Audient has announced the ASP800 eight-channel mic preamplifier/AD converter.

Aside from eight console mic preamplifiers and two discrete JFET instrument inputs, ASP800 also has two Retro Channels featuring the HMX and Iron tone controls. ‘Audient tends to be known for our super clean mic preamps, but that doesn’t mean we don’t understand the importance of adding colour,’ says Audient Technical Director, Tom Waterman.

HMX is a custom harmonic distortion designed to emulate the tones often associated with 1960s tube designs, while Audient’s new British transformer saturator, Iron replicates the transformer ‘zing’ of British audio in the 1970s.  Other features include 118-dB Burr-Brown AD converter, Adat connectivity, a Word Clock input, a -15dB Pad per channel and balanced analogue line outputs – all packed into a 1U-high rackmount.

ASP800 will retail at £599 inc VAT/US$799 MAP. Shipping details are to be confirmed.