THE AUDIO
With NAMM 2020 revealing a whole new range of Audio Interfaces,
choosing one that’s right for you is becoming even more daunting and
confusing. Especially for beginners, the choices are immense and the
exact advantages are not very clear of one over the other.
First and foremost, when planning to buy a new Audio Interface, the
buyer must take into consideration one major factor, what platform
are you working on? (Mac or PC)
Considering how Apple changes its IO constantly with each new
generation, investing heavily for a Mac platform is risky. For
instance, in 2011, apple introduced Firewire which was much
faster than USB 2.0 at the time, suddenly stopped equipping their
machines with Firewire ports within two years. So anyone who made
substantial investments in Firewire Audio Interfaces was now either
stuck using their old Mac machines till they planned on purchasing a
new Audio Interface or had to change out their Audio Interface when
upgrading their Macs.
Audient EVO Series USB
Having said that, it seems the unified integration of USB 3.1 and
Thunderbolt 3 using the same USB C adapter is here to stay in Apple
machines for the foreseeable future.
For PC users, USB 2, 3 and 3.1 along with Firewire 800 are the
prevalent choices. With thunderbolt support still fickle on Windows,
it is not a reliable option even though it is the fastest available
connection right now.
For the Pros, Ethernet (Dante) is the most suitable choice for
extensive simultaneous IO.
Solid State Logic SSL 2+ USB
To conclude, USB 3.1 seems to be the safest choice right now for both
Mac and PC users but if one is loyal towards Apple, nothing can
surpass Thunderbolt’s high speed and solidity.
After you have reduced your options to USB or Thunderbolt, the next
thing to consider is the number of simultaneous inputs required. That
means up to how many channels of audio one needs to record at the
same time. For most small to mid level studios 4 to 8 inputs is enough,
but for more extensive setups or drummers in particular, up to 16
channels is a must.
Interfaces with 2 or 4 Preamps are ample. Some even boast up to 8
preamps but that is the maximum number of built in Preamps any
interface offers right now. To exceed 8 channels an external ADDA or
dedicated external Pre- Amps are required.
36
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
Universal Audio Twin
Thunderbolt