We get a lot of audio interfaces to try out with different DAWs like Pro Tools, Logic Pro and Studio One, from basic budget audio interfaces to those costing several thousand pounds aimed at the semi-pro and professional market. As a team, we were discussing which audio interfaces we would recommend if someone asked us what we used as our audio interface. In many cases, members of the team own these interfaces or have spent serious time using them. In no particular order, these are all audio interfaces we think you should check out.

Antelope Orion Studio

Antelope, as a company, they have been around a long time and are better known for their studio master clocks and super high-end A/D converters. They have used their knowledge in these fields to create a range of interfaces that not only sound amazing but also feature their high-end clocking technology. 

Take the Antelope Orion Studio, for example, it is a powerhouse of a unit. Antelope has looked at the competition and looked at what is good and what needs improving and acted on it. The Studio has 12 built-in class A mic preamps, couple that with 16 I/O over ADAT and both Thunderbolt and USB connectivity for Windows and Mac this is a winner. 

But the real advance that Antelope has made is in the Orion Studio app for Mac and PC that runs the 1U hardware unit. You can route any signal to any internal or external I/O or in build effect. You can then, if you choose, track with and without effects to different DAW channels. This, in our opinion, makes the Orion Studio a very flexible interface.

Check out our Antelope Orion Studio review to learn more about this interface. 

Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt

The Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt is a feature-packed 1u high 19" audio interface that features a comprehensive set of features and multiple connection options including ADAT. Wordclock and D-Sub are giving maximum flexibility. That is just where it starts because the preamps sound fantastic and the round-trip-latency is so low only a native-interface-denier would question its suitability for use in a professional Pro Tools studio. Russ uses this as the core to his recording set-up and loves the sound and speed of the Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt. 

Want to learn more? Check out our Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt review.

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. All metal construction means it is built for the road. It also has some nice features which make it ideal as a centrepiece for a smaller home studio.  The 2 inbuilt mic pres are the same as you would find in Audient's range of consoles and ASP 008, 880 and 800 multi-channel mic pres and with the bonus of ADAT I/O the iD22 is capable of recording ten channels at the same time.  If you are on the lookout for a mobile interface or even something smaller for a second rig, this could be a perfect choice. 

To learn more, check out our Audient iD22 review. 

Audient EVO 4

The Audient EVO 4 is a compact and portable audio interface that provides two-channel recording, useful for music producers - and with increasing popularity - podcasters, voice-over, streaming and video creators. As well as the usual features you’d expect of a compact USB interface like bus power, phantom-powered mic inputs and headphone and monitor outputs it has some useful additional features such as Smartgain and Loopback making it ideal for streaming. 

Find out more about the Audient EVO 4 check out our test and tutorial articles.

Avid MTRX Studio

This Pro Tools DigiLink specific interface has been exactly what Mike has been looking for…

“I have been working on upgrading my studio to be able to edit and mix in Dolby Atmos. As you may know, I have a 5.1 monitoring system with three PMC LB1s across the front and two TB1s as my surround speakers. To extend this to a 7.1.2 system, I have been on the lookout for some more PMC  monitors on the secondhand market and have managed to pick up another pair of TB1s for the side surrounds and a pair of DB1s for the height channels.  So that is the speakers sorted cost-effectively but what about monitor control and speaker calibration? Both my Avid HD Omni and my miniDSP with Dirac Live can only handle 8 channels so I would either need to work with 5.1.2 or get a new monitor controller that can handle 7.1.2.As I value the integration of interface and monitor controller what I really want is something like the HD Omni with more outputs.  The MTRX Studio is exactly that!  What is more, the speaker calibration is built in as the MTRX Studio has the DAD SPQ card built-in. In addition, I will have 2 mic preamps so I won’t even lose those. What is not to like about this?It’s great to see the partnership between Avid and DAD to develop a brand new product rather than another ‘rebadged’ product. Taking the technology and features in the MTRX and compressing them into a convenient 1U unit makes so much sense. Why reinvent the wheel, when the tech is already out there. Redesigning the MTRX into a more convenient form factor to suit smaller studios and for the growing cottage-ised user base with more and more of use working from home is exactly the right thing to do.”

To learn more about the Avid MTRX Studio read our article Avid Pro Tools MTRX Studio Interface Available Now.

Avid HD Omni - Second Hand Solution

If you are looking for a cost-effective DigiLink interface solution combined with a monitor controller then you can do a lot worse than buy a secondhand Avid HD Omni.

Focusrite Red 4Pre

The Focusrite Red 4Pre is capable of running as the HD interface for your Pro Tools HD, HDX or HD Native system using DigiLink. It can also connect to your Mac via Thunderbolt for next to zero latency I/O and it gets you 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."  To learn more check out part 1 of James' review of the Focusrite Red 4Pre.

Focusrite Red 8Pre and Red 16Line

Since the Red 4Pre was released we also have the Red 8Pre, which we reviewed when it came out in 2017. Focusrite then added the Red 16Line to the range which we reviewed in 2018. The Red 16Line is also a great low-cost interface for a Dolby Atmos rig. 

To learn more about the Red 16Line, check out our review of the Focusrite Red 16Line and our article Dolby Atmos - What Hardware And Software Do You Need To Work In Atmos?

Focusrite Clarett

Love it or hate it Thunderbolt is rapidly becoming a choice for manufacturers of audio interface, the Clarett range by Focusrite has seen them embrace this technology with both hands (or should that be both rack ears).  James Ivey reviewed The Clarett 8 Pre just after it launched at NAMM 2015 and the good news is that the others in the Clarett range are fantastic sounding interfaces offering different amounts of I/O depending on your need or want. The two main features of the Clarett range are the super low roundtrip latency allowing the user to have plug-ins running as you track your session together with the beautiful, clean sounding Clarett mic pre with its Air setting to add sparkle and shine to your tracks. 

To learn more check out the Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre review. 

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

Perhaps the least expensive interface in our list but by no means one to ignore. The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is perhaps the best value audio interface on the market right now. It offers 2 Focusrite channels giving a great sound and includes a veritable bundle of software from both Focusrite and Softube making it a steal at a street price of less than £100. 

Dan and James reviewed the 2i2 interface together with 2 other Focusrite interfaces in our article Review - 2i2, 6i6 & 18i20 Second Generation Scarlett Interfaces By Focusrite.

MOTU Ultralite AVB

Julian, our Audio-Over-IP specialist, wanted this on the list, as one of a 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 analogue audio quality for on-the-go mobile audio recording. 

To learn more check out our MOTU Ultralite AVB review.

RME Fireface 802

Pro Tool Windows specialist 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, with 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 including 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.

To learn more about the RME Fireface 802, check out our article One Piece Of Studio Gear I Would Never Sell And One I Should Have Held On To - Alan Sallabank's Choices in which Alan explains why he would never sell his RME Fireface 802.

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.

Over the years, 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 a good number of the Production Expert team own an Apollo Twin either as their primary or secondary audio interface for Pro Tools. 

To learn more, check out our Universal Audio Apollo Twin review

There is also a newer Universal Audio Apollo Twin MkII, we recommend that you also check out our Universal Audio Apollo Twin MkII review.

More recently UA has released the Apollo Solo, you can get all the details on the news member of the Apollo family in our article, Universal Audio Releases Apollo Solo Audio Interfaces For Mac And Windows.

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 'blackface' range of audio interfaces offers 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.

To learn more about the Apollo Black Face range check out our Universal Audio Apollo 8 and Apollo 8P review.

Summary

So as you can see, there's never been more variety for those looking for an audio  interface for Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Studio One or any other DAW. Many of the interfaces shown above are owned by members of our team, and you can see that the variety of audio interfaces that we have included in this article shows that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.