Best USB Audio Interfaces (2021) | Top 5 Audio Interfaces Under $200

when i'm with you everything's perfect girl you know you're worth it and everything i do is for you nowhere to check out nothing on you they wanna be you know the girl come close to you girl i mean you drive me you're driving me wow i wanna climb a mountain for you [Music] you what's up youtube welcome back to my channel and welcome back to my home studio i am archie beats and i am here to help and today is an extremely special day we have some wonderful guests here on the channel and these are my top audio interfaces for under two hundred dollars yes these audio interfaces are under two hundred dollars let's go [Music] when it comes to picking out the perfect audio interface you need these top three things to consider what type of inputs and how many inputs do you need are you going to be recording one thing are you going to be recording instruments what are you going to be recording once you get to that are you going to need a headphone are you going to need studio monitors what is your setup and what's your studio going to look like and also you want to consider what's the connectivity on your computer and these are usb and these audio interface varies from one input on up and we're going to discuss these today and let me get this out the way really quick i don't talk about any gear on my channel that i haven't used before and that i haven't used enough to actually recommend it to you guys it's not fair and my channel we stand on core values i just don't get things in the mail or order something and then talk about it the same day i actually take time to to put it to the audio test so i can recommend it to you guys that's fair right give me a thumbs up if you think that's fair but before we get started if you guys are interested in anything that you've seen in my home studio or you're interested in any of these audio interfaces please check the description below i also have other girl nails that could possibly help you on your creative journey don't forget to subscribe and hit that notification bell so you won't miss another video thank you so for years i've been on this search for the perfect audio interface um since the beginning of my career i own everything from 100 budget audio interfaces all the way up to 3 000 audio interfaces and i'm always putting them to the test i mean always i'm pushing them seeing what can they do how far can they go what quality can it project and these audio interfaces definitely meet that standard of quality that i look for when choosing an audio interface and i totally recommend all of these to you guys so without further ado let's go ahead and discuss these audio interfaces basically what we're going to do we're going to do two parts we're going to discuss some key highlights as such as the connectivity and the i o the input output and also we're going to do an audio test and show you guys how these audio interfaces sound each one of them and we're going to be doing it with an inexpensive akg p120 microphone it's a 100 microphone so ultimately this is a 300 setup i think that put things into perspective by using an inexpensive microphone and an inexpensive audio interface both of them quality but to show you guys that you can accomplish professional sound with not spending too much or breaking the bank so the first audio interfaces that we are discussing are the focusrite scarlett series the scarlet is a very interesting audio interface and this to me is a winner all the way around because you have those great focusrite preamps so let's talk about the focusrite scarlett solo the connectivity is usb usb 2.0 but the interesting part about this audio interface is you have one xlr input it's not a combo jet and you have an instrument input and both of the volume knob and gangnams are up front and also the preamp controls are right here up front as well and then you have your monitor control up front as far as the output you have a pair of stereo outputs which are quarter inch that goes out into your monitors and you have a headphone jack at the front i like my headphone jack up front or if it's a desktop style audio interface i like it being right down the front panel so it won't be sticking out at the top and out of the way but this we don't have to worry about because it's all front facing because i like kind of rack style audio interfaces where everything is at the front panel and so that's that's cool as well now really quick both of these are third generation and also the focusrite scholar comes with a doll ableton live light and it comes with a bundle of focusrite plugins so you have pretty much everything you need when you purchase these audio interfaces so don't be intimidated by the little extra bucks over a hundred dollars because you get actually a lot of things with it you get that package bundle deal and then also you get a free three months of splice splice calls 7.99 a month last time i checked when i paid it so you get those free samples to use for three months i always include the scarlets because they are the just a great sounding audio interface and focusrite is one of the best when it comes to preamps and it comes to like the iso the red series it's just the great and they create an amazing console so focusrite definitely is always going to be in my top audio interfaces so a lot of people are always wondering the difference between a focusrite scarlett solo and a focusrite scarlett 2i2 and the difference is is the actual number of preamps although you have two inputs at the front the focusrite solo only has one preamp the focusrite scarlett 2i2 actually has two preamps on board the combination jacks at the front and this connectivity for the scarlet 2i2 is also usb and you have the headphone input up front and both preamps are equipped with the award-winning air which just give this transparent pristine like clean sound which is unbeatable especially within the price range the scarlett solo being 119 and the scarlet um 2i2 being 169. now they vary sometimes sometimes it's 99 and sometimes the 2i2 is 159 but it's always in their price range it never shoots all the way up me personally it's worth about 300 dollars the audio interface but hey they put it at a great price for those who are on a budget and also it has the same type of output as the solo you have two quarter inch outputs that goes into your studio monitors i come out of these audio interface with a balanced connection for my stereo monitors so you have that one pair one two at the back and you can get those monitors sounding great so this is how the focusrite scarlett sounds using an inexpensive microphone the akg p120 which is my favorite budget microphone is 99 and going directly into this with the actual preamps engaged so this is the focusrite scarlett series it's in the studio more than what i asked for well you giving it all to me yeah give me a thumbs up if you like that tell me what do you like about this audio interface sound the next audio interface that i want to discuss is is one that i was totally totally totally taken aback from and that is the audient id4 crazy they are also a company known for consoles and preamps and they have experience creating these this this great quality product audient definitely put their you know all their efforts and some amazing effort into this audio interface and this is the mark ii the audient id4 and what i do like about this it has a desktop style to it to where everything is on board although i do prefer rack mounted audio interfaces the apollo 20x changed my hard on that a little bit i still prefer rags but you know it's great to have kind of like that monitor control style audio desktop style audio interface it's cool you can't complain it's a heavy audio interface it doesn't feel cheap if that makes sense this audio interface does not feel cheap at all on the back panel of the audio interface you have a combo jack and you have one preamp one connection at the back is an xlr and quarter inch you can use it it's just a little combination and you have a pair of stereo outputs a quarter inch i like that standard connection it's just it works for me i actually prefer the standard quarter inch output just get some quality cables and here's another interesting thing about the inputs at the front you have the jfet instrument connection at the front that you plug your guitar in and just jam out right there at the front panel and also it has two headphone connectors up front it has an eighth inch connection and a quarter inch connection for your headphones so if you don't have an adapter with the eighth inch to quarter inch you can just plug in the standard size of headphones that you have and like all the other audio interfaces you do have the monitor mix control knob up top the microphone input control up top with the gang and the preamp the jfet guitar control upfront volume control and the large size monitor control knob on top of this as well which is really cool and this is how the audient id4 sounds who would not look at you all i see is one beautiful girl when i'm with you everything's perfect girl you know you were dead sounds great right and the next audio interface that i have grown to love is the presonus studio 24c and the coolest thing about this audio interface it has the xmaxx preamps on board and it sounds absolutely amazing really pristine really crisp and a little warmth to it that's what i found from listening to this audio interface but you guys are going to be able to tell when you're the audio test from this audio interface and it's like i said it's a great quality the connectivity on it it's usb it's also compatible with usb 3.0 and it has two inputs as you guys can see the combo jacks the neutral combo jacks up front we can plug in the quarter inch or the xlr and also has two preamps two of those x max preamps on board the front and as you guys can see you can see all the controls the standard 48 volts the phantom power on all the audio interfaces you have control of your inputs up front your headphones on front and another like plus about this audio interface is it has a nice professional level meter up front that i like the led i like it because it reminds me of my higher end audio interface like my apollos which is really cool look at it it's right there and it lets you know when you're you're you're hitting that red and you're getting that distortion and you're peaking and let you know this audio interface also have a midi io which is cool you have some outboard gear you have some sound modules and you want to control them or if you have a drum machine with a midi connectivity on it hey you're good to go with this audio interface the only thing that i found kind of odd about this audio interface it sounds great but the headphone output is at the back of the panel just like they balanced two quarter inch output monitor outputs at the back along with the midi i o i found that a bit strange but it's still it's not enough to not recommend this because the quality of this audio interface it's there and if you prefer your headphones at the back then this one is definitely a go and this one i have to just say it the bundle that comes with this is just crazy it comes with studio one artist and also it has the analog lab package for y'all producers out there this is the ultimate producer audio interface right here the budget produce audio interface this one will run you about 159 you also have things from lexicon and arturo that comes with this which is that's what you need right you have like complete or something or you have omnisphere this audio interface would just be the cherry on top so let's show you guys an audio test maybe you'd die for [Music] your love is so complicated more than one asked for he got to those dynamics when you're giving it all to me yeah when you give it to me oh that body baby so this is a 250 dollar setup this audio interface is 159 and this microphone is 99 the next audio interface is from a familiar person mentioned in this video it's from audient and they created the evo series which is one of the smartest it's like a new revolutionary audio interface i have individual videos on each one of these plus the new bundle that has come out so if you guys are interested in checking that out it's up here as well but the evo series is definitely a new clean like i said it's a smart audio interface it sets the game for you after you get done setting everything up this audio interface actually has a smart game protocol on it to where when you speak in it or sing in it it adjusts the volume to the perfect level for you so if you are a beginner and not really familiar with signal to noise ratio or the proper leveling of recording this is definitely the audio interface series you should consider and as you can see i have the evo 4 here and the evo 8. now the difference is inputs but let's go ahead and get to the key highlights the connectivity on this audio interface is usb usb 2.0 the input's at the back it has two inputs along with two preamps on each one of these inputs and it's a combination jack which is really cool because you can plug in xlr or quarter inch like we discussed and the outputs is actually left and right it's quarter inch as well which i you guys know i prefer that and it has an instrument input up front for your guitars and one of the things i like about this audio interface is the big knob that actually gives you like full control and as you can see between each one of these audio interfaces the knob is pretty much the same the unit is just bigger because you know of course you have the four inputs you can select them right here and you can select your inputs there and you can also initiate phantom power up front you can press these buttons in you can pretty much toggle between your inputs and your outputs with this as well so it is a pretty freaking smart and awesome audio interface now the next one the evo eight and this one has four inputs along with four pretty amps you get that nice i love to see when you have an interface that actually has four inputs and also four preamps on board those inputs so just because you have that many inputs doesn't mean you have that many preamps on a few audio interfaces that are out but this one they actually honor the preamp protocols they just give you the preamp on all of those inputs which is really awesome of course like i said it's usb let's go ahead and hear that audio test let's fly you away you my angel let's drive away girl you dropped me you dropped me you tried me well i would climb a mountain for you well i really do hope that you guys got some valuable information out of this video these audio interfaces are definitely must have it's just about picking the right one for you and just do your research on it and make a decision don't get so obsessive over should i get this or should i get that one hey any of these audio interfaces will work for anybody starting out or anybody that's professional and you want to get a new audio interface and you don't want to spend a lot of money these are definitely the ones now you guys let me know if you want me to do more higher end audio interface videos because i do have higher end audio interfaces and i can give you guys a detailed review and just my opinion about it along with some audio tests because that's what this is about keeping the audio ecosystem alive by you know giving you guys the information that i have and you guys give me giving me the information that you have and we just make this you know keep this audio ecosystem going man so comment below if you have any questions about these audio interfaces and also don't forget to subscribe to my channel hit that notification bell so you won't miss another video and don't forget to follow me on instagram and twitter at archie beats and that's with a z don't forget to be great and create this is your board to beat and i am signing off

Channel: Archie Beatz

Views: 50,842

Keywords: best usb audio interface, audio interface, best audio interface, best home studio audio interface, usb audio interface, best budget audio interface, best budget audio interface 2021, music production, best interface for recording, best audio interface for recording, best audio interface under 200, best cheap audio interface, cheap audio interface with great quality, focusrite scarlett, scarlett solo, scarlett 2i2 interface, presonus audio interface

Id: hT6iNZPujjQ

Length: 17min 27sec (1047 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 24 2021