Antelope Audio Zen Q Synergy Core Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface

Amazing sound! Works perfectly with my Mac Studio Ultra and Logic 10.7.5.Had a few questions and called tech support the guy answered right away and explained everything to me.Great tech support.No latency with thunderbolt. Love it!

The lack of comprehensive documentation tailored to THIS unit prevents me from recommending it to anyone.I struggled for days trying to learn how to route audio in and out of my DAW. I was able to get help on the FB community, but I shouldnt have had to.The hardware sounds good, but I've still not been able to use all of the features- the documentation describing how to use the on-board processing is not written for THIS unit, its all written for the larger models with different interface software.The free mic was on backorder so I was not able to order the bundle- another disappointment... I'm talking myself out of keeping this as I type.

Awesome, the best Interface period at $1000 and below

I had the the thunderbolt and USB version, I couldnot detect a speed difference, so if you don't have thunderbolt connections you are not missing out on anything. As far as the machine itself, It has Crystal Clarity, With Depth, Thickness and Detail. If you have the budget, get it. It brought a whole new dimension in my monitors. This was a massive upgrade from Focusrite Scarlett. Built well. Works well with Windows 10 and No issues unlike Universal Audio Apollos. My only gripe is Antelope customer service could use some improvements.

Great

I run this on a Mac Studio Ultra. I don't have any issues with Youtubeor any of the problems the other rater has.When I shut of my Mac It shuts down the Zen Q.The most impressive and most important is the sound.These are top class converters. I've use a lot of interfaces over the years the sound is addictive. The latency is super tight.Plugins are great and the feature set is great. Nothing comes close for the money. That's my 2 cents.

Great Interface

Overall:Zen Q has everything a home studio needs. 4 inputs, high Z, 2 outputs, 2 headphones, expandable. Routing interface is easy to use, easy to navigate didplay panel. Awesome plug-in packages and quality support.

NEVER

It was DOA - TWICE. Thank goodness I had had enough experience trouble shooting the ZenGo I started with to know that I shouldn't waste my time trying to resolve problems with this. I bought it because their tech support said the problems I encountered with the ZenGo would likely be solved by the 'better' (read: more expensive) thunderbolt system in the ZenQ. Too bad they couldn't get it to interact with the DAW. I think they had a bad batch of hardware units. The support guys were obviously familiar with the issue and told me to send it back.

One of the best interfaces for quality audio and support

I am a local producer. I have gone through many audio interfaces from the low end that Behringer produces to the lower end MOTU M4. In the midrange, I have used UAD and others. I wanted something with lower latency (I use a LOT of Vst's) and great audio quality. I tried the Apollo Symphony Desktop, but had a great deal of issues with it. The sound was great when it worked, but those times were few. I came across the Antelope Audio line. I initially purchased the Antelope Audio Zen Go and loved it. I wanted more inputs and even lower latency so I purchased the Antelope Audio Zen Q, a Thunderbolt, bus powered unit. This was exactly what I was looking for. The sound was pristine, it has onboard effect and the latency was incredible. As an added bonus, I have had to ... MoreI am a local producer. I have gone through many audio interfaces from the low end that Behringer produces to the lower end MOTU M4. In the midrange, I have used UAD and others. I wanted something with lower latency (I use a LOT of Vst's) and great audio quality. I tried the Apollo Symphony Desktop, but had a great deal of issues with it. The sound was great when it worked, but those times were few. I came across the Antelope Audio line. I initially purchased the Antelope Audio Zen Go and loved it. I wanted more inputs and even lower latency so I purchased the Antelope Audio Zen Q, a Thunderbolt, bus powered unit. This was exactly what I was looking for. The sound was pristine, it has onboard effect and the latency was incredible. As an added bonus, I have had to reach out to support a couple of times and they were fast and knowledgeable. One of my issues actually had nothing to do with the Zen Q itself, but a piece of software I was using that twas causing issues. The technician got back to me with information on how to modify the software I was using. In the end, the Zen Q was working flawlessly and so was the software. This was terrific! The bundle I purchased came with a Solo modeling mic (which sounds great) and also the BitWig studio full version. I am a Steinberg Cubase user, but there are some very nice features in the Bitwig that I use. All in all, I am very happy with my purchase and would both recommend the uint as well as purchase it again if needed.

Review of Antelope Audio Zen Q Synergy Core USB Audio Interface

Free mics and all in plugin bundle made this seem like a bargain. sounds great

Things to consider before you buy.

The audio and internal effects are top notch but there are some drawbacks with this interface.1) This device does not support Windows audio. For example, you cannot use this device to play YouTube videos. It is designed to play back from a DAW app only.2) Antelope Solo modelling mic plugin does not work with Cubase Pro 12. Cubase locks up trying to load the plugin. All other aspects of the Zen Q work great with Cubase Pro 12.3) Launcher app is coded to a specific screen resolution and cannot be resized. On a 4K monitor, the Launcher window is too small to read. You have the lower the resolution of the display to 2K (or lower) to work with the app.4) Applications use non-standard Windows controls. Meaning, to minimize and maximize the Control Panel is a bit ... MoreThe audio and internal effects are top notch but there are some drawbacks with this interface.1) This device does not support Windows audio. For example, you cannot use this device to play YouTube videos. It is designed to play back from a DAW app only.2) Antelope Solo modelling mic plugin does not work with Cubase Pro 12. Cubase locks up trying to load the plugin. All other aspects of the Zen Q work great with Cubase Pro 12.3) Launcher app is coded to a specific screen resolution and cannot be resized. On a 4K monitor, the Launcher window is too small to read. You have the lower the resolution of the display to 2K (or lower) to work with the app.4) Applications use non-standard Windows controls. Meaning, to minimize and maximize the Control Panel is a bit challenging.5) Power though Thunderbolt means that the interface unit is always on. I cannot disable power of my thunderbolt port on my laptop so I have to unplug the interface from my laptop each time I turn off my laptop. Option: You can put the interface to sleep through the Control Panel app but may not get it to wake up again without unplugging the cable.Considering the money invested, I will stick with this unit; but if I had it to do again, I would probably go with the Focusrite Clarett+ 4Pre, and save myself $300.

Zen Q Synergy Core

As a guitar player, singer songwriter, I wanted to up my recording quality and monitoring playback with studio level AD/DA and clocking. After much research, I was eyeballing Antelope interfaces for a couple of years now. I was thrilled when Antelope developed the Zen Q thunderbolt interface, because the Zen Tour was just out of my price range, and I didn't need that many IO options. I had also been waiting for Antelope to get their PC windows driver in place, as I'm not a Mac user. The Zen Q is working perfectly for me. Great sound quality for both recording and monitoring, thunderbolt connectivity and internal DSP, so no latency issues. And I'm enjoying the modeling mic capability as well (I have the Edge Solo). The software download, installation, and setup was ... MoreAs a guitar player, singer songwriter, I wanted to up my recording quality and monitoring playback with studio level AD/DA and clocking. After much research, I was eyeballing Antelope interfaces for a couple of years now. I was thrilled when Antelope developed the Zen Q thunderbolt interface, because the Zen Tour was just out of my price range, and I didn't need that many IO options. I had also been waiting for Antelope to get their PC windows driver in place, as I'm not a Mac user. The Zen Q is working perfectly for me. Great sound quality for both recording and monitoring, thunderbolt connectivity and internal DSP, so no latency issues. And I'm enjoying the modeling mic capability as well (I have the Edge Solo). The software download, installation, and setup was trouble free (followed step by step instructions and had no issues, everything worked immediately). And the internal signal routing has been excellent, lots of ability to run internal effects and straight dry signal into and out of my Studio One DAW. I have the afx2daw, so that's great for using Antelope effects right in my DAW for mixing. Great build/construction, works great with Windows and StudioOne. I've had the Zen Q since October '21, and am glad I purchased it. Its going to serve my recording and production purposes for a long time to come.