Audient

Audient Nero
N
ero is a high
fi delity desktop
format monitor
controller from
Audient, designed
to act as the fi nal
communication
device between your DAW, monitors
and anyone you’re recording.
To that end it delivers a
precision-matched left/right image
across all output levels, and also
includes headphone monitoring
and talkback. What it doesn’t
include is DAW interfacing or input
stages like mic pres or instrument
inputs. At £375 it bridges the gap
between a swathe of cheaper
options and more expensive ones.
Robot DAW Nero
Nero supports three pairs of
monitors (Main, Alt 1 and Alt 2)
and one mono Sub, and
connections are on balanced ¼”
TRS jacks. You also get four stereo
headphone outputs (on ¼” TRS
jacks) with headphone 1 also
available on minijack. On the input
side, there are three balanced
stereo analogue options (on 1/4”
TRS jacks) labelled SRC 1, SRC 2
and CUE. A fourth input, ALT, is
switchable between S/PDIF digital
(either coax or TOSLINK optical)
and analogue auxiliary (either RCA
or minijack) inputs. This input also
includes level trim (+/- 10dB).
Nero has an onboard talkback mic
and an XLR input with phantom for
your own mic if you wish.
Knitting this all together is a
central routing matrix with inputs
and outputs either side of the main
Control Room level and output
metering. Additional options such
as Dim, Cut and Mono are found at
the bottom. Here you’ll also fi nd
the polarity switcher (Pol), which
when used in conjunction with the
Mono button handily lets you check
out either the mono or sides
aspects of your audio. Rounding
things off, the Talkback and Alt
source options are on the left, and
the four Headphone controls are on
the right.
Leading lights
When you fi re up Nero it quickly
becomes clear that there’s extra
stuff going on under the hood. First
up, the backlit buttons are
soft-touch rather than mechanical
(you can hear the relays switching
Output mono then the Mono button
doesn’t illuminate when you select
it. Next, there’s no way to select
the Sub on its own. Finally, the
Control Room knob, which is
essentially an encoder, does have
an inbuilt ‘fade’ time, which can
be obvious if you move it quickly.
Still, these are minor issues and
shouldn’t detract from what is a
fl exible and incredibly well-
conceived device, and one that I
really enjoyed testing.
for the Input and Output buttons).
What’s more, the backlight colours
change to refl ect functionality
(orange for monitors, green for
headphones). It transpires that
Nero has an onboard management
system that adds functionality to
specifi c buttons (they call them
Smart Touchpoints). Some of
these, such as the headphone
source (SRC) you simply select;
others, like the monitor outputs,
need to be held until they fl ash.
Options include setting up
headphone sources (including
assigning talkback to specifi c
headphones) and assigning the sub
to specifi c monitor outputs. Dig
deep and you can also make
specifi c outputs mono, adjust the
Dim level and trim the alternate
monitor out levels (+/-15dB). You
can also save the settings to
memory in case you power off. This
lets you customise Nero so that it
works for your needs.
Impressive stuff. However, there
are a few things to watch out for.
First up, if you make a monitor
THE PROS & CONS
+
Precision stereo
monitor and
headphone outputs
Integrated
assignment and
level customisation
Plenty of inputs
and outputs
Onboard and
external talkback
mic options
Polarity switching
-
Can’t select sub
output on its own
FM VERDICT
9.1
Nero really hits the mark:
well-conceived and
executed, it offers a modern,
unique take on the monitor
controller concept
Audient, designed
to act as the fi nal
device between your DAW, monitors
precision-matched left/right image
It quickly becomes clear that
there’s extra stuff going on
under the hood
Audient Nero | Reviews
99
FMU352.rev_audient.indd 99 26/11/2019 12:26