Ok, so the current Antelope Audio interface sale is too good for me to resist
Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2020 1:15 pm
I've been casually shopping for an interface to replace my old Apogee Duet, as I'll finally have a dedicated studio space in my new home so I'll finally be able to make use of more than 2 inputs, and "Black Friday-New Year's" is when the best deals can be had.
Antelope Audio interfaces have been on my radar because of their amazing conversion and quality preamps. Well, right now, all AA dealers are offering the following special on any "Synergy Core" interface (the ones with built-in DSP).
1) Free Edge Solo modeling LDC mic ($695 USD retail)
2) Free "Analog Curator FX bundle" - AA's Impresser, Comp-4K-bus, Blonder tongue audio baton, RD47, and Reel-to-reel plugins ($605USD total on their web site)
3) Free full license of the Bitwig Studio DAW ($399 USD retail)
That's $1700 (at base/full price, of course) of free stuff. The package is included with even the lowest-price Synergy Core interface, the Discrete 4 Synergy Core, which is a $999 4-in/10-out interface with 4 discrete preamps. Even if you don't intend to install or try the DAW, the free mic and plugins retail for more than the interface at full price.
I've been eyeing the $1495 Discrete 8 Synergy Core with its 4 extra mic preamps and 130dB dynamic range compared to the 121dB on the Discrete 4. I found a local retailer that's offering a $244 (CAD) discount on it, on top of the freebie package.
I really hope I'm not sounding like a shill, I'm just genuinely excited by this sale. Been keeping an eye on things for months waiting for the right time to jump on a new interface. If you only need 4 preamps, the Discrete 4 Synergy Core coming with freebies worth more than ~1.5x is retail price is probably the best deal I've seen on an interface, especially one as high-quality as an Antelope.
I know modeling mics are a controversial topic, but since I have no expectation for it to actually clone anything accurately, I figure that either it turns out to sound decent or it can be flipped to get a chunk of the interface's price back. The cheapest used one on Reverb is listed at $375 USD, so that's more than a third of your money back if you buy the Discrete 4 and flip the mic (or just under a third of my local Discrete 8 sale price).
FYI, Slate is offering a competing deal on their VRS8 interface with a $400 cash discount plus a free ML-1 modeling mic that retails for similar money to the AA, but their interface is missing a few features that I value a lot (namely an ADAT input for expanding the number of I/O and preamps, and a digital control app so that I can set my pre's via ipad instead of running back and forth when I'm recording by myself). It seems like a great interface as well though, so if you've been eyeing that one, now is the time to jump on it.
Antelope Audio interfaces have been on my radar because of their amazing conversion and quality preamps. Well, right now, all AA dealers are offering the following special on any "Synergy Core" interface (the ones with built-in DSP).
1) Free Edge Solo modeling LDC mic ($695 USD retail)
2) Free "Analog Curator FX bundle" - AA's Impresser, Comp-4K-bus, Blonder tongue audio baton, RD47, and Reel-to-reel plugins ($605USD total on their web site)
3) Free full license of the Bitwig Studio DAW ($399 USD retail)
That's $1700 (at base/full price, of course) of free stuff. The package is included with even the lowest-price Synergy Core interface, the Discrete 4 Synergy Core, which is a $999 4-in/10-out interface with 4 discrete preamps. Even if you don't intend to install or try the DAW, the free mic and plugins retail for more than the interface at full price.
I've been eyeing the $1495 Discrete 8 Synergy Core with its 4 extra mic preamps and 130dB dynamic range compared to the 121dB on the Discrete 4. I found a local retailer that's offering a $244 (CAD) discount on it, on top of the freebie package.
I really hope I'm not sounding like a shill, I'm just genuinely excited by this sale. Been keeping an eye on things for months waiting for the right time to jump on a new interface. If you only need 4 preamps, the Discrete 4 Synergy Core coming with freebies worth more than ~1.5x is retail price is probably the best deal I've seen on an interface, especially one as high-quality as an Antelope.
I know modeling mics are a controversial topic, but since I have no expectation for it to actually clone anything accurately, I figure that either it turns out to sound decent or it can be flipped to get a chunk of the interface's price back. The cheapest used one on Reverb is listed at $375 USD, so that's more than a third of your money back if you buy the Discrete 4 and flip the mic (or just under a third of my local Discrete 8 sale price).
FYI, Slate is offering a competing deal on their VRS8 interface with a $400 cash discount plus a free ML-1 modeling mic that retails for similar money to the AA, but their interface is missing a few features that I value a lot (namely an ADAT input for expanding the number of I/O and preamps, and a digital control app so that I can set my pre's via ipad instead of running back and forth when I'm recording by myself). It seems like a great interface as well though, so if you've been eyeing that one, now is the time to jump on it.