Superbooth 22: Befaco AC/DC for those who are about to rock their rack
4,3 / 5,0 | 
Ok, it’s more about being AC and DC coupled than thundering guitars. The Befaco AC/DC module can connect CV and audio to your DAW for some rockin’ recording and modulation.
AC/DC
AC/DC is a class-compliant DC-coupled audio interface built on the Rebel Technology OWL platform. You could see it as a more compact and simpler version of the Expert Sleepers ES8 but with hidden superpowers. It offers 4-channels of audio or CV signals into and out of your DAW but it can also load patches from the Rebel Tech OWL library turning it into an awesome modulator, oscillator or effect unit in its own right.
What’s great about AC/DC is that you can run 4-channels of control voltage from your DAW directly into your Eurorack over USB. This could be modulations from Bitwig Studio, or CV Tools in Ableton Live, or signals from Reaktor Blocks, VCV Rack or the Silent Way plugins. You could use your iPhone as a drum trigger sequencer, or touch-based modulation device with the right apps. Alternatively, you could run the audio output of software instruments or drum machines into your rack.
Going back the other way you could use AC/DC for capturing a multi-channel live performance or routing through software effects. You could also sequence software instruments and modulate from your hardware modules.
Connections
You connect it up via the rather ugly looking USB port on the front, but at least it’s convenient. When they say “class-compliant” that means it doesn’t require any drivers for macOS, Windows or iOS, making it really easy to install. That also means that it probably doesn’t have ASIO drivers and so it will be interesting to see how well in works in terms of latency in DAWs running on Windows.
It’s also going to be interesting to see the OWL platform in action and how easy it is to load presets from the library.
Superbooth
Befaco will be showing this module and the recently released DivKid Stereo Strip on booth Z190.
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3 responses to “Superbooth 22: Befaco AC/DC for those who are about to rock their rack”
Haha Robin, you’re really not a fan of USB ports on front panels, are you? (the Aurora’s being annoying, this one ugly) Any particular reason apart from appearance? I always think it’s a lot more useful than having them on the back…
It’s just an ugly port in an otherwise beautiful space. USB-C would be nicer and if it’s just for occasional firmware updates then stick it on the back. For the AC/DC, it needs to be always accessible so we’ll have to live with it.
I agree regarding USB-C, wish more manufacturers would use it.