Well, what a surprise, although I suppose it shouldn’t really be one. This is a radically different animal to the Mk-1. The most noticeable difference (apart from the black colour) is that instead of a series of LED telling you a port is active you’ve got a display that shows you the output level on the ports you’re using. With respect to those, you’ve got the same number and configuration (though in a different layout) to the earlier model and that’s 4 analogue and 2 digital inputs, the last two you can switch to output. 2 of the analogue ports have their own gain control. Those are the ones that can also accept XLR connections. There are also 4 analogue output ports, 2 headphone ports (with vol. controls) and MIDI in and out. Two of the analogue in ports can either be standard 4.5mm mono jacks from your instrument, or XLR from microphones, and a 45v phantom power switch if your microphone needs it.
There’s a big master volume control on the top.
The whole thing connects to your PC with a USB-2 which is a bit disappointing. USB 2.0 is a little slow in data connection terms and since USB-C has been around for some time now and with both Windows and Mac support for that I would have thought this would have that connectivity. It does support recording up to 192 kHz at 24 bits but I suspect that if you’ve got 6 instruments plugged in to, as suggested by some of their ‘scenarios’ it might just struggle a bit.
The build quality is very good, like it’s predecessor, and like that it won’t go sliding around on a desk. Despite being USB powered the audio quality is excellent, the preamps are very good and the sound is clean and clear.
There’s a comprehensive bundle of 9 software items and a voucher to use in the Native Instrument shop. I’ve always got mixed feelings about bundles, regardless of what you’re buying. This one includes Abletron Live Lite so if you don’t already have a DAW you can still start recording immediately. Otherwise much of what this software bundle supplies will probably be found in a plugin in your DAW and you’ll be much better off using that.
I’ve tested this with Logic Pro, Pro Tools and Studio One and it works well with those. It should work with most others as well, but you may need to install drivers for WIndows.
At the time of writing the list price was £189 but you could get this on Amazon for £133.
For this price it’s a very good acquisition, and several manufacturers are selling devices with only 2 inputs for more than Amazons sale price. but do ask yourself first if you need to be able to input from 6 sources simultaneously. Maybe a two or 4 port device would suit you better and the Komplete Audio 1 goes for around £50. Nonetheless this is a solid buy for your recording setup.
