Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of Neva Uno, a high
quality USB-C audio interface to connect a microphone,
synthesizer or guitar and to listen with headphones or
studio monitors in 24-bit / 192 kHz audio quality. Neva
Uno works with Mac, PC and as a fully class compliant
device even with many portable devices such as iPad and
iPhone (via an adapter like the Camera Connection Kit).
Getting Started
To start using Neva Uno, connect it to your computer
using the included USB cable. The ESI logo LED will
light up in orange color to show that the audio interface
is ready to use. It is a good time now to either connect
headphones to the headphone connector on the front or
using the RCA outputs on the back to connect the
interface to studio monitor speakers. You will not be able
to listen to any audio signals otherwise.
On the Mac, Neva Uno does not require any drivers to be
used (plug-and-play), however you can download a
control panel application on our website. On iPhone or
iPad, most audio apps will automatically use the
interface after it has been connected. For Windows users,
we provide a driver optimized for professional audio
applications (incl. ASIO support) that is available for
download - http://en.esi.ms/118. Also the driver provides
DirectWIRE, virtual audio channels and loopback
functionality. This makes it possible to mix and record
internal audio signals from various audio applications.
More details about DirectWIRE and loopback can be
found on our website in the extensive Knowledge Base
under kb.esi-audio.com.
Microphone Connection
To connect a microphone to Neva Uno, you need to
know if it is a dynamic or a condenser microphone. Only
in the later case, 48V phantom power is required and the
corresponding switch needs to be enabled (the orange
ESI logo LED then turns red). Make sure to use a XLR
cable to connect it to the 'Line / Mic 1' input.
Guitar Connection
To use Neva Uno with an electric guitar or bass, you
need to connect it with a TS guitar cable to the 'Line /
Hi-Z 2' input. The selection switch for input 2 must be
set to 'Hi-Z'.
Input Monitoring
If you want to listen to the incoming audio signals, you
can enable the so-called direct monitoring function with
the 'Direct' monitoring switch on Neva Uno. When
enabled, you listen to incoming signals and playback
simultaneously.
Recording and Playback
To check if Neva Uno is working with your computer, it
is best to play music as a test signal while you slowly
turn up the 'Volume' knob. You can then hear the signal
via connected speakers or via headphones. Make sure
you are not making the playback signal too loud for your
ears.
You can record audio in your favorite audio application
(i.e. a DAW like Bitwig Studio 8-Track or an audio
recorder like WaveLab LE) after selecting Neva Uno as
recording and playback device in its settings dialog
(refer to the manual of your software for details, also
you can find more info in our Knowledge Base under
kb.esi-audio.com).
Once you start the recording process using either input 1
or 2, slowly turn up the corresponding gain knob
clockwise until the input level meters in the software
show a proper signal level. Additionally, the LED ring
around the gain knob also indicates the signal level.
When the light is off, it is likely that the volume is too
low or there is no signal. When it turns green, the signal
level is usable. Orange usually indicates an optimal level
and red means that the level is too high (i.e. the signal
clips) and the gain has to be reduced.
