I got tired of being tethered to my desk and wanted to be able to get good takes on the go, and this fits the bill wonderfully. I can fit my entire guitar recording setup in the laptop pocket of a nice gig bag (14" laptop, 10' cable, AI-1 Interface, tiny USB-C cable [no power brick!]) which frees me up to sit down basically anywhere to record.

Even if I'm not traveling, being able to tote this around to different spots in my house has been a boon. Quality is great; aluminum casing seems built tough and the sound that I get is clean and doesn't 'color' the signal as far as I can tell.

If you only need one channel input at a time and like a lightweight/compact setup, get the thing!

First off, when I first got this, it had a very nasty noise problem. That was fixed with a firmware update. I assume that is fixed in the supply chain now and all the available devices avoid that firmware problem.

The good things about it: It makes a fantastic DAC/headphone amp for the price. My music library sounds great through it.

The mic preamp is very good. It provides a lot of clean gain and sounded great with a relatively low output dynamic mic like a Heil PR-40.

It also sounds fine with an electric guitar plugged in to the combo jack.

The direct monitoring feature is very nice - you can listen to the signal via the headphone jack without round-trip delay from your DAW.

You can use the mic/instrument input and turn on direct monitoring, and _also_ listen to the audio your computer or phone is playing. If you turn on the direct monitoring, you have a little mixer. So you can, for example, play guitar over a backing track to practice and it will sound very good through your headphones.

Now, my gripes:

I thought that this has a Neutrik Combo jack, I would probably be able to use it like I use a Focusrite Clarett, which can take an instrument, a mic, or a line-level TRS input. I wanted to be able to use it with an iOS device to handle the audio from a Zoom call, receiving a "mix minus" mono mix from my podcast mixer. Unfortunately it will not work correctly with a line-level inputs: it always has the Hi-Z circuitry engaged and you can't bypass it.

Things get strange when you want to use the rear pair of TRS outputs. This thing will drive _either_ the rear outputs or the headphone jack, but not both. If you plug in headphones, you'll get nothing out of the TRS outputs.

When you have TRS cables plugged into the rear outputs, the output level is controlled with the right knob on the front panel. This is a strange choice, because let's say you have the knob all the way up, because you're feeding the rear outputs to a mixer. Then you put headphones on and push the button, and the headphone amp is now at max. This is a terrible design choice that endangers your headphones, because I think this thing probably can put out enough current to fry a pair of headphones... and maybe your ears, too. I know there's not much room for a second knob, but it REALLY needs one.

If you have cables plugged into the rear TRS outputs, and the direct monitoring engaged, you'll get your microphone or instrument input out the back, so you can record your live mic or instrument into your computer or phone. That's all well and good.

However, the rear outputs have very low gain when play the output from your computer or phone. So, let's say you wanted to play audio from your computer or phone directly into a set of powered speakers with balanced inputs. You're going to have to turn the speakers way up to get a normal volume level, adding noise. That's not good. Or let's say you want to run them into a mixer. I compared this with my Focusrite Clarett+ 2pre, going into two stereo channels of my mixer, playing pink noise and a sine wave at -20dB. WIth the outputs of both at all the way up, the output from the AI-1 are 12 or 13dB lower than the output of the Clarett.

This was billed as "studio quality" and I'd say it "kinda" is - the headphone amp and single preamp input is right up there with other "prosumer" grade USB audio interfaces, and in fact probably better than many of them. But the lack of ability to support a line-level input properly, or drive the headphones and the line outputs properly, means that I can't really use it the way I was hoping to in my studio setup, and instead I use it as a little practice amp or just as a DAC/headphone amp to listen to my music library.

Read More Show Less

This is a simple and inexpensive solution that provides a full grand piano sound from a keyboard or MIDI controller. Keyboard via USB to computer. Computer to Rode 1. Rode 1 to powered speakers or just plug in headphones. Load Pianoteq. Select Steinway D. You will not be disappointed.

I was specifically looking for the smallest interface possible, USB-C powered, at least 1 XLR input and TRS monitor out. I found this little gem Rode AI-1 and although I had never seen a Rode interface, I took a chance since it had everything I needed. I am not dissapointed! I love it so much im buying 2. One to keep at home and one to throw in my bag. The flat top and dials in the front allowed me to glue it to my desk for a clean and accesible setup. I also have an Apollo Twin and although its perfect, I hate carrying around a wall wart and having to find a power outlet when recording on the go. I love this little thing.

A small, limited audio interface. Destined to be eclipsed by fancier equipment with more inputs, and fancier cases. None the less, this little unit SHINES. The absolute clarity and detail that I'm listening to while writing this review speaks volumes. This tiny, USB3-powered unit pumps out the kind of truth that millionaire audiophiles chase. It's making me doubt some pretty fancy headphones, and dream of owning monitors that this little package of wonder might drive. I'm sure it's been designed as a cheap way to record with a fancy mic that needs phantom power, but the quality of playback belies that unremarkable goal, and goes beyond as a DAC and a headphone amplifier. You won't be disappointed.