In The Mix: RME's Babyface Pro

It's solid, it's smart, and it sounds great. These were the initial impressions we got when plugging in RME's Babyface Pro to our Mac Book. As soon as you've unpacked this little powerhouse, it raises an eyebrow - beautiful build quality, a nice prominent main rotary encoder, and it's all very streamlined, too.

It's also plug and play at its simplest - yes, of course there's a proper manual that comes with this unit, and plenty of recording options, but if you just want to get down to it, once you've connected to your USB port, it couldn't be a lot easier.

There are two instrument inputs on the side of the Babyface Pro plus two headphone jacks, which gives it that extra flexibility; and we were recording guitars in no time, with really good results - not a hint of a buzz or a hum, just great quality sonics. Recording vocals was just as straightforward: an AKG 414 direct into one of the XLR inputs, and another great sounding recording. Check out the Babyface Pro video below for a closer look.

We then used Babyface Pro to mix several tracks in a desktop studio environment, using a pair of nearfields and our closed-back A-THM70x cans; and there was a nice warmth as well as a real comfort about the whole three-hour experience, to be honest.

But Babyface Pro is also fantastic for 'on the go' mixing, of course - so we then took it on a plane and a train (though not yet an automobile), and even at 40,000-feet with a crappy tray table, it held its position perfectly, so this really shouldn't slip off any surface. We also like those lovely bright LEDs, too, just for the record!

Such is the trend with these small footprint USB devices, portability is crucial, and this ticks that box for a start. What Babyface Pro also has is fantastic audio quality and build quality, which makes it pretty much a no-brainer for anybody with a bedroom studio. Very nice indeed.

For more on RME and the Babyface Pro click HERE