British audio company Audient announces the launch of the latest product in its EVO by Audient range, until now available in two-, and four-channel USB-C audio interfaces. The new EVO 16 is a 24 inputs and 24 outputs audio interface, featuring eight EVO preamplifiers, advanced converter technology, as well as the company’s Smartgain feature which can be used on all 8 channels simultaneously, and is a basic feature of EVO interfaces to ‘make recording easy’.
The new EVO by Audient audio interface evolves from the minimalistic EVO 4 and EVO 8 designs, to create an audio interface that truly delivers a set of minimal multichannel recording options to home and project studios. Essentially a USB 2.0 audio interface that uses the updated USB-C connection to record digital audio at up to 24-bit/96kHz, the EVO 16 features eight microphone preamplifiers, two JFET instrument inputs, two independent headphone outputs, 8 line outputs, two optical inputs, and two optical outputs.
“Building on the success of EVO 4 and EVO 8, we wanted to super-size the EVO concept,” says marketing director, Andy Allen describing the new audio interface which is designed to fit either on the desktop or in a rack. “EVO 16 offers the intuitive user experience, professional sound and technical quality you’d expect from parent company Audient, with plenty more I/O than its smaller counterparts. And yet it still fits firmly into the ‘affordable’ audio interface category.”
The new EVO 16 interface breaks convention with its high resolution, full color screen built into the unit. “With our all-new Motion UI (user interface) control system, we’ve found a new way of doing things,” explains Andy. “Motion UI uses the wide angle screen to intelligently display information on your session as and when you need it, making any interaction with EVO 16 a fully immersive, easy-to-use experience – more comparable to what you might expect when using a Smart device, with no menu deep diving required to activate features.
“Working alongside EVO 16’s hardware controls, Motion UI provides a centralized, one-knob control system for adjusting all EVO 16’s hardware parameters,” continues Andy. “Simply put, every adjustment is displayed on the screen in real time, letting the user make changes on the fly and take full control of the recording session without ever needing to look at the computer.”
As with the smaller EVO products, the new EVO 16 comes with the Smartgain feature, which automatically sets the gain with the touch of a button. The principle is that of a “learning” input that listens to the sound and automatically adjusts accordingly – ideal for less technical users, not so much for those who understand the value of matching a microphone preamplifier gain with the correct microphone positions and polar response. While the concept works fairly well in home studio applications and singer/songwriter situations, expanding Smartgain to multiple inputs requires a whole new approach.
“The added bonus with EVO 16, is that it can automatically set the gain for all 8 channels at once, ideal for drummers who have multiple mic inputs and synth players needing lots of line inputs,” explains Andy. “Smartgain has been designed to take the guesswork out of setting gain. Not only does it save time for the user, but it eliminates the hassle for those working on their own, which means users can spend less time figuring out the tech and more time recording.”
The eight EVO preamps available in the new product provide 58dB Mic Gain, while its advanced converter technology offers 121dB dynamic range, providing professional grade audio performance across the board. There is also room for expansion with plenty of optical inputs and outputs, making it possible to record anything from just drums to a full band. Ensuring the studio can grow with time, there are both ADAT and SPDIF options to add up to 16 extra channels of mic preamps.
The EVO Mixer software compatible with MacOS and Windows gives users further options to set up and route inputs & outputs, providing ultra-low latency monitoring and much more. The meticulously designed solid steel chassis with non-slip rubber feet means EVO 16 can fit comfortably either on a desktop, under a laptop or installed in a rack with its optional rack-ears.
EVO 16 is expected to ship in the second quarter of 2022 and will retail at €469 EUR or $499 USD.
www.evo.audio
www.audient.com
