For any producer, be they professional or an enthusiast in the audio world, their choice of interface is paramount, not only for its functionality but also for its durability and design. In this article, Ashea takes a closer look at the Audient iD24.

The iD24 from Audient has been a feature of my desktop for a good few months now. Its dark grey and black chassis has a simultaneously sleek but robust look to it - it's not flimsy in the slightest. Being all-metal, this gives me peace of mind that when I need to travel, I can just slip it into my backpack and it's not going to get damaged. This sturdiness can be felt on the metal phantom power, pad and high pass filter switches which make a satisfying clicking sound when switched on and off, the large grey aluminium volume dial is smooth to touch but softly stepped so that you can feel each increment as you twist it. The iD24 has a slight heaviness to it, certainly not as lightweight as something like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, but I think that’s part of the appeal.

Stand Out Features — Front

2x Mic Pre

The iD24 comes built with two Audient Console Mic Pre-amps which use the same circuit design as Audient’s classic ASP8024-HE console, each with 126dB of dynamic range, giving more than enough headroom for what most producers like myself would need in order to capture a good clean sound. I regularly use the inbuilt preamps to record my voice for podcast & voice over.

1/4 Inch and Mini Jack Headphone Connection

Handy if you’re working in the room together with an artist for example. 3 function buttons which can be easily assigned to things like: 

• Talkback

• Phase

• Checking your mix in mono

• Creating an Alt switch (to switch between different monitors for referencing).

Class A, JFET Instrument input- The JFET circuitry adds a touch of colouration to the signal, which can really benefit guitar or bass.

Stand Out Features — Back

2 Speaker Outputs

Good for setting up different monitors for referencing when mixing, the function buttons can be assigned to switch between 2 sets of monitors.

2 Fully Balanced Inserts & Returns

Ideal for producers like myself who like to work in a hybrid fashion and easily incorporate hardware into their workflow, vocal chain etc.

The send and return jacks are half-normalled, so there’s the option of splitting the signal and applying parallel processing, if you wanted.

If you prefer you can plug directly into the Audient’s analogue to digital converters via the return and bypass the pre-amp completely.

Optical In & Out

If you’re a producer who tends to work with a lot of bands, the optical in and outs will allow you record those bigger sessions, no problem. The iD24 Supports both ADAT and SPDIF, so you could potentially add up to 8 channels of mic preamp to your setup.

Using The iD Knob

I’m the type of producer that uses different plugins, synths etc in many of the projects that I work on, so pre-assigning my controller doesn’t tend to work too well, as I prefer to have more flexibility. This is where I found the iD knob to be a blessing. Scroll control allows you to seamlessly assign the iD24’s main volume knob to any parameter within your DAW, or to scroll a website. It really is easy as pie, simply press the iD button, hover your mouse over the parameter you wish to control and then dial to taste using the Audient’s main knob.

Full List Of Features

• 2 x Audient Console Mic Preamps

• Class Leading AD/DA Converters

• 1 x JFET Instrument Input

• 2 x Fully Balanced Inserts

• 1 x ADAT Input & Output

• 4 x Line Outputs

• 1 x Dual Headphone Output

• 1 x Word Clock Output

• 3 x User Defined Function Keys

• Dedicated Dim and Cut Controls

• +48V, Pad, and HPF Switches

• ScrollControl

• Ultra-low Latency Software Mixer (Direct Monitoring)

• Audio Loop-back

• True Phantom Power over USB

• USB3.0 Bus Powered

• 24bit/96khz

• Mac & Windows Compatible

• All Metal Design

• Free Software + Plugins

Final Thoughts

The Audient iD24 is a versatile piece of hardware that suits the workflow of the modern producer. At under £300 it certainly doesn’t break the bank and seems to stand the wear and tear of travel, which for me is high up on my list when it comes to everyday-use gear.