The Quantum 4848’s 32 inputs and outputs are enough for many studios, but if you want to patch in a larger console, extensive outboard gear, and hardware synths, you’ll need more—maybe a lot more.

Dual ADAT Optical I/O provides up to 16 more channels of digital I/O at up to 48 kHz (up to 8 channels at 96 kHz), so you can connect any ADAT-compatible A/D/A converter, such as the PreSonus DigiMax DP88. This professional preamp/converter seamlessly extends the analog I/O on the Quantum with eight digitally-controlled XMAX preamps, direct-to-ADC line inputs, and DAC outputs all via rear-panel DB25 connections.

If you want to fully expand your system with the finest audio quality, up to 4 Quantum 4848 interfaces can be stacked via Thunderbolt to create a 192x192 system with the near-zero latency that has become synonymous with the Quantum-series.

You can expand and customize your system by connecting the Quantum 4848 with one or more Quantum and Quantum 2 audio/MIDI interfaces. The Quantum and Quantum 2 offer the same A/D/A converters and near-zero latency as the Quantum 4848 while providing different I/O configurations. Both models feature recallable XMAX mic preamps and 16 channels of ADAT Optical I/O, plus S/PDIF and MIDI I/O. Mix and match and Quantum-series interface to create a custom recording system that suits your unique needs.

The Quantum-series proprietary Thunderbolt driver was written from the ground up to deliver ultra-low-latency performance while maximizing efficiency. By reducing the roundtrip latency to below 1 ms*, you can easily monitor performances—including plug-in processing—through your DAW with no performance-killing latency. DAW monitoring also allows you to manage your session and your musicians’ monitor mixes from a single window. Even at higher buffer sizes, Quantum-series interfaces deliver consistent low-latency performance.

*192 kHz, 64 sample buffer in Studio One 4 on a MacBook Pro 2016, 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 running 10.12.5.

The Quantum driver utilizes the bus master Direct Memory Access (DMA) to transfer audio data directly to and from the main memory without using CPU processing and the overhead that would come with it. DMA supports 64-bit addressing on systems with 4 GB or more of RAM. A companion DMA engine was also implemented in the Quantum hardware to read digital audio data directly between the ADC/DAC and the computer memory, one sample at a time.

For maximum efficiency, samples are transferred from the Quantum DMA engine directly into driver memory as a 32-bit word to match the way the Quantum driver handles the audio. Where possible, audio samples are also transferred into driver memory in the exact order that the driver expects. This helps to avoid alignment problems and the like, allowing you to run your Quantum drivers at extremely low buffer settings without overtaxing your CPU.