Sound Card? Mixing Board? Firewire? USB? What is an audio interface?
Plainly speaking, an audio interface is any device that gets audio into and out of your computer.
Audio interfaces can be PCI cards that you install inside your computer. They can be outboard devices that you connect to your computer via USB or Firewire, or they can be some combination of both.
Every computer comes with a built-in “sound card,” or audio interface. These are fine for playing email sounds or YouTube videos, but they’re hardly suitable for recording and playback.
For this reason, home studio owners buy an audio interface.
First Things First
Before you can start comparing this interface to that one, you need to know which type of interface your computer will accept. Take a minute to note what connections your computer has. This will be helpful when determining which direction you want to go. (Hint: PC users – You may have firewire and not know it. It will be labeled on your computer as “1394.” You can check it out here.)
The two easiest systems to use will be firewire or USB. The other option is a PCI card-based system. This will only work (of course) with desktop computers.
The Ultimate Question
While this may sound ridiculously simple. The main question you need to ask yourself when picking out an interface is “How many inputs and outputs do I need?”
Keep in mind that you don’t want to have to re-buy anything in two years, so think about future expandability as well. Don’t just jump into a little interface with only two microphone inputs if you are seriously thinking about recording a full drum kit in six months.
With this in mind, start perusing your options. There are a lot of reputable brands out there that make great interfaces. If you’ve decided to go the Pro Tools route, then your job is a little easier. You simply need to look at their various Pro Tools LE interfaces.
However, if you’re going with Logic, Sonar, Cubase, or any other system, you get the distinct pleasure of choosing your own interface. While there are no hard and fast rules as to which interfaces you should pick, I’ve come up with some “quick picks.”
For Sonar on a PC:
• Anything from MOTU (Mark of the Unicorn)
• For a higher-end option, check out RME
For Cubase on a PC:
• Anything from PreSonus (Jars of Clay actually went on the road with one of Sweetwater’s Creation Station PCs, a PreSonus Firestudio, and Cubase recording the entire tour. Worked flawlessly.)
• MOTU or RME would work well, too.
For Logic Studio on a Mac
• Apogee – Best-sounding interfaces out there (in my opinion)
For Digital Performer and Cubase on a Mac
• Pretty much all of the interfaces mentioned above.
*I’ve had good experiences with Edirol (especially on a PC) and Focusrite as well.
I Need More Inputs
You may have noticed that most interfaces max out and 8 microphone inputs. What if you want to put 12 mics on a drum kit?
Herein lies the beauty of expandability. You’ll notice a lot of interfaces have what’s called an ADAT optical input. This can be used to bring in eight more channels of audio. So if you have something like a PreSonus Firestudio, which has two ADAT inputs on the back, you can pump in an additional 16-channels into your existing system! This is done by using standalone 8-channel preamps with ADAT outputs on them. One of the most popular is the PreSonus DigimaxFS.
As I mentioned earlier, this is what Jars of Clay did on tour. They had one PreSonus Firestudio (8 mic inputs) and two DigimaxFS preamps (16 mic inputs) for a total of 24 microphone inputs running into Cubase!
Off to the Races…
You may be wanting someone to just say “get Product X,” but I don’t want to do that. For one thing, “Product X” may not be around in six months. My goal is to give you some tips for what to look for when buying an audio interface.
The market will change every six months, but the basic principles still apply.
• Choose an interface that is compatible with your DAW software.
• Choose an interface with enough inputs and outputs to handle your present and future needs.
• Find out which interfaces has a history of “playing nicely” with your DAW software and your computer platform (Mac or PC). I’ve listed some suggestions above for that.
• Buy it and make some music!!
* This article is part 4 of a 13-article series - 12 Home Studio Necessities.
the articles are great,ty very much…i’ve learned alot..but what about ableton with mac interface?..?hope you’ll answer me
Great option. Did you have a specific question about it? I’ve not used Abelton, but it’s a great piece of software. Go for it!
motu,rme or focusrite for ableton on mac.
usb2.0 or firewire 400/800 better and why?
I wanted to use the Octopre MkII in combination with the Saffire Pro 40 for 16 simultaneous tracks.
Would I be able to expand further an additional 8 tracks with another Saffire Pro 40 via ADAT?
if not, what piece of gear would I need to achieve 24 simultaneous tracks?
I *think the SaffirePro40 will allow for 24 simultaneous inputs, but I’m not entirely sure. If it has two sets of ADAT inputs, then the answer is likely yes.
I ended up emailing focusrite and they cleared it up with this response.. In case anyone else wondered too.. Here it is:
As the Pro 40 only has one adat port you wouldn’t be able to connect another Pro 40 via adat. You could however use another Pro 40 connected via firewire through the first pro 40, and so use the units in dual unit mode. You could then connect the octopre to either of the Pro 40′s via adat to achieve 24 analogue inputs.
Good to know. Thanks!
[...] Sound Card? Mixing Board? Firewire? USB? O que é uma interface de [...]
Does anyone have an opinion on M-Audio? I’m using the Firewire 410 that I bought about 5 years ago. I heard that it makes the sound stuffy, and I feel like all of my work has that nasty characteristic.
I’m using Protools M-Powered, so I’d have to upgrade my DAW if I got a new interface. That’s not a problem, I’d be willing to go with and LE or HD system if I got good value out of the upgrade.
Thanks for you answer. Last question
What is better, the Onyx 1640 (16ch) with protools M powered or digi003+protools software (not the M powered) and aditional analogs preamps (like API, etc) Also, does digi003 have preamp? if yes,is it better than the Onyx 1640? I am sorry for so many questions, but since there is very few differences between the two softwares (protools and protools M Powered)I was wondering if one would be better off having a non digi003 interface, like Onyx 1640 where you have 16 ch + its own preamp + EQ. But I could be missing something too. Thanks,
Arthur
Is it possible to connect the Onyx1640 to a digi 003 via firewire and have the 16 ch from Onyx sent to the digi so I woul get 8 ch from digi + 16 from Onyx? If not what is better to have, the Onyx 1640 and the Pro tools M-powered or the Digi003 + and 8 adat channels, so I could have 16 total? Thanks,
Nope, you can’t add anything to the 003 to increase inputs, aside from maxing out your digital inputs (optical and S/PDIF). It maxes out at 8 analog inputs, 8 inputs via ADAT, and 2 inputs via S/PDIF.
Probably a dumb question, but if you hook up an 8-channel pre like a Digimax to an ADAT port on an interface, will the inputs into it record as separate tracks in your DAW? E.g. if I'm recording 4 XLR ins on my interface and 8 XLR ins from the Digimax simultaneously, will I get 12 separate tracks running into the DAW?
That's exactly right. (and not a dumb question at all!)
If you buy a Digidesign Digi 003 Rack, would it be possible to use it with other DAWs than Pro Tools? Also, how does Pro Tools work with their audio interface latency-wise? Would it be possible to use Pro Tools and the interface as an digital mixer so a band of five people could mic up their instruments, run them into Pro Tools, do a little mixing and then send a different mix out to individual headphones without notable latency?
Yes, you can use the 003 with other DAW software. No, it won't work as
a standalone mixer, but you COULD use it with Pro Tools as a pseudo-
live mixer.
Hey Joe:
Have you had a chance to check out the Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 DSP? I’m debating that vs the Apogee Duet- for $100 less the new Saffire has the DSP that can be used on the way into the DAW plus has ADAT in which would let me use my MOTU 8pre ins…
Any secrets to getting a big discount from my Sweetwater guy (Bob Mondok)
Tom
I’ve not used the Saffire PRO, but it seems like you can’t really compare that to a Duet. They’re not really that similar. The Ensemble would be a more fair comparison.
As far as discounts go, I don’t know why anybody would want a discount from Sweetwater, especially a nice guy like Bob. They offer SO MUCH MORE than you would EVER get from any other music retailer. All that great service costs money. That money is called “full price.”
Yeah- for my budget the Ensembles’s not a player- just wondering if the ‘cheaper’ Focusrite unit with more ‘features’ would be a bad choice when for $100 I could have the ‘style’ of the Duet on my desk- any comparison on the preamps?
Discounts. We don’t need no stinkin’ discounts… actually you’re exactly right- Sweetwater service is the reason I didn’t redeem a 20% coupon from musicians friend last month… would have saved $80 on the Focusrite unit, but I’m better off buying from Bob!
I would like to attest to the reliability and usability of the EDIROL UA-1000 interface on the PC side. It is by far the best investment I’ve made in my make-shift home studio. I’ve never had any issues with it in the 3 years or so I’ve had it. I cannot compare it to any other high-quality interfaces since it’s been the only one I’ve had experience with outside the consumer-level Sound Blaster and its ilk. However, I do have this lurking feeling in the back of my mind that it may be holding back my recording quality from reaching that final plateau. It’s still very reliable, flexible, powerful, usable, and sounds great (or good enough) to me.
Yup. I’ve always found Edirol to be rock solid.
I’d also like to mention the Mackie Onyx Satellite firewire interface (http://www.mackie.com/products/satellite/index.html). The two superb preamps (http://www.mackie.com/technology/preamps.html) alone would cost more than the Satellite itself, (it’s only $200), and it has a base station that allows 5.1 output. The input section pops out (don’t ever do that when it’s on – that should be written all over the box, lol, you can brick it that way) for mobile recording, offering two ins and outs. I can’t say enough how much the Satellite has improved the sound coming into my computer…a definite major upgrade from the Behringer FCA 202 I used previously. This also saves you the trouble of buying good preamps or line boxes to get the sound up while still sounding great. I have a buddy who I talked into getting one and he only uses Garage Band and gets a really top notch level of clarity and power in his guitar and vocal recordings.
Thanks for the info, just wondering also would these be eligible for adding extra microphones and if so are these controlled by the pre amps on the 003 or if you’re using a different interface the pre amps on that.
Ah…sorry, forgot about that. You would most likely get something like the Digimax D8 or Digimax FS from PreSonus. These are 8-channel preamps with ADAT outputs. You wouldn’t control the preamps from the 003, but they would feed into Pro Tools via the 003.
Hi i was reading this and i saw that you mentioned that it was possible to increase the number of inputs available by means of using an ADAT, i was just wondering whether you could do this in pro tools as well and how one would go about doing this any help would be much appreciated.
Hi Alex. You can get extra inputs into Pro Tools with ADAT. It really doesn’t matter what software you’re using. It depends on the interface. For example, I have a Digidesign 003, which has one set of ADAT ports on it. This allows me to get 8 additional channels of inputs and outputs.
first off, thank you so much for posting this, i am very interested in starting my own studio and i have had a ton of questions that you have answered for me.
but i do have one that you didnt mention……as far as the audio interface is concerned, when it comes to micing a drum kit, is it possible to plug a kit into a board (10-15 mics) and then plug the board into the interface (with one cord i am assuming?)? i am very unsure about all of this.
thanks.
Hi Jesse. You “can” record a drum kit that way, but you really would be missing the whole point (and beauty) of multi-track recording. If you record the entire drum kit through a mixer, then whatever mix you have on the mixer will get recorded, and you won’t be able to make any changes to each individual element of the drum kit. For example, you couldn’t turn up the snare or EQ the kick, since they weren’t each recorded to their own track. Ideally you’ll have an interface that can accommodate 8-16 inputs, then go from there.
Aw man…. I want an apogee so bad.
I got a firebox back when it was $600. i was thinking about selling it for and apogee, but alas, I will lose too much money, and the firebox works so well
The Firebox is a pretty solid unit, I must agree.