M-Audio M-Track Duo – USB Audio Interface for Recording, Streaming and Podcasting with Dual XLR, Line & DI Inputs, plus a Software Suite Included

I honestly think this is greatIf you YouTube this it gets some hate.... But when you compare it to $200+ interfaces then naturally you're going to get more for what you pay for right? That goes without saying I'd have hoped..I'm a signed pro musician and I used this to record some ideas I had and it did the job nicely.Yes gain needs to be a little higher but so what. I had no issues on the quality of sound at all, software included was easy to install and use, it's light weight, the headphones input is on the front which is nice so design is good, has phantom power source if you need it (I don't)It isn't the best. Obviously it's like $50...you can't complain about quality of sound engineering, tech etc if you're a musician spending $50 on an interface lmao... Be real...When you compare it to its price, it's fantastic, like I honestly feel you're getting more out of this than the money you spent on it. Legit.I own a fancy 4th Gen scarlet 2 blah blah whatever it's called, but this helped me out when I was traveling record a couple great ideas which now have some great promise in production in a studio. I'm thankful for itFor beginners especially, it's ideal, learn on it, audacity etc, without breaking bank on scarlet's etcEven intermediate etc or pros who need a temp solution, it's all round greatI recommend it 100%

I got the 48kHz/1 XLR input. This requires no software to actually use this but in the User Guide, they do have software you can download for different music-related things, if that's what you got it for. Works with even the most cheap XLR cables you can find (I'm using XLR cables from some old, cheap, and spare 'microphone + boom arm + XLR ' kit). I got this for my Shure MV7 (NOT the +; this came out the model I bought did) and it works perfect with it.There is a slight crackling when you set up and especially when you connect to Discord but it largely goes away with a noise gate software. The design is easy to figure out with some tweaking.

The unit works well to digitize the sound which can be limited by Do-It-Yourself recorders such as phone, computer inputs or MICS. I tried so many things before jumping in to record correctly with appropriate hardware. OLD school items such as phones, or even high dollars MICs with plug-ins are not worthy of publishable recordings since the clipping is eliminated by forcing software limits on input (without your desire, as most items do this as a precautionary measure - to NOT ruin the PC, sound card, guts of the equipment, etc... The M-Audio, as well others, was researched and matched quite well with the higher priced items. It also had equal HZ ratings as some that were 5X the cost. I used this specific piece of equipment to record 20 songs for copyright with very good clarity and response. The CONS - the clipping adjustment is peaked at 9 or 10, which keeps you hopping on sound adjustments for various inputs (singing vs. instrument). It is a SOLO output regardless the hookups, which means, all SOUND (even if singing and playing two instruments) is blended to ONE OUTPUT (which is the input to DAW/Software). The drivers, which are FREE to download as well the software does NOT work on older PCs. I have an i5 rockin' PC that runs like a race horse, BUT will not run this stuff. So, even though the compliance online stated various modern WIN Platforms included, it will not on WIN 7 Home Premium. The FREE software will not either. However, it is running, and did run successfully on my Win 10 computer system. Generically speaking - it worked, and worked well!

Packaging - Comes with everything you need, including the cable to plug into a computer. It comes with a paper with the information about the free software you get from buying it. I haven't tried it though.Build quality - Fine, no metal. Completely plastic box.Noise - I don't hear any buzz or hiss when monitoring with my headphones, even with gain all the way up.Inputs - Good, having 2 XLR ports in this price seems pretty good compared to others. Headphone port alters sound a bit using it on my PC, so I only use it for direct monitoring. I don't use the speaker outputs on the back either, so can't comment on that.Design - Good, I like the small size. I put it underneath a little lift on my desk that my monitors are on, and it slides under nicely. But since the knobs are on top it's not very easy to adjust them, but I never need to.I only use this to plug my Shure SM57 into, and I don't hear any noise or buzz of any kind when monitoring my microphone with my headphones.I also have to have the gain all the way up for my SM57 to be loud enough, and even then I'd like it to be a little louder. But even with the gain all the way up there's no noise or buzz of any sorts.I tried plugging a guitar into it but I didn't switch it from line to guitar mode, so maybe that's why it didnt sound very good. I'm too lazy to test it again right now.When you get the gain knob to 90% and greater, the gain gets extremely sensitive. 95% - 100% is a huge jump in loudness. I've seen other people say that too, so I'm not sure why it does that.I don't require the phantom power for anything so I can't comment on that.When plugging my headphones into it to use it on my computer, it seems like it alters the sound compared to when I just plug my headphones directly into my computer, and I don't like it as much, so I don't use it for that.The direct monitoring is good though, no latency or anything. I'm not sure if the monitoring knob is sensitive like the gain because I have no reason to turn it that high.