Pros:
- Very high-quality build and feel
- Switchable inserts (entire interface is worth it for this feature alone!)
- Transparent headphone amps, drive higher ohm headphones reasonably well
- Great components (AD/DA conversion, pre amps, etc)
Cons:
- No dedicated power button
- Clunky and confusing software, it took me a few weeks to adjust to it
- Unreliable loudness metering
Conclusion:
I’ve enjoyed the ID48 the past 3 months of ownership. When comparing it to other interfaces in its class, it’s the clear winner for mixing engineers. The quality is also unmatched, the full metal housing and switches feel higher quality than Audient’s 4816. Integrating it with a patchbay or single 8 slot 500 series rack is extremely powerful and allows you to mix with analog hardware quickly. However, as much as I love the ID48, I feel as though the software is its biggest drawback. Despite watching Audient’s provided videos, some features, such as independent headphone mixes, are only briefly mentioned but not well explained leaving the user to experiment with the feature until they reach their required routing . The metering in the ID software is extremely annoying as it often displays clipping warnings even if the signal is well below the threshold (such as when watching a youtube video). Lack of a dedicated power button is currently very annoying until I buy a second power conditioner.
