Prism Sound launches Lyra interface

Prism Sound has announced the launch of Lyra, a brand new range of interfaces aimed primarily at musicians, DJS and project studio owners.

Set to make its debut at the upcoming AES Convention in San Francisco, Lyra is based on the critically acclaimed Orpheus interface and is designed to offer music recording professionals the power of the Orpheus audio path and clock circuitry but in a more compact package at an improved price point.

“Lyra connects seamlessly with both Macs and PCs via a simple USB interface,” commented Graham Boswell, sales and marketing director for Prism Sound. “For recording professionals who don’t need eight channels of analogue I/O, Lyra is the perfect interface because it allows them to access Prism Sound quality in a convenient package and at an affordable price.”

With plans to launch a number of different variants of Lyra, Prism Sound has kicked proceedings off with Lyra 1 and Lyra 2. Both incorporate new ARM Cortex-based ‘Xcore’ processor design offering class-compliant USB interfacing, plus DSP and a low latency ‘console-quality’ digital mixer for foldback monitoring. Both products also have optical SPDIF capability and Lyra 2 also supports ADAT.

Lyra 1, which retails at £1,349 plus VAT, will be of key interest to musicians and the project studio market. The unit offers two analogue input channels – one for instrument/line and one for mic/line – plus two DA output channels and optical-only digital I/O. With Lyra 1, musicians can connect a guitar and a microphone through the input channels, plug into their software mixer via a USB connection and begin laying down basic tracks within minutes.

Lyra 2, which retails at £1,849 plus VAT, takes the concept a step further by offering two AD input channels with switchable microphone, instrument or line input modes and four DA output channels. Both optical-only digital I/O and copper S/PDIF are available on this version of Lyra, which also offers wordclock In/Out enabling synchronisation with other digital devices.

Both products are ergonomically designed, with the front panel offering a master volume control assignable to selected output channels, while the unit’s small size –11 inches wide – makes it easy to transport for musicians, producers and DJs on the road. For studio use, Prism Sound can supply dedicated rack mounts as an extra.

“We know there is a market for Lyra because our customers have been demanding this product ever since we launched Orpheus,” Boswell added. “However, we are very protective of our reputation for delivering the highest possible audio quality so we were not going to bring any product to market until we were 100% convinced that it could live up to our exacting specifications. Lyra does just that, and we are very proud to introduce it.”

Lyra will start shipping in November 2012 and will be fully supported by Prism Sound’s technical and after-sales service staff.

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