See what you’re listening

With its light level indicators, you can intuitively adjust input levels. Starting at -30dBFS, green light shows up and its brightness harmonizes with the level of incoming signal. When the signal reaches -1dBFS, it turns into red light as a warning of clipping. Output lights indicate the levels of speakers and headphone separately. In addition to your convenience, it will offer eye-pleasing experience.

Balanced Output, High-Quality Headphone Amps and Separate Volume Controls

The most flexible monitoring environment

You may once have experienced a situation when you want to swiftly switch between your headphone and speakers while monitoring. SPARTAN A provides separate hardware volume controls for both speakers and headphone, therefore you can adjust each output level quickly and easily. On top of that, the Built-in Direct Monitor Function will offer you even more flexibility.

Connect your powered speakers with SPARTAN A’s fully balanced line output, headphones with high-quality preamps. The professional-grade +14 dBU balanced output maintains excellent frequency response and low noise level within wide frequency range. The two headphone outputs are capable of yielding maximum +13dBu output even through low impedance headphones, leaving no single detail unnoticed.

110dBA Dynamic Range

Fine-tune your reverb

The wide dynamic range is required if you want to check minute details of reverb in your mixing process. SPARTAN A is equipped with the low noise analogue circuitry to make it possible. 110dBA dynamic range will offer you the best recording/monitoring experience.

Low-Noise Mic Preamp & JFET High Impedance Preamp

Analogue is where everything starts

Engineers of AUDIOPROBE know what you need when you are recording at home. We tested with various types of equipment to build a perfect analog frontend. Our mic preamps and instruments input are tailored to your practical use.

Standard MIDI I/O

It still matters

Low-latency standard MIDI I/O is also provided to make SPARTAN A itself connects with various MIDI instruments.

Asynchronous USB Audio Class 2.0

All digital technology begins with perfect analog technology

In digital audio systems, clock jitter is a major cause of sound distortion. When using the old USB Full-speed (1.1) connection standard, various jitters result in significant sound distortion when recording and playing back the original audio, even though it might be high quality ADC/DAC. This is because the audio clock system has a significant amount of noise and is dependent on a computer clock that is not accurate. To solve the effects of these kinds of jitters, the Audioprobe engineers focused on solving two major technical problems.

First, SPARTAN A connects to the computer through an asynchronous method with the USB Audio Class 2.0 standard. This allows SPARTAN CUE to remain unaffected by the computer and use a completely independent audio clock to operate the ADC/DAC, enabling it to perform more accurate sampling.

Second, we focused on designing a stable power supply to reduce the clock errors that occur inside SPARTAN A. Supported by a highly reliable power supply, the audio sample clock is capable of up to 512 times the sampling rate while operating with minimal errors.

A digital signal made up of bits of data can be converted to an analog signal without jitter distortions and vice versa. This allows you to experience clear and realistic audio.

CAPTURE PROBE?

Lossless routing of sound being played

CAPTURE PROBE? is a fantastic tool used to capture sound played on a Windows System, enabling you to easy record sound from a video or a movie soundtrack.

Select the CAPTURE PROBE? button and mix the sound that is being played to SPARTAN CUE’s logical input. Depending on the running application’s output driver type, they can be selected altogether or individually to be recorded.

Windows and OS X

Flawless on both systems

Optimized for Windows 7, 8, 8.1

ASIO2.2
WDM
WASAPI (Windows 7 or later)

Compatible with OS X 10.6.1 and Later

CoreAudio

1 LED Indicator USB Link/Stream
2 +48V Phantom Power Switch
3 Mic Input Gain Control Knob
4 Instrument Input Gain Control Knob
5 Direct Monitor Switch
6 Headphone Level Control Knob
7 Line Output Level Control Knob
8 Headphones
9 Signal Indicators

1 Line Output (Balanced)
2 Instrument Input
3 Microphone Input
4 MIDI Input and Output
5 USB High Speed Connector

ANALOG PERFORMANCE

Line Outputs (Left, Right)

Type Balanced Line Amplifiers
Connector Type 6.35mm TRS Phone (balanced)
Maximum Output Level +14dBu @ 0dBFS, max master level
Frequency Response -0.04dB, 20Hz to 20kHz
SNR and Dynamic Range 110dBA, 20Hz to 20kHz, Maximum Master Level
THD+N 0.0012% @ 1kHz, 0dBFS, Maximum Master Level
Output Impedance 440 ohms balanced
Crosstalk <-120dB, 1kHz, Maximum Master Level, channel to channel


Headphone Outputs

Type Stereo Headphone Amplifier
Connector Type 2 x 3.5mm TRS Phone (stereo unbalanced)
Maximum Output Level +13dBu into 300 ohms
Frequency Response -0.04dB, 20Hz to 20kHz
SNR and Dynamic Range 110dBA, 20Hz to 20kHz, @ +13dBu Output Level
THD+N 0.0014% @ 1kHz, +12dBu into 300ohms
Recommended 30 to 600ohms
Cross Talk <-95dB, 1kHz, channel to channel, into 300ohms
Power @ 33ohm Load 200mW , (100mW/channel)


Microphone Input

Type Low noise microphone preamp
Connector Type XLR (1:Ground, 2:Hot, 3:Cold)
Total Preamp Gain +50dB Approx.
Input Impedance 2.45 kohms balanced
Frequency Response -0.15dB, 20Hz to 20kHz
EIN -120dBu(A), 20-20kHz, Maximum Gain, Rs=150ohms
SNR(Minimum Gain) 110dBA, 20Hz to 20kHz, Minimum Gain
THD+N 0.0011% @ 1kHz, -1dBFS, Minimum Gain
Maximum Input Level +2dBu@ Minimum Gain
-48dBu@ Maximum Gain
Phantom Power +48V, +/-10%, 5mA max


Instrument Input

Type JFET High Impedance Preamp
Connector Type 6.35mm TS Phone (unbalanced)
Total Preamp Gain +28dB
Input Impedance 5 Mega ohms
Frequency Response -0.02dB, 20Hz to 20kHz
SNR(Minimum Gain) 109dBA, 20Hz to 20kHz, Minimum Gain
THD+N 0.002% @ 1kHz, -1dBFS, Minimum Gain
Maximum Input Level +9dBu@Min Gain
-19dBu@Max Gain


Monitor Mix

Type Input signal Mono Mix to Output channel
Pan Law -3dB Pan Law
Mix Function Switch On : L+R/0.707 → Output L/R
Switch Off : Monitor Off
DIGITAL SPECIFICATION

Clock and Jitter

Sample Rates 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192kHz
Audio Clock Source Asynchronous Clock System independent from USB clock.Master clock source of ADC and DAC is deliveredfrom precise on-boarded Crystal circuit.(less than 10ppm)-22.5792MHz distribute for 44.1, 88.2 and 176.4kHz-24.5760MHz distribute for 48,96 and 192kHz


Analog to Digital Converter

Type 24bit, 192kHz sigma-delta ADC
SNR and Dynamic Range 115dBA


Digital to Analog Converter

Type 24bit, 192kHz sigma-delta ADC
SNR and Dynamic Range 115dBA


Signal Indicator (Input)

Type LED Level Indicators(Input 1, 2)
Level GREEN : brightness control according to signal level : -30dBFS~-1dBFS
RED : -1dBFS~0dBFS


Signal Indicator (Output)

Type LED Level Indicators(Output 1, 2)
Level Line Level
GREEN : brightness control according to signal level. -20dBu~-+4dBu
RED : above +4dBuHP Level
GREEN : -19dBu~-+4dBu
RED : above +4dBu


MIDI Input and Output

Type Standard MIDI I/O
Connector Type 5pin DIN


USB

Type USB 2.0 Highspeed Connection (USB3.0 ready)
Connector Type Standard USB type B
Power 5V/500mA


GENERAL SPECIFICATION

Weight and Dimension

Dimensions(W x H x D) 172 x 56 x 132mm (Product), 227 x 95 x 178mm (Retail Package)
Weight 670gram (Product), 1010 gram (Retail Package)
Finish Front, Rear Panel ? ABSBody frame ? Aluminum (Anodic Oxide Coating)


Environment

Operating Temperature 0 to 50 degree (Celsius), 32 to 122degree(Fahrenheit)
Storage Temperature -30to 70 degree(Celsius), -22 to 167(Fahrenheit)
Humidity Max. 80%