Anteleope Audio Eclipse 384

On December 7, 2011, in Santa Monica, California, Antelope Audio announcedthe launch of the Eclipse 384 - the first of its kind multifunctional audiodevice that provides 384 kHz A/D and D/A conversion clocked by Antelope'srenowned 64-bit technology and a powerful and flexible monitoring control.

Eclipse 384 was unveiled during the Audio Engineering Society(AES) convention in New York last October, where it received the accolade “Bestof Show” and subsequently “Gear of the Year” from two highly regarded industrypublications.

Outsidethe Eclipse 384

Front- Thefront of the Eclipse has a very attractive, modern look. The first thing thatyou observe is the big LED display, which occupies most of the front cover. Thedesign of the front it so how made that the buyer falls “in love at first sight”with the product and there are no second thoughts regard the buying.

Back- The backof the Eclipse 384 may induce an inexperienced user in a big error. But even to those with littleexperience in audio devices will find it easy to use due to the fact that everyjack is well categorized and separated.

Inside theEclipse 384

The Eclipse comprises 384 kHz A/D &D/A converters clocked by two independent 64-bit DSP Trinity-level clocks. Thefully integrated monitor controller employs 0.05 dB accurate gold-plated relayattenuators and provides speaker switching, bass management and cue mixfunctions with integrated talkback. The Eclipse also includes two dedicatedheadphone amplifiers and a custom USB interface, as well as two large peakmeters on the front panel. The advanced software control panel compatible withboth Mac & PC, allows five nameable presets for easy recall of favoritesetups.

The unique dual-domain clocking system enables analog-based, morenatural sounding sample rate conversion. The integrated patching/routingcapabilities make monitoring of either analog or digital sources extremelysimple, avoiding jitter, distortion and cabling noise. By eliminating the manyinput and output stages and the various power supplies, that would be presentin separate devices, the noise floor can be substantially reduced and the audioquality significantly improved.

The Eclipse is also well-suited to live environments. Master clocks are becoming more and more popular for usewith digital consoles and recording equipment at concerts and live events. Byusing the Eclipse 384, a live sound engineer is able to provide sync referencefor up to four different devices, while using the main D/A for backingmaterial, the A/D with multiple digital outs feeding redundant recordingsystems, and monitor DAC to check the recording post A/D conversion. 

Currently Antelope Audio is accepting pre-orders for Eclipse 384,which is expected to ship during the first quarter of 2012; however the firstpre-ordered units will arrive in studios before the end of 2011.

Eclipse384 features

Clocking

·        64-bit DSP Trinity-level clocking

·        Oven-controlled oscillator

·        Factory calibrated to better than +/- 0.001 ppm stability

·        Two independent sample rates

·        Varispeed capability of +/- 200 cents

·        10M atomic clock input

Conversion

·        384 kHz A/D & D/A converters

·        A/D with Dynamic Range of 124dB

·        D/A with Dynamic Range of 129dB

·        Burr-Brown D/A conversion chip

·        Two bypassable A/D inserts

·        Custom USB 2.0 chip streaming up to 480 Mbits

Monitoring

·        Three sets of switchable monitor outs

·        Second dedicated monitor D/A

·        Bass management with LFE output

·        Precise input and output peak meters

·        Talkback and cue mix functions

           Relayvolume attenuator matched to 0.05 dB 

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