PreSonus Quantum Thunderbolt Audio Interface

The Quantum interfaces exist for one reason: latency. Both use the Thunderbolt bus with a no-frills, direct-to-DAW signal path and no onboard DSP, which is what gets round-trip times down where monitoring through plug-ins stops being a compromise. PreSonus quotes the Quantum 2626 at under 1 ms round trip.

The original Quantum is a 26x32 interface with two combo mic/instrument/line inputs and six mic/line inputs, all on recallable XMAX Class A preamps, with 24-bit, 192 kHz converters at 120 dB dynamic range. The Quantum 2626 is a 1U rack unit with 26 in and 26 out, eight XMAX preamps, and 115 dB dynamic range on every analog channel. Both carry MIDI and BNC word clock I/O, and up to four units stack over Thunderbolt for a larger system. Preamps and metering are remote-controlled from PreSonus Universal Control.