Freqport FreqInOut FO1 review: The easiest way to bring hardware into the box

Audio plugins have improved by leaps and bounds over the past decade or so, but they’re still no substitute for good ol’ fashioned outboard gear. Plenty of engineers prefer how their outboard effects and instruments sound, not to mention the fact that it lightens the load on a computer. But setting up outboard gear with an in-the-box session can be a bit of a hassle — something that the Freqport FreqInOut FO1 hopes to solve.

The FreqInOut FO1 is an outboard hardware interface that essentially allows you to connect outboard gear to any in-the-box project with as little hassle as possible — and without the need to deal with annoying routing setups in your DAW.

But what does the FreqInOut FO1 offer that any other interface with sends and returns doesn’t? Turns out, quite a bit.

FreqPort FreqInOut FO1 review

FreqPort FreqInOut FO1

The FreqInOut FO1 makes it infinitely easier to add hardware into your in-the-box audio setup, with a ton of handy features.

Design

9

Features

9

Software

9.5

Value

8.5

Pros

Sleek design

Tons of handy touches, like image uploads

Very easy to use

Essentially no latency

Cons

A little pricey

9

BUY FROM

FreqPort

Sweetwater

Design

The FreqInOut FO1 is a sleek and stylish device that should like right at home on any desktop. It’s relatively small too, measuring in at 8.66 inches wide, 4.13 inches deep, and 1.69 inches tall. Safe to say, it shouldn’t be hard to find a place for it. It can be rack-mounted too, though you’ll need to buy the hardware to mount it separately.

It’s actually pretty minimalistic too, with the front of the unit really just offering a product logo and LED light. The main frame of the unit is similarly bare, with the FreqPort logo on the top.

The back of the device is where all the action happens. For starters, there’s a USB port, power switch, and a 12V power input — which is completely optional to use, as the unit can power through USB. Then, of course, there’s the I/O — made up of four line inputs and four line outputs. If that’s not enough, the interface can be used in tandem with any sound card, and you can connect two FreqInOut FO1s together for eight ins and outs.

The FreqInOut FO1 offers everything you would need to connect your favorite outboard gear without having to worry about how the FreqInOut FO1 itself actually sounds. The interface offers 32-bit converters with support for up to a 192kHz sample rate, so it should be more than enough for all kinds of users.

The location of the inputs and outputs is largely down to personal preference. The fact that they’re on the back means that in a more permanent setup, you may need to connect them to a patch bay or be willing to move the unit to connect cables. Putting them on the front would avoid that, and potentially make the device a little more useful in a home studio — but again, that’s down to personal preference.

FreqInOut plugin

Perhaps the main thing that sets the FreqInOut FO1 apart from similar interfaces is the software. The interface works with the FreqInOut plugin that supports most major DAWs, and works quite well.

Part of what I like about the plugin is that it’s so simple and easy to navigate. From the plugin, you’ll be able to turn on or off individual ports, set send and return levels, and even control the unit’s hardware mix — essentially enabling a wet/dry mix. There’s also a cool Mid/Side setting that you can use, adding more flexibility to the processing, and you can set different trim levels for the inputs and outputs, and save those settings to the hardware itself.

Could you achieve a similar effect with fancy routing in your DAW? Sure, but convenience is the name of the game here.

On top of the obvious settings, there are some other features that can come in handy too. If you’re bouncing between multiple sessions, you’ll likely need to recall hardware settings — and the FreqInOut plugin lets you upload an image from your computer or even scan a QR code to upload an image from your phone, of whatever hardware you’re using. That means that you can always have the proper settings handy.

The interface doesn’t have to just be a routing device either. It can be used as a more traditional interface, allowing you to use its four inputs to simply record into your DAW. You can use some inputs for recording and others for routing for even more flexibility. The ability to process multiple audio signals at the same time, according to FreqPort, is thanks to the fact that the device uses multiple analog processing circuits.

I should note that all of this is done without any discernible latency. I never once noticed any latency, even when using all four of outputs for different hardware, thanks to the unit’s built-in routing matrix.

There are plenty of instances in which this can all come in handy. Beyond simply being able to add things like outboard compressors to your mix during the mixing process, it could allow you to record a clean direct guitar recording while still connecting your preferred effects, for more flexibility down the road. I even had some fun adding a Fulltone OCD to a lead vocal track (even if I ultimately opted for a different effect in the final mix).

Verdict

It’s important to stress that the FreqPort FreqInOut FO1 doesn’t necessarily do things that can’t be achieved through other means, especially for those who have an interface with sends and returns. Plenty of interfaces offer more than four inputs and outputs, after all.

But what you can’t typically do with sends and returns is essentially use them in the plugin chain of a track. Most DAWs let you place your sends pre- or post-fader, but the ability to add hardware anywhere you want in the processing chain is somewhat new, and would otherwise require a Frankenstein of aux tracks and annoying setup. The FreqPort FreqInOut FO1 is somewhat niche — it’s really only for those who have outboard gear in the first place, and want to insert that outboard gear at custom locations in the signal chain. But if you do run an in-the-box operation and want a little more flexibility when it comes to hardware, the FreqPort FreqInOut FO1 has you covered with a hardware-software combination that makes using outboard gear an absolute breeze.

Because of the FreqInOut FO1’s versatility and ease-of-use, it has earned the All Things Gear Gold Medal.