Yes, $2995. Not a typo! :-)
Working on getting the rear panel pic to upload.
Metering is small on the front panel, large enough in the software. I find the front panel great just for getting signal right, though. It will do the job when setting up tracking levels.
The track counts are 32 i/o via USB on a Mac up to 48K for ADA. 16 ch at 96K, 8 ch at 192K. However, on the PC with our ASIO driver, it should be 32 ch at 192K. We're hoping Apple will update their packet transfers for audio over USB (not holding our breath). Otherwise, there is a limitation of the "full" potential on a Mac.
As for MADI, which has up to 64 ch, you can link a 2nd Orion for 64 ch up to 48K, 32 ch at 96k, etc etc. So, the idea about buying a MADI card to use with one or two of these is indeed a good one, although our USB worked well in my tests and what issues I did have are being corrected already.
The good news about using USB is that the unit will work with about everything and we expect it to even work with an iPad using a camera connection kit. Probably other pads too, for that matter...
As for the color to transparency question. I use an Eclipse, which I find to be the most transparent thing I've tried. That also held up in tests at Capitol and WB Mastering. The Orion has more "balls" for lack of a better term. It's VERY musical sounding and I think strikes a perfect chord for tracking, mixing and production in general. I even ran some masters through it and I plan to continue to do so on projects when I get back as a "playback/transfer" dac.. It's thick, but yet very clean in the mid-range and tonally articulate. (guitars, piano, synths sound especially great. I spent 5 hours just going through my old 70's and 80's music and haven't enjoyed listening to music this much in years!) I'd still rather monitor with an Eclipse when mastering and I love the monitor routing on it, as well...
I was telling Igor last night that it feels like the early days all over again when I just started hearing Antelope clocks. Like a new era just began. Can't wait to get these under the tree for some folks. ETA to ship is December.