Anatal Electronics (English Version)

The long expected competitor to Flock Audio.

XBAY vs FLOCK

Xbay vs Flock. In depth:

The matrix decomposition of Anatal Electronics ensures a minimum number of components in the signal path within the XBay matrix architecture. The Flock XT uses 36 subswitching boards for 192 patch points. The Xbay 256 uses 24 subswitching boards for 256 patch points. In addition, the Flock on every internal subswitch board has redundant integrated amplifiers on the outputs with a fixed gain of 2 that is always on and therefore always gets hot. That is why Flock appliances use a noisy fan. Due to the gain of 2, 50% attenuation is required at the inputs of the subswitch boards to maintain unity gain level.

Source

Any analog router with more than 32 patch points is made up of 32 point subswitching boards connected together in such a way that the whole functions as a non-blocking routing matrix with more capacity than the 32 patch points of a single subswitching board. XBay is the only router on the market with a so-called “minimal non-blocking switching architecture” by means of complex but effective matrix decomposition technique to make a mastering grade transparent audio matrix with a minimum number of subswitching boards that can be operated with AOS (Analog Operating System). ) software. It concerns, since the 1950s, proven technology with which, among other things, analog telephone exchanges are made, but is still used today in network technology and has been the basis for modern packet switching digital networks, including the internet. For more info what this is about read this article on wikipedia.  The development of XBay started after reading this article when it became clear that with this technique routers can be made with much more capacity than what was available at the time. XBay still has by far the most capacity options in a single housing.

Flock

The Flock uses a so-called x=y square matrix architecture. The essential difference is that with an x=y architecture all possible routes are recorded in the hardware and are therefore static. A 96x96 Flock XT matrix thus has 9,216 physical matrix points in an x=y matrix. Because we know that any router with more than 32 patch points is made up of 32 point subswitching boards, we can calculate how many subswitching boards your signal goes through and what the total gain and attenuation of your signal is per route. We know that the Flock matrix is ​​a 96x96 square and that a subswitching board is a 16x16 square and thus we can reduce the number of boosted circuits per route in the Flock to 6 by dividing 96 by 16. Since each switching point has a gain of 2 the total gain comes to 2 to the 6th power, or 2x2x2x2x2x2 = a total gain of 64! and before that a total attenuation of 1/64 to stay on unity gain. The risk becomes with so much gain + attenuation, per route, that the Flock noise floor rises above that of your signal and adds noise to every route and thus degrades the sound quality. Moreover, the amount of extra electronics contributes exponentially to the price, which causes the big price difference between XBay and Flock. At least the Flock doesn't cost more because it's supposed to be better than XBay. It is XBay that is more affordable and more transparent because of the chosen and aforementioned matrix architecture.

XBay

The XBay versions only have unity gain amplifiers on the D-sub I/O and therefore do not require a fan and use no redundant components due to the applied matrix decomposition technique. XBay's amplifiers are designed to work with balanced signals and for optimal and uniform I/O impedances. XBay 128x128 has 256 patch points and 6,144 physical matrix points. And not 128x128=16,384 as with a square matrix design. This saves a lot of money to start with. Even if all 128 routes are occupied, by far most of the matrix points are unused. As early as the 1950s, a mathematical formula was found in which you can create just as many unique routes with far fewer subswitching boards (and therefore fewer matrix points) as with a square x=y matrix. XBay uses this complex formula to ensure that with the minimum number of parts required, there is always a clear route for your signal. The adage “less is more” applies to pro audio, and that is what the designers of XBay have always had as a starting point during development.

Specs.

Flock has never been transparent about the quality of their electronics. No specs from the company and also not available on request. Anatal offers in advance the professional independent measurements that clearly show that it is a mastering grade signal path.

Find the measurements here.

AOS

AOS is built with heaps of sofware experience, using only open source libraries. We support Mac, Windows, and Linux, including both ARM and x86-64 chipsets. Our AOS software also enables remote control via iOS, Android, or any device with a web browser.

AOS is our control software which is simple and intuitive. Create hardware device definitions with color, categories, and balanced/unbalanced I/O details. Then assign those devices to the XBAY channels. Route signals with a click, using the matrix style grid or a familiar chain interface as found in any DAW. Multing, summing, inserting, removing, toggle bypassing and more are possible -- Allowing a new universe of creativity. Instantly recall a snapshot using MIDI input, so A and B sections of a song can use totally different routings in real-time.

AOS is also controllable via an iPad or laptop on your network. The engineer can sample different mic pres from the live room, or it can allow each musician to have control over their own hardware chain using only their smartphone. You might even be able to control XBAY on airplane flying the Pacific, who knows! AOS is also controllable via an iPad or laptop on your network. The engineer can sample different mic pres from the live room, or it can allow each musician to have control over their own hardware chain using only their smartphone. You might even be able to control XBAY on airplane flying the Pacific, who knows!

SERVICE

AT AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL

XBAY is the centerpiece of your studio. The one thing that everything else revolves around. And with great power comes great responsibility. If there are problems that cannot be solved remotely asap we will send you a replacement unit immediately and you send back the one with problems after the replacement is installed, minimizing impact on your workflow.

Standard warranty on all our untis is 5 years!