ART USB Mix

Please notice this is not a USB audio interface. This is a mixer with a USB port stuck in the back. Anything that goes to the inputs goes to the monitor and main outputs. You can't send anything to the DAW and use the monitor output for anything else.

For example, you can't record a singer while sending her a backing track thru headphones. She's going to hear herself. And you can't even control the volume at with she hears herself, because that will affect the intensity of the recorded signal as it's received by the DAW.

Everything else in this mixer is correct, well built, solid. But not taking the digital part seriously makes this mostly useless as a USB audio interface. Not if you plan to record anything properly.

I've used this mixer for around a mounth now, and I'm very pelased. I needed a good interface that works with Linux, allows me to practice bass playing while listening to a backing track, and has separate pots for headphones and line out (I use this for active monitors). This satisfies all those demands, and more. It also works as a recording interface (though I haven't tried this yet).

PROS:
- Works with Linux straight out of the box (Ubuntu at least)
- Sturdy quality, all metal housing, small size
- Completely silent, no hiss or hum
- Runs on USB power (power supply still included though)
- Balanced inputs and outputs
- Hi-Z/line input selector

CONS:
Only one missing feature: An additional control for panning between channel 2 and 3 would make this into a true 3 channel mixer. Now you have to set the levels at the source, which might be bothersome in some situations.