Creative Labs Live! Audio A3 USB-C Audio Interface $90 + Free Shipping

Noble4

Jul 7, 2025 5:54 PM

145 Comments

Joined Nov 2012

Noble4Jul 7, 2025 5:54 PM

145 Comments

Same price on amazon

exaltare

Jul 7, 2025 6:16 PM

741 Comments

Joined Dec 2011

exaltareJul 7, 2025 6:16 PM

741 Comments

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I bought this a while ago and returned both units.

The biggest issue for me was the input volume knobs. Compared to my other interfaces, turning a knob from 0 to 99% is the same as turning it from 0 to 80%. However, turning a knob to 100% triggers a boost effect that massively raises the noise floor. It's so bad that the LED indicators flare even when nothing is plugged in. Since you can't set a volume in the 81-119% range, you're left with either 0-80% (no noise) or 120% (noisy as hell). There's also a ton of cross-input noise bleed. This is tolerable with both knobs at 99%, but it's awful when both inputs are boosted to 100%.

To make matters worse, Creative's support is absolutely terrible. There's an issue with this interface that kills a system's ability to put itself or a display to sleep, which is a huge problem if you have an OLED. You can fix it yourself, but Creative really should have released firmware or driver updates to deal with it. However, they haven't updated either since late 2023, and from how they're putting this on deep discount, it seems they might be discontinuing this, so they probably never will.

It's a shame because the design is exactly what I've been looking for, and the dual headphone outputs are a nice feature. It seems to function properly as a DAC/amp combo, an area where interfaces often fall short. However, the other issues were a dealbreaker for me.

Dual XLR inputs and dual headphone outputs aren't common at this price point, so it's a decent choice for $90 if you can tolerate the idiosyncrasies. Keep the volume knobs at 99% and boost the volume in post-processing. Manually disable the "Human Interface Device" entry for this interface in Device Manager so that your system and display will sleep properly. And pray that Creative will support this interface for Windows 12 (or whatever succeeds Windows 11), because they're downright crap when it comes to long-term support.

Since it's designed for podcasters and streamers, it lacks MIDI I/O and has only one pair of balanced outputs. DAW software isn't included either.

Overall, it was a real bummer for me that this missed the mark. As far as I know, nothing else has really come close in terms of design at this price point, except for the M-Audio Air 192|4.

Creative has this for slightly cheaper (5% off) on their website, and I'm not sure if they charge sales tax in all states, but their return policy sounds nightmarish, so I'm not sure I'd buy it from them directly.

I'm still looking for an interface and hoping that one goes on sale in the next few days.

4

basecase

Jul 18, 2025 3:38 PM

249 Comments

Joined Nov 2016

basecaseJul 18, 2025 3:38 PM

249 Comments

Quote from exaltare

:

I bought this a while ago and returned both units.The biggest issue for me was the input volume knobs. Compared to my other interfaces, turning a knob from 0 to 99% is the same as turning it from 0 to 80%. However, turning a knob to 100% triggers a boost effect that massively raises the noise floor. It's so bad that the LED indicators flare even when nothing is plugged in. Since you can't set a volume in the 81-119% range, you're left with either 0-80% (no noise) or 120% (noisy as hell). There's also a ton of cross-input noise bleed. This is tolerable with both knobs at 99%, but it's awful when both inputs are boosted to 100%.To make matters worse, Creative's support is absolutely terrible. There's an issue with this interface that kills a system's ability to put itself or a display to sleep, which is a huge problem if you have an OLED. You can fix it yourself, but Creative really should have released firmware or driver updates to deal with it. However, they haven't updated either since late 2023, and from how they're putting this on deep discount, it seems they might be discontinuing this, so they probably never will.It's a shame because the design is exactly what I've been looking for, and the dual headphone outputs are a nice feature. It seems to function properly as a DAC/amp combo, an area where interfaces often fall short. However, the other issues were a dealbreaker for me.Dual XLR inputs and dual headphone outputs aren't common at this price point, so it's a decent choice for $90 if you can tolerate the idiosyncrasies. Keep the volume knobs at 99% and boost the volume in post-processing. Manually disable the "Human Interface Device" entry for this interface in Device Manager so that your system and display will sleep properly. And pray that Creative will support this interface for Windows 12 (or whatever succeeds Windows 11), because they're downright crap when it comes to long-term support.Since it's designed for podcasters and streamers, it lacks MIDI I/O and has only one pair of balanced outputs. DAW software isn't included either.Overall, it was a real bummer for me that this missed the mark. As far as I know, nothing else has really come close in terms of design at this price point, except for the M-Audio Air 192|4.Creative has this for slightly cheaper (5% off) on their website, and I'm not sure if they charge sales tax in all states, but their return policy sounds nightmarish, so I'm not sure I'd buy it from them directly.I'm still looking for an interface and hoping that one goes on sale in the next few days.

You mentioned the M-Audio Air 192|4. Do you have experience with it? I have the Air M-Audio 192|8 ($99 deal in 2022) and mine does the same thing you described with the input gain (i.e. non-linear big boost in noise at the top range of the knob). It makes the top end useless, but its also not a big issue for me because I've never had a need to raise the input gain that much (and I have other options). I'm pointing it out in case you are thinking of purchasing the M-Audio Air 192.

Creative Labs Live! Audio A3 USB-C Audio Interface $90 + Free Shipping

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