Buyers Guide

Choosing Your First Audio Interface

Choosing your first audio interface can easily be the most confusing part of starting your recording journey. There are what seems like hundreds of products to choose from… similar prices and seemingly similar specifications don’t help either.

We’re going to take a look at some of the most popular entry-level interfaces, break down their differences, and give our recommendation on which is best for which specific circumstance.

The products we’re going to look at are the Focusrite Scarlett Solo, the Mackie Onyx Artist, the Rode AI-1, and the Audient EVO 4.

	Audient EVO 4	Focusrite Scarlett SOLO	RODE AI-1 Interface	Mackie Onyx Artist
Inputs	2x XLR/line \| 1x line	1x XLR \| 1x line	1x XLR/line	1x XLR \| 1x line
Sample Rates	96kHz	192kHz	96kHz	192kHz
Upside	Audient Pre-Amps	High Sample Rate	Ease-of-use	Built-Like-A-Tank

Focusrite Scarlett SOLO

Possibly the most popular option in our shootout, the Scarlett SOLO is built by Focusrite, a company with a history that speaks for itself, having built interfaces, pre-amps, and mixing consoles that are used in the biggest studios in the world, and can be heard on countless records.

The SOLO is their entry-level audio interface, and packs a lot of punch with its feature-set and world class build quality. It is a 2-channel interface, including one XLR microphone input, and a separate ¼” unbalanced instrument input. Most notably, the Scarlett support recording at sample rates of up to 192kHz. This is exceptionally high for an interface at this price point.

Pros: Small footprint, solid build, and incredibly high sample rates for great recording fidelity.

Rode AI-1

Built by Rode Microphones, a company well known for the production of high quality studio microphones, The AI-1 is a simple interface targeted directly at vocalists, with a single input, and stellar pre-amp quality, recording at sample rates of up to 96kHz. If you’re looking for an option that is plug-and-play, and will allow you to start focusing on your performance as soon as possible, the Rode AI-1 is a great option.

Pros: Small footprint and easy to use!

Mackie Onyx Artist

Somewhat comparable to the Scarlett SOLO, the Onyx Artist also stands out with it’s 192kHz Sample Rate. The Mackie Onyx Artist includes one XLR/line input with Mackie’s boutique-sounding “Onyx” pre-amp, as well as a second line level input.

The unit also boasts Mackie’s “Built-Like-A-Tank” design, meaning it is designed to be road-fit.

Pros: Great recording fidelity, and fantastic build quality.

Audient EVO 4

Offering great value for money, and world-renowned Audient pre-amps the EVO 4 shines as a versatile option that does not struggle to hold its own among its contemporaries. This is largely thanks to Audient’s secret weapon, their pre-amps. Audient build some of the most high-quality pre-amps in the world, and they can be found on countless high-end mixing consoles.

Much like the other options in this comparison, theEVO 4 is a 2-channel interfaces, with two XLR/line input, and one separate JFET instrument input.