For customers in outlying areas of the country, the price of the Extended Warranty may be marginally higher, due to the potential for higher collection and redelivery transport costs. If that wasn’t enough, you can customise your advanced monitoring controls by using the assignable ‘F’ (function) button. You can assign the function button to any of the interfaces monitoring controls and program it to suit your needs. The fully immersive UI and sleek design make it one of the most streamlined interfaces on the market. JFET instrument inputs and 48V Phantom Power

Audient EVO 16 - Sound On Sound

Audient started out as manufacturers of large‑ and medium‑format analogue mixing consoles, drawing on the immense experience of designer Dave Dearden. When they moved into making audio interfaces, one of the key selling points was their ability to apply this analogue design expertise in the new sector. Audient’s ID range thus combines ergonomic desktop form factors with mic preamps and other circuit designs closely related to those used in their flagship ASP consoles. The market for budget, entry‑level interfaces is mostly made up of newcomers to recording. These customers, on the one hand, benefit from designs that present the easiest possible learning curve; but on the other, they’re also unburdened by preconceptions as to how an audio interface should work. Consequently, Audient have put a lot of work into the usability and ergonomics of the EVO series, and they’ve not been afraid to depart from established convention. The EVO 4 and EVO 8 look nothing like any other audio interface I’ve ever seen, and present a refreshingly minimal and friendly user interface.The compact and portable design make the EVO perfect for musicians on the move. Whether you’re recording vocals for your latest song or podcasting with friends on the go, the EVO is the perfect choice. The EVO interface comes complete with a professional software bundle including premium-grade plugins to get you started straight out of the box. It even features Cubase LE - a streamlined version of the award-winning digital audio workstation providing everything you need to make and record music. Features The much touted Smartgain feature has not previously interested me on their smaller interfaces for a simple guitar or vocal, but on an 8-channel device, for setting multiple levels like with a drum kit or small ensemble, it makes more sense. I am yet to test it but I assume/hope it leaves enough headroom on super-fast HF sources like ride cymbals and tambourines. For musicians who don’t want to faff around doing boring tech stuff, this can get you sorted in seconds, and you always have the option to manually tweak anything if you choose.

EVO 16 by Audient: 24x24 audio interface for EUR 469 EVO 16 by Audient: 24x24 audio interface for EUR 469

Audient’s recently announced EVO 16 promises a glimpse of things to come for the interface market, but how well does it actually perform? See it and hear it as three Experts give their verdict… Evolving The Interface Please note that this extended warranty is currently only available on products sold within the UK, EU or EEA, and is subject to the terms and conditions as detailed on the extended warranty certificate provided. I’m a big fan of Audient gear. I own a Gen 1 iD14 and I used to teach at a college that had both an ASP8024 and an ASP4816. They all work and sound great. Take that as a brand endorsement before we even start. The total gain range on the mic preamps is 58dB, and the alignment is quite nicely judged. At one end of the scale, you can get a healthy level from close‑miked speech with a moving‑coil dynamic mic, and on the other, you can record drums without clipping. Equivalent Input Noise is less than ‑127.5dB (presumably A‑weighted, though this is not stated) and the A‑D converters deliver a dynamic range of 112.5dB A‑weighted; the practical upshot is that even with the headroom that Smartgain leaves, the noise floor of the EVO 16 itself is always going to be way, way below that of your source. Input impedance in high‑impedance mode is 500kΩ, which is on the low side, but of course you can easily attach a DI box if you feel this is loading down your electric guitar.If I were looking for this many inputs in an easy to use, high-quality interface on a budget, there’s quite a few options these days. And I would throw the EVO 16 right in amongst them to audition.