Burl Audio B16-BAD4M-1414 — a 4-channel mastering-grade ADC card for the B16 Mothership chassis, with a switchable input front end and a B2-style stepped attenuator. The same card also fits a B80 chassis.
The input can be switched between BX1 transformer coupling, identical to the BAD8 card, and a transparent, transformerless path built around the BOPA14 op-amp. On the digital side, the card offers a switchable ADC filter and Avid delay compensation.
Two tonal characters in one card
Mastering engineers sometimes want a colored, analog character when capturing a signal, and other times need maximally faithful, neutral conversion, which usually means owning two different converters. The BAD4M addresses this with a switch between the BX1 transformer, adding saturation and harmonic depth known from the BAD8, and the transformerless BOPA14 path, delivering clean, uncolored conversion ideal for mastering, summing, or capturing bus processing.
Precise, repeatable level control
In mastering, every level decision needs to be reproducible on a later pass over the same material, which rules out ordinary potentiometers. The BAD4M addresses this with a B2 Bomber ADC-style stepped attenuator, giving accurate, repeatable gain settings. Avid delay compensation also matches the input delay to the output timing of an Avid I/O device, essential for hardware inserts in a mastering chain.
KEY FEATURES
- 4-channel mastering-grade analog-to-digital conversion
- XLR connectors for four channels
- Switchable input front end: BX1 transformer or transformerless BOPA14
- B2 ADC-style stepped attenuator
- Switchable ADC filter (classic / more aggressive)
- Avid delay compensation for hardware inserts
- Discrete class-A signal path
- Compatible with B80 and B16 Mothership chassis
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Channel count: 4 (ADC)
- Connectors: 4x XLR
- Input front end: switchable BX1 transformer or BOPA14 (NextGen Analog)
- Level control: B2 ADC-style stepped attenuator
- ADC filter: switchable, two tonal modes
- Delay compensation: Avid delay matching
- Signal path: discrete, class-A
- Application: mixing and mastering, summing, hardware inserts
- Compatibility: B80 and B16 Mothership chassis (identical card)
