Innovative Cubase Integration Plus Extensive DSP Power!
The Steinberg MR816 CSX is an innovative 16-in/16-out FireWire interface, though it delivers much more than just I/O. This next-generation device boasts onboard DSP effects power alongside advanced Cubase integration technologies, making it a superb choice for project studios, professional studios, and mobile recording rigs alike. With the Steinberg MR816 CSX, you get eight newly developed Class A "D-Pre" XLR/TRS combo preamplifiers alongside professional must-haves, such as ADAT I/O, word clock I/O, and S/PDIF I/O. If you're working within Cubase - or any other DAW - you'll find exceptional value with the Steinberg MR816 CSX.
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Steinberg MR816 CSX FireWire Audio Interface at a Glance:- Eight Class A "D-Pre" microphone preamplifiers with XLR/TRS jacks
- Individually selectable phantom power and a -26dB pad
- Professional I/O, including ADAT, S/PDIF, and word clock
- DSP-powered reverb, compression, and EQ with Sweet Spot Morphing for tracking
- Plug-in DSP effects for mixing and mastering
- Advanced Cubase integration features, including Quick Connect routing
- Eight TRS outputs as well as inserts for patching in your outboard gear
- Can stack three MR816 CSX systems for 48-in/48-out plus more DSP
- Includes Cubase AI4 recording software
Eight Class A "D-Pre" microphone preamplifiers with XLR/TRS jacks
Steinberg's engineers teamed with Yamaha engineers to design the MR816 CSX. One chief focus was the getting the microphone preamplifiers just right. The result is the Class A "D-Pre" design, featuring advanced inverted Darlington circuits for an exceptionally smooth and detailed performance. The Steinberg MR816 CSX features eight of these microphone preamplifiers, giving you plenty of inputs to mike an entire band at once. What's more, each channel features an XLR/TRS combo jack, so you can easily track line-level gear alongside your microphones. There's even a hi-Z switch on the front-panel for easily running a guitar or bass in direct.
Individually selectable phantom power and a -26dB pad
While having eight microphone preamplifiers is great on its own, one frustration with many interfaces is that they lack selectable phantom power and pads on each channel. And if you're running a combination ribbons alongside condensers, for example, this is extremely troublesome. Fortunately, the Steinberg MR816 CSX lets you choose phantom power and the pad on each channel, so you don't have to mess with pairing "like" microphones together.
Professional I/O, including ADAT, S/PDIF, and word clock
The Steinberg MR816 CSX offers more than just the standard analog I/O - it's ready to streamline the channels from all your outboard gear into just one FireWire connection. Onboard there are ADAT I/O and S/PDIF I/O for your digital gear. There's also an extra FireWire port for daisy-chaining more MR816 CSX units together or tacking on a hard drive. In addition, word clock I/O is onboard, so you can professionally synchronize your entire system together to an external clock.
DSP-powered reverb, compression, and EQ with Sweet Spot Morphing for tracking
Among the most exciting features onboard the Steinberg MR816 CSX are the DSP effects. Not only are they great-sounding, but they're also incredibly easy to set up. The onboard DSP chip can run up to eight instances of its Sweet Spot Morphing Channel Strip plug-in (in fact, the CS in the MR-816 CSX stands for Channel Strip). When this plug-in is engaged, the two front-panel knobs on the right side of the unit are in charge of compression and EQ. Just turn the knob to "morph" through settings until you dial in the right sound - it's perfect for setting up a quick headphone mix for the artist, without dealing with latency issues. You can also adjust these settings from the Cubase software. In addition, the "X" in the MR-816 CSX stands for the REV-X reverb - the same complex reverb algorithm developed by Yamaha and found on many of their premier interfaces. You'll enjoy flipping between Hall, Room, and Plate effects - all adjustable through Cubase or via the MR-816 CSX's front panel.
Plug-in DSP effects for mixing and mastering
In addition to being able to enjoy DSP processing for quickly creating monitor mixes, you can also take advantage of the onboard processing during mix-down. The MR816 CSX's effects are conveniently available as VST3 plug-ins.
Advanced Cubase integration features, including Quick Connect
To start, Cubase automatically detects any connected MR816 CSX interfaces the moment you boot up the software, letting you get straight into the creative part of the project, rather than configuring your system. But the MR816 CSX takes Cubase integration a step further. You can instantly route and reroute inputs to Cubase channels on the fly - straight from the front panel of the MR816 CSX. All you have to do is select a track, then press a channel button on the I/O front panel - that channel will be routed to that track. When you select different tracks, you'll see a front-panel light flash to show you which channel is linked to that track. A host of presets with routing and I/O configurations are included as well, making set up simple. Plus, you can dive straight into a new session by just selecting a track and pushing the desired channel on the front. Not only will input route to that track, but Cubase will set up either a mono or stereo bus, as desired.
Eight TRS outputs as well as inserts for patching in your outboard gear
The Steinberg MR816 CSX gives you plenty of outputs. Feed a 5.1 system or just a couple sets on your desktop - or route audio in Cubase and send a few of the eight TRS outputs to a headphone amplifier system, for creating complex monitor mixes. There are also two TRS inserts for patching in any of your favorite outboard gear.
Can stack three MR816 CSX systems for 48-in/48-out plus more DSP
The MR816 CSX is seamlessly scalable, making it easy to create the perfect configuration of preamplifiers and DSP capability - and all on just one FireWire port. You can daisy-chain up to three MR816 CSX units together, for up to 48 input and output channels. Cubase will recognize all of the available I/O - and the innovative DSP functions, including the Sweet Spot Morphing Channel Strip and REV-X reverb, are available for each device. With the system maxed out to 48 inputs and outputs, you can use an astounding 24 instances of the channel strip plug-in as well as three of the REV-X reverb plug-in for serious sonic flexibility and horsepower during mix-down.
Includes Cubase AI4 recording software
Get started making music just as soon as you pull your Steinberg MR816 CSX out of the box. You get powerful Cubase AI4 software included, for up to 48 audio tracks and up to 64 MIDI tracks. It's based on professional Cubase 4 software and even uses the Cubase 4 audio engine. Cubase AI4 also comes with 25 VST effects, 15 VST3 plug-ins, and 480 drum loops. It's an excellent way to step into the production power of Cubase.
- 8 discrete Class A analog 'D-Pre' mic preamps
- Individually selectable 48V phantom power
- Individually selectable -26dB pad
- Up to 24-bit/96kHz resolution
- 8 x Input Channels with XLR/TRS combo jacks
- 8 x Output Channel with TRS connectors
- 8 x ADAT digital I/Os for digital audio streams or SPIDF
- 2 x Inserts for Hardware FX
- 2 x independent headphone outputs
- Word clock I/O for professional synchronization
- DSP Power for Cubase VST3
- Onboard DSP-powered FX with eight instances of the Sweet Spot Morphing Channel Strip and one REV-X Reverb
- True Integrated Monitoring
- Full faderless mixing
- Extremely low latency
- DSP-powered FX
- 1:1 hardware/software mirroring with Cubase
- Daisy-chaining of up to 3 units
