Complete Beginners Guide to Your Interface

The Complete Beginners Guide to Using Desktop Audio Interfaces Everyone comes to recording in different ways, for some of us the goal is just to write songs and demo, or to practice with other instruments and get better. Other times, getting started with recording turns into a passion that leads to an obsession, similar to how we treated learning an instrument.

No matter how you got here, welcome and thank you for investing in yourself. Whether you are just getting started recording or upping your game from other interface brands you've grown out of, we're thrilled you decided to do it with us and we're proud to be your copilot.

UNBOXING Congrats on your rad new audio interface!

Here's a few essential steps to get the most out of it and get things working. While this can be easy to skip, it really is essential.

Register Your Product

Get your needed Software

Control 2 (Takes care of levels and input settings)

Interfaces come with FREE plugins (things that help your recordings sound even better)

Software Trials and DAW software (Digital Audio Workstation AKA the software that helps you compose, record, mix and arrange audio)

HOOKING THINGS UP Right! So now you've got the software you need, let's get things connected.

The first thing we'll need to know about is inputs vs outputs. Sometimes these can be easy to confuse so the best thing to do is visualize where the sound is coming from and going to.

For example if you've used an electric guitar before, the jack on the instrument is called an output jack, that sends the signal from the guitar to the amplifier.

If you've used a mic before, you made sound which was picked up by the microphone and output to speakers after going to a sound board.

On your interface both the guitar and mic are considered inputs but their signal types are different, meaning you'll need to choose different settings.

ALL ABOUT SIGNAL TYPES Commonly the connections we deal with in pro audio are XLR and 1/4 connections. While the jacks and cables look distinct, there are a few things that can feel confusing as you're getting going. XLR cables are typically used for microphone signals but can also be used for line level signals as well. The most common example is connecting recording monitors (studio speakers) where this is often the preferred connection.

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Interestingly enough 1/4 inch cables have 2 types which look very similar but are used for very different purposes. Below is an instrument cable used to connect guitar, bass and synthesizers to amps or interfaces:

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The other type of cable is known as a balanced cable used instead for connecting to speakers or routing sound between professional audio equipment such as analog outboard processors, mixers, or consoles. Shown below, this cable has an additional ring :

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While they look similar, the balanced cable and unbalanced cables are quite different and will not produce the intended result when used in place of each other. You'll likely hear people refer to balanced cables as TRS and unbalanced as TS.

GETTING SOUND Now that we have a lay of the land with cabling, let's connect stuff and get creative.

First up let's handle output, which likely will be pretty simple.

Headphones If you have headphones, connect them to the headphone output of your interface. Apogee gear is pretty unique in that the headphone outputs are not an afterthought, rather a stron

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