For as lengthy as music gear corporations have been making audio interfaces, they’ve assumed that most individuals out there care solely about plugging as many microphones into their pc as potential. They could have a pair quarter-inch inputs in entrance for “devices,” however the market dominance of interfaces that dedicate the majority of their actual property to inputs with mic preamps and XLR jacks has gone unquestioned and unchallenged for much too lengthy. What about boomer gearheads with racks of classic preamps who don’t need chintzy Guitar Middle–grade circuity coloring their sign? Or the synth nerds who want a hassle-free hub for his or her many winding paths of modular goodness?
A few of the most modern gear solutions questions that aren’t being requested, and Arturia has been forward of the curve on these issues for the higher a part of a decade. Identified greatest for his or her sturdy MIDI controllers and Behringer-beating funds synths, the French agency turned heads when it dipped its toes within the crowded waters of the audio interface market with its AudioFuse collection. These sturdy and trendy little containers made it easy for recording artists of all stripes to seize concepts with little effort, all at a worth level that hovered in a snug center floor between the discount basement junk that litters Amazon and the “prosumer” studio centerpieces provided by glitzier manufacturers like Audient and Common Audio. The addition of USB hub ports for connecting gear like USB MIDI controllers, keyboards, and different widespread peripherals was a “Why didn’t anybody consider this sooner?” second for the ages. So far, the MiniFuse 2 ($122) is my favourite interface for fast and simple iPad-based audio manufacturing.
As they transfer upmarket with the AudioFuse 16Rig, Arturia solutions one other vital query nobody is asking: Would anybody pay $1,299 for a rack-mount interface that trades preamps for a mind-boggling array of inputs and outputs? A month with the 16 inputs and eight outputs provided by this 1U dynamo of routing and workflow satisfied me the reply is a convincing “Sure.”
{Photograph}: Pete Cottell
Audio Infusions
Persistence and spontaneity are the yin and yang of lo-fi bed room musicians and revered producers alike. Creativity can hit at any time, however you’ll must spend untold hours prematurely plugging issues in to foster an surroundings that makes the method of sitting down and hitting the file button as frictionless as potential.
I spent a couple of afternoons routing my Line 6 Helix, HX Results, synths, and a pedalboard filled with results from manufacturers like Chase Bliss and Walrus Audio via a primary patchbay and into the assorted ins and outs of the AudioFuse. It took lower than an hour to wrap my head round how the accompanying software program may lead me to a “set it and neglect it” setup that may be able to go at a second’s discover.
The software program is comparatively simple, with predictable layouts and features nested in its I/O, mixer, and routing matrix pages. The mixer web page begins off empty and requires channels to be “added” to grow to be energetic, which took some getting used to, however this and the I/O web page will really feel instantly acquainted to anybody who makes use of a DAW with any regularity.
{Photograph}: Pete Cottell