Zen Go Synergy Core audio interface from Antelope Audio - audio test

#antelopeaudio
New Zen Go audio interface from Antelope Audio. Audio test and mic emulations.
Performed by Neven Petrova - Sofia University, Bulgaria, Recorded by Hristo Karagyozov,

[@AngelGranados]

I love Antelope, i have a Discrete 4, my TLM 103 sounds great!!! and the Edge Solo emulation is very close to the real one.

[@0945rafa]

I bought the Discrete 4 and sold it shortly after; sounds thin, especially on acoustic instruments. Now I have MOTU and Apogee Rosetta converter and with this I have a much more PRO sound.

[@0945rafa]

Compré la Discrete 4 y la vendí al poco tiempo; suena delgada, sobre todo en instrumentos acústicos. Ahora tengo MOTU y convertidor Apogee Rosetta y con esto tengo un sonido mucho mas PRO.

[@SMGBEATZ]

the game changer ! #zenGo

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

Yes, in this price class, absolutely. The preamps are great, the output converters - also. And the mic emulations and the synergy efx are only a bonus at this price. You can get an Edge solo mic and throw all of this in your bag, and you can record from anywhere.

[@yoylosotros]

Sounds great! Do you think the Zen Go will work on a Macbook Pro 13" (2012). It has USB-3 in it.

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

of course, as far as you do use the usb-to-usb_c adaptor. You have to use an operating system newer than hi-sierra, I think. I say this because on some my machines I use 10.9.5- Mavericks, to be able to work with PT 10. But I am maybe the last man in the world, who does this :-)

[@yoylosotros]

@@hristokaragyozov6998 Thank you so much for the info! I have Mojave so it sure won't be a problem for me.

[@jayrdot5240]

@@hristokaragyozov6998 so in other words you don’t need M1 if I have 2017 MacBook pro 13” with Big Sur it’ll be compatible?

[@rjb7569]

Is there any way to sum a mix to mono with this unit?

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

It has 2 monitor outs - one on TRS and one on RCA. If you want to sum to mono, usually this is made into the software mixer. If you set the outs in the zen go mixer not to L/R but to center, you will have a mono mix, of course.

[@rjb7569]

@@hristokaragyozov6998 Thank you for your response. The reason I asked is it seems some of the interfaces now offer a button on the unit itself to get a rapid mono mix. I thought maybe the "utility" button on the GO might be able to be configured this way. I am new to this. Your information helps in my decision making. I like a lot of what this unit offers as I research for an interface purchase for my modest home studio.

[@ИнновационныеДорожныеТехнологи]

РМЕ впереди. Я продал свой Zen Go. Купил RME bf pro fs и стал счастливым. Zen GO мне создавало много проблем , мне больно об этом вспоминать. На бумаге и в рекламе всё хорошо, но по факту Звук плох , драйвера плохи, как и всё остальное. я покончил с ANTELOPE раз и навсегда !!! Полгода назад с Zen Go шло + 150 евро. Сейчас + 1600 евро. за теже деньги. В связи с этим, мне было сложно продать Zen Go/ пришлось продать его сильно дёшево. Маркетинг остой !!!

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

Драйвера RME очень хороши, но для меня их звук слишком нейтральный. Конечно, на вкус и цвет..

[@notsure1135]

If only it had ADAT...

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

Zen Q has it :-)

[@Marchuevoreal]

Hello 👋. This one or the Apollo ? What you recommend?

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

Apollo should be compared with the Zen-Q. witch is thunderbolt and has more i/o.

[@philliamproject8113]

Hristo that's a lovely song and shows what this cool little interface can do well done!

[@jcchaconjr]

This is a dilemma for me, and probably of a lot of people too. Choose the UAD Solo, or give the Zen Go a try? I don't think anyone is ever thrilled with the prices AUD charges for their plugins. IN comparison, Synergy plugins seem to be priced much more reasonably, assuming they are of similar quality. I suppose I can go the easy route and just buy a Scarlett like most (I'm not going anything too ambitious at the moment), but there will always come a time when you want to up your game, so it ends up being a second purchase down the line. I do like the option of being able to connect via RCA if I don't have easy access to monitors, however. Am I being overly ambitious by wanting a "Pro-sumer" level AI as opposed to the Focusrite Scarlett 4i4? Anyway, just arguing with myself, haha... Thanks for publishing your test Hristo - Neven sounds lovely in the track, and I don't think that the interface has anything to do with that. 🙂

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

These are so many great songs made with SM58 and 4-track tape recorder :-)

[@lance134679]

The demo sounds great, but I think that's more down to the musicians and engineer than the interface (which does seem pretty good, too). Thanks.

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

Thanks a lot, but I should never mix the song in this way, if it was not for the test reason. Here the voice is a bit in front, to be able to hear the mic's preamps. And the reverb of the voice is only "just to say we have it" , as Fab Dupont says 🙂And no Autotune, of course....

[@jimyehoo]

Zen Go do not go with Thunderbolt, that USB-C with lightening symbol means it can be the power port, but it's not Thunderbolt.

[@shayneoneill1506]

It will however work with thunderbolt, because thunderbolt is basically usb-c with firewire style features (and also can push display port through it)

[@shan5445]

That song though and the singing but it sounded quite clean.

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

The idea was to keep the voice without many effects, to be able to show the in/out options of the unit. Of course, if I wanted to make a commercial mix, it should sound totally different ;-) And, not in the last place, we wanted just to have some fun with this little creature - the Zen Go, and with Neven - the singer..

[@thorghanudha6550]

Am hoping for more positive reviews on this before i just get a babyface fs.

[@Andrew.G.Junior]

What more positive you want in this pricerange? It's a great piece of gear but no one is holding you back from getting the Babyface if it suits your taste better. Great video IMHO.

[@thorghanudha6550]

@@Andrew.G.Junior yeeeaaahh i'm not buying antelope... Too many of these stories around. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHechI2sbtV2qaM

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

There are many urban legends about Antelope, Universal Audio, etc.. It's up to you, of course. When Antelope started making audio interfaces (coming from hi-fi area), they had problems with the driver support. I blamed them for this many times. But after few years they started fixing them. The universal mode driver they use (like many others) optimised the process a lot, IMHO. Today their devices are much more stable. One example. When Discrete 4 and 8 came out, they made a new driver and control panel, and there were some problems. But now with the second generations they are rock solid. Personally I prefer the ORion control panel with the patch panel, it is more easy and flexible for me. But it depends on your preferencies.

[@Andrew.G.Junior]

@@thorghanudha6550 Whatever you prefer dude. We all have heard stories about Antelope's problematic drivers but those have been fixed since AFAIK. By the way UAD's USB devices are much more pain in the (_!_) when it comes to driver issues. I am buying the Zen Go, if doesn't my expectations, I'll send it back. (Babyface is good but slightly overpriced IMHO...)

[@whoisjinx]

Hi nice video! I'm actually thinking of getting this! I don't think it can connect to the computer via thunderbolt. Only USB-C. The other connector with the lightning symbol is just for extra power only.

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

Hi, Frankly, I am not sure about this. Antelope told me only that thunderbolt doesn't work with Pc. For me it doesn't make sense to have the thunderbolt symbol if it is not a thunderbolt. The unit comes with usb-c to usb-c cable, and with adaptor usb-c to usb3, so you can use it in both ways. I never had a need for an extra power, even with phantom on both channels. Hope it hepls :-)

[@Andrew.G.Junior]

@@hristokaragyozov6998 Great video. Are you using it with a usb-c to usb3 adaptor or a separate usb-c to usb3 cable? How do you find the Synergy effects that come with the Zen Go?

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

@@Andrew.G.Junior both of them. On a Dell 7710 i use it with the usb-c to usb-c cable, included in the box. Also it has a small adaptor usb-c to usb3. I use this adaptor with computers without usb-c. Because the overall nymber of in/out channels is small, you should not have any issue with the speed of the transfer, I believe even usb2 transfer should be fine.

[@hristokaragyozov6998]

About the synergy effects. I am not sure about them, because here in the university we participate in an endorsement program and we have access to all of the effects by default, so I don't know the exact number and type of the included effects. But I am sure that Antelope helpers can tell you.

[@Andrew.G.Junior]

@@hristokaragyozov6998 Thanks man, I really appreciate the quick reply.