Our friends at Focusrite are very pleased to announce the new Focusrite Red 16 Line. Continuing the lineage of the Red4 and Red8 Pre units the Red16 Line offers 64-in and 64-out via Avid Mini-DigiLink for Pro Tools HD, HDX, HD Native and HD Thunderbolt Native and dual Thunderbolt 3 ports for ultra-low latency A-D/D-A conversion. There are also 2 of the stunning Red Evolution mic preamps.
Thunderbolt And DigiLink
Since Red16 Line provides both DigiLink connectors and Thunderbolt connections, it's now easier than ever to switch from Pro Tools HD to other audio or media applications, without the need to reconfigure your system. The Red16 Line host mode can be simply changed either in the remote control software or on the device front panel to change DAWs in seconds.
High-performance audio converters with over 118dB dynamic range A to D and 121dB dynamic range D to A (A-weighted) have been selected and calibrated to give the best possible balance of sound quality, dynamic range and low conversion latency in what Focusrite are calling their "highest quality audio interface".
On The Front Panel
The front panel of the new Red16 Line will look great when paired with any of the new Red series interfaces or RedNet units. It follows a very similar layout to that of the Red4 and Red8 Pre units with three small yet ultra sharp screens giving the users real time feedback of what it going in and out of the unit. The two Red Evolution Mic Pres can either be controlled from the unit's front panel or from the software control panel. There are also two high quality, loud headphone amps.
Red’s ultra-low round trip latency completely transforms workflows. For those used to having to build two different mixes. One using input monitoring to record and overdub and the other using the DAW for playback. The good news is that now just one is enough. Mixes can be constructed in the DAW and used whether overdubbing (when monitoring the input being recording with the Focusrite Control software mixer) or playing back, with all plug-ins in place. The days of low buffer size to track and high buffer size to mix could be over.
On The Back Panel
The Red16 Line features 16 line inputs on Tascam configured 25 pin D-subs, coupled with 16 line outputs and two main monitor outputs. The outputs can also be ganged for surround monitoring applications. There are two XLRs for the two digitally-controlled Red Evolution mic preamps provide up to 63dB of ultra-clean gain along with stereo linking, individual phantom power, high-pass filter, phase reverse and Air mode this is the name Focusrite gives to the sonic signature of the classic transformer ISA preamp. With a dual-port Dante card, studios, education facilities and even home users will be able to be expanded over Ethernet for more channels at higher sample rates, anywhere in the network, at lower latency and lower cost.
We have been promised one of the first units in the UK for review so watch this space and check out the Focusrite web pages for more on the Red16 Line.
