Audient evo 16 User manual

24in/24out Audio Interface
User Manual 1.0

EVO makes recording easy
WELCOME WELCOME
Welcome to your new EVO 16 Audio Interface. EVO 16 has been designed
to remove the technical barriers creatives face when exploring the often
intimidating world of audio and make recording simple for everyone.
We hope you enjoy using EVO 16 and it helps you in your creative
endeavours, whatever they may be!
Work smarter not harder.
WELCOME

CONTENTS CONTENTS
09 Firmware Update Procedure
10 Specications
08 Software Features
12 Warranty Information
Warranty Statement
Clocking Warranty Limitations
03 Registration with ARC
11 Safety Instructions
01 Declaration of Conformities
02 Installation/Setup
04 Hardware Features
05 Analogue Outputs
06 EVO 16 Rack Mounting
Initial Setup
Headphone Outputs
Mic Preamps & Line Level Inputs
Line Outputs
Smartgain
Function Button
Stereo Linking
Phantom Power (48V)
Instrument Input
Input Mute
Talkback
Quit
About EVO
Visit EVO Knowledge Base
Check for Updates
Register Product
Input Routing
EVO Software Mixer
Using Audio Loop-back on EVO 16
Recording/Streaming your Loop-back Channels
Menu
Audio Loop-back Mixer
Overview
Show EVO Control
07 Optical Inputs & Outputs

DECLARATION OF CONFORMITIES
Re-orient or relocate the receiving
antenna
01 Increase the separation between the
equipment and receiver
02
03 Connect the equipment into an
outlet on a dierent circuit from that
to which the receiver is connected 04 Consult the dealer or an experienced
radio/TV technician for help
We, EVO Audient, Aspect House, Herriard, Hampshire, RG25 2PN, UK,
01256 381944, declare under our sole responsibility that the product EVO 16
complies with Part 15 of FCC Rules.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
1. This device may not cause harmful interference,
2. This device must accept any interference received,
including interference that may cause undesired operation
Audient Ltd has conformed where applicable, to the European Union’s Directive
EN 63000:2018 on Restrictions of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) as well as the following
sections of California law which refer to RoHS, namely sections 25214.10, 25214.10.2, and 58012,
Health and Safety Code; Section 42475.2, Public Resources
We, EVO Audient, declare that the product, the EVO 16, to which this declaration
relates, is in material conformity with the appropriate CE standards and
directives for an audio product designed for consumer use.
We, EVO Audient, declare that the product, the EVO 16, to which this declaration
relates, is in material conformity with the appropriate UKCA standards and
directives for an audio product designed for consumer use.
Under an environment with electrostatic discharge, the device may cease to output sound
(EUT could not operate properly). This requires the user reset the device by unplugging & re-
connecting to host computer.
As a device that provides power to other equipment power management features are
inappropriate for this product.
DECLARATION DECLARATION
This apparatus has been tested and found to comply with the limits of
a class-A digital device, pursuant to Part 15B of the FCC Rules. These
limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference in a residential installation.
This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency
energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the
instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television
reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment o and
on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or
more of the following measures:

INSTALLATION / SETUP
On macOS, EVO 16 will work straight away without needing to install
any drivers. However, we do recommend installing the EVO Mixer
application, which gives you advanced control over your EVO 16 and
lets you update your rmware when required.
Head to evo.audio/evo16/downloads to download the latest version
of the application. Once downloaded, simply open the .dmg le and
then drag and drop the EVO application into your applications folder.
Carefully unpack your EVO 16, connect the included power cable and
connect it to a USB port on your Mac. If your computer doesn’t have the
appropriate USB port you may need to use an adaptor, dongle or third
party cable.
You can then set EVO 16 as your main output by going to System
Preferences > Sound and then selecting the EVO 16 as your device for
Input and Output.
System Preferences > Sound Select EVO 16 as input / output
INSTALLATION / SETUP MAC OS

INSTALLATION / SETUP
EVO 16 will require drivers to work on Windows to ensure your computer
and EVO 16 will work together correctly. You can download the drivers
from the EVO website:
evo.audio/evo16/downloads
Once downloaded, run the .exe le to start the installation process.
Follow the instructions on screen to complete the installation.
This process may take a little while so please be patient.
Once complete, click nish. Now carefully unpack your EVO 16, power it
on using the included power lead and connect it to the computer using
the included USB cable.
To set the EVO 16 as your default sound device, go to Control Panel >
Hardware and Sound > Sound. Now select the Playback tab.
In the list of devices, nd EVO 16 Main Output 1+2, click on it and select
Set Default Device.
Any audio played back from your PC will now be played through EVO 16.
Follow the same process for the Recording devices by selecting Inputs
1+2 from the list of input devices.
For more advanced settings such as changing your sample rate or
buer size, please read the Software features section, found later in
this manual.
INSTALLATION / SETUP WINDOWS

REGISTRATION WITH AUDIENT ARC
Compatible with all major audio software, EVO 16 comes bundled with
a collection of professional software and services, giving you everything
you need to start recording.
Go to arc.audient.com and select “register your product” and enter
your details to create an account.
You will then receive a verication email to your inbox, double check
your Spam and Junk folders if you cannot see this. Once you’ve veried
your account, register your EVO 16 by entering the serial number and
the unique 4 digit PIN found on the bottom of the EVO 16.
Once you have registered the product, you can now select from a wide
array of free software and plugins, giving you easy access to powerful
creative tools straight away.
REGISTRATION REGISTRATION

HARDWARE FEATURES
HARDWARE HARDWARE
DIM - Reduces the output level to the speakers by a set value
ALT Speakers - Switches between the Main and ALT Speaker outputs
Talkback - Toggles Talkback on and o
Mono - Sums the Monitor outputs to Mono
More detail on the Function Button and its settings can be found later in this
manual.
Once selected, click ‘Finish’ to complete the setup.
Next, you can choose which monitoring feature is assigned to the hardware
F Button on the front of the unit when pressed:
Initial Setup
The Motion User Interface is a control system designed to change the way
you interact with your audio interface. For the rst time, a stunning high
resolution, full colour screen intelligently displays information as you need
it, transforming EVO 16 into a fully immersive, easy to use experience.
The rst time powering on EVO 16, Motion UI will ask to follow the setup
procedure, allowing you to customise EVO 16’s settings to your liking.
Firstly, you can adjust and set the brightness of all of EVO 16’s hardware
LEDs, including the LED Ring, to suit your studio environment. Use the
Control Wheel to adjust the slider and then press the Control Wheel down
to save your settings and then hit ‘Next’.

EVO 16 includes eight high-quality EVO Mic Preamps, available through the
Combi jacks on the front and rear of the unit.
Mic Preamps and Line Level Inputs
EVO 16 can lower the signal level by 8 decibels and boost it by up to 50
decibels allowing you to get the perfect recording level, this is known as the
gain.
TRS Jack
Connection
HARDWARE HARDWARE
XLR Cable
Connection
When pressing any input button on EVO 16’s front panel, the input screen
will show the Input Status Screen. The status screen will display: the input
number, the input name assigned via the EVO Software Mixer, the gain
setting in dB, and an independent channel meter forreferencing your levels.
50
Input Buttons Control Wheel
When an input is selected, the hardware will now control that channel, so
you can use the Control Wheel to adjust the input gain with decibel level
accuracy, as well as toggling channel mute, phantom power for condenser
mics, or instrument mode for guitars and basses on channel 1+2.

HARDWARE HARDWARE
Once you have selected the channels you require, press the Smartgain button
again to start. You will now see a ‘Smartgain Listening’ screen, this is where you
or your artist will need to start performing in order for Smartgain to analyse
your signal.
Smartgain is a powerful feature which helps you get recording as quickly as
possible. It is able to listen to all the activated inputs, and set gain within a
matter of seconds.
To activate Smartgain, press the green Smartgain button, you will then be
prompted to select the channels you want to set the gain for. Select the
channels you want using the channel buttons or press and hold the Smartgain
button to quickly select all 8 channels at once.
Smartgain Mode
If all selected channels are successfully set, you will see the ‘Smartgain
Successful’ screen and you are ready to start recording.
If Smartgain fails for any reason you will see the ‘Issue Detected’ screen
followed by the Smartgain Status screen.The Smartgain Status screen gives
you an overview of the status of each channel in relation to Smartgain.

When a channel is muted, the gain level is replaced with the Mute icon, this will
remain in place until mute is deactivated, by again holding down the channel
button.
To quickly mute a channel, simply hold down the hardware channel button
until the Mute Feature Toggle screen is shown, and the channel button begins
ashing.
M
Input Mute
HARDWARE HARDWARE
Smartgain will now return you to the ‘Select Channels’ screen with the failed
channels automatically pre-selected, simply press Smartgain to start the
process again.
For the channels that failed, double-check your microphone cables, check
if phantom power is required for that microphone, or move the microphone
closer to the sound source. Then try the Smartgain process again.
Note: there is no need to select the green channels again as they were
already successfully set.
Green - means it was successful
Red - means it failed
Grey - means the channel was not selected

All of the input channels can be linked as stereo pairs, for example: Channel
1+2, 3+4, 5+6, 7+8. This allows you to match the gain for both channels to make
sure your left and right channels are at the same level.
This would be used when recording an instrument using two microphones,
such as a piano or guitar, or if inputting a stereo line signal like a synth or DJ
decks.
To do this, press down the pair of input buttons (eg. 3 & 4) at the same time.The
channels in the EVO Software Mixer will then automatically change to a stereo
channel to reect this (refer to the Software Mixer section of this manual).
Whilst two channels are linked, selecting one of the channels will automatically
select the linked channel as well.
Stereo Linking 15
26 37
48
When two channels are linked, a ‘Link’ icon will appear on the Input Status
Screen and the input name will update.
When on the input metering screen, you will also see a small hyphen
connecting the linked channel numbers.
Gain
Input 1
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Some microphones will require phantom power in order to function. This is
+48 volts of power sent via the XLR cable and used to correctly power up
the microphone and allow it to work.
Microphones that require phantom power are typically condenser
microphones.
In rare cases, some microphones that don’t require phantom power can
be damaged by providing phantom power to them so we’d recommend
checking the microphone’s documentation to see if you need to provide
phantom power or not.
Phantom Power (48V)
HARDWARE HARDWARE
To activate phantom power, select the channel, then press the 48V button,
which will then illuminate red as well as activate a temporary popup on
screen.
This is set independently per channel so if you navigate away to a dierent
channel, where phantom power isn’t activated, the 48V button will no
longer be illuminated.
To turn o 48V, press the 48V button again, which will display the feature
toggle screen.
When turning on and o phantom power, EVO 16 will automatically mute
the input to avoid unwanted noises coming through to your speakers or
headphones.

EVO 16 includes two instrument inputs to directly connect instruments such
as electric guitars and basses. The instrument input is sometimes also known
as a DI (Direct Injection) and provides a high input impedance, which enables
you to get the best tone from your instruments.
The two instrument inputs are found on the front of EVO 16, and accept
unbalanced TS jacks, just like the ones you’d plug into a guitar amp.
By default, these inputs are used as line & microphone level inputs but they
can both be changed to Instrument Mode.
Instrument Input
HARDWARE
When using the instrument inputs set your gain as you would with the Mic/
Line inputs, either using Smartgain or the Control Wheel.
Remember: After you’ve nished recording via the instrument inputs, you’ll
need to switch them back to line & microphone level inputs. To do this, press
whichever instrument channel button you’re using, then press the Instrument
button. This essentially turns o the DI circuit, allowing you to use line and &
microphone level devices.
Instrument ButtonInstrument Inputs
HARDWARE
If you try and activate phantom power on Channels 1+2 whilst the instrument
input is active, an error screen will show as it is not possible to have both active
at once.
To do this, select either channel 1 or 2, then press the Instrument button. The
button will then illuminate as well as display the temporary popup on screen.
To turn o Instrument mode, press the Instrument button again.

HARDWARE
ANALOGUE OUTPUTS
EVO 16 provides you with separate controls for each of the headphone
outputs. Pressing the Headphone 1 or 2 button will allow you to independently
adjust the volume for each output. To adjust the output volume, simply tap
the output you wish to adjust and turn the Control Wheel. The Meter ring will
illuminate to show the current volume level.
Headphone Outputs
EVO 16 also provides you with eight dedicated line level outputs, which can
be found at the rear of the unit.
By default, pressing the Speaker button on the front of the unit, then turning
the Control Wheel will change the volume of line outputs 1+2. You can adjust
any of the other line outputs in the EVO Software Mixer.
Line Outputs
Headphone Control Buttons
Speaker Button
TRS Jack
Connection
HARDWARE
Pressing any of the hardware Output buttons will bring up the Output Status
Screen. Similar to the Input Status Screen, with a few key dierences, the Output
Status Screen displays: the output name, the volume level, stereo meters, as
well as a feature status display. With an output selected, the Control Wheel will
now control the volume of that output, ranging from 0 to 100.
To quickly mute an output, hold down the channel button until the Mute
screen is shown, and the channel button begins ashing. When a channel
is muted, the volume level is replaced with the Mute icon, this will remain in
place until mute is deactivated, by again holding down the output button.

HARDWARE HARDWARE
Function Button
With the main speaker outputs selected, under the meter, you are able to
see the status of the output functions, Dim, ALT speakers, and Mono.
Wheneverthesefeaturesaretoggled,the corresponding screen isdisplayed,
before reverting back to the output status screen.
Mono
Sums the stereo outputs down to mono. This can be used to quickly check the
mono compatibility of your mix to make sure it’ll sound great almost anywhere!
ALT
ALT allows you to quickly switch your monitor path to a secondary set of speakers
to let you check how your mix translates on various speakers. You can select
which outputs the ALT monitor control ips to in the System Panel.
Dim
Reduces the output level by a pre-set amount which can be great if you get a
call or need to quickly chat to someone during a session.
TB (Talkback)
Toggles talkback on and o.
Various monitoring and communication functions of the EVO Software Mixer
can be assigned to the hardware Function Button found on the front panel of
the EVO 16. This enables you to quickly control your monitoring at the click of a
button. To assign a monitor control to the F-Button, refer to either the Software
Mixer or Motion UI Settings section of this manual.
The following functions can be assigned:

Talkback
The F-button can also be used to activate Talkback, enabling you to stay
in contact with an artist through their headphones. This is congured in the
EVO Mixer App’s Settings Panel.
When Talkback is activated, whether using the F-button or the EVO
Software Mixer, the Talkback screen is breiy shown.
If at any point you navigate to a dierent screen while talkback is still
activated, the Talkback Icon will be visible.
Outputs
Gain
Input 1
HARDWARE HARDWARE

OPTICAL INPUTS & OUTPUTS
EVO 16 features two optical inputs and two optical outputs. Each of these
can be set to operate using optical stereo S/PDIF or 8-channel ADAT using
the EVO Software Mixer. All i/o will operate at up to 96kHz, with ADAT dropping
to 4 channels at sample rates of 88.2kHz or higher.
Running in S/PDIF mode, the optical i/o provides the option to integrate
external digital outboard, allowing up to 4 channels of audio in and out of
the EVO 16 at sample rates up to 96KHz.
Running in ADAT mode, the optical i/o provides a great way to expand to 24
inputs for recording via an external mic preamps such as the Audient ASP800.
The ADAT outputs could also be connected to headphone distribution systems
such as a HearbackTM system or to an 8-channel DAC for summing purposes.
When using higher sample rates such as 88.2kHz and 96kHz, you are restricted
to a total of 8 digital inputs and 8 digital outputs due to the limitations of the
ADAT protocol.
The EVO 16 includes a BNC Word Clock output which allows you to clock multiple
digital devices to the EVO 16’s master clock and keep everything in sync.
The Word Clock output will send a clock signal at the same sample rate (44.1,
48, 88.2 or 96kHz) that the EVO 16 is operating at. This will occur regardless of
whether the EVO 16 is being clocked internally or externally.
In a digital setup, there can be a number of options when determining which
device should be your master clock. Quite often the best device to set as the
master is the one that is connected to the computer such as an audio interface.
This way, when you open a project in a DAW, the audio interface should change
automatically to match the project sample rate, and therefore change the
sample rate of all the slave devices. However this depends on the devices being
used.
When connecting external digital devices to the EVO 16, it’s important to ensure
that all devices are synchronised.
To ensure this, one device in the setup must be set as the master clock. The other
devices will then use the master clock signal to stay in sync. There can only ever
be one masterclock present in a chain.
The master clock signal can be sent either via an optical cable embedded into
the digital signal data, or through a BNC clock line cable. Please bear in mind
that the clock will only travel in one direction through these connections, from
a device’s output to a device’s input.
World Clock Output
Choosing a Master Clock
Clocking Congurations
HARDWARE HARDWARE

With the EVO 16 set as the master clock the other devices in the chain can be
clocked by either the optical output port or the BNC word clock output.
If you are using multiple devices then it is recommended to use the BNC word
clock output and then use T-connectors to daisy chain the devices together.
It is important to note that the nal device in the chain should have its BNC
connector terminated with 75 Ohms to stop reections of the clock signal. This
should be a switchable option on most devices.
EVO 16 as the Master Clock
HARDWARE HARDWARE
EVO 16 with single BNC connection
EVO 16 with daisy chained BNC connection
Key: Optical TOSlink Cable BNC Word Clock Cable
BNC T Connector
75 Ohm Terminated
75 Ohm Terminated
Unterminated
The EVO 16 can also act as the slave to an external master clock via it’s optical
inputs. In this case, you would connect the optical output of a device to the EVO
16’s optical input. Then, in the EVO mixer application, select the optical input
you wish to be used as the clock source. You would also need to set the inputs
to either ADAT or S/PDIF depending on the specication of the external device.
EVO 16 as the Slave Clock
EVO 16 clocked via the optical port

HARDWARE HARDWARE
Motion UI MenuMetering
When not adjusting settings or pressing buttons on EVO 16 for more than 5
seconds, the screen will default to display either the input or output meters,
depending on whether you last pressed an input or output button.
The input meters display the levels of all 8 channels at the same time,
enabling you to keep track of your recording levels. If you are using the
digital inputs, you can quickly cycle through the input meter screens to
view their levels by pressing the Control Wheel.
The output meters display the levels coming out of your main speaker
outputs and both headphone outputs. Similar to the inputs, you can
navigate to view the level of yourline outputs and digital outputs bytapping
the Control Wheel.
In the Motion UI menu, you will nd the options to power the unit down,
customise the brightness levels of the LEDs, assign any of the monitoring
functions to the hardware F-button, check the audio status of your unit,
and reset the unit to the factory settings.
To open the Motion UI menu, momentarily hold the Control Wheel down.