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The input mixer may have additional level and pan controls. Sometimes these are linked to hardware controls on the device itself. These may not be able to prevent input clipping by lowering them - usually you need to use analog pad switches and gain knobs that attenuate the signal before hitting the A>D converters. Generally, you will leave these at max volume and center pan, manipulating such things in your DAW.
There may additionally be typical mixer functions such as solo and mute buttons, which work the same way as they would on a mixing console, covered on the [[DAW Basics#Solo/Mute|DAW basics page]].
== Outputs ==
The control panel often includes an output tab or page similar to the input/mixer page, but pertaining only to the control of the physical outputs. There are basic mixer controls here - [[DAW Basics#Solo/Mute|solo, mute]], [[DAW Basics#Mixing Board|level, and pan]]. There may also be a control to link the levels of multiple outputs, so they are all adjusted simultaneously. Often a headphones output may not be a routing option for the inputs, but the headphones output can monitor any of the other outputs, which is selectable on the outputs page.
== Clock Options ==
The interface usually has the option to select the SPDIF clock source as internal or external (master or slave). Many devices require being the clock source; and in this case, you must select external or slave as well as setting the correct sample rate to sync with the device.
== Input Buffer/Latency ==
Interfaces often allow you to set the buffer size in terms of samples or miliseconds. Communication between the interface and the rest of the computer is not instantaneous or reliably timely. For a slower computer or one bogged down with other tasks, it may not be timely at all. This results in crackles and pops in the audio signal. To prevent this, the interface can buffer the audio stream, saving up a portion of the audio data in a temporary memory location where it can be reliably transported to the rest of the computer. In turn, this means that it takes longer for the audio to get to where it is supposed to go, resulting in latency between the input into the interface and the DAW's ability to record, process, or monitor it.
While the DAW is smart enough to account for this latency, it may make it difficult for the player to record. This latency can be avoided by using direct monitoring (routing the interface's physical input directly to a physical output). It can also be minimized by using proper low-latency drivers (typically ASIO) and setting up your OS and DAW software to efficiently work with audio. Or you can use a more powerful computer.
Besides driver and OS settings, certain interfaces may be able to transport its data more quickly to the computer depending on the bus with which it uses to communicate. USB 2.0 or 2.1 can sometimes run into issues, although theoretically fast enough. Firewire is typically faster; however, this depends on the Firewire controller in the computer - some interface manufacturers recommend certain controller chips over others for best reliability and speed. Many interfaces come as a PCI or PCI-e card that has its own cables to connect to other hardware or to a break-out box that houses all the I/O jacks and interface controls. USB 3.0 is relatively new but should be more than fast enough to achieve imperceptibly low latency.
== Connecting to DAW Software ==