It’s here, the Discrete 4 Synergy Core from Antelope. A quite small and mobile friendly audio interface but with some heavy guns inside. Should you buy one for your studio? Well let’s find out. So let me get this out of the way first. Why did I buy the Discrete 4 Synergy Core? The main reason I got it is it’s small factor. This is so small and you can carry it with you very easily. So in this review we will focus on the mobility of the device

. Let’s begin with I/O. It has 4 analog inputs both with XLR and balanced Jack. All of the inputs can be switched from mic inputs to line inputs, but the 2 front inputs can also switch to Instrument inputs, much like a DI so you can connect an electric guitar or a bass for example. Now things get interesting with the outputs. You get a pair of monitor outputs for your speakers. The cool thing with those outputs is that you can control the volume without the need of an external studio monitor controller. You also get 4 extra line outputs for any kind of routing your audio.

And finally let’s get to the headphones section. You can have up to 4 individual mixes with the 4 stereo headphone outputs. That is mind blowing for such a small unit. And here is something interesting: The headphones amps are sooo loud you can easily drive 600 Ohm Headphones! I love that!

So what about digital connections? There is ADAT input and output so you can have an extra 8 channels of input and output. Of course there are also SPDIF connections, very nice to have those. And as a bonus you have not one, but two WordClock outputs. This is extremely useful when connecting different convertors and you want them to be perfectly in sync.

So is it any good? Let’s see some of the key features: The mic preamps are Class A and are super clean because of the Discrete transistor design. The convertors are the best in it’s price range with a fantastic dynamic range. You still get amazing low latency even when connecting with USB, even though it gets even Lower with Thunderbolt connection. Thunderbolt drivers are available both for Mac OS and Windows users. Sampling rates can go as high as 192kHz. So this little unit may look small but don’t let the size fool you. It is built like a tank, it is quite heavy and feels expensive. You can control most of the parameters from the front panel but if you want to make use of it’s internal mixer you can do amazing stuff with the software that comes with. There are 37(maybe more) Plugins that come included. This is really useful and appreciated because we can make good use of the DSP power , Save your computer a ton of processing power and record through the plugins which amazing at this price point.

If your ready to level up, coming from say a scarelet or a motu.. This is a great upgrade

You can pick one up on Amazon Prime at 27% discount right now. Here’s a link https://amzn.to/3DWLlzy

Enjoy .