At the Musik Messe trade show in Frankfurt, Germany this week, Metric Halo unveiled the new LIO-8, a multichannel A/D/A converter, processor and interface. Based on the company’s ULN-8 technology platform, the LIO-8 provides archival quality conversion, processing and interfacing for use in a mastering suite, mix suite or in a recording studio with external preamps. In essence, the LIO-8 is a ULN-8 without the onboard preamps, which can be added if desired, in four- or eight-channel blocks.
With everything needed to record, mix, process and master audio (just add your DAW of choice, transducers and, if needed, preamps), the LIO-8 is a one-box solution for editing, mixing and mastering suites. Though it is based on a Mac-friendly FireWire interface, LIO-8’s stand-alone operation and standard AES and analog interfaces allow it to act as the audio front end and monitor controller for Pro Tools, stand-alone and PC-based recording systems.
From a quality perspective, the LIO-8 provides a complete mastering toolkit. With transparent A/D/A conversion and reciprocal processing, the LIO-8’s eight channels of conversion and AES interfacing allow for multiple analog and digital processing signal chains, as well as monitoring and processing in surround. The integrated mixer is a complete digital console with mono-to-7.1 bus support, monitor control section, delay-compensated processing with delay-compensated send and return support, allowing operators to mix monitors with essentially zero latency while also mixing the show live for an immediate stereo reference.
At mix down time, the mixing and processing engine enables an ultra-high-quality digital outboard summing system. Alternately, the LIO-8 converters can drive an analog summing bus and capture the results. The LIO-8 A/D/A is penalty-free, fully calibrated, DC-coupled and clocked at 192kHz with zero phase distortion. The LIO-8 also combines universal sample rate support, full digital control for total recall/remote control and the flexibility to work with or without a computer.
