What’s more important to consider is the type of ports offered. Recording more than two sources at once will require a more fully-featured interface, with a greater number of inputs, and would automatically move out of the budget department. For beginners, however, this is a decent set of parameters to work within. Unless you’re planning to spend more, the most you’re going to be able to record is two mono or one stereo input/s, and outputs will be limited to - at most - a stereo pair for studio monitors and a separate headphone output. When you're looking at the most affordable audio interfaces, realistically you’re not going to find a decent interface with more than two inputs and two outputs. Read the full Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen review Best audio quality They show there’s always room for development, and the new features will help improve your productivity and recordings. There are technical improvements, with 120dB dynamic range, a new improved headphone amp, and a reworked Air mode, which adds presence to the higher frequencies of recordings.Īlthough they look similar, the new Scarletts are slicker audio interfaces with better specs and more options. The interfaces retain the same red metal casework and functional shape of the 3rd gen, although the sizes and layouts have been modified.

The Solo includes 2 inputs (1 mic XLR and 1 line/instrument jack) and 2 outputs, and the 2i2 is also 2 I/O but with 2 mic preamps (2 XLR and 2 line/instrument connectors). The latest 4th generation devices are the Solo, 2i2 and 4i4, with the first two falling very much within our budget interface remit. Slightly pricier compared to other options hereįocusrite’s long-established Scarlett USB audio interfaces are available in many shapes and sizes. And if you're in the market for a budget interface, we've got all the best offers in our Black Friday audio interface deals hub. Looking for epic music gear bargains? We're tracking all of this year's biggest savings over on our Black Friday music deals page. We've included loads more buying advice on budget interfaces at the bottom of this feature, so if you are totally new to the world of music production, you might want to jump to that first. But quality costs, right? Usually, yes, but you can now get great budget audio interfaces from around $/£60, and we have the best of these right here from big names including Focusrite, Presonus, Steinberg and Mackie. You could do all of this via a standard built-in microphone and headphone socket on your computer, but an interface adds a pro level signal path, connectors and audio conversion, meaning that what you record in and play out will be of the highest sonic quality. You can then use this audio in your tunes, and listen to the results via the same interface through your headphones or loudspeakers. Put simply, audio interfaces let you record audio from the outside world - guitars, vocals, instruments, beats, you name it - into your computer.

Mic and headphone splitter for pc