D esigned from the ground up for speed, the PreSonus Quantum interface line launched in 2017 and now comprises three Quantum Thunderbolt Interfaces: Quantum (26X32), Quantum 2626 (26X26), and Quantum 4848 (32 line-level I/O on DB25). The Quantum 2626 is the first in its family to incorporate Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. The 2626 features 8 XMAX preamps and flexible connectivity. steinber wrote2-My computer is a 2018 Mac Mini that uses Thunderbolt 3, with a USB-C form factor connector. That means that with the newer Quantum 2626 I could just plug in a normal thunderbolt 3 "C to C" cable, but with the original Quantum, I would need to use a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter. Hi there everyone. I am planning to buy a Quantum interface and am trying to decide between the original Quantum (26x32) and the recently released Quantum 2626. The Quantum series wouldn't be as fast as they are if we didn't get rid of hardware mixing. That adds to the latency and is a big reason why products like UAD Apollo's are not as fast latency wise. Class A. Class A circuits have no crossover distortion and deliver purer, clearer, and more musical results than the Class AB designs that are found in many preamps.

Both these buffer sizes let me run quite CPU taxing sessions and monitor via plugins. But if you’re willing to keep things simple, the 16-sample buffer setting in Studio One 4 delivered a whole 1.27ms round-trip latency.I didn't explain that well, it was just a way to narrow down problem synth, if that is the case - not for permanent change of song. Seems to be reasonably well constructed and quite small for the amount of I/O compared to my last interface, the focusrite pro 40, it's quite small which is great for mobile recording. If I had to be critical I would have liked my power button on the front. Thunderbolt 2 = 20 Gb/s (or four times more potent than USB 3.0 - Do the bandwidth capability numbers - 240 X 4 = 960 channels - - Even a "serial" recording engineer couldn't do this - Zero chance -

You seem quite upset over some assumptions. In the future, try engaging in a tone that doesn't appear to be trolling, especially when you don't have correct info. Hardware level Matrix monitoring/Mixing is not the same thing you're talking about at all. Some motherboard makers do a reasonable job of posting updates and documents, but they are also constantly developing new boards and juggling support for older ones on any number of pressing issues. The result is that most motherboard makers are constantly behind the curve on notifying customers of the need for updates. This year’s Quantum 2626 is a streamlined version of the earlier flagship model, offering similar headline features but at reduced cost. Gone is the detailed LED metering, the digitally controlled preamps and the monitor-controller functions of the first Quantum. What remains is the focus on the lowest possible latencies, plus a wide range of ins and outs, including the lauded XMAX mic preamps. The dark sideBought this unit to pair with new pc build that makes use of the thunderbolt 3 protocol. This unit seems to be one of the few thunderbolt 3 interfaces available with this amount of I/O, most others seen to have fewer built in mic pres and are considerably more expensive. For what I wanted to achieve this unit fits the bill nicely ( recording band practice and other small mixing projects). I have been troubleshooting this during the day and just wound up with an answer. I hope this helps. For starters I am using a dell XPS 15 9570 so hopefully this helps for macas well. Here was my process (for every restart I did I selected the "shut down" option and then switched on the computer): More problematic is getting any Thunderbolt interface up and running properly on a Windows PC in the first place. Intel and Apple jointly developed the original Thunderbolt standard and these days Intel is taking the lead with regard to "supporting" Thunderbolt on Windows PCs. By "supporting", I mean they throw Thunderbolt chips, firmware (yes there is firmware in some Thunderbolt chips), and drivers over the fence to the motherboard makers, and leave them to provide support and documentation to the end users. Intel itself supports only Thunderbolt systems on its own motherboards, which are few.

Discrete components. We only use genuine transistors, resistors, and capacitors rather than use op-amps that can add noise, coloration, and harshness to a signal. Our discrete design delivers ultra-low noise and transparency. The absence of a routing matrix, DSP mixer, built-in effects and so on make using the Quantum 2626 refreshingly simple. You select your sample rate, open your DAW of choice, set your buffer size (I used the lowest option of 32 samples), and you're set. Everything behaved exactly as expected, with the one exception being that the headphone outs never quite went fully off; even at 'zero' there was still a very low-level signal. In terms of sound quality, though, there was nothing to fault. Indeed, the noise and distortion specs appear completely unchanged across the board compared with the original Quantum, and they are certainly more than good enough to not impose themselves. All types of signal I tried it with — mic, line and instrument — were handled perfectly well. I tend to really dig in when I'm playing bass, for example, and can easily overload lesser instrument inputs and DI boxes, but that wasn't the case here. I even had to turn the gain up a bit on the 2626, which made a nice change from having to turn my bass down or find a device with a pad to put between me and the input. Since using the 2626, I've actually come to enjoy using my DAW more. Setting up the Quantum 2626 is easy and very intuitive. The absence of a routing matrix, DSP mixer, and built-in effects make using the Quantum 2626 very simple My computer is a 2018 Mac Mini that uses Thunderbolt 3, with a USB-C form factor connector. That means that with the newer Quantum 2626 I could just plug in a normal thunderbolt 3 "C to C" cable, but with the original Quantum, I would need to use a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter. The 2626 is a more affordable version of the Quantum 1. It does not have Digital Preamp Recall and it's missing a few features from UC that the Q1 model has (like Mirror SPDIF to Main).MIDI was enabled in UC but a restart was required for it to appear in the macOS AudioMIDI setup utility. PreSonus’s new Quantum adheres firmly to this particular orthodoxy. Elsewhere, however, it makes a decisive break with convention. For as long as I can remember, audio interfaces with more than a couple of inputs and outputs have included digital mixing and routing facilities that allow input signals to be auditioned at the outputs without passing through the computer’s input and output buffers. It’s a way of dodging the issue of latency that works, up to a point; but it complicates the whole recording process, and is no use if you want to hear soft synths or plug-ins in real time. This is a nice little Interface with alot of I/O expandability. I was able to hook up my old Interface (pro 40 flashed to standalone mode) as an 8 channel adat preamp bank for 16 channels. This unit was established after the celebrated Quantum 2632 audio interface. This interface was known to have a progressive approach to how it worked. Released a few years after this interface, the Quantum 2626 is a more innovative development in the Quantum series of audio interfaces by PreSonus. By the way, would you be interested on this article about 5+ Ways to Connect a Mixer to an Audio Interface?

Not only does the Quantum 2626 come with a copy of Studio One Artist, but also an exceptionally generous third-party software bundle called the Studio Magic Suite. The software by PreSonus (Studio One) has an easy interface and a highly intuitive control system. This DAW's clever native low-latency monitoring system will ensure that a small buffer setting is applied to the live inputs to avoid dropouts or latency. Currently, there are only a handful of Thunderbolt 3 interfaces on the market, of which the Quantum 2626 is the most affordable (on a per-input basis). The near-latency-free experience it provides is stunning when you first try it. Being able to monitor through plug-ins with no audible delay and set and forget the buffer at 32 or 64 samples was revelatory.Quantum 2626 has extremely low latencies that are a result of the Thunderbolt connection. This negates the necessity of an additional mixer application other than the DAW you are using on your system. Thus, it simplifies recording a little bit and you will need very few converter arrays. Note that the Quantum 2626 offers more streamlined features at a reduced cost when compared to the prior Quantum 2632. There Quantum 2626 has no LED metering, digitally controlled preamps, or monitoring functions like 2632. Instead, it has ultra-low latencies and a very extensive assortment of inputs and outputs as well as XMAX mic preamps. I am running Windows 10 on a Dell XPS 15 laptop. Again, I have connectivity, I just can't get my headphone outs to work or route them to my Mains like I've seen people do on the Quantum 26x32 interface through Universal Control, like in this video: I think that’s everything for now. In general I am leaning towards the original Quantum since some of the extra features, while not necessary, could be useful. Also, having most of the mic pre inputs on the rear would make for a neater setup in my particular studio.