Audio Interface For Mac



THE SCARLETT RANGE

Thanks to you, Scarlett has already helped make more records than any other range of interfaces in history. And with the 3rd Generation, you’ll sound better than ever.

Featuring six configurations of ins and outs with the best performing Scarlett mic preamps the range has ever heard, now with Air, high headroom instrument inputs, and high-performance converters, Scarlett is enabling millions of musicians, songwriters and producers to record, mix and play back audio in studio quality everywhere, all the time.

10-in, 4-out Audio Interface For PC And Mac® Find out more 18-in, 8-out Audio Interface For PC And Mac® Find out more 18-in, 20-out Audio Interface For PC And Mac Find out more NOT WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR? Use the interface comparison chart to find the right interface for you. Mac Audio Interface Top Selected Products and Reviews BEHRINGER Audio Interface, 1x XLR/TRS 1x 1/4' 2X RCA USB, Black, 1-Channel (UM2) by Behringer 1 new & used offers from min price $180.00 'Important notes on how to set it up in Windows (10/8/7)' - by Ali Al-Shammari.

Record your guitar. Record you.

The essential audio interface.

Studio-quality sound for all your instruments.

For the hardware music maker.

Get the band together.

Make your space a studio.

Every song you’ll ever write, in a box.

Everything you need to record.

CLARETT USB

Decades of analogue circuit design experience, applied around 24-bit/192kHz A-D and D-A conversion, delivers a superior signal path. In addition, the Air-enabled mic preamps can reproduce the input impedance, clarity and frequency response curve of our original ISA mic preamp.

10-in, 4-out Audio Interface For PC And Mac®

Audio Interface For Mac Thunderbolt

18-in, 8-out Audio Interface For PC And Mac®

18-in, 20-out Audio Interface For PC And Mac

NOT WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR?

Use the interface comparison chart to find the right interface for you.

Get the right Audio Interface for your Macbook, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, iMac and Mac Pro

There are a few things to watch out for if you have a late model Mac. First, the PCI interfaces are not going to work with any of the Mac Pros, and of course not with any of the Mac Books, Mac Book Pros or iMacs. Today's Mac Pro has a PCIe slot format. This will not work with PCI cards. Most of us would probably not need a Mac PCIe interface. Professionals with high i/o needs may want to go the MOTU PCIe route with a MOTU 24io, and a MOTU 2408 Mk 3. These are for large multi track systems with digital mixers. The Home studio enthusiast has many other options and they are mainly firewire options. That is what we'll mainly focus on here.

Tweak: This is the back of a Tascam FW1884, and audio interface with plenty of i/o. Click the pic to enlarge.

When comparing features like i/o be sure to check out these comparison charts

Firewire interfaces generally work well with the currentiMacs, MacBook Pros, Mac Minis and the Mac pro. Note that newer Macbooks do not have firewire. USB 2.0 interfaces are valid for those Macbooks and all the others as well. At the bottom of the page you'll find lots of polls, user reviews and discussions from our forums.

Keep in mind there are more audio interfaces that will work with your Mac. This is more of a list of those that should form the basis of your research. I am not including Digidesign interfaces here because they have done extensive compatibility theses on their website. That is where you should research matching your Mac to an appropriate Digidesign or m-audio interface.

When considering any audio interface there are 4 things that create the perfect storm for you.

  • 1. excellent functioning drivers for your OS and applications
  • 2. excellent sounding converters
  • 3. excellent sounding preamps
  • 4. sufficient and appropriate i/o for your studio

You can always add on different preamps and converters to nearly any audio interface. Preamps will plug into the line inputs and converters will use s/pdif i/o. But there are two things you cannot change, or fix, with the interface you eventually choose. You can't go in and re-write driver code. The drivers manage the 'traffic' from inputs to software to outputs and are at least partially to blame for latency issues, clicks and pops, and other nasties. Also you cannot change your i/o. If you get a box with 2 analog inputs and outputs, even if you buy a 100 channel mixer you can't change the fact that from the standpoint of the computer you have 2 channels in and 2 out and that will limit how many tracks you can record at one time to two. Its a great plan to get more i/o than you need. You can do this by choosing an interface with an ADAT 'lightpipe' input. This gives you 8 digital inputs into your system. You could add a rack of 8 analog preamps that have ADAT digital out.

The back panel of the MOTU 828mk3. Click the pic to enlarge

You can find audio interfaces for your Mac from $150 to $2,000 on this page. What is the difference? As above, quality of components for the preamps, converters and the number of hardware i/o. There is the research and development cost of making solid drivers, beta testing them among various applications, keeping the drivers updated through software and Operating system revisions. Finally there is the build quality of the box, brand name recognition, status in the professional community and how well the company follows Apple through its changes.

Low Cost (under $500)

PreSonus FireStudio Mobile FireWire Audio Interface

Tascam US1641 USB 2.0 Audio/MIDI Interface

Apogee Duet

Also, look at the Mackie Onyx 820i 8-Channel Premium Analog Mixer with FireWire Interface

Mid Cost ($500-$1000)

Motu ultralite Mk3

Motu 8 pre

Motu 828 mk3, Traveler

Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) 896mk3 Firewire Audio Interface

Higher Cost ($1000.00 plus)

Tascam FW 1884

RME Fireface 400

Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) 2408mk3 Digital Audio Interface

Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) 24IO 24-Channel Audio Interface

Apogee Ensemble

Audio Interface For Macbook

Mackie Onyx 1640i 16-Channel Premium Analog Mixer with FireWire Interface

Best Audio Interface

For

Metric Halo

Cool Threads

  • Poll The Best Firewire Interface Under $300 for MAC is
  • Poll The Better Firewire Interface for a MAC $300 to $500 is...

Cool Links

  • Apple Discussions: Presonus Firestudio Project (See for Tascam us1641)

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Audio Interfaces- Page 1
Audio Interfaces--Page 2
Firewire Audio Interface Chart-Page 3
PCI Audio Interface Chart-Page 4
USB 2.0 Audio Interface Chart--Page 5
Audio Interfaces- Page 6
Audio Interfaces: The Best of the Low Cost
Audio Interfaces for your Mac
MOTU 896Mk3 Review
MOTU 828mk2 Review
MOTU UltraLite
Emu1820M
Delta 1010
Audio Interfaces Prices