NAMM 2014: Prism Sound unveils new interface

Prism Sound scored a hat trick at NAMM 2014 when it launched Atlas – its third new interface product to be launched in just eight months (Booth 7123).

Designed with Prism Sound’s latest CleverClox clocking technology and incorporating eight of the company’s mic pre’s as standard, this latest addition to the USB interface family is aimed squarely at multitrack recording applications. Atlas offers recording professionals ultimate quality analogue and digital I/O for Mac or Windows PC at sample rates up to 192kHz via a simple USB interface. In addition to the USB host interface, Atlas also features Prism Sound’s MDIO interface expansion slot. Using this miniature expansion slot users can, for example, directly connect to Pro Tools|HDX systems. A range of other MDIO interfaces is planned for later introduction. Atlas will also run with Apple and Windows native applications over USB.

Graham Boswell, sales director of Prism Sound, says: "The biggest news for Prism Sound customers is that now Atlas, Titan, and Lyra all will be capable of aggregated operation in both MAC and Windows PC environments. This makes it possible to link up a number of different units for multichannel applications – for example 24 track, 32 track – or even bigger set-ups – while retaining a USB connection for each unit. In the Windows environment, Prism Sound provide a new driver that aggregates the units and presents a single multitrack interface to your DAW application for I/O routing."

Atlas offers eight analogue inputs, eight analogue outputs, plus S/PDIF and TOSLINK optical digital I/O ports. The optical ports can also be used for ADAT, giving a single Atlas unit a maximum capability of 18 concurrent input and output channels plus dual stereo headphones.

Atlas also features high quality digitally controlled preamplifiers – eight for microphones and two for instruments, which are automatically selected when the respective sources are plugged in. An assignable rotary control is provided for monitoring or output level control, which can be applied to any desired set of output channels. In addition, dual stereo headphone outputs are provided, each with its own volume control.

Atlas has a powerful built-in DSP engine, which provides high precision input and output conditioning functions, as well as a fully featured mixer for every Atlas output channel, including ADAT channels. Each output can be driven with its own zero-latency mix of input channels and DAW feeds, allowing flexible performers’ foldback feeds to be created, as well as stereo or 5.1/7.1 surround monitoring feeds, controlled by the front-panel rotary control if desired.

All of Atlas’ functions, aside from the front panel monitor and headphone level controls, are controlled from a dedicated Control Panel app, which opens on-screen as a separate panel alongside the user’s existing editing software.

www.prismsound.com