Antelope Audio ZEN-TOUR Users Manual

Zen Tour Synergy Core User Manual 2

CONTENTS

Before You Begin 4

Mandatory Online Activation 5

Setting Up 6

Configuring For Windows 10 7

Configuring For MacOS 10.14 Mojave (Or Later) 9

Thunderbolt™ 3 Functionality 11

Daisy Chaining 11

Device Charging 12

Backwards Compatibility 12

Antelope Launcher 12

‘Devices’ Tab 12

'Plug-Ins’ Tab 15

'System’ Tab 16

Panels Explained 19

Top Panel 19

Front Panel 21

Rear Panel 22

Touchscreen Functionality 24

Control Panel 28

Quick Start 29

Mouse & Keyboard Shortcuts 31

Main View 32

Settings Window 33

Preamp Tab 36

ADAT In Tab 37

S/PDIF In Tab 38

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'Routing' Tab 40

Routing Matrix - Terminology 41

'Mixer' Tab 43

Auraverb 43

'Effects' Tab 46

Guitar Amps & Cabs 47

Re-Amping 50

Software Re-Amping 51

Edge & Verge Mic Emulations 52

Edge Solo 54

Edge Duo 55

Edge Quadro 58

Verge 61

AFX2DAW 63

'Meters' Tab 66

Advanced User Tips 66

Send And Receive Cv (Control Voltage) Commands To Eurorack Modular Synths 66

Customer Support Information 68

My Antelope Audio Product Isn't Working. 69

Limited Warranty Policy 71

Safety Notes 76

Technical Specifications 78

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BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Congratulations on your purchase! We would like to turn your attention to the following:

Zen Tour Synergy Core makes a new case for how much connectivity and computing power desktop audio interfaces can wield. Think of it as a portable rival to a professional studio rackmount interface in terms of everything, from its sound quality and FX processing capabilities down to its build and materials.

With 4x DSP and 2x FPGA processors handling up to 256 FX instances, 8 analog inputs, 14 analog outputs, S/PDIF and ADAT digital connections and stunning 130dB dynamic range AD/DA conversion, the new Zen Tour sets new performance and audio quality standards in its category.

Despite the unit's extensive touchscreen functionality and convenient top panel controls, the

software Control Panel is the ultimate “mediator” between the Zen Tour Synergy Core and your preferred DAW. To take complete advantage of the unit’s capabilities, you are meant to handle tasks

like gain adjustments, signal routing, effects processing, initial mixing and metering from its intuitive, single-window environment. The resulting audio is routed into your DAW for recording in formats of your choice, such as multi-track, stem, and two-channel stereo.

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Thus, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the 'Control Panel' chapter - particularly the ‘Routing’ tab - before you begin working. Several 'Quick Start' examples are provided as well. This way, you can overcome common stumbling blocks for users new to Antelope Audio products.

Should you ever find yourself struggling, do not hesitate to contact our Customer Support team over phone, live chat and our ticket system. You can also visit Antelope Audio on YouTube and explore our video tutorials or join the Antelope Audio Users Facebook group and ask for advice. The

Knowledge Base is also a valuable source of information.

We hope you enjoy working with the Zen Tour Synergy Core.

Best wishes,

Team Antelope

MANDATORY ONLINE ACTIVATION

Please note that the mandatory device activation procedure requires an active Internet connection on your computer. Activating an Antelope device offline is not possible.

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SETTING UP

Once the unit has been connected to a power source:

1. Connect the Zen Tour Synergy Core to your Windows or Mac computer with an USB Type-B cable or Thunderbolt™ 3 cable.

Notes:

● An USB Type-B cable is included. Thunderbolt™ 3 cables are sold separately.

● The unit will automatically detect the connection type upon the initial startup, but not on

subsequent starts. Manually set the connection type from ‘Comms. Interface’ in the

touchscreen 'MENU' every time you switch between Thunderbolt™ 3 and USB connections.

2. Visit www.antelopeaudio.com and log-in or create a customer account (if you don’t have one).

3. Head to the Zen Tour Synergy Core website and click 'Downloads' to get the latest Antelope Launcher and Driver for your operating system (Windows 10 / macOS 10.11 or later). Install the software by following the on-screen instructions.

Note: For Thunderbolt™ connection on Windows, download and install the latest Antelope Audio

Windows Thunderbolt™ driver.

4. Open Antelope Launcher and head to the 'Devices' tab. Make sure your Zen Tour Synergy Core is updated with the latest firmware and Control Panel versions. Please read the 'Antelope Launcher' chapter if you are not sure how to do this.

Note: If your device isn’t recognized by Antelope Launcher or the operating system, read this.

5. Launch the Zen Tour Synergy Core Control Panel from the Antelope Launcher. To do this, head to the 'Devices' tab and click 'Start Control Panel' or the device's picture. For more information, head to the chapter 'Antelope Launcher'.

Note: Bypass any security prompts from your operating system, e.g. Windows Defender Firewall and macOS alerts.

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6. Register your device with the 'Antelope Audio Registration Wizard' by following the on-screen instructions.

7. Connect your analog and digital equipment of choice to the Zen Tour Synergy Core.

8. Launch your preferred DAW and:

● Choose the Zen Tour Synergy Core as your main input and output device.

● Make sure your DAW and operating system sample rates match the device sample rate.

Need any help?

Visit the Antelope Audio Customer Support page, choose your device and go from there.

Configuring for Windows 10

Windows 10 needs a few tweaks to get everything up and running:

1. Enter the ‘Sounds’ options window from the Control Panel or right-click the speaker icon in the system tray and choose ‘Open Sound settings’.

2. Make sure the Zen Tour Synergy Core is chosen under 'Output' and 'Input'. Next, click 'Device Properties' under 'Output'. Then, click 'Additional Device Properties'.

3. Enter the ‘Supported Formats’ tab and place checkmarks next to all the available sample rates.

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4. Enter the ‘Enhancements’ tab and disable all enhancements.

5. Enter the ‘Advanced’ tab and choose any of the available “2 channel, 24-bit” modes from the drop-down menu. Click ‘OK’ to close the window.

6. Back in Sound settings, click 'Device Properties' under 'Input'. Then, click 'Additional Device Properties'. Enter the 'Enhancements' tab and disable all enhancements. Click 'OK' to close the window.

Tips

● If you are experiencing interruptions or failure when using your DAW and trying to playback

audio from your OS at the same time, make sure that the device sample rate matches the one of your DAW session.

● In some cases, disabling the ‘Exclusive mode’ functionality from the ‘Advanced’ tabs might

help when running multiple playback applications at the same time.

● Disabling the 32kHz sample rate isn’t mandatory, but it might help in general.

THUNDERBOLT™ 3 FUNCTIONALITY

The Zen Tour Synergy Core’s Thunderbolt™ 3 connection enables the following functionality:

Daisy Chaining

Thunderbolt™ 3 can “daisy chain” devices. Daisy chaining means that one device can plug into the

end of a chain of devices, one after the other. A basic example would be connecting the Zen Tour

Synergy Core to an external hard drive with two Thunderbolt™ 3 ports. One port is occupied by the Zen Tour while the other connects to a computer or another Thunderbolt™ 3 device in the chain.

The following rules are in place:

1. The Thunderbolt™ 3 specification places a limit of up to 6 devices per chain. However, the 6-device limit does not apply to the following Apple computers:

● 2018 MacBook Pro or later

● 2018 Mac mini

● 2017 iMac Pro

These machines have dual Thunderbolt™ 3 busses and support up to 12 devices per chain.

2. Each device must be powered on for subsequent devices to operate.

3. If a USB or DisplayPort device is plugged directly into the USB-C connector downstream from any

device, the Thunderbolt™ daisy chain is terminated at that point.

4. As Thunderbolt™ bandwidth is shared between daisy chained devices, the available bandwidth for

each device inevitably decreases. Therefore, Antelope Audio cannot guarantee optimal performance in each and every daisy chain configuration possible.

Device Charging

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While the Zen Tour Synergy Core cannot be bus-powered, it is able to power any Type-C device from the Thunderbolt™ 3 port. For example, you can power a laptop (e.g. 2016 MacBook Pro or later).

Backwards Compatibility

Thunderbolt™ 3 is backwards-compatible with legacy Thunderbolt™ 2 and Thunderbolt™ 1 connections through the use of a third-party TB 3 to Legacy TB adapter and corresponding cables. Given all the technical variables involved, we cannot provide singular instructions for legacy compatibility in this manual. Please get in touch with Customer Support if you need help setting up.

ANTELOPE LAUNCHER

The Antelope Launcher is a streamlined hub for managing and troubleshooting your Antelope Audio products. The application is organized into the following tabs:

‘Devices’ tab

All Antelope Audio devices currently connected to your computer are listed in this section. In this example, we have connected the Discrete 4 Synergy Core. However, the application functionality is identical for each Antelope device.

The following functionality is available in the 'Devices' tab:

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Device Name

Click the black box to enter a name for your device. The device serial number is used by default. Erasing the name and clicking outside the box reverts to the serial number.

Bundle Version

By default, this drop-down menu shows the most recent software bundle available for your device. Clicking it shows the currently installed software bundle version and lets you roll-back to an older build.

To update or change the installed software version, choose your desired Bundle Version, click the check mark next to the drop-down menu, and click the ‘Update’ button.

Manage

Click to launch the Antelope Registration Wizard. Use it to register or de-register devices and features (such as AFX2DAW, Synergy Core FX, HDX Activation and so on).

Device Info

Click to display the following information (useful for troubleshooting):

● Serial number

● Hardware version

● Firmware version

● Control Panel version

● USB/Thunderbolt ™ driver version

● Software Bundle version

Click the information window to close it.

Start Control Panel

Click to start the device’s Control Panel application. You can also click the device’s picture. Place a check mark next to ‘Autorun’ to have the Control Panel for a specific device launch automatically

when you start Antelope Launcher.

Can't see your device?

If a device is missing from the list, the most common reason is driver conflict. The Antelope Launcher makes it easy to re-install drivers and troubleshoot. Click "Can't see your device?" to launch the 'Add Drivers' wizard.

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Choose your device and connection type from the drop-down menus, disconnect the device from your computer, and click ‘Next’ to perform a driver re-install.

Note: If the issue persists, please contact Antelope Audio Customer Support.

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'Plug-ins’ tab

This section lets you install, update, and uninstall Antelope Audio software such as native mic emulations and AFX2DAW.

By default, the Bundle Version drop-down menus show the most recent software bundle available for each product. Clicking the menu shows the currently installed software bundle version and lets you roll-back to an older build.

To update or change the installed software version, choose your desired Bundle Version, click the check mark next to the drop-down menu, then click the ‘Update’ button.

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'System’ tab

Here, you can do the following:

● Update or roll-back the Manager Server, USB and Thunderbolt™ Driver versions. Choose your

desired Bundle Version from the drop-down menu, click the check mark, then click the

‘Update’ button.

● Restart the Manager Server and enable/disable remote connections from other computers

on your network.

● Install the Antelope Audio Thunderbolt™ driver. Choose a Bundle Version from the drop-

down menu, click the check mark, then click the ‘Update’ button.

● Uninstall the Antelope Audio Thunderbolt™ and/or USB driver(s) present on your system.

Click and enter your Antelope Audio username and password, then click ‘Login’. If you don't have an Antelope Audio account, click ‘Register’ and follow the on-screen instructions.

Settings button

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Click to open the Settings window.

Here, you can do the following:

● Click ‘View Logs’ to view, save, and send activity logs to Antelope Audio Customer Support.

● Click 'Advanced' to enable or disable automatic updates for each of the following:

- Device firmware

- USB Driver

- Control Panel

- Effects

- Thunderbolt™ driver

Make your selection(s) in the drop-down menu(s) and click 'OK'.

● Click ‘Network’ to view network status and logs.

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PANELS EXPLAINED

Top Panel

1. Touchscreen

● Visualizes volume metering and allows quick access to System Menu, Power On/Off, Gain

controls and Presets P1 - P5.

● The touchscreen functionality is covered in-depth in the chapter 'Touchscreen Functionality'.

2. Function Keys: 'Gain', 'HP', 'Antelope Button'.

● Press (and keep pressing) 'Gain' to cycle through gain adjustments for the interface's inputs

and outputs. Turn the rotary control to adjust gain. Tap anywhere on the touchscreen to exit.

● Press (and keep pressing) 'HP' to cycle through gain adjustments for headphone outputs 1

and 2. Turn the rotary control to adjust gain. Tap anywhere on the touchscreen to exit.

● The Antelope Button is a user-customizable shortcut. Its functionality can be chosen from

'Antelope Button' entry in 'MENU'.

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3. Rotary Control

Large stepped encoder for precise adjustment of gain and other values.

● Turn the encoder clockwise or counter-clockwise to adjust gain.

● Press (push down) the encoder to mute and un-mute the currently chosen output.

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Front Panel

Left to right:

Headphone outputs 1 and 2

2 stereo headphone outputs on 1/4-inch TRS jacks.

Re-amp outputs 1 and 2

Transformer-based outputs for sending direct signals to guitar amplifiers and other equipment suitable for re-amping 'dry' tracks.

Note: Technically, you can use the REAMP outputs as Sends for external equipment, though this is ‘off label’ and results may vary. Audio is output at instrument-level, which is significantly quieter than line-level and typically requires a preamp for amplification.

Hi-Z inputs G1 - G4

4 Hi-Z inputs on 1/4-inch TS jacks. For recording electric guitars and other instruments with high output impedance. Use TS instrument cables.

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Rear Panel

Left to right, top to bottom:

Mic/Line inputs A4 - A1

4 Mic/Line inputs on combo-XLR connectors. For connecting microphones or line-level equipment.

Important! Use TS/TRS audio cables to connect line-level sources. Use XLR cables to connect microphones.

Connecting XLR cables engages the microphone preamps, which amplify line-level signals and cause audio degradation. This cannot be overridden by choosing 'Line' from the 'PREAMPS' tab in the Control Panel.

USB Port

USB 2.0 Type-B port for computer connection. Supports 24 I/O audio channels at sample rates up to 24-bit/192kHz.

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Thunderbolt™ 3 Port

Thunderbolt™ 3 Type-C port for computer connection. Supports 32 I/O audio channels at sample rates up to 24-bit/192kHz.

ADAT I/O

8 digital audio inputs and 8 digital audio outputs on TOSLINK connectors. Standard ADAT audio limits apply:

● 44.1/48 kHz – 8 inputs / 8 outputs

● 88.2/96 kHz – 4 inputs / 4 outputs

● 176.4/192 kHz – 2 inputs / 2 outputs

Line outputs

8 analog line outputs on DB-25 connector (TASCAM Standard Pin Layout). DC-Coupled.

S/PDIF I/O

2 channels of incoming and outgoing S/PDIF digital audio over coaxial cable.

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Monitor outputs

Main monitor outputs R - L on 1/4-inch jacks. Note that these mastering-grade outputs boast the highest dynamic range in the system.

DC-IN

For use with the provided Antelope Audio power supply only! Can accommodate both 110V at 60Hz and 220V at 50Hz.

TOUCHSCREEN FUNCTIONALITY

The touchscreen visualizes volume metering and allows instant access to System Menu, Power On/Off, Gain controls and Presets P1 - P5.

The touchscreen works with single finger taps. Other traditional gestures, such as pinch-to-zoom, multi-touch and so on are not used.

By default, the screen shows up to 32 peak meters for each channel from the chosen audio source.

Tap anywhere to change the audio source for the peak meters. It can be any of the following:

'Analog In'

Instrument/mic/line inputs

'Emulated Mic'

Mic emulation outputs

'ADAT In'

ADAT inputs

'S/PDIF In'

S/PDIF input

'AFX Out'

Synergy Core FX outputs

'MIX 1 – 4 L/R'

Software mixer stereo outputs

'LINE Out'

Line outputs

'HP 1 – 2'

Headphone outputs

'MONITOR'

Monitor outputs

'REAMP'

Re-amp outputs

'Computer Rec.'

DAW inputs

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