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Best audio interfaces for Mac

Best audio interfaces for Mac

Make music like a pro

Leander Kahney
April 16, 2024

When I was a kid my teacher asked the class what everyone wanted to do when they grew up.

Most of the kids said astronaut or train driver and stuff like that, but I answered I wanted to be a singer, like James Brown.

Alas, my singing voice sounds like a raspy donkey and I have no musical ability whatsoever. I was briefly the lead singer of a discordant punk band but even they kicked me out for being horrible.

As an adult, I’m more in love with music than ever, and I’ve long cherished the dream of trying my hand at making it. Especially with free tools like GarageBand that are easily installed on a Mac or iPad.

But this time, laziness and lack of time is an impediment.

But if you’re unlike me, and you’re into making music, one of the essential pieces of equipment you’ll need is a good audio interface.

If you have XLR mics or instruments with 1/4-inch jacks, you’ll need an audio interface to hook them to your Mac. Plus, most good audio interfaces improve vocal clarity, reduce latency and offer more control over inputs and outputs.

To help you out, check out or comprehensive guide to the best audio interfaces for Mac.

Also in today’s newsletter:

Bose makes incredible speakers, and I’m excited about this leak regarding a beefy Bluetooth boombox that’s about to launch.
Ahead of Earth Day, Apple is touting it’s commitment to sustainable materials with a new ad about ditching leather. But is Apple’s replacement material — FineWoven — really up to scratch?
This inkless pocket printer looks a lot of fun, and it’s more than half off at less than $70.
iPhone camera flare is a big nothingburger, according to yesterday’s poll results. See below.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

Make music like a pro with the best audio interfaces for Mac

For great sound quality in your audio recordings, you need the best audio interface for Mac. We'll help you find the right one.

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Goodbye Leather Apple ad raises questions about FineWoven iPhone cases

A new video from Apple highlights the company's move away from leather iPhone cases. But the replacement has problems.

^{A message from Cult of Mac deals team}

Nab Apple Watch SE 2 for up to $60 off on Amazon

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Silo star drops major hints about sci-fi hit’s future on Apple TV+

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^{A message from Cult of Mac deals team}

Inkless pocket printer can print out photos, notes and more for less than $70

Compatible with iPhones and Androids, this ink-free pocket printer instantly prints images, notes and more for only $69.99 (reg. $159.90).

Grab a great deal on M1 iMac while you can

Looking for an affordable desktop computer? Budget site Woot! has some sweet deals on M1 iMacs in an array of colors.

Today in Apple history: Cupertino fires back after Microsoft's 'Apple tax' ads

On April 16, 2009, Apple hit back following a Microsoft ad that criticized Cupertino for failing to sell decent laptops for less than $1,000.

Tweetz o’ the day

Call me old fashioned but this is still the best wearable ever made.
— Basic Apple Guy (@BasicAppleGuy)
2:00 PM • Apr 16, 2024

Just switched from Apple Studio Display to Vision Pro entirely after 5 weeks of using the device. It‘s so much better. #VisionPro
— Kevin Reutter (@kevin_reutter)
12:28 PM • Apr 16, 2024

Here’s what confuses me about humane, how is the latency so bad?
I’ve spent some time working on conversational interfaces, like that with the pin, and that latency is what you get when you basically do the bare minimum (hooking up stt->llm->tts) with no streaming in between.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
— Alex (@AlexanderMoini)
7:03 PM • Apr 15, 2024

One more thing ...

❝

So that’s our approach. Very simple, and we’re really shooting for Museum of Modern Art quality. The way we’re running the company, the product design, the advertising, it all comes down to this: Let’s make it simple. Really simple.

— Steve Jobs, 2011.

Today’s poll

Do you use your Mac or iPad for making music?

Results from yesterday’s poll: How big a problem is the iPhone's camera flare?

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