Simplest (but good) soundcard for Sonar?

I've gotten rid of all my external synths and moved totally to software and I now need the most basic soundcard with good latency and sound. I've looked at E-mu 0404 (or Proteus X/Emulator X), how're those with Sonar? Are there any good alternatives?

All I/O's I need are basically 1/4 analog outs for my monitors. Edit: RCA could be an alternative.

I'm not going to spend very much money for this, as I may be moving to a laptop next summer/autumn.

Thanks!

Left/right for my monitors. No need for any aux sends or so. I could use a few inputs just in case I need to record something someday.

I looked at Audiophile 192 and 2496 also, as those are Cakewalk recommended. 192 looks better with 1/4 connections (i'm a little cautious with RCA), but is quite a lot more expensive also.

Oh, midi would be good also and these all seem to have it.

ORIGINAL: manwslohand
Behringer BCA2000.

This looks like one weird thing. Do I understand correctly, that this is a external USB soundcard, midi-interface, mic pre amp and a simple mixer combined for a bit over 200 euros? It looks quite good, as I also do need mic pre amp and a basic mixer working as a "volume knob".

Thanks

Edit: This thing is huge in size btw, 30 cm x 30 cm on table. Not a good thing.

ORIGINAL: manwslohand

You forgot the ADAT lightpipe and SPDIF options.......oh yea, and you can do 3 channels of audio thru the built-in converters. It's a great little box. The limiter is weak but I LOVE the 100mm sliders on it. Really gives it a real console feel to it. So far, the drivers are working flawlessly. I haven't had to think about config issues for a minute.

It put the joy back into DAW recording for me.

It does look appealing, but I think it may be a bit of an overkill for me. I don't need all the I/O and the size is a definate turnoff in my case. One of the reason for moving into software was getting rid of all the junk on my appartment :). I can have bigger installations on my studio, but this card is gonna be for home use.

I don't need all the I/O and the size is a definate turnoff in my case.

It's a bit bigger than a straight converter box but it's still not big by any stretch. Trust me, the feel you get from real sliders is worth it in my book.

I would recommend that you look into an outboard firewire audio interface. As basic as you can find. It seems to me that you might as well get something that you can use when you get the laptop. Just a thought...

Having said that, Chaz pointed out the echoaudio MiaMidi. It's excellent and easy to use. I have had one for almost 2 years and it's never given me any trouble and it sounds great!

I just got a Firewire Solo for my laptop. It works really well, and it's quite convenient. The mic pre built-in sounds decent, very clean, not much oomph to it. I've used it to record things like voiceovers for radio commercials. Though when I'm tracking real music, I use one of my outboard mic pres.

Also, when I set the latency very low, I will sometimes get some pops and clicks in playback; I can live with them as a) I need low latency, and b) they are only on playback, the pops and clicks aren't recorded.

Overall, this unit was the best bang for the buck I could find, has all the features I need for mobile use, and works as advertised.

Thanks all, very helpful. Still haven't quite decided tho :), but I think I now have the alternatives figured out.

My vote for the Audiophile 24/96 from M-audio. Two ins, two outs, midi in/out, and SPDIF if you have a digital 2 channel source. sounds very good to my ears.

R