If you're looking to record into a DAW, you're going to need an audio interface. But as you'll find after asking your friends, combing through forums, or consulting Reverb's own audio interface buying guide is that there are many, many options and many, many opinions for which interfaces might be the best.
Fortunately, if you're a guitarist that just wants to record your riffs with an easy, all-in-one interface, there are now companies building interfaces just for you. In our video above, Joe Shadid talks through three different guitar-specific models. Two will work with or without additional software modeling that can help further define your tone—and one is a super-simple, mini-pedal-sized interface.
The IK Multimedia AXE I/O
IK Multimedia has been releasing both interfaces and recording software for years, with its iRigs and AmpliTube being leading products in both fields (iRigs for mobile recording, AmpliTube for software amp/cab/pedal/room modeling). The AXE I/O marries the two worlds with an easy-to-use interface that gives unprecedented control to IK Multimedia's AmpliTube software.
The AXE I/O comes with AmpliTube 4 Deluxe software and features 140 pieces of virtual gear, but even without the software, the AXE I/O is a robust, easy-to-use interface. In addition to the normal interface controls you'd expect to find, it also has a few features especially for guitarists, like an onboard tuner and re-amp output. This feature means you can fine-tune one tone within the software with your direct signal and send another out to your amp, mic'ing it and combining it with your direct sound.
Audient Sono
Another multi-use interface specifically built for guitarists, the Audient Sono includes something many players will appreciate, a 12AX7 preamp tube built right into the interface, along with an amp-style three-band EQ. Included as well is cabinet simulation software courtesy of Two Notes, one of the leading cab sim companies that has made popular loadboxes and speaker simulator pedals in recent years.
As Joe explains in the video above, you can also use the Sono as a replacement amp, taking it on stage with you and using your preset tones, going out directly into a PA. And, through its optical input on the back, you can expand the Sono (whose inputs include one dedicated for guitar and two mic/line inputs) to receive more inputs from another interface or preamp.
Orange OMEC Teleport
The simplest of the three, the Orange OMEC Teleport is about as large are your smallest pedal. Yet it's a robust interface that can take whatever signal you create through your pedalboard and bring it into your DAW.
With two outputs and one USB connection, you can have your playing captured by your computer while simultaneously running through your amp (or two), making this an easy and ideal way to record your bedroom jams without messing around with software modeling or any other time-consuming digital tweaking. That said, it does also comes with AmpliTube Orange, letting your further refine your tone inside your DAW if and when you so desire.