What is the Best Audio Interface under £100? (2021)
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I tested more than 15 of the most popular audio interfaces under £100. This includes interfaces from Focusrite, Native Instruments, Behringer, PreSonus, Mackie, Steinberg, M-Audio, Tascam and Audient. I hope this video helps you choose the right audio interface for your needs and budget. ► Interfaces that I tested but did not showcase as I felt they were not good enough to be shown on the channel: Komplete Audio 1 (£75): Unbalanced outputs are unforgivable at this price point. These will pick up interference and are unsuitable for studio use. M-Track Solo/Duo (£40/50):
Supply issues, unstable driver performance, poor sound quality, USB Type B. M-Audio Air 192(£104):
Poor build quality with overuse of plastic. It is very large. Audio performance was not up to the standard of the interfaces I showcased. (Which is a shame as I have a sweet spot for M-Audio!) Tascam US 1x2HR (£100): Unbalanced outputs are unforgivable at this price point. These will pick up interference and are unsuitable for studio use. The design and layout is also rather confusing with some important controls located on the rear of the device such as the switch for direct monitoring. You will likely be switching this control many times in each recording session and it just makes no sense to be out of sight. Behringer UMC22:
Unstable driver performance but a good build quality for the price. Input and output quality was lacking compared to the others. The inputs had much more noise in real world testing. Behringer U-PHORIA (UMC202/204/404) (£60/80/105):
Similar issues to the UMC22. Inputs didn't sound as clear and the Type B connector did not provide stable performance. Steinberg UR12 (£80): Unbalanced outputs are unforgivable at this price point. These will pick up interference and are unsuitable for studio use. There 6 were showcased in the video:
PreSonus Studio 24C (£104) Focusrite Scarlett Solo (£99)
Audient EVO 4 (£99) – Note, you can't adjust preamp gain and output volume simultaneously.
Komplete Audio 2 (£99)
Mackie Onyx 1.2 (£70)
PreSonus Audiobox USB 96 (£72) ►Important notes: I found that this budget was full of marketing traps/pitfalls/false claims of quality. Many companies try to push for higher sample rates such as 96kHz or 192kHz to try and give the impression of higher quality. Audio professionals know that this simply isn't the case and higher sample rates often lead to lower quality. This is due to intermodulation distortion caused by inaudible frequencies. Unless the AD/DA converters are world class and you have an incredible playback system capable of reproducing 0Hz-96kHz with almost zero distortion then higher sample rates than 48kHz will offer no improvement to your recordings, mixes and masters. Oversampling inside plugins is a different discussion entirely, as this is a digital process and often does lead to better results. TL;DR: Don't be fooled by marketing! The prices will vary in your country regardless of currency conversion. Check local dealers for up to date prices as this might influence your choice. I have also noticed sellers/shops increasing prices immediately after my recommendations (this happened with my headphone video). 0:00 – Intro
1:00 – What is an Audio Interface?
2:05 – 4 for £100
2:25 – Recording Tests SM7B
3:45 – Headphone and Loudspeaker Volume and Quality
5:05 – PreSonus Studio 24C
6:45 – Focusrite Scarlett Solo
8:25 – Native Instruments 10:18 – Audient EVO 4 11:45 – Included Software
13:00 – My Favourite
13:25 – 2 for £70 15:05 – Advice for buying used gear
15:30 – Giveaway ►Enter the Giveaway here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0bbf96e625/? ► Support my channel and get exclusive perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIcC… ► Get my Sound Bank: http://bit.ly/inthemixstore
► Save money on DistroKid if you signup through my custom link → http://distrokid.com/vip/inthemix Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmdg5jJK4H4
Referral Content
Resources
Resource page for music producers and beat makers. Curated lists of tools and external websites that I have used to help promote my beats online. Throughout my years of selling beats I have used various tools both good and bad.
I decided to make this resource page to give you an idea of what tools work really well and will help you make and sell beats. I will be updating this page often as I am continually trying different methods on selling beats. I recommend bookmarking this page, as it will be updated often. Enjoy!
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. Please understand that I have experience with all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something.
MY MOST RECOMMENDED TOOLS TO HELP YOU SUCCEED
Thrive Themes is a tool that enables me to create these amazing landing pages in a matter of minutes. My resource page and my whole website is created using Thrive Themes.
I've been using WordPress for a long time and, to be honest, I always thought it was the best tool for the job. But recently starting using something that changed my mind (although I'm still using WordPress):
After seeing what this new plugin does, I don't think I can ever go back to the "normal" WordPress editor. I didn't even know it was possible to have this kind of a completely visual editor, but there it is (check the link for a demo video).
Before now, I never realized just how much time I was spending waiting for page reloads while creating content in WordPress. You can save massive amounts of time with a "live" editor like this.
And what I love about this tool is that it doesn't just replace the boring and clumsy old WordPress editor, it's also a whole sales-page-building suite! If you build marketing pages and landing pages, this thing is brilliant!
It is very easy to create sales pages, squeeze pages , download and thank you pages. All in a matter of minutes.
That's without any website code experience. Try It Out Here
1
When it comes to picking a hosting company, speed, and reliability matters greatly. When I started selling beats online, I didn’t know much about websites & hosting.
All of my niche websites are hosted on Bluehost. Why? Because they make it incredibly easy to get a new site up and running with their one-click automatic WordPress Blog installation.
I made the mistake of assuming all hosting companies were equally as good as each other!! oh, boy was I wrong. Having a slow website, lost me a lot money in terms of sales from beats. When I look back now I can understand why.
I put myself in my customer's shoes, coming to my site to buy beats. As I typed the url and pressed enter the time it took to load was awful and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I, as a customer don’t want to wait, I want a pleasant experience. It also dawn on me that first impressions are everything when it comes to websites, so you want your website to be fast.
I highly recommend using Bluehost for your first website, and you can get started now at $3.89/month.
2
Airbit Beat Store
Beat Store I Use & Trust
When it comes to selling beats, Airbit is a must for hosting your beats. Airbit is an all in one solution for any producer wanting to sell beats online.
No matter how many beats, online profiles, or websites you have, Airbit players can be integrated seamlessly to give you and your customers a professional and fully automated service to sell instrumentals on many other websites.
Your customers can listen to your beats, select the beats they want to buy, and place their order directly from the player. Thanks to the technologies of html5 you can take Airbit players for selling beats and place them all over the internet to maximize your exposure as a producer.
I recently wrote an article on how to place the Airbit player on Your Website, it can be found here – guide on how to add Airbit to Website
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This is one tool/service I cannot live without. Aweber is a vital tool in allowing me to reach thousands of people with the click of a button. I truly recommend Aweber to anyone wanting to sell beats or anything for that matter.
I would even recommend it to bands and artists, who want to communicate with their audience. I could talk for forever about this service but my best advice is to go try it, you’ll see what I mean when you use it.
Also, the first month is only $1 it’s a no brainer!!!
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