Everyone out there is going to tell you a lot of BS when it comes to audio interfaces.
This includes YouTubers, Amazon reviewers, the companies that make the audio interfaces, and so on and so on. They all have agendas.
YouTubers and reviewers generally want you to like what they like, this is human being's natural tribal instincts. It is silly, but it is really just human nature. Musical equipment manufacturers will tell you theirs is the one you want, for obvious reasons. They want your money.
You'll hear all this talk about sample rate, bit depth, EQ warmth buttons, pre-amp quality, and so on. To be honest, most of this stuff is irrelevant in 2025. Why? because all name-brand audio interfaces in 2025 have high quality preamps, all record at more than adequate bit depth and sample rates, and nearly all of them sound great.
Here's the things they almost never talk about but should, and these are the things that really matter. If running in windows, what kind of drivers do they have? Do they come with their own ASIO driver? Or, are you forced to use ASIO4ALL (a free ASIO Driver)? Does it have an external power supply, or does it run off of USB bus power? How does the direct monitoring feature work. Does it have a true balance between USB audio and direct in, or is it just an on and off switch?
Here's the answer you should look for on all of those questions.
For ASIO drivers, the best audio interfaces have their own. The lowest latency is achieved through proprietary ASIO drivers for Windows. Linux and Mac users don't need to worry about this, since both Mac and Linux have their own low latency drivers that work really well.
Generally USB audio interfaces with dedicated power supplies will be more reliable. USB bus power, especially on Windows and iPad is incredibly flaky. This is not to say that some interfaces running on buss power can't be good, but generally I would steer towards ones with PSUs.
Direct monitoring: This is a big one. This refers to being able to monitor what you are recording directly through the interface without running to software first. The best interfaces with have a knob or fader that can balance between the USB/computer sounds, and the sounds coming from whatever is plugged into the interface. This is important because it allows you to hear what you are recording in real-time without latency while recording. Some interfaces only have an on/off switch for this. This is better than no DM at all, but still not ideal.
Next, you need to think about how many inputs you actually need. As a drummer, having at least 8 inputs is crucial to me. I can deal with 4, but a 2 channel interface will not be a great one if you want to mic up a full kit. If you are just a guitar player and don't ever plan on using live drums, then you won't need as many inputs.
So what are "name brands"? Here are some:
Avoid weird sounding Chinese Amazon brands. I'm not saying all of these are bad, some are okay, but it is a total crap-shoot.
Look for any of the brands above, consider price, amount of inputs, and the other features I mentioned above. All of these brands offer varying specs on all of those features, so make sure you read all the details and ask questions if you are not sure or it is unclear.
