Leak: Antelope Audio headed to NAMM 2019 with an USB Edge mic?
This just in! An anonymous source provided Gearnews with the following image. It depicts a 3D model of what appears to be a brand new Antelope Audio microphone with USB connectivity – a first for the company. Allegedly, the pro audio manufacturer plans to introduce it at NAMM 2019 next week.
Glancing at the design, the microphone is definitely part of the manufacturer’s Edge family of premium mics. While all of them offer mic modeling, it is accomplished via software in the form of native plug-ins. The units themselves are purely analog. Thus, this new Edge microphone will be the company’s first all-out digital microphone, which suggests some interesting possibilities
For example, the notion of Antelope Audio delivering the conversion quality it’s known for to a plug-and-play USB microphone is surely appealing. And then there’s the possibility of the manufacturer integrating its FPGA FX platform into the unit, enabling on-board effects processing. This will be a bold move and something of a first in the rather competitive USB mic segment. There are effects-enabled USB mics on the market already, but since this is Antelope Audio, we may be talking a complete effects suite of vintage equalizers and compressors integrated right inside the microphone. Sounds like an exciting time to be into vlogging, streaming, or music recording, doesn’t it?
Alas, we don’t expect all of this functionality to come cheap. This is obviously an Edge microphone, and these command respectable prices. Then you get fancy converters and, possibly, a built-in FPGA chip for effects. I can easily see the price tag for such a product stretching well beyond USD 500, pushing it into the upscale market niche of affluent content creators.
We shall learn more about Antelope Audio’s upcoming USB mic at NAMM next week. Stay tuned for the Gearnews coverage!
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