This bus-powered USB interface is awfully simple. Plugging into a MacBook’s USB port powered the unit, and hooking up a bass and headphones turned it into a teeny-tiny practice amp, allowing me to hear minute details of my tone and touch. In no time I was ready to lay down some tracks.
The AxePort Pro comes bundled with Reaper recording software on a snazzy little flash drive— a nice touch. But try as I might, I simply couldn’t get it to work right. Because of the program’s extreme latency and obscure controls, I soon ditched it in favor of my Apple MacBook’s Garage- Band application. That’s when things started getting fun. GarageBand immediately recognized the AxePort Pro, and in mere moments, I was checking levels and cutting tracks.
The latency due to slow computer processing speeds can be a serious drag, introducing groove-annihilating delay to playback. But there was no latency with the AxePort Pro—with headphones plugged into the interface (rather than the computer), I could both monitor my playing and hear GarageBand’s click track. Sweet. Perhaps the best part is that there was no audio compromise with the AxePort Pro, which boasts high-resolution 24-bit, 96kHz fidelity.
Home recording can be many things—a way to brainstorm song ideas, a mirror with which to examine performance, or a medium for creating entire works of art. Whatever you want to do with your recordings, the AxePort Pro makes it cheap and easy. And that’s a good thing.
CENTRANCE AXEPORT PRO
List $199
Street $149
Pros Small, intuitive, hi-fi USB interface
Cons Bundled recording software is less than stellar
Contact (847) 581-0500, www.centrance.com
TECH SPECS
Resolution 24-bit/96kHz
Compatibility Windows XP, Vista, Mac OS X (10.4 and higher)
Controls Instrument level, headphone level
Jacks USB, q” input, r” headphones
Bundled software Reaper DAW, Oligarc Guitar Effects