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Audio interface buying guide

Choose the right hub for your home recording studio

An audio interface links sound or music sources with your computer’s digital audio software. Think of it as the inputs and outputs for the virtual mixing board/recorder inside your computer.

audio interface

You need five things to begin home recording with a computer:

  1. Signal sources (an instrument and/or a microphone)
  2. An audio interface
  3. A fairly recent computer with plenty of RAM
  4. Recording software (known as a digital audio workstation, or DAW)
  5. Monitor speakers and/or headphones

What does the interface do with the signals?

Your interface features two-way conversion — analog-to-digital and, on the way back out of the computer, digital-to-analog, so that your computer and speakers (or headphones) will each get the set of signals it needs.

The quality of converters within interfaces does vary, generally in relationship to the price you pay, so be sure to evaluate interface choices with your end goal in mind. A typical podcast doesn’t need pristine processing, but a quality demo for a record company will.

back of audio interface

Get connected

Here's a list of the connectors you might see on a typical interface:

  • Headphone jack
  • Line inputs for keyboards and other line-level sources. Use ¼" TRS cables for stereo sources.
  • XLR inputs for microphones. With most mic inputs, you'll find an associate +48v switch, which applies "phantom" power to the microphone inputs.
  • Line Outputs for your powered monitor speakers.
  • MIDI Input and Output for keyboards, drum machines, and other components that have matching connections.
  • USB ports for connecting your computer.
  • Instrument input — plug your guitar or bass in here.
front of audio interface

The knobs and meters

  • Level controls — adjust the signal strength of your microphones and instruments.
  • Monitor mix control — turn it all the way to one side, and you hear the signal as it goes into the interface. Turn it all the way to the other, and you hear what's coming out of the computer. In the middle you hear both at equal strength.
  • Output level control — volume control for headpphones and monitor speakers.
  • Signal level meters — help you set the proper signal strength for your microphones and instruments.

Shopping tips

So if you’re shopping interfaces, make sure to inventory your current gear and computer and make sure that the interface you choose can easily integrate with all that you own.

Our product descriptions will give you all the information you’ll need about the connections you’ll need to make. And the accessories tab is a great place to find the cables you’ll need.

The surprising thing about home recording is that starting out doesn’t need to be expensive. Your studio can grow with your personal ambitions. Even a basic interface, adjusted correctly, can get a perfectly good signal into your computer for processing and editing. And there are plenty of solid quality, inexpensive microphones and monitor speakers, too.

Basic home recording setups have enabled thousands of people to generate podcasts, demos, radio dramas, and ambient soundscapes, among other projects. Hit songs have been made by so-called "bedroom producers." The only real restricting factor is the time you have to spend and the limits of your imagination.

  • Ken

    Posted on 9/29/2019

    Does an audio interface take the place of the sound card in the computer that you are using - let's say any audio that the computer encounters (playing a CD, playing a DVD or watching a YouTube video)?

  • RON from SAINT CLAIR SHORES

    Posted on 9/23/2018

    WOULD LIKE TO RECORD MY BAND IN REAL TIME LIVE NEED MIXER WITH 8 CHANNEL CAPABILITIES INPUT TO 8 CHANNEL SOFTWARE ON COMPUTER

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