New to music production? One of the best budget audio interfaces will get you off on the front foot, giving you the perfect platform for recording without having to spend loads of cash. Modern audio interfaces all feature excellent preamps nowadays, so you can get a great quality sound with any of these low-cost interfaces.
Whether you want to record acoustic or electric instruments, or just produce entirely on the computer using software, an audio interface is a must-have. It will do the heavy lifting of handling your recorded sounds, leaving your computer's processors free to perform better.
If you want to learn more about audio interfaces before you buy, we'd recommend checking out our buying advice section, which features loads of common questions answered by the resident audio experts here at MusicRadar. For those who already know their stuff, keep scrolling for our top picks...
Si is Editor-in-Chief of Music Technology, working with Future Music, Computer Music, Electronic Musician and MusicRadar. He's been messing around with music tech in various forms, from interfaces to monitors, for over two decades. He's also spent the last 10 years forgetting how to play guitar. You can find him in the chillout room at raves complaining that it's past his bedtime.
Best budget audio interface: Quick menu
Want to cut to the chase and find out exactly which we think are the best budget audio interfaces right now? Below, you’ll find a round-up of our top choices. You can jump to a more detailed review of every pick, along with our price comparison tool to help you find the best deals.
Best for streaming
The Presonus Studio 24c offers exceptional quality regardless of what you’re trying to record or produce. We particularly like the included Universal Control software, which enables the interface to ‘loop back’ on itself virtually. Build quality is solid, and the MIDI connectivity to the back of the unit is a great touch.
Best for productivity
The 4th Gen Solo includes 2 inputs (1 mic XLR and 1 line/instrument jack) and 2 outputs, plus some technical improvements, including 120dB dynamic range, a new improved headphone amp, and a reworked Air mode, which adds presence to the higher frequencies of recordings.
Best for audio quality
Where the first iteration of this compact interface won fans on account of its rigid build, superb audio fidelity and simplicity, the MkII takes these characteristics and introduces faster USB transfer speeds and USB-C connectivity. An extra headphone output and a smart scroll wheel which can be used to tweak settings in your software are nice added touches.
Best for durability
This compact 2-in/2-out interface is built into a rugged metal container, which makes it one of the most durable-feeling interfaces at this price point – although that does come at the cost of it being fairly weighty.
Best interface for design
The Volt 1 is a plug-and-play USB-C interface that offers UA’s excellent preamps on its combi inputs, with one input available on the Volt 1, or two if you opt for the Volt 2. These offer a great vintage tube sound on your inputs, giving recordings a richness rarely heard at this price range.
Best under $100/£100
We’ve placed takeaway orders that have cost us more than what Behringer’s UMC22 retails for, so it’s hard to quibble with this one on price. If you need something cheap to get going with, you could certainly do a lot worse.
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Best for creating on the go
The iRig HD 2 is aimed primarily at recording guitarists, but its instrument interface would work fine for any monophonic electronic instrument too. It works cross platform with PC, Mac and iOS, and comes with both USB and Lightning connector cables. Because it’s designed for mobile use, it’s ultra-compact too.
Best for software
As with pretty much all recent NI gear, the Komplete Audio 1 is well designed and sturdily built, offering features ideal for bedroom producers. It benefits from being part of NI’s Komplete ecosystem too as the free software that comes bundled here includes an excellent plugin synth and a trio of effects.
Best compact interface
With its compact size, the Arturia MiniFuse 1 is the perfect audio interface to take out and about. It's got an impressive 110dB dynamic range and the single multi-input gives you options for connectivity. It's tough too, so will put up with with life on the road.
The best budget audio interfaces
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Below you'll find full and detailed write-ups for each of the best budget audio interfaces on our list.
Best for streaming
There are audio interfaces that aim to support specific musical disciplines like, for example, guitarists (check out our best guitar audio interfaces guide for more of that). And then there are jack-of-all-trades, which try to do a bit of everything, from speech to music. The Presonus Studio 24c is firmly in the latter camp, offering exceptional quality regardless of what you’re trying to record or produce.
We particularly like the included Universal Control software, which enables the interface to ‘loop back’ on itself virtually. This provides great flexibility for routing audio between different applications without requiring extra cables, making it ideal for streamers and musicians alike. Build quality is solid, and the MIDI connectivity to the back of the unit is a great touch.
Read the full PreSonus 24c review
Best for productivity
Focusrite’s long-established Scarlett USB audio interfaces are available in many shapes and sizes. The latest 4th generation devices are the Solo, 2i2 and 4i4, with the first two falling very much within our budget interface remit.
The Solo includes 2 inputs (1 mic XLR and 1 line/instrument jack) and 2 outputs, and the 2i2 is also 2 I/O but with 2 mic preamps (2 XLR and 2 line/instrument connectors).
The interfaces retain the same red metal casework and functional shape of the 3rd gen, although the sizes and layouts have been modified.
There are technical improvements, with 120dB dynamic range, a new improved headphone amp, and a reworked Air mode, which adds presence to the higher frequencies of recordings.
Although they look similar, the new Scarletts are slicker audio interfaces with better specs and more options. They show there’s always room for development, and the new features will help improve your productivity and recordings.
Read the full Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen review
Best audio quality
It doesn’t seem like all that long ago that Audient launched its smallest ever audio interface, the iD4. There’s always room to improve things though, which is why the Audient iD4 MkII is interesting. Where the first iteration won fans on account of its rigid build, superb audio fidelity and simplicity, the MkII takes these characteristics and introduces faster USB transfer speeds and USB-C connectivity.
There are some nice details included, like the extra headphone output and a smart scroll wheel which can be used to tweak settings in your software. And, speaking of which, the bundled ARC package contains plenty of plugins, effects and virtual instruments to get you up and running in no time. It might be a little pricier than other interfaces in this guide, but it's a pretty comprehensive package all round.
Read the full Audient iD4 MkII review
Best for durability
The UR12 is one of the older interfaces in this guide but that’s no reason to overlook it. This compact 2-in/2-out interface is built into a rugged metal container, which makes it one of the most durable-feeling interfaces at this price point – although that does come at the cost of it being fairly weighty.
The fact that the main and headphone outputs share a single volume control is our only other real criticism here. On the software side of things, the UR12 comes with cut down versions of Steinberg’s Cubase DAW for both desktop and iOS. These are both thoroughly usable, although as a package it’s not as generous as NI or PreSonus’s offerings.
Read the Steinberg UR12 review
Best for design
Volts 1 and 2 are the entry level interfaces in Universal Audio's Volt series. Both Volts 1 and 2 are plug-and-play USB-C interfaces that offer UA’s excellent preamps on their combi inputs, with one input available on the Volt 1 and two on the Volt 2. These offer a great vintage tube sound on your inputs, giving recordings a richness rarely heard in this price range.
The Volts are a radical departure for UA, offering an affordable taste of the brand’s key ingredients. They’re incompatible with plugins from the UAD store but they absolutely deserve to shake up the budget end of the interface market with a great design, a plug-and-play workflow and hard-to-beat audio conversion.
Read the full Universal Audio Volt 1&2 review
Best under $100/£100
We’ve placed takeaway orders that have cost us more than what Behringer’s UMC22 retails for, so it’s hard to quibble with this one on price. You do, of course, get what you pay for to some extent, and there are a number of areas where the UMC22 lags behind its pricier rivals.
For one thing, the max resolution here is 16-bit, which is still CD quality and will most likely be fine for most users, but is worth being aware of. The U-Phoria range doesn’t have its own designated driver either, and relies on the universal ASIO4ALL (although this is still a free download). Also, while build quality is in no way poor, we wouldn’t want to bet on the UMC22 outlasting the devices at the top of this list.
All that being said, there are no outright deal-breakers amongst these downsides and at this price, if you need something cheap to get going with, you could certainly do a lot worse.
Best on the go
Italian brand IK make a whole host of mobile-compatible interfaces and peripherals, including this compact and budget-friendly interface. The iRig HD 2 is aim primarily at recording guitarists, but its instrument interface would work fine for any monophonic electronic instrument too.
The iRig HD works cross platform with PC, Mac and iOS, and comes with both USB and Lightning connector cables. Because it’s designed for mobile use, it’s ultra-compact too – small enough to tuck into your pocket and it even includes a mic stand clip.
The downside to this mobile design, however, is the lack of monitor outputs. You do get a headphone output through, as well as a monophonic jack output designed to be plugged into a guitar amp, which can either monitor the input or output from software on the computer/iOS device.
Read the full IK Multimedia iRig HD 2 review
Best for bundled software
NI don’t have the audio interface pedigree of some of the brands in this list, with just three I/O boxes amongst their current line-up of products – including the slightly higher spec’d Komplete Audio 2. This is no sub-par imitator though. As with pretty much all recent NI gear, the Komplete Audio 1 is well designed and sturdily built, offering features ideal for bedroom producers.
It benefits from being part of NI’s Komplete ecosystem too as the free software that comes bundled here includes an excellent plugin synth and a trio of effects that are arguably worth the price of entry alone. For producers just getting started, this is an excellent value package.
Read the full Native Instruments Komplete Audio 1 review
Best compact interface
Mainly known for their legendary soft synths, Arturia's MiniFuse series represents a new foray into audio interfaces, and the MiniFuse 1 ticks two boxes by being both cheap and compact.
The preamp quality is excellent, with an impressive dynamic range of up to 110dB giving you crystal-clear audio. A useful direct monitoring button lets you switch between computer audio and direct, whilst an LED output meter shows you how hot your signal is.
It's got a Hi-Z switch for using electric guitars and other non line level instruments, and has phantom power for using condenser microphones. It's ruggedly built too, and combined with the small size it will easily put up with the rough and tumble of life on the road.
Best budget audio interface: Buying advice
Ins/outs
When you're looking at the most affordable audio interfaces, realistically you’re not going to find a decent interface with more than two inputs and two outputs. Unless you’re planning to spend more, the most you’re going to be able to record is two mono or one stereo input/s, and outputs will be limited to - at most - a stereo pair for studio monitors and a separate headphone output. For beginners, however, this is a decent set of parameters to work within. Recording more than two sources at once will require a more fully-featured interface, with a greater number of inputs, and would automatically move out of the budget department.
What’s more important to consider is the type of ports offered. Audio interfaces will offer some variety of mic and instrument inputs, which operate at different levels and use different connection types to suit either a studio microphone lead or jack from an electric guitar, synth, drum machine, etc.
The most useful variety are ‘combo’ inputs, which can accept either lead type and will usually have a control for switching between mic and instrument levels. If you’re planning on using a mic with your interface, it’s worth checking if you need ‘phantom power’ – this is the 48v signal sent by interfaces and required by some mics. DJs should also look out for RCA connectivity, which is used to hook up DJ mixers and turntables.
Compatibility
Every model in this best budget audio interfaces guide can be used with both Mac and PC setups, and many can also be used with Apple’s mobile iOS devices too. You will see lots of interfaces described as ‘class compliant’ which essentially means they are plug-and-pay with iPhone and iPad. Some come complete with the appropriate ‘Lightning’ connectors, while others will need Apple’s USB-to-Lightning Camera Connection Kit adapter. It’s worth doing further research before committing to a specific model, however, as Apple has a habit of dropping some functionality when it upgrades its operating systems.
Bundled software
Like many types of studio hardware, audio interfaces often come packaged with a variety of software to sweeten the deal. At this price, particularly if you’re just getting started, it’s worth paying attention to these bundles. Offerings range from lukewarm packages of ‘LE’ (often limited, entry-level) versions of major applications to full versions of genuinely great synths and effects. Most interfaces, particularly at this level, will bundle in a digital audio workstation (DAW), which is the software used to actually record your music into so this is super helpful if you’ve not already committed to one platform.
How we test budget audio interfaces
Cheaper audio interfaces might not boast particularly good audio and feature specs next to more expensive devices – their frequency range or sample rates might be limited, for example – but we'll still test how they perform against our reference interfaces. With cheaper interfaces we make allowances, knowing that they might not exhibit the sonic sparkle of higher-end interfaces – whether they do a decent job for minimal outlay. That said, you'll be surprised just how good some budget devices are as, over the last few years, audio interface technology has really moved on in terms of what you get for your money, so you can easily get a great-sounding interface for less than $/£100.
Budget interfaces are also increasingly sold with free music software bundles, and at the lower price end you will often get tempting bundles aimed at beginners to music production – the thinking is that you get everything you need to make music from scratch out of the box. We test this software to see if it is full or, more often than not, just a cut-down version of a full software title, so not as great value as you might first think. However, the likes of IK Multimedia, Native Instruments and Focusrite really do deliver exceptional software bundles, ripe for beginners and with very well spec'd interfaces for the outlay.
Read more about how we test music-making gear and services at MusicRadar.
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