Lynx Aurora (n)

Forgot to post here, but I had the Lynx preamp card installed several months ago and I’ve since sold all of my outboard pres. They are crystal clear and dead quiet, plus they are wired directly to their own converters. Since I downsized my home studio to more of a production/mixing setup, the Lynx pres were a no brainer. Even when I do more acoustic/live recordings as opposed to all itb stuff, only having four pres really makes me focus on making music instead of spending hours micing up a drum kit. I think you can have up to 8 of these installed in one unit. They are fantastic pres!

He references links to sound files.

Well, I took the plunge and went through with my Aurora N order. My impression is that it's like it is when using it through Access Analog, but much better. Using it through AA is like getting a preview. The sound is very clean and clear enabling mixes that sounded a bit anemic or messy to now sound smooth and very listenable. Comparisons between the same mixes bounced on the 404HD or Apollo Twin are pretty similar to the ones Streaky did on Youtube with the Hilo and the Behringer 202UMC. The Lynx will give you a smoother, fuller sound with better stereo imaging. I'm also not getting feedback when using Fusion. I don't know if it's because I'm using 25 Mogami cables or because of the conversion, but I always had to put trim plugins after the Pro Tools hardware insert when using Fusion or massive feedback would hit me. And I'd have to cut the volume by a lot. But it never completely went away using the 404HD or Twin. Maybe it was the Guitar Center cables. Not sure if the shielded usb cable makes a difference. Last night I used the usb cable from the 404hd. Today stuff sounds better with the Lynx usb cable, but I haven't done a null test or anything.


The setup was easy enough. It's basically plug n play. Just plugged Fusion into inputs 3 and 4. I'm not sure what routing scheme I'd have to use to get it in 1 and 2. Lately with the Twin, Fusion just worked with the Console instructions whereas before it would not work a lot of the time. The 404HD is quite good and I got a bounce of the same mix previously bounced with the Twin to null. The 404HD does have issues with output volume and the fact that the inputs have to have the volume manually set or you end up with one channel louder than the other. But I must say the Aurora N is several leagues above the 404HD, Twin, and original ID14.

The headphone out supposedly has a 0 impedance according to what my Sweetwater guy heard from Lynx. It is way too loud for my Sony Z7M2. Works well with VSX though.

The Aurora N sounds good enough that I could almost get by just using plugins.

I used a zoom r16 portably for years before getting into a DAW. It had some version of Cubase that I found very unintuitive. This was around 2009. The onscreen meters and display are pretty thorough on the Lynx. I wonder if I can just load tracks and then record new ones like on a DAW. It will be a little while before I record much with it.

Well, i can get an Aurora 16 for under a grand. Anyone know how they stand today?

Still loving mine. Since getting the preamp card, I'm essentially all ITB. Literally everything I do goes through the Lynx preamps and converters, and all my monitoring/mixing is done through the Lynx. Never had an easier time making music. Could be a combination of getting older and better skilled but having top notch conversion and clean clear preamps sure doesn't hurt!

Sub $1k for a 16 channel Aurora (n)? That would be crazy cheap.

I have an Aurora 16 and use AES to get another 8 channels for a total of 24. I never track any more than that anyway. To me, it's still great. Would I like to get the newer version.... of course, but I don't think it's going to be a night and day difference. If my mixes suck now, they will still suck with any other converter. But... I still want the new one.
I love Lynx as a company. They have always been super helpful.

I am curious if I can do something like put instrument tracks on an SD card and then upon inserting into the Aurora that they end up being setup as separate tracks. But, I don't think the Aurora has DSP fx like the Zoom R16 does. So, any recording has to be done with what's present outside the Aurora I imagine. Plugins sound much, much better with this thing. With the ID14, Twin, or 404HD, I did not think it sounded good when using the 20hz and 20khz filters on Oxford Eq(or any other eq) and Softube Overstayer sounded like too much. Mixes with more tracks especially sound significantly better. One Lynx video pointed out that Lynx posts measurements from their devices whereas the usual practice is for a company to just post the measurements of the chips themselves or whatever. Lynx stuff isn't going to turn a bad mix into a good one, but it can make a mix with problems sound good since it seems a lot of problems are caused by the interface itself.


I think there's this whole industry based on convincing people to buy cheaper gear that provides a problematic foundation and then get them in a cycle of buying loads of plugins, educational videos and courses, mics, or even hardware. That can work if it's just someone screwing around with samples, VIs, fake instruments, things that were recorded well in good studios or that are computer generated. If it's real instruments recorded in not very ideal ways, then you don't need your interface to add to the problems. I've never bought into the whole Recording Revolution philosophy. Can't say I've ever heard anything Graham mixed that made me think "Wow, how do I get that sound?". It's ok if you're a guy who works all week and wants to record your band's latest jam or something after you drop $1500 at Guitar Center, but that's all I ever took away from that. I knew a lot of guys like that circa 2007. Guys who did blue collar work and would show up with their latest gizmo from Guitar Center thinking it had magical properties or whatever. Cool guys, but very naive.


My Fusion hardware sounds much smoother and wider than plugin chains. Sometimes it sounds like adding any plugins after Fusion in a mastering session just degrades the sound. I'd definitely like to add some more stuff, but I could get by like this for a while. Still a lot of room to explore the expanded potential of plugins with this level of conversion quality.

That is not a typical criticism of the original auroras , maybe it did need servicing ?