TAC-2 Two Channel Thunderbolt Interface

In today's world, speed is everything. The blazingly fast Zoom TAC-2 interface uses the latest Thunderbolt technology for ultra-low latency and the ultimate in high-quality audio, up to 24-bit/192kHz. Lightweight and portable, the TAC-2 is also easy to use, with a single large rotary knob controlling all parameters.


Thunderbolt: The ultimate in high-speed connectivity
More than twice as fast as USB 3.0-not to mention twenty times faster than USB 2.0 and twelve times faster than Firewire 800-Thunderbolt is the interconnection technology of the future. Co-developed by Apple and Intel Labs, it allows signal to be transferred at an incredibly fast 10 gigabits per second, which means virtually no latency.* Thunderbolt interfaces such as the TAC-2 are also unaffected by computer jitter (slight variations in timing), so there's no need to connect an external master clock source.

The TAC-2 performs 4-times upsampling during both analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion. In other words, when the sampling frequency is set to 44.1kHz or 48kHz, the TAC-2 processes the signal at high resolution 176.4kHz or 192kHz. For A/D conversion, this means less aliasing noise; for D/A conversion, this means increased clarity and fidelity.

* Latency time in the TAC-2 is just 4.17 msec round trip when operating at a 44.1kHz sampling rate with a 64 sample buffer size.


The Ins and Outs
The Thunderbolt port on the rear panel carries digital signal to and from your computer as well as carrying power to the TAC-2. Two combo XLR/TRS inputs are provided for the connection of mic- and line-level signals, and there's a handy Hi-Z (high impedance) unbalanced input on the front panel for direct connection of passive electric guitars and basses using a standard ¼" guitar cable. The TAC-2 also offers two balanced TRS output jacks which allow you to connect the TAC-2 to your monitors, as well as a dedicated ¼" stereo headphone jack.

The TAC-2's single rotary control knob is used to set input, output and headphone levels and to provide +48 volts of phantom power to the selected input, allowing you to use the TAC-2 with any kind of microphone, from low-cost dynamics to expensive studio-quality condensers. Seven-position LEDs show continuous signal strength as well as input/output overload clipping.


Zoom TAC-2 MixEfx
TAC-2 MixEfx is a free Macintosh application designed specially for the TAC-2. With TAC-2 MixEfx, you can set mix parameters and add high-quality effects such as reverb and echo. Other features include a low cut filter, phase reverse, AUTO GAIN control for each input. There's also a LOOPBACK function that allows you to blend the input signal and playback signal for zero latency. TAC-2 MixEfx has three memory slots for saving user settings with quick recall.