Users Experience and Opinions About Audio Interfaces

[Csgozzo91]

Hello everyone, I hope you're well.

I was thinking that all musicians at some point in life need to listen to themselves, we feel that we need to record practicing or making a song/solo cover or something original. And finally, when we going to record something we can see clearly that we need some tools to find it and all the question comes to our minds, but the big question always is: How I can sound professional without a big investment?. I feel that I'm at this point.

So I have a question: what's your experience and recommendations on Audio Interface? and in this thread, you can feel free talking about you're experienced with this topic, and everything related like price, quality, and compatibility between Software and Operating System. I'll feel grateful to read all your comments and help me with that doubt.

Actually, I've been reading about this topic on the internet, but I think the best way to know about that consists of share personal experience. Thanks in advance.

I hope this thread helps someone else in the future.

 

[idssdi]

I have a presonus audiobox and it's pretty great. I bought it in a set with a microphone, speakers, headphones and a daw. The daw it has a very good amp/can simulator included too.

 

[Csgozzo91]

I have a presonus audiobox and it's pretty great. I bought it in a set with a microphone, speakers, headphones and a daw. The daw it has a very good amp/can simulator included too.

Thank you @Ids Schiere

 

[Filip Tomiša]

All you need is an interface to get a good recording. You just plug your guitar into it and then you can download some free guitar fx vsts and load them into your daw (for example audacity which is free) and then record yourself. There are so many good options for interfaces out there like focusrite, apollo, audient, steinberg... We always recommend focusrites because they are pretty cheap and you can get a decent recording out of it. I personally bought an used CI1 steinberg interface on ebay and i couldn't be happier, it works great and I never had a problem with it. Also to be able to do this properly you need a decent pc. You don't need a super expensive pc with the newest procesor or graphic card but it's important that you don't have like only 512mb of ram or a really old procesor because your pc will lag when you either record or load vsts into your daw. 4gb of ram is enough, even 2gb is enough but it's very likely that the pc will start lagging if you load more than 1 or 2 vsts. 16gb is recommended but again 4gb is enough for a simple home recording.

 

[Donovan Etue]

An audio interface has been one my favorite recent purchases. It's been an interesting learning experience trying to nail a take early on. I don't know why but damn can that red light be intimidating at times haha. I bought an Evo 4 which is Audient's new Epiphone to Gibson equivalent. A more budget priced brand. It's been damn nice so far. It came bundled with the DAW Cubasis but I don't plan on using it since I already had a bit of experience with Reaper with editing MP3 files downloaded off of YouTube. It also came with some lessons from Pro Mix Academy which included the beginners guide to recording, guide to mixing hip hop, a guide to mixing hard rock by Warren Huart, and a guide to mixing Heavy Rock by Ulrich Wild who has produced for bands like Pantera, Deftones, Rob Zombie, and Static X. My favorite item that came bundled with it was definitely the Two Notes Torpedo plug in. It gives you 12 cab sims for free. You can setup a cab with a few choices of mics and adjust the mic placement to be a ways out to add "natural" reverb. You can also adjust the location of the cab too! Ranging from a studio with sound proofing material around to get the amp and only the amp or you can place it in a cathedral and get a gnarly amount of reverb if you mix that with the mic moved out a ways. I got all of this bundled with the interface for $129 USD with tax it was just under $140. Filip is right. It doesn't take a monster rig with a wild 92 channel mixer to record yourself at home. A half decent laptop, an audio interface, and a DAW of your choice will have you ready to go. Good luck dude!

 

[Cedric L]

I can also recommend audio interfaces.

Pro:
- You can easily record yourself (Hear mistakes, creating backing tracks, be creative...)
- You can get many different tones (Amps, Cabs AND effects!)
- Loop some riffs and play solos over it
- (Often) cheaper as the real amps

Cons:
- You need good speaker for a good sound
- Amps are often not as good as the real ones
- Little bit technical know how is needed for the programms and settings

My first audio interface was the Line 6 POD UX 2 (with amp software)
Sound quality was terrible... Or maybe I was too stupid to get a good sound out of that sh**
I don't have experience about it but many people say that the Bias FX 2 is good. But this is not an interface. This is a software to get the amp sound. A needed interface for that is (e.g.) Scarlett Focusrite 2i2. The focusrite interface doesn't include an amp software...
And if you wanna record your stuff you can use reaper (it's free).

If you have any questions feel free to ask

 

[Csgozzo91]

All you need is an interface to get a good recording. You just plug your guitar into it and then you can download some free guitar fx vsts and load them into your daw (for example audacity which is free) and then record yourself. There are so many good options for interfaces out there like focusrite, apollo, audient, steinberg... We always recommend focusrites because they are pretty cheap and you can get a decent recording out of it. I personally bought an used CI1 steinberg interface on ebay and i couldn't be happier, it works great and I never had a problem with it. Also to be able to do this properly you need a decent pc. You don't need a super expensive pc with the newest procesor or graphic card but it's important that you don't have like only 512mb of ram or a really old procesor because your pc will lag when you either record or load vsts into your daw. 4gb of ram is enough, even 2gb is enough but it's very likely that the pc will start lagging if you load more than 1 or 2 vsts. 16gb is recommended but again 4gb is enough for a simple home recording.

Awesome @Filip Tomiša thank you for that!

 

[Csgozzo91]

An audio interface has been one my favorite recent purchases. It's been an interesting learning experience trying to nail a take early on. I don't know why but damn can that red light be intimidating at times haha. I bought an Evo 4 which is Audient's new Epiphone to Gibson equivalent. A more budget priced brand. It's been damn nice so far. It came bundled with the DAW Cubasis but I don't plan on using it since I already had a bit of experience with Reaper with editing MP3 files downloaded off of YouTube. It also came with some lessons from Pro Mix Academy which included the beginners guide to recording, guide to mixing hip hop, a guide to mixing hard rock by Warren Huart, and a guide to mixing Heavy Rock by Ulrich Wild who has produced for bands like Pantera, Deftones, Rob Zombie, and Static X. My favorite item that came bundled with it was definitely the Two Notes Torpedo plug in. It gives you 12 cab sims for free. You can setup a cab with a few choices of mics and adjust the mic placement to be a ways out to add "natural" reverb. You can also adjust the location of the cab too! Ranging from a studio with sound proofing material around to get the amp and only the amp or you can place it in a cathedral and get a gnarly amount of reverb if you mix that with the mic moved out a ways. I got all of this bundled with the interface for $129 USD with tax it was just under $140. Filip is right. It doesn't take a monster rig with a wild 92 channel mixer to record yourself at home. A half decent laptop, an audio interface, and a DAW of your choice will have you ready to go. Good luck dude!

Thank you @Donovan Etue Great experience!

 

[Csgozzo91]

I can also recommend audio interfaces.

Pro:
- You can easily record yourself (Hear mistakes, creating backing tracks, be creative...)
- You can get many different tones (Amps, Cabs AND effects!)
- Loop some riffs and play solos over it
- (Often) cheaper as the real amps

Cons:
- You need good speaker for a good sound
- Amps are often not as good as the real ones
- Little bit technical know how is needed for the programms and settings

My first audio interface was the Line 6 POD UX 2 (with amp software)
Sound quality was terrible... Or maybe I was too stupid to get a good sound out of that sh**
I don't have experience about it but many people say that the Bias FX 2 is good. But this is not an interface. This is a software to get the amp sound. A needed interface for that is (e.g.) Scarlett Focusrite 2i2. The focusrite interface doesn't include an amp software...
And if you wanna record your stuff you can use reaper (it's free).

If you have any questions feel free to ask

Thank you @Cedric L I appreciate that a lot!

 

[Csgozzo91]

I say thank you guys for taking the time to write in this thread. Reading all of your experiences I get some clear ideas about this topic. Actually I have a good pc that gets all those requirements. I've been looking to record something since I started playing the guitar but I think that I didn't give the value that I now give to that. Thank you again.

@Ids Schiere @Filip Tomiša @Donovan Etue @Cedric L

 

[Cody Dusenberry]

My first audio interface was the Behringer UMC22 which is a fairly cheap audio interface that isn't all that bad in my opinion. My first DAW was a free one called tracktion 7 and I still enjoy using it, but since I was able to use other DAWs like ProTools and Logic Studio through my university I can definitely say that I will switch to one or the other at some point. The hardest thing for me personally was the process of figuring out what the hell everything did in my DAW and youtube video only seemed to cause more confusion, but once I went through and started messing around with stuff and took audio fundamentals classes then everything became much easier to understand.

 

[Bellah83]

My first audio interface was the Behringer UMC22 which is a fairly cheap audio interface that isn't all that bad in my opinion. My first DAW was a free one called tracktion 7 and I still enjoy using it, but since I was able to use other DAWs like ProTools and Logic Studio through my university I can definitely say that I will switch to one or the other at some point. The hardest thing for me personally was the process of figuring out what the hell everything did in my DAW and youtube video only seemed to cause more confusion, but once I went through and started messing around with stuff and took audio fundamentals classes then everything became much easier to understand.

I really liked tracktion 7. It's came free with a Mackie mixing board we used. I upgraded to waveform 10, which is the paid version and love it. I felt so lost trying to figure Pro Tools out. Love that tracktion and waveform actually have tooltips to help beginners figure this stuff out. I feel like you need to be an engineer to use Pro Tools effectively.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Some points I've used out myself. Some may have already been mentioned too many comments to go through right now I'll make the points simple.

1. Your amp. Depending on your situation.. a digital amp may be a better route for you over tube. Digital gives you complete control of your tone. You can customize it any way you want. A lot more freedom.

2. Your mic. You can direct input like I do into an interface or mic it into that same interface. I record through headphones. That tone is 100% different then without through the mic. Everything is different. It takes time to tweak these settings to your environment. Dont be afraid to fiddle if you feel something is off. Everyday could be different.

3. Your levels on your PC make all the difference. I used to record way too loud. And it sounded terrible and I'd have to minimize the sound in audacity. Now. I find I'm doing the opposite. I record quiet and find myself turning it up to match everything else. I feel this is safer. I also imagine using a compressor would make your levels more equal too. This is something I'm debating on adding to my set up too.. but it's just as easy imo to edit the levels too. The compressor is one I have to play with to get my levels right again if I do go that route. I think that's the biggest issue in changing.

4. Practice makes perfect. I've been recording my efforts for years and it's still not perfect. I'm sure syn also had these same feelings everytime he goes in to record too. Always changing things up to try to sound better.

 

[Cody Dusenberry]

I really liked tracktion 7. It's came free with a Mackie mixing board we used. I upgraded to waveform 10, which is the paid version and love it. I felt so lost trying to figure Pro Tools out. Love that tracktion and waveform actually have tooltips to help beginners figure this stuff out. I feel like you need to be an engineer to use Pro Tools effectively.

ProTools would have been VERY difficult for me to use had I not had the help of my professors and upperclassmen to help me, especially since they all used Mac and I only have a Windows PC.

 

[Bellah83]

ProTools would have been VERY difficult for me to use had I not had the help of my professors and upperclassmen to help me, especially since they all used Mac and I only have a Windows PC.

Yea, I understand why studio guys charge so much lol.

 

[Brian Haner Sr.]

In my humble opinion, you can't beat Focusrite for price, dependability, and quality. Presonus is also great and won't break the bank.
I would figure out how many ins and outs you need and check out Focusrite. They have small (stereo units) as well as multi input boxes.

 

[Csgozzo91]

Wow, it's awesome to read all your comments and experiences, that's the point. I don't have a big expectation for now. I just need two inputs: one for the guitar and another one for mic. And two outputs: one for USB and another for some in-ear headphones to direct monitoring while recording. Reading all your suggestions I think that Focusrite is the best choice by price-quality ratio, probably that I going to buy it. And then are Presonus and Behringer, that I've been reading about both of them but I needed to read your opinions. Thank you so much @Cody Dusenberry, @Steven Bellah, @Calvin Phillips and Papa Gates @Brian Haner Sr.

 

[Brian Haner Sr.]

Wow, it's awesome to read all your comments and experiences, that's the point. I don't have a big expectation for now. I just need two inputs: one for the guitar and another one for mic. And two outputs: one for USB and another for some in-ear headphones to direct monitoring while recording. Reading all your suggestions I think that Focusrite is the best choice by price-quality ratio, probably that I going to buy it. And then are Presonus and Behringer, that I've been reading about both of them but I needed to read your opinions. Thank you so much @Cody Dusenberry, @Steven Bellah, @Calvin Phillips and Papa Gates @Brian Haner Sr.

I would respectfully steer you away from Behringer. They are certainly inexpensive, but they're not the best quality when it comes to processing.

 

[Csgozzo91]

I would respectfully steer you away from Behringer. They are certainly inexpensive, but they're not the best quality when it comes to processing.

Great, that's just what I need. thanks for that.

 

[idssdi]

I would respectfully steer you away from Behringer. They are certainly inexpensive, but they're not the best quality when it comes to processing.

I agree with this, I used to have a cheap interface and it was a nightmare to record with (latency was one of the biggest issues I had)