Audient’s recently announced EVO 16 promises a glimpse of things to come for the interface market, but how well does it actually perform? See it and hear it as three Experts give their verdict… Evolving The Interface British audio company, EVO by Audient is delighted to announce the launch of the latest product in its range, EVO 16. A 24 in / 24 out Audio Interface, this newest release features eight award-winning EVO Preamps, advanced converter technology as well as the ingenious Smartgain feature which can be used on all 8 channels simultaneously, and continues to deliver on the EVO promise to ‘make recording easy’. Marketing director, Andy Allen explains Audient’s thinking: “We believe technology shouldn’t get in the way of the creative process; it should enhance it and be accessible to all, no matter what their skill-level or art-form and EVO is here to help make great-sounding recordings as easy and effortless as possible.

EVO launches its most powerful audio interface yet: EVO 16

Powered by Audient's lightning fast Smartgain algorithm, Smartgain uses advanced peak analysis to automatically analyse and set your gain to the perfect level in under 20 seconds! All you need to do is set up your mics, engage Smartgain and the EVO 16 will take it from there.Set the gain for all 8 Mic preamps with the touch of a button! Future-proof your Setup

Rack ‘em up

I mentioned the ability to adjust preamp gain from software as one of the pluses of the digital approach, and in this case, the software in question is simply called EVO. As the EVO 16 is a class‑compliant device and uses the Mac’s built‑in Core Audio driver, you can actually operate it on Apple devices without installing the EVO software, but I can’t imagine why anyone would do so! In look and feel, EVO adopts the ‘clean and clear’ look also favoured by manufacturers such as Focusrite and Arturia, and which probably owes a lot in the first instance to Ableton Live. When you first load it up, in fact, you might think everything is greyed out, but you soon realise that it’s just very grey. The EVO 16's optical inputs and outputs have you got covered for sessions of any size! Supporting both ADAT and SPDIF, you can add up to 16 channels of mic preamps to your setup, giving you plenty of options for expanding your recording capabilities down the line. Monitor your settings via the LCD Screen Too often, though, attempts to circumnavigate the technicalities of the recording process result in limited and limiting feature sets... With the EVO 4, however, Audient has created an audio interface that is genuinely simple to use but is in no way simplistic." These preamps are complimented by high performance converters; they feature 113dB of dynamic range, allowing you to pinpoint sections of your mix with unrivalled accuracy. You can even use the JFET instrument input to plug your bass or electric guitar directly into the EVO 8 and start recording. Intuitive Features

Audient EVO 16 - Expert Review | Production Expert Audient EVO 16 - Expert Review | Production Expert

The Evo 4 offers 48V phantom power, for those who plan to use condenser mics that require it. And the little “fader” button to the right side of the control panel represents the other neat feature here. It’s a dry/wet signal control, letting you choose how much you hear of the raw signal from your guitar/mic, and how much from the output through your recording software. There’s also a high resolution, full-colour LCD screen built into the unit. “Navigate SP8’s hardware features with blazing speed, courtesy of our Motion User Interface. The wide angle screen intelligently displays information as you need it, transforming EVO SP8 into a fully immersive, easy to use Smart Preamp – the first of its kind,” Andy continues. With the option to view the channel status and keep an eye on metering levels, Motion UI uses a centralised one-knob system to adjust all EVO SP8’s hardware parameters.I’m a big fan of Audient gear. I own a Gen 1 iD14 and I used to teach at a college that had both an ASP8024 and an ASP4816. They all work and sound great. Take that as a brand endorsement before we even start. The EVO 8 is equipped with 4 EVO preamps. These deliver 58dB of gain range and are characterised by a precise, warm nature. They'll squeeze every piece of potential from any of your connected microphones. You can also use the Audient Evo 4 with more platforms than you might guess. It works on Mac and PC without installing any extra software, and you can plug it into an iPad for use with apps like Garageband. I tried it with an older iPad Air and a USB-C to USB-C cable. No issues. Want to grow your studio business? Invest in Audient. – Audient on Audient keeps Lito’s Place on Top of Film Work However, it’s actually a lot less restrictive than some other models you might buy at the price. This is a 2in/2out interface, better than the capable but single-input Focusrite Scarlett Solo. These inputs can be mics, line ins, and there’s a dedicated “instrument” input, for greater flexibility than is offered by the recent Focusrite Vocaster line. And it’s more portable-friendly than the Audient ID4 Mark II.