 Now bring it back to me, back to me, back to me Hey guys we're back on the Nova show it's your host International Nova and as you can see we're back in my home studio in today's episode we're gonna cover some music news but also we're gonna go back to the home studio series and talk about some audio interfaces besides that today's episode is gonna be pretty amazing it's actually my birthday I got some cool cake waiting outside so let's get right to it. In today's music news Microsoft has announced that their Zoom music service come November 15th will be no more. Yes it's official. Come November 15th there will be no more Zoom music service. Now if you guys remember back in 2011 Microsoft actually stopped making their Zoom media player but continue the actual service. Now if you're one of the few I do mean few who still use the Zoom music service don't be afraid. On November 15th Microsoft will actually transfer your service over to Groove Music. According to reports Groove Music currently has over 40 million songs available to stream so it's actually not a bad service. Now let's be honest Zoom has been dead for quite some time this statement just makes it official. Now in hip-hop news BT has announced their nominations for this year's BT awards and to no one's surprise Drake leads the bill with 12 nominations. Now for you Drake fans out there be sure to tune in October 13th for the BT Awards on BT. Now in other music news a big congratulations is in store for Justin Bieber. His new single What Do You Mean has officially hit number one on the UK mid-week single charts. Congratulations Justin. Now that's it for the news let's go ahead and dive into the home studio series. Now in my experience whether you're upgrading an existing studio or starting a brand new one the audio interface seems to be the most confusing aspect of the whole setup. There are so many different brands so many different models and you're never quite sure you have the best one. So in this episode I'm looking to help you guys determine what is the best interface for your setup at home by using some of the key elements that I look for when choosing an audio interface. So some of you guys might be asking what is an audio interface? In simplest terms an audio interface connects your microphone and other sound sources such as instruments to your computer. I borrowed this picture here from musicrebo.com to give you guys a visual of how an interface relates to your computer or your laptop. I actually have four key elements. The first one being software compatibility. You want to make sure that your interface is actually compatible with the recording software that you're going to be using at your home studio. So one of the few things I recommend is doing some research. You want to make sure that interface is compatible to your software and the best way to do that is to go to the company website for the interface or the company website of the recording software. Somewhere on that website there would be a compatibility chart and most of the time it's pretty easy to find but in some rare cases it will take some digging. Now my second key element is going to be interface connections and by that I mean is it a USB connection or a Firewire connection or maybe even a PCI connection. You want to be sure that your interface can actually plug into your computer. Now with that being said a USB connection is the most common connection although it is the slowest of the three connections. Firewire is another connection type and it is much faster than a USB connection although it may not be available as a connection on your computer. Now another connection type is a PCIe connection. It's also pretty common and it does have a fast transfer rate but again you want to do your research and make sure you have the right connection type for your interface that will connect to your computer. Now another key element is going to be the number of inputs and outputs on the interface. This is very important you want to make sure you have enough incoming connections on the interface to fit your musical needs. Now if you're a solo artist and you're only doing vocals I recommend having an interface that has anywhere from one to four incoming connections. If you work in a group or a part of a group or a team of writers and musicians you may want something a little bigger maybe four to eight connections. Now if you're working with a band you may need an interface that has a lot more connections. I recommend getting an interface with at least 16 inputs. This works well if you have drums and instruments as well as microphone lines. You want to make sure you have enough connections needed for you and your group. Now another key element that's often overlooked is going to be the size of the interface. Now there's two main types. One is what I call a desktop interface which is able to fit or sit on your desktop and doesn't take up too much space. And the second is a rack mounted interface. A rack mounted interface is much bigger than a desktop interface and requires an actual rack to be mounted on. Similar to the one I have here. So I wanted to show you guys some of the interfaces that I've used in the past and one of them is the pre-sonus audio box. This is a USB interface with two inputs and two outputs. The second is the Avid FastTrack Solo. Now this interface only has one input and one output but it's also a great interface on the cheap. Now the cool thing about both these interfaces is that the company that makes these interfaces also has recording software. Now with the Avid Pro Tools FastTrack once you buy the actual interface you also get a copy of the Pro Tools recording software. And if you're a Pro Tools fan like I am that's actually a great deal. Now that's it for today's episode. I wanted to keep it real basic. I didn't want to confuse you guys with any crazy details. If you have any questions go ahead and drop a comment below. I try my best to respond. And again thank you for tuning in to today's episode. Till next time you guys take care.