This is on par with well-respected high-end mic preamps, and unheard of in desktop audio interfaces. While the GainStation’s preamps operate on SPL’s high-powered 60-volt rail, the Crimson’s pre’s feature a dialed-back 34V (☑7V) rail. The preamps are similar to the SPL GainStation in that they feature a discrete design with a single transistor per channel, rather than a cheap, typical, integrated circuit. While the last two inputs trade between instrument and line connectors, the first two toggle between line and mic. This couldn’t have been further from the case with the Crimson. You spend more time managing levels than actually recording. It’s quite stifling to the creative process and damaging to tone when devices have instrument inputs that don’t provide enough headroom and frequently distort, need padding or require backing off the instrument’s level controls. Likewise, I could attach guitars with hot or active pickups and there was always enough headroom. When an instrument is connected, the Crimson automatically switches from line input to the instrument input.Ĭrimson’s connections allowed me to connect instruments with low-output pickups and add gain to them up to healthy signal strength without adding noticeable noise. Each jack has an associated gain control on the top panel of the unit. Either or both of the third and fourth A/D converter inputs can be repurposed to accept instruments connected to the pair of front panel ¼-inch jacks. These inputs have no additional controls for level adjustment or filtering, so those considerations must be made prior to feeding signal to these connectors. On the back panel, there are four balanced TRS inputs, each of which can feed the A/D converter to the DAW. The audio interface can record signals from up to four analog inputs, which can accept signal from a variety of different connection and signal types.
#MONITORCONTROL MAC OS SOFTWARE#
Using either driver, there is no software control panel for the Crimson, as the integrated monitor controller carries out all monitoring considerations.
#MONITORCONTROL MAC OS DRIVER#
Along with the higher sample rates, the alternative HAL driver uses the Crimson’s clock, rather than the Mac’s internal clock, to time samples.
#MONITORCONTROL MAC OS MAC OS X#
Neither Windows nor Mac OS X require the installation of an additional driver for operation, though driver installation on Mac OS X circumvents the Mac Core Audio Driver whose maximum sample rate is 96 kHz, and allows high sample rates of 176.4 kHz and 192 kHz. The audio interface portion of the Crimson is recognized by DAWs as a 6-input/6-output device. The Crimson is an audio interface/monitor controller that echoes innovations from earlier SPL products, but combines them together in a single powerhouse of convenience. Meanwhile, when SPL steps into the arena of building more traditional circuits like mic preamps and EQs, they seem to apply their knack for creativity and still come up with an entirely new approach to a classic idea. Other patented processors like the Vitalizer, a tool for adding loudness and clarity, exhibit similar thinking. The company is probably best known for its Transient Designer, which allows the manipulation of attack and sustain in ways that sound and behave very differently than a traditional compressor does. When SPL unveils a new product, it is often built around a one-of-a-kind new circuit.