Best Audio Interface For Mac Logic Pro
Audio Recording Interface For Mac
We get a lot of audio interfaces to try out with Pro Tools, from basic budget audio interfaces to those costing several thousand pounds aimed at the semi-pro and professional market. A few days ago we were discussing amongst the team which audio interfaces we would recommend if someone asked us what we used as our Pro Tools interface. In many cases, members of the team own these interfaces. These are the 10 audio interfaces we think you should check out.
They are in no particular order Universal Audio Apollo Twin When Universal Audio announced the Apollo it caused quite a stir offering a high quality, feature packed 19' 1U audio interface which meant it was possible to use effects while tracking either to monitor the effects or print them. However, for some, the dream of an Apollo was out of reach. With the launch of the UA Apollo Twin everything changed, offering the same core features of the 19' Apollo with a reduced I/O but giving more people the chance to own an Apollo. When we were given a sneak peak at Pro Tools Expert, we knew it would be popular with Russ Hughes asking the UA team if they had 'ordered their yachts.'
Add Logic Pro X 10.4, a USB MIDI keyboard, and a pair of headphones to a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro—plus an audio interface like the wonderfully designed (and very Logic-friendly) Apogee Duet.
We were not wrong. The UA Apollo Twin has proved to be a hugely popular audio interface and for a good reason. Portable, feature-packed and best of all great sounding. The UA Apollo Twin takes some beating. As testimony to this nearly, all the Pro Tools Expert team own an Apollo Twin either as their primary or secondary audio interface for Pro Tools.
There is also a newer Universal Audio Apollo Twin MkII - read the here RME Fireface 802 Alan Sallabank was insistent that the RME Fireface 802 should be on our list. He said 'The RME has to be in there. They're the quiet, reliable workhorses that power thousands of studios, not just with interfaces but also their converters (MADI, etc.). The ARC is a beautiful piece of engineering.'
Backed up by James Ivey who described the RME Fireface 802 as 'a killer interface.' RME say 'built on the legendary Fireface 800. 60 channels of audio, high-end microphone preamps, reference class converters, a complete effects section and operation at up to 192 kHz are the base for many more features: Ultra-low latency operation with USB or FireWire, combined with the legendary RME driver stability and maintenance. Active jitter suppression, individually switchable reference levels for all inputs and outputs, full stand-alone functionality, RME’s unique DIGICheck metering and analysis toolbox, and identical operation on Windows PC and Mac. Universal Audio Apollo (Black face) Range. Already featured in our list the UA Apollo range has quickly grown to be the choice of many, you'll find plenty of the original silver faced UA Apollo interfaces gracing the racks of studios. However, the newer UA Apollo 'black face' range of audio interfaces offer even better sound by improved A/D and D/A conversion along with a greater range of versions to give more flexible I/O routing.
Improvements have also been made to the accompanying Console software and firmware giving extra features such as cascading of multiple Apollo interfaces and star clocking via Thunderbolt. Again several of the team own UA Apollos both silver and black face versions. Focusrite Red 4 Pre It's fair to say that James is our go-to guy when it comes to interfaces at the moment. His studio is overflowing great stuff. However, the new Focusrite Red 4 Pre is one interface that is going to be staying.
The Focusrite Red 4 Pre is capable of running as the HD interface for your Pro Tools HD, HDX or HD Native system. It can connect to your Mac via ~Thunderbolt for next to zero latency I/O and it gets the user into the world of Dante for audio over IP connectivity. The four built-in Clarett style Red Evolution mic pre-amps sound fantastic, in Focusrite's words: 'This is the best interface we have ever built.' Check out part 1 of James' MOTU Ultralite AVB Julian, our Audio-Over-IP specialist, wanted this on the list, as one of the new breed of audio interfaces offering an alternative connection protocol, in this case, AVB and the very flexible control software which rather than being an application is a web page served onto the network by the hardware itself. The MOTU Ultralite AVB is the latest in MOTU's popular, award-winning UltraLite interface series; the UltraLite AVB is an 18-input, 18-output audio interface with DSP mixing, wi-fi control, AVB audio networking and best-in-class analog audio quality for on-the-go mobile audio recording. Audient iD22 Small can indeed be mighty, and that can be said of the Audient iD22 100%. Firstly this unit is built like a tank.
