We’re noticing more and more bad news these days and assuming – otherwise we’d get very depressed – that the world isn’t going to hell in a hard drive crash, but it’s simply because ‘bad news means clicks’. Take our headline, for example: it’s not like Arturia, PreSonus and UA have gone to war – several large music technology company’s literally firing VST missiles at one another across the Atlantic – but merely that they’ve released interfaces that sit in a similar price range, at the same time. But it got you reading this didn’t it? You see? War. What is it good for? Clicks, that’s what.

Yes, perhaps realising that the whole world is a few quid short this Christmas, (thanks to politicians, footballers and other celebs using offshore tax havens), at least three music tech companies are offering great deals on new interfacing gear.

First out of the gate is Arturia with their MiniFuses 1, 2 and 4. These 1-in/2-out, 2-in-2- out and 4-in/4-out connectivity interfaces (we’ll let you match the specs with the names) all offer a “class-leading sound” and are compact, rugged and portable. They are available in black and white colour options, and the 1 and 2 are available now priced at €99 and €149 respectively. The MiniFuse 4 launches next year, hopefully at the same time as another company launches a similarly-priced product (so our headline can be: “Mid-price interface armageddon!”)

It’s just like an episode of the (excellent) 90s game show Gladiators . “Volt, are you ready?”

Next up are Universal Audio who have, amazingly, released a set of interfaces that don’t power their plugins. The Volt range is a line-up of affordable USB interfaces that promise “classic studio sound”. This is by way of a Vintage Mic Preamp mode inspired by the mic/line preamp in UA’s 610 tube console and delivers a “rich, full sound on vocals and instruments”. Volt 76 options in the range add a circuit based on UA’s 1176 compressor, so are more expensive. Prices are $139 for the 1-in/2-out Volt 1, with the 2-in/2-out Volt 2 costing $189. The ‘76’ versions of these models cost $249 and $299, while a 4-in/4-out Volt 476 is $369.

Finally PreSonus wade into this turf war with their Revelator io24. We’ve had this for a couple of weeks so have already snuck it into our iPad feature on p26. You get two ins and outs plus integrated loopback mixer, onboard effects, and a Stream Mix mode for streaming, podcasting and music for £169.

Of course, these interfaces also ship with software bundles; we’ll review them all soon.

arturia.com, uaudio.com, presonus.com

TAIP is great because machines are better than humans

Taip me baby one more time

Baby Audio are probably our favourite software developers right at this minute and have announced another cracking-sounding plugin in the form of TAIP. It won’t surprise you that it does tape emulation, but Baby (can we call them ‘Baby’? It seems a little forward) have developed TAIP around an AI algorithm. “The AI approach helps us solve the problem like a machine would – for a more faithful emulation”, they say in a fairly sinister, Bondvillain type way. Price is $69, review soon.