Antelope Audio Announces Zen Studio, a Professional, Portable Audio Interface

	Antelope Audio's Zen Studio

Professional audio gear manufacturer Antelope Audio introduces Zen Studio, a professional, portable audio interface with the most competitive analog and digital connectivity. The 12 mic pres, Antelope's signature clocking, the on-board DSP effects with multiple monitor mixers, and the proprietary low-latency USB connectivity make Zen a mobile recording system, that can fit easily inside a backpack or gear bag. Zen Studio is designed to meet the needs of the modern day producer or engineer on-the-go, as well as location sound engineers, sound designers, independent bands, and musicians in search of greater sound quality and flexibility.

The company says Antelope Audio acoustically focused clocking guarantees authentic analog sounding A/D and D/A conversion. Antelope's clocking and conversion along with the custom USB technology implemented in Zen are identical to the ones in the top-selling 32-channel Orion interface which is a centerpiece in the playback rigs for artists such as Rihanna, Jay-Z, and Justin Timberlake, and inside the mixing and mastering studios of engineers like Eric Sarafin (aka Mixerman), Brian Vibberts, Howie Weinberg, or electronic music producers like Robert Babicz and Dusty Kid.

Zen Studio offers a powerful DSP, based on a custom FPGA device with parallel processing capabilities. The company says the proprietary FPGA makes the DSP chip in Zen Studio eight times more powerful than the ones used in similar devices. This allows fast and easy simultaneous processing of multiple effects, enhancing the workflow.

All audio I/O is available simultaneously for a total of 38 possible input and 14 outputs (including headphone outs), plus 24 simultaneous I/O channels via custom USB, supporting 24-bit, 192 kHz audio. Users can create up to four independent zero-latency mixes assignable to any outputs, including the two independent headphone outputs and monitor outputs. The unit is fully controllable using an intuitive desktop application on both PC and Mac, offering flexible signal routing and DSP-based effects alongside custom presets.

Zen Studio is a versatile stand-alone device as well as a perfect companion to Orion32. Zen was born out of the need for a studio-quality portable solution that can easily be taken along, while the user's main interface remains in the rack. Zen Studio is based on proven technologies used in Orion32. Whereas the rack-mountable Orion32 stands out with its MADI connectivity and unmatched channel count available over USB, Zen Studio delivers a breakthrough number of mic pres and DI instrument inputs for a mobile-sized interface, along with monitoring and tracking DSP capabilities to be used on-the-go.

Zen studio is planned to start shipping by the end of second quarter 2014.

Antelope Audio will feature Zen Studio at Musikmesse in Frankfurt, March 12 - 15 in Hall 5.1, booth C60.