Focusrite TwinTrak Pro

You get an awful lot of good-quality audio processing and features for your money with the Twin Trak Pro, so even if you don't need the monitoring section, it's still good value in the UK as a dual recording channel. The sound quality is as good as its predecessors, with the added benefit of the inductor-based Air circuit and the variable-impedance mic input. The lack of a full-function EQ doesn't bother me, as I've always found it counterproductive to add EQ when recording other than low-cut or some gentle notching, and, as it's a good idea to compress less than you'll ultimately need to while recording, neither am I worried that the compressor can sound a little heavy-handed on its more extreme settings. In fact my only practical criticism is that the front panel legending is very small and in a light typeface which I found rather difficult to read. If you are running a computer audio system with no other hardware, then the monitor section is a real life saver, especially if you have active monitors, as it gives you some way to control their level. The zero-latency monitoring is also valuable, even if your system is running with what you might consider to be an acceptably low latency value, as I've found some singers to be extremely sensitive to even a few milliseconds of latency. You could argue that to do everything a mixer can in regard to monitoring the unit should also have an integral talkback mic, switching between two or three monitor systems and connections for one or more two-track machines, but given the extremely attractive UK price of the Twin Trak Pro, I'm not going to complain that they've been left out. I'd also like to mention that the handbook, as well as being clearly written, provides the newcomer to processing with some valuable basic guidance on compression and other aspects of the unit's capabilities. This really is one serious piece of kit that's been well thought out to make sense in the real world of desktop recording, so if you're the type of user who only ever records one or two parts at a time and you work mainly with plug-in effects and instruments and no mixer, then the Twin Trak Pro is tailor-made for you.