CEntrance “Bouncer” Recording Mixer

Five stereo ins for your synths, stereo out, a beefy headphone amp – all analog – along with a micro SD card recorder

CEntrance makes high quality, very small, specialized audio products. Last year we reviewed their DACport Pro, which is an outputs-only audio interface/high quality headphone amp, and it’s impressive.

Their latest, called Bouncer, is unique. It’s an analog mixer with five stereo ins, stereo out, presumably a headphone amp on par with the ones in their other units, and – get this – a built-in micro SD card recorder. The whole thing is tiny.

As you can see in the release below, one of the applications they had in mind for it is musicians with a few synths. They’re also calling it a summing mixer, an interesting application.

Burbank, CA — October 12, 2022 — At Synthplex, CEntrance will debut Bouncer™, a super-compact 10-channel line mixer with an integrated digital recorder. The new handheld audio device fills an important gap for synth performers, DJs, and live musicians, who need to mix several stereo sources and easily record the mix to the SD card. Bouncer is designed to save space with its miniature footprint. The new product offers pristine sound quality and is ideal for synth jams or live performance on a smaller stage, where using a traditional large mixer or a music computer is not practical due to space constraints. Great for DAW-less jamming, Bouncer offers CEntrance’s “One-touch recording” feature, letting the user instantly record the stereo mix to a micro SD card without using a computer workstation. 

CEntrance, a company known for its work with top Hollywood artists and producers, has been perfecting design miniaturization for years. Bouncer employs high-scale component integration and packs a large number of features into an aluminum chassis the size of a cellphone.  The small 10-channel mixer and stereo recorder unit is perfect for performing within constrained gear setup configurations and provides studio-quality sound.

Designed for live performance, Bouncer features quick and intuitive operation. It uses tactile analog controls, is laid out logically, and can be accessed without looking, which is important for a busy musician running several synths, groove boxes, and samplers simultaneously. To help survive the stress of a live show Bouncer is made of tough, yet lightweight aluminum. It purposely avoids distracting screens or complicated menus to help the performer focus on the music.

Bouncer makes it easy to record a high-quality stereo mix onto the SD card. Recording quality is fixed at 24-bit/48kHz for simplicity. SD cards with up to 256GB of memory can be used, which translates to over 10 days of continuous 24-bit recording, guaranteeing that you will have plenty of recording room on a standard SD card. Bouncer includes a loud audiophile headphone amp and a line-level output for monitoring over headphones or speakers. Thanks to its camera-style mount, Bouncer can easily clamp to a desk, a music stand or a keyboard stand, drum hardware, etc. Power comes from any standard USB charger or power bank via USB-C. A helpful “through” jack passes USB power to other devices. CEntrance also offers other portable production tools, including a separate mic preamp, a compressor, and an EQ in a similar space-saving, modular form factor — these audio devices can be patched to work together.

“Bouncer is great for jamming in small spaces. As a live headphone mixer, it helps you dial in your perfect sound. As a portable recorder, it lets you quickly save the stereo mix of your performance to an SD card,” says Michael Goodman, CEntrance Founder. “We designed Bouncer to be easy to use. Now you can remove the computer from your setup, simplifying your rig and letting you choose music over menus.”

Bouncer will be available in December 2022 for $599.99 USD. Offering a simple and robust way to improve audio quality, Bouncer is ideal for Keyboard players, Synth enthusiasts, DJs, Beatmakers, drummers, and others who jam live. 

More info on Bouncer here: https://centrance.com/bouncer