By Audient EVO 8 Interface – It’s got the price and functionality, is it any good?
Introduction
This is a first for the website: an audio interface! Towards the end of last year, we decided to upgrade our interface in the studio as we wanted more inputs for upcoming projects. We settled on the Audient EVO 8 interface. Why? Well, when you look at the specs and then consider the price, it seems like a no-brainer! As interfaces are a significant investment and something people research, we thought it would be worth putting together our thoughts on this one and letting you know what we think.
It is worth noting that I am not an interface expert! I know details and functions, but I buy them to do a job for me, and that is what I will be reviewing it on today! So if you want detailed explanations on the Mic Pre’s, better check out another article! If you want to know if the Audient EVO 8 is easy to use and worth the money, this is the place to look! I upgraded from the M-Audio 192|4, so I will be comparing it to that!
Audient EVO 8 Audio Interface
The EVO 8 is a 4-in and 4-out studio interface designed to be simple, easy, and functional, helping you keep your workflow simple and making recording of any kind painless and a second thought.
Going through the controls, let’s start with the top panel. On the far right, we have the Phantom Power button, followed by the selector for the 4 Inputs. Pressing these will select the input, allowing you to make changes. Under that is the “Auto Gain” button. To the right, we have the Volume control. This controls the output volume, headphone volume, and the input volume all with one control! Going right again, we have the headphone selector. These allow you to select an output and adjust the volume.
More on the Audient EVO 8
That is it for the top panel, so moving down. On the front panel, it is fairly clean and clutter-free. The EVO 8 has one instrument input on the far left and two headphone outputs on the right-hand side.
The unit has 48v phantom power to all 4 channels. However, if you want to run all 4 inputs with phantom power, then you will need to use a USB-C to USB-C cable; otherwise, you will only be able to power two Inputs. Speaking of inputs, let’s go over the Inputs and outputs this Audio interface has. On the back, you have 4 XLR/1/4 Inch inputs, which use EVO preamps, giving you 58dbs of range. Next to this, we have 4 outputs: Two left outputs and two right outputs.
The Audient EVO 8 retails for £145 (price can vary depending on the shop, country, and shipping). This also includes a USB-C cable, instructions, and of course, the Interface itself!
The Sounds
So it’s hard to demo an audio interface! I can only really show you previous reviews we have done using the interface. So below are three reviews we have done all using the EVO 8 interface. A mix between Microphones, direct, and XLR recording.
If there is anything you want to hear or know what it sounds like, then please feel free to shoot us a message over on our Instagram. We will try our best to assist and help you out.
Centura Klon: We used the direct out into XLR for leads and electric guitars, then used the Mic/XLR Pre’s for the Acoustic guitars.
Fake Martin Review: For this video we used the Mic/XLR Pre’s for the Acoustic guitars.
What are my thoughts?
So what do we think about the EVO 8 interface? Well, let’s get into it! Firstly, it is such a great size, very compact and portable. However, don’t let this distract you as it really does pack a huge punch! I would like to bet that most people would have room for this on their desk or in their setup! Being that you can control all the inputs and controls through the app, you could even have it completely out of sight and not need to touch it! Very useful for those with low space!
After plugging it in, I just played through some demo tracks I was working on at the time, and I noticed an immediate difference through headphones. There was so much more clarity! They sounded so clear and were really able to drive my headphone! It made writing, recording, and mixing so much easier and also more comfortable!
Anything Else?
Have to talk about the auto-gain feature! This is the reason most people will buy this interface! It is so simple and quick to use. You start by pressing the auto-gain button, then selecting your Input, play or sing, and the EVO 8 will then listen and set the gain so it doesn’t clip! I will say, it isn’t perfect; sometimes it can set it way too low. However, it is really good for getting most things in a ballpark range! The only thing you have to make sure you do is when the device is listening, play what you are about to record; no point strumming really hard to set the level then recording a soft single note guitar line.
Speaking of gain, my lord this thing is loud! You can really crank the output to get good clean audio and blisteringly loud volumes! I’m sure this would be able to power almost any speaker and monitor you needed it too!
In regards to inputs and output, this interface has plenty! Having 4 outputs (two stereo pairs) is super useful! Meaning you can use two different kinds of studio monitors. Pair this with the two headphone outputs, meaning two people can use headphones at once, while both having different levels! These are great and are impressive features for an interface at this price point!
Any Negatives?
I do have a few negatives, sadly! It isn’t all roses! The actual build quality seems good; however, the plastic they have used feels a bit on the cheaper side! It seems to be what I would call that “creaky” plastic! The buttons have a nice feel and a slightly higher quality feel! It is just the surrounding plastic I feel lets off a cheap vibe!
Also, the EVO mixer that gets installed has a learning curve! Not because it’s hard to learn, but because it can be confusing. I didn’t like the fact that it forces you to have a direct monitor. It took me a while to switch it off; I had to uninstall the EVO software for it to work as I wanted! It would be nice to have an “Off” feature in the app so I can bypass all the advanced stuff and just use it as an interface! I’m sure there is a clever and fancy way to use it, but for my workflow and what I want, I just want a simple plug and go! Which this can be! If I am missing something, please let me know; I have sent the EVO team a support email but have not had a response back in a few weeks.
Conclusion
Hope you have enjoyed our review of the Audient EVO 8 Interface; we will be using it a lot in the future. Also, if you are planning to buy one, I hope this has helped you decide if it is right for you. If you have any questions, then please shoot us an email over on our contacts page.
I did pay full price for the EVO 8 audio interface. If you want to purchase one for yourself, you can pick one up at the link below. It is an affiliate link, so buying it gives us a small kickback at no extra cost to you. A great way to help the site out.
We want to review more studio and live gear, if you can think of any you want us to try please let us know over on our Instagram!
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