Even though David Muniz swung by to show us the new M-Audio Fast Track Ultra, let's get into the nuts and bolts of it. It's a high speed, USB 2.0 interface with eight ins and outs that really takes the Fast Track series into the lane left of the fast lane. Apparently it's called the "shoulder," and you can't "drive on it," or they'll "revoke your license."

It also features the MX Core DSP mixer and four preamps with Octane technology. That might sound fancy, but what do these do?

The MX Core mixer uses an array of eight individual DSP cores to provide near-zero latency as well as a matrix for advanced routing options. An intuitive control panel uses a separate mixer for each output pair.

The Octane preamp technology delivers high gain without all the noise. They also include +48V phantom power, signal / peak LED indicator lights, and a pull out gain that triggers a 20dB pad.

Other notable mentions include S/PDIF digital I/O a 1x1 MIDI interface, and two independent headphone outputs.