Audient EVO 4

Audient might have a history of big mixing desks, but they now also have one of the most compact interfaces available. Is it EVO so good?

Audient made their name with huge mixing desks, which found their way into many high end recording studios, but more recently have been gaining a great reputation for their small-to-medium sized interfaces – the ID range. These utilise some of the technology from those big desks – notably the ASP8024 preamp – for their high quality sound. At this year’s NAMM show Audient announced the EVO range of interfaces which are not designed to replace the ID range, but more to be a completely new and compact interface solution. Audient ask (rather than claim): is this ‘the world’s smartest audio interface?’. Maybe we can answer that for them…

EVO more We have the 4 in on test here – the larger 8 (which doubles the inputs and outputs to four each) is currently streeting for another 60 quid. Those connections aside, they look to be pretty similar concepts, that is having ‘one focus in mind, to make recording easy!’. And on the face of it, that claim looks correct as there’s nothing here to complicate issues. There are two combi mic/line inputs around the back of EVO 4, and one instrument level input at the front for connecting guitar or bass (which then overrides the first input around the back). Two speaker outs around the back complete the connections and a central main dial controls the level of that output plus a number of other levels determined largely by which buttons on the top of the panel you press, these being 1 and 2 (for the input levels), and output (bottom right) plus a final button that means the dial adjusts the mix between the input and DAW. Using the headphone socket means the main dial controls this level.