Audient ASP880

• 8 Audient Console Mic Pres
• All new, Burr Brown AD Converter Technology
• Variable Input Impedance
• Variable High Pass Filters
• 8 Insert points between the Mic Pres and A/D
• 2 Channels of Class-A Discrete JFET D.I Instrument Inputs
• Digital Outputs - ADAT, AES & S/PDIF

Reviews

Oretez – Gearslutz post

Paul White – SOS review

There's relatively little to say about the ASP008 other than that it puts eight pristine Audient preamps into a compact 1U rack box to handle both mic and line-level signals. Channels one and two also work fine as high-quality DI boxes, though you're likely to hear far more noise and interference from the guitar pickups than from the circuitry inside the preamp. The digital options are straightforward, and allow operation up to 96kHz. I know some people feel the need to double up on this, but I've yet to hear any evidence to suggest that going higher than 96kHz is necessary. Personally, I thought the preamps sounded fabulous even at 44.1kHz, which is testament to the quality of the converter and clocking circuitry employed here.

Audient gear will never be the cheapest, but at the same time they don't charge silly esoteric prices and they deliver great audio quality based on sound engineering principles. Perhaps a dimmer on those status LEDs would have made finding the right button a bit easier, but on the whole, the ASP008 is a great way to add eight channels of very high-quality microphone preamplification to any recording system, digital or analogue.

Jake Gosling – Audient website news

“Kazbar Systems lent me the ASP008 as we needed extra mic pres for our DAW. I was instantly impressed with how dynamic and punchy the pres sounded and we’ve been equally impressed with how well the instrument inputs perform when used with our synths. I would highly recommend ASP008 to prospective musicians.”

Alex Tan – Audient website news

“I was introduced to the brand by Audient distributor Ganz Lim of Soundbuz.com and I was immediately impressed with the build quality and sonic transparency – it was exactly what I needed.” explains Alex, who prides himself on achieving high standards in the studio. “I'm really happy with its versatility – even though it's just a mic pre! The variable impedance provides different pairings for various signal sources and I can get at least three different tones from the unit,” he adds.

Warren Tivy – Independent review

"Having used many rack pre amps in the studio I found that the Audient ASP008 at an obvious level saved us space in the rack and looks really good with its brushed sliver face plate and bright shiny knobs it is easy to get your hands on.

However the 8 mic pres soon showed its real sound worth. At only a quarter of the price of some similar 2 & 4 channel mic pres the Audient's quality is one to reckon with. Each of the eight channels features a gain control and a variable high pass filter that ranges from 25hz to 250 Hz with a 12db/octave slope. Illuminated push-buttons select HPF, phase reverse and line/mic selection available on all eight channels with instrument DI selection on channels 1 & 2 very handy to just jack in and play in the control room.

The peak LEDs on each channel offer a great visual metering advantage when you're hot in the recoding process along with the variable mic impedance switches on each channel. At the back its nice and easy to hook up with XLR inputs from your liveroom, desk or other out board. We run d-sub out to our Apogee's but the ASP008 can be run as a front end to your DAW or multi-track recorder with a space for digital interfaces cards to slot in.

The sound quality of the ASP008 is very open and direct and we have got some great results both in studio and live. Having so many options at your disposal you can achieve great results with easy to use pot and switch controls which are quite close together on the front panel so fat fingers may have a problem, but it’s a small problem for the price and amount of channels that can fit snug in your rack. The ASP008 is up there with some of the best in the field at an affordable price. It’s a very handy unit."

Independent review by Warren Tivy, engineer at Claycastle recording studio Youghal, Co Cork, Ireland

http://www.claycastlemusic.com/

Moosers’ review – Audiofanzine

Audient ASP008 :moosers's user review

9 (9/10)

The Audient ASP008 is an eight channel microphone preamplifier.  The unit has both ADAT connections and XLR inputs.  It also has 1/4 inch inputs in the front for each channel and will only take up a single rack space.

Utilization9/10
Using the Audient ASP008 isn't hard at all even if you don't have much experience with mic pres.  Each of the eight channel has knobs for gain and filter (frequency for the low pass) as well as a variety of buttons including for phantom power, instrument line, mic line, phase, low pass, and a pad.  It is nice to have everything covered as not all preamps have this many options.  As long as you have a basic grasp of what parameters on a mic pre do, I don't believe that you will need a manual.

Sound Quality9/10
The sound of the pre amps on the Audient ASP008 are quite good overall.  The sound they have can be described as clean and since they versatile pres they can be used for all sorts of applications.  I have found that it is the perfect unit for recording a full drum set since there are so many channels to work with, but is also great for acoustic guitar and other acoustic instruments.  The pre amps do lack a bit of girth that I look for to record vocals, but overall they get the job done in a variety of situations.

Overall Opinion9/10
In my opinion, the Audient ASP008 is the perfect unit to expand your audio interface.  It is great for those home studio owners who have ADAT capabilities on their audio interface and are looking for more mic pres to record more tracks at once with.  While I would normally shy away from something that has so many channels in one for such a reasonable price, the ASP008 is definitely better than a lot of its competition.  If you are looking for 8 channels of good sounding pres in a mid level price range, the Audient ASP008 is for you.

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