Antelope Zen Q Synergy Core

After several months of testing the Zen Q SC, I decided to share my impressions.

Sound:
First of all, the most important feature for me, the interface sounds fantastic. It opened up a whole new world for me. I used the Zoom UAC-2 for a long time and it's a world of difference.
I couldn't test the preamps yet for lack of a microphone.
However, I often plug my Gretsch directly into the interface and am thrilled by the amps and cabinet emulations.
Recordings can be made with almost no noticeable latency, even when using effects at the same time.
I connected it via Thunderbolt 3.

So full marks in this area!

Manufacturing:
Full marks here too!
For the price, I didn't expect anything else. It looks good, feels good and is well thought out in my opinion.
All connections are firmly installed. Nothing wobbles!
The volume controller can be adjusted in 1dB steps and gives pleasant feedback. Everything here is simply top-notch.

Handling:
The display is not a touch panel and therefore the control is a little tricky. But once you get the hang of it, you know exactly what to do.
There are a few submenus that you can reach via three buttons and you have to switch through the inputs and outputs.
However, this is all due to the compact design and is complaining at a high level.

Features:
The mixer software and the routings require some training and the instructions are not always clear. With a little understanding of routings, however, it goes quickly.
For me, the software runs stably under MacOs Monterey with M1 chip. The plug-ins all sound excellent. There is nothing to complain about.

Now, however, for a few cons:
- The plug-ins cannot be resized.
- A possibility to control them with a midicontroller would be amazing!
- the possibility to use the plug-ins in your own DAW (Ableton in my case) via AFX2DAW is currently not available for owners of a Mac computer with M1 chip. i.e. you have to go from the DAW to the interface and back again.
- in general, the selection of plug-ins is still somewhat limited. but hopefully it will improve in the future.

If you need support, you will be helped quite quickly.

For me, the overall impression is great on the whole.
Antelope Audio still has a few minor problems. You should definitely bring a little patience with you.

Would I recommend the Zen Q SC? ABSOLUTELY!

Funktioniert sowohl mit einem Gigabyte B550 Vision D-P-Mainboard + einem AMD 5950x unter Win als auch mit einem einem Macbook Air M1 tadellos (auch AFX2DAW). Der Installations- und Aktivierungsprozess könnte etwas unkomplizierter sein, aber hat ja geklappt. Dafür hat man dann auch sehr geringe Latenzen, viele On-Board-Effekte inklusive gutem Hall, Overloud-Guitar-Simulationen und gut klingenden Preamps.
Zwar fehlt mir Erfahrung mit dem in Bezug auf Features direkten Konkurrenten UAD, aber hatte schon Audio-Interfaces von RME, MOTU und Audient. Das Zen Q klingt mindestens genauso gut, eher besser.
Auch gut: Man kann die Kopfhörer-Ausgänge einzeln am Gerät selbst stumm schalten. Ein viel zu seltenes Feature.
Was rein die Ein- und Ausgänge anbetrifft, bekommt man für das Geld zwar Audio-Interfaces mit mehr Optionen, aber für Einzelkämpfer und kleine Besetzungen sollten die maximal 14 Eingänge ausreichen.
Die Vorteile überwiegen für mich.