2021’S FINEST STUDIO GEAR

The things that we lump into the broad category of ‘studio gear’ – monitors, headphones, interfaces and accessories – aren’t necessarily the most exciting purchases, but they also tend to be absolutely essential to our music making. It might be hard to get too excited about a new budget interface or mid-sized set of monitors, but these are some of the most widely needed – and purchased – categories of gear, so it’s hardly surprising that more and more brands are getting in on the action.

UA’s Volt range might be 2021’s closest thing to a ‘sexy’ interface, but there have been other impressive entrants this year too. Arturia’s new MiniFuse interfaces offer a broad range of features and quality bundled software. Audient, meanwhile, maintain their reputation for offering high quality at affordable prices with the excellent MkII updates to the iD4 and iD14. Away from the budget level, ever-reliable interface makers Focusrite continued to deliver with the updated

Clarett+ range, while newcomers to the interface sphere Black Lion Audio impressed us with the all-round quality of their Revolution 2x2 unit. Newcomers to the monitor realm, Output’s Barefoot collaboration Frontier stood out this year thanks to a winning combination of eye-catching design and impressive mid-range detail. Regular names continued to impress too, such as M-Audio, whose BX3 and BX4 offered excellent value and PreSonus, whose

Eris E3.5 monitors really punched above their sub-£100 price point to offer a great solution for small studios.

The year’s most impressive monitors came from Focal though, whose Alpha 65 EVOs combined a subtly stylish design with a sonic quality that’s hard to beat at their mid-level price point.

As for studio headphones, Austrian Audio’s Hi-X65 are an impressive pair of mid-level studio cans offering excellent detail and separation. For something genuinely unique, Danish brand AIAIAI’s TMA-2 range brings a modular build-your-own solution that lets users design Bluetooth cans around their own specifications.

Our favourite mics of the year came courtesy of Lewitt Audio, whose LCT

stereo pair offered a simple but flexible pencil mic bundle, and JZ, whose C12-inspired Vintage 12

combines a gorgeous retro look with great sound and sneaks in as a late-in-the-year highlight.

While their Volt interfaces were Universal Audio’s highlight of 2021, it’s also worth a mention for the US brand’s smart DSP-powered range of UAFX pedals. Despite being latecomers to the stompbox game, the trio were immediately impressive with vintage studio style and sonics.

“IT’S UNSURPRISING MORE BRANDS ARE GETTING IN ON THE ACT”