Audio interface
{{Short description|Device used to interface audio signals with a computer}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2022}}
{{broader|Audio and video interfaces and connectors}}
File:MOTU Audio Interfaces 7849.jpg audio interfaces]]
An audio interface is a piece of computer hardware that allows the input and output of audio signals to and from a host computer or recording device.
Audio interfaces are closely related to computer sound cards, but whereas sound cards are optimized for audio playback an audio interface is primarily intended to provide low-latency analog-to-digital and digital format conversion for professional audio applications.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Tre |date=2022-04-15 |title=Audio Interface vs Sound Card: Everything you Need to Know |url=https://prodjunkies.com/audio-interface-vs-sound-card/ |access-date=2022-08-23 |website=ProdJunkies.com |language=en-US}}
Audio interfaces may include microphone preamps, as well as analog line inputs, DI inputs, and ADAT or S/PDIF digital inputs. Outputs are analog line, headphones and digital. They're typically available as external units, either as desktop devices or in a 19-inch rackmount format. Audio interfaces range from two channels in and out, to over 30.{{Cite web |title=Audio Interface |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/glossary/audio-interface |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=www.soundonsound.com}}
File:MOTU Audio Interfaces 7851.jpg and 1/4" audio jacks, in this case ADAT, TDIF, and S/PDIF]]
History
Standalone audio interfaces grew from the proprietary hard disk recording market of the 1980s and 1990s, but advances in processor power and hard drive speed meant that, by the mid-1990s, standard home computers were capable of recording multi-channel audio at 16-bit, 44khz compact disc standard.
Early systems such as Digidesign's Sound Tools (1989) and Session 8 (1993)[https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/digidesign-session-8/7647 Music Technology, November 1993: Digidesign Session 8] and the Ensoniq PARIS (1998) consisted of an external unit that connected to the host computer with a ISA or SCSI card, but from the late 1990s onwards it became practical to use standard computer interfaces such as FireWire, USB, and eventually Thunderbolt instead.[https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/motu-828 Sound on Sound, July 2001: MOTU 828]
Versus mixers
Although there is a degree of functional overlap, audio interfaces are differentiated from audio mixers in that they are intended to pass multi-channel audio directly to a host digital audio workstation, whereas mixers generally sum their inputs into a simple two-channel stereo pair. Audio interfaces are therefore often simple rackmount boxes, without faders, although as of 2020 some digital mixers provide multi-channel audio passthrough.[https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/audio-interface-vs-mixer-which-is-right-for-my-studio/ Sweetwater.com, June 2020: Audio Interface vs. Mixer: Which Is Right for My Studio?]
Manufacturers
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
- Apogee Electronics
- Arturia
- Audient
- Avid, optimised for Pro Tools
- Behringer
- Creative
- Focusrite
- M-Audio
- MOTU
- Native Instruments
- PreSonus
- Roland
- Solid State Logic
- Steinberg
- TASCAM
- Universal Audio
{{end div col}}
References
{{Reflist}}