Home Music Producer

The Ultimate Music Production Resource

Whats More Important A Microphone Or Audio Interface?

There’s always a battle when it comes to choosing for equipment that you need

right away and equipment that you can do without.

It all comes down to what you wish to accomplish.

This greatly determines what equipment should make the top of your

shopping list and what equipment you can get along the way.

There’s a great debate on which is more important a recording microphone or an audio interface, so let me discuss that;

A microphone is more important if you’re just looking to capture audio recordings without much consideration for quality. Microphones like USB mics can be plugged directly into your computer without the need for an audio interface as the go-between. However, you’ll get the best quality of recordings when you pair an audio interface with a good microphone.

Let’s get into the definition of both of these items.

A microphone is a device that is used to record basically anything; its job is to convert any sounds in to electrical signals.

Microphones can be used to record; instruments, vocals and any other sounds, in most recording studio it is relied upon to record vocals.

On the other hand,

an audio interface is an analog to digital and digital to analog converter that acts as an external sound,

in simpler terms audio interfaces facilitate audio signals going in and out of your computer.

Therefore before you start shopping for a microphone, its worth considering whether an audio interface is necessary for your studio.

Use Of A Microphone

A microphone is meant to take care of any of your recording needs therefore it should be one of the first things that you buy,

when equipment shopping because you can record with a microphone even if you do not have an audio interface.

Most USB recording microphones will allow you to simply stick the USB into

your laptop and be able to record your music.

USb microphones will in most cases come with drivers that you’ll need to

install on your computer to make the microphone usable.

Audio Interface purposes

The key function that audio interfaces serve is to provide high quality

converters that can accurately transmit audio in out of a computer.

Your built-in sound card that runs with your laptop can achieve the same task,

but not at the quality level that an audio interface works at.

Audio interfaces improve the sonic capabilities of audio signals therefore

they are much more preferred than in built sound cards that come pre-installed in computers.

Another key function of audio interfaces is their ability to allow connections

of devices such as instruments, speakers and microphones through their

inputs.

With this said,

you can still make music without an audio interface,

you’d be missing out on some quality but you can still get the job done quiet efficiently.

Pc and mic combo

Most microphones available on the market will allow you to be able to

connect them directly into your computer and be able to record high quality

material without the aid of an audio interface.

These microphones are usually USB microphones that come with a

connectable USB that can be easily used with your computer.

Therefore the need for an audio interface is not as immediate as the need

for a microphone.

With a microphone you can record music,

be able to mix and master it within a digital audio workstation and be able to release it. 

An audio interface will give you high quality converters to work with,

but if you don’t have any audio signals to run through it,

it will not be useful at all.

Therefore focus on getting a good microphone first then go ahead and buy yourself an audio interface.

Expenses

Another reason why a microphone is more important than an audio interface is because; you can make music with just a microphone and a laptop.

Therefore in terms of cost and benefit,

a microphone would be much better suited because it would put you in a

position to make music rather than audio interface which is only an external sound card.

Granted internal sound cards aren’t that great, but you can still make music with them.

Conclusion

From the brief insight you can easily figure out why going for a microphone first would be a better choice.

But keep in mind that any equipment serves its importance and this post is

in no ways trying to render an audio interface useless,

the sole purpose rather is to give you reasons why a microphone would be the first thing you go for.

If you’re a newbie producer and are looking to get started right away and are

running on a very tight budget, it would be smarter to buy a microphone first and get started.

After that, you can then factor in other equipment to make your work easier and give it much more quality.

Professionally,

it is essential to have an audio interface because of the sonic capabilities that it can give to your audio signals;

furthermore the inputs available on an audio interface will make it easier for you to use other equipment like studio monitors and instruments.

Therefore if you’re in a position to get buy both a microphone and an audio interface then i’d advise that you buy both because you’re going to need them.

But if you’re on a budget, buy a microphone that you can plug directly into your computer and start working.

Whats More Important A Microphone Or Audio Interface?

One thought on “Whats More Important A Microphone Or Audio Interface?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to top