Hey everyone! Maybe you saw my post on my EVO 8, which was confirmed to be malfunctioning by Audient, so I'm thinking about which interface I should upgrade to.
I mostly record vocals and guitars (often stereo), and I like to record live when I can, which is why I went for 4 inputs. However, I've already come across a situation where I have to go out and record drums at a friend's house, for example, and I'm going to do that again soon, and hopefully record drums and live sessions more often, which is why I'm thinking about going for 8 inputs.
However, the other reason is that I've recently come across many cheap deals on outboard gear on Facebook, and my dreams of a 4-input Antelope were replaced by a big interface hooked up to some compressors and Lexicons in my home studio. Then again, maybe at a cheap price point, it's better to go with plugins? What do you guys think?
I'm between going for an interface with nice converters and have it be expandable by ADAT for the future, or go for a cheaper interface (Behringer or used Focusrite) with more inputs, to be able to start adding analog gear and take it on the road with me now and then to record drums.

 

@Manolo P , what's your budget? It would be great if they could decide what they actually want.

 

Nebula is the middle ground if you are working ITB, although trying some outboard could be a fun experience. The main difference is recording through hardware can't be undone.

 

Last edited: Nov 6, 2025 at 1:52 PM

I can stretch to $ 800 USD, but I also want to consider what I might me able to buy in the future

 

Hi @Manolo P, I recommend the following in this price range:

Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 (4th Gen) - 689 €
www.thomann.de/de/focusrite_scarlett_18i20_4th_gen.htm

Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 4th Gen B-Stock - 589 €
www.thomann.de/de/focusrite_scarlett_18i20_4th_gen_b_stock.htm

You can change the language in the top right corner of the thomann website!

Manufacturer's website: https://focusrite.com/products/scarlett-18i20

 

4-channel interface can be versatile, if it has enough expansions (via ADAT, MADI etc..) then you can get additional 8 channel converter(s) per ADAT at 44/48kHz rather cheap,

me being drummer, I can tell you 8 channels aren't enough, the way you describe you may later go into full band recording, at which point 16-24 channels would be comfortable in the long run,

I use (old) RME UFX with Octamic II preamp and Octamic D preamp (for drums you want decent headroom on mic preamp gains to avoid clipping and I did run into limitations with ancient Octamic D so got newer but still old Octamic II later),
I do use UFX for its zero-latency routing features, monitoring with onboard FX (EQs, compressor/limiter, reverb) especially when using multiple headphones, bass slapping, trashy drums, dry vocals...), but I always record clean signal and do everything in postproduction with plugins and DAW,

if you already know you need many channels, Behringer ADA8200 is cheap (under $200 new) but good enough 8-channel mic preamp with ADAT, so you could buy one (and another one later) and high-end ADAT USB interface like RME Digiface USB that costs around $500 which seems very expensive for having just a headphone output on its own, but gives you future upgrade path to up to 32in/32out via those four ADAT pairs,

analog gear is a rabbit hole, you'd still need all the gear I mentioned above just to have something to connect to, imo not worth it at all...

EDIT - if I were building a rig for a band nowadays, I would consider Behringer WING Rack that offers reasonable quality and feature set at reasonable price - sure it's around $1600 but it's a neat complete package that doesn't waste space

 

Get a good interface with the money. Comment above about "not being able to undo hardware impact on recordings" (paraphrasing), is why I would get an interface with the best convertors I could afford. Because you cannot undo the impact of hardware, exactly. Once you do not capture the audio at the best possible representation of what you are tracking, there is no going back. No matter what plugins you use after the fact. Same applies to junk microphones.

After this, I will spend a bunch of text space on recommending you whatever I am using, because I need confirmation of my own purchases by what someone on the internet does. If you find something slightly used, you will get the best deal. Let someone else take the immediate hit by driving the brand new car off the dealership lot. The only legitimately defective audio interface I have ever encountered was brand new out of the box. Any real problems have been only damage, misuse, and unit age. Condition related issues which are very easy to spot before you buy something.

 

What do you think about the Presonus 1824c? It's a bit cheaper on Sweetwater. The Focusrites are a bit more expensive in the US

 

interesting! Thank you. I don't know if I'll go full band, I don't even have the space to do that yet, just small ensambles. But yeah going for a nice interface with the Behringer ADAT extension is one of my options.

 

For inspiration:

Digital

Zoom LiveTrak L-12 Card Bundle - 539 €
www.thomann.de/de/zoom_livetrak_l_12_card_bundle.htm

Behringer X32 Rack Hands On Bundle - 819 €
www.thomann.de/de/behringer_x32_rack_hands_on_bundle.htm

Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 USB - 929 €
www.thomann.de/de/presonus_studiolive_16_0.2_usb.htm

Analog

Mackie ProFX12v3+ - 378 €
www.thomann.de/de/mackie_profx12v3_583699.htm

Behringer Xenyx X2222 USB - 247 €
www.thomann.de/de/behringer_xenyx_x2222_usb.htm

USB-C

Audient iD14 MKII - 217 €

- 10in | 6out Audio Interface
- USB 3.0 audio interface
- Combined ADAT and S/PDIF input (TOSLINK)

www.thomann.de/de/audient_id14_mkii.htm
https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id14/overview