If you've ever wondered why someone would spend $1,000 or $3,000 on an audio interface, when they could get an interface for less than $200, keep watching this video until the end. I've experimented with a wide range of audio interfaces, especially throughout the process of creating these videos for you, and along the way I've discovered that some of the most important features of an audio interface can easily go overlooked. Thank you to RME for sponsoring this video and supporting audio education. I've got two stations in my room because I've got two very different tasks that call for different workflows, music production and content creation. Each station has its own audio interface because each station calls for different functionality. That's a very important point in this discussion. The audio interface you choose depends on your needs, your preferences, and your workflow. Here are a few things to consider. Let's start with the inputs and outputs, or I-O for short. This includes all of the analog and digital connections for getting audio signals and maybe even other types of signals in and out of the device. Common connections for analog audio signals and pro audio are TRS and XLR, but you should look beyond the connector that's used and verify the type of signal each input can take. The analog connections on the RME Babyface Pro FS include two XLR microphone or line level inputs, two TRS line or instrument level inputs, two XLR line outputs, a quarter inch headphone jack, and an eighth inch headphone jack. You may look at the I-O on my Fireface UCX2 and see two additional XLR connections and assume those are for line level or microphone level audio as well, when they're really digital connections called AES3. And there are also RCA connections that are used for a digital connection called SP-DIF. Both of these can support two channels in and out of the interface. Over here on the side of my Babyface Pro FS, you see two optical connections for ADAT. These connections can offer eight channels in and eight channels out. Utilizing the digital connections on an interface opens up the door to a lot more I-O right now, or the opportunity to expand your I-O in the future. For example, I've got these two microphone inputs on the Babyface Pro FS, but I frequently need more than two mic inputs. Rather than replacing the interface, I'm able to simply add an ADAT enabled microphone preamp, connect it to my Babyface Pro FS with an optical connection. And now I've got eight additional microphone inputs. For studios and facilities that require even more inputs and outputs on an audio interface, you may even see protocols like AVB, MADI, and Dante. These allow you to send and receive anywhere from 32 channels up to hundreds of channels of audio. I made a full video about these protocols that you can find in the show notes below. If you need a lot of I-O, you're going to end up paying more. And I think everyone understands that. Buying a simple two channel interface with no expandability will naturally cost less than an interface capable of managing 16 channels, which will naturally cost less than an interface capable of managing hundreds of channels. But there are some features that aren't seen on the surface and they're just as important. Often overlooked is the quality of an audio interfaces drivers and software. This might be the most important factor that determines the true value of an interface alongside the physical I-O. The driver is responsible for transporting digital audio to and from the interface. More than anything else, this impacts the round trip latency and reliability of an interface. The Babyface Pro FS is a USB 2.0 interface. And in my testing, it had a round trip latency of only 3.8 milliseconds. As you get into larger channel counts, you'll start to see other connections like USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. For anything below about 60 channels though, USB 2.0 provides plenty of bandwidth. I made a full video about USB versus Thunderbolt that you can also find linked in the show notes. Assuming your computer is adequately powered to facilitate the plugins and processing within your session, you can lower your session buffer size and monitor your recordings in real time with very low latency or delay. At a certain point, you may run into the limits of your computer's processing power. Then you'll either need to bypass the plugins in your session or monitor through a lower latency signal path. Lots of interfaces have direct monitoring. And while that provides a low latency signal from the microphone or instrument you're recording, you're stuck with a dry signal. No EQ, no reverb, no other effects. Having reverb compression or EQ in headphones can be very helpful for a performer, but that's not possible with basic direct monitoring. Some interfaces solve this problem with a proprietary DSP chip or an FPGA based DSP that can process the audio for real time monitoring without the need to pass through the DAW session. This is helpful for making a monitor mix, but as you'll see in a moment, the utility actually goes far beyond that. The software that controls RMEs interfaces is called TotalMix, which comes free with the Babyface Pro FS, comes free with the Fireface UCX2, and it looks like this. Right now we're seeing the Fireface UCX2 because that's what I'm using to record. Let's set this up. Just connect the microphone. TotalMix allows me to send any physical input or any software input to any physical output, and that makes this interface extremely flexible. As you can imagine, I'm frequently setting up different signal flows and screen captures for my videos, so having 20 mono outputs or 10 stereo outputs at my fingertips is extremely useful. I can use it for creating submixes for live streams, for setting up demonstrations, or for doing screen recordings. A key feature that I use all the time is Loopback. So here on analog output one and two, I can open up the settings and turn on Loopback, and what that does is it now sends whatever mix I create here to this output. It routes that back into analog one and two, so I can select that as a source within a streaming software or within a screen recording software, or even within a DAW. This means I can create a custom mix for a live stream with EQ and effects already applied, a custom mix minus for a remote guest, a custom mix for myself and headphones, and send each channel to a separate track in my DAW, all from within TotalMix. The point here is that when you look at the physical IO on an interface, that's only half the story. An interface with a powerful software component, like RME's TotalMix, can act as a virtual mixing console and patch bay for your studio. I'm even able to use the TotalMix remote app on my iPad to control all of this over my wifi network. I often use this to run my own session when I'm recording myself, or to give to a performer to create a custom mix of controls for making their own headphone mix. This interface, the RME Babyface Pro FS is bus powered, which means it gets its power from the USB connection to the computer. But the Fireface UCX2 and the UFX interfaces run off of wall power, which facilitates some additional DSP resources. So now instead of just EQ on each channel, I can also run dynamics processing. And in addition to that, down here on the outputs, I can run a room EQ to correct any sort of acoustical buildups within my room. That means I could set up and tune an entire immersive audio system all from within TotalMix. I'm currently planning a video to demonstrate that process. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss that video when it's released. Beyond low latency performance and flexible routing, great drivers also contribute to the reliability and stability of an interface. This is a very important point to consider, especially when you're building a system for professional work. You definitely don't want your interface or computer to crash in the middle of a session. That would cost you not only time, but in this business, it could interrupt a live stream or a great performance. Stability is worth the investment, especially in professional settings where malfunctioning equipment could cost you your job. The RME UCX2 is currently controlling my filming and live streaming station. It offers all of the functionality I've discussed so far, plus a feature that I overlooked at first, but protects me from accidentally sabotaging my own sessions. When I sit down, I can go into record view here and immediately hit the record button in TotalMix, which records every input and output to a separate track on a two terabyte SSD connected to the interface directly. That means if the computer or the session does crash, I'm still covered. And when a performer nails apart while rehearsing and it's not rolling, or I forget to press record, I could just go back and recover those moments. I've got a few more important features to share with you in a moment, but the final point I'll make about drivers is that they need to constantly adapt over time. If there's a big or even a small change in your computer's operating system, you'll probably need an updated driver for your audio interface to function properly. Some interfaces from 10 or 20 years ago simply do not work today. That's because some developers stop supporting older models. That means you either need to stay on your current Windows or macOS operating system forever, or you need to buy another interface with drivers that are compatible with the new operating system. A great audio interface company will keep a close eye on potential bugs that could arise when Microsoft or Apple update their operating systems. But RME in particular takes this a step further than most companies by supporting their older interface models as well. For example, the RME HDSP9652 was released in 2001, but it still has up-to-date drivers that were published this year. When you invest more money into your audio interface, you should expect it to last a long time, not just a couple of years. While the physical I.O. and drivers are probably the most important factors to consider when deciding which audio interface to invest your hard-earned money into, you'll also want to consider the quality of the inputs, outputs, and converters. Before we go there, I will first say that you can't solely rely on technical specifications. You should aspire to build your skill set to the point where you can make great records with any gear. Interfaces these days are pretty impressive. The standards of quality and even the least expensive interfaces are relatively high, especially compared to the standards just a few decades ago. But there are a few hidden specs that you might miss if you don't specifically look for them. Again, these won't make bad recordings good, but they'll certainly help to take great recordings to the next level. For example, all microphone preamps are not equal. The Babyface Pro FS has a gain range of 76dB with the ability to provide up to 65dB of gain when needed. Plus, the mic inputs have a signal-to-noise ratio of 117dB A weighted. This is important for capturing clean, low-noise recordings when using a low-sensitivity microphone like the Shure SM7B or when recording a relatively quiet sound source. Be sure to check the dynamic range or signal-to-noise ratio of the instrument inputs, line inputs, and headphone outputs, as well as the power specifications of the headphone outputs to ensure you can adequately power any headphones you might be using regardless of sensitivity and impedance. The Analog-to-Digital-Converters or ADC's and Digital-to-Analog-Converters or DAC's can also vary in their dynamic range and jitter specs. The FS in RME Babyface Pro FS stands for femtosecond, indicating it has extremely low jitter and high jitter immunity, which can level up all of the gear you have digitally connected in your studio. When you're investing in an audio interface, consider not just the type or quantity of IO, but also the quality. And remember, don't judge a book by its cover. The software behind the hardware may be where you find the most value for your money. In the next video that's on your screen now, we'll take a closer look at different ways to expand the IO of your audio interface in the future. Click that link now and I'll see you there.
