[cs_content][cs_section bg_color=”#ffffff” parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;border-style: solid;border-width: 0px;border-color: #e5e5e5;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px 7%;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”man”]Audio Interface[/x_custom_headline][x_line style=”border-top-width: 1px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-left” style=”max-width: 900px;margin: 0.825em auto 0;font-size: 18px;”]
Key to setting up a home recording studio environment to a reasonable standard is a sound card or an audio interface. A sound card or audio card is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates input and output of audio signals to and from a computer. An audio interface on the other hand is an external device that provides the same function.
[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”#ffffff” parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px 0px;border-style: solid;border-width: 0px;border-color: #e5e5e5;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”none” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/focusrite-1.jpg” alt=”Focusrite” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”” class=”man”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”#fafafa” parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto 45px;padding: 0px 45px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”cs-ta-center man”]Desktop Audio Interface[/x_custom_headline][x_line style=”border-top-width: 1px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-left” style=”max-width: 900px;margin: 0.825em auto 0;font-size: 18px;”]
There are a lot of audio interfaces on the market, below is a selection of low to mid range options that could suite a home studio budget. There are a number of considerations to be aware of when looking around. Generally more expensive studio standard audio interfaces are rack mount as opposed to the desktop ones featured here. The external audio interfaces previewed here could be ideal in a basic home studio set-up (click image to link to website). Prices can range greatly dependent on performance criteria such as number of and types of connectors and higher I/O count. Among the large array of features the main considerations should be on three key areas.
1. DAW compatibility
2. Interface connectors
3. Number of Inputs/outputs (I/O)
[/cs_text][x_accordion][x_accordion_item title=”Interfaces” open=”false”]Interface – to bring together; connect or mesh – computer hardware or software designed to communicate information between hardware devices, between software programs, between devices and programs, or between a device and a user – The word “interface” can be applied to a number of different areas in the home studio/ music learning environment.
- Audio Interface – sound card
- Graphic Interface – screen graphical display
- Program Interface – less used as an actual term …..expand here….relates to below…
API’s (Application programming interface), SDK’s (Software Development Kit) & VST (Virtual software technology)/plugins are used in the connecting process between stages how effectively are processes executed here? How much of a sound or signal/set of values arrives successfully at the destination with the full embodiment of what it should be?[/x_accordion_item][/x_accordion][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto 45px;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/6″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/audio-interface-mbox.jpg” alt=”Placeholder” link=”true” href=”https://www.avid.com/US/products/mbox/features” title=”” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £120 / $199 / 1300kr” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/6″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/focusrite-scarlett2i2.jpg” alt=”Placeholder” link=”true” href=”http://global.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i2″ title=”” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £120 / $199 / 1300kr” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/6″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/presonus.jpg” alt=”presonus” link=”true” href=”https://www.presonus.com/products/AudioBox-22VSL” title=”” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £199 / $249 / 2157kr” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/6″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ur22-steinberg.jpg” alt=”ur22-steinberg” link=”true” href=”http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/audio_interfaces/ur_series/models/ur22.html” title=”” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £121 / $201 / 1311kr” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/6″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/roland.jpg” alt=”roland” link=”true” href=”http://www.rolandus.com/products/duo-capture_ex/” title=”” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £175 / $239 / 1550kr” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/6″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/irig.jpg” alt=”i-rig” link=”true” href=”http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irighd/” title=”” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £79 / $100 / 650kr” class=”man”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”#272727″ parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto 30px;padding: 0px 5%;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”cs-ta-center man” style=”color: #fff;”]Rack Mount Audio Interface[/x_custom_headline][x_gap size=”50px”][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”rounded” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Focusrite-Scarlett.jpg” alt=”Focusrite Scarlet” link=”true” href=”http://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-18i20″ title=”Scarlet” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £348 / $499 / 4251kr”][x_gap size=”50px”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”rounded” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/presonus-1.jpg” alt=”presonus” link=”true” href=”https://www.presonus.com/products/FireStudio-Project” title=”Fire Studio Project” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £237 / $339 / 2887kr”][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”rounded” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/apogee.jpg” alt=”apogee” link=”true” href=”http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/ensemble” title=”Apogee Ensemble ” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £1814 / $2,595 / 22,118kr”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”rounded” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/apolllo.jpg” alt=”apolllo” link=”true” href=”http://www.uaudio.com/apollo” title=”Apollo 8″ target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £1663 / $2,379 / 20,229kr”][x_gap size=”50px”][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto 75px;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text style=”max-width: 900px;margin: 0.825em auto 0;font-size: 18px;”]
[icon type=”thumbs-up”] As the price grows so does the performances click images to link to the product website. It is not necessary to spend a large amount of money for a basic home-studio set-up unless you have ideas for expansion in the future.
[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”#fafafa” parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;border-style: solid;border-width: 0px;border-color: #e5e5e5;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”rounded” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Apogee-Symohony-io-8-8.jpg” alt=”Apogee” link=”true” href=”http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/symphony-io/8×8-configuration” title=”Apogee Symphony” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £2313 / $3,295 / 28,024kr” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”rounded” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Avid-HD-I-O-16-16.jpg” alt=”Avid” link=”true” href=”https://www.avid.com/US/products/HD-IO/features#overview” title=”AVID HD I-O” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £2105 / $2,999 / 25,506kr” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px”][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”man”]Interface Connectors[/x_custom_headline][x_line style=”border-top-width: 1px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-left” style=”max-width: 900px;margin: 0.825em auto 0;font-size: 18px;”]
There are four cable options commonly used for connecting an audio interface to a computer. USB is the slowest option, but it is still fast enough to work sufficiently for a basic home studio set-up. If you are just starting out USB will do the job fine, whichever connection cable option you opt for make sure the computer has the corresponding port to connect with.
USB – Slowest data transfer rate but sufficient for cheaper home studio interfaces.
Firewire – A faster transfer rate than USB often used for more expensive home studio interfaces.
Thunderbolt – Way faster than either USB or Firewire this has recently become popular with newer semi-pro interfaces.
PCIE – Offers additional processing power and extremely fast data-transfer, the standard connection for professional interfaces.
[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”#ffffff” parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px 0;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto 45px;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”man”]i-Track Dock[/x_custom_headline][x_line style=”border-top-width: 1px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-left” style=”max-width: 900px;margin: 0.825em auto 0;font-size: 18px;”]
Looking at the other end of the audio interface market for a more mobile end of the spectrum you can see tablet docking stations like this one from Focusrite.
[/cs_text][x_gap size=”50px”][x_image type=”rounded” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/iTrack-Dock.jpg” alt=”Focusrite” link=”true” href=”http://itrack.focusrite.com/products/itrack-dock” title=”Focusrite iTrack Dock” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £175 / $249 / 2126kr” class=”man”][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto 45px;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”man”]i-Track Pocket[/x_custom_headline][x_line style=”border-top-width: 1px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-left” style=”max-width: 900px;margin: 0.825em auto 0;font-size: 18px;”]
And even the iTrack pocket for phones….
[/cs_text][x_gap size=”50px”][x_image type=”rounded” src=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/iTrack-Pocket.jpg” alt=”Focusrite” link=”true” href=”http://itrack.focusrite.com/products/itrack-pocket” title=”Focusrite iTrack Pocket” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Price: approx £87 / $125 / 1063kr” class=”man”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]