Recorder help · article 2 of 9

Using an audio interface

Never used an audio interface? This page goes from what one is to your first take.

What an interface does

An audio interface is a small box that connects your instrument to your Mac. Your guitar or bass plugs straight into it with a cable, so Afinar hears the instrument itself, with nothing else from the room.

The Mac’s own microphone hears the room. It picks up your strings, but also your amp, the song from your speakers, and anything else nearby. Afinar’s guitar and bass pedals, and its amp models, expect the direct signal an interface gives. For an acoustic instrument or your voice, the Mac’s microphone works well, with headphones on.

What to look for

Look for an instrument input. It’s marked Inst or Hi-Z, or has a guitar icon, and a guitar or bass needs it.

Look for a headphone output, so you can hear yourself and the song.

Check the USB connection. Many Macs with Apple silicon have only USB-C ports, so an interface with a USB-A cable needs an adapter.

Look for one that’s class compliant. It works on a Mac without installing anything, and most small interfaces are. One that needs a driver works too, once you’ve installed the maker’s Mac driver.

One instrument input is enough. Afinar records one input at a time.

Plugging in

Plug your guitar into the interface’s instrument input with a standard instrument cable. Connect the interface to your Mac with its USB cable. Plug your headphones into the interface’s headphone output, not the Mac’s.

Then, in System Settings, under Sound, set the output to your interface, so the song plays in your headphones too.

Setting the level

Find the gain knob for the input your guitar is in. In Afinar’s setup, when it asks you to play, strum as hard as you will play and watch the meter. Turn the gain up until your loudest playing comes close to the top of the meter without reaching it. Many interfaces also have a light or a ring that turns red when it’s too loud. Turn the gain down until it stays green.

Too quiet is easy to fix. Too loud distorts the take, and no tone can undo that.

Choosing it in Afinar

In setup, choose your interface where it asks for the input. Afterwards, the You card on the Record tab shows the interface’s name, then the input, such as Scarlett Solo USB · Input 1. Afinar remembers the input you chose last.

Choose the input your guitar is plugged into. On many interfaces the instrument input is Input 1, but not on all of them. To switch, click the input box in the You card and choose the other one, such as Input 2.

If your interface isn’t connected when Afinar opens, the You card says so and uses your Mac’s default input, for example Scarlett Solo USB isn’t connected. Using MacBook Pro Microphone.

Hearing yourself

Switch on Hear yourself in the You card to hear your guitar through your pedal and amp model. With an interface, you hear it in the interface’s headphone output. Headphone volume under the switch sets how loud.

Hear yourself needs wired headphones. With Bluetooth headphones, the window says Bluetooth headphones delay what you hear. Use wired headphones to hear yourself. With speakers, or nothing plugged in, it says Plug in headphones to hear yourself.

Turn off your interface’s Direct Monitor, or turn its mix knob all the way toward playback (often marked Playback, DAW or Computer). Otherwise you hear your plain guitar under your sound, a little out of step with it.

If something isn’t right

If the meter doesn’t move, check that the You card shows the input your guitar is in, that the cable is in the instrument input, and that the gain is turned up.

If Afinar says No input found., it can’t see your interface. Check the USB cable and any adapter, or try another port. If your interface needs a driver, install it.

If you hear your guitar in one ear only, that’s usually the interface’s Direct Monitor, which on many small interfaces plays one input on one side. Turn Direct Monitor off and use Hear yourself instead.

If your take has no guitar in it, the window says Nothing came in from your input, so no take was saved. Afinar heard nothing on the input it was set to. Check that the You card shows the input your guitar is plugged into. Hearing yourself through Direct Monitor doesn’t mean Afinar hears you.

Which interfaces work

Any class-compliant USB audio interface with an instrument input should work. One that needs a driver works too, once the driver is installed.