital to analog converters) - these are units that only have the "output" part of an interface.

There's also nothing wrong with RCA, even if "doesn't feel professional". There's no sound quality difference even if an XLR plug looks fancier.
 
i looked them up. theyre pretty pricy and most of them are only rca. im looking for TRS output. anyway i still have my steinberg Ci1 interface so im going to try that for now. also, i know Hosa is a cheap brand but i like their quality. Would Hosa TRS cables work well with KRK 5's?
 
Why would it matter what kind of connectors the outputs are? Cables are not going to make much of a difference either; unless they physically break or you need to have super long cables, pretty much any brand will be the exact same. Even the really expensive stuff - they may be built better, but pretty much all the sound quality claims are pure snake oil. And yeah, the Ci1 will work just fine.
 
Last edited:
awesome thx for the reply just bought a couple pairs of HOSA from B&H expecting within the next day.
 
just want to give everyone a quick update. tried out my hosa TRS cables with my steinberg Ci1 and Art usbmix interfaces connected to my monitors using playback from my computer. everything worked great! thx for the replies.
 
Back
Top