May 1, 2001 12:00 PM, DAVID OGILVY

Well-known for making the reliable Aardsync II master clock, Aardvark touts its DirectPro 24/96 as the “all-in-one personal studio system.” With four discrete mic preamps, 48V phantom power, 24-bit 96kHz converters, a headphone amp, digital I/O, six analog output channels and a virtual mixer, the DirectPro comes surprisingly close to a complete studio. Bring your own transducers — headphones, speakers and microphones — and you're almost there.

The actual recording and editing takes place in the software of your choice. The Aardvark package includes Cakewalk Pro Audio 9, but it should be understood that the DirectPro does not actually record. It is an extremely efficient input/output for a wide variety of available programs. The 10-channel virtual mixer features EQ, compression (on input only) and reverb, all with zero latency, so you can hear your adjustments in real time, without waiting for the computer to calculate the changes. Typical latency in similar devices is around half a second.

Out of the box, the system appears simple: two software disks, a manual, a PCI card, a breakout box and a sturdy shielded 25-pin cable. The breakout box has four combo ¼-inch/XLR inputs, a phantom power switch with LED and a headphone jack on the front panel; the rear panel has four ¼-inch outputs, two RCA outputs, and MIDI in and out. S/PDIF in and out can be found on the card at the back of the computer. All ¼-inch jacks allow both balanced and unbalanced connections at +4 dBu and -10 dBu, respectively.

Optional accessories include rack adapters for one or two breakout boxes (each occupy two rackspaces) and AES/EBU-to-S/PDIF adapters (manufactured by Aardvark to change voltage and impedance).

The manual is brief but effective, with separate instructions for installation on both Windows 95 and Windows 98 platforms. After consulting the recommendations for the placement of the PCI card into my computer, onscreen messages prompted me through the rest of the install. Thereafter, I only consulted the 35-page pamphlet for quick-start guides that explain integration of the DirectPro with Samplitude, Cubase VST, Cakewalk Pro Audio, Sound Forge and Wavelab.

THE INSTALL

For DirectPro, Aardvark recommends a Pentium PC or compatible, running at 200 MHz or higher, with Windows 95 or Windows 98, a minimum of 64MB RAM and one available PCI slot. For this review, I used a modestly equipped 300MHz Pentium II 300A PC with CD-ROM/DVD drive, 128MB RAM and 4 GB of available disk space.

Hardware installation was simple. However, the DirectPro software didn't load properly the first time I tried, but tech support at Aardvark is excellent (there was always more than one able-minded technician available when I called during East Coast business hours), and they e-mailed me the file I needed for a smooth install.

ONSCREEN

The virtual console — or “Control Panel” screen — is laid out well, with four channel strips on the left for the four inputs. Each of these includes gain, compression, EQ, reverb send, pan and a “fader,” while the playback (or output of the recording program) appears on the right as three permanently linked stereo pairs with reverb sends. Each channel has a Mute and a Solo switch, but the playback pairs will not mute or solo one side of the stereo pair — this has to be done within the recording/editing program you've selected.

All 10 channels are summed to the stereo-linked master fader (“Monitor Out”). There are 12 replicas of LED-style meters, one next to each fader. Each meter uses over 40 segments in green, yellow and red, and peak hold is an option. There is also a large replica of a 2-channel VU meter, redundant with the Monitor Out “LEDs.” The VU meter “needles” are understandably slow to react, as Aardvark has justifiably assigned their movement a low priority in terms of DSP operations.

Below the VU section is the Master Reverb panel, with controls for Decay, Diffusion, Brightness and Room Size (“Room,” “Hall” or “Church”). A Preset button opens a window of reverb presets (initially blank until favorite settings are stored here), and the master reverb return is either on or off (no level control) according to the Bypass button.

Under the reverb section, there are buttons for Source Select, Presets (snapshots of the entire console available for instant recall), Advanced and Patch Bay. The Source Select button determines whether the sampling rate is internally clocked at 32/44.1/48/96 kHz or externally for incoming S/PDIF signals. (SCMS is thankfully deactivated.) The Advanced button opens a window that monitors the status of the I/O driver pairs (active or inactive), shows the serial number and registration key number, adjusts the ASIO buffer and sample size and gives the option for the program to issue warnings on sample rate errors. New in the Advanced window (Version 2.2) is output level selection for playback channels 1 through 4; all four can either output +4 dBu or -10 dBu — no mixed choices. Incidentally, output channels 5 and 6 are -10dBu RCA plugs.

The Patch Bay window allows most conceivable routings; for example, playback channels 1 and 2 can be assigned to output jacks 5 and 6. However, one cannot connect playback channels 1 through 6 correspondingly to outputs 1 through 6 while still monitoring all six through the DirectPro headphone jack. This limitation is surmountable with the use of external monitoring equipment, such as a small mixer. While “Analog 1, 2 Out” has its own patch point, “Analog 3, 4 Out” and “Analog 5, 6 Out” share their patch points with “S/PDIF L/R Out” and “Headphone L, R Out,” respectively. This can create limitations as with the previously cited example. The Patch Bay also includes a test tone, which can route to all three output points at once.

PRACTICE

Using the DirectPro as a mic preamp and a digital mixer, I combined live tracks with a stereo DAT and recorded to the hard drive with a variety of multitrack editing programs. The S/PDIF input shows up on input channels 3 and 4 and allows a large degree of gain in the digital domain. A square at the top of the channels illuminates when digital interfacing is correct, even when tape is not rolling — a handy feature. Unfortunately, only one digital signal may be input at once, even when multiple DirectPro units are ganged together.

The gain for analog inputs is well-thought out, with three separate gain stages, all optimized for their range: one for large amounts of mic preamplification, one for nominal amounts and one for line-level inputs. Although the line amp only allows up to 9 dB of gain, the mic pre's provide up to 75 dB. Input gain is done in the analog stage to maximize audio level before the A/D conversion. The discrete, eight transistor-per-channel preamps sound very good — the specs boast a frequency response of 1.6 to 200k Hz (at -3 dB). Acoustic guitar, banjo, snare and vocals were captured extremely well, retaining their brightness without sounding brittle. While playing along to the DAT, DirectPro followed the clock of the DAT machine, which was playing at 48 kHz.

Next, I tried recording the same instruments at 96 kHz. Reproduction quality was predictably better — increased definition was accentuated by the quietness of the card. The combination of discrete mic pre's with 24-bit resolution makes this setup a real bargain.

One disadvantage of selecting a 96kHz sampling rate is that the EQ, compression and reverb are disabled, but I really didn't use them that often. Although the reverb is handy for monitoring while overdubbing, the EQ and compression are not very effective. For example, the low-frequency knob is fixed at 220 Hz — almost useless as a bass roll-off. The high frequency is set at 8 kHz, where 12 kHz or higher might have been a better choice. The mid frequency is adjustable but with no bandwidth selection, and it is stepped at frequencies that are too far apart, especially below 1 kHz and above 5 kHz. Additionally, the compressor cannot be used solely as a limiter, nor does it provide a gain-reduction meter. The lack of visual confirmation of its action was unnerving.

While not in 96kHz mode, the RecFX button on each input channel allows EQ and compression to be recorded along with real-time volume changes. Otherwise, the input gain stage is sent directly to the recording software, with the bulk of the console acting as a monitoring path. Reverb can also be recorded, but only after selecting inputs 5 and 6 in the Patch Bay window.

Auxiliary sends on each channel would have been useful, but I managed to fashion an effects loop by assigning one of the playback pairs to analog outputs on the breakout box. By panning individual instruments hard left or hard right, they can be sent to external processors and returned to one of the four input channels. Of course, software plug-ins can also be utilized. In both cases, one must make auxiliary output assignments within the chosen editing software (such as the mixer in CoolEditPro).

The DirectPro Control Panel is best used as an input stage and monitoring console — especially for overdubbing — rather than as a mixing device. Automation of Control Panel settings through MIDI is not possible — the MIDI I/O is only for conveying MIDI data to the host software. I had many digital and analog tapes in need of editing, and their sound was never compromised through the Aardvark. I also tried a variety of microphones — AKG 414s; Countryman Iso Omnis; Shure SM57s and other dynamic models — on various voices and instruments, always with great results.

On my wish list, I would have liked a knob on the breakout box for headphone volume (as opposed to adjusting the Monitor Out fader) — the knob is included on Aardvark's Direct Pro LX6, which does not feature XLR inputs. The DirectPro's EQ and compression leave a bit to be desired, but the wide variety of plug-ins available can take care of most situations.

Certainly, the unit's zero latency performance is a major plus, although DirectPro's real strength lies in the sound quality of the preamps and conversion process. The gain stages sound very good, certainly better than the ubiquitous preamps we find in many budget consoles, and, in general, the audio is extremely quiet. Credit is due to Aardvark for shielding the PCI card so well.

With the addition of 24-bit, 96kHz converters and the inclusion of Cakewalk Pro Audio 9, this package is hard to beat, especially at a U.S. list price of $699. It should also be noted that Aardvark expects to release Windows 2000 and Macintosh in the near future. Overall, DirectPro is an excellent interface for computer audio work. I've decided to keep this one!

Aardvark, 202 E. Washington, Suite 306, Ann Arbor, MI 48104; 734/665-8899; fax 734/665-0694; www.aardvark-pro.com.

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David Ogilvy is a Northern California recording and broadcast engineer and producer.

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