In the event you’re a musician, a podcaster, or anybody else who must document high-quality audio to a pc, telephone, or pill, you want a USB audio interface that allows you to join any microphone or electrical instrument.
The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 third Gen affords the very best mixture of options, construct high quality, user-friendliness, and affordability for musicians. Starting and skilled podcasters ought to try the Focusrite Vocaster Two.
Our choose
This USB interface options an almost-industry-standard design that’s user-friendly and inexpensive, however its iOS compatibility is proscribed.
The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 third Gen is the newest model of the interface that has develop into one thing of a regular for home-studio recording and has lengthy been our prime choose for musicians. The Scarlett 2i2 third Gen is compact, but it’s sturdy and ponderous sufficient to remain placed on a desktop, and all of its knobs and jacks are in the best locations for snug operation. The LED achieve indicators’ design makes setting document ranges particularly straightforward.
Nonetheless, the Scarlett 2i2 third Gen has restricted iOS compatibility and lacks a MIDI connection (which is helpful solely if you wish to use a really outdated keyboard, drum machine, or sampler).
Runner-up
This interface is just like our prime choose, however it provides a MIDI connection and a extra highly effective headphone amp. Nonetheless, it has a barely less-user-friendly design.
The Common Audio Volt 2 has just a few options that sure individuals could discover interesting, together with a MIDI interface, compatibility with iPhones, and a extra highly effective headphone amplifier than most USB interfaces supply—which may be useful in case your monitoring headphones require numerous energy to drive to satisfying quantity ranges.
The Volt 2’s stage meters are small, although, and we choose the structure of inputs and indicator lights on our prime choose.
Improve choose
This bigger, pricier interface has a sturdy, intuitive, knobs-on-top design, in addition to a built-in compressor that makes it simpler to get pro-quality sound.
The Common Audio Volt 276 is a superb step-up mannequin for musicians who’re extra critical about recording. It has all of the options and advantages of the UA Volt 2, plus an onboard compressor that may shortly and safely easy out the highs and lows of a recording and make it a little bit simpler so that you can set recording ranges.
The Volt 276’s bigger chassis takes up further house on a desktop however offers a sturdier management floor, in addition to a handy knobs-on-top design and huge enter and output stage meters.
It’s over 50% pricier than the Volt 2 and the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 third Gen, however recording lovers are probably discover it price the additional funding.
Price range choose
This inexpensive mannequin makes setting enter ranges straightforward, which is particularly useful for inexperienced persons. However the management configuration is uncommon.
The Audient Evo 4 is a perfect alternative for starting music producers and podcasters, because of its inexpensive worth and computerized gain-setting characteristic. Setting enter ranges appropriately is probably the most troublesome a part of utilizing a USB audio interface, however the Evo 4’s auto-gain characteristic makes the duty straightforward.
The field has a compact, light-weight design with a plastic chassis, so it might transfer round a bit on a desktop. It additionally has an uncommon, single-knob management configuration, however we bought used to it.
Our choose
The management structure on this interface is designed for podcasting quite than music recording, and it consists of options that add knowledgeable polish.
For individuals who create podcasts, a couple of minutes spent with the Focusrite Vocaster Two will reveal the massive benefits it affords for podcasting. It’s arrange for a host-and-guest state of affairs, with giant headphone-level knobs which can be straightforward to regulate. It features a mute button for every mic, plus a voice-enhancement button that you could set for considered one of 4 modes. You may simply usher in callers or background music from a telephone via the Bluetooth interface or cable.
