Audient Evo4

Audient is best known for their large mixing desks, which can be found in many high-end recording studios, but they've recently gained a reputation for their ID series of small-to-medium sized audio interfaces.

For their high-quality sound, these make use of some of the technology found in those huge desks, most notably the ASP8024 preamp. Audient launched the EVO line of interfaces at this year's NAMM show, which is intended to be an entirely new and compact interface solution rather than a replacement for the ID range.

We're testing the 4, but the larger 8 (which doubles the inputs and outputs to four each) is now on the market for extra £60. Aside from those ties, there appear to be comparable notions, such as having "one goal in mind, to make recording easier!"

Two speaker outs on the back complete the connections, and a central main dial controls the level of that output as well as a number of other levels determined in part by which buttons on the top of the panel you press: 1 and 2 (for input levels), output (bottom right), and a final button that adjusts the mix between the input and DAW. When using the headphone jack, the main dial controls the volume.

Pros:

• Love the clicky, multi-function dial
• Clean audio
• Solid
• Feels more premium than the price

Cons:

• It's not quite plug-and-play, but it's close.

Key Features

Controls: Channel 1 and 2 selector buttons, 48V phantom power button, Smartgain mode button; master knob for output volume, input gain, and input/monitor balance; channel 1 and 2 selectable buttons, 48V phantom power button

Features: Two mic/line inputs, one instrument input, stereo monitor outputs, and headphone output; USB powered (cable supplied); driver and control software for macOS/Windows available for download.