Burl Audio B80 Mothership Dante

B80 Mothership Dante

Simply put, the B80 MOTHERSHIP has redefined digital recording. For anyone who has felt that digital recording has been lacking soul, warmth and musicality, the MOTHERSHIP is the answer. Building on the technology of the two-channel B2 BOMBERS, the MOTHERSHIP was forged from BURL AUDIO’S deep dedication to analog class-A circuitry. The result is not only heard, it is felt. The MOTHERSHIP stands out from every other interface on the market not because it is colored, but because it does not sterilize the source.

Pushing the boundaries once again, the B80 MOTHERSHIP AD/DA converter has up to 80 analog channel capability. Using a card based system, and a heavy duty 4U chassis, the B80 MOTHERSHIP employs 10 card slots with 2, 4 and 8 channel AD/DA cards, all with the B2 quality signal path.

Every ADC channel uses a proprietary BX1 transformer and every DAC channel has the latest BURL AUDIO discrete op-amp, BOPA2. For many who have already embraced the B2 BOMBER, this is a dream come true. Recording an entire band and playing back through 24 channels of Burl AD/DA at a time is a truly beautiful experience. With a completely configurable AD/DA, a converter for any situation can be realized. If you just mix, load up the B80 with 8 BDA8 cards for 64 channels of mind blowing fidelity. If you track live, 6 BAD4 cards will give you 24 B2 quality inputs, and 4 BDA8 cards gives you 32 channels of outputs. Rocking!

Digital interconnect is also completely configurable, and controlled by a swappable motherboard. Burl Audio offers three digital motherboards, the BMB1 (Digi-link) , BMB2 (MADI) and BMB3 (Dante). The BMB1 comes standard with two DigiLink connectors for direct hookup to Pro Tools. BURL AUDIO does away with the expansion port, making both primary ports. That means you can play 64 DAC channels straight out of Pro Tools with one unit!

The BMB2 features two optical MADI ports for use with ASIO or CORE AUDIO PCIe MADI cards. With two optical ports, 64in/64out at 44.1k, 48k, 88.2k, 96k, and 32in/32out at 176.4k, and 192k are supported.

The BMB3 features two Ethernet ports for use with Dante enabled DAWs and any Dante enabled device, such as a digital mixing console. With two Dante ports, 64in/64out at 44.1k, 48k, 88.2k, 96k, and 32in/32out at 176.4k, and 192k are supported.

No more cascading units with multiple word clocks. All channels can run off of one internal master clock. Good bye word clock generator! Of course if you do need more channels, multiple B80 units run flawlessly with tight clocking. With each BCLK card, add 9 additional word clock outputs per slot. 92 total word clock outputs are possible per MOTHERSHIP.

The technology that makes this all possible is the BURL BackBone. The BURL BackBone is a high bandwidth backplane delivering incredible digital audio throughput. Master clock travels directly to each converter eliminating the need for individual PLLs.

The B80 MOTHERSHIP is the result of over 20 years of tireless research and development. The no compromise, no BS design strategy is immediately apparent in the build quality.

Configuring a B80 is literally a snap. Slide the card down its card guide, snap it in the BURL BackBone, turn the hand screws, and you’re there.

There are also plans for film and broadcast grade “Black Face” cards where channel density and price per channel are of greater concern.

Powering a unit like the MOTHERSHIP takes some juice, so we designed the BP250 to drive the 80 channels of class-A analog circuitry. With a 250 watt continuous power capability, and +/- 24 volt rails, a multi-channel AD/DA converter is finally getting the power it deserves.

The B80 MOTHERSHIP takes care of virtually any music, broadcast or film recording situation, revolutionizing pro audio as we know it. In this digital era, many yearn for the tone of records past, and analog tape is becoming a lost art. The B80 MOTHERSHIP clearly bridges this analog to digital gap.