Digital Audio Denmark has addressed the requirement for an interface between audio conversion/routing products and host computers with the introduction of its Thunder | Core technology.
Thunder | Core offers a direct link between DAD audio conversion, flexible routing and computers. At the core, two USB-C/ThunderBolt 3 ports with a capacity of up to 256 bi-directional channels and near-zero latency connects to Windows- or macOS-based computers, providing a steady flow of audio channels across Dante, Madi and Adat.
‘This is truly a milestone for us, as we’re essentially breaking in the last barrier between our well-known audio conversion and routing solutions and computers,’ says Mikael Vest, Sales Director of NTP Technology. ‘Core 256 and AX64 have Thunder | Core in common, but are developed with different application purposes in mind, even though there are overlaps in some regards. AX64 builds on the legacy of our AX32 unit, and has eight expansion slots that you can fill with any of our available expansion cards, including AD, DA, Madi, Dante and AES, as well as a processing card for speaker EQ or channel delay. Basically, you can tailor it to fit any pro audio application.
‘Now, the Core 256 is purely digital and much smaller, and while it can act as a digital bridge for any purpose, for example a DAW audio interface, it is the perfect solution for coupling with an Apple Mac Mini, running Dolby Atmos Renderer, Dolby Atmos Production Suite or Dolby Atmos Mastering Suite. We even designed a dedicated rack shelf that can hold Core 256 and a Mac Mini, while only taking up 1U of rack space.’
Core 256 has a total of 592 input and output channels across Thunderbolt, Dante, Madi and Adat, and can also be expanded with a Madi module, adding 128 channels. Core 256 offers 512 x 64 channels of Pro|Mon summing, SPQ Speaker EQ processing, and has capacity for 1,500 x 1,500 channels of internal routing.
AX64 offers the same analogue and digital audio conversion (via expansion cards), as well as conversion between various digital formats as the previous-generation AX32, but adds Thunderbolt and Adat connectivity, as well as onboard Pro|Mon summing as default. The unit supports an internal routing matrix of up to 4,096 x 4,096.
Both Core 256 and AX64 come with two Thunderbolt ports, use 32-bit floating point processing, can be controlled via the Avid’s EuCon protocol and support Apple Silicon M1 and Intel processors.
More: www.digitalaudio.dk
