M-Audio and Duo

ManualsBrandsM-Audio ManualsMixersM-Track Solo Desktop 2x2 USB Audio Interface

n recent times, new audio/MIDI

devices from M-Audio have

simply carried the Air 192

badge and for a while, it wasn’t

entirely clear whether the

long-running M-Track name

was being retired. But lo and

behold, two new M-Track devices

have just landed on my desk and the

label lives on. M-Track Solo and Duo

are entry level audio-only interfaces.

Both are class compliant USB-

powered devices and have 2-in 2-out

connectivity with up to 24-bit or

48kHz operation.

Their feature sets are slightly

different but underlying

speciﬁ cations are very similar. Solo

includes one mic/line channel with

switchable phantom power and one

line/instrument channel. The main

outputs are on unbalanced RCAs and

the front headphone output is on an

1/8” mini jack. Both outputs share a

single output level control. A front

switch selects between just the

output stream (USB) or minimum

latency monitoring option combining

the inputs (mono’d) and the output

stream (Direct).

Duo has a pair of mic/line/

instrument inputs with global

switchable phantom power. The

outputs are on balanced 1/4” TRS

jacks, the headphone output is a

1/4” jack, and there are separate

headphone/output level controls.

Like Solo, Duo also has zero latency

Both interfaces use M-Audio’s

Crystal Preamp design, and this

provides you with plenty of clean

neutral gain (up to 54dB for mic and

up to 44dB for line/instrument). This

is great for lower output dynamic

mics or weedy passive guitars. Even

so, I found both interfaces sounded

pretty nasty when they overloaded,

and so I kept well away from the red

clip LED. In terms of drivers, on Mac

OSX and at 44.1kHz I achieved a

roundtrip latency of 9.4ms with a 64

sample buffer. This clearly isn’t class

leading, but is perfectly workable.

M-Audio’s no nonsense interfaces

are simplicity itself, and although it’s

a slight shame that there’s no MIDI,

at this price who’s complaining?

And, weighing up the options, for the

sake of an extra tenner I’d deﬁ nitely

go all out for the more ﬂ exible

M-Track Duo.

switching to combine input and

output streams, but with both mono

and stereo (hard panned) options.

Each package includes the

interface, a one metre USB-B to

USB-A cable and instruction

manual. There’s also a decent

bundle of software, which you can

download once you’ve registered the

device on M-Audio’s website. Titles

include the AIR Music Tech Xpand!2

synth, Eleven Lite guitar amp sim

and 20 Avid plugins, as well as Pro

Tools First M-Audio Edition and MPC

Beats. Despite the amazingly low

price, both units look well made and

although the boxy design is basic,

the black ﬁ nish, recessed rubberised

knobs and functional selector

switches feel solid. The rubber feet

stop the units slipping around on the

desktop and both are pretty light, so

suitably portable.

With class compliant drivers,

getting started is as simple as

plugging up and making sure the

device is selected in your audio

software. Nevertheless, there’s no

USB-active LED on either interface

and no output meters, so there’s no

obvious way to see everything’s

working, which is annoying. That

said, you do have two-tone (green/

red) input/clip-level LEDs for each

input so setting up a healthy but

clean signal level is easy enough.

Plus, you also have an orange

phantom power indicator.

THE PROS & CONS

Very affordable

Decent

preamp design

Light and

portable with solid

build quality

Integrated minimum

latency monitoring

No MIDI connectivity

No USB or

activity indicator

FM VERDICT

8.8

Suitably portable with a

decent spec, these latest

entry level M-Tracks offer

fantastic value

M-Audio M-Track Solo and Duo | Reviews

FMU370.rev_maudio_mtrack.indd 87 16/04/2021 13:38