Aftertouch is the feature most keyboard controllers promise but few deliver well. It adds a whole dimension of expression to your playing, letting you shape notes after the initial strike by pressing harder on the keys. In my testing over the past several months, I found that the gap between a controller with great aftertouch … Read more
Finding the right audio interface can make or break your recording experience, and few names carry as much weight as Focusrite Scarlett. With over six million units sold worldwide, the Scarlett lineup has become synonymous with home recording, podcasting, and music production. But with multiple generations and models ranging from the compact Solo to the … Read more
If you record anything more serious than a Zoom call on your laptop, your built-in sound card is the bottleneck. We’ve been producing on laptops for years and the moment we plugged in a dedicated USB-C audio interface, our recordings sounded like they belonged on an actual release. Not louder, not fancier – cleaner, with … Read more
If you have ever tried to plug your electric guitar directly into your computer’s built-in sound card, you already know the result sounds thin, noisy, and completely lifeless. After testing dozens of setups in my home studio over the past few years, I can tell you with certainty that the best audio interfaces for guitarists … Read more
If you have ever plugged a condenser microphone straight into your laptop’s built-in audio jack, you already know what disappointment sounds like. Thin, noisy, and absolutely nothing like the warm vocal tone you hear on your favorite records. That is exactly the problem the best audio interfaces for recording vocals solve. An audio interface is … Read more
I have spent the last several months recording vocals, guitars, bass, and podcasts through the entire Universal Audio Volt interface lineup. These USB audio interfaces have become some of the most popular home studio interfaces on the market, and for good reason. Universal Audio built their reputation on legendary outboard gear like the 610 tube … Read more
Streaming audio used to be the part everyone dreaded. You’d get your mic sounding great, then spend hours fighting cable routing just to capture game sound alongside your voice. I’ve been there, and it’s exhausting. That’s exactly where loopback comes in. Loopback is a feature that routes your computer’s system audio back through the interface, … Read more
I have been using the Shure SM7B for over six years across podcast sessions, livestreams, and voiceover work, and I can tell you the mic itself rarely disappoints. The bottleneck is almost always the interface sitting between the SM7B and your computer. The Shure SM7B is a broadcast-grade dynamic microphone with notoriously low output, which … Read more
If you’ve ever tried plugging a hardware synth into your computer and ended up with a rat’s nest of adapters, you already know why the best audio interfaces with MIDI ports exist. After spending the last three months testing eight different units in my home studio, I want to share what actually works for musicians … Read more
When I built my first home studio, I figured a 2-input interface would be plenty. Then I tried to mic a five-piece drum kit and realized just how fast you run out of channels. A high-channel audio interface is the single biggest upgrade you can make when your projects start demanding more microphones, more instruments, … Read more