The Burl Audio B80 Mothership is becoming more and more popular with those seeking the "holy grail" of audio. I first posted about the B80 a few years ago and look forward to doing a shootout with the B80 and some other popular interfaces. (I was "warned" not to audition the unit unless I was prepared to purchase).
I'm thinking of expanding my rig but I still need it to be compact and somewhat mobile. I will do a future post on my "dream" rig shortly.
The B80 Mothership provides 44.1khz to 192khz AD/DA but is not cheap:
1. $2499 just for the chassis.
2. $1499 for the BAD4 4 Channel Analog Input Card.
3. $1799 for the BDA8 8 Channel Analog Output Card.
The fully loaded chassis in the above pic would set you back approximately $16k but I've been told it's worth every penny. The fact that it's modular allows you to fill the rack according to your needs and budget. For my current needs 2 BAD4s and a single BDA8 plus a BSUM Summing Bus card would do just fine.
The B80 Chassis includes a BMB1 card (check rack pick above) that "comes standard with two Digi-link 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!"
There is also a BMB2 MADI card that allows up to 64 channels of audio at 48khz (32 channels at 96k).
Here'a an overview video of the Burl B80 Mothership by Sweetwater Sound:
Another video showing how to setup the B80:
An impromptu comparison between the B80 and the standard Digidesign 192 I/O:
