Introduction – Audio Interfaces
Welcome to the All You Need To Know about Audio Interfaces course. In this course I’ll guide you to learn, troubleshoot and effectively use your audio interface.
The audio interface has definitely changed the world for musicians and producers. You used to need to tons of cash to build a proper studio and buy expensive gears before you were able to record world class sounding music. Today with new technology such as the audio interface, it’s possible to record a number one hit from your bedroom or garage.
Quick Buying Advice
Although there are no corrects or wrongs to buying audio interfaces, I like to point some things to look for when shopping for a new audio interface. And those are;
- support – Make sure the company that makes the audio interfaces has good support. Driver updates, firmware updates, etc.
- Buy an interface with at least 2 inputs & outputs (doesn’t make cash sense to invest in an audio interface that only has one input)
- USB or Firewire – Both are fine, however if USB, make sure at least USB 2.0 and above
- Pre-amp quality – Try the preamps on the audio interface if possible. Do they sound nice? Are they noisy?
- Direct Monitor – Direct monitoring is probably a feature you won’t want to miss on an interface
One of my favorite 2 inputs/2 outputs audio interface:
Reasons why I like it? Well has excellent support from the company, meaning you don’t have to worry about driver compabilities when you have an update on your operating system OS. Focusrite updates their driver fast. Also, clean preamps with up to 24bit/96khz recording which is essential.
One of my favorite bigger interface:
Excellent price for an audio interface of this size. Up to 192khz and is easily expandable with lightpipe connection.
There are many audio interfaces out there and you can choose from the many different ones. Some audio interfaces such as the ones by Apogee, boast that they produce better sounds because of higher quality A/D and D/A converters. While this may be true to an extend (if you can hear the difference), you don’t have to go for these ‘premium’ interfaces. More often than not, real professional music is not relative to how expensive your audio interface is.
If you got your audio interface already, then let’s get started with the next lesson.