A major selling point for all Antelope’s audio interfaces has always been the incorporation of a field‑programmable gate array (FPGA), which can run not only an internal mixer and patchbay, but also Antelope’s low‑latency AFX effects and processors. Where the ZTSC does improve significantly over the Zen Tour is in its audio‑processing capabilities. Apparently, Antelope’s market research showed that Zen Tour users didn’t make much use of the additional I/O. With only a single optical input and output, the ZTSC is limited to a maximum of eight channels of ADAT expansion a bigger loss, however, is the Zen Tour’s second pair of quarter‑inch monitor outputs, with their associated speaker‑switching functionality. The ZTSC supersedes Antelope’s original Zen Tour, and actually has a slightly less generous I/O configuration than its predecessor. Hands‑on control is granted not only by a large rotary encoder and three buttons, but also by a colour touchscreen, and there’s built‑in talkback. Stereo line‑level jack outputs are augmented by a DB25 connector carrying eight more balanced outputs - DC‑coupled to permit use with modular synths - plus two independent headphone outs and two quarter‑inch sockets designed for reamping directly recorded guitars. Four built‑in mic preamps support Antelope’s Edge mic‑modelling technology, and there are no fewer than four dedicated high‑impedance sockets for connecting electric guitars, with further expansion possible through ADAT optical and coaxial S/PDIF I/O. The ZTSC, as I’ll call it from now on, is more expensive than most desktop interfaces, but the outlay brings you a much more extensive collection of I/O and features. So successful have they become that they have now begat what might be called the ‘super desktop’ interface - of which Antelope’s Zen Tour Synergy Core is a prime example. These typically combine hands‑on monitor control with a handful of inputs and outputs, in a stylish box that sits nicely under the hand rather than in the rack. One format that has proved especially popular in recent years is the desktop interface. Whether you’re a laptop musician who just needs a headphone output, or a studio manager who wants to deploy hundreds of mics on a symphony orchestra, you’re spoiled for choice. These days, more people than ever are recording music on Macs and PCs, and there’s a forest of audio interfaces out there. Antelope Audio have turbo‑charged the desktop interface with their Synergy Core processing engine.
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