Showing posts with label sentry wireless headphones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sentry wireless headphones. Show all posts

Blue Microphones Yeti Pro USB Condenser Microphone, Multipattern

Blue Microphones Yeti Pro USB Condenser Microphone, Multipattern
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: $229.00
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  • Three custom condenser capsules and four different polar pattern settings: Cardioid, Stereo, Bidirectional and Omnidirectional
  • Cutting-edge A-D converter chip and separate analog circuit path for use with professional studio mixers and preamps
  • Built-in headphone amplifier for zero-latency monitoring, and direct controls for headphone volume, pattern selection, mute, and microphone gain
  • 15 Hz-22 kHz frequency response
  • 192 kHz/24 bit Sample/Word

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I'm a musician and singer/songwriter who has recorded in home studios of varying quality and price for years. I currently have a Pro Tools setup on my main music computer but I bought the Yeti Pro because I wanted an easy, portable solution to use with Garageband on my laptop in order to record parts with other musicians on various songs. I have to confess I was skeptical about the quality of a USB mic, but after using it tonight, I may not ever go back to my analog mics. I recorded vocals and acoustic guitar directly from the mic to my laptop with no preamp and the sound is crisp, clear, and brilliant, and captures the nuance in my vocal performance as well over the complete spectrum.* It's also heavy and solid feeling, and gorgeous to boot. If you don't need a professional recording, this mic is probably pricey and not necessary. But for professional podcasters and particularly recording musicians, I can't recommend this mic more, and it's a steal at this price.

PS -this is the first time I've ever been compelled to post a review about ANYTHING. It's that good, folks.

*Note that I'm a female singer with fairly limited range.

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This is the best USB mic ever made. The quality is outstanding. Some people say it doesn't sound any different then the orginal Yeti, and I thought that too when I first used it. But then I went to my Mic settings (on Win 7) and I found out the mic was being limited to 48Hz 16 Bit ! I quickly changed it to 96Hz 24 Bit and the difference hit me. It sounds perfect, the exact way my voice sounds. The only thing I don't like is that you need other software for it to work. So I can't just bring it to all my frinds' house and just plug it in to use it. But it is an exceptional mic. If you have the money I highly recommend it.

UPDATE 10/31/12

I've had this microphone for about 18 months now, and I couldn't be happier with it. I have noticed a lot of negative reviews complaining about a "gain" issue. Blue recognized this problem and offered replacements. That was a while ago, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with it today. My mic works wonders when the gain is at 40%. One thing I have noticed is that recordings may have some crackles if you plug the mic into a USB hub that has too many things connected to it. The mic demands a lot of power, and shouldn't be used when other powerful USB devices are connected to you computer (e.g HD webcams, other USB mics, ect.).

Read Best Reviews of Blue Microphones Yeti Pro USB Condenser Microphone, Multipattern Here

A lot of people might look at the price of this microphone and get put off, but they'd make a mistake in doing so. If you are a musician, podcaster, or simply looking for great quality for your vocals, instruments, or whatever sound you want captured, the Blue Yeti Pro will more than do the job.

I'd like to start out by saying the sound quality on this microphone is simply amazing. It easily dwarfs any other USB mic before it, and can even compete with some professional condenser studio mics made by Neumann or Rodes. It's hard to believe this mic is an improvement from the original Yeti, but it is, and by at least 4 times, based on my personal estimation. For $250 this mic can't be beat. You get features in this mic you'd need at least 5 mics for. Oh, and did I mention it's also an audio interface that plays back at a 24-bit, 192khz sampling rate through the headphone port? And it sounds much better than it would on your laptop headphone port. This mic is fantastic and I recommend to anyone looking to do professional work at home.

Update:

For those of you disappointed in the audio quality of the Blue Yeti Pro I have some tips. First and foremost I would like you inform you that the Blue Yeti Pro is a flat response microphone. When you record you're not gonna get any sort of coloration to your input. You should be getting clean, clear, noise free audio. If not you have a defective microphone and I suggest getting it exchanged.

Now that we have that out of the way I'd like o give you tips on how to get a nice, rich, studio quality sound. Here's tip 1: Add gain. Tip 2: Compress. Tip 3: Equalize. Tweak until it sounds pleasant to your ears. Believe me, once you mess with the sound it will be a whole lot better. That's how I know the Blue Yeti Pro is a good microphone. Good microphones do not color your audio.

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I'm writing this to help save time for those looking to get a pro level USB mic as I spent quite a bit of time reading reviews (amazon and pro music reviews) listening to mic shootouts and leg work on USB microphones so I though I would see if I can help others save some time. I'm a bit retentive when it comes to my audio gear. I spent 10 years looking for the perfect studio monitors and finally found a slice of heaven in the ADAM s3A's.

Beware the negative reviews as it looks as though they could be user error. Im using on a mac and both mics were flawlessly plug and record nothing to do at all.

I have a professional recording studio and consider my 20 years of listening experience worthwhile in doing an unbiased review.

My goal was to find a usb microphone able to perfectly capture vocals and instruments without adding color (anything but the pure sound) to use with my ipad for audio work.

Microphones and monitors are very subjective in my opinion . Different people like the way different gear sounds. I was simply looking for sonic clarity and depth.

I settled on the Blue Yeti Pro and the MXL 009 and bought them both. I surmised these were the two top picks (based on user and pro reviews) out of the 5 or so at the top including the non pro yeti.

This is my first time owning a blue or MXL mic. I have a couple of Shure ksm44's and a few Neumanns

I ran a series of comparisons between the Yeti Pro, THe MXL 009 and my goto in the studio which is the ksm44 running through an Avalon ad2022 pre through an RME Fireface UFX into an 2011 Imac. I used two sets of headphones and my monitors to listen to the audio recorded. As set of audio technica m50s, and a pair of Sony MDR7509's and the s3a's. I recorded vocals, shakers and tuning forks at both 48k 16bit and 24bit 96k sample rates to see if it made a difference. It does make a difference but its slight and if you were making a song you probably couldn't tell in the mix. If you were doing a podcast or talkshow you woud notice slightly richer deeper clarity with the 96k 24bit setting.

The results were very surprising to me mostly because I was blown away that a $300 microphone can compete with 7K in studio gear. I think I need to tell Toto were not in Kansas anymore. Rating scale 10 = amazing 1=Sucks

The Yeti Pro If you are looking to get just one mic then this is your pick because of its feature set. Its built like a tank. Has the 4 different switching options which is very useful for getting different sounds. You could put it on a table for an interview and hear both people as an example. Also has standard xlr out, could be nice if you want to use it with standard gear. The stereo out is a nice feature (unless you want mono).

Features = 10

Easy of Use = 10 quick adjustments of gain and are forgiving if your not spot on.

Set up = 10 ( I literally just plugged it in and selected it in logic pro used to record the audio)

Sound Quality = 8 The MXL009 was a bit more transparent and honest with the sound.

Accessories = 9 desk stand is rock solid and cool looking

Look and Feel = 8 Very nice looking and solid feeling but kinda bulky. Sexy sitting on the desk if you care. They get -2 points as the Blue logo was slightly off level which most people probably would not or could not notice. (retentive)

The MXL 009 If you want the best sounding Mic and dont care about the rest this is your mic.

Features = 7 (lack of traditional xlr out limits to digital use)

Easy of Use = 7 You need to get your gain levels set prior to using or you will get pops and clicks in your audio. This could be a bummer if you just did a big long take and now have to edit to remove a few clicks. Set your gains and you will be without issue. ( would be nice if they had a clipping indicator on the mic since this is such a big issue). Maybe they will correct it with a soft or firmware update.

Set up = 10 ( I literally just plugged it in and selected it in logic pro used to record the audio)

Sound Quality = 10 The MXL009 was a bit more transparent and honest with the sound. It is really a beautifully accurate mic.

Accessories = 9 desk stand is rock solid but not as cool looking as the yeti. Its a basic stand. It comes with a cool metal case if you travel with your mics.

Look and Feel = 9 Very nice looking and solid feeling. The blue led is a nice touch to show its connected

The verdict is that they all sound amazing. If you were not doing a sise by side A/B you would miss the subtle differences. The Shure has a slight lead for overall sound but the MXL009 is not far behind and the Yeti pro is right up there with them. Its not quite as good sonically but as far as getting bang for your buck the yeti pro is an amazing choice for everything you get for less than $300. Unbelievable! My hats off to both companies for such great products.

I am keeping them both unfortunately as they are that great for different reasons.

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First of all, I just want to say that this mic is definitely amazing. I will keep this as short and precise as possible.

PROS:

USB and XLR capabilities

4 pattern polar selector

Triple condensor capsule

microphone input jack

CONS:

Slightly heavy weight

Slightly flimsy pattern and gain knob

In regards to the gain being too low once the mic is put into the DAW, for some reason the great people at Blue had made the factory setting for the microphone gain to input at -23 dB. That is so low the vocals are barely audible. The only way to fix this (on a Mac) is to go into the UTILITIES under Finder and select the MIDI APP. Once in there select the input and output options and turn the MASTER VOLUME all the way to normal or 1. This should fix the problem on the Mac, there should be a similar solution to PC I will check and see shortly.

Hope this review helps!

Hot Wires PC1817TRS Balanced Patch Cables - Right Angled

Hot Wires PC1817TRS Balanced Patch Cables - Right Angled
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
List Price: $30.99
Sale Price: $17.99
Today's Bonus: 42% Off
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  • Vibrant easy color coded design
  • TRS (Tip-Ring-Sleeve) balanced connections
  • Comes 8 to a pack
  • 17 Inches in length
  • Lifetime Warranty

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Wonderful product at a wonderful price. I use these patch cables on my pedal board, which I don't move around too much, or I should say, don't swap the pedals around, so they are seldom disconnected then reconnected. I haven't had a single issue whatsoever. I love the color options, so I can chose whatever color I feel like. Great product at a great price.

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They look well made. I can't give it 5 stars because I only have'em for a month or so, and can't attest as to its reliability. But the price was more than right.

Shure EAORF2-10L Large Foam Sleeves (10 Included/5 Pair) for E2c, SE102MPA, i2c & QuietSpot Earphon

Shure EAORF2-10L Large Foam Sleeves for E2c, SE102MPA, i2c & QuietSpot Earphones
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $15.49
Today's Bonus: 23% Off
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  • Includes 5 pairs of Orange Foam Sleeves (Large).
  • For E2c, SE102MPA, i2c, and QuietSpot models.
  • Legendary Shure quality to withstand the rigors of everyday use.

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I use these replacement buds on my Meelectronics M6 and they fit perfectly. You simply put them on the headphones, squeeze, and quickly fit it in your ear and they expand. They don't fall out and are extremely comfortable. With the perfect seal, you will basically get excellent sound isolation as well as deeper bass. These are great for working out/regular use.

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Why...are these soooo overpriced? It's not Amazon. A search for replacements brought me to the SURE Online store and they were $20 there! I understand paying a lot for the headphones with engineering and all, but how much r&d went into a tube wrapped in foam?

Low stars for shure.

Read Best Reviews of Shure EAORF2-10L Large Foam Sleeves (10 Included/5 Pair) for E2c, SE102MPA, i2c & QuietSpot Earphon Here

the foam pads for my shure earphones where old and worn out putting these new ones on made them feel and sound like new. Must have! I took 2 stars away because they are a over-charging. They are nothing but little pieces of foam, and are charging $20 for them? come on!

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Good sound isolation and fit if you're using e2s or e2cs these are better than the neoprene sleeves. Get the proper size for your ear canals, give 'em a squeeze and stick 'em in helps if you give the top of your ear a little tug when you do it. The foam expands and blocks outside noise sufficiently, but not entirely. After you get used to them you don't even know they're there. They'll get a little nasty eventually; just pull them off the phones and clean them in a little hot water and they'll last for months.

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It's amazing how many of these we go through each month but they're the best! The product was delivered right when we needed it.

Johnson RepTone 15 Studio Practice Guitar Amplifier

Johnson RepTone 15 Studio Practice Guitar Amplifier
Customer Ratings: 3 stars
List Price: $129.99
Sale Price: $125.00
Today's Bonus: 4% Off
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  • The Johnson JA-015 Reptone Amplifier combines style, power, and performance for an unbeatable value! Each amp is packed in a rugged green shell with a specially designed metal grill and deep cone placement for more prominent presence and tone.
  • This amp is an impressively loud 15 watts. It comes with a 3-band EQ to give it a wider tonal variety as well as an overdrive switch with gain control for that added punch!
  • Power: 15 Watts RMS; 36 Watts Peak; 6.5" Speaker
  • Equalization: 3 Band EQ
  • Inputs: 1/4" Input Jack; 1/4" Headphone Jack and 1/4" Footswitch Input; Overdrive Switch, Gain Control

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I got this little amp a couple of years ago, when I wanted to get myself an electric guitar for Christmas. It's okay for country but it does not have a decent overdrive tone. I am upgrading to a small Marshal or Fender soon.

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Novation Laptop Bag Soft Carry Bag for 2-Octave 25-Key Novation Keyboard and Laptop

Novation Laptop Bag Soft Carry Bag for 2-Octave 25-Key Novation Keyboard and Laptop
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
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  • Sized to fit most 25 key Synthesizers or MIDI controllers, will also fit most 2U and 1U products, such as Focusrite's Saffire PRO.
  • Optional divide provides a cushioned compartment, ideal for headphones.
  • Laptop space able to house a 17" laptop (without using protective sleeve)
  • Handle and shoulder strap provided as standard.
  • 18.1 in wide x 11.6 in tall x 4.3 in deep, in black and gray

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For the price, this is a great bag. The Novation fits perfectly in one of the main pockets, and it's nice to have the laptop sleeve to hide away a laptop in the other main pocket. I wish the strap were a little heavier duty and that there would be more padding throughout the bag to protect the contents better, but if I were that concerned, I'd have bought a hardshell case or heavier bag for much, much more.

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Pyle Home PHBT35 Stereo Bluetooth Streaming Wireless Headphones with Answer Calls and Built-In Micr

Pyle Home PHBT35 Stereo Bluetooth Streaming Wireless Headphones with Answer Calls and Built-In Microphone, Black
Customer Ratings: 3 stars
List Price: $49.99
Sale Price: $40.25
Today's Bonus: 19% Off
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I bought this headset to use with a bluetooth transmitter CLEAR SOUNDS CS-QLINK Stereo TV Transmitter/Bluetooth Dongle but it just won't pair with that device.

It does pair fine with multiple computers and my phone (Droid Maxx).

Pros:

They are fairly comfortable (the reason I bought them

Wide range of volume up to too darn loud

Controls are convenient and intuitive

Cons:

The biggest thing I don't like is there are notification tones that don't seem to be controlled by the volume control. So if you have them on when they pair with a device or you hit the "dial" button it blasts its notification.

The sound quality is somewhat disappointing. It's not as bad as AM radio but also nowhere near FM let alone CD. If you're looking for high quality music, spend more money.

I'm keeping them even though they don't work for the app I bought them. I do enough teleconferencing for work and I like them for phone calls.

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Peavey Peavey KB 2 50W Keyboard Amp

Peavey Peavey KB 2 50W Keyboard Amp
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: $329.99
Sale Price: $279.99
Today's Bonus: 15% Off
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  • Biamped 45 watts and 12 watts
  • 4 separate channels - Channels 1 & 2 have 1/4" inputs
  • Channels 1 & 2 have 1/4" inputs - Channel 3 features XLR and 1/4" inputs
  • Channel 3 features XLR and 1/4" input
  • Headphone out - Channel 3 features XLR and 1/4" inputt

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Keep in mind that this is designed to be a keyboard amp. It produces a sound that is much "cleaner" than a guitar amp, but not quite as "clean" as the tone of a good P.A. amp. That said, it works great for my digital piano, and would also be a great amp for amplifying most acoustic instruments. For the money, it's a pretty big, powerful, loud amp. It's also a Peavey, not some generic off-brand amp. My Roland cube 30 amps are slightly cheaper, less than half the size, and produce a slightly "cleaner" tone, but they are not as loud as this amp, cannot reproduce the deep bass that this one can, and do not have quite as many features.

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excellent piece of amp, best of it all, it has output to hook up with our mixer, and its power and sound are all good.

ART USB Phono Plus

ART USB Phono Plus
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
List Price: $99.00
Sale Price: $79.00
Today's Bonus: 20% Off
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I've been monkeying with the Artcessories USB Phono Plus for about 10 days now. I bought it for the primary purpose of recording some LP records to my laptop. My ultimate goal was to make CDs and decent MP3s from my old vinyl. In combo with Audacity (free audio editing tool) and my Project turntable, this ARTcessories product has worked extremely well in every respect. I have not yet found a single shortcoming with this solid and portable little box.

A few things you should know:

1. This is a stand-alone phono pre-amp. It will RIAA adjust for phono before sending audio to your computer via USB. THIS IS GREAT FOR LAPTOPS -most laptops have only a mono microphone in miniplug that's pretty much good for nothing!

2. You could use this box as nothing more than a phono pre-amp. It has RCA inputs for phono AND a ground screw. Cool, huh? At $100 it would be a good deal if it did nothing more than that. I loop from the Phono Plus back into a Marantz receiver and then listen through some fairly decent Wharfedale speakers. I'd say that sound quality is every bit as good as the phono stage built into my Marantz.

3. This device allows you to monitor the phono input (or other input) either by means of a stereo miniplug connection or by way of a pair (L and R) of RCA outs. You could hook up typical PC speakers or subwoofer sytems to this box if you don't want to loop out to a stereo amp. You can also listen to the Phono Plus with headphones. The Phono Plus has a gain knob to ontrol output level. This is critical for headphone listening as well as for making good captures in Audacity.

4. This device will take input from line level RCA, digital toslink, digital coax, as well as from phono sources. Crazy, huh? I plan on using this box to record some local radio and TV audio by connecting it to either my tuner or by putting it where a cassette recorder would normally fit in a tape loop.

All in all, what a great toy! There is so much you can do with this unit. I've really only scratched the surface (no vinyl pun intended). I've been playing with this thing and talking about results and LP recording experiments at shiromaguro.com. See my work there. With a clean LP, I have found that recordings through the Phono Plus captured by Audacity can be ripped to CD or MP3 with no editing at all(except for maybe chopping big grabs into tracks). Sound qulaity of the product WAV or MP3 files is great.

Installation and setup are really non-issues here. Plug it in and connect all the cables. It just works.

Bottom line: if you want to grab vinyl to your PC laptop or to a PC that lacks a good sound card (one with stereo inputs) this is a great way to go. In a few weeks of shopping for my solution, I found nothing else comparable.

Why not 5 stars? My mistake. I should have given this unit 5 stars. Then again, I personally never read 5-star reviews....

Ultimately, I hope that this product will make it easy for lots of people to make some cool and unique MP3s, not just the usual CD rip stuff. Seriously, this product could single-handedly be responsible for the digitization of piles of old analog material that would otherwise be left to fade from existence. Personally I have made it a point to find out which of my old records never made it to CD --those are the ones that get digitized first!

Bravo to ART for a great product.

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My goal: to convert vinyl records into CDs.

After looking at the available USB turntables, I realized my old Technics linear tracking turntable is way better than any of them. So the solution for me was to buy a USB interface, which, it turns out, means a USB phono preamp.

I did some comparison shopping before buying the ART Phono Plus 2. There are a couple of similar products. One in particular has good specs. It claims USB 2.0, whereas the Phono Plus 2 only claims USB 1.1.

However, that unit made no claim to having a monitor output, whereas the Phono Plus has quite a nice monitor interface. In particular, it lets you monitor the sound coming right off the preamp. This is necessary if you want to do any manual fading when recording, because the sound coming out the computer speakers has at least a 2 second delay from what's coming off the needle.

The Phono Plus has a screw connection for the phono ground. Neither of the other units mentioned having this. On my turntable, leaving the ground wire floating creates a large amount of 60Hz hum in the output.

Finally, although the ART is the most expensive of the three, almost twice the cost of the second, and three times that of the third, I found absolutely no reviews of any kind of the other two, whereas the ART has been reviewed extensively, both by customers and magazines. And everyone, including me, loves it.

This is a well-built unit, from a durability standpoint, definitely not a cheap piece of junk. Ergonomically, it has some down points, as well as some good ones.

Plusses:

. Monitor allows routing from the preamp, from the USB, or both. (The rationale for the "both" setting is that you will never be playing a record and a digital sound file at the same time, so it allows you to hear either without having to change the switch setting.)

. There is a block diagram of the internal signal routing on the bottom of the unit, which could prove valuable if it is used portably.

. The unit will run off USB power when hooked to a desktop computer. For portable laptop operation, plugging in the A/C power adapter (included) overrides USB power, preventing drain on laptop batteries.

Minuses:

. Gain control has too small a diameter to be easily moved small amounts, like you need to do in the Level Setting Wizard in Spin-It-Again.

. Jacks and ports on the back are labeled either in pine green or purple. All are virtually illegible. I had to use a magnifying glass and a flashlight to see where to hook up my turntable to it.

It's hard to read the Phono/Line and Rumble Filter In/Out labels. But each has a light that lights up when the button is pressed, so at least you can easily tell what state the button is in, even if you can't tell what it means.

I was very surprised that in a unit this expensive, no USB cable was included. It requires the "printer" type, with a square connector on the preamp end and a flat rectangular connector on the computer end.

With my computer powered on, I plugged in the USB cable from the Phono Plus. Lights on the preamp lit up! In a couple of minutes, everything was magically configured. I didn't have to do or install anything.

However, as I discovered later, this process "broke" my computer speakers. No sound would come out of them any more at all, from any source! I had to go into

Settings -> Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices, Audio tab, and change the Default Device back to my on-board sound. Hooking up the Phono Plus had changed this so all sound was routed through the USB back to the preamp! This includes the Windows startup music, and the "beep" that occurs when you hit a wrong key. (I am using Windows XP, the most basic Home Edition.)

When I was comparison shopping, I was unable to find the specs for this unit, even on the manufacturer's web site, so I thought I'd post them here.

Frequency Response: 10Hz 50kHz, +/0.5dB

THD: .01% Typical @ 1kHz

Hum and Noise: >90dB below clipping

Input Impedance: 47k Ohms/100pF (phono); 270k Ohms (line)

Maximum Input Level: 40mVrms @ 1kHz (phono); +19dBu (line)

Maximum Gain: 45dB @1kHz (phono); +6dB (line)

Analog Output Connections: RCA (preamp line output); 1/8" (monitor/headphone output)

Maximum Output Level: +6dBu (1.4Vrms)

Filter Type/Response: Switchable, High Pass, -3dB @ 22Hz

A/D & D/A: 16 bit, 44.1kHz or 48kHz, USB selectable

Digital Audio Interface: TOSLINK in and out; S/PDIF coax (RCA) in

Computer Interface: USB 1.2 compliant, Windows 98SE or newer, Mac OS9.1 or newer

Power Requirements: 7-12VDC or 9-12VAC @ 150mA, or USB bus powered

Dimensions: 1.75"H x 4.2"W x 3.5"D (44.5mm x 107mm x 89mm)

Weight: 1.35 lbs. (0.61kg)

(Note: 0dBu = 0.775Vrms)

Additional spec-type information:

. Uses USB adaptive mode for playback and USB asynchronous mode for record.

. Preamp equalization is RIAA (although no spec or version number is given).

. Although I bought it to use with my turntable, it is also quite possible to digitize cassette tapes with it, using the Line inputs.

It comes with Audacity software on a CD-ROM.

Using the Phono Plus is extremely simple. Basically, hook up the two phono outputs and the phono ground wire. Hook up the USB cable to the computer.

At this point, fire up Spin-It-Again, hit Record A Vinyl LP, put a record on the turntable, and you're converting a record into a CD!

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I've tried digitizing LP's using Sound Cards, external sound cards, and this. No question, this thing produces the most warm, natural, noise-free sound and it's rediculously easy to use. The gain control is a big benefit better than any control on any sound card I've tried but it's the warm, full, natural sound that sold me on this thing.

Important to note that ART now sells USB Phone Plus v2 (V2 adds one very important feature volume control for your headphone monitor), and that is what was delivered to me when I ordered from the vendor listed here (Shoreline Music) even though what is pictured here is not the V2 product The differences are small basically it's the same housing, just an additional switch and volume control for your headphones but you'll want to be sure you're getting the latest product.

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I have a fairly large collection of classic rock and folk LP's. I have been wanting to transfer thier content to my computer and my mp3 player for some time. The ART USB audio interface is exactly what I needed.

I connected a high quality turntable/cartridge to the unit and was able to start ripping content immediately. I have stored content to my hard drive and my portable media player and am now enjoying these "forgotten treasures". The product has lived up to its marketing and I would recomend it to others wanting to digitize their analog audio media.

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My goal has always been to be able to transfer into digital format, all types of analog archives I had: vinyl, tapes, some DAT tapes, and even the audio part material I wanted to rescue from some old TV content I had on some old VHS tapes. And my constant frustration has always been the same: I had to settle with either one of the two only two options I could find in the market.

One was to go the simple way, connecting directly any of the audio equipment through the built in audio input of a computer and use its own built-in A/D converter to obtain the transfer. This method never left me satisfied because somehow at some point of this "chain" some quality of sound was alway lost (may be a stereo pin jack for the connection was not as good as using an RCA stereo cable; or bypassing a turntable through a home preamp/receiver in order to convert phono signal into line signal carried also some slight amount of sound deterioration may be just from the fact that middle priced average home equipment just works like that; or even the computer's own built-in A/D converter may not be the best quality available out there in the market).

So my other option if I wanted to insure best sound quality possible in carrying and converting the analog sound into digital, was having to go all the way to high end professional type of equipment sound cards or external interfaces, whose cost I found practically out of range for what I wanted to do; as besides the functions I needed, these type of devices usually also include a lot of other features that are useful only for musicians or studios (like XLR type inputs and outputs, mono channels, balanced, unbalanced, MIDI connections, bus through routhers ins and outs, etc.).

So, if you feel trapped in the same kind of crossroads and you are a type of user like me with those exact same needs I have, allow me to honestly and sincerely highly recommend you ART's USB PhonoPlus V2. Being very used to permanently purchase electronics and devices on the internet, to find out late that they don't work as expected and ending up always having to return them; while skeptical though still intrigued by the features this product declared, I risked to gave it a chance and purchased it to give it a try. And to my surprise it turned out to become one of those rare finds I run into only once in a while.

This product is a gem, and the cost/benefit of what you pay for versus what you get, I can say it's the best one I've ever found out there in the market.

It comes with exactly the types of inputs that you need for these types of tasks, not more, not less. There's dedicated line in, phono in, and even Toslink digital. And it shows (actually sounds!) that the manufacturer has picked really good components for the internal circuitry; as the sound you obtain when you digitally record in your computer, is a crystal perfect impeccable copy of whatever you can hear in the analog source that is reproduced.

The rest is all up to you in "post sound processing", depending on however you best like to do your own sound cleaning/restoration and using whatever best software suits you for your taste; but you can rest assure that at least the "raw master" digital sound format you will "capture" with this device will have nothing to envy to the one you could get using a high end recording facility.

I'd like to honestly commend the ART people for thinking, developing and putting out a product like this. Completely satisfied customer here.

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Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP Firewire Audio Interface

Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP Firewire Audio Interface
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: $349.95
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  • Onboard DSP chip powers the Virtual Reference Monitoring feature
  • 24 channels of I/O (16 In, 8 Out)
  • 2 award winning Focusrite mic-pres, 8 ADAT in, 6 analog out, SPDIF/Stereo in/out, MIDI in/out
  • 2 unique loop-back virtual channels for routing between software applications
  • Bundle: Xcite + Software Bundle, Ableton Live 7 Lite, and Focusrite Comp/Reverb/EQ/Gate VST/AU plugin

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I bought the Focusrite Saffire Pro24 DSP after months of meticulous research. I honestly believe this unit is not only perfect for my studio, but for everyone. I can't say anymore that hasn't already been said about Focusrite. Its top of the line professional quality. Period.

Its got no more latency than the best Firewire device out threre. Pre-amps are fantastic, headphone reference is great and setup is clean and easy. The software is very flexible and gives you complete control. The DSP effects are not the best I've heard, but I didn't buy this unit for the built in effects. I mainly bought the DSP for the second headphone jack (important if you have a recording room). The VRM is pretty nice. Its great for referencing certain frequencies that you other wise couldn't if you didn't have it. Again, not perfect, but definitely nice.

I would buy more than one of these units. Since I received it, my workflow hasn't hit a bump yet. I replaced my M-Audio Firewire 410, and I definitely notice the difference BIG time. The Saffire Pro 24 DSP rules the planet.

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Bought DSP version recently, and despite some reviews talking about rather high latency on this interface, my latency measurement result with CE_Latency program was about 8.5um round trip latency with 128 buffer size (11.5um round-trip latency with 256 buffer), which is which is usable for my purpose of simple recording w/o VST. FYI, CE_Latency program actually sends a pulse to the interface, then measures time it takes to receive return signal.

It uses Mix Control program (ver 2.2 now) to control Input mix, VRM, Reverb, Compressor, and works well with Windows7 64bit OS. It also worked fine on 2yr old Core2Duo laptop (windows XP, Cubase LE) with 256 buffer size. Curiously, on the laptop it drops recording (stops recording after a few minutes) if buffers larger than 256 were used. This is a little puzzling to me (sort of counter-intuitive since generally increasing buffer size is supposed to stabilize data flow..), but since it does work well with 256 buffer size, I am keeping it.

MixControl SW looked confusing at first with rather large set of functions (InputFX, VRM, routing, other DSP options), but with video instruction online (on their website) it was not hard to learn to use it.

Overall, it appears to be more advanced and more flexible than simpler interfaces (I have used Yamaha GO46 and Tascam 1641) and DSP Reverb/compressor is indeed quite useful with Zero-latency monitoring.

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I just received my Saffire DSP a couple days ago and have had a little time to put it through its paces. I haven't had a chance to record anything with it yet, but that will come soon, and I may update this review when I get to it.

So far, I used the Saffire as my audio interface in Cubase 5 to mix a 24/96 project with several heavy VSTi instruments and a vocal track, each one of them with a full compliment of VST effects. The audio interface that I had been using before, the Echo Gina 3G (a PCI card with a breakout box), was starting to choke heavily on all my tracks to the point that it would peg my CPU meter and refuse to play back, even with big sample buffer settings (2056+ samples). My Saffire DSP, on the other hand, handles the same project with ease with lower sample buffer settings, playing back without the audio even skipping. This made it a breeze to complete this project without having to wrestle with my hardware or down-sample to 24/48.

I am not sure if this is because of the actual hardware or just because the Focusrite drivers are so much better, but either way I am more than pleased. The VST effects that come with the Saffire are great for recording and laying down a vocal track. The Focusrite mixer seems to be extremely powerful with tons of options, though it will probably take me a while figure out exactly how everything works (signal routing, etc).

I couldn't be more pleased with this little box. I was between the Saffire and the MOTU Ultralite. I am very glad I went with the Saffire.

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I bought this about a year ago for use Ableton on my older iMac. It worked flawlessly although I don't really do much with it besides plug in a couple monitors and occasionally plug a bass into it.

A few months later I upgraded to a new computer and this time went the PC route. The box barely worked with my motherboard's firewire jacks which used the VIA chipset. After buying a separate SIIG card with the TI chipset (around $40) and changing to legacy firewire drivers on Windows 7 it worked fine -most of the time. However once or twice a day the audio driver would completely crash. Not a huge deal -I just open Control Panel and toggle my audio interface on and off which restarts the driver. I usually have to restart most music programs as well (Spotify, for example, pops up "There is a problem with your sound card" and won't work until you quit and re-launch). Ableton seems to work as soon as the driver is restarted. Sort of a hassle.

I installed windows 8 a few months ago and the drivers more or less imploded. The driver crashed every 20 seconds or so which basically meant it was impossible to use any audio program. In addition, they would completely freeze my computer every hour or so. WOW.

Focusrite just released updated drivers which have brought me back to where I was with Windows 7 -only crashes a few times a day. YAY!

UPDATE:

Version 3.0 of the drivers came out a few months ago which resolved most of the issues. The sound would occasionally start getting very distorted and glitchy so I would just have to restart the computer every day or so to fix it. At least I could run use my $500 studio monitors again!

I updated to version 3.1 of the drivers which were supposed to add Windows 8 compatibility. Instead, they added Windows 8 non-functionality. My computer seems to think there are no problems with the interface, but no sound comes out whatsoever. To make matters worse, rolling back to the previous driver didn't solve the issue. I've been without sound on my computer for a week now and have yet to figure out how to solve these issues. Oh well, at least I have headphones and an iPod.

UPDATE:

So... for some stupid reason I finally got sound working again by going to File > Load From Hardware in MixControl. Not sure why that did it but glad to have it back.

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Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP Firewire Audio Interface : is a great unit works perfect in my system ( I use OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard} ; the mixer it come with is very nice , but a little tricky , ones it's set up works fine .

I hope Focusrite make drivers for OS X 10.7 soon .