Audient iD48

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.

I'm on a budget, and I always put a lot of research into any piece of gear before buying it. I had been searching for a long time for the perfect audio interface for my home studio, and I think I’ve finally found it.

The iD48 offers an astonishing amount of I/O and connectivity for all sorts of purposes. I can now connect all of my gear simultaneously — guitars, microphones, synthesizers, and more. The eight preamps deliver pristine sound quality and come with excellent functionality (pad, HPF, and boost). The two ADAT ports and the Sub-D25 connection for sends/returns make this unit the heart of my home studio, providing extensive options for future I/O expansion and routing flexibility.

I bought the iD48 with the intention of building a hybrid recording and mixing setup in the near future, and I believe that’s the main selling point of this interface — the reason I chose it over other 19" rack units.

The iD Mixer software is a near-perfect companion to the hardware and has significantly streamlined my workflow. The “State” function is an amazing tool that allows you to switch between different session configurations depending on the project you’re working on.

Right now, I’m not yet using the iD48 to its full potential, but I’d be happy to revisit this review once I finalize my hybrid setup. :)

I have a small project studio with plenty of outboard, and rarely track bands. I upgraded from my 18i20 3rd gen primarily because of dual-ADAT (the 18i20 3rd gen only supports 8 optical channels) and line outs bypassing the preamp.

Onboard preamps are excellent. I mostly use outboard preamps as a personal preference, but when recording outside the studio, I can definitely rely on them.
Most tests show channels 7/8 can be a bit noisy because of the proximity to the PSU. It's not a big problem, especially if you can route less gain-hungry microphones to those channels.

Build quality is generally great. One nitpick is the knobs on the unit. Gain, monitor, and headphone volume knobs feel a bit plasticky, and in this respect, it feels like a downgrade from a cheaper 18i20.

Audient software takes some time to get used to but offers great flexibility for routing and cue-mixes.

Despite what some reviews say, this unit can be turned off by holding the monitor knob for a few seconds.

If Audient ever makes a mark-II of the unit with improved software, better knobs (perhaps even digital control), and better PSU isolation, it'll be a solid 5 for me, but I'm pretty happy with the unit as is. 5 minus.