Working in the studio, there’s no more important piece of kit than your audio interface. This is often the first place that your signals are going to pass through, and there’s no doubt that the quality, flexibility and capability of your audio interface can make or break any recording session. It’s essential to invest in powerful and professional equipment that does your music justice.
That’s why Antelope Audio have upgraded and redesigned their renowned Discrete 8 Synergy Core audio interface - to help you achieve the pro-grade sound that your music deserves. The new Discrete 8 Pro builds on the lofty reputation of its predecessor by bringing a newly reinvigorated, world-class sound quality and opening the door to a host of software features that offer more sonic capabilities than ever before.
The Discrete 8 Pro may bring an exciting array of features and software capabilities, but when it comes down to it, the headline will always be the sound quality. At the core of the interface are eight Discrete 6-transistor Class-A preamps delivering 65db of gain for precise and transparent recordings. Antelope’s Discrete preamps topology is inspired by legendary vintage consoles, and produces a sound that’s equivalent in character, but bolstered by cutting-edge technology.
The Pro makes use of the latest generation of A/D converters, providing an expansive dynamic range and up to 130db of headroom for recording, mixing and playback at up to 24-bit/192khz and pristine high-fidelity conversion.
Antelope Audio have also integrated the proprietary 64-bit Acoustically Focused Clocking™ technology developed for their high-end master clocks. All of this comes together to produce crisp, detailed recordings and an expansive soundstage for phenomenal results.
Antelope Audio’s latest interface benefits from hugely extensive connectivity. There’s eight mic/line inputs (two of which are Hi-Z) on combo XLR jacks, in addition to two instrument inputs, eight DC-coupled line outputs on D-Sub 25, two reamp outputs, two monitor outputs, and two headphone outputs with separate volume control.
The interface’s connectivity is digitally expandable over both ADAT (16 channels) and S/PDIF (2 channels) I/O. On top of that, there’s USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity to hook up with your computer. Together, this is enough analog and digital I/O to power a small-to-medium studio, all from just one rack space.
That’s not all. The Pro brings a raft of upgraded functionality that will reinvigorate your workflow, including vastly expanded routing capabilities and fully customizable presets for signal routing, level adjustments, and effects settings. The easily navigable front panel provides independent headphone and monitor volume knobs, hardware gain knobs for each preamp, and buttons for settings configuration. There’s also a highly useful talkback function with a microphone built-in.
The reason they call it the Synergy Core is thanks to Antelope Audio’s legendary Synergy Core effects, which are modelled on classic analog outboard gear and promise exceptional sound quality and incredible versatility. The Synergy Core platform, powered by DSP and FPGA chips, lets musicians and producers experiment with the 37 included effects in real-time, and load effects on up to 16 channel strips.
Bundled with the Pro are 2 classic preamp emulations, the Gyraf Gyratec IX and BA-31, 5 compressors and limiters including the renowned Stay-Levin and VCA160, and a list of 4 equalizers that offers the VEQ-1A and VMEQ-5. In addition, there’s an expander, noise gate, and 22 guitar amps and cabs providing extensive options for guitar processing.
As if that wasn’t enough, Antelope have included Auraverb, their signature algorithmic reverb effect. More than 60 additional effects are available as separate purchases from Antelope Audio's website, offering an even broader processing palette.
One of the most powerful and full-featured interfaces in Antelope’s line-up, the Discrete 8 Pro Synergy Core is an essential choice for recording engineers and mix engineers, self-recording artists, producers and beat-makers looking for incredible, fully transparent sound, high performance, tons of connectivity, workflow-enhancing features and an outstanding effects processing engine.