Choosing the right equipment to set up your first home recording studio and taking your first few baby steps into home music production can be daunting. This is true when considering how much there is to know about DAWs, plug ins, software instruments, among other things. One tool that might muddle things further is the audio interface. Choosing the right one is not as simple as emulating your dream recording studio’s approach and nabbing a high-end model that will set you back a few thousand dollars.
First, you’ll want to understand the basics of what an audio interface is and how it works (which we’ll briefly cover in this article). Then, you’ll want to know which audio interface really matches your music production skill level at the time of purchase. Also, you’ll need to determine which model suits the needs of your current home studio setup.
Microphone for Audio Interface
Audio interfaces are different from sound cards. And, different models offer different connectivity options, while varying in compatibility. Are you simply looking for a device to connect a couple of studio monitors? Or do you need something with several INs and OUTs. Are you using a Mac or a Windows-based PC? All of these (and more) will impact your choice. There’s no doubt that dedicating some time to consolidating your knowledge about many audio interfaces pays off and can save you your hard-earned cash, while giving you a model that will do your skills and setup justice.
Consumer-Influenced Market Trends
Audio Interface Consumer Music Producer
It helps to be aware of a certain market trend that’s becoming ever more so prevalent. The number of tech consumers who produce music has grown exponentially over the last few years. This has impacted music tech-producing companies to put more mid-tier models with reasonable to slightly above average price tags. The demand for tech – such as best selling audio interfaces – that meet the needs of music-makers who are more than just weekenders but not quite pro level yet is increasing.
What is an Audio Interface?
Audio Interface How does it Look
Long story short, an audio interface is a physical device, serving as a gateway that takes an analog sound signal – produced by a musical instrument, for instance – and converts it into a digital sound signal your computer can recognize. It allows you to get sound in and out of your computer.
It performs this feat by using something referred to as ADC (Analog to Digital Converter). And, as you might have guessed, it can reverse this process by converting a digital signal to an analog one. Together, this process is known as AD DA conversion.
Apart from taking the sound of your external instruments and transferring it inwards to the DAW on your computer, it can also do the reverse. It can take a sound signal from your computer and transfer it to external studio monitors, which will make the sound audible for you.
You’re probably thinking that a soundcard can do the same, and you’d be right for thinking so. However, soundcards are built mainly for personal use and not well-suited for handling heavy-duty music production quality. A soundcard would erode the track’s sound quality due to its inferior in-built converter’s bit-rate.
Key Features to Look for in an Audio Interface
Here, we’ll get under the cover with many best selling audio interfaces to see what are the features you’ll want to know about and consider before purchasing your next model
Audio Interface Compatibility Between DAW and Audio Interface
Most DAWs are compatible with most interfaces. But things aren’t always that simple. Unfortunately, it can be hard spotting the ones that are not fully compatible as some of the companies that produce audio interfaces provide scant compatibility information about their models on their websites. The reason for this is that with most types of software being in an eternally furious update race, devices that are compatibly today might no longer be so tomorrow, and vice-versa.
What’s more, some audio interface developers may have an agreement in place with specific computer developers. This is the case with Mac and some audio interface brands. While this doesn’t mean that the latter is not compatible with Windows OS, it means that whenever Mac updates its OS (very often), the audio interface companies with agreements will instantly get updates for their systems, while others might be left out in the cold for months. And since this section talks about DAW, we know that Mac’s baby is Logic Pro. So, if you’re thinking of going down the Mac path, or you’re already used to Logic Pro, you’ll want to identify which audio interfaces are not only currently compatible, but will always receive updates first.