Antelope Audio Zen Go Synergy Core USB-C Audio Interface

Most Liked Negative Review

If only I could turn back time...

The WORST customer support EVER because they LIE. Read others reviews too and believe them about the difficulties that show up again and again. Bottomline is this company is not ready to supply the home studio market with desktop units. Their software is riddled with bugs (especially their proprietary AFX2DAW) and their employees are forced to pretend it isn't. Here's my story: Don't get sucked in by their 21 hours per day Mon - Fri hours; they do that because they HAVE TO. If they aren't available for regular support, you'd never stay with the company past the first 30 days. I assumed the glitches I encountered in the first few weeks were just temporary. And I got sucked in by their plugins which sound great WHEN THEY WORK. When you call in they will 'solve' whatever glitch you're having by doing a 'team viewer' which means they access your computer and start making changes to the software which generally is a process of loading and reloading drivers, plugins, control panels etc etc. I've had plugins not accessible at all in the DAW, I've had plugins 'forget' their settings… the list is long enough that I have been forced to make more than 35 calls to tech support in 18months of ownership. Now who's fault could that be? I doubt they'd take the time to talk to me if I was making up problems or messing up on my end. I've even tried buying the next model up because the tech guy told me it works better (ie the problems I have aren't unusual) and then when I got it (ZenQ Thunderbolt - DON'T buy it), the thing won't speak to my DAW at all… and guess what tech support can't solve it. Thank goodness this time I know enough to return it in the retail window. (Don't buy direct from their site cause it is 14 days and way worse to deal with than an American retail store). The tech support guys are really nice. I feel badly for them being stuck in the middle. However, they are still on the side of their employers and the straw that ended it for me happened last week when I called in because I couldn't bounce my projects I'd spent weeks finishing up (a double album). There were digital pops in the bounced file. I had tried everything myself and their tech support tried it all again while I wasted more hours of my life watching (buffer size, realtime / offline mode, different cables etc). I had two different calls and the second one I was shocked that even though it was their best tech guy (Simon), by the time he was done, my unit was stuck in playback mode and the only option left to me was to ship it in for repair. How did I go from a working unit, to a bricked unit that needed hardware diagnosis in person, within one software technician call? How did he know it was a hardware issue unless he's seen all of it before and tried everything he could before trying the last things that broke the unit? But worst of all, why didn't they tell me it would COST ME MONEY to have them look at it? Good thing I checked before I sent this useful unit in for 'repair'. They will charge me for diagnostic whether they could magically make it works again or not. In good conscience I have to share this info with others. And about the plugins not storing, I found a kind of work around that worked most of the time by always saving and quitting the project and daw before quitting the control panel, launcher or unplugging the interface. So if you are where I was, miserable and still trying to make it work since you'd put your money in, I hope that helps you when you're pulling your hair out because each time you open your project the Antelope plugins and or settings aren't recalled. If by some miracle they choose to make good on my situation by providing a unit that actually works, I'll be sure to update the review.