Review: Antelope Audio Orion32

In an age of non-disclosure agreements and media embargoes it’s unusual to find a new prototype floating around the AT office. Rarer still when you consider Antelope’s first venture into multichannel devices had travelled to our antipodean outpost from Sofia, Bulgaria. Antelope has made its name in recent years developing a range of master clocks for studios and post production facilities. The alpha buck of the herd, the Isochrone 10M employs a ‘rubidium atomic reference generator’ promising 100,000 times the accuracy of crystal oscillators. Success in the audiophile reference DAC market followed and in the last 12 months their 384k Eclipse mastering AD/DA converter, master clock and monitor controller signalled a broadening of focus; pairing their now established technology with considered designs to tackle a range of recording and mastering requirements.

RUNT OF THE HERD

The Orion32 is the latest result of this expansion and signals a shift from the haute cuisine of the audiophile and mastering markets into the meat and potatoes of multitrack recording and audio installation. A 32-channel AD/DA converter, the Orion32 dwarves the channel capacity of earlier Antelope products yet is delivered in a single rack space chassis smaller than not only its stereo siblings but any comparable multichannel product on the market today. It is this size, or lack thereof, that makes the Orion32 such an exciting option for both installations requiring a high channel count, by combining a number of units, or simply a relatively large number of I/O in a portable form factor. Other 32-channel solutions will require double to quadruple the rack space and two to three times the investment. While not settled, the expected local price should be in the realm of $3000. This makes the Orion32 a real player for those considering a third-party solution with their next ProTools upgrade and offers to take a 128-channel installation from ceiling height rack tower into a single carry-on case.

The key to this slimming regime is the use of eight 25-pin D-Sub connections for all analogue I/O; taking up just over half of the rear panel. In a touring installation, this can make life very easy with stock D-Sub cables available in various lengths and some patchbays offering pre-wired D-Sub termination. If you require a more flexible range of XLR and TRS connections there are some commercially available D-Sub break-outs, just be sure to have a few gender changers on hand as most of these are intended for use with a longer D-Sub cable in between. The rest of the rump is neatly packed with optical MADI I/O, two channels of ADAT I/O, S/PDIF via coaxial RCA and a USB port. Each of these digital interfaces support sample rates up to 192k, with only MADI and USB offering the full complement at all rates. The ADAT ports do however support SMUX, so four channels of I/O are possible at 192k when used with compatible devices (eight channels at 96k, 16 channels at 48k). Two BNC word clock inputs (one for Antelope’s high resolution 10M Atomic Clock), and four word clock outputs located at the left of the rear panel also make the Orion32 a viable master clock distribution option; using either the internal oven controlled quartz crystal (for increased stability at constant temperature) or an external clock source as master. Like many other Antelope products, the Orion32 employs its Acoustically Focused Clocking (AFC) technology — but more on this later. Finally, the IEC mains power connector supports a range of input voltages from approximately 95 to 245V and with a greenish power consumption of only 20W you’ll also be able to trim down some of your friendly supplier’s recent bill hikes.

The front of the Orion32 is positively stark by comparison with its ample hind. A simple matte silver finish certainly makes it blend in with other herds across the retail savannah. Three white LEDs indicate the current clock source while a large central multifunction display contains both the current sample rate and metering for all I/O channels. At present the meter source can be changed from within the software control panel, as can the brightness of all front panel illumination, however these controls should also be available via some button combination from the front panel. The lack of on-display labelling and updating of the number of displayed meters (64 meter strips are shown, even when monitoring the stereo S/PDIF I/O) makes it difficult to know exactly what you’re looking at. Front panel control is limited to eight, barely visible but audible, silver buttons — and a slightly larger power button. At present all but the ambiguous ‘Antelope’ button have specific single functions (sample rate adjust and configuration preset selection) but I would like to see this change to expand standalone configuration in the future. I worry slightly that the omission of a continuous rotary encoder and perhaps one or two more multi-function buttons may limit further development in this direction but potential exists for satisfactory workarounds. Thankfully, the Orion32’s core is an entirely programmable FPGA, so issues like these can be addressed as further user feedback is received. As an indication of this, I understand a zero-latency DSP mixer is already in the pipeline for a free future firmware update.