Best audio interface

Good question. Anyone with good setup (both mobile and desktop) - please let us know what you use!

I still haven’t found the perfect interface, but here are some thoughts:

Generally you want to find one that suits your requirements in terms of number of inputs, types of inputs (guitar, mic), balanced/unbalanced (are you using active studio monitors).

Three critical things:

  1. If you use Windows, you absolutely want stable/native ASIO drivers. That means avoid Behringer if you use Windows and always avoid OEM/no-name stuff. You want it from a brand/company that can afford a ASIO driver software developer/maintainer.

  2. On Windows, be aware of DCP latency. This is not so much about your interface, but other components in the system. Notebookcheck.net post DCP latency results with every laptop review. Many Dell laptops are awful in this area. See @Herold’s guide below.

  3. Since you most likely play guitar you want a guitar input (sometimes called high impedance or hi-Z) input with a small preamp to adjust your input gain.

A safe bet in the USD100 range is FocusRite Scarlett 2i2.