If you want to know what is an audio interface, then you probably mean how can I record my. Voice, guitar, keyboard, Ukelele, or anything else that makes a sound! So you know you probably need an interface  but you need to know more!

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Welcome to our complete beginners guide to audio interfaces. Here we explain all the basics so you can choose the best interface for your home recording studio. Because an audio interface is, quite simply, what you need to get sound in and out of your computer. If you want to make a good quality recording of your voice or any instrument and hear the results so that you can mix and master your recordings, you will need an audio interface.

If that has answered your question, then you can hop straight to our post that lists all right now in 2018. You can make basic recordings with any modern computer, laptop or tablet as they all come with a built in sound card. You can improve the sound of your recordings to some extent, especially on phones and tablets, with a better microphone. However to really make a professional recording you will need an audio interface or a better sound card.

Below is some detailed info about what is an audio interface, and what it is used for, then we also have a detailed post on how to for you. I’ve got a USB Mic, do I need an interface as well? Aha, this is such a common question and a source of much confusion! You tend to think of an audio interface as a box with various inputs for mics, instruments etc and outputs for speakers and headphones. But there are lots of other devices that are effectively “audio interfaces” too.

A USB mic is a classic example. Effectively a USB microphone is a mic that contains an audio interface. This means you simply plug the mic’s USB lead into a USB port and it will work. You don’t need any other equipment. It may just be a recording mic or it may also have a headphone output too and be a complete input and output device.

There are other USB audio adapters that fit into this category. They work on their own and don’t need any other equipment. So you can get an XLR-USB cable to connect a mic up to your computer, and also guitar-USB, line out to USB etc etc. Is an audio interface the same as a sound card? Essentially yes, a sound card and an audio interface do the same basic job.

To get sound in and out of your laptop, pc, mac, tablet so that you can process and edit it you need something that turns the sound into a digital signal and back again. That’s what the soundcard or interface does. Basically, an audio interface is an external sound card, perfect for laptops and tablets, and now widely used by people with desktop computers too. Gone are the days when the only way to improve your recordings was to fit a new sound card inside your machine. You can almost certainly already record and playback with your laptop, pc, mac or tablet, but buying an audio interface will take you one step towards sounding more professional. An audio interface is the equipment that sits at the heart of any home recording studio.

Which Are The Most Popular Audio Interfaces? With so many to choose from, how do you decide which on is the best? Here are 4 of the most popular audio interfaces on sale right now. These are tried and trusted home recording studio solutions. So what is the purpose of an audio interface?

Ease of use and high quality recording – one of the main advantages of an audio interface over on-board sound cards is that, because of the greater physical size and easier accessibility, a wider range of input types can be built into the unit. So, for instance, ¼” jack guitar inputs can be included, as can full XLR microphone inputs, meaning that the device can be capable of connecting to wide range of professional recording equipment. In addition to this, audio interfaces generally feature higher quality audio quality than standard on-board sound cards. Many also have MIDI if you want to connect a keyboard controller too. How do I connect an audio interface to my computer? Most audio interfaces are USB soundcards. As long as you have an available USB port or a USB adapter in the case of a tablet then you can connect one up (you will need to check the hardware specs to make sure it will be compatible).

So USB audio interfaces are the most common and you should find one that will suit you. There are also a growing number of thunderbolt audio interfaces, and you can still buy firewire too.

Thunderbolt and firewire have the advantage of being faster, but tend to be pricier. And of course you must have one of those ports available.

As USB has got faster, most people with home recording studios find a USB recording interface is perfect for them. What is the best external soundcard or audio interface for music production? We have a sister article which looks in depth at how to decide which is the best interface for you. There is no one right answer! But briefly the audio interface that you will need very much depends on what kind of recording situations you would be aiming to use it in.

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A guitar playing, singer/ songwriter may find that a fairly straightforward audio interface with two mic inputs and two outputs (i.e. One stereo output) will be just fine, and enable recording on vocals and guitar on two separate tracks. A podcaster would look for one mic input – but if you ever plan to do interviews you might consider two so that you can each have your own mic. A band would, most likely, require something with more inputs, however, especially if they want to record all the instruments on separate tracks. The other option is just to record the main outs of a mixer, but this will not allow for individual editing of each player and singer.

A Laptop/ Computer DJ will need an audio interface with at least two stereo (or four mono) outputs. This allows the chosen DJ software to be configured with, for example, a separate cue mix via headphones and a main mix, which is sent out to the main speakers or PA. Alternatively, each ‘virtual turntable’ could be assigned its own output, and connected to a hardware DJ mixer, for more conventional mixing.

Finally when you know how many inputs and outputs you think you will need, it is a case of choosing how you want to connect – USB, Firewire or Thunderbolt. Technical terms that you may see when looking for an audio interface Latency: this is where there is a noticeable delay between the actual sound, and its playback in your headphones or speakers which can be very distracting. On modern computers, latency is not a bad as it used to be, but the standard sound cards built into computers are not great, and a dedicated interface will improve this to the point that you shouldn’t even notice any latency. So, if you’ve ever recorded a vocal part, and heard your performance delayed by fractions of a second in your headphones, or used a MIDI keyboard to play a software synthesiser, but encountered a delay between pressing a key and hearing the sound, then an audio interface will fix this problem. Zero Latency Monitoring (or Direct Monitoring): many audio interfaces have a switch to enable you to hear your sound source directly.

So if you are recording your voice, you instantly hear your voice directly in the headphones, there is no annoying delay, and this is certainly a feature to look out for. Drivers: are pieces of software that enable an audio interface to communicate with the computer. Again, they will help to reduce latency to the point where you won’t notice it. Pre-Amps: Also known as the “mic pre”, this is the microphone preamplifier, which amplifies the generally very small signal from a microphone up to a suitable level for recording. If you want to make a good recording from a microphone you will need an interface with a suitable input and good pre-amp. 48V phantom power: Some microphones need power, either to drive active circuitry, or, more usually, to polarise the plates of a condenser microphone. If you want to connect up a microphone that requires phantom power then you will need to purchase an interface with a phantom power switch.

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If you just have a dynamic microphone then this will not be an issue. MIDI: some audio interfaces also have MIDI in and out. Read our article all to find out a bit more and decide if you need to look for an audio interface with MIDI. Most modern MIDI controllers work with USB so this is not as essential to have on an audio interface as it once was.

Sample Rate: This is how many times per second that a sound is ‘sampled’ to create the digital signal. The higher the sample rate the higher the frequency range of sounds that can be recorded and processed. The standard sample rate is 44.1 kHz, which can record sounds up to about 22 kHz. We can’t hear above about 20kHz so you’d think 44.1kHz sampling was sufficient, and often it is. However sampling at higher rates (typically 88.2/96) allows the filters required in digital audio to be well outside the human hearing range, which will improve the quality. So when you are choosing an audio interface this is one of the ways of comparing them. For more information on this rather technical subject there’s a nice article here on.

Balanced/Unbalanced: Unbalanced outputs and inputs are made with ‘single-core plus screen’ cables whereas balanced outputs are ‘two-core plus screen’. (XLR and TRS inputs and outputs are balanced, whereas TS are unbalanced). Many budget interfaces are made to a price and have unbalanced inputs and outputs, which can lead to interference and what is called ‘ground loop’. If you choose balanced outputs and use balanced cables then any interference picked up by the cable is picked up equally by both cores and is cancelled out at the far end, and possible ground-loop problems also disappear because the screen connection is this time not part of the signal path. For simple one or two track recording you should be aware of these differences, but you should be able to make a good quality recording on a budget interface if connected up correctly.

If you want to know a bit more about this, Sound On Sound published a fantastic article on that attempts to demystify this topic. Finally Still confused? Please do post your questions in the comments box below and we will try and answer them for you.

We want this page to be the ultimate resource for anyone trying to understand, in plain English, exactly what is an audio interface and what does it do. If you still don’t know, we haven’t done our job! And don’t forget now you know what is an audio interface, go and read which is the – our bang up-to-date guide however and whatever you want to record.

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Hi there, I am SO hoping that someone can provide me with an effective solution. I have recently started to dabble with home recording on my laptop with some basic external equipment. Specs: Dell Inspiron Processor – Intel (R) Core (TM) i5-3337U CPU @ 1.8GHz 1.8GHz RAM – 6GB (5.89 usable) 64-bit OS Samson CO1U condenser mic & Samson Carbon 49 MIDI keyboard.

DAW – Cubase 5.1 Generally I record acoustic guitar while listening to (via headphones) / recording drum loop, then I would play both tracks back on the earphones when recording vocals. I do not directly listen to or monitor the vocals while recording. Afterwards I would like to add some additional instruments via the MIDI keyboard Problems: 1. Latency issues when recording vocals, 2. Playback issues while trying to listen to the backtrack on my headphones and recording, 3. Overall latency issues with the MIDI controller, and 4.

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Low recording levels on the plug and play Samson mic I played around with the ASIO driver settings (bitrate etc), however, this only slightly resolves my issues. I reverted back to Win 7 after Win 10 gave me SERIOUS issues with its automatic configuration of audio and mic. I know the problem is most likely with my built in “Realtech High Def” soundcard. I am planning on getting a high-performance desktop etc as soon as I can justify it, i.e. If I can prove to myself that I’m good enough on a novice level and in need of more decent equipment in order to improveBUT these issues are extremely frustrating, making it impossible for me to achieve any worthwhile outcome. As a result I mostly give up after a few attempts and revert to just playing acoustic guitar – no need to struggle with technology 😛 I’ve heard that an external audio devise could be the solution to my problems. Is this true?

If so PLEASE advise on potential ones to look for. Should I get an external soundcard or mixer? I don’t mind spending the cash (within reason) as long as it sorts my problems and effectively streamlines my recording process as described above without having to constantly mess around in my DAW settings.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE advise me in the most laymen of terms 😉 Kind regards Ehrhard. Jane Sherratt says. Hi, the problem with the C01U is it is a nice recording mic but you cannot monitor what you are recording at the same time very easily – because of the latency issues. The ideal thing would be to purchase a USB audio interface and a standard microphone rather than USB microphone. As a soloist the Scarlett Solo would be good, and for the microphone it would depend on your budget, but some kind of condenser microphone Having a dedicated i/o device like the Scarlett will help you resolve or at least minimise your latency issues, you will get a better recording from the microphone, and you should be able to use it alongside a MIDI controller. Jamie says. Hi There, thank you for getting in touch, this is such a common question that I am going to work on a complete step-by-step course for this.

Subscribe to my email newsletter and then you will hear from me as soon as it is ready, which hopefully won’t be too long. To subscribe, just go to the home page and you will see a button where you can sigh up. It’s a bit complicated to go into the entire answer right here in the comments box! Meanwhile, this other article might help too.

Regards Jane Jane. G.D.

Dear Jane, Hopfully you can help me with a chalenge. I own a Roland FP-50 Digital piano. I connected it with a Roland USB midi interface UM-one with my laptop. The drivers of the cable have bin installed. Yet my laptop doesn’t recognise my piano. If i play I see the lights in the USB midi interface flickering so that should be fine.

I work with windows 8. I also read the articel of testing my MIDI.

That doesn’t work either. Does/would an audio interface nullify these problems?

In time I want to be able to connect a guitar and a mic as well. Awayting your response, Kind regards, Floris. Jane Sherratt says.

Hi Floris, I would persevere first with the MIDI interface and get that working. Roland have an excellent technical support department, get in touch with them. It may be you have some kind of hardware fault if you really can’t find it. Getting an audio interface will be a good idea if you want to connect guitar and mic, but you really probably ought to get to grips with the interface to make sure you understand what you are doing first. It could be the way you are setting up the software.

I am sure Roland will help you sort it out. Jacob says.

I havent seen any schmatics around. If its for educationsl purposes it might be worthwhile reading up on how its done, but for anything practicle you can buy one for as low as $10.

What seems simple is actually very complex and extremely small. Any parts that might exist, (and only a geek on the computing field could answer that one) and be large enough to get a soldering iron on would be so primative sound wise that it would be a wasted effort for building anything practical. Building an interface is like saying I want to build a sound card or computer video card from scratch. If you got an old computer pull the sound card out and get a magnifying glass and take a close look. The problem is the circuits are so small you need a microscope to solder them. Boards are layered and have multiple contacts within different layers. You arent going to be able to heat up big bertha and solder between layers either.

And if you're off a degree or two or keep the heat on it too long, You fry the micro chip. You see, its not like audio stuff that started out big like tubes and transistors and eventually got smaller.

With USB and computers, The parts developed for it were never big. The parts, if you can find them are so small, you need a magnifying glass to even read whats on the board.

That stuff is wave solderd on there and its a one shot deal. It either works or they chuck it.

So my advise is like the others. If you want to learn how to make interfaces, its best to watch a robot on an assembly line in the orient build it. If you watch it long enough you may understand the precision needed to make it isnt worth developing. Big difference between analog and digital.for one thing, the high frequencies used by today's digital audio equipment require advance electronic construction techniques like SMD (surface mount devices) and so on that.do not.

lend themselves to DIY construction. I'm sure, given the small size of the audio-to-USB adapters that the circuitry is all on one or two special-purpose IC chips. You are talking about building a analog-to-digital converter here.Measure the signal voltage 44,100 times every second, convert that value to a 16-bit binary number, then buffer and synchronize that data to the USB interface. If you did get the chips necessary, all you would be doing is tacking on a few components on the front end before the signal is fed to the A-to-D converter.Actually the one area a DIY'er could make some improvement, if they knew what they were doing. One of the things that I read about the Axe-FX is that the analog front end before the A-to-D conversion 'feels' and responds like a real guitar amp.

Interesting idea, but you could end up spending hundreds of $$$ and not end up with anything any better than a $30 Behringer unit.