Buying a Guitar USB Interface

Whether you’re a seasoned guitar aces, a novice home recording buff or a jack-of-all trades songwriter in need of a souped-up guitar presence, buying the right audio interface is an essential component to your musical journey. You need one that will make the process of recording a great sounding track as smooth as possible, while also fitting within your budget.

First, you need to know exactly what an audio interface does and how it works. It turns the analog signal of an instrument, such as your guitar, into a digital format that can be processed by your computer or laptop. This is then sent to headphones or studio monitors so you can hear what you’ve recorded. Some of these devices allow you to plug in a microphone as well and some even offer MIDI capabilities.

Next, you need to consider how many inputs and outputs you want your interface to have. The amount of inputs and outputs will vary depending on what you plan to record, so it’s important to think about this before making your purchase.

For example, if you’re planning on using only a single instrument at a time then it won’t make sense to buy an interface that has loads of inputs as you will never use most of them. On the other hand, if you’re planning on doing more than one track at a time then you’ll need an interface with more than one input to ensure that all your instruments can be recorded simultaneously without any interference from each other.

Another consideration when buying a guitar usb interface is latency, which is the time it takes for a digital signal to travel from your instrument to your computer. The lower the latency, the better the sound quality will be.

There are a few different ways of connecting your audio interface to your computer, the most common being USB. Other options include FireWire and a PCI slot for desktop systems or Apple’s Thunderbolt connection on newer Macintosh computers.

In general, USB is the most convenient for recording as it’s a simple plug-and-play method that doesn’t require any additional drivers or software to work. However, it can be less robust if you need lots of simultaneous ins and outs, which is why FireWire or PCI cards are preferable.

If you’re a guitarist who needs an interface with lots of inputs then the M-Audio Air 192|14 is one of the best options on our list. This 8-in-4-out interface has everything you need for live recordings and offers a very reasonable price too.