ANTELOPE

At the heart of the Digital Audio world lies arguably the most important part of the system, the Analogue to Digital and Digital to Analogue converters. Simply put, these converters take an Analogue signal (such as a voice through a microphone) and convert it into a series of numbers, able to be sent great distances or stored over a long time, and then convert them back from digital into Analogue, but without them, we couldn't even begin to make music with our computers.

Condenser (or Capacitor) microphones are fantastic for detailed recording work. When using them for vocal recording, think about if you need a pop filter (to stop plosives) or a reflection shield to minimise room noise on recordings and produce a clearer result. All condenser microphones need a power supply from somewhere, either battery or 48V Phantom Power from a desk or interface.

Microphone pre-amplifiers convert the signal from the microphone into a line level signal, SP/DIF digital or USB format. The use of a good preamp with a good condenser or ribbon microphone can produce some very accurate and detailed results.

Analogue monitor controllers are a very important part of a modern digital studio. Most interfaces only have digital volume controls, which actually reduce the bit depth of the signal as well as turning the volume down. By using an analogue controller, you retain the full bit depth and detail at low volumes.

Thunderbolt interfaces use an extremely fast connection to not only offer very low latency audio, but many also offer dedicated DSP processing, which wont put any load on your CPU.

USB audio interfaces offer high quality inputs and outputs for recording and playing back your audio. With the added advantage of being easy to transport and move between systems, they are a popular solution for performers wishing to have a single high quality interface they can move between the studio and stage with ease. USB audio interfaces due to their portability and often great value remain perhaps the most common audio interfaces in use today. With USB being the computer worlds most widely supported connection standard, through using an USB audio interface it allows us the flexibility of having it either in the studio or to easily take it out on the road with you. This means that you can use the same high quality audio I/O connections and quality recording signal path found within your audio interface, no matter where your projects may take you. Regular USB audio interfaces are likely to be based around the classic USB connection

USB Mics include a digital converter, most dont have conventional XLR sockets, but provide an easy way of recording vocals into your computer. Fantastic for recording speech and voiceovers.