During the start of pandemic, prices of audio equipment for home studio increased due high demand.
High sales volume is due to musicians, producers and webinar speakers who want to perform their job at home. Instead of changing careers because of global lockdowns, these professionals decided to invest their own equipment so gigs can be done online, recording and mastering can be done DIY at home and lectures be accessible via internet.
One of best selling gadgets are audio interfaces and mixing consoles (commonly called as mixer). Without these babies, there is no way to mix multiple audio inputs into a single signal to be consumed by end users. Though they serve the same purpose, people are confused if they should get an audio interface, or mixing console.
I am going to show pros and cons of each so you can decide what is best for your profession, and sometimes budget.
Mixer
Mixers are intimidating because there are too many controls, buttons and input/output. However, this is a flexible companion for professionals who seek for multiple audio applications.
Pros
More input and output channel to utilize at same price point vs audio interface
Input channels have independent tone controls, no need to adjust during mastering
Input channels have independent gain control
Input channels can be muted individually (not available for some starter products)
Each input channels have panning adjustment
Built-in effects and sound processing
Flexible use for recording, webinar and stage performance
Phantom power supply
Comes with USB interface for PC/laptop
More affordable at same number of channels vs audio interface
Cons
More time to study all functionality
Takes time to setup
Can break easily if inputs gain and volume are used improperly
Bigger in size so it needs more space
Some variants don't have USB interface for PC/laptop
Usually no MIDI interface
Best for
Sound engineers who needs multiple applications
Live band rehearsal/recording due to more instruments need to be mixed
Complex recording setup
Audio Interface
Audio interfaces sell better than mixing console mainly because it does not look scary and really easy to use.
Pros
Easy to setup, plug n play
Less buttons and controls means easy to use
No tone controls means you always get natural sound recording
Less time to study all functionality
Smaller package, less space needed
Phantom power supply
Always comes with USB interface for PC/laptop
MIDI interface always included
Cons
Less input and output channels
No tone controls so you need to adjust during mastering
No built-in effects and sound processors
Significantly more expensive at same number of channels vs mixing console
Best for
People with less to zero technical knowledge
Musicians doing solo recording
Webinars
I hope that the comparison above is useful to everyone who are looking for this intriguing question, audio interface or mixer?
Do you have a specific pro-audio topic that you want me to write? Send me a message or comment on this page.
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