This is the walkthrough we wish every interface shipped with: from sealed box to a clean first recording, with the reasons attached to the steps. Fifteen minutes, once.

Before anything: the two USB-C ports

The R4 has two USB-C ports on the rear panel, and understanding them saves most first-day confusion. Both are dual-mode: the port that first completes the USB handshake with a computer carries data, and the second port then serves as a dedicated power input. In practice:

  • Simplest setup: one cable from either port to your computer. The R4 is bus-powered and, connected only to a PC, draws a modest 2.2 W at idle.
  • Heavier sessions: add a 5 V USB-C supply to the second port when you are running phantom-powered condensers and loud headphone monitoring, or when you would rather not lean on a laptop’s port for everything.

One design note worth knowing: the ports power the R4 — they are deliberately not chargers. A phone plugged into the second port will not charge from it.

Windows setup

Windows needs the R4’s ASIO 2.0 driver for low-latency work. The stock Windows audio path will make sound, but ASIO is what makes the R4 usable for recording, with adjustable latency from 1 to 5 milliseconds.

  1. Install the driver first, from our Downloads page, before connecting the interface. Approve the installer and restart if asked.
  2. Connect the R4 to the computer with the included USB-C cable. The display lights, and the USB indicator in its top corner confirms the connection.
  3. Set system audio (optional). In Settings → System → Sound, pick the R4 as output if you want browser and system audio through your monitors.
  4. Set your DAW to ASIO. In your DAW’s audio settings, choose the ASIO driver type, then the R4 as the device. All four inputs and four outputs appear as separate channels.
  5. Choose a buffer size. Start in the middle of the 1–5 ms range while tracking. If you hear crackles under heavy plug-in load, raise it; when mixing, raise it all the way — latency does not matter on playback.

macOS and iPad setup

There is no installer on this side. Connect the R4 and it appears as an audio device — the same connection works on iPad and phone with a suitable USB-C cable.

  1. Connect the R4 to a USB-C port.
  2. System audio: System Settings → Sound — select the R4 for output.
  3. In your DAW, select the R4 as the input and output device under Core Audio. Four inputs, four outputs, no further configuration.

Note that a phone or tablet port supplies less current than a computer’s. For phantom-powered microphones on a mobile device, feed the second USB-C port from a 5 V supply.

First signal: a microphone

  1. Plug an XLR microphone into IN-1.
  2. If it is a condenser, long-press the 48V·SKY button until the 48V indicator lights. Dynamic microphones skip this.
  3. Turn the channel’s gain knob while speaking or playing. Watch the channel meter on the display; a healthy peak sits around the −12 dB mark with headroom above it. Or skip the ritual entirely: press AUTO, give it ten seconds of your loudest realistic performance, and let the R4 set the gain to that reference for you.
  4. Arm a track in the DAW and confirm the meter there moves with the one on the display.

For a guitar or bass plugged in directly, use a 6.35 mm cable and long-press the INST·MON button to switch that channel to high-impedance instrument mode — the INST indicator confirms it.

Hearing yourself without latency

While tracking, press each active channel’s MON button so the input routes straight to your headphones in hardware, before the computer sees it. Mute the corresponding track’s software monitoring in the DAW so you do not hear a doubled, late echo. Recording two sources at once? A double-press of MON toggles between hearing them independently (left/right) or merged to both ears.

Two front-panel switches are worth arming before a serious take: SAFE, which watches the input and steps the gain down before a peak can clip, and the headphone level, which has its own knob and its own amplifier stage — your ears and your monitors are separate decisions on this panel.

The five-minute health check

Sample rate on the display matches the DAW session. Meters move on the display and in the DAW. No echo while tracking (software monitoring off, MON on). 48V lit only on channels feeding condensers. That is the whole checklist — go record something.

If anything above did not behave, the Help Centre has a troubleshooting section written for exactly these first-session snags.