Best Audio Interfaces for Transforming Your Music into Digital Records

Focusrite company is very closely involved in the development of audio interfaces with the Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 external USB model being one of its products. This Focusrite audio interface itself is more targeted at professional users than amateurs or enthusiasts. The capabilities it offers are quite extensive and allow you to capture the sound from up to 4 microphones connected via XLR inputs. It is important to note that you can connect exactly four mics to this audio interface with a USB input as it is the number of members in most bands. 

With this audio device, you can create your own music tracks where and when it is convenient for you. Indeed, just install this computer audio recording hardware and feed an electric power to it from the adapter, and you are ready to produce tracks with a studio-grade quality, which, what is important, will not require much effort. For more convenience, each microphone input of this audio interface for PC and Mac has its own preamp and volume control knob with an LED-backlit rim. When an input signal from a connected mic has a normal amplitude or volume level the backlight is green, and when the signal level is too high to prevent clipping, the backlight color turns red. This feature makes it possible to set manually the right input volume in a timely manner and thus reduce the number of outtakes. 

In addition to digital outs, this audio interface by Focusrite has two headphone outputs to provide a simultaneous recording and listening/monitoring experience for your performance of a musical composition. As an option, you can use the Scarlett 18i8 headphone outs to simply enjoy a high-quality playback of your music files on your headphones stored on your PC or laptop. As for the digital inputs, this sturdy audio interface with a metal case offers an optical input with support of a digital optical interface widely used in audio/video devices. You can use this Scarlett optical in to enjoy high-quality sound reproduction from your digital source device via an optical cable that is totally resistant to electromagnetic interference. This type of digital interface can often be seen in flat screen TVs, Blu-ray players.

Roland is a Japanese brand known all over the world for its high-quality audio products and great expertise in the field of audio engineering equipment design and manufacture. Many professional musicians use Roland products to create their own tracks that are played in every corner of the Earth. Do you want to feel yourself an audio recording professional? It is easily achievable with the capabilities that the Roland Quad Capture offers. This is a new model of an audio interface for guitar or vocal recording with four inputs, as the name states. However, you can use only two analog channels to capture or playback the sound simultaneously at the sampling rate of up to 96 kHz, as the other two input/output channels are digital ones with 192 kHz maximum sampling rate support.

The Quad Capture was designed for home or small studio use thus it is very compact and portable. To ensure the best audio interface portability, the device uses the USB 2.0 interface to draw power from. Due to its smart design, this portable audio interface by Roland consumes as little as about 480 mA of current provided by the USB 2.0, which it efficiently uses to fully supply the built-in VS Preamps proprietary-design preamplifiers. These preamplifiers are used not only for analog input signal amplification but also for providing the phantom power in case of connecting microphones to the interface. Another interesting power-related feature is the Ground lift switch, which activation can reduce or eliminate 60Hz hum caused by ground loops emerging in a connected device-audio interface chain.

The preamps are equipped with digital controls, which use gives at least two advantages. The first is that the preamp regulators are more durable and do not cause any hiss or mechanical noise when turned. The second, the digital control use enabled the manufacturer to implement the proprietary Auto-Sens technology, which allows the interface to automatically select an optimal amplification level for analog signals recording.

Alongside a wide range of professional audio solutions Focusrite company also manufactures home studio audio interfaces. The Focusrite Scarlett Solo, as the name suggests, is targeted at solo musicians and enthusiasts. Despite the fact that the number of analog inputs on the interface was cut down to two, the Solo provides a connectivity adequate to single user demands. Look for yourselves, the Scarlett Solo has a microphone input with preamp and phantom power for recording your vocal sessions. In addition, this model offers a redesigned and improved instrument input for trouble-free and quick connecting your guitar. No matter what music you play, be it bluesy tunes, groovy rock or harsh metal staccato or tremolo, the instrument input ensures a high-quality sound capturing and preserving all the nuances of your performance. 

In terms of sound digitalization quality and convenience, the Solo ADC module retains all the features you can find in top-tier modules. Indeed, this compact model provides separate gain control knobs for each input with three-color backlit rims analogous to those used in the Focusrite Scarlett 18i8. This simple indication makes it possible to prevent sound clipping caused by an excessive level of the input signal: you only need to start lowering the gain if you see the knob trim lit red until you get in the green zone again. You can monitor your performance when playing using either a headphone out or a line out on the back panel. The pair of RCA sockets, one for each channel, on the device back allows you to use the Solo as a through-point and output analog signal to external amp and speakers parallel to input signal digitalization. As this USB port- recording system was redesigned both internally and externally it became even more compact and portable, which adds to the convenience of its use.

It is not often that you see two powerful music industry players, which join forces in creating some product. Luckily for us, there are exceptions to the rule and one of which is embodied in the Steinberg UR12 external sound module. Steinberg and Yamaha companies in cooperation have released their collaborative product for capturing clear and high-quality sound from microphones and musical instruments. This 2nd generation USB audio device has a rather practical and refined design and is assembled in a metal case that provides a reliable protection for its internals. All the inputs of the device are conveniently arranged on its front panel and are quickly accessible. Each of the two inputs is accompanied with a dedicated gain control regulator and a LED peak level indicator. The mic input is equipped with a proprietary D-PRE preamplifier that you can switch on or off. Connecting a microphone often requires supplying an additional or "phantom" power to it, which is easily achievable with a special switch located on the UR12 back. While plugging headphones in this Steinberg model for monitoring your record process will not be a problem, you need to keep in mind that the interface has a 6.3 mm headphone input socket. However, it will hardly be a problem as almost all modern headphone models are either equipped with a 6.3 mm jack or come with adapters. 

Behringer company created a series of new audio interfaces called U-PHORIA consisting of four models, one of which we picked for our review. The UM2 is an entry-level model of the family designed for a personal use as its capabilities are limited to two analog inputs. These inputs are microphone input and music instrument input. Taking a look at this Behringer audio interface you will most probably get a concept of a highly practical design with no excessive elements. With all its pragmatism the UM2 differs from other similar devices, due to the fact that the gain control knobs are installed on the interface top, which is somewhat unusual. However, this control knobs arrangement proved to be quite convenient. The gain knobs are spaced so that you do not touch the adjacent knobs when rotating one of them.