Best audio interfaces 2022: USB and Thunderbolt options

Table of Content

• Comments on “15 Best Audio Interfaces for Home Studio”
• The Different Types of Microphones: Home Studio Essentials
• Steinberg UR22C USB
• Focusrite Clarett 2Pre USB ($
• What comes with the interface?
• Universal Audio Apollo Twin MKII SOLO ($
• The 17 Best Audio Interfaces for Home Studios and Music Production: What to Consider Before Purchasing

I would recommend the iD14 to recording engineers and producers who may have a little experience working with interface technology and are ready to take things to the next level. Audient products tend to fall in the mid-range when it comes to price, but this unit provides exceptional value and delivers a big sound for both vocal capture and live instrument recording. Your input channel or channels determine what and how you’re able to record using an interface.

M-Track Solo and Duo are entry-level, USB-powered, audio-only interfaces with 2-in 2-out connectivity. Their feature sets are slightly different but underlying specifications are very similar. Solo includes one mic/line channel with switchable phantom power and one line/instrument channel. The main outputs are on unbalanced RCAs and the front headphone output is on an 1/8” mini-jack.

Comments on “15 Best Audio Interfaces for Home Studio”

You can use Firewire or Thunderbolt for your connectivity before you fire up the Midnight Plug-in Suite, Red 2 & Red 3 suites, and a bunch of others after you register the product online. It also uses the MixControl DSP Router for monitor/headphone mixing. It doesn't come with a DAW because at this point you probably have one. That's more than enough to record a full band at once, but you can even daisy-chain two of these together or toss in one of Octopre strips for additional expansion. I've recorded vocals, guitars, bass, synth, and drums all at once with no expansion though.

Get industry-quality every time But if you just want to learn about Audio Interfaces specifically, keep reading. You can glance through the user ratings under each product to better check the product's ranking. Consequently, the finest will receive a rating of at least 4.5/5 stars. In general, this part contains the most incredible quantity of the product. The product's asin, size, weight, capacity, and other specifications may be required. Make sure you have all of them in your hands to choose the best one.

The Different Types of Microphones: Home Studio Essentials

Some of these Bavaria professionals work entirely on their own, while others work with subcontractors to get the job done. Basically, if you have nice monitors, avoid this product in your audio path. If you have a simple studio with cheaper monitors and you need this for signal routing, it will do the job very well. I have a Tascam 8-track, mixer , computer , and a turntable connected as inputs.

The PreSonus AudioBox iTwo gives you two combo inputs plus a MIDI controller connection on the back and all of the convenient features from those above that you can expect on all below as well. It's rugged, powder-coated blue chassis and small size makes it a great option for the portable musician as well. It even offers you the Capture Duo software to record on your iPad on the go.

Steinberg UR22C USB

Price is always a valid factor to consider when picking the best audio interface for home studio setups. Thankfully, these days it’s extremely easy to pick and purchase a nice-sounding, versatile audio interface for your home studio. Simply go with any model covered in this post, and you’ll get to enjoy a terrific sound and a large enough number of inputs/outputs for all your needs. You can and should judge the sound of what you are buying, take a year to buy the right one, if necessary. Approach the decision in with the outdated notion of monoDAWmy (it’s cool to cheat, don’t worry, but pretend you can’t to help the decision process).

The black line leads from the interface to the laptop and is how they communicate with each other. The interface takes the signal from your microphone or instrument and digitizes it before sending it to your computer. It does this with an analog-to-digital converter using pulse-code modulation. You can think of this whole package as a standalone computer sound card that has some extra features.

If you’re an advanced user, you’ll be very familiar with much of this information already. This will prove as a great refresher, as well as provide some context to get an understanding of the rationale that went into the selection of these audio interfaces for this guide. On the front is an OLED display unit that shows you readings of all your output and input levels, including your headphones levels. You can select each of the inputs at the front of the device, plus the two instruments, with two rows of buttons. And there are four assignable buttons to the right of the device. Bottom-line, the M-Audio M-Track Eight can get your small to medium-sized recording studio up and running.

This came in handy when I wanted to add some backing tracks to my recording, but I could even see this being used for live performance capture. Whether you work in a multi-million dollar studio or you record and produce at home, an audio interface is the key that unlocks your potential. You’ve completely neglected to mention the low latency highly versatile MOTU UltraLight AVB interface. I’ve had mine for years and it’s easily recording 8 tracks at the same time. This interface has two stereo outputs for a pair of monitors, as well as a headphone output. The AudioBox sports two line outputs for studio monitors as well as a headphone jack.

The Behringer U-Control UCA222 is a budget audio interface which is great for both recording and is one of the best audio interface for listening to music. Although this interface appears to be fairly cheap and simple, do not be fooled. This budget interface is known for exceptionally low noise level when recording.

The options are out there to fulfill your needs if you can decide on what they are first. The interface cable is an output but it also brings audio back in from the computer so it can pump it out of your monitors. The main component at this juncture of the hardware is the Analog-to-Digital Converter and Digital-to-Analog Converter.

The Element 46 Thunderbolt Audio Interface by Apogee is specially designed for Mac as they have a Thunderbolt interface port. With elite hardware features and stunning software advancements, this audio interface delivers the ultimate recording experience. Direct monitoring feature, software, tough material, two high-quality mic preamps are the factors that have convinced us to list this product as our top pick. + This device comes with a 48v phantom power so that you can easily connect instruments, microphones, and line-level devices. This device comes with a 48v phantom power so that you can easily connect instruments, microphones, and line-level devices. There is the mono audio output that can be connected to a pair of studio monitors.

They sit on your desktop where you can reach them easily and twist the knobs and swap cables. Some will include limited versions of popular DAWs, a digital audio workstation, like Cubase or FL Studio. You're not going to luck out and get a fully expanded version of Pro Tools or Logic Pro unless you're buying a full mixing console, but you might get something.

Some audio interfaces also have MIDI I/O on them, which could save you from having to buy a separate interface for external MIDI gear. If you only intend to use a MIDI keyboard, though, remember that this could plug into one of your computer's other USB ports, so MIDI I/O might not be an essential requirement. Vocaster One is a 1-mic input podcast-specific interface (24-bit/48kHz) for solo content creators. The top panel has one continuous encoder to set input gain, one output level knob for headphones and main output, and three mic function buttons – auto gain, enhance and mute. The second pair provides an alternative AES/EBU Sub-D connector.

But it’s the overall functionality that wins through, with plenty of backlit buttons and illuminated controls so it's obvious what’s going on. MiniFuse is Arturia’s super compact interface range and we have the mid-sized MiniFuse 2 on test. It's a 2-in/2-out, USB powered unit with mic/line/instrument options for both inputs, MIDI I/O and a headphone output. It also incorporates a USB hub, although the power draw must be 250mA or less. Once you’ve decided on the right audio interface, you can then easily record gear like electric and acoustic guitars, synths and any other musical equipment straight into a DAW of your choice.