Audient Evo 8 Review – Know this before buying it!

After using the Audient Evo 4 for a while, I saw that some of my studio requirements were still falling short. Not that the Evo 4 is an inadequate interface, but I needed more inputs & outputs. So, I upgraded to Audient Evo 8, which matched my expectation perfectly. Therefore, in this Audient Evo 8 review, let’s dive deep into the entire audio interface to know if it fits your requirements.

We are going to see the features, sound quality, preamp quality, audio loopback mixer, pros, cons and who should get it. It is going to be fire!

Let’s begin!

Audient Evo 8 USB Audio Interface Review

Last update on 2023-09-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon

Before looking at the features, let’s sum up the Audient Evo 8 review in two lines or so.

The Audient Evo 8 is 4-inputs & 4-outputs USB-C audio interface. It has got excellent sound quality, superb mic preamps and ultra-low latency. In addition, the four outputs give any producer a massive variety of things to do like stereo monitoring, create separate monitoring channels or use it to route audio through other studio gear. Evo 8 is a vast upgrade to Evo 4, which provides an excellent value for money at a current price of $199.

[Also check: Best audio interfaces under $200]

Audient Evo 8 Specifications

• 4 Mic/Line inputs,
• 1 Hi-Z/ Instrument input,
• +48V Phantom powered,
• 4 EVO mic preamps,
• 24-bit resolution,
• Loopback feature for gamers & podcasting,
• 2 Headphone output,
• Exclusive Smart-Gain Feature,
• 4 line-level/ Studio monitors outputs,
• Line output dynamic Range – 113 dB,
• Supported sample rates – 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz,
• One USB-C port to connect to laptops/Desktop PCs,
• Direct Monitoring available,
• A wide range of softwares included,
• Windows/Mac/ M1 mac compatible.

view the price of Audient Evo 8 on Amazon

A Deeper Audient Evo 8 Review / Analysis

Last update on 2023-09-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon

Straight off the box, you can see four mic/line inputs on the front side of the Evo 8. These inputs can be connected to record pretty much anything. Be it mics or line inputs, try it out. Plus, you also get a Hi-Z input at the rear end of the interface that can plug in basses, keyboards or electric guitars. It is one of the best portable audio interfaces because in such a small size, you are getting a lot of different features.

How to pair/connect two inputs in Audient Evo 8?

Long press two inputs until the LED meters start to blink. As long as the two inputs are paired together, their gain levels will remain equal. Both the inputs will increase or decrease simultaneously. Such a feature is used in stereo recordings where a producer want the mix to sound more wide and open.

Phantom Power!

Next comes the +48V phantom power switch that is located on top of the Audient Evo 8. Pressing the 48V button will activate the phantom power for all the inputs. If you want to individually control which input gets phantom power, you can do so in the Evo mixer software. More about that in a bit.

[You may also like: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Review – Is it the best in class audio interface?]

Smart Gain

The exclusive smart gain feature on the Evo line of the audio interface makes the evo 8 even more faster and simpler to use. It automatically sets up the gain levels of the audio signal coming into the audio interface so that the signal doesn’t clip or distort. You can also manually control the gain level by pressing on the inputs and then using the master knob to adjust.

But, I would say that most of the times, you should set your gain levels manually. No one should rely on a software when it comes to setting up the right amount of audio signal to any particular input.

Direct Monitoring

The direct monitoring feature of the Evo 8 is bought into action by pressing the buttons just above the headphone outputs. One great thing is that you can control how much mix of the audio signal is going through each headphone output.

In some instances, audio engineering needs more of a particular audio signal than the other. In Evo 8, you can adjust the mix accordingly without disturbing the direct monitoring setting on the second headphone output.

[You may also like: PreSonus Studio 24c – A direct competitor to budget interfaces! ]

Output ports

In Audient Evo 8, there are two pairs of stereo output ports like the PreSonus Studio 26c. One pair usually connects to high-quality studio monitors that you may have setup in your studio. And the other two stereo outputs can be used to connect:

• another set of studio monitors,
• A set of external speakers,
• for routing audio through a separate channel,
• joining sound effects board,
• And many more.

A pair of extra output pair is quite a useful feature in case you want to listen to your mix on external speakers. It can turn out to be even more handy if you want to route audio from certain tracks to a separate monitoring channel or to the FX board.

Furthermore, there are two headphone outputs in Audient Evo 8. The most notable thing about the headphone outputs is that they can have a separate mix of the audio signal. In simple words, if a singer needs less audio signal from the drum tracks, it can be lowered (without affecting the second headphone output, which can have a separate audio mix) using the Evo Software Mixer. 

More about the Evo Software Mixer in a bit.

Connectivity

The Audient Evo 8 connects through the USB port and is powered directly by your PC or Laptop. No external adapter or a power source is required to bring the Evo 8 to life other than your PC.

Software Mixer in Audient Evo 8

The software Mixer makes the Audient Evo 8 even simpler to use. All the features like phantom power, smart gain, stereo mix, master volume, mic inputs and outputs can be controlled directly from the DAW. A producer can also control the audio signal mix that goes to each monitor and headphone output. In addition, an audio engineer can manually set the gain levels of each input. The software mixer app makes it possible to control the Audient Evo 8 without physically contact.

The Software Mixer can be downloaded from the evo 8 drivers page.

Sound quality of Audient Evo 8 USB Audio interface

The Audient Evo 8 has low noise mic preamps and great quality converters making it one of the best audio interfaces for Shure SM7B.

The audio quality of the Audient Evo 8 remains ultra clean without any unusual noise, all thanks to the Evo mic preamps. Moreover, numerous sample rates are available, with the highest sample rate being 96 kHz and the sound resolution being 24-bit. The excellent preamps, multiple sampling rates & 24-bit resolution make the Evo 8 a perfect choice for your studio.

[Also check: Best professional audio interfaces for home studios]

Both Evo 4 and Evo 8 have the same mic preamps. And that is why the sound quality of the Evo 8 is very similar to that of Evo 4. In conclusion, if you ever owned the Evo 4 and were satisfied by its audio quality, the chances are you will like the Evo 8 even more because it has got two more mic preamps of the same quality.

Potential Use Cases

There are many use cases possible in Evo 8 because of the four mics/line inputs and one instrument input. The inputs can also be used for stereo recording, but that will take two inputs at a time. All you need to do is to connect two inputs to use them in a stereo set.

There are a ton of use cases possible, but let’s see the ones I use the most:

• Use keyboard in Stereo, one Microphone, a guitar,
• Back vocals in Stereo, acoustic guitar, Main vocalist,
• Two Mics, one guitar,
• and many more.

I have used many combinations, but these are the ones I use the most. But, you can also connect any other instrument of your choice.

The possibilities are endless!

Gain Ranges of Audient Evo 8

Input Type	Gain Range	Dynamic Range
Microphone Input	58 dB	100 dB
Line Input	58 dB	105 dB
Instrument Input	around 60 dB	105 dB
Headphone Output	–	113 dB
Line/Monitor Output	–	110 dB

You can see gain and dynamic ranges in more detail here.

The dynamic range is the maximum amplitude that an audio signal can jump without clipping or distorting. In addition, the gain range is not a clear indicator of how well an interface performs. But, for budget interfaces, an excellent gain range to look out for is between 50 dB to 65 dB.

The gain and dynamic ranges are very much identical to that of Evo 4. So, there is nothing to complain about here as they are higher than most budget audio interfaces. And the gain ranges are pretty satisfactory as well.

PROS of Audient Evo 8

• Easy to set up,
• High portability,
• 24-bit resolution,
• Great value for money,
• Significant lower noise levels,
• Automatically adjusts gain levels,
• Windows/MAC-OS/iPad compatible,
• 4-ins and 4-outs lets you do way more than Evo 4,
• High dynamic ranges that prevent signal from clipping,
• Better mic-preamps than most of the budget audio interfaces,
• Well tamed distortion behaviour (under audible frequency ranges),
• Two headphone outputs which can have a separate mix through the audio loopback mixer.

There are lot of pros related to Audient Evo 8. The most important of these are excellent sound quality, high resolution, four inputs, four outputs, the innovative gain feature, two headphone outputs and high compatibilities with most the DAWs and operating systems.

CONS of Audient Evo 8

• No MIDI I/O,
• High headphone impendence,
• Build quality could have been better,
• Sampling rates are still at 96 kHz as in Evo 4.

The cons of Audient Evo 8 should have been improved. All these cons were the missing features in the Evo 4 which were expected to be included in Evo 8.

Firstly, there is still no MIDI I/O in Evo 8. It was understandable that why Evo 4 was lacking a MIDI port. There were issues like size, cost etc. But a MIDI I/O should have been included in the Evo 8, is what I feel. Many people were expecting the Evo 8 to fill in the gaps left by Evo 4. But, one gap remains.

Secondly, the build quality is the same as that of the Evo 4 houses. No change whatsoever, even after a lot of criticism from the users.

Lastly, the samples rates are still the same, at the highest being 96 kHz. It is the one of the cons of Evo 4 that should have been improved.

Audient Evo 8 USB audio Interface – Who should get it?

Last update on 2023-09-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon

The Audient Evo 8 is highly suitable for both newbies and professional artists. It is highly portable, has ultra-low latency and a massive number of features, as mentioned above. It can also be an excellent choice for solo as well as touring artists. It can fit in your bag and weighs only a pound. Moreover, it beats famous interfaces like Scarlett 2i2, Studio 24c and gives a very tough competition to Studio 26c.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the audient Evo 8 review ends here. At this point, it is safe to say that Evo 8 is worth the money. It packs everything that is necessary for an artist and still remains portable, highly reliable, fast, high quality and a great budget option under $200.

To be honest, it is one of the best budget audio interfaces that provides a tough competition to similarly priced audio interface.

And my reasons for switching to Evo 8 were personal. In Evo 4, one thing that pissed me a lot was the auto muting of studio monitors if you plug a headphone into the interface. And when you remove the headphones, the studio monitors were automatically unmuted. It became a barrier for me to collaborate with other artists.

[You may also like: Best Audio Interfaces under $500]

Lastly, I hope you like this article. Make sure to mention your favourite audio interface in the comments below.