Specifications

AARDVARK
DIRECT PRO Q10
COMPUTER HARDWARE
793
PHOTO - VIDEO - PRO AUDIO
ORDER & INFO. [phone] • FAX: [phone] [phone]
1-800-875-6951 • www.bhphotovideo.com
Shielded PCI Card
With custom shielding on the PCI card, both
the breakout box and the card are noise free,
keeping harmful computer noise and EMI
out of your precious audio.
Expandable
You can run up to 4 Q10's in the same com-
puter for a maximum of 32 analog inputs
and 8 channels of digital I/O. (In fact, all
Aardvark audio interfaces can be expanded
up to 4 units…mix and match!) Just connect
the word clock in & outs on the Q10's to
each of the devices and your running sample
accurate with an unprecedented 40 channels
of great sounding I/O. This is perfect for
portable rigs that need tons of I/O and great
sounding mic preamps.
Aardvark Low Jitter Clock
Every Aardvark computer audio card uses
clocking technology similar to the legendary
AardSync II master clock generator. The
AardSync II is the industry standard master
clock, used to sync Pro Tools,digital mixers,
A/D converters and other devices, improving
their sound via its low-jitter clock. This pro-
prietary clocking technology gives our com-
puter audio interfaces improved stereo imag-
ing and better resolution on extended high
and low frequency audio tracks.
Output Routing (Patch Bay)
Dealing with the software routing of audio
interfaces can sometimes be a big hassle.So
Aardvark took a photo of the back panel, and
gave easy to use drop down menus to select
what you want routed. This includes analog
through to the outputs (Analog 1-8),any of
the playback tracks (Playback 1-10),generat-
ing a tone and using the stereo output of the
Control Panel's Monitor Bus (MONITOR).
Logo Brightness Control
One of the coolest features of the Q10 is that
the power LED's brightness, on the front in
the shape of the Aardvark logo, can be con-
trolled from the DSP Control Panel to match
your studio's light level. Even the phantom
power button on the front activates both an
LED on the front of the unit and one in the
control panel.
Q10 Software Features
The Q10 also sets itself
apart from other interfaces
by having a fully DSP
powered software control
panel. This control panel is
packed with user friendly
features, and is laid out just
like an analog mixer with
stereo monitor outputs.
The hardware & software
combination of the Q10
truly replaces every aspect
of traditional analog mixers,
except you get better sound and tons more flexibility with digital presets and routing.
Q10 Control Panel: — The brain of the Q10, the DSP powered Control Panel replaces an
external hardware mixer, while still providing the real-time mixing and easy monitoring
that you get with an analog mixer. And since it’s powered by the powerful DSP processor
on the PCI Card, mixing, monitoring and metering won’t slow down your computer.
Works in combination with the Q10 hardware to provide a total digital mixing solution
that includes flexible routing, zero-latency monitoring, snapshot preset recall, input level
trim, digital peak metering and is +4/-10 selectable.
The Control Panel can be seen as a 20 channel mixer with a 2 channel monitor output that
is routed to 1/4˝ stereo line outs on the back panel,and a 1/4˝ front panel headphone out.
Te n of the channels are from the physical 10 inputs of the box (8 analog and stereo digital),
and the other 10 channels are from the software.Any combination of previously recorded
audio tracks can be played back, mixed and monitored individually or in subgroups, while
simultaneously recording additional audio tracks. The control panel even comes in 4 cool
colors that you can change as often as you’d like. This lets you match it to your studio, or
make life easy on the eyes during an all night recording session.
3-Stage Input Gain: The input trim (found at the top of each mixer strip on the Control
Panel) provides up to 75dB gain on mic inputs. This gain is done in the analog stage (pre
A/D conversion), just like an analog mixer. In contrast, most other audio cards provide the
gain after the A/D,which dramatically increases the noise. The Q10 software avoids this by
sending commands to the analog circuitry in the breakout box to get the best sound possi-
ble.Actually has 3 separate gain stages; m2 (Mic 2), m1 (mic 1),and L (Line level), which
are each optimized for that particular gain range for the best possible sound.
ASIO Turbo Mode: Enhanced ASIO 2 driver provides some of the best latency performance
in the industry. Down to 4ms or less with some applications such as software synths and
VST instruments. Great for real-time performance.
ASIO Buffer Slider: Not only is the ASIO driver really efficient, but it has a unique 31-step
ASIO Buffer Slider which lets the user dial in the exact buffer size that is optimal for the
computer. No other card goes this far to get real-time performance.
Snapshot Preset Recall: Hitting the Presets button on the Control Panel activates the
Presets window, which let you save an unlimited number of screen shots to recall at any
time This is particularly useful when you need to change the patch bay settings or the
input levels for different studio sessions.It’s also nice to save different or special mixes so
you can get up and running in no time.