Music Glossary

Audio Interface

A device that connects mics and instruments to your computer with quality sound.

An audio interface is the hardware bridge between your instruments, microphones and headphones and your computer. It converts analogue signals — from a mic or guitar — into the digital data a DAW can record, and converts digital audio back to analogue so you can hear it. A dedicated interface offers far better sound quality, lower latency and proper connections (like XLR inputs with phantom power) than a computer's built-in audio, which is why it is one of the first serious purchases a home producer or recording musician makes. Interfaces range from simple two-input boxes for a singer-songwriter to large multi-channel units for tracking a full band.

432
Written & reviewed by
The Club432 musician collective

432 Academy is the learning arm of Club432 — a performing-arts collective of working musicians, producers, DJs and engineers. Our guides are written for beginners and reviewed by people who play, record and perform for a living, so the advice is what we'd tell a friend picking up the instrument, not specs copied off a box.

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