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Here is a comparison of USB 2.0 vs Firewire that explains it much better than I can:
http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm
Basically its all about the architecture. High throughput is what you want in an audio interface.
As for good cards, I would recommend MOTU as the absolute minimum as far as quality is concerned. Their ADC/DAC is not high end by any means, but they have very good quality for the prices that they charge. I use a MOTU interface myself and it does a fine job. the next level of quality is an order of magnitude more expensive.
For me, the quality chain goes like this, from absolute minimum, to high end
MOTU, MOTU w/ BLA mods, RME, Metric Halo, Apogee, Lynx, Prism, and so on...
SO to answer you question about good quality cards for $399, my answer is this:
Wait. Do yourself a favor and don't settle for something of lesser quality just because you can get it now instead of in a few weeks or months. It'll be worth the wait. Surely it wont take much longer to save up another couple of hundred bucks.
Based on that advice, the cheapest MOTU sound card is the MOTU Ultralite at $549. While it has more inputs and outputs than you need, it uses the same quality components that other, more expensive MOTU products use. This means that it is your cheapest option to get into a ADC/DAC converter at this level, despite the fact that you may not need all of the features. If quality is your primary concern, then you need to be getting in at this level.
Trust me, If there was any kind of interface with only 2in/2out that was at this level of quality, I would recommend it. For PC, the MOTU interface is the cheapest option at this quality level. Thats all that is available for Windows that meets your criteria. I have already mentioned that the Apogee Duet is great (better than the MOTU), but it is Mac only.
Understand that a lot of interfaces out there contain features that not everybody needs, but the level of quality necessitates spending a little more money.
I'll give you my example: I have a MOTU 24 in/out. I dont need all that in/out, but at the time, this was my cheapest option to get an interface of that quality level. Now I have a quality interface that will suffice until I decide to go the next level up, which is RME or higher. There is a significant price jump at the next level of quality, but for the time being the DAC of the MOTU interface is sufficient.
Also, do not forget that you can have a good quality interface, but if you have crappy monitors, then it wont make much of a difference. Make sure you are not buying a good interface and hooking it up to a pair of $200 crap monitors, or you wont get the same value out of it. If you need to upgrade your monitors as well, wait and get both at the same time.
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