I tested Orpheus in Pro Tools 10 HD and compared the sound of its microphone pre-amps to my coveted pre-amp costing nearly as much as the Orpheus interface itself! I wanted to see if the Orpheus' mic pre-amps were not just token features--thrown in to "sweeten and sell" the unit but only average sounding. I found them to sound as full and natural as my expensive pre-amp--matching it in every way.

The ancillary-running setup and configuration software that Prism Sound includes to "talk" to the host DAW is elegantly designed. The Orpheus Firewire controller (ver 1.07 tested here) is the easiest to set up and use I've experienced yet! Its digital mixer requires no learning curve at all--within minutes of its installation, I easily configured multiple stereo mixes for headphones, control room mixes, sending out and returning to vintage processing gear etc. This an all-pro system with parameters named and functioning as expected.

I liked that the first 4 analog input channels are auto-sensing--they "figure out" what sources are plugged into them--be they mic or line level sources and switch automatically. All eight analog inputs also have a switchable Overkiller mode--an instantaneous progressive peak limiter that protects the A/D converter from accidental overload.