Audio interfaces are the beating hearts of today’s studios. Without one we wouldn’t have the means to record and monitor audio. These days we are spoilt for choice when it comes to audio interfaces. There’s a wide range of solutions available from low cost single input devices through to high end multi I/O DSP rocketships with everything in between. It’s safe to say that you don’t have to look very far to find yourself the perfect interface for whatever budget you can afford.
The vast majority of interfaces in the market place today are compatible with both Mac and Windows computers, some even support iOS and Android devices which is a useful feature for engineers on the go. We have tested a great many audio interface products, the best of which we’ve reviewed and collated in this article for you to check out below.
Audio Interface Comparisons
We’ve updated our shortlist of popular audio interfaces you can buy today, all of which share a couple of common threads being that these products provide a minimum of 8 analogue inputs with mic preamps and are housed within 1U chassis. We’re spoilt for choice! Which would you buy?
In this article, we take a quick look at several of what could be called the finest audio interfaces available today. Form factor however is not the defining factor here. We are looking at the ability to configure the I/O and connectivity to our needs in a bespoke unit, not a one size fits all, off the shelf device but something that can be truly customised. The downside to all this flexibility is often an eye-watering price tag.
In this article, we take a look at our pick of the most popular audio interfaces you can buy today, all of which are designed to live and function on your desktop and not be rack mounted.
Electric guitar recording is extremely popular in music production, especially in the home recording crowd. It’s such a popular form of recording that many pro audio brands have specifically designed and engineered audio interfaces for the job. In this article we share our experiences on a selection of the most popular electric guitar-centric audio interfaces you can buy today.
Reviews And Real World Tests Of Some Of The Best Audio Interfaces You Can Buy Today
In this article we take a close look at the new Orion 32HD Gen 3 from Antelope Audio. James Ivey and band ‘The Studio Rats’ use the Orion 32HD Gen 3 to record their new track ‘Falling Deeper’ featuring the voice of Abi F Jones.
In this article, James Ivey takes a look at the new Orion 32+ Gen 3 from Antelope Audio. Read the article and watch the video to find out what James thinks of the new orion interface from Antelope.
Did this recording rig work or did we break it? On paper this rig should work, however, experience has taught us that in the real world these sorts of setups can throw up an issue or two. In this test we placed several microphones around a drum kit in order to test the performance of two Focusrite Clarett’s paired using ADAT connected via USB-C to an Apple iPad Pro 2018 in an input heavy tracking session example.
Back in January 2019 at the Winter NAMM show, our friends at console, mic pre and interface manufacturer Audient announced the new Sono audio interface. Sono forges a new path for the UK based company as it is firmly geared towards guitar players who want to produce high quality recordings with a minimum of extra kit. We have been using Sono not only to record guitars using the built in room, microphone and speaker cabinet simulation by Two notes audio engineering, but also vocals and drums for this demo session. Take a look and listen to how this small, yet powerful interface is able to adapt to all of your studio requirements.
I think it’s fair to say we have waited quite a “long time” for the Slate Digital VRS8 Virtual Recording Studio audio interface, the first from Steven and the team. So was it worth the wait? Rather than have just one unit, I have been lucky enough to get my hands on two VRS8 interfaces to use in my studio on a real life session. How did they hold up and most importantly, how do they sound in action?
In this double header video review for Production Expert, Dan & James thoroughly test a couple of Focusrite's new USB Clarett audio interfaces. In this review, we test the Clarett 2Pre and 8Pre. Watch the video to discover what we think about these interfaces and to hear both interfaces in action in a short full band recording session.
In this video review for Production Expert, Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look at the new ML-32D from Tascam. A 32 channel Line Level I/O to Dante converter. James shows you around the unit, explains the connectivity and how he is using the ML-32D in his studio set up and then goes on to let you hear the unit in a short track featuring full drum kit, bass and lead guitar.
It was a little under 2 years ago, back in April 2016 that James first reviewed the Focusrite Red 4Pre and to say he was impressed and loved it would be an understatement. Little did he know then that the Red range would grow to include the Red 8Pre, reviewed in May 2017 and now the new Red 16Line the latest in the Focusrite Pro Red range.
Pro Tools Expert post-production specialist, Alan Sallabank takes a look at using 2 PreSonus Quantum interfaces together with Pro Tools HD Standalone software on a Windows Pro Tools computer. See how he got on...
In this video review for Production Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look at the Tascam iXR portable USB audio and MIDI interface for Windows, Mac OS and iOS.
In this video for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey shows us around the new AT2035 Studio bundle from Audio Technica and Audient. This package features everything you need to get working on your next hit song. Just add creativity.
In this video review for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look at the new Discrete 8 audio interface from Antelope Audio.
In this video for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look at the new Quantum Thunderbolt-2 audio and MIDI interface from PreSonus.
In this video review for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor, James Ivey takes a look at the new Antelope Audio Goliath HD USB 3, Thunderbolt and Pro Tools HD equipped audio interface.
In this video review for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look at the new Tascam MiniStudio Creator USB audio interface for PC and Mac OS. The MiNiStudio is a new take on the audio interface aimed at the new wave of podcasters, internet broadcasters and anyone making audio for video.
In this video review for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look and listen to the new AudioFuse audio and midi interface from new comers to the interface market Arturia. The AudioFuse is a small but mighty USB interface packing plenty of stunning sounding I/O into its very small and compact size making it the perfect interface for those on the go.
In this video review, Pro Tools Expert Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look at the new updated version of the Antelope Audio Zen Studio Plus USB and Thunderbolt audio interface in a real world recording example using a full drum kit, bass, acoustic and electrics guitars. James shows off the stunning sonic quality of this small yet mighty portable audio interface.
The Focusrite Red 4Pre launched in March 2016 and I did 3 separate reviews on it. In this review I cover the similarities and differences between the Red 4 and Red 8Pre and also share how I am using it in my everyday work.
In this review for Pro Tools Expert Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look at some of the latest features in the new Universal Audio Apollo Twin MkII.
In this world first review for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look at the new Antelope Audio Orion32HD. The Orion32HD is a USB3 and Mini Digilink enabled interface allowing Pro Tools HDX, HD Native and HD Thunderbolt Native users access to 32 channels of A/D conversion.
In this video for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey joins Richard Rogers from Workstation Pros to take a look at running some of the Thunderbolt interfaces from Focusrite on Windows 10.
In this video, Pro Tools Expert Technical Editor James Ivey teams up with Rich Rogers of Workstation Pros to test the Universal Audio Apollo range of audio interfaces running on Windows connected via Thunderbolt 2.
In this video review for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey takes a look at the new Zen Tour USB and Thunderbolt interface from Antelope Audio. The Zen Tour is a compact portable high quality interface with built in effects giving you 4 guitar or DI inputs, 4 stunning quality mic pre amps and up to 16 I/O via 2 ADAT optical connections.
In this video for Pro Tools Expert, James Ivey takes a look at the new USB audio interface from British manufacturer, Audient. The iD4 is a small yet mighty audio interface housing one of Audient's stunning ASP mic pres and an amazing sounding JFET instrument DI.
In this video review Dan Cooper & James Ivey from Pro Tools Expert take a look at three of the second generation USB Scarlett audio Interfaces by Focusrite.
In this video (part 3 of 3) James Ivey from Pro Tools Expert takes a final look at the Focusrite Red 4Pre as a Dante interface. James shows how he configured the Dante Virtual Soundcard, RedNet Control, Dante Controller and Focusrite Control to route audio around his Mac Pro system.
In part 4 of this multi Part review Julian gives his thoughts on the AX32:
In part 3 of this review Julian Looks at the Dante functionality of the AX32 by combining it with Pro Tools, Dante Virtual Soundcard and a Klang Quelle headphone amplifier and running through some simple examples.
In this video James Ivey from Pro Tools Expert takes a close look at the PreSonus Studio 192 USB 3.0 audio interface. During a drum recording session James tries the Studio 192's 8 XMAX mic preamps recording a full drum kit and shows off some of the control features of the Studio 192 and the PreSonus Universal Control software application for both Mac OS and iOS.
In the first of a multi-part review, Julian takes a look at the AX32 Converter System from Digital Audio Denmark. This very classy hardware offers modular analogue and digital I/O of the highest quality along optional Dante audio networking, HDX connectivity and DSD and DXD operation.
In this video for Pro Tools Expert, James Ivey takes another look at the new Red 4 Pre by Focusrite.
In this video James Ivey from Pro Tools Expert takes a look at the Orion Studio, a 1U rack USB and Thunderbolt audio interface from Antelope.
In this video for Pro Tools Expert James takes a look at the new Focusrite Red 4 Pre Thunderbolt, Digilink and Dante audio interface. In his usual style James put this interface through it's paces.