Audient

Disclaimer: as I am mostly recording acoustic music and material, this review only intends to apply to my own use and needs. I also use VSTi virtual synths but probably not as often as someone recording electro. My computer’s setup: AMD FX 8350 processor 24GB of RAM Windows 8.1 The driver (v4.01) is stable, not a single problem uin a good 30 hours of use. As for latency, I see a clear difference between 48Khz (close to the limit) and 96Khz (perfect for me). The routing interface is simple and efficient, you don’t have to waste time reading the manual which is a very good thing. As for the preamps, they lack warmth and gain compared with the external ones I own (SPL Gainstation, ART DMPA2...) but they’re still good pres for a sound interface in that price range and they can do the job if need be. I usually get into the converters through the inserts. For the price, the converters provide a good quality. The Hi-Z inputs are coherent whether you use them with a guitar or bass. The resulting sound is clean, with no excessive color added to the sound. The IDScroll feature which allows to change a parameter using the ID44’s center wheel is practical but won’t work with just any plug-in – only with those which knobs were programmed for a scrolling method. It won’t work with Guitar Rig 5, for instance. The headphone outs provide a comfortable sound quality with an acceptable output level – no risk to make your ears bleed in the end. Regarding the ARC bundle, it won’t suit just anyone: I assume that whoever buys a sound interface in that price range already owns a better DAW than Cubase LE and Cubasis. I thought you could get two free Eventide plug-ins (UltraChannel and Reverb) but no such offer is available in the user section on Audient’s website. You can access 2 tutorials and get two of your 24/48 tracks (or 10 in 16-bit) mastered at Landr. Monitoring features are very practical, and i think that as a whole this is a well-designed interface, even with its few flaws here or there. What I like most: - its very practical monitoring features (Dim, Cut, listening, mono and so on) for all situations (recording, mixing, mastering) - its ease of use - the well-thought format and placement of connectors and controls - the sound quality for such a price range What I like least: - limited use of 48Khz quality because of latency (but it’s very good at 96Khz...) - the “made in China” ON/OFF switch seems very fragile and almost go off the very first time I used it - the USB cor dis too short, unless you use it with a laptop PC - the included ARC bundle won’t be interesting to everyone

My config: Mac mini, core i5, Yosemite. For what I can tell, the interface is surprisingly heavy, its weught is quite important for such a small box, the two preamp knobs are hard to turn (a good point for precise settings) and the left knob (which is used to access different the modes ans settings) is notched and also well-built. I am a former Rme Fireface 400 user. After I stopped my homestudio a few years back, I got back to it, the most important thing for recording is know-how, good tracking and good signal processing so such a product is more than enough to get a production-oriented result. I'll get back to you later this summer to share my impressions on this interface, I'm going to the studio for one week and 150 hours of mixing ahead of me, well enough to try any interface. Enjoy! 07/20/2015 Takes 2 seconds 12 to install! Drivers found online, installing, bar gets purple, complete, and here we go. Soundwise, the hi-Z ins are clean and detailed, stable with 10 viirtual instrument tracks and a whole bunch of CPU-hungry Waves signature plugins. Beware Cubase users, just a correction, the buffer can be set from within Cubase, an ID14-dedicated tab appears, open the control panel and it's OK, works also with Logic or Pro Tools although Audient doesn't mention it in the manual (which is only 2 page long...). This question aside, the ID14 takes very well all the recording, mix and mastering processes, no problem whatsoever. It may be interesting to see how it reacts with 50 tracks at once, I'll keep you updated. I recorded a guitar (test available on AudioFanzine in the Media tab, it's a recording of an Ibanez JEM 70V Prestige, with a slight eq correction and comp), in a mix guitars sound detailed enough to make the mix sound as it should. Frankly, apart from the lacks in the manual, this is the best product I've discovered in 2015, Audient has made a great move, you can't get better for the price, we also had TC Electronic's TC Impact Twin but it was much less handy and ergonomic. I'll put online a sample from the metal band that I'm recording now, all in it will come from the ID14. A link to the very useful Audient pdf manual, which is not included in the small box.. http://audient.com/sites/default/files/id14_manual_v1.1en.pdf 07/28/2015 With 30 tracks, the interface takes it all with no problem even with heavy processing, the quality of the converters can be heard, and the result is pro-grade. Details and nuances lack very slighly, for better results the ID22 is more indicated. Still, it is an excellent interface with a great work ergonomics, quick to set up whatever you want to set up, in a studio configuration with track groups it's awesome, no headeache involving an RME Totalmix routing, everything is much simpler. The preamps are very transparent, which is both surprising and pleasing, they can take all that they're fed with, very good. I'll put parts of a mix recorded with the ID14 online soon.

The Audient ASP008 is an eight channel microphone preamplifier. The unit has both ADAT connections and XLR inputs. It also has 1/4 inch inputs in the front for each channel and will only take up a single rack space. UTILIZATION Using the Audient ASP008 isn't hard at all even if you don't have much experience with mic pres. Each of the eight channel has knobs for gain and filter (frequency for the low pass) as well as a variety of buttons including for phantom power, instrument line, mic line, phase, low pass, and a pad. It is nice to have everything covered as not all preamps have this many options. As long as you have a basic grasp of what parameters on a mic pre do, I don't believe that you will need a manual. SOUND QUALITY The sound of the pre amps on the Audient ASP008 are quite good overall. The sound they have can be described as clean and since they versatile pres they can be used for all sorts of applications. I have found that it is the perfect unit for recording a full drum set since there are so many channels to work with, but is also great for acoustic guitar and other acoustic instruments. The pre amps do lack a bit of girth that I look for to record vocals, but overall they get the job done in a variety of situations. OVERALL OPINION In my opinion, the Audient ASP008 is the perfect unit to expand your audio interface. It is great for those home studio owners who have ADAT capabilities on their audio interface and are looking for more mic pres to record more tracks at once with. While I would normally shy away from something that has so many channels in one for such a reasonable price, the ASP008 is definitely better than a lot of its competition. If you are looking for 8 channels of good sounding pres in a mid level price range, the Audient ASP008 is for you.

i use this in my home studio as my monitor controller. no need to "church it up," this unit is simply fantastic! i replaced the pre amp side of a denon avr-788 at first, then bought a dedicated power amp (a.r.t. sla1) after. without a doubt it improved my staging and separation at ALL volume levels. when i hooked it up, i had an air of skepticism towards it's acclaimed transparency, but it was inarguable with the width of my stereo field, and staging across that field (i do mid and far field monitoring in a pretty well treated room, not near field monitoring). there is only ONE thing that i would change: the subwoofer channel could REALLY use a trim/level adjust. aside from that i can't believe that i get this quality for so little investment!

The Audient MICO is a 2 channel mic preamp that is compact and has some really solid features for the price. This would be one of my first options to go with if I was starting my career all over again and wanted a smaller desktop style interface. The sound you can get when recording with the MICO is great, mainly because of the preamps. The preamps are very warm and clean; they are also quiet and will give you about as good of a quality you can get from home (as long as you have a good condenser). UTILIZATION There is phantom power on the MICO but it is switchable, meaning you can turn it on or off depending on if your microphone needs it or not. It also has a -20 dB pad switch and switchable filters for high pass. This interface is built pretty well and seems to be very solid. The knobs and buttons on the front are very well made and it seems to be made out of solid steel. SOUND QUALITY Getting started with this interface is pretty simple, but if you are a beginner it could be difficult to understand just looking at it for the first time because of all of the buttons for phantom power and filter cuts. But if you glance at the manual you will understand how to use this interface easily and you will start working with both channels quickly (channel 1 and channel 2). OVERALL OPINION This interface is better than a lot of M Audio desktop interfaces because of the preamps and the overall build of the interface. It is made very well and it is compact. The recording quality is amazing for a interface that is this small. This is the first Audient interface that I have ever used, I am very impressed and I am looking forward to seeing more products from them.