With each member of the Production Expert team narrowing down the product that makes their working life better, Steve DeMott talks about 2022’s contribution to his studio - The Metric halo ULN-8 MkIV. 

What Is It?

Earlier this year I upgraded to the Metric Halo mkIV series of interfaces/converters. The mkIV is the latest iteration in their hardware interfaces & was a field installable upgrade for my units that replaced the analogue path, while improving round trip latency & power consumption. They also added support for ATMOS monitoring, and added a second option for surround (Cinema ordered outputs, vs their previous SMTP only ordering). The ULN-8 mkIV has a plethora of IO and an expansion slot, called the EdgeBus Slot, for adding just about any additional I/O you could think of.

Why I Like It

I have trusted Metric Halo with my interface/conversion since sometime around 2004. In fact, I still have my original MIO 2882 that has been upgraded along the way to stay current with advances in interface & converter technology. I feel like they have my back & protect my investment.

That said, they sound great. This exact ULN-8 is the one fellow contributor William Wittman & I used in our converter shootout this past spring. This is the one we chose above the others as the most honest sounding converter. Not only do the converters sound great, they are loaded with 8 audiophile quality preamps. 91dB of clean gain that sounds open & clear.

And beyond the sonics, it has the most flexible control software I’ve yet to come across. It allows for routing from anywhere to anywhere. In fact, during the past few years where we were all relegated to Zoom meetings & remote sessions, I never once had to resort to extra software to route to Zoom, Google Meet or OBS. It’s all easily done within the MIOConsole software, plus the software mixer has onboard DSP to allow for creating great headphone mixes with EQ, compression & reverb that you can have only in the monitor or also have it push to your DAW for recording.

How It Helps My Work

The Metric Halo mkIV update helps my workflow in a few ways. First is the sonics. You put a lot of faith in your converters. If they are altering the sound in a way that changes the decisions you make in your production workflow, it could get you into some trouble. I rest easy knowing I can trust what I’m hearing. My mixes translate really well to other playback devices. Second, the flexibility to work how I need to work. As we all learned over the past couple of years, flexible routing in a must. I am very comfortable going into any situation knowing that I can setup routing however I need to.

I use the Metric Halo mkIV for studio recording (we have 4 at the studio), location recording (I have 3 at home), livestream production/mixing (we have 5 in the remote truck), and I’ve even run small live shows using them with the built-in DSP & a few Avid S1 surfaces (they are fully Eucon aware).

Some will call me a Metric Halo fanboy, and I probably am, but I have high standards and Metric Halo has consistently met them. The mkIV units are no exception and leave me with a feeling of confidence that I can work how I need to, and with the stability that helps me look good with clients. Those are all key when you rely on your gear for your living. Unexpected problems and downtime cost money, projects, and clients.