PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production AUDIENT EVO4 INTERFACE REVIEW.

AUDIENT EVO 4 review.
ok ive had some time now with the above.
i very much agree with the review on gearslutz.com.
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/reviews/1307424-audient-evo-4-a.html

my pros/cons.
PROS.
1. there is something extra to the playback sound i cant put my finger on.
its just very very good. i dont notice a massive difference tween the ur 22 dpre's i also have and the audient mic pre's. just something i cant quantify.
both pre's are good imho.
2. i really like the headphone output. lots of "oomph" for me.
3. now ive got used to it, the applet for the evo really works nice.
its a new way of working.
i'm used to "twiddling" with pre's, but in this case i dont have to press buttons manually on the unit. i just use the mouse in the applet to set what i need.
the applet sits on the taskbar.
4. the neat thing with smartgain is, in the daw, i dont have to worry bout setting mic level.
just set and forget.
5. both reaper and biab are working great with it. just have to make sure both point at the evo instead of the ur22.
6. in my opinion , for the low price, great little unit. and i hear no noise.
ive had no chance to assess the bundled software, which ive yet to dload from audient.
ALSO LET ME SAY. your getting 2 mic pre's on this unit.
they sound good from my recordings so far.
CONS.
1. because my studio computer dont see the net i had to use a second pc on the net to dload drivers and register.
then xfer drivers /install on my studio pc.
2. one has to be carefull, like lots of units, in pointing win sound at the evo device, as the default sound device
for record/playback.
i found default seemed to be set at 96khz. dunno why. so changed that to 44.1k.
3. in my case my evo needed a firmware update, so i did that on my net pc.
4. two little nits. one, if phones are plugged in, monitors are silenced.
the other nitpick is, i'm getting on my studio pc when i boot up reminder to register evo.
this is cos i didnt use my studio pc to register. no biggie. just x out.
have asked audient in email bout this.

for pg simon and others.
some added points.
(note i'm getting no noticeable latency. set it 4/5ms. could go lower if i wished. but havent bothered. working great. )
these comments will focus on the mic pre's. (2 of them.)
let me preface my comments by saying obviously a big plus of "the net" is, word gets around fast about a new product. thus i feel the net has been good for us consumers,
as no product will survive long if its not very good.
this has been good for us budget minded musicians. because, dont know bout you, but it seems all manufacturers have raised the quality stakes re inexpensive products for
recording with. considering evo's low price point, it really is a very nice interface.
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my rationale for buying evo was simple. i wanted to use the steinberg ur22 on another machine.
and i felt tech would get even better over the next year. thus i didnt want to spend a lot.
so i wanted a stop gap for a year.
( i feel the evo is going to be with me for quiete a time !)
lets talk about the mic pre's.
for anyone reading this who may not be familiar. audient is a brit company that typically installed mixing consoles in big studios. they are known for their mic pre technology.
(see info on their site.)

the evo mic pre is VERY INTERESTING.
(note a lot of my comments are "feelings". rather than ultra rigorous scientific analysis. i'm more a songwriter than an ace production engr.)
1. over the years many many budget pre's had a "sizzle" at the top end if you know what i mean.
not the evo. the more i test it, more impressed ive become. vocal traks come out great.
2. the mic pre's are not ultra clinical like some pre's are. there is definitely some "character mojo" happening that i just cant nail down. but i like it. not a ton of character.
just "something" i like, and cant put my finger on.
3. the pre's remind me of a time years ago in a big studio when an engr put up this scratched up ugly old shure mic (an old unidyne 545 possibly), and i went "what" ? and he told me to bear with him. but the sound off 2 inch tape was great.
ie a "character". or another time in a big old studio
fancy mic into megabuks console , and playback was "yes thats it".
4. this really IS a low noise unit. obviously its not a 2k mic pre. but i would suggest respectfully, if one asked the "man in the street" to tell the difference between evo and a high end 2k pre, listening to the unconditioned trak (or conditioned trak) i doubt he could tell the diff.
only a seasoned audio engr might be able to.
5. what is really INTERESTING is the SMARTGAIN feature. for some reason i get the feeling that the electronics designers were thinking "lets make this mistake proof" while haveing a few pints down the pub.
ie no matter what, youll get a properly recorded track.
it took me a bit of getting used to.
but once i reorientated my silly brain from old ways, i was on it.
6. now whats really interesting is, TRY AS I MIGHT I COULD NOT DETECT LOW LEVEL NOISE.
maybe i'm stoopid, BUT, i recorded lots of blank traks in reaper many ways. then inserted both pg rta , and reaper reafir. and no noise detected.
most audio interfaces, when i put in reafir, way way down low" minus something or other " you see a little noise waveform. but just nothing/zilch/nada.
maybe its the smartgain feature, or some electronics mojo. but so far i see no noise floor.
i didnt bother any further cos any mic i would use has way way higher noise floor.
thus the recorded waveform is impressive.
7. i tried all sorts of vocal styles with the mic pre. crooning old style/rock/soft/operatic/etc etc.
no problem with anything.
8. please note. even tho' i like the evo pre's. i cant be negative on the steinberg/yamaha pre's
in the ur22. the Dpre's. they are just different.
9. OVERALL for 99 pounds uk sterling or couple of hundred dollars. i think this is a nice unit.
only negative was a bit "fiddly" to set up properly in win. so be carefull with that aspect.
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note. before anyone asks. no, i have nothing to do with audient. just a new first time impressed user.
but if i won the lottery sigh lol, i would be installing one of their consoles. and my other dream is to
own a british custom built jag etype replica from "eagle cars" i think they are called.
or one of those lingenfelter corvettes (another dream) lol.

happy happy happy new year pg staff // users.
sillyoldmuso.

Excellent review, thanks for that!

Good to hear about the preamps, that's what I'm most interested in. I agree, I've used the Steinberg D-Pre's and they're quite nice, but great to hear there's more to the Audient.

simon.
some added info.
i had one question for audient support.
very promptly dealt with by them.

count me impressed with their help people particularly given xmas/new year hols.

also , have you seen the software bundle included with evo ?
page down >> https://evo.audio/arc/
in particular check out 2 notes torpedo wall of sound, waldorf, mtron , retrologue.

i have to say , and it takes a lot to impress me, but, so far, audient has really impressed me.
the product just works grrreat, and the support is swift in reply if one does have a Q.
i am absolutely loving evo. every time i boot it up, it just works.
no fuss/no muss. and the SMARTGAIN FEATURE is an innovation in interfaces imho.
and the drivers just work.

best.
i'm a convert muso.

Dang, that's a pretty good software bundle there! Good to hear they have good support, that's always a necessity with audio gear. Perhaps I should finally upgrade my Fireface, hmmmmmm....

simon.
notice the ios recording software in the bundle ?
well as you know i highly regard rme, so you might want to see
how the evo stacks up against the rme before useing something new.
maybe rent an evo from L n M in bc ? and compare A/D/A
convertors ?

BUT i have to say i'm loving the evo.
unlike some advanced interfaces, theyve kept it very easy to
set up/use. set and forget imho.
imho the applet is brilliant. read bout the smartgain feature on the audient site.

best/respect.
muso.love that ib ax gtr colour.

best.
muso.