In the fall of 2006, I decided emo was out and IDM Fueled by the hope of being the next Four Tet or Aphex Twin, I marched down to my local Guitar Center and bought an audio interface to convert my guitar and vocals into ones and zeroes, then mix them together. Ableton Live.
When I got home, I plugged the brand new M-Audio Fast Track Pro into my Windows desktop and immediately hit the brick wall of audio driver setup hell. I finally got it working after hours of troubleshooting, but the latency—the gap between when you make the sound and when it hits your computer—made the box useless.
I was tempted to throw Fast Track out the window and sample the sound of it hitting the pavement with an analog recorder. Instead, I went back to Guitar Center, swapped out the interface for a Line 6 DL4 delay pedal, and put my mind to plucking the Explosions in the air in a proper band setting.
Had something as quick and painless as the Universal Audio Volt 876 existed back then, who knows where my life would be now. I probably wouldn’t have opened for Four Tet and Fred Again … at the O2 Academy, but my foray into computer-based music would have gone much better than it did in 2006.
For Mass
Sound effects have come a long way since then. Prices have come down, quality has gone up, and latency is practically non-existent in most home studio environments. Interfaces that pair with proprietary software still exist, but class-leading—meaning you can plug a device into your computer without the need for preamps—makes it easier for audio gear manufacturers to create boxes that plug and play easily across multiple operating systems. Even iOS and Android, in most cases. Anyone can find a great sounding interface on Amazon for $200 or less and plug it into their iPhone, then plug in a cheap microphone and mumble their way to TikTok stardom.
Photo: Pete Cottell
