Audio interface
The hardware that converts analogue signals from instruments and microphones into digital audio for a computer and converts the computer's output back to analogue.
An interface contains preamps, analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converters, and the drivers that let recording software see the inputs as channels. Its preamp quality, converter quality and driver stability determine how usable it is, while its input count decides how many sources can be recorded at once. Latency, the delay between playing a note and hearing it back, is largely a product of the interface's drivers and buffer settings.
Example: A small desktop box with two combination inputs, a headphone socket and a USB connection is a typical home-recording audio interface.
See also
Related
- PageLatency
- PageDAW
- PageDI box
- PageAmp mic placement
- PageAux send
- PageBalanced signal
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley