The market has given us a bountiful harvest of audio interfaces; from ultra-compact stereo models to mammoth rack-eaters with more channels than sense, there's no shortage of options. So, when Steinberg announced its new high-end AXR4T Thunderbolt™ audio interface, the first question that came to mind was, “What's so special about this one?” Well, the answer became obvious upon the first glimpse of its front panel... there it was, the unmistakable signature of Rupert Neve. The man responsible for the classic, legendary, and oft-sought analog Neve sound had approved of the AXR4T's creation! Why? Keep reading.
The AXR4T has four hybrid mic preamps with selectable Silk processing ported from Rupert Neve's revered Portico II Channel! The Silk circuit is also adjustable via a Texture control and switchable Red/Blue modes, so you can easily go from vintage-style bass and low-mid character to sparkly harmonic enhancement of upper-mid and high frequencies, and dial-in the amount to anything between subtle and saturated.
Of the four XLR-1/4" combo inputs, the first two support mic, line, or instrument level, while the last two are intended for mic or line level. The AXR4T also packs in eight 1/4" line inputs, eight channels of AES/EBU I/O, and eight channels of ADAT optical I/O. Analog outputs include eight 1/4" line outs and two front-panel 1/4" stereo headphone jacks. There's even 5-pin MIDI I/O and BNC word clock I/O; all of this in just 1 RU of rack space!
Lurking inside the AXR4T are high-resolution converters and potent DSP power. Shockingly, the AD/DA converters operate at up to 32-bit / 384 kHz while SSPLL (Super Suppression Phase Locked Loop) system delivers rock-solid clock stability and reliable jitter suppression. The internal SSP3 DSP chip powers latency-free monitoring, a 28 x 24 matrix mixer, and supplied compression, EQ, and reverb plug-ins. Use the AXR4T with your favorite Mac-based DAW, or load up the bundled Cubase AI software, which handles the 32-bit integer format and integrates the AXR4T's custom control pane.
With dual high-speed Thunderbolt™ 2 ports and support for using up to three units simultaneously, the AXR4T is beyond capable for a plethora of studio configurations. Visit the B&H SuperStore or hang out on our website to see for yourself!
