I finally did it - I got a new audio interface and i'm going to talk to you about it.
My old sound card is kind of junk... and I hate it. I picked it up for like 40 bucks a
couple years ago second hand. It makes these weird clicks when I'm recording, so that part of it is
pretty much useless, and it was picking up interference for my eGPU. It was originally meant
to hold me over for just a little while until I upgraded, but y'know how those things go. It just
never really happened... until now that is. Before I go any further let's unbox it.
Let's get into the details of this thing... talk some specs.
It has a USB 2 connection with an external power supply. I was looking for something that wasn't
bus powered because, honestly I don't really trust the dinky little power supply in my mac mini.
An issue I have with it in this respect is that it doesn't actually have a power switch.
It's always on, and that does concern me when it comes to the longevity of the device.
Four channels in. These are XLR TRS combo jacks with Midas preamps. Each channel has a line level
/ instrument level toggle. A 20 db pad. A gain pot (of course) and LEDs for
signal and clipping. A more complex meter here would be nice but for such a cheap interface
I'm not going to complain. There's a toggle on the back for 48 volt
phantom power - this applies across all four channels. Inserts for routing your
inputs through external hardware before being captured by the interface. It also has MIDI.
There are four channels out, and how these work gets a little bit tricky. Main stereo output
has balanced XLR and TRS jacks. These, along with the headphone jack, output channels 1 and 2. Main
and headphones each have their own level control knob. You can also live monitor your inputs, this
knob will mix between playback and the inputs. The stereo mono toggle switches between monitoring the
inputs as two stereo pairs or four mono channels. The difference between the main outputs and the
headphones is that the main will monitor all four inputs whereas the headphones only monitor two at
a time. The monitor A/B toggle switches between channels 1/2 and 3/4. There are also four playback
unbalanced RCA and TS jacks in A and B groups, consisting of channels 1/2 and 3/4 respectively.
I really hope that all made sense - I'm, like, maybe like 80% sure that that's correct.
For recording and playback resolution,
it supports up to 24 bits at 192khz. I guess that's why they call it the 404... HD!
For mac users, it is core audio compliant, so you just can plug and play. Well,
okay you have to select it as an audio input and output in the sound control panel, but
no drivers are needed. For windows users you're gonna have to install
the driver... but I can't help you there since I use a real computer... fight me!
So far I really like it. It has a pretty decent build and the pots are kind of
silky smooth! I was impressed by the sound. The noise floor on both the inputs and outputs is
quite low. On my yamaha monitors, everything is detailed and crisp. I could be wrong about
this though because years of going to the club has completely destroyed my hearing.
I know earplugs are not cool... but hearing loss is even less cool. Protect your ears kids.
Anyway, here's a quick demo using it with my Røde NTG3... cut the music!
Here I am recording in GarageBand, as you can see I am recording on channel 1 right now.
The little light is blinking with the signal, of course I have it set to line level. Phantom power
is turned on because this is a phantom powered condenser microphone. I don't have a pad on. If
I turn this knob here you can hear that it'll come down and I can turn it up and if it gets
too loud it starts clipping... oh, you don't want that.This is probably a nice place to be with it.
To monitor it properly, I have this knob turned all the way to input so
I can hear it in my headphones. It is currently switched to mono so I hear it
in both of my ears. On stereo I would just be hearing it in my left channel. I can see
this interface working very well as part of a video editing suite like i'm using it right now,
or basic music production, or even for podcast recording.
So, it's a versatile piece of kit especially (I think I say especially way too much) for less than
$200. In fact i don't think that there's anything else on the market that offers four discrete
XLR inputs in the same price range. This was a rather brief rundown so if you have any questions
please leave them below. If you like the video, please leave it a like (no pressure) subscribe
if you'd like to see more (maybe a little bit of pressure on that one) My next video will likely be
another vintage lens review, weather permitting. Regardless, I hope to see you next Thursday.