The team at Antelope Audio are very pleased to announce the new Edge Family, consisting of three large-diaphragm condensers mics. Their original dual diaphragm multi-pattern condenser Edge mic gets a re-name to the Edge Duo. There are then two new mics in the shape of the fixed cardioid pattern Edge Solo and the dual-capsule Edge Quadro. These new mics are designed to operate alongside Antelope’s ever expanding range of modelled microphones and FPGA powered effects.
With shipping planned for October, the Edge Family makes Antelope’s mic modelling technology available at a variety of different price points with the new Edge Solo being an entry point model. The addition of the new Edge Quadro also expands the range of possible recording applications to include stereo to 3D audio.
Founder of Antelope Audio Igor Levin says:
“We are constantly looking to innovate and deliver greater value to our users. With the Edge Family, we’ve grown our mic modelling ecosystem into a complete recording solution. We set out to deliver not just the best modelling mics available but the best microphones in the industry, period.”
The New Edge Family
Built at Antelope’s European headquarters in Bulgaria featuring electronics designed by Igor Levin himself, the Edge Family are outstanding mics in their own right even before you add the mic modelling technology, with exceptionally even frequency response and wide dynamic range.
Edge Solo is the simplest of the new mics. Connected to the interface via a regular XLR cable, it houses a single large-diaphragm capsule with a fixed cardioid pickup pattern. It’s specifically designed to work hand-in-hand with Antelope’s mic modelling plug-ins to emulate some of the greatest cardioid-pattern mics in history.
Edge Duo features a dual-membrane capsule with independent outputs, allowing the signal from each membrane to be individually processed and recombined. This not only means users can vary the polar pattern from within the plug-in, even after recording, it also allows the Edge Duo to accurately emulate the characteristic pickup pattern and on and off-axis response of each mic for true multi-dimensional mic modelling.
Edge Quadro is the other new model. This is stereo/surround mic with two dual-membrane capsules and a rotating head. Delivering four channels for independent processing will allow for stereo techniques like M/S, X/Y, Blumlein, and even 3D sound. Users can select a different emulation and polar pattern for each head. The upper head can be rotated noiselessly even while the microphone is actively recording, delivering virtually limitless variations in tonality and stereo image.
What’s In An Emulation?
The Edge emulations are an electronic mic locker full of classics The Edge Solo, Duo, and Quadro come with an ever-growing library of stunning vintage mic emulations. There are 11 different emulations already available, with 7 more soon to be released and all are free to Edge owners. For the Edge Solo, all 18 will be available from launch. When used with any of Antelope’s mic preamp-equipped audio interfaces, the new Edge mics offer maximum accuracy and real-time mic emulation courtesy of the interfaces’ onboard FPGA processing.
Antelope has also created native versions of their mic modelling plug-ins, meaning that no additional hardware is required. Even if you are not an Antelope interface owner the plug-in is available in VST, AU, and AAX formats for both macOS and Windows.
We hope to get our fingers on the new Edge Solo and Edge Quadro very soon so we can let you know what we think.
Edge Family Giveaway
To celebrate the launch of the new Edge Family the Antelope team are holding a prize draw. For the chance to win an Edge Solo, Edge Duo, or Edge Quadro simply click the link before October 8, 2018 and enter your details.