The Lyra family of USB audio interfaces offers Prism Sound performance at its most affordable ever. They are based on the Orpheus audio path and clock circuitry, but in a smaller package for those who don't need eight channels of analogue I/O. There are two models Lyra 1 and Lyra 2.
Lyra is based on an ARM Cortex processor design which offers class-compliant USB and the possibility for future Ethernet AVB interfacing, plus DSP and local mixing capacity beyond that of the present Orpheus platform.
Analogue and digital input channels are available as inputs for your audio workstation software through the host computer's audio driver. Similarly, analogue and digital outputs and stereo headphone outputs can be played independently.
For low-latency foldback or monitoring to headphone or main outputs, each output pair (1-2, 3-4, digital out or the headphone output) can optionally be driven from the built-in DSP mixer with an individual local mix of any selection of inputs through the controller applet. All analogue inputs are electronically balanced with automatic unbalanced operation. Analogue outputs are electronically balanced with 'bootstrapping', i.e. level is maintained if one leg is grounded.
Lyra makes no compromises on audio quality. It is the result of years of research and development into digital audio conversion and extensive dialogue with Prism Sound's customers.
The Lyra design brief was: Prism Sound quality at an even more accessible price point. Lyra has the same no-compromise analogue front and back ends as its brother Orpheus, with the same fully-balanced-throughout architecture and the same isolation barriers protecting the analogue from digital and computer interference.
Lyra draws on Prism Sound's years of experience in developing digital audio products, including its range of audio test equipment, adopted by a wide variety of clients across the audio industry from pro-audio to consumer electronics. This experience means that Lyra is well-behaved both as a computer peripheral and an audio processor.
Reliability is vitally important in professional recording. Prism Sound has always made extensive use of precise software calibration techniques in its converters - pots and tweaks are always unreliable, so there are none.
The design team has gone to great lengths to minimise noise and interference, in particular hum. All of the analogue circuits have galvanic isolation, while the unit's electronically balanced I/O allows it to handle common mode interference sources as well as enabling trouble-free connection to unbalanced equipment.
It is often said that THD+N figures do not always correlate well with the perception of sound quality and this is true - partly because the traditional measures of THD+N or SINAD expressed as RMS figures are rather a broad measure. With this in mind, we have taken great care to make sure that not only is the RMS THD+N figure very good, but the Lyra noise and distortion spectrum is beyond reproach and that Lyra provides the most transparent listening experience.
Features
- 2 A/D Analogue input channels select from:
- 2 x Microphone XLR inputs with phantom power and 20dB pads
- 2 x High-impedance front panel instrument inputs
- 2 x Balanced line inputs on TRS jack
- 4 D/A Analogue Line Output channels
- Headphone output with independent mix and volume control
- S/PDIF Digital in and out on RCA/phono
- S/PDIF / ADAT Digital in and out on TOSLINK optical
- AES3 mode on RCA/Phono with supplied XLR adaptor
- Word-clock sync I/O on BNC connectors
- Sample rate conversion on digital inputs or outputs
- Ethernet port for future expansion
- No-compromise, full Prism Sound audio quality
- Class compliant (UAC2) USB interface
- ASIO drivers for Windows (32 and 64bit)
- Windows WDM drivers for Vista and later
- Native CORE AUDIO on Mac OS X
- UAC2 operation on Linux (no control panel)
- Outputs selectable between workstation bus or Lyra mixer
- Prism Sound SNS noise shaping on digital outputs (4 curves)
- Low-latency "console-quality" digital mixer for foldback monitoring
- Fader, pan, cut, solo on every mixer channel
- Front-panel master volume control, assignable to selected channels
- State-of-the-art clock generation with proprietary hybrid 2-stage DPLL
- Fully-floating (isolated) balanced architecture for optimum noise rejection