Best small interface (1 or 2 inputs)

[chk071]

Steinberg UR22 MK2...

No silly DSP or any other bells and whistles to get in the way of things...

Bulletproof and totally reliable because they are dead simple...

Yes, I really like mine.

Had some issues with it initially though, which were totally to blame on my former wi-fi card though (I guess it simply wasn't properly shielded. TP-Link cheapo crap, what can you expect?). It's perfectly stable with my ASUS wi-fi card now.

[LocalTrack19]

You might also check out the SSL 2+
https://www.thomannmusic.com/ssl_2_481703.htm

I don't own it personally but since it's from SSL it should have decent preamps. A bit above your price range 'though ($255)

+1, the SSL is a great piece of gear. I bought it to replace the Focusrite Solo and never regretted it

[canadian_moose]

Motu M2 is the king in this price range.

[d-s-m]

Motu M2 is the king in this price range.

Just got one of these, very happy with it....and the levels screen is awesome

[BONES]

It's a high price range, though. I've owned a lot of USB interfaces - Roland/Edirol, Line6, Focusrite, Novation, Mackie, Behringer, Yamaha and Steinberg - but the one I keep coming back to is the Zoom U-24. Nothing else I've owned sounds cleaner, nothing else I've owned runs as reliably at very low latency (64 samples) and it is cheap, lightweight and can run on USB power or batteries. It also has MIDI in/out.

[pedronico]

I noticed no one considered the Focusrite Clarett range. Why?

[rj232]

I also recommend Steinberg URC interfaces. You can’t go wrong

[ghettosynth]

NI Komplete Audio 1 is £75 ...

https://www.andertons.co.uk/recording/a ... -interface

I own the original AK1 and its been a great interface. Still going strong after 14 years ... I've been looking into the KA6 for some extra ins & outs plus 2 headphone outs with individual volume controls.

I have one and NI stopped updating the drivers for Windows 10, unless that's changed and I'm just not paying attention. I read some thread about installing the Windows drivers, just not ASIO, which worked for the application at the time.

It's (was) a great interface.

[Spazspaz]

Focusrite Scarlett is quite incredible for the price, pre's are really good and that volume knob is smooth !!!!

[LocalTrack19]

Focusrite Scarlett is quite incredible for the price, pre's are really good and that volume knob is smooth !!!!

It’s of course a matter of taste but I was not too happy about the preamps and the headphone output

[Spazspaz]

You are right headphone out is weak but no issues with the preamps on my side.
I think for the price they hard to beat but still prefer my trusted RME FF800 !

[kaspien2021]

Honestly can't go wrong with the focusrite scarlett; super compact and manageable, pretty decent pre amp and solid 48V phantom power + vocal air. It'd be nice to have a secondary instrument input (you only get one xlr & one quarter inch jack), so you may want to move up to a higher model with two 1/4 inputs. I recently just got into tape machines/cassette decks and it sucks not being able to yield stereo due to the single input limitation (the scarlett records in mono). Other than that though, seems like it'd be pretty great for what you're trying to accomplish.