Testing out Antelope Audio Zen Quadro audio interface --- FLAMENCO guitar
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- čas přidán 12. 09. 2024
- Trying out this new audio interface for cleaner preamps / converters and more nuanced / authentic DSP / FPGA effects. I am using a FET-A76 compressor with AuraVerb reverb. This is a traditional flamenco guitar fitted with Carlos Juan VIP DM and CS Sensor systems. The former is going through a stereo IR loader. The music is composed by Manolo Sanlucar and is titled Nacencia (which I am covering poorly). What do you think of the sound I'm getting here? There was zero post-processing, not even to adjust levels/master/normalize, so you can get this kind of sound live with this gear.
Sounds fantastico compadre :)
Your IRs, man... That's why!
what are your first impressions about it ?
I have a Windows 10 machine and a Windows 11 machine (my main workstation). I plugged the interface into the Windows 11 machine, and despite all possible troubleshooting, the PC would just not see it, so I couldn't get it running. I plugged it into my Windows 10 machine, and it worked just fine, but the problem is that is a very old, slow machine that I no longer use (just hold onto it as an emergency backup, in dire situations). I contacted Support (granted, it was a Friday evening), but I couldn't get anyone until after four hours of trying (I was busy too though, so they would call back and I'd miss their call, then I would call back, and they'd miss my call, etc.). I finally was able to get someone on the phone, and he had to manually download the driver from their server (not something you can do yourself). I was not able to get the interface to run on Windows 11 because the machine would never see the device in the Antelope Launcher, and you need that to happen before you can then 1) activate the device, and 2) download the driver. So I had to use my Windows 10 machine to activate the device, and the Support agent manually downloaded the driver and installed it on my Windows 11 machine. Then the interface was working as an audio device, but when we would launch the control panel for the interface, it would keep crashing. The Support agent, after 45 minutes of trying, gave up and said he'd never seen this error, and that I need to submit a ticket. He tried other versions of the control panel, to no avail. Finally, after reading a lot online, I figured out that starting the Antelope Launcher with administrator privileges can help, so I did that, and lo and behold, the control panel launched fine. Now everything works. The only thing that *might* be an issue is some minor pops and clicks that I at times hear, but they've not made it into any of my recordings, so it could be my wireless headphones? So far, this is a significant upgrade from my previous Steinberg UR44C. I've owned the Antelope Audio Edge Go USB mic, and I had the same issue. I was never able to activate it, and Support had to remote in, do a bunch of troubleshooting, etc. I think the idea here is they like to secure everything like Fort Knox so nobody can mess around with their emulations/plug-ins, but my personal experience has been that this approach makes everything so difficult to get up and running. I'll be able to give you a more comprehensive review once I've tested this longer. Their documentation is also not great (manuals, etc.) - it's obvious there is no attention to detail - loads of typing errors, bad English, etc. - so you're going to have to do some experimentation yourself. If you disregard all the above, and assume the pops/clicks are from my wireless headphones, this interface has felt robust so far. The headphone amp, for my AIAIAI TMA-2 Studio Wireless+ headphones, has been *excellent* - the best I've ever used (even more so that the one in the RME UFX-II). The preamps have been very high quality, crisp, detailed, and super-clean. The control panel, routing capabilities, and DSP / FPGA effects have been stellar. Those are the key elements of this interface, and so far, I'd give it a very solid five stars. So yeah, in summary, it was a pain to get this up and running, and you need to mess with it before you can figure out how to get it doing what you want it to be doing (because the manuals are not clear), but once you get past these hurdles, it's fabulous. I'm sure there will be more knowledge out there once this interface becomes more widely adopted, because I got mine basically before most other dealers have started shipping theirs (no clue how my dealer had it in stock so fast LOL). Hope this helps, and please don't hesitate to ask more questions!
@@rombsix thanks for the comprehensive response, I appreciate it a lot.
I have a native instruments komplete audio 2 , which is working excellently for me , so I want to know if the zen quadro is a significant update or no ? and will it make a difference in my recording quality and mixing ? I use a shure ksm44 and shure srh840a headphones and windows 11 laptop
Thank you very much
@@Gadoora - I've never tried the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 2 audio interface before, but I see it's going for $100 roughly, so I would think it's a safe bet to expect that the Zen Quadro (that costs six times as much) will likely be an upgrade. Of course I know it's not about the price, etc. so you can look at the specs of each and compare them. Worst case, if you buy the Zen Quadro and you don't like it, you can return it. Make sure you purchase one from a dealer that offers a 30-day return policy.
@@rombsix I understand..
To add more context, I was using usb mics and my laptop for recording the past years , but I heard a significant difference after using an audio interface -the komplete 2- , I guess I'm curious to hear how a more high end unit would sound , and I want to make an upgrade that would last me at least 5 years strong
@@Gadoora - well, there are USB mics like the Antelope Audio Edge Go that cost twice as much as the Zen Quadro :P so you can get a lot of good results from mostly anything. In the case of your current interface and getting a higher-end one as an upgrade, I think it is very likely that you're going to perceive a better end-result from anything you get, given the one you are using now seems to be mostly a starter device. The best way to do it is to compare the specs of your current interface with whatever you want to buy (Zen Quadro or otherwise) and see what the difference is. In an ideal world, you want to get the actual interface and test it yourself, then see. If you don't consider it worth the higher price, stick to your current one. The way I see it, your current mic (if I looked correctly), seems to be about eight times more expensive than your current interface, so that just makes no sense to me. You want things to be in similar leagues (but of course, I'm not an audio engineer LOL), so if you have a mic worth $800, you don't want to be plugging it into a $100 interface. :) Do some research on CZcams or on some other websites, though. Don't stick to what I have to say. I'm sure some people are going to come out and say this unit sucks, and you'd be much better served by something else. Look into it for a week or two, then buy from a dealer that has a return policy. Test the gear, compare to your current interface, and go from there. Let me know what you come up with!
It would sound better if you added a tiny amount of reverb🤣😋
Nah, reverb is lame! 😝
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