[Odal3]

So I'm not really sure which circle this belongs too, so let me know if it fits better somewhere else.

My younger kids are wishing a kareokee machine for their birthdays...but I couldn't really get myself to buy one of those cheap looking poor sounding machines. We had an older cheap battery powered one before and it was painful to listen to. So I will put together my own instead and make it so it will function more like a simple PA with a mixer instead so we also can use it for some instruments (keyboard, guitarr) plus have a computer interface for effects, recording and mixing (which my older kids expressed an interest in)

I already have plenty of amps, and speakers that will work since it doesn't need to be moveable and big PA speakers will not pass WAF in the living room.

So I'm looking for some help on finding mic preamps, mixer, computer interface (and software) that are simple enough for kids to use and can handle some abuse (or not too expensive to replace if they break). Plus they can't be too big in size since I will put it in my own enclosures.

Any brands and models you would recommend? Sound just needs to be OK. - Problem free, high quality and ease of use is much higher on the priority scale than superior sound.

So to summarize:
2-3 mic inputs with mic preamps
2+ RCA inputs for music from cell phones, tablets, laptop, etc.
2+ inputs for keyboard, etc.
Unbalanced and balanced output to amp.

Plus USB computer interfaces
It's the computer interface where I get stuck. What do I need to be able to get real time effects with low latency? Is that out of reach for cheap and cheerful price levels? I have seen some mixers with USB outputs and even tried an older Presonus USB model, but that one didn't have all the inputs I need.

And if you haven't guessed it by now, this will partly be for me too 

Any help and ideas would be much appeciated.

[Russtafarian]

If you only need Stereo I/O over USB, Monoprice to the rescue!

http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=615810

Russ

[Odal3]

Thanks for the tip! The review looked lIke there are some issues with noise. Have you tried it?

[Odal3]

I got the Steinberg UR22 mkII recording interface. A neat little box with two mic/line-in with preamps with individual gain, 2 output midi in and out, headphone amp and output, USB. It can be bus powered from the USB but thankfully also have an easy selection to be powered by a second power supply. Actually wish more of the cheaper DACs for 2 channel stereo would have the selectable power source so one doesn't have to make (or buy) special cables to split the data from power. The DAC is 24 bit x 192khz and it was recognized in Linux and android with no need to install drivers. My windows machine needed me to install the provided drivers.
It also has a knob for mixing the instrument/mic inputs with the computer audio (DAW), plus comes with Cubasis AI for free. I can use it with or without a computer which is great.

Anyways, the DAC sounds pretty good for playing normal music but the problem I have is that the mics I have (dynamic) require a lot of gain to pick up any sound. We are talking 3 to 6 o'clock on the gain knob. That much gain also introduce a LOT of noise. If I have it less than that I can't hear the microphone at all. It helps a little bit if using the HI-Z setting but is really supposed to be for high impedance instruments like an electric guitar. So playing music or audio mixes from computer via USB sounds really good, but the gain/noise issue might be a no-go unless I figure out a solution.  Maybe it's better for just recording or headphone use than playing it live out to speakers.

I will play around with Cubasis a bit more - it's a bit of a learning curve to get going since I haven't done anything like this in a while (but it reminds me a lot of the software I used a few years ago when I was into video editing).

Here's a link to it: https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/audio_interfaces/ur_series/models/ur22mkii.html
I actually want to like it because it has a lot of good thing going for it and I like the small footprint and sturdy metal enclosure.

Any recommendations other than getting different mics?

[Odal3]

Noise problem solved. The inputs are Neutrik's combined XLR - 1/4 jacks. The steinberg interface is configured to automatically switch to microphone input sensitivity when connected with an XLR plug and line input sensitivity when connected with a 1/4 plug. So when I used an old cable I had home with an 1/4 plug it used line input sensitivity which required a lot of gain = noise. So when I made my own mic cable with XLR, it works really well and noise is under control.

So far it has been a big hit in the family. I'm now contemplating picking up a midi controller (keyboard) to have even more fun with midi controlled instrument sounds, drums, etc. ! Being a piano player, I'm a bit picky with the feel of the keyboard so I haven't picked one out yet. Need to go to the store and try out some with at least semi-weighted keys.

I also tried out an Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 interface. Did a lot of comparisons and the Steinberg sounds better at least to my ears. Focusrite sounds more compressed - kind of like middle of the range quality mp3. Now, my comparisons focused mainly on the DAC portion (playing music on computer and outputting it via the DAC). I haven't done any recording or mic-preamp comparisons and I may run out of time before I have to return it.

Anyways, the other good aspect of the Steinberg is that I can use it without the computer while the Focusrite require an active computer connection. It also works with a raspberry pi2 as a DAC. I have also done some comparison with the DAC in it vs my cheap SABRE ES 9023 based DAC. It's a different sound for sure between the Steinberg recording interface and the audio DAC. The Steinberg has a more "tight" feel to it while the ES9023 based DAC is more "airy"