Audient iD44

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