Best Audio Interface For Bass Guitar (2024 Update)

Needed new PC audio interface as my Echo firewire and Windows 10 were no longer working together. First tried Behringer UMC204HD. Drivers worked great but noticed that my musical keyboard would clip/distort at low volume levels. Never had that problem with ECHO firewire AUDIOFIRE4. Second try was this MOTU M2 USB interface purchased March 33 2022. Noticed immediately that keyboard could go much higher in volume without clipping. Sound was clear and love *LOVE* full color meters vice clipping lights found on other audio interfaces in this price range. I like MOTU M2 much better than Behringer (no clipping issues and full range low noise sound). I liked ECHO firewire the best of the three because the output volume was greater with no clipping and very clear. But Windows seems to have said goodbye to firewire support. MOTU is best USB so far for me.Chuckiep

I wanted to upgrade my PC sound card, but still wanted to squeeze the maximum quality from my music collection. Although there are high quality sound cards on the market, I decided to look at outboard USB DAC’s. I looked at a number of USB interfaces, but after looking at a number of manufacturers, I whittled it down to either the MOTU M2 or M4. I eventually decided on the M4 as it had all the in’s and out’s at the rear. Having worked in broadcasting for forty years, I have to honestly say the analog output is, well, brilliant. One of the things that drew me to MOTU was the ESS Sabre32 Ultra™ DAC‘s. For the price, the quality of build and DAC quality it is the best I have ever heard. The detail and stereo imagery is first-class. I am now hearing detail that I was not hearing with my PC DAC. I cannot recommend the MOTU M4 enough.Mr G.

This has the makings of a really excellent box. The features, display, and specs are all great on paper. However, it is not compatible with the Gigabyte Aero 15 laptop with i9 10980HK processors, 64GB RAM, and Windows 11 Pro I was pairing it with. I encountered serious and debilitating audio artifacts and the diagnostics in the M-series app returned, The computer's USB host controller has dropped audio. While MOTU provided excellent support, after following all the advice including re-flashing the bios on the laptop, all remedies failed. If they do something to make it work with a high-end Windows workstation like this, it will be an awesome product. For now, it's useless to me. LBLindsay

I used to record stuff in my 20s on a Fostex 4 track, then the digital home studio stuff. Forward 30yrs and I'm blown away by the sheer volume oe software available! But by far is the fantastic build quality and usability of the 18i8. Plug anything in and with a bit of experimenting (around 1hr) and I was laying down tracks and editing them. I honestly wish I had purchased one years ago. I bought it to bring my home studio together, drum machine, guitars, keyboard Nd vocals. Love it to bits.clairemarie007

I purchased this as a step up from my old M audio mobile pre. Sound quality is much better and it's quite easy to use. One future I wish it had however was the ability to mute the microphones during play back through the monitors. Also the preamp's have barely sufficient gain to power my SM 81s adequately. Unfortunately Just afterThe warranty. Ended the problem with headphone channel number one appeared it seems I have a loose connection on the PCB And can no longer use that channel. All in all worth the money in my opinion.Bassdan

1. You cannot use it in standalone mode, so computer is always required (It will not take power from USB power supply). This become a problem when I was trying to feed output to the camera which is connected by USB to the same computer. It creates vary bad case of ground loop. 2. It is not going to give you good sound on high impedance headphones. My Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm work, but have weak low freq. 3. Preamp for dynamic mic might be noisy. I am using Rode PodMic and for effective gain I am on edge of introducing noise. You may need to use something like Cloudlifter ($150) depends on your gain requirements.Roman

This audio interface was easy to set up and came with a lot of really cool free software. It’s pretty simple but does great for what it was designed for. I’d give it an A+ If you’re using it for a pod cast or recording instrument/vocals. I personally got this and a cloudlifter for my sm7b. The Scarlett 2i2 gen 3 does not provide enough gain for my specific mic and a cloud lifter was needed. If you’re looking at this for a twitch style streaming set up, it works as an interface, but I would recommend for around same price to get a goxlr mini. You gain more features like separate controls for chat/game/discord with the sliders and the goxlr mini has enough preamp power that you don’t need a cloud lifter for mics like the popular sm7b. Pro: * Gen 3 comes with a usb-c connector on the back. Very nice as most devices are moving from usb a+micro into a more standardized usb-c. * comes with great free DAW in form of ableton live lite. Comes with a a suite of other free software but this one was nice enough to highlight. * quality metal build * simple and intuitive!Cheddarsharp

I replaced my 2nd generation Scarlett 2i2 with the 3rd generation 4i4. I was a bit skeptical of the software application required to set the inputs to line/instrument, but it turned out to be fairly intuitive. The unit comes with a pad and air feature. Pad is self explanatory (gain reduction for loud recordings), the air setting is supposed to model some classic microphone preamp or something to that effect. I'm not totally sure what the difference is, but I've left the Air feature on anyways while recording and I've been pleased with the results, how much of that satisfaction is a result of the Air setting is hard to say since I haven't actually done any objective testing but it certainly doesn't seem to hurt anything by having it on. Initially, when I got the hardware going on my iMac I experienced significant lag while using Logic at various times, particularly when I was trying to copy logic drum tracks or expand the timeline but also while trying to do basic functions as well. I was concerned that I would have to get more RAM for my Mac which is problematic because the model I have makes it both difficult and expensive to increase RAM. However, after a few repeated uses the issue seems to have subsided, so I don't really know what that was about or whether the change in hardware even had anything to do with it, however it definitely was not an issue while I used my 2i2 so it's something to consider. I mainly upgraded because I wanted to start using midi with my electronic drum kit and that was basically as easy as plug and play (aside from a couple added steps in Logic which didn't have anything to do with the 4i4). However, for some reason the midi tracks seem to cause Logic to experience errors during playback when I close and then reopen a project. Again, can't say that this is a result of the 4i4 but I've been able to resolve the issue by simply quitting Logic entirely before reopening a project which isn't much of an inconvenience at all.Kab

This newest version of the top of the Scarlett range is an excellent sounding interface with a ton of I/O available. The unit itself is beautiful to look at, and the setup is quite easy. In use I found the 18i20 to be mostly self explanatory, things seem to work as they should. In addition to the Focusrite Control software there are also iOS versions that work with iPhone and iPad.Audio quality is very good for the price point. Clean and very usable for professional work, although not up to the level of "esoteric" converters that cost much more. I'm using my 18i20 as a bridge between some older Apogee converters and my computer, for audio playback from my computer, and quick and easy recordings on it's own. It's a versatile and thoroughly modern unit.My only gripe with the 18i20 is that there is no output metering on the front of the unit, only input metering. Perhaps there is a way to switch the metering to output, but I haven't found it yet. There is metering in the control software, but I would like to see it on the front of the hardware.Other than that issue I find this to be a well designed interface with a useful feature set. The two headphone outputs are very welcome as well. I'm definitely pleased with my 18i20. ProAudioStar provided great service at a great price and got this to me very quickly–especially considering the lockdown we are all going through right now. Much appreciated.sonicalbert

This interface is lovely, software is intuitive and easy to access. Would give 5 stars if it had DC coupled outputs. For the money, I can't imagine doing much better if you have a lot of instruments and require lots of audio routing. If you are looking to interface with Eurorack or other systems that use cv/gate input/ouput, maybe look at MOTU units. ADAT i/o's work seamlessly with many ADAT expansion units. Build quality is solid, sounds fantastic and looks real nice. Overall, highly recommended unit. Hope to see DC coupled outputs in future units, its a must in my opinion, and wish more companies would realize this (Do this Focusrite, and you got the best interface on the market and 5 stars from me).MB

I have to admit I have been out of the game for a few years. Decided to pull out the old gear and a few things weren't compatible with the new software on my computer. So I got some advice from a super knowledgable tech on the at their call center. He recommended this and I must say it was plug and play essentially and very versatile. What a nice treat to come back with easy to operate hardware. I like the number of ins and outs and the ease of use and the talkback mic button, yeah don't forget about that feature. I can even use my ipad as the controller so that I don't have to be right at the computer or hardware. I mean overall this is fast and clean and its red!!! I always have loved a sexy red head… I mean red audio component.Joe K.

I had M-Audio interface before after about 7 years it just stop working on me. They're so many interface's out there to choose from. You can go to YouTube and get your mind overloaded when looking. So One day I look on AMS and saw the new M-Audio Line and because I ready use it before and whenever I had a issue with the product they're Tech-support and customer service was great. That's another reason why I pick this M-Audio. There is three things that I dislike about this product that you may not know about.If you never used Pro-Tools it has a learning curve and if you already have plug-ins that you love work with all the time.They will not work with pro tool first. If you would like to get plug-ins my understand they're subscription base plug-ins. And you will not be able to share your project with another producer so you can work on the project together you can not do it in Pro-Tool first. you have to buy the full Pro-Tools or pay for the monthly or yearly subscription. Other that that for what I need it for my production work it's great.Davell B

This is a solid interface for my home studio. I use it to record Guitar, bass, vocals through an MXL990 (has phantom power). I also use the MXL above/behind drums to nicely capture cymbals, while also placing a mic on the bass drum. Not the best setup for drums, so I'll be looking into a larger unit with more inputs. The downside is that I most often have to set the preamp levels between 4-5 to avoid clipping, but the recordings are loud and clear on each track. I'm currently using PreSonus Studio One, but have also used Ableton Live, so this interface works well with multiple software packages. I haven't connected any midi devices yet, so I have nothing to add there. The headphone connection and volume control work as they should.Dambro

Stereo recordings work great! After installing the updated drivers and a reboot. I tested it with the NCH WavePad Sound Editor app to verify that it could actually record in stereo and it passed with flying colors. I could see that the right and left sound recording level bars work independently from each other. The 2i2 was connected to a headphone jack by using a 1/8 inch TRS Stereo to Dual 1/4 inch TS Mono Y-Splitter Cable. Found the stereo setting in Windows 10 under the "device properties / additional device settings / advanced tab. Changed the sample rate drop down menu to "2 channel, 16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD quality)" So cool!turns2gold

First off, I'm mainly using this to (phantom) power my AT-2020 for voice chat with the occasional music recording. For the most part this thing works great. The drivers were easy to install and using the unit is easy to use. I do have a very strange problem though and it is due to static and popping cropping up when using the mic after a few hours. I am unsure of whether this is a power issue with my USB port or a software glitch. I originally found people having issues with this and they fixed it by upping the buffer with the ASIO software–default is 128–I tried this and for some reason the higher the buffer, the more it popped and static'd. What's really weird is lowering the buffer to 16 reduces the popping and static for a few hours before it happens again. I am by no means very knowledgeable with audio interfaces and I could be doing something wrong, but this has been quite an annoyance. Otherwise, the unit is great and I love it.Hunter

I've owned the 2i2 for a few years now. It works fine for my purposes, but I wish it had some different features. I'm actually not a huge fan of the volume knobs for each channel. Personally I like to have ALL settings for a certain microphone for example built into an instrument in your music software. Having a physical knob just unnecessarily adds something that can easily be taken into account in the software. I'm also not a fan of connectors on the front. I wish everything was in the back to make it look "cleaner". This isn't really a major issue but I wonder why so many audio interfaces are designed this way. I can understand a headphone jack being in the front obviously but connections for XLR cables should be in the back in my opinion. Besides these few features I wish were changed, not much else to say. It works fine. I have noticed latency in some situations, but, to be fair, I'm not certain if the audio interface itself is causing this. It may just be my computer running slowly. Restarting the software usually fixes latency issues. For the price and compactness, it is hard to beat this audio interface.Peter

Works super easy, displays clipping, instantly fixed delay problems I've been having with my daw! I wish I bought one of these sooner. Highly recommend this for beginner audio editing software users. It should be one of the first item you invest some money into.ergu_1653

Ive been through several over the years. Some cheap, some high end, and it is true that get u pay for. Or I should say it was true, because focusrite is killing it with the Scarlett line! U can tell when u grab it that its built well. Strong and durable to last. But the sound quality is what is truly amazing. Recording and playback both are just so crystal clear! 10 yrs ago you just couldnt get that good of sound in a home studio unless you had 10s of thousand to drop into it. Last but not least… Small package BIG POWER! I only bought the solo (2nd Gen) the smallest I think, but youd never know it by listening to the performance. And using is super easy with midi usb, plug and play. I love my solo 2nd gen! And I see myself upgrading to at least the 212, or bigger. Either way, focusrite has a new life long customer in me. As long as they keep standards at this level. Hope this helps someone.grmrc.us.bil6bniuqu

This is a great product for me! I use ths to record my Mic'd guitar amp to record into GB, Scorecloud or any other recrding software. The Gain enables you to hone in on volume control while recording to raise recording volume withought turning up the amp volume or to minimize fuzz sound from an idle amp not in standby coming through in the recording. You can moniter on headphonrs or split your instrument to a moniter control board, and includes speaker outputs to run your amps output in stereo through speakers. Sound quality is excellent! If you are seriously ameature and need a simple usb plug in for now, consuder searching online for a 1/4-usb patch instrument cable for your instrument or mic, or whateve combo you need, they make them all, for about 15-25 $ as a quick easy solution.Pat

Had issues with connecting the device to the ipad. The mic input works fine on garageband and other apps. For guitar however, in amplitube specifically, it will not put out a signal. After much research I found that the itrack uses its right channel for guitar and amplitube uses the left ios channel, therefore rendering it tricky to use exclusively for AT (stick to iRig, it's way easier) I've had to order a 3/4" jack to 3-pin male xlr from amazon to see if I can patch the guitar line into the left mic xlr of the itrack, although i'm not sure if it will work. If you use only garageband and are most interested in the mic input you will be fine.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I bought this to use with Garage Band on my laptop at home. Its got 2 inputs, one XLR with +48 and one 1/4 for instruments. Its important to note that in GB you must tell it per track which channel youre using- it will default to channel 1 which is the mic. To use a guitar you have to change it to ch2. After that it is super easy. Great value. Very affordable and comes with the cables you need to hook it up.mr.shatters

I'm an aspiring podcaster and for that purpose I have purchased the Rodecaster Pro, which is a fantastic device that is pretty much purpose built for podcasting, streaming and the like. The RCP was also my interface, which it did a fine job of, but it is kind of big and cumbersome to set up for small jobs. No, I don't have dedicated space for my whole podcast setup and everything else. I wanted to have something that was small, quick and easy available for those times where I just need to get my voice or some musical idea into the computer and have some hope of it sounding decent. I wanted to be in the $150 price range and know that for that amount, maybe just a few dollars more, there are a wealth of offerings, and some are better than others, but I went with the EVO4 based on the myriad of favorable reviews on YouTube as well as the price, $130. (Throw in the fact that the interface that I REALLY wanted wasn't available anywhere!) I haven't done a lot with it yet; ran some bass and guitar through it into Logic Pro X as well as recorded with several different mics into several different DAWs and everything seemed to work quite nicely. Setup was pretty easy and configuring a DAW to see this device shouldn't be a problem, I was recording something within 5 minutes of the FedEx guy handing this to me…and I definitely don't know this stuff very well, so good job for simplicity! Some find that the preamps are maybe just a bit underpowered, and yes, they are that, but they are certainly clean. I plugged my SM7B into this and though I had to wind the gain all the way up, I was still able to come up with a useful recording. I think when recording with the 7B in the future I'll probably use a FetHead, though most of the reviews I read said that isn't necessary. Like with any new piece of equipment, there is a feeling out process, so we are still getting to know each other. Loopback is a feather that I haven't yet explored. It looks like it could be cool and useful, but I don't know if that is what I will be using this for. Some aren't crazy about the UI on the EVO4, several different mode buttons and a big knob in the middle that has different functionality for each different mode. It may take some getting used to, but since I didn't have to unlearn anything, I got it pretty quickly. The only knock on this device is the build quality. This was a common concern with all of the reviews I read. The device is made of plastic, which feels reasonably rugged, but at the same time feels budget; the plastic is kind of squishy and the seams are not as clean as they could be. Some reviewers were able to pop the top off just by squeezing. This won't be a concern in my use case, but this is a small little piece of kit, ideal for tossing in a bag with your laptop and other gear for recording anywhere (anywhere your laptop works anyway…-so be mindful of that, it might get banged around after a while. I'm sure if they spend an extra few $ on production for beefier preamps and a more solid housing, this could easily be $30-$50 more expensive, so it's a trade off. The bottom line for me is that the device meets my needs and expectations. It has simple setup and ease of use. The features are ample for something in this price range. I don't know how much I will find myself using the Smart Gain feature, but it is kind of cool to check my settings against that sometimes. The USB-C bus power is pretty handy and lends to portability, but again, the build quality might be a problem if this device is going to put in many hard road miles. This probably isn't going to be the device anyone will use to create their next hit record, but it is certainly sufficient to jot down those ideas for that new record! I'm happy with this product and my purchase.Eric

This interface fulfills all my needs (I bought it to do a podcast). Is portable, easy to operate, and it has plenty of features but something is bugging me… when I plug my headphones there's a high inconstant pitch noise. This sound doesn't seem to register in my recordings but it renders direct monitoring useless. I tried everything I can to fix it: changed cables, computer, proximity to my phone (phone signal interference causes weird noises so keep your phone away from it!), possible LED lights, reinstalled drivers… EVERYTHING. Hopefully is a defective unit (fingers crossed). I already submited my RMA request to get a new unit. Still no response. I will update this review once I receive a new one. My advice: run a couple of test with yours and let us know if you experienced this issue too.Gabriel

The hardware is quite nice as far as my experience goes. I don't have anything fancy, and it sounds good without any noise – much better than the cheap USB adapter I was using. It supports high sampling rates and low latency with ASIO drivers. It's powered over USB, so you get one fewer cable. The software to control the 4i4 is nice enough, although it did take me a moment to figure out what exactly it's doing. I wanted to get a new one so I could use the bonus software it is bundled with, but it doesn't seem like that was worth it. The free software out there is as good or better than this and then you don't have to deal with weird licensing programs. A used one for cheaper without the software bundle would have been fine.justin-eb

Let me begin by saying, I started off on a nice ol' Beringer UM2. I upgraded to M-Audio and then to Focusrite and from there I dove right into the Scarlett series and got an 8i6. I couldn't believe how much of a punch Scarlett packed for the price range, it was a pretty good interface and for it being my 3rd interface I was more than happy. I just decided to upgrade 4-5 months ago to the Clarett+ 2Pre and I'm absolutely in love with it. Much better preamps, and louder gain levels for both monitors & headphones. Take Scarlett, solidify it, and you have Clarett+ (not to mention the much-favored sound of "AIR") I highly recommend Clarett+ to any beginner/professional looking to dabble into Focusrite's incredible line-up of audio interfaces.wxndr

I use the interface for my guitars into my computer for virtual amping, and also to record. It was working great until I connected the headphone out of a small lunchbox amp (a 6505 Piranha) to the line in on the Focusrite and the interface screeched at me, then lit up like a Christmas tree, and has stayed that way for 2 days. Reinstalls, removing power, etc, it refuses to register in Device Manager in Win 10. I'm pretty sure its toast, and I don't know why. The use case is something its already made for. Other than this incident Ive had Focusrite interfaces before and they were great, this is the first one out of three over the last 4 yrs that I've had a problem with. The others were sold/traded to others so I could upgrade to whatever the next one was. Now im at a place where I need more inputs and outputs, so I got the 8I6-up until this incident it was exactly what I needed for the size footprint that I have. The software routing is a little wonky, and Id like that it had more tactile button control rather than having to use Focusrite control for everything, but overall its a solid unit. I can't find any situations like mine on the Web, Reddit, etc, so this particular incident sounds to be pretty limited.Cedric S

I am using this interface primarily to record 2 stereo pairs from my Elektron Octatrack and multitracking with Ableton Live and Adobe Audition. I'm monitoring on JBL LSR205s & KRK KNS8400s. The build quality of the interface is very nice and the knobs feel durable with no wobble and a good amount of rotation pressure that feels precise and smooth. I have am experiencing very low latency on OSX El Capitan and successfully multitracked into my iPad using Beatmaker. The compressors sounds nice, especially for the price range. I find them to be perfectly subtle; there to enhance your audio recording rather than act as an effect. I think that's a smart decision for an onboard compressor since you could get more dramatic, pumping, compression in your DAW if that's what you're going for. Overall I'm really happy with this interface. I could hardly find reviews of this line so hopefully this is helpful for anyone else looking at these.Bradley

A good interface, that has clear pre-amps, and functional monitoring options. Four inputs make this appropriate for either small studio, or live use.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This Audio Interface is really good. Was recognised immediately by my DAW software and didn’t need any special drivers for my Mac despite its age. Have already recorded a couple of tracks for our band as we are all isolated at present and recording our own parts remotely. Highly recommended and affordable.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I got this interface because it was compact, affordable, and offered great speed with USB 3.0. However, the Yamaha Steinberg driver that it uses is a total disaster. It has an incompatibility with my chipset (Windows 10 with an AMD ryzen cpu) that makes the USB 3.0 functionality completely unusable. Very frustrating. I have also heard that the Yamaha driver causes other windows to have issues when using certain DAWs. It is really frustrating because I love the device itself and it's design. If you are going to put all this effort in on the hardware, make sure you have the software to go with it. Feels like wasted potential.Jeff

Integrates well with Cubase but not a requirement. Great bargain and a ton of power with a small footprint. Of course the limitation is two inputs, but sometimes depending on application that is enough. Good sounding with quality preamps and zero-latency monitoring of input signals. Cubase AI comes free with it and is also very powerful, although it's a bit complicated to set up. User just needs to be patient and follow the instructions. MacPro Video offers some very good instruction at a reasonable cost, but there are other instructional videos out there that are free via YouTube. Be willing to start off slow and you should have little or no problems.dpuc_0

Looked for what seemed like ages for a confirmed working and decent quality audio interface for the usb c ipad pros. A lot of manufacturers are pretty non-committal. Paired it with a usb c hub and everything works immediately and well. High quality hardware, great sounding pre and latency is not to be found of any concern. If you are looking to make music on the ipad pro with a usb c then this is a viable option to consider. Works with garageband too with no issues. Comes with some software but not worth trading garageband for. I did not buy the 50 buck version of their app. Maybe better?KC

Compact solid unit. Well designed and made. Great provision of inputs and outputs. Sits on the desk nicely alongside the computer. Really good price with masses of usable software. Be aware the software is a mixed blessing. There is so much it is tedious to download. I am really happy. It can do much more but I just wanted it for basic multi-track recording at the work desk.Geoff F.

My application is a dedicated MIDI/audio interface for a VirTual Theater Pipe organ. A MIDIfied console from an actual 1920's Theater pipe organ drives a complex MIDI switching system which in turn drives a sample player. MIDI information is transferred to and from the console, utilizing the USB 96. The audio from the sample player is also output to reverb and power amps via the USB 96, so it has a lot of work to do. The USB 96 never misses a beat with 8-channel two-way MIDI as well a very clean audio stream duplicating all the complexities of a WurliTzer theater organ. The unit replaces both a MidMan Anniversary 2 x 2 which would occasionally give MIDI glitches and a Creative Labs sound card, a necessary move when organ operations were transferred from a desktop to a laptop and from Win7 to Win10. Installation was seamless, and the unit performs perfectly in its application. It works so well, I got a second one for music production on my DAW, which is also used for sample processing for the organ. These devices are rock solid.Les

This is definitely not for beginners or those who are not skilled at technology. I have spent hours trying to get this to work and am still not there. I called Eat my Beats and they referred me to the Presonus company who do not answer calls or return calls so you are on your own with this. A friend who took a college sound class told me it took him 3 weeks to get this to work for him. He wasn't able to help me with mine sadly. It appears that the Studio One DAW that comes with this can do many things which keeps me plugging away. I have until January 12 to return and I may do that yet if others who do sound recordings can't help me get this going. So just beware, if you want to plug it in and start recording right away it won't happen. So far I'm very disappointed.Pat

The pre-amp for the mic input tames a tube amp well enough to pull off serviceable vocals. This is also great for getting quick ideas down on an iPad. It's built like a tank.Keebler

I use Garageband for making beats on my MacBook and wanted to get a dedicated recording interface. I was looking for something inexpensive that would also work with my iPAD. I also wanted something simple that I could use with a MIC and guitar. After doing some research, I was told I should consider the Audiobox series from PreSonus, or the UR series from Steinberg. I was on a low budget, so the ninety-nine bux for the UR12 is what I went with. Overall, I am very happy with the UR12, it is built like a talk, works with both my laptop and iPAD and it came with a free copy of Cubase AI. I'm able to easily control the volume of my SHURE mic and my Ibanez electric guitar with no problems at all. I didn't notice that there isn't a separate knob for the headphones, but that's not a deal breaker for me since my powered speakers have volume controls right on the front of them. I mean for only ninety-nine bux , this unit does do a lot. I was kinda surpassed reading the previous review on the UR12 because for only fifty bux more, he should have considered the UR22. I did my research before I bought this item, so I knew it had all the features I needed. If it turns out I don't like it, MF has a good return policy. But so far, I'm a happy camper with the UR12!OompaLoompa44

A very good buy indeed. Works brilliantly when loan the driver from the manufacturers website. If wanna simple card for computer and sound up to standard this is very good. Output inputs are nice with RCA connection and for headphones there is an optional connection. Volume nod is great and cool. I dont record any with this but for me the sound side to my computer was the very need. Led lights are very static and cool too. Me like much!!!Sinfonius

For any kind of studio set-up, keeping it simple with great gear that doesn't break the bank but sounds good is where you start. This is one of those items. It's not an ISA, but it's complimentary to one, as this is what you can use along side it as long as it has it's digital card, have two extra channels, and you can record literally anything at seriously great quality, what you would call clean, so you can throw even digital effects on it through your DAW and get exactly what you're looking for. Also it works without having to be plugged into USB, what I do is run it into a Zoom H4N Pro and I record multi-track on the go long as I can plug in the 18i8. It's all about what you can do with your equipment, and this is exactly what I needed.buffalorider

I've been doing bedroom recording for a long time but recently needed to record a live band. Been a massive learning curve and I'm nowhere near testing this product to its full potential, but what I can definitely say is: Great preamps: managed to achieve a very good vocal sound with what I'd consider to be a pretty crappy mic and very decent representations of mic'd cabinets Latency when recording 4 channels simultaneously so far was basically non existent Integration with Logic Pro. Plug and play for inputs, monitoring required download of software and a frustrating hour before I realised I needed to update to latest version of El Capitan to get this to work (hence the 4 stars as I hate having to update mac software, what with the whole 'which of these updates will basically destroy a perfectly good machine I payed a grand a half for thing). works like a treat now, two distinct mixes available for either two artists recording or one and me monitoring. Very pleased with first usage, but as I say, newbie to live recording having very limited, track at a time experience previously. Basically if you want a way to reliably get a good few nice, clean, usable signals in simultaneously, this is a great choice and well worth the extra few quid on the smaller units. Now to figure out what the hell to do with them once I've got them!Richard

The interface I bought was factory refurbished. Except for a dent on one corner the rest of the unit was flawless. After installing the appropriate drivers from the factory website it fired right up and connected with Reaper effortlessly. What makes the 18i8 so desirable is its ability to get 8 more XLR channels for a total of 12 using the ADAT connection. If you do alot of remote recording, having this flexibility really is a lifesaver. I'm not an equipment prude. I use Behringer and Korg interfaces too. They all have their purposes and this one is just as awesome!dpet6119

Look no further if you want something affordable yet highly useable. I have been using focusrite products for some years now. It seems they nailed it with the 2nd generation. The pre amps are perfect and the sound quality is top notch. Very easy to set up. Download the drivers from focusrites website, install the! And plug in the device. Boom. Good to go. If you are considering creating your own professional quality music and don't want to break the bank, then buy this like yesterday!!!Ded2me

I have used this USB interface steadily for about a week now and so far so good. I had to buy it when I switched to recording on a Mac because my old m-audio interface is now obsolete and there aren't any new Mac drivers. The only issue I had was in using the new box as my input with the Mac's direct output to headphones for monitoring. This created some sort of ungrounded circuit which resulted in a lot of buzzing. When I switched to using the box as the monitor instead, everything was fine. Clear sound, no problems. Works immediately with Mac – no need to download drivers. I wish the metal switches on the front were push buttons instead because they seem a little flimsy, but they work, so that's my only complaint.Paul

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 interfaces perfectly with my Mac (running OS X El Capitan) and the mic preamps are excellent. The setup makes recording to my DAW (Logic Pro X) a fun, latency-free experience. The small KRK studio monitors are just right for nearfield track mixing in my small studio. I think the front port bass on the KRK RP4G3's is helpful in my acoustically less-than-ideal studio environment. This is quality home studio gear that makes recording & mixing excellence possible at a budget price. The online buying experience at ProAudioStar was terrific; their website is easy to navigate, secure and offered this complete package at a very low price. Handling, packaging & shipping were top of the line. I highly recommend the products and ProAudioStar to anyone.surlymac2

I got this interface because it was compact, affordable, and offered great speed with USB 3.0. However, the Yamaha Steinberg driver that it uses is a total disaster. It has an incompatibility with my chipset (Windows 10 with an AMD ryzen cpu) that makes the USB 3.0 functionality completely unusable. Very frustrating. I have also heard that the Yamaha driver causes other windows to have issues when using certain DAWs. It is really frustrating because I love the device itself and it's design. If you are going to put all this effort in on the hardware, make sure you have the software to go with it. Feels like wasted potential.Jeff

Integrates well with Cubase but not a requirement. Great bargain and a ton of power with a small footprint. Of course the limitation is two inputs, but sometimes depending on application that is enough. Good sounding with quality preamps and zero-latency monitoring of input signals. Cubase AI comes free with it and is also very powerful, although it's a bit complicated to set up. User just needs to be patient and follow the instructions. MacPro Video offers some very good instruction at a reasonable cost, but there are other instructional videos out there that are free via YouTube. Be willing to start off slow and you should have little or no problems.dpuc_0

Looked for what seemed like ages for a confirmed working and decent quality audio interface for the usb c ipad pros. A lot of manufacturers are pretty non-committal. Paired it with a usb c hub and everything works immediately and well. High quality hardware, great sounding pre and latency is not to be found of any concern. If you are looking to make music on the ipad pro with a usb c then this is a viable option to consider. Works with garageband too with no issues. Comes with some software but not worth trading garageband for. I did not buy the 50 buck version of their app. Maybe better?KC

I bought the Rode AI-1 for my mic setup about a year ago. I was surprised at how well built (Materials and overall feel) the unit was for the price. It's a simple piece that in my opinion is a great long term investment from a trusty brand. I'm pretty tough on products I buy and I wish I could give it some sort of negative feedback but genuinely, it's so simple and well built I can't. I've paired it with the RODE Procaster Broadcast Quality Dynamic Microphone and a mixer. Great setup with pristine sound.James H.

Taking the product out of its packaging, I was immediately impressed by how dense a lump it is. It feels very solid and well made. I bought this to have a high quality headphone output with manual volume control, plus the ability to hook up the XLR microphones I already have to my computer. At both of these functions it works perfectly. Very happy with this purchase.William

The AI-1 integrated with my Mac set up seamlessly. Unlike some older devices (such as the FastTrack Pro I upgraded from), the AI-1 can be control with the Mac OS X audio controls on your keyboard. The headphone amplifier works really well and the mic/quarter inch input delivers really high quality sound for home music recordings (using Logic Pro), podcast recordings and more recently Zoom calls. I don't like desk clutter and this device is about the size of an Apple TV and connects through one cable which I run through my external monitor. One issue that the upgrade to Mac OS X Catalina fixed was that I would have to unplug and plug back in the audio interface, so my computer didn't automatically use my external monitor's audio. However, that is no longer an issue. Another small issue, that seemed to be fixed with the upgrade to Catalina, was that I would hear a very faint radio signal in my headphones, but it didn't impact my recordings at all. Finally, I have this AI-1 connected to a pair of JBL monitor speakers through the balanced line outs on the back of the unit. The audio output is incredible. If you're looking for a minimalist, high-quality USB audio interface, the AI-1 is an excellent choice.Krishnan

This is a great product for me! I use ths to record my Mic'd guitar amp to record into GB, Scorecloud or any other recrding software. The Gain enables you to hone in on volume control while recording to raise recording volume withought turning up the amp volume or to minimize fuzz sound from an idle amp not in standby coming through in the recording. You can moniter on headphonrs or split your instrument to a moniter control board, and includes speaker outputs to run your amps output in stereo through speakers. Sound quality is excellent! If you are seriously ameature and need a simple usb plug in for now, consuder searching online for a 1/4-usb patch instrument cable for your instrument or mic, or whateve combo you need, they make them all, for about 15-25 $ as a quick easy solution.Pat

Had issues with connecting the device to the ipad. The mic input works fine on garageband and other apps. For guitar however, in amplitube specifically, it will not put out a signal. After much research I found that the itrack uses its right channel for guitar and amplitube uses the left ios channel, therefore rendering it tricky to use exclusively for AT (stick to iRig, it's way easier) I've had to order a 3/4" jack to 3-pin male xlr from amazon to see if I can patch the guitar line into the left mic xlr of the itrack, although i'm not sure if it will work. If you use only garageband and are most interested in the mic input you will be fine.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I bought this to use with Garage Band on my laptop at home. Its got 2 inputs, one XLR with +48 and one 1/4 for instruments. Its important to note that in GB you must tell it per track which channel youre using- it will default to channel 1 which is the mic. To use a guitar you have to change it to ch2. After that it is super easy. Great value. Very affordable and comes with the cables you need to hook it up.mr.shatters

This item was perfect for me requirements. Installing the Fireface UFX ii and its software went without a hitch. It now just sits on my desk and works perfectly. I can easily play the Pro Tools demo song with a buffer of 32 samples and no dropouts! Much better performance than my old firewire interfaces.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.