Best Audio Interfaces with a $200 Budget

Record your music using these audio interfaces under $200! From @weareevoaudio , to @FocusriteTV , @motuTV , and @UniversalAudio - these are the best audio interfaces for your money.

00:00 - Best Audio Interfaces Under $200
00:19 - Inputs & Outputs
04:12 - Features
07:00 - Audio Demonstrations
Correction: 05:29 Universal Audio Volt interfaces DO NOT have a built-in loopback feature!

*** Under $200 ***

*** Also Mentioned (Over $200) ***

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[jonkthompson]

I currently have the Motu M2, bought it the 1st month it was released. So underrated, very clean and flat preamps, zero coloration allowing me to tailor my voice how I prefer. About to upgrate to the M4 or M6 since i started adding outboard gear to my setup.

[johannjohann]

This is a great Youtube channel. Thanks for the info on all your videos.

[clicks]

Great video, Kyle. Thanks for sharing. I’m not too proud to say that I purchase used stuff. I recently purchased a Focusrite Clarett 8 pre Thunderbolt for $250 plus shipping. Although deals like this are far and few between, they are out there and I only buy from sources that guarantee their products. I like Music-go-round. Reasonable prices and tested products.

[karlderdelinckx]

If you just wanne record a guitar with 2 mics for stereo and 1 for natural reverb. And a vocal mic . You’re already at 4 inputs.
I kept having minor timing issues with low budget interfaces so I went back to a simple 4 track and external preamps. At least the timing issues are gone!

[guyb]

I'm toggling between Motu M2 & SSL2 - really hoping to find a comparison on those 2. Great video!

[totallyfrozen]

I’m using a Behringer Uphoria UMC 204HD. Has Midas deigned preamps and sounds great with good control. It’s extremely quiet! Under $200 and I’m happy with it.
I’d never recommend buying an interface with less than 2 inputs. You don’t know what the future holds. Take it from a musician, voiceover artist, and former radio DJ…your plans and needs will grow and you will outgrow a single input much faster than you expect. Never buy less than 2 inputs. They’re affordable.

[lilcapone]

Great video! Thoughts on the SSL 2, though? That's the one I've been eyeing for mainly vocal recording.

[PW]

I purchased an Audient Evo 8 interface about a year and a half ago back when it was $200 and I couldn’t be happier with my decision! The 4 inputs have come in handy for me so many times and having multiple headphone outputs makes it very easy to use while tracking another person. The only downside is that since it’s made of plastic I have to be extra careful with it while doing location recordings, and while it’s preamps are not as noisy as a Scarlett (3rd gen) they don’t have a much character with the signal in my opinion, which can be a good or bad thing.

[aluminati]

Great run through, thanks. Longtime user of Focusrite interfaces, all the way from the Solo to the big 18i20. Been happy with all of them.

[rscum]

would love to see an 8channel version of this video!

[melih-]

Also consider secondhand Universal Audio Apollo solo Heritage Edition either USB Windows or Thunderbolt Mac. A major upgrade with the sound quality and Headphone amp. With the heritage Edition you get a lot of expensive plugins for free. You can use realtime effects, running off the chip for direct monitoring like preamps, reverb or autotune. If you rock a nice mic then you can record vocals while listening to your processed voice in realtime. The DSP chip can only run a handful of plugins at a time so you can use Universal Audio spark in combination to run most of the plugins natively without a limit.

[LVNDRUMS]

Great video man! What interface would you suggest to record a drumset (like mine - an Mapex Armory, with 2 kicks and actually 10 mics but later probably more) with a Mac Studio M1 Max and Logic Pro? I asked my dealer for a Focusrite Scarlett and an OctoPre together. Or should I ask for something else? Keep up your amazing work man🤘🤘🤘

[ano_nym]

Should make one for headphone amps. No idea what what's good these days. The O2+ODAC apparently used to be great like a decade ago, but didn't get one at the time and now they don't really seem to be around (in Europe at least).

[iduncanw]

Nice comparison 👍 Do the Volt definitely have loopback though? I've been trying to find out and any forum post etc said "no". Unless it's been added recently via an update?

[rapture]

you can use an impedence matching transformer (they come xlr to 1/4 inch) and you can plug a mic in an instrument input

[PharaohLawLess]

After my Digi Design 003 wasn’t compatible when I upgraded my computer’s software I bought the SSL 2+ for $229 plus tax. I have the Scarlett’s 8i8 2nd generation but I like the SSL 2+ sound texture better

[davebrownentertainment]

PreSonus Revelator io24. 2 mic inputs, DSP with hi-pass filter, compression, EQ, noise gate, reverb, loopback, and nice little LCD display. Only $99, and comes with Studio One Artist!

[AmoresAJ]

Curious why you said that the Audient EVO series is a step down in quality. Is it only the plastic exterior? It has a lower noise floor than the Scarlett, and the fact that all controls can be used digitally could be a plus over the Scarlett's physical pots that are known to deteriorate and get scratchy over time.
The EVOs are a different approach, but equal in quality at least to the Scarlett 2i2 in every single way. The metal enclosure is nice, but not the deciding factor in quality for an interface, especially since I've not heard of a single owner having the plastic give any negative impact on the device.

[shalomshalom]

Hey Kyle. Good video. I actually am using the Behringer UMC22 for a 1-mic category. I like it a lot. It is (at least used to be, not sure of prices now) the cheapest. Do you know the Behringer UMC22. What do you think are its pros/cons compared to the ones you reviewed?

[kennethdarlington]

Also compressor in Volt x76 series could be some sort of autogain, preventing hi peaks. Which could be useful while switching from single coils to humbacker with hi output.
Btw additional outputs could be used for reamping, outboard gear or another preamps.