In order to record audio, you’ll need an audio interface – a fancy name for a sound card – to get sound in and out of your computer. Most computers have a built-in sound card, but these tend to be inadequate for recording professional quality audio. There are a number of audio interfaces available that typically connect to your computer via USB or Firewire, and allow you to record from professional quality microphones, as well as various musical instruments.

I’ve been using the Edirol UA-25 (made by Roland) for a few years now, and have found it to be an excellent choice for a small project studio. It’s a two-channel device that is fairly simple to use, has a good feature set and is not terribly expensive. The mic preamps sound quite good – though you might consider a separate preamp to get the most out of high-end mics like the Neumann U87.

This unit will record audio at up to 24bit/96kHz; has 2 XLR/TRS (1/4”) jacks with phantom power, digital and MIDI I/O, and a built in compressor/limiter, which will come in handy when recording dynamic performances such as animation characters. It also has 2 TRS (1/4”) outputs which will handle most professional studio monitors.

The Edirol UA-25 EX has been rebranded as the Cakewalk UA-25 EX, but it’s not clear if this is truly the same unit or not; meanwhile there are still some Edirol units available on Amazon, so get them while you can:

JM