Tracktion Copper Reference Stereo I/O Interface Is ‘Bonkersly Good’

At the 2016 NAMM Show, Tracktion was showing its upcoming Copper Reference Stereo I/O Interface.

With the Copper Reference, Tracktion did not want to duplicate the many existing mainstream audio interfaces. Instead, they wanted to apply ‘American hot rod mentality’, to creating a boutique, high-end stereo interface.

In this video, from the NAMM Show floor, Tracktion’s James ‘Woody’ Woodburn gives us the details on the Copper Reference.

They say that the Copper Reference Stereo I/O Interface is handcrafted, using ‘the finest silicon money can buy’, for transparency. A selectable tube-power overdrive circuit is also onboard, to add as little or as much tube character as you like.

Details are to come, but Tracktion expects the Copper Reference to be available mid 2016, priced around US $5,000.

19 thoughts on “Tracktion Copper Reference Stereo I/O Interface Is ‘Bonkersly Good’”

  1. “Finest money silicon can buy”? Do people really still believe this bullshit?

    Probably do, since AudioQuest sells directional ethernet cable for $1K.

    You heard me… DIRECTIONAL ethernet cable. Cause, you know, zeroes and ones can only go ONE way; god forbid you let an ethernet cable transfer digital data BOTH ways. The horror!

    People are so easily duped, it makes me vomit with rage.

    1. They are referring to silicon chips for amplification, of which there is a massive diversity in terms of quality..

      People are so easily duped..

    2. Really uninformed comment, Kirudub.

      There are massive differences the quality of audio interface designs. And comparing this to an Ethernet cable – which is only transmitting digital signals, is plain ignorant.

      It also sounds like you didn’t take time to even watch the video! It might make sense to take the time to understand what you comment on, in the future, so that you won’t have to ‘vomit from rage’ because of your own lack of knowledge.

    1. No- they have a special audiophile periodic table of the elements with extra special Si on it!!!

      I would not buy anything from someone who uses the ridiculous adjective “bonkersly”.

  4. Cramming 2 analog inputs and a decent output stage, plus the tube stage, and a good digital frontend to the lot, it’s not impossible to get up to 5000$. Try buying these things separately in good quality equipment and you might end up paying more.

    1. I’d think that putting the tube in the same box would add back in most of the noise you get rid of by keeping the signal out of mechanical parts and high value resistors (the front panel parts he is talking about). Even using all the fanciest D/A and A/D chips plus a custom FPGA board $5000 sounds crazy to me. Maybe if you are only making 10, but if you are making at least a few hundred I’d say most of that is profit or going to development costs.

      snake oil, methinks.

      1. They’d better be both covering development costs, and profiting, or the business is unsustainable. It is expensive, but there are other products in the same range that I don’t think are considered snake oil. For example, Black Lion Audio makes a stereo ADC and a stereo DAC that cost $2k each. And they advertise these as “affordable, yet good-quality converters” and say “Certainly there are great two-channel systems available, but they are prohibitively expensive.” I don’t know what all goes into the price, but I think there are plenty of products at this price range or above.

        https://blacklionaudio.com/product/sparrow-mk2-adc-2/

  6. 5k for a 2i/2o is preposterous. Regardless of how transparent they claim the sound is, no one listening to your music isn’t going to know unless you point it out to them. This is about as wanky as a Ponyo player & I imagine the same type of person would be interested in both.

  7. It’s mind boggling how we are watching a video about the apex of audio interfaces, filmed by some very clever people who you’d expect know their shit, but then the audio quality of this video is absolutely atrocious.
    It’s like someone with greasy hair trying to do a video on how amazing their shampoo is.
    How much trouble is it to stick a mic through that thing and record the guy talking, send the file over via email and sync it up with the video?
    We are all so effin immersed into all this amazing technology, but we just never seem to use it.

  9. MH ULN-2. with the 3d upgrade this year, why even bother with half-baked, soon obsolete hardware. it’s the best quality/paradigm/workflow combo i know of. use the extra dough (that you saved by getting better conversion) on a culture vulture or sumfin’ proper for dist. of course i bet this thing looks cool in your dorm room if you got money to blow, but bling gear does not equal production.

  11. Oh my. So i guess better chips and a few Tubes cost about 4.000 more than the bad ones that they put in 1000 euro interfaces. I am sure that in an objective behind a curtain test no one will hear a difference. Not even the maker of this Bionic interface. But as always some people need to have things only a few can afford to feed their insecurity and ego. I haven`t met one musician or producer who has fun in life, which wouldn`t find this a bit too much. But what do they know

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