You get switchable +48-volt phantom power for condenser microphones and individual input level controls for guitar, bass or microphones. I also liked the front panel's Mixer control knob to adjust the balance between the live input signal (your guitar or vocal microphone) and your computer's DAW track playback--no delay or latency.

And to hear everything exactly the way you want, on the rear panel are a pair of balanced line-level L/R output jacks for connection to powered monitors plus and a stereo headphone output jack also controlled by a separate volume control.

The rear panel finishes with a USB jack and MIDI I/O jacks for connecting your synth or controller, so you can connect your favorite synth or MIDI controller.

The PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 sells for $99.95 MAP and works with any recording software and includes a copy of PreSonus Studio One Artist to get you going.