Arturia MiniFuse 1 & 2

One part of the hobby or entertainment
market which has ballooned exponentially in
recent times is the home recording market. This
leads us to two conclusions: 1) that there’s an
incredible appetite for good quality, budget
audio interfaces, and 2) that there was a lot of
music being made last year.
Lighting the fuse!
Arturia’s irst foray into the audio Interface
market came after many years of development,
via the AudioFuse. This relatively substantial
and capable product has been quite a success,
spawning similarly branded devices, and
competing at a price point that is occupied with
some serious contenders.
Arturia’s newest batch of interfaces provides
a completing of the circle; MiniFuse 1 and 2 are
smaller, tidier versions of the larger AudioFuses,
with less functionality, but with everything you
realistically need for great results.
Let’s start with the build quality; the
MiniFuses are both very sturdy, with a chassis
which will withstand plenty of knocks. They are
perfect for throwing in a laptop bag, and an even
better prospect when you consider that they are
USB-powered, so don’t require the additional
accessory of a power supply brick. Both
interfaces are USB-powered, and conform to
USB 2 protocol, but wisely adopt a USBC
connection point, along with a USBA style thru-
hub, which is useful for adding USB keyboards
or sticks, if you’re out of ports elsewhere.
These two interfaces are intrinsically the
same, operating at a sampling rate of up to
192kHz and depth of 24-bit, with the main
diference being the number of available inputs.
The MiniFuse 1 adopts a single combo XLR and
1/4” jack connector, so you can connect mics,
guitars and keyboards, but in a mono-centric
capacity. MiniFuse 2 doubles the input quota,
while adding a couple of other niceties. Both
units feature +48V phantom powering, which in
itself is incredibly clever! How do you generate
48 volts of power, from a USB power source?
Very clever indeed!
Both units also include a front-mounted
headphone jack, with accompanying volume
Arturia
MiniFuse 1 & 2 £89/£129
If you’re in need of a sturdy and compact audio interface, Arturia might
have a irecracker or two for you. Stand back and light the fuses
Dual mic & 1/4”
jack input
Gain control for
both input types
Conventional MIDI
in and out ports
48v phantom power on/off switch
Main 1/4” jack
outputs
Kensington
lock point
Main monitor output
volume control
USB-C connection for
power and connectivity
Mic balance
control,
between live
and foldback
USB-A port, for
use as a hub
Independent
headphone
output and
volume
control
control, while a larger pot governs monitoring
level, via the L/R audio output on the rear, in a
1/4” mono-jack format. MiniFuse 1 also includes a
‘direct source’ button, which allows low-latency
performance monitoring while recording.
Meanwhile, MiniFuse 2 adopts a see-saw pot
for the same purpose, allowing the dictation of
balance between playback and live signal. The
larger of the two units also includes MIDI I/O
through the use of conventional 5-pin
connectors, which will be of great use to anyone
who’s working with more conventional
hardware, but wishing to use traditional MIDI
connection points.
Audio Fusion
Upon taking the Fuses out of the box and
plumbing them into our system, they quickly
spring to life. Arturia are keen to point you in the
direction of their website, for registration, but
we needn’t have worried; we tested with a
relatively up-to-date Mac, using a single
included USBC cable. Thanks to their class-
compliance, Logic Pro X (our DAW of choice for
Dual mic & 1/4”
jack input
Gain control for
both input types
volume control
Mic balance
control,
between live
and foldback
Independent
headphone
output and
volume
both input types
Kensington
lock point
Kensington
lock point
Kensington
volume
control
68 / COMPUTER MUSIC / February 2022
> reviews / arturia minifuse 1 & 2
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