The ZenGo Synergy Core from Antelope Audio comes bundled with a whole range of free Synergy Core DSP effects and processors that do the heavy lifting so your computer doesn’t have to. But how do you bring them into your tracking and mixing to get the best out of them?  In this video and article Luke Goddard shows you how.

What is Synergy Core?

Synergy Core is Antelope Audio’s DSP-based effects and processors ecosystem that runs on any Synergy Core enabled interface.

Released earlier this year, the Zen Go Synergy Core from Antelope Audio is, on the face of it, a rugged rucksack friendly audio interface that delivers exemplary quality and simplicity for around £450. While that will be good enough for most, the system offers so much more for anyone willing to delve a bit deeper into the 37 excellent free DSP effects that run on the hardware. You can read James Richmond’s full review here

What Can Synergy Core Do?

Why is this good? Well, aside from the quality of processing on offer, the effects’ processing costs are taken from your computer and moved onto the interface itself. This means that effects can be processed much faster, to the point where latency through plugins essentially goes away.

Recording With Synergy Core Processors

The benefits of committing to sounds at the tracking stage, including those shaped with hardware processors, are well known, and the Zen Go Synergy Core lets you do just that.

In the video you can see how easy it is to track with Synergy Core effects using the ZenGo OSC mixer. You can stack processors to create custom recording chains just as you would with real boxes and patchbay. This really comes into its own when using the included guitar amps and tweakable cabinet simulations, which sound fantastic and are virtually latency free.

Mixing With Synergy Core Processors

When it comes to mix processors, in any studio we can choose between plugins, hardware boxes, or a hybrid "best of both" approach. Synergy Core effects running on an Antelope Audio interface gives us a third way which for many users might be hard to beat.

DAW playback streams hit the ZenGo OSC mixer. The latter's channels can have Synergy Core hardware DSP processing across them, before being streamed back into the DAW to be printed in real time. How you implement this in your DAW will vary, but the principle is always the same. 

afx2daw Plugin Bridge

For a completely seamless mixing experience, as a paid option you can now get Antelope Audio’s afx2daw plugin bridge for ZenGo Synergy Core. This lets you select and mix through your Antelope Audio DSP plugins natively in your DAW. You can have up to eight plugins per instance of afx2daw, with each one running on your ZenGo Synergy Core’s DSP. This frees up processing power on your computer, and lets you use your DAW’s workflow to manage presets, and channel strips.

Final Thoughts

Running lots of external gear requires miles of expensive cabling and AD conversion. Unless, that is, you have a ZenGo Synergy Core in your studio… Thanks to Antelope Audio, not only is  hardware outboard processing affordable, it's also easy for anyone to do. What's not to like?