MOTU has announced the 4pre, a compact audio interface with four mic preamps and mixing
If you’ve been searching for an affordable, compact audio interface with four mic inputs, your search is over. The 4pre packs four mic inputs into an impressively small half-rack form factor, along with a healthy complement of additional professional-grade audio connections. Just think of the possibilities. You can record and mix vocals plus guitar for two musicians simultaneously. Or mic a drum kit with overheads and close-ups. Or record lead and background vocals in one take. With an interface this flexible, capable, and great-sounding, you’ll be ready for any situation your music throws at you.
4pre features
- 6 x 8 audio interface for Mac and Windows – All channels are available simultaneously and operate independently.
- Hybrid FireWire/USB 2.0 connectivity – Connects to your Mac or PC via either bus-powered Firewire or hi-speed USB2.
- 8-bus digital mixer – Routes and mixes all six inputs to any output pair.
- Four separate mixes – Each output pair (main outs, line outs, S/PDIF out, and phones) can have a completely different mix of all six inputs, with or without computer tracks.
- Four mic inputs with combo jacks – Flexible combo jacks provide four XLR mic inputs, two hi-Z 1/4″ guitar inputs, and stereo line-level (+4/-10) input. Mic inputs provide individual preamps, phantom power, 20 dB pad, Precision Digital Trim™, and plenty of gain.
- Stereo main outs – On balanced TRS quarter-inch jacks. Connect directly to powered speakers (or other line-level analog destination).
- Digital I/O – Stereo 24-bit 96kHz S/PDIF digital input and output.
- Two headphone outputs – Independent volume control for each phone output. Output can be either the same or completely independent.
- Support for HD audio – Supports standard sample rates up to 96 kHz.
- Precision Digital Trim™ – Digitally controlled analog trim on all inputs provides adjustments in approximately 1 dB increments. Fine-tune the balance of your inputs and then save/recall trim configurations.
- Front-panel mixing and control – Each input has its own dedicated volume knob. Control multiple mixes with clear feedback from front panel LEDs and metering.
- Front-panel volume control of main outs and headphone jack – Independent volume control of the main outs and phone output, or mirror the main outs on both phone jacks.
- CueMix™ FX cross-platform mixing software – Attractive on-screen graphic mixing with an instrument tuner and audio analysis tools including real-time FFT display, spectrogram “waterfall” display, oscilloscope, X-Y plot and linear or polar phase analysis.
- Stand-alone operation – Bring the 4pre to your gig, with or without a computer. Just plug in the included power adapter and you are ready to go. Need to tweak the mix? Just turn the front-panel knobs.
- Expandable – Add additional interfaces for more I/O as your needs grow.
- Time code support – Directly resolves to (or generates) time code via any quarter-inch input or output, without the need for an extra synchronizer.
- Direct Digital Synthesis™ (DDS) – DSP-driven phase lock engine and internal clock source produces imperceptibly low jitter characteristics (below the noise floor), even when the 4pre is resolved to an external clock source via SMPTE time code.
- DC-coupled TRS outputs – Can be used with Volta™ (sold separately) to manipulate and sequence voltage-controlled modular synthesizers from a host DAW.
- Plug-and-play operation with your Mac or PC via FireWire or USB2 – Compatible with all current and recent generation Macs and PCs.
- Native 32- and 64-bit drivers for Mac OS X and Windows 7/Vista – Includes ASIO, WDM, Wave, Core Audio, and Core MIDI drives. Supports all popular Mac and Windows audio software.
- Fully compatible with 3rd-party software – 100% compatible with all host-based effects processing in today’s popular audio programs.
- Includes audio workstation (DAW) software – Includes AudioDesk full-featured sample-accurate workstation software for the Mac with recording, editing, mixing, real-time 32-bit effects processing & sample-accurate sync.
- Bus-powered FireWire operation – No need for external power when operating as a FireWire interface connected to a computer. A power supply is included for stand-alone or USB2 operation.
- Compact form factor – Chassis dimensions, excluding rack ears and front and back panel knobs and connectors: 9.5 × 7 × 1.75 inches (24.13 × 17.78 × 4.45 cm). Knobs and connectors extend up to 0.5 inch (1.27 cm) from front and back panels, adding 1 inch (2.54 cm) to depth. With rack ears attached, fits one half of a standard 19 inch (48.26 cm) rack at 1U high.
The 4pre is available to purchase for a list price of $495 USD ($449 USD street).
