I'm going to open this article with a confession that won't come as much of surprise to regular readers: I love Arturia. I'm a big fan. I have all of its plugins and several bits of hardware at home in my studio. However, I'd never considered it for my audio interface and I was pleased to get the chance to try one.
When the package arrived from Arturia, the AudioFuse came in a surprisingly pleasing package. The box – a cube – contained a nice metal cover to keep the interface safe. The package also contained all of the assorted cables that I'd need, plus peripherals and paperwork.
Connecting up
Because I'm a good boy, I read all of the paperwork before connecting the interface to my computer, and although it can run from bus power, the manual suggested I'd get better sound if I used the included power supply. Once the PSU, speakers and the USB cable had been connected, I routed some audio through it and the results were spectacular.
Listening back
Initially, I was testing AudioFuse in my classroom and had been using a simple 2-in/2-out interface from a well-known manufacturer that I often recommend to schools. The quality of the digital to analogue convertors in the AudioFuse is excellent and the recreation of audio from the digital information is some of the best I've ever heard. When compared to my cheap classroom interface it was a lot better, so I thought I'd compare it to the slightly higher-end interface that I have in my own studio. At home, I have an interface that prides itself on the quality of its preamps and digital-to-analogue convertors. Here, the comparison was much closer – the quality between the two was pretty similar despite the £200 price difference.
Other features
So what do you get for the extra £200? Arturia suggests that it is a 16-in interface – but this is a slight bending of the truth. To get access to all 16 channels you need to have an external ADAT preamp unit and to use the talkback channels. But you do get a lot of connectivity! What it really is, is a very good quality 4-in/4-out interface but with a lot of bells and whistles. However, this is likely to be enough for most projects unless you need to record a complete drum kit or a band all at the same time.
The interface comes with two mic preamp channels and two further input channels that have the usual jack socket but are uncommonly wired in parallel with proper phono inputs. So if you have students who like to DJ with actual turntables, the AudioFuse has the correct inputs to process the phono signal without conversion. In quite a small package, Arturia has included as many connections as it can, including MIDI in and out, a USB hub, and inserts on channels one and two. This is a lot of connectivity in a box smaller than a standard house brick!
In use
I used the interface over a number of weeks and in a number of different scenarios. In its basic operation, the interface is brilliantly simple to use. Connect stuff to the relevant socket and it comes out where you expect. Setting the gain for the inputs, output volume and balancing the sound between input and output is all very easy – the physical controls on the top of the device didn't require any fiddling in the software control panel.
I then used the device for some live work with separate outputs for Ableton Live, which was playing backing tracks, and a controller keyboard playing software instruments. I needed these to be on separate outputs and this is where I found the only negative about the AudioFuse. Routing the outputs is complicated. It wasn't a case of simply selecting one output for each channel; the software has internal routing and external routing and the user needs to select the correct internal routing to the physical output to get the audio to appear at the correct set of sockets. This was confusing, even with the manual, and took me a while to get correct audio to the correct output for the audio engineer.
The only other concern I had was that the device gets very warm during use. Not too hot to touch, but surprisingly warm. This is apparently deliberate, because the AudioFuse uses its case as a heat sink – but it was alarming nonetheless.
Conclusion
The AudioFuse is a brilliant audio interface and the quality of the convertors and preamps is exceptional. The connectivity and simple layout of the hardware make this an excellent controller for a project studio, and if partnered with an ADAT preamp unit it will do everything that a school studio could possibly need to do. There is no getting around the fact that this is quite expensive for what, out of the box, is a 4-in/4-out interface. However, the quality of the sound and connectors is worth paying for and it is likely to become the main interface in my studio – just don't tell my wife!
Price: From £429 (retail)
