In this review for Production Expert, James Richmond looks at the Ferrofish Pulse 16 DX, Ferrofish's fully featured and affordable AD/DA Converter (Dante - ADAT - MADI). The natural progressor from the Pulse 16 MX, the Pulse 16 DX but now with Dante through its two RJ45 connectors, expanding any Dante audio network via its 16 AD/DA Cirrus Logic converters.

Anyone who has read my previous articles will know I am pretty much fully committed to Dante as my AoIP format of choice. I love how convenient it is; my studio and house is fully wired with CAT6 so installing a new device is simply a matter of plugging it into the network, configuring it in Dante controller and getting to work. There has been one outstanding issue I’ve had with my current set up that I haven’t talked about in articles which is how I integrate my Eurorack modular synthesiser with my audio interfaces.

It is possible to send CV signals from the computer (using Ableton Live, Max and Expert Sleepers plugins) to the modular but this requires a DC coupled audio interface and there are very few options for DC coupled audio interfaces that support Dante. For some time now I’ve used some Expert Sleepers devices (ES8 and ES9) but this meant that I essentially ran these as separate audio interfaces. I would have to switch audio interface to work with the modular, record the output into the DAW or synch multiple audio interfaces; never an easy task.

So imagine how pleased I was to receive the Ferrofish Pulse 16 DX (CV) audio converter as it not only supports 64 channels of Dante (due to the presence of the excellent Brooklyn II module rom Audinate), 64 channels of optical MADI, 32 channels of ADAT IO but also its 16 channels of analogue IO are all DC coupled, allowing me to fully integrate the modular synthesiser into my Pro Tools HDX, Ableton Live and Max-based workflows.

Features

The Pulse DX CV’s front panel is clean and relatively straight forward. A headphone output on the left, dual TFT screens and minimal controls on the right. Around the back things are a bit different; 16 analogue inputs and outputs on 1/4” sockets, dual ethernet ports, dual MIDI ports, BNC, dual optical MADI and 8 ADAT optical ports, as well as power input.

The unit can be controlled front the front panel (which I found a tad fiddly) or via the Remotefish application, which is downloaded from the Ferrofish website. The Pulse DX CV is configures via MIDI or MIDI over MADI; unfortunately ethernet configuration is not supported on this model.

The Pulse 16DX CV goes well beyond the capabilities of a simple 16 channel converter and can be used as format converter, albeit with a few limitations. You are limited to routing channels in blocks of 8 channels, which can be sent to multiple destinations from within the device itself, as well as from Dante Controller. In reality this is unlikely to affect too many users. The headphone output is more flexible; you can source any stereo pair on the unit from any of the formats, input and output, and it will even manage a mono signal too.

Installation

This has to be one of the simpler installs I’ve done in a while; unboxing the unit, connect to the ethernet network and route the analogue IO to Dante. This took me about 5 minutes and I was up and running. In the interest of being thorough I also unpacked one of my old SSL Alphalink converters (the only MADI optical solution I currently own), connected it to the Pulse 16DX-CV and routed those 24 MADI channels to Dante. I also connected my ageing Apogee Rosetta 800 to the Pulse 16DX-CV using ADAT optical for an additional 8 channels of conversion. This gave me 48 channels, and I could have connected more devices if I had them- the Pulse could potentially serve up to 64 channels to the Dante network, or convert 64 channels of Dante to MADI. Or 32 channels of ADAT to Dante (or MADI)… I am sure you get the drift here- it is very flexible indeed.

In Use

A great audio converter is one where you largely don’t think about it- it just gets on doing what it does, sounds good and allows you to concentrate on the music. The Pulse DX-CV does this in spades. Most users will likely set it up once and then only need to modify settings when it comes to adding or removing expansion hardware, with the exception perhaps of the headphone output sourcing and level setting, which is thankfully a very simple process.

I especially like that this unit is fanless- my current Dante expanders (Focusrite A16R’s) are fan cooled and I do find myself having to turn one or two of them off when tracking in the control room, which is fairly often. Swapping out the A16R’s for the Pulse 16DX-CV is something I am actively considering. I also like that the unit has 1/4 sockets rather than DB25 connectors. This simplifies use in live and remote recording environments where you might only need to use a few channels.

RemoteFish

The RemoteFish application is by far my preferred way to edit the unit, despite the requirement for a MIDI or MADI connection. The application provides control over internal routing of channels, control of gain levels of the 16 analogue inputs and outputs, clock source, headphone settings and can store settings into one of 6 onboard presets for later recall. The application is simple and straight forward without hidden or nested menus and a pleasure to use.

Any Issues?

Nothing particularly significant.

If pushed it would certainly have been nice to have been able to configure it over ethernet.

In my studio I have it installed some distance from my workstation which means either running a long midi cable or plugging in a laptop (with a midi to USB cable) in order to configure the unit.

Not a dealbreaker but certainly would have been helpful to have it, or a direct USB connection.

I should also raise the presence of an external line lump power supply. My position on external power supplies is pretty clear; yes they are annoying and they look unprofessional but you will certainly be happier to replace an external power supply than an internal one if it ever fails. One helpful feature is the power supply barrel screws into the back if the unit, making it lockable- great for live and mobile recording.

Conclusion

The Ferrofish Pulse 16DX (CV) is a very well thought out and capable device.

It is easy to install, very flexible in terms of available connectors, ports and technologies and sounds very good too. It is ideally suited to anyone who needs to format convert fairly large channel counts, send 16 channels of analogue ADA up to a Dante network, integrate with an existing MADI or ADAT setup.

Pros

• Excellent sound quality.

• Analogue, Dante, MADI and ADAT optical in one box.

• CV Capability is a nice touch.

• Fanless

Cons

• No ethernet remote control.

• Channel routing only available in banks of 8 channels.

Visit Synthax Audio UK’s website to find our more about the Ferrofish Pulse 16 DX-CV.

UPDATE:

Back in February this year I was lucky enough to review the excellent Ferrofish Pulse DX 16 CV, liking it so much that I bought one.

My only real issue with the device was the lack of ether configuration.

I am pleased to report that Ferrofish have addressed this concern with the newly released V3.00 of the firmware for Pulse 16 DX products.

In order to update the device you will need to download the update 'Pulse16 Firmware v3.00’ from the Ferrofish website.

The updater is PC only but will work with Parallels or Bootcamp for those who are Mac only.

You will need a midi interface to perform the update and I also suggest downloading the latest version of ‘Remote Fish’ which at the time of writing is V1.0.1063.

Because the update is over midi it can take a little while to perform, but once it has done so I can confirm the device is visible on and can be configured via the Ethernet network.

Kudos to Ferrofish for delivering on this significant and helpful feature update.