Antelope Zen Q Synergy Core USB

Nach Focusrite und Steinberg sollte mal was Neues her. Erster Eindruck: Hochwertige Qualität, minimalistische Bedienung und ein modernes Layout. Als Gitarrist wünscht man sich nichts mehr. Klasse preamps, geringe Latenz und S/DIF für Kemper und co. Die Software lässt sich gut bedienen, jedoch erweist sich die ganze Installation als etwas langwierig.
Insgesamt ist die Soundausgabe knackig und brilliant. Definitiv empfehlenswert für ein kleines Home Studio.

Statt der versprochenen über 90 Plugins waren nur knapp 30 im Angebot. Möglicherweise hätte man dies mit dem Support klären können, jedoch sollte solch ein Problem idealerweise direkt funktionieren.

Das "Control Panel" ist unzureichend. Die Inputs werden als Channels bezeichnet, bei denen die Lautstärke angepasst werden kann. Die Inputs können dann auf Preamps geroutet werden. Das bedeutet, um "Channel 1" in einem "Preamp" zu hören, muss man "Preamp 1" auswählen. Die Existenz zweier Begrifflichkeiten erscheint hierbei unklar.

Die Gitarren-Plugins sind qualitativ mangelhaft und die Auswahl ist begrenzt, insbesondere bei den Stompboxen. Es gibt lediglich einen Bassamp, und die Möglichkeit, eigene Impulsantworten zu laden, fehlt.

Beim Laden von EQ oder Kompressor im Control Panel verschwand der Sound vollständig. Dies war der Punkt, an dem die Frustration nicht mehr akzeptabel war.

Der Kopfhörer-Ausgang ist mit meinen DT 770 Pro (250 Ohm) sehr leise.

Eigentlich nur ein physischer Button/Knopf der eigentlich nutzlos ist.

Es hätte so schön sein können, mit den beiden Inputs vorne am Interface, SPDIF ohne die Notwendigkeit eines ADAT>SPDIF-Adapters, Bus-Powered-Funktion und den Plugins. Dennoch bleibe ich bei meinem fünf Jahre alten Audient iD14.

I purchased the Zen to use it mostly on the go when I don't work from my home studio. This includes pre-production sessions, recording, mixing and monitoring both on headphones and speakers. I like the fact that it is bus powered and very light. The metal chassis is a nice touch - the device feels solid and I am not concerned with damaging it. To carry it around thomann sent a great pouch that has been really appreciated. So far I used the interface for some listening sessions and one piano recording. The sound justifies the higher price tag, as the preamps and conversion sound clean and sweet. My only criticism is that I first wanted to go for the Thunderbolt version. Instead I picked the USB, as the Thunderbolt version doesn't include a TB lead. To be fair, considering the price Apple charges for these cables, it is understandable that they didn't include it with the device. But as USB also works for me I decided to save myself some money. Next I'll dive into the FX. Traditionally I have been very conservative when it comes to recording with plugins. But it is nice to have the option and to me this is just an extra on top of everything else the device comes with.

Finally after years of looking at Antelope I bought an interface. The integrated processing and the plugins were a major selling point.
I should have listened to the Internet comments.

Those integrated „plugins“ are a joke! You see the offers all over the internet: Over 90 plugins worth over 5000£. Truth is: they aren’t worth anything, because nobody will buy them. Everyone who owns an interface got these plugins!

You are transported to the dark early 2000s with these very noticeable crackling noises when tweaking parameters, dull animations when turning knobs, the tape saturation is not even running. 😂 That’s all cosmetic but you can imagine what happens under the hood.
Some plugins would immediately cut the sound out and aren’t useable at all.
I’ve experienced many more Ableton Live crashes the last few weeks than ever.
And when you load a project, the settings - even the plugins you had loaded are not there anymore! Everything blank!
How do companies like Waves and Softube fine tune and research their products for good 20 years now and these Antelope guys pretend they can pull that off in a few years?
Why not open the platform to third party developers? That would be a selling point!

The software mixer is a disaster too! Everything is just enormously big on your screen. I can’t even resize the window so that it fits my 1080p monitor.
I failed to activate my 48V, because it’s not logical or self explanatory! Okay I’m stupid but a good product design is accompanying for that! Was a little toggle switch too hard to integrate?

The hardware doesn’t transport quality either! The display is dark and difficult to read from a normal angle (normal refers to me sitting on a table with the interface on it)
The overly big knob is resting on a little potentiometer encoder. Wobbly and prone to future failure.

The aggressive marketing adds another dimension to the problem. I have ordered the device in January because I was under the impression that the big offer is going to end by the end of the month. Antelope has now the same discounted offer with added software from February to March. What is this interface/software package really worth? Why pretend everywhere that this is a 800£ audiointerface? Why pretend that I get all the plugins free? Why pretend that I get a super offer with 40% off, when in reality it’s always sold as such? Why not sell a good interface with 90+ plugins at 500£ - honest and straightforward?
I felt scammed and pranked! It’s the same experience when buying cheap counterfeit fashion at your Turkish or Bulgarian tourist beach.

The support adds to the experience. I required immediate service! Lucky me: there’s a support chat. As it turns out there’s no realtime support! It’s a chatbot that creates a support ticket. Unfortunately it doesn’t ask the right questions so it created a support ticket without a description of my problem. Well done!
I have been contacted by their customer service and we solved my problems.

A good product doesn’t need good customer support!

This was an experience I could have lived very well without with! A wild rodeo ride on a cannonball. When the interface runs, it does sound good! Better? I don’t know.

I cannot recommend this product or the brand. I’m very disappointed and need to come up with an alternative solution now, which is annoying! So Antelope essentially cost me money! Time invested and downtime in my studio. I will never get that back.

Don’t fall for extreme savings - it’s a trap.