Under $300, the recently discontinued M•Audio AIR 192|14, hands down. It can be found NOS and used. I have a number of interfaces and it is one of my go-to units. 4 Mic/Instrument CombiJacks + 2 Instrument Ins + 2 Line Ins — that’s 8 ins each with an Out over USB + MIDI + 2 Headphone amps + 4 Returns from your DAW + an I/O blend + 2 analog Monitor Outs controlled by the big knob. I really like the top mounted controls and the fact that, if you have questions, M•Audio picks up the phone.

My other go-to is the Neumann MT 48. Absolute best mic pres and DSP effects of any interface I’ve used. $1,800 new—I found mine for $1,300 used on Reverb.

There are times when I find it advantageous to record 32 bit float. In the field, I use by Zoom F3 but that’s a recorder. In my studio, it’s the $200 Zoom UAC-232.


BIAB 2026 Audiophile Mac
24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia/Tahoe, M1 & M5 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer11, Logic, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScore/Notion/Overture