Audient Horizon 8P Thunderbolt Audio Interface

Flagship Thunderbolt 3 Interface for Mission-Critical Studios

The Audient Horizon 8P is a flagship 24-input, 32-output Thunderbolt 3 audio interface engineered as the foundation of a modern professional studio. Bridging classic British analogue character with the stability of a direct PCIe-speed connection, this unit delivers uncompromising audio fidelity for tracking and mixing. Built around eight David Dearden-designed console preamps lifted from the ASP8024-HE console, the Horizon 8P captures sources with true analogue integrity and 75dB of clean gain.

ORBIT Variable Impedance and Mastering-Grade Conversion

Two rare technologies set this interface apart. ORBIT is a relay-based variable impedance circuit with three selectable voicings — High (2.8kΩ), Mid (1.2kΩ), and Low (220Ω) — that reshapes how the preamp and microphone interact at the analogue stage, shifting character from airy and modern to weighted and vintage before the signal hits the converter. On the digital side, flagship ESS ES9823PRO and ES9039 32-bit AD/DA converters paired with OPA1602 and OPA1612 op-amps deliver 133dB of dynamic range.

Extensive I/O for Hybrid Studio Workflows

Connectivity is engineered to integrate outboard analogue hardware and digital expanders without re-cabling. Eight bidirectional line channels route through industry-standard Tascam-pinout DB25 connectors with per-channel preamp bypass, letting boutique preamps feed the converters directly.

• Total I/O: 24 inputs / 32 outputs via Thunderbolt 3 (macOS only, TB4/TB5 compatible)
• Mic Preamps: 8 Audient console preamps with 75dB gain, digital recall, sweepable HPF (25Hz–250Hz), -10dB pad, per-channel 48V
• Digital Expansion: Dual ADAT I/O (16 channels) plus BNC Word Clock I/O with switchable internal termination

Sub-Millisecond Latency with 32-bit/192kHz Conversion

The Thunderbolt 3 architecture delivers a benchmark 0.99ms round-trip latency at 192kHz with a 64-sample buffer, eliminating perceptible lag when tracking through native VST, AU, and AAX plugins. Hybrid analogue/digital PLL clocking circuits keep jitter attenuation stable for reliable stereo imaging across large sessions.

• Conversion: 32-bit / 192kHz via ESS ES9823PRO and ES9039 converters
• Dynamic Range: 133 dB for mastering-grade depth and transparency
• Round-Trip Latency: 0.99 ms at 192kHz / 64-sample buffer

Studio Command Center with Scalable Architecture

Monitor control, instrument tracking, and system expansion are bundled into a single 1RU fanless chassis. Two front-panel JFET instrument inputs model the input stage of a classic valve amplifier, while dual high-current headphone outputs and A/B speaker switching handle professional monitoring duties.

• Instrument Inputs: 2 JFET DI inputs on channels 1 and 2, modelled on a classic valve amplifier
• Monitor Control: Dual speaker outputs, dual headphone outs with Mono, Polarity Inverse, Dim, Reference Level (+18dBu / +24dBu), and Talkback
• Scalability: 200 x 200 I/O via daisy-chaining up to 4 units on a unified macOS driver