Audient EVO 4 USB Audio Interface

This is my 3rd interface in 20 years. My first was an M-Audio Mobile Pre, and the second was a UA-25ex by Roland. When I get something that works, I use it until it no longer does. The UA-25 was great for it's time, but it has never had support for Windows 10 (no official drivers), and was dropping out several times on a daily basis. I have a decent PC and it shouldn't have been a problem. While searching for a new interface, I came across overwhelmingly positive reviews of the Evo 4, so I picked one up, and have no regrets. For context, I make beats and record vocals, and use Studio One as my main DAW.One of the main, if not the only, complaints that came up in every single review I watched was the build quality. Honestly, it isn't bad at all. It isn't steel like most of the more well known, or even common interfaces these days. It's plastic, but sure doesn't feel like plastic. My Mobile pre was plastic, and you could tell it was plastic just by looking at it. I've plugged both my XLR cable/mic into it, and headphones, they all snap in very nice and secure. The Evo also feels really heavy. It has a nice weight to it. So please don't let the complaints of the build quality turn you off.The device drivers are working well, which is probably the most important thing to me next to the sound quality itself. Both the Mobile Pre and UA 25 stopped receiving driver support and ended up giving me trouble. I have not had a single drop out, and have done some recording as well, with no issues at all on the Evo 4. There is also companion software which can be used to update the firmware. This is a modern interface indeed. Hopefully, they will continue to support the device on future versions of Windows.Feature wise, the interface has a couple of punches that I like: smart gain, which automatically sets the gain of an input based on the incoming signal, and smart mute, which mutes the main output when headphones are connected. I tried out the smart gain, and got great results. It was also really easy to do: push the green button, then the input channel you are recording into, and the green button again. It will then set the gain, which you can adjust when it's finished. I like the smart mute, as a solo artist, because I was always forgetting to turn off my monitors before recording vocals. I could see how that would not benefit an engineer, or any case you needed to monitor on speakers while someone else had headphones in.The sound quality is great. I don't really know much about pre amps, dac, and all the technical stuff that goes into an interface, so I had to take what reviewers said about it, and it's definitely a selling point across the board. Especially for the price. Input monitoring works fine, with controls to mix the signals. The other interface I was looking at had input monitoring, but no mixing control, unless you bought the next version up.Finally, the overall design of the device is interesting as mentioned. There are no dedicated knobs. Just one knob that will control the signal based on the button pressed. I was concerned I wouldn't like it as it so not traditional to any other device on the market, or one I was familiar with. However, it is so easy to use, and will not be a problem. I also like the big dial on the top, that also has led lights that act as a gain meter to both input and output signals. So I have no complaints on the design.TLDR: For the price, this interface is unbeatable. You get great sound quality, with an excellent feature set. More than enough to get you started and stay within a tighter budget. Build quality is fine, despite reviews. Of course steel is always better than plastic, but this feels very premium. This is my first Audient product, but I would definitely buy from them again.

I bought this to use for speech with my Shure SM7b that I already had for videoconferencing, as it has digital gain control for easy repeatability and nearly idiot proof gain-staging. With only a few days of use, here are a few notes:First of all, the unboxing experience is nearly Apple-class, with a great deal of thought placed into the packaging. Unfortunately, the unit itself is not nearly as premium, being composed of a partially hollow-feeling soft-touch plastic casing. On the whole, the aesthetics are much better than other audio interfaces that I have handled.Secondly, this device is relatively painless to setup, and integrates fairly well with MacOS. All that needs to be done is download the drivers from the site listed in the box and you will be up and running in no time. What's really nice is that MacOS can directly control both output levels AND input gain, so there isn't any need for trying to adjust knobs to balance with software levels. (Also now in Windows: see most recent update below)Now for the actual audio performance in the limited capacity in which I have employed it. Keeping in mind that I have only used it for spoken-word applications so far, it's relatively decent. The headphone amp in it isn't the loudest with my Sennheiser HD6xx headphones, and the microphone preamps do get reasonably loud enough to use the SM7b without any external amplification, but only at the highest gain setting, which is not surprising given the price point. I personally use a Cloudlifter to amplify the signal to a more easily usable level.Here's a more expanded take of it's standout feature: a digitally controlled preamp. This interface is the cheapest one I could find with a digitally controlled preamp, and it is very easy to operate, with remarkably detailed metering (for an LED display) and even a convenient auto-gain feature. Furthermore, if you are recording a stereo source, you can stereo-link the preamps for one knob fast adjustment, instead of trying to fiddle with knobs in a panic before a show every time you need to change levels.Overall, I love this interface, as it is friendly for an amateur user while still being versatile enough for a more experienced recording engineer.*Update*Within the past few weeks, I had the chance to use the interface for recording a stereo pair of condenser mics, and it has definitely proven its value. The digitally-controlled mic preamps allow for stereo gain linking, which is a real time saver. When I would use a Zoom H6, it would take a long while to try to match the levels, and if the gain needed to be adjusted again, more time would be wasted.However, one issue that cropped up was phantom power delivery with two channels. I have accidentally dropped the interface a few times, so it likely isn't a flaw, but damage.Update 7/18/20Evo Audio has released a new tool as part of their latest drivers, called Evo control, that allows for full software control of the interface from the connected computer, and it works like a dream, exactly as promised. Furthermore, with the new Windows drivers, the interface volume knob controls the output from Windows, so there is just one output level, no matter where you change it from. This is much better than before, when there were two separate output levels to monitor (from Windows to interface, and output level from interface). The longer I have this interface, the more glad I am that I bought it, as there have been consistent feature additions.