Pioneer HDJ-2000MK2 – new professional 50 mm monitor headphones with 5 Hz – 30 kHz and 3500 mW power

Headphones Pioneer HDJ-2000MK2
Headphones Pioneer HDJ-2000MK2

Company Pioneer presented professional novelty HDJ-2000MK250 mm dynamic monitor headphones with 5 Hz – 30 kHz sounds frequencies playback support, closed back acoustic architecture and 3500 mW max input power. Their impedance is 32 Ohms, sensitivity is 107 dB and mass is 298 g; cable is connected to only 1 of the cups, it is detachable; there are 2 wires in package : coiled one with 1.2 m length, which can be stretched to 3 m, and 1.6 m straight one; they both are connected to sound source via 1/8″ mini jack connector with gold-plated contacts. Headphones construction is foldable for convenient storage and carrying, they are supplied in 2 color variants : black and white.

Headphones Pioneer HDJ-2000MK2 folded in case
Headphones Pioneer HDJ-2000MK2 folded in case

Manufacturer tells about additional measures, taken for amplitude-frequency characteristic evening; earspads and headband are covered with soft material for comfortable wearing during long-time listening; additional comfort is provided by auto adjustment mechanism for users with different heads sizes. Package with Pioneer HDJ-2000MK2 headphones contains : case for protection from damage during storage and carrying, screw-on adapter to 1/4″ jack connector also with gold-plated contacts, warranty card and user’s guide.

Headphones are great, designed for professional use by DJs and have everything, needed for this : wide reproducible audio frequencies range, high maximal input power, good sensitivity and large membranes for high-quality basses reproduction. Their price corresponds to this : around 430 USD, for professional functions of Pioneer HDJ-2000MK2 it is not high, but for high-quality in-home sounds and music listening there is ability to buy much cheaper 40 or 50 mm monitor headphones with high enough characteristics.

LG X View LGK500DS – Android 6.0 smartphone with 2 displays, 2 GB of RAM, 4G LTE and 13 MP camera for 250 USD

Smartphone LG X View LGK500DS
Smartphone LG X View LGK500DS

Among unusual mobile devices there is a novelty appeared : LG X View LGK500DSAndroid 6.0 smartphone with 2 multi-touch In-Cell Touch displays ( 4.93″ – main with HD 1280 x 720 pixels resolution, and 1.76″ – additional with 520 x 80 pixels resolution ), 2 GB of RAM, 4G LTE and 13 MP main camera for 250 USD. It also has : 4-cores processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 MSM8916, working on 1.2 GHz frequency, graphical chip Adreno 306, 16 GB of on-board memory, Micro SD flash cards bay with 2 TB max size ( combined with port for second SIM card ) and 2 SIM cards slots. Smartphone can work in networks 2G ( GSM 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 ), 3G ( HSPA+ 42Mbps, B1, B2, B5 and B8 ) and 4G LTE ( CSFB B3, B7, B20 and B38 ) and supports GPS+A-GPS satellite navigation.

Smartphone LG X View LGK500DS
Smartphone LG X View LGK500DS

LG X View LGK500DS has 2 good for smartphones cameras : 13 MP main one and 8 MP frontal one with virtual flash, for which main screen acts like a flash. It supports wireless connections Wi-Fi ( 802.11 b/g/n, +Direct ) and Bluetooth 4.1 for remote data transfers and communications with other devices, without NFC support. On external panels of mobile device following can be found : Micro USB 2.0 port for connection to computer and battery charging, 1/8″ mini jack headphones and headsets connector, microphone and speaker, as well as power and volume control buttons. Battery charge is a 2300 mAh, which is a weak value for smartphones, device’s body is made from plastic, its sizes are 71.8 ( width ) x 142.6 ( height ) x 7.1 ( depth ) mm and mass is 120 g.

Smartphone LG X View LGK500DS
Smartphone LG X View LGK500DS

Package with LG X View LGK500DS contains : USB cable, recharger, warranty card and user’s guide; it is supplied in 4 color variants : white, black, pink and gold. All in all, smartphone has average characteristics for such price : it has large main screen, powerful system with 2 GB of RAM, instead of 1, as many close mobile devices have, support of 4G LTE and good cameras. There is need to note, that battery charge is quite small and there is ability to buy Windows and Android smartphones of LG and other manufacturers production with close characteristics for much smaller price.

Pioneer SE-MJ722 – 40 mm monitor headphones with 6 Hz – 40 kHz, microphone and 101 dB sensitivity for 68 USD

Monitor headphones Pioneer SE-MJ722
Monitor headphones Pioneer SE-MJ722

Company Pioneer released its new high-tech device SE-MJ72240 mm dynamic monitor headphones with 6 Hz – 40 kHz reproducible sounds frequencies range, microphone, closed back acoustic architecture and 101 dB sensitivity for 68 USD. Their impedance is 32 Ohms, maximal input power is 1000 mW, mass is 190 g; cable with 1.2 m length is mounted to both cups, in its volume control module mobile devices control button and microphone are built-in, it is connected to sound source via 1/8″ mini jack connector.

Each cup of Pioneer SE-MJ722 has only 1 driver, they have no active noise cancellation, but they have good external sounds isolation with use of air camera. Headphones are foldable for convenient carrying and storage, their wire is not detachable; magnets of drivers are produced with use of rare metals for high quality high frequencies sounds reproduction. Pioneer SE-MJ722 are released in 4 color variants : black, red, brown and white. Manufacturer tells about additional measures, implemented for amplitude-frequency characteristic evening; part of headband and earspads are covered with soft material for comfortable long-time listening.

Package with Pioneer SE-MJ722 headphones contains : warranty card and user’s guide. All in all, headphones are great : they have a great reproducible sounds frequencies range, good sensitivity and microphone, wherein their price is quite adequate to their characteristics. By these characteristics it can be seen, that they ‘ll fit to professional work with sound : in studios and on concerts, and for everyday high-quality music listening and films watching. There is also ability to say, that there are 40 mm monitor headphones with smaller price and lower technical characteristics and for approximately the same amount of money there is ability to buy 50 mm monitor headphones, providing better basses reproduction quality.

Pioneer Corporation – is a Japanese manufacturer of electronics, company was founded in 1938 year in Tokyo as service center for repair of radio and speakers. Currently this is one of the largest world wide corporations – producers of electronic devices; it participated in development of many electronics novelties, among them there are : cable TV, optical disks, DVD, plasma displays, Organic LED ( OLED ) displays and other devices. There is also need to note, that in the country of the rising Sun audio technics and electronics overall usually is developed and manufactured with high components and production quality.

80 km bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany with sleepless night before them

Morning begins, 6:49 a.m., bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Morning begins, 6:49 a.m., bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

Yesterday bicycles cross-country competitions Kirgishany 2016 were held on with 80, 60 and 5 ( for children ) km distances and categories men/women 18 – 29, 30 – 39, 40 – 49 and 50+, men/women novices 18+, juniors 16 – 18 and children. Start and finish were located on the territory of Green Cape sanatorium near Tavatuy lake, close to Novouralsk city in Sverdlovsk region. I rode to them from Polevskoy at Friday evening on the bicycle, yelding on day-time heat and weather forecasts with +10 – +15 degrees on Celsius night-time temperature, I did not take jacket with me and additional warm clothes. 51 km unhurried ride to Railway Station without load on the legs – is a good exercise before tomorrow’s competitions, heat, beauty, birds are singing around and asphalt sweeps around with cars; fast I arrived to city and moved to the North, periodically riding on the sidewalks, where roads are too narrow or transport stream is too intensive.

Morning, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Morning, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

On the way I met Natalya Martyanova, she walked with daughter : “Hi,” – “Hi,” – “What fate led you here?” – “I ride to Kirgishany,” – … : “Will you ride to them too?” – “No,” – “It seems, that you intended to go,” – “No,” ( “And do not force me” :-) ) – “Will you ride to Tavatuy this way?” – “No, if I’ll come in time to train, then I’ll ride on it, if no, then – yes,” – “Ok, go on, hurry up, good by,” – “Good by.” Arrived to RS with time reserve, to say softly : I do not ride too often on the trains and did not bought in ticket window in Station ticket itself; already in the train I asked controllers how much trip to Murzinka village with bicycle ‘ll cost : “Don’t you have it already?!” – “Yes, this is so,” – “Then you’ll have to pay box office,” – “How much does it cost?” – “100 rubles + 90 rubles trip + 25 rubles bicycle,” – “Is there ability to buy before train departure?” – “No,” – “Uh, ok, then there is nothing to do, I’ll buy it from you this way,” – “Sit for a while …” … 1 – 2 train stops passed nearby : “Buy a ticket,” – “How much will it cost to Murzinka with a bicycle?” – “Wait, I’ll count … 107 rubles,

Ticket
Electric depot
Murzinka
...
Cost : 107 rubles.
Thank you :-) .

Morning, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Morning, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

Different people travel : old intelligent on the view woman, not drinking alcohol and not smoking, sells newspapers; on some people with red faces, labor took a holiday, when it transformed them from monkeys to humans, to be more precise, it tried as it could, but alcohol made stronger influence on them … Most of people are doing their own businesses and apply this time with use : some are reading books, some are reading tablet PCs. It started to be dark under the sky, dusk and lighting in the railway carriage hidden outside environments, leaving only reflections on the windows; and only risen Moon and part of sky around it are beyond their power. Gat’, Iset, …, Sagra, …, Ayat’, …, Tavatuy ( it is already close ), Kalinovo and Murzinka at last. Came out, lifted down bicycle, found a way down from rail road to asphalt road, sat on bicycle and rode through the thickening dusk there, where I already’ve been 12 years ago …

Morning, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Morning, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

People are recreating on the shore, bonfires burn; up to the entrance to Green Cape it became already dark, guards are little poisoning an air : “I arrived to Kirgishany competitions, where here is the tent camp and ability to stay at night?” – “Here on the alley go up to high-rise, there is a parking, near it you’ll see cars and bicycles – there everybody are encamped,” – “Understood, thank you.” People are singing songs near bonfires, everybody about their own. Ascended uphill, it is not a first time, when I carry bicycle on myself in the mountain, on the top near canteen there is a parking with bicycles on part of cars – I need to go here, lower on the meadow there are tents – I need to go here. Spread out made by myself thermo mat, took off my shoes and went to sleep. First 30 minutes – 1 hour it was quite comfortable and there was ability to sleep, I even started to fall asleep, but events went the other way : instead of night time temperature +10 – +15 it started to go down to +5 – +7 or to something like this … It was better also to not drink tea so close to sleep. From the ground : everything is good and I do not cool, but from the air : coat weakly keeps warmth and protects from night-time cold; there was need to take with me at least jacket, then I already would have been slept normally before competitions. All in all : for a whole night I half switched off for 1 – 2 hours maximum – and this is the all, all other time there was struggling with cold to not cool and to not catch a cold … At night one woman covered me with thermo blanket or something like this, thank you to her for this, otherwise it would have been much colder and harder.

Morning, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Morning, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

At 4 a.m. o’clock it started to lighten, somewhere at 5 – 6 hours Sun illuminated tops of trees, half an hour – hour more and its light reached tents camp, but still did not warm up, and somewhere at 7 – 8 a.m. o’clock it started to more or less bring warmth to ground and dispersed night-time cold. I got up somewhere at 6:50 a.m. – there was no sense to “sleep” further. “Yes, what a condition before marathon, maybe it is better to re-register to 60 km distance?” – “No way, I arrived here to not ‘re-register’ …” Ate food, it became slightly better, Sun started to heat up even more and I started to free myself from night’s colding; registered, took number, took yokes and additional booklets; rode under sunlight – and it became much better and lighter, I started to heat up and activate on a new day, which is a sleepless continuation of previous one. Lower on the slope other competitions are being held – touristic ones. Gave my belongings to organizers of competitions on their duration. Closer to 10 o’clock on the competitions start and finish area arrived Renat Sultanov – I know him from the bicycles rides of previous year, we sat and talked for a while, then I rode and warmed up further. “It seems, that your tire is set in a wrong direction,” – “Where?” – “Back one, arrow like protector picture should be oriented in the rotation direction, somewhere here on the tire there should be rotation direction marked down, here is it,” – “Ah, no, everything is alright,” – “Yes, this is a front wheel of your bicycle … I still sleep …” ( “So an condition before marathon …” ).

People recreating after competitions, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
People recreating after competitions, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

Before start of adult competitions, children on small bicycles competed with each other on ten 500 m laps – future of bicycles sport of Ural and whole Russia. And time have come to line-up before the start, people stood too far ahead and organizers asked everybody to move back, as usual, nobody wanted to retreat and pull back, however, let it be reluctantly, people gave area for lining up in front for the fastest professional sportsmen. So that they are able to start quickly and overtaking of others would not wasted their time and would not created dangerous situations in such a large group of people. In the race events, besides bicycles riders Olympic games awardees participated sportsmen skiers : Anton Shipulin and another one man, I forgot his name, I ask forgiveness for this, because I’m not a frequent TV watcher ( when I did this last time? and I do not intend to do this again ). And so, under the “Fire” of the Scooter start of the race was given, avant-garde burst forth, then wave of speed moved to the middle of column, reached me and went through the whole column.

Thank you, my horsy, you did not failed me on these 80 km, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Thank you, my horsy, you did not failed me on these 80 km, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

On the asphalt somebody passed me, somebody I overtook. Tavatuy lake, Murzinka and other small villages fly nearby, it is hot above the ground, warmth go up from asphalt, it is great to ride. First quarter of a distance I revived myself, warmed up and switched on into competitions, closer to end of asphalt Renat caught up with me and moved forth – well done, he trained well during these Winter and Spring. Then forest grounds with uphills went on – this is what I can do and what I did these Winter and Spring : riding into mountains half-asleep and half switching off, and here I started to rotate pedals, overtook a couple of people, caught up with Renat and moved forth him and a couple of bicycles riders nearby and raced further, when uphills went on – nobody caught up with me, but later on the downhills periodically Renat rode ahead of me and periodically I rode ahead of him : he rode on part of this race lap and knows it and sleepless night in cold affected my pedals rotation speed and intensity.

Before awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Before awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

On the way there are a couple of forest cold and fast rivers with fresh water : vzhu-u-uh, shower and shoes are full of water – this refreshes and there is no need to drink lots of a water on the distance. Then forest grounds went again with periodical puddles, which somewhere are rideable on the sides, somewhere through them and somewhere there is need to go down from bicycle and walk this liquid manure on the feet, especially if those, who are ahead, stay down somewhere on the way. It is good that there were no rains before competitions, otherwise there would have been need to cancel all the forest, completely. On the downhills Renat started to move forth and rode ahead, later I caught up with him only on Check Points and periodically saw him on the straight areas.

Women-novices awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Women-novices awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

After forest, stony and sandy ground road went on – here is the fork had to work a lot, hills are not steep here, so it is easy to ride and whole area rides quite fast. Cars, rising clouds of dust, distracted slightly, there was need to ride through them by holding breath, the Sun heats up already like in Summer, so, it was better to ride part of ground road on left side to stay in trees’ shadows, so that I’ll not exhaust on Sun heating on the right side; it was good that there were not much cars at this time on the road. On Check Points I only made a swallow of water and a swallow of tea from the flask and moved forth. On the CP before asphalt, Renat hesitated somewhy and rotated pedals not so intensively, part of the asphalt to Green Cape we rode together, then he rode ahead. Part of the area I rode alone, then a pair of women-sportsmen wanted to outrun me, one of them is from 40 – 49 years age group : “No way, let it be I cold at night, tired and did not slept, but I’ll not trail behind women, I have a strengths, to rotate pedals faster …” – I intensified my movement and asphalt up to Green Cape I rode mostly ahead, then small uphill to start area. Here is it finish straight line : standing with the strong words, rotating pedals and squeezing everything from me : and here is it a finish.

Women in category 30 - 39 years awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Women in category 30 – 39 years awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

Walked and received medal of finisher, asked whether there is an ability to learn the results : “They’ll be later or in one of the closest days.” All in all : my muscles did not tired at all, after movement to clip-less pedals my legs muscles do not tire at all, even after whole day of rotating pedals; however there is need to replenish energy and nutrition of organism and heart, whole circulatory system, brain and whole neural system, lungs and other systems of organism require rest and nutrition. To say the truth : marathon was not the hardest part of these days : just rotate pedals fast enough and squeeze out everything, which one could do, there was no technically hard areas on the way; the most difficult part was to not cool and not catch a cold at this night – this is a my own guilty, next time I’ll act smarter in such cases, and in other close cases too, applying this experience to them.

Women in category 18 - 29 years awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Women in category 18 – 29 years awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

Took my belongings, ate food, made some photos for the memory and went to make one of my most interesting businesses – to make a photos; people are recreating after marathon and prepare to trips to homes. In-front there is a sanatorium high-rise, in one of these rooms on 3rd or 4th floor I recreated for a week, when I was a student. People slowly move to awards-giving area, event partners speak their words, first awards were given to children, then to the young participant, who rode 40 km of adult distance : well done – he’ll be a sportsmen, if he’ll go on a right road in life. Then to men and women novices, then to women of categories 40 – 49, 30 – 39 and 18 – 29; then to men-veterans, 40 – 49, 30 – 39 and 18 – 29 and to men-juniors at the completion. Small technical questions were performed after this; thank you giving to organizers of event – ProBike Team, they done very well. Group photos and roads to homes.

Men-veterans awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Men-veterans awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

We’ve agreed to ride with Renat on one train to Yekaterinburg, packed everything, said “Good bye” to Green Cape, there’ll be ability to ride to Tavatuy lake at this Summer, when it’ll be warm at night and water will be warm enough too to bathe. Small asphalt to Murzinka, waiting for the train, became acquainted with another one rider, which registered for novices distance, but rode a whole distance, however in the 5 hours. On steel bicycle with additional hinge and very not effective equipment and small experience of riding on a long distances, there is ability to participate in Kirgishany, however, for something more difficult and technically intensive there is need to prepare oneself and the bicycle much better. Trip to Yekaterinburg, mostly the same stations, but in a reverse order. On the way we talked and learned each other better, on one of the stations in the train girl with bicycle entered, she rode with acquaintances to Tavatuy lake, but they somewhy lost each other and started to evacuate back to Yekaterinburg on the trains.

Men in category 40 - 49 years awards giving, велосипедные кросс-кантрийные марафонные соревнования Киргишаны 2016
Men in category 40 – 49 years awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

Here is it – a Railway Station, underground passage to the city, “good bye” to fellows and up to homes each other. It is good to ride through a city with Kirgishany competitions number and finisher medal in the form of heart on the chest. Further the same 51 km of a way home lay in front of me, this time mainly on the autopilot, it is good that at Saturday evening there are not much cars and the road is often free. On the exit from Yekaterinburg dusk started to approach the ground, somewhere there is a still day-time heat and somewhere temperature is much lower : br-r-r, reminder of a recent night. Quite fast I rode through all Polevskoy highway : there is ability to ride fast enough on the asphalt even in the darkness and in dusk road and marks on it are visible quite good. On the entrance to Polevskoy it was already dark; somebody are walking hugging with the beer bottles, somebody with them stay near parodies on street racing cars – how dull all this after Kirgishany and everything that already was.

Men in category 19 - 29 years awards giving, велосипедные кросс-кантрийные марафонные соревнования Киргишаны 2016
Men in category 19 – 29 years awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

Pedals rotating more and I’m at home, at last this 48 hours day without sleep, cooling at night, 80 km Kirgishany cross-country marathon competitions – candidate on the one of the stages of KVMR, and 102 km of rides to Railway Station and from it to home completed. It’ll be good to repeat this again, but this time not so extremely : with sleeping before competitions and without such cold at night. Ate food and switched off to sleep, this night I slept very soundly. Before Ural MTB Marathon I’ll not make such sleepless nights, it is much more complex in technical terms and it is good, that here are a morning buses to Yekaterinburg before the competitions start – I’ll remember pop-music for a while. Next there’ll be May Bicycles Tour ( group of May Bicycles Tour in social network VKontakte ) and other competitions and events, I’ll not pass even one weekend day with good weather of these warm months of year, will use them for the full extent and will receive impressions and feelings up to this winter. See you on the next event!

Men-juniors awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Men-juniors awards giving, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
ProBike Team, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
ProBike Team, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Group photo, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Group photo, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Group photo, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
Group photo, bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
I'm on the bycicle ( photographer is an Ivan Ivanov ), bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016
I’m on the bycicle ( photographer is an Ivan Ivanov ), bicycles cross-country marathon competitions Kirgishany 2016

You can see additional photos here : 80 km bicycles cross-country marathon competitions with sleepless night before them.

Steinberg UR22mkII – USB audio interface with 192 kHz, 24 bits, 101 dB dynamic range, 2 inputs and 2 outputs

USB audio interface Steinberg UR22mkII
USB audio interface Steinberg UR22mkII

Company Steinberg presented new modification of one of its entry-level USB audio interfaces UR22mkII, supporting 192 kHz and 24 bits work mode, 101 dB dynamic range, and having 2 inputs, 2 outputs and 2 inputs preamplifiers Yamaha D-PRE Class-A. On its frontal panel there are : 2 combined XLR/TRS 1/4″ jack microphone/linear inputs with volume control knobs, clip indicators, common phantom power +48 V LED light and USB connection activity signaler; 2nd input can work in instrumental Hi-Z mode and there is according switch button. Also on it there are : mix controller analogue inputs/signal from digital USB connection; TRS 1/4″ jack monitor headphones output with volume control; and main interface outputs’ volume control knob.

USB audio interface Steinberg UR22mkII ( back panel )
USB audio interface Steinberg UR22mkII ( back panel )

On back panel of Steinberg UR22mkII there are can be found : power adapter input and USB port for connection to computer and powering, as well as power from one of these connectors selector; MIDI input and output; phantom power for inputs of interface switch; and left and right linear TRS 1/4″ jack outputs. Device supports functions True Integrated Monitoring in DAW Steinberg Cubase, Loopback for mixing of digital and analogue signals and their returning to computer for subsequent streaming; and is a Class Compliant – compatible with Apple iPad via Apple Camera Connection Kit adapter. Audio interface works in Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X 10.7 and newer via specialized drivers with support of ASIO 2.0, WDM and Core Audio interfaces, via which interacts with modern DAWs : FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others.

Besides main sampling rate, Steinberg UR22mkII also supports 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 and 176.4 kHz; all analogue inputs and outputs of device can work in balanced and unbalanced modes, except of instrumental Hi-Z inputs, which work only in unbalanced mode. Working frequencies range of microphone inputs equals to 20 Hz – 22 kHz ( with deviation +0.1 dB / -0.3 dB ), dynamic range is 101 dB ( A-Weighted ), THD+N – 0.0035%, maximal input signal level is – +4 dB, input impedance is 4 kOhms and gain levels are in +6 – +60 dB range. Linear inputs have following characteristics : maximal input signal level is +24 dB, impedance is 20 kOhms, gain levels range is -14 – +40 dB. Instrumental Hi-Z inputs : maximal input signal level is 8.5 dB, impednace is 1 MOhm, gain levels are in -0.7 – +53.3 dB range. Linear outputs specifications are : working frequencies range equals to 20 Hz – 22 kHz ( with deviation +0.1 dB / -0.3 dB ), dynamic range is 104 dB ( A-Weighted ), THD+N 0.005%, maximal output signal level is +10 dB and impedance is 150 Ohms. Maximal power, which Steinberg UR22mkII can give to headphones equals to 6 + 6 mW with 40 Ohms impedance; device draws maximum 2.5 W of energy.

For installation of DAW Cubase AI there is need in connection to Internet for downloading of additional data with 500 MB size. Steinberg UR242 supports following DSP effects : Latency-free monitoring with FX ( dspMixFx ), True Integrated Monitoring with FX in Cubase, Guitar Amp Classics, REV-X Reverb, Sweet Spot Morphing Channel Strip, Phase switch per channel and High-Pass filter. Cubase AI – is a simplified version of professional DAW of Steinberg, it is based on the same audio engine with 32-bits float precision of calculations; can work simultaneously with 32 sound tracks, 48 MIDI tracks and 16 instrumental tracks with ability to record completed compositions to disk in WAV and AIFF formats, and in MP3 after purchsing of according module. For audio and MIDI editing in program following editors are built-in : Key, Score and Drum, pitch-shift instrument AudioWarp with support of ACID files format, which allows to use large amount of already created sounds samples, and Chord Track editor. 28 VST effects and processors are built into it for work with sounds, sampling synthesizer instrument HALion Sonic SE with 180 sound; mixing console with 4 Inserts and 4 Sends for each track and equalizer. DAW Cubase AI can work in 32 and 64 bits operating systems Windows and Mac OS X.

Sizes of Steinberg UR22mkII are 159 ( width ) x 46 ( height ) x 159 ( depth ) mm and mass is 1.03 kg; its body is completely made from aluminum with black and silver coloring for increased durability and reduction of electro-magnetic interference. With interface DAW Steinberg Cubase AI is supplied, owners of Apple iPad can download from Apple App Store DAW Cubasis LE; package with Steinberg UR22mkII contains : USB cable, optical disks with drivers and programs, warranty card and user’s guide.

All in all interface UR22mkII is great and fits very well to small or in-home studios; there is ability to anticipate, that Steinberg will not set high price for device and it can be recommended for purchase. There is also ability to look on other USB audio interfaces of Steinberg, Behringer, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio, Alesis and other companies production, but this one – is one of the best among them.

Steinberg – is a German company – creator of DAWs, VST effects, processors and instruments and also of audio interfaces, being based in Hamburg. It was established in 1984 year and now is being owned by Yamaha Corporation from 2004 year. At current moment Steinberg is one of the leading audio equipment and programs manufacturers in the world, for example, its professional DAW, instruments and hardware are used by following musicians : Hans Zimmer, Junkie XL, Justice, Kraftwerk, New Order and others.

LG Stylus II K520 – 5.7″ IPS Android 6.0 smartphone with 4G LTE, 1.5 GB RAM, 4-cores CPU and 13 MP camera

Smartphone LG Stylus II K520 with stylus
Smartphone LG Stylus II K520 with stylus

Company LG announced its new Android 6.0 smartphone Stylus II K520 with 5.7″ IPS multitouch screen with HD 1280 x 720 pixels resolution, 4G LTE, 1.5 GB of RAM, 4-cores processor, working on 1.2 GHz frequency, and 13 MP main camera. Mobile device also has : 16 GB of on-board memory, flash cards bay with 32 GB max capacity and almost for sure present support of larger memory modules and 1 slot for Nano SIM cards. Smartphone can work in networks 2G ( GSM 900, 1800 and 1900 ), 3G ( HSPA ) and 4G LTE ( +LTE-A Cat. 4 ) and supports satellite navigation GLONASS and GPS+A-GPS.

Smartphone LG Stylus II K520 ( back and side panels )
Smartphone LG Stylus II K520 ( back and side panels )

LG Stylus II K520 has 2 good for portable devices cameras : 13 MP main one with autofocusing and 8 MP frontal one; they both can record Full HD 1080p video with 30 frames/s rate. Smartphone supports wireless connections Wi-Fi ( 802.11 b/g/n ), Bluetooth 4.1 ( +A2DP ), DLNA and NFC for remote communications with other devices and data transfers. On its external panels there are : Micro USB 2.0 port for connection to computer and battery charging, 1/8″ mini jack headsets and headphones connector, as well as volume control and power buttons and microphone and speaker. Its battery capacity is a 3000 mAh – which is a good value for mobile phones, its body sizes are 155 ( height ) х 79.6 ( width ) х 7.4 ( depth ) mm and mass is 145 g, judging by its view, it is made from metal.

Smartphone LG Stylus II K520 ( angle view )
Smartphone LG Stylus II K520 ( angle view )

Package with LG Stylus II K520 contains : stylus, USB cable, recharger, headset, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all, smartphone is quite good : with large IPS screen, powerful system, good cameras, stylus, wireless connections support and satellite navigation, as well as capacitive battery; there is also wish for second SIM cards slot for full functions spectrum. Faster of all, LG will not set high price for this device, when it’ll appear in shops, so, when one is being chosen, there is ability to look on this device or Windows or Android portable devices of this or other manufacturers.

AKG K92 – stylish 40 mm monitor headphones with 16 Hz – 22 kHz, 113 dB/mW sensitivity and professional AFC

Monitor headphones AKG K92
Monitor headphones AKG K92

Among stylish monitor headphones there is a novelty appeared – 40 mm AKG K92 – device with 16 Hz – 22 kHz sounds frequencies playback support, 113 dB/mW sensitivity, professional Amplitude Frequency Characteristic ( with high equalization of volumes of different sounds frequencies ) and closed back architecture. Their impedance is 32 Ohms, maximal input power 200 mW; cable with 3 m length is attached to only one of the cups and is not detachable, it is connected to sound source via 1/8″ mini jack connector with gold-plated contacts. Earspads are made from leatherette and can be replaced, if needed.

Monitor headphones AKG K92
Monitor headphones AKG K92

AKG K92 have automatic adjustments mechanism for different sizes of heads of different users and are released only in matte black color variant. Headphones mass is 200 g, they are not foldable. Package with AKG K92 contains : screw-on adapter to 1/4″ jack plug also with gold-plated contacts, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all, headphones are professional : they have wide audio frequencies playback support, as manufacturer tells, high equality of AFC, high sensitivity and stylish look. Their price is around 80 USD – it is not high for their functions; however, there is need to note, that for much smaller sum there is ability to buy 40 mm monitor headphones with similar characteristics or for the same amount of money – 50 mm monitor headphones, providing better basses reproduction support.

Roland A-49 – portable USB MIDI keyboard with assignable controls and inputs for pedals

USB MIDI keyboard Roland A-49
USB MIDI keyboard Roland A-49

One of USB MIDI keyboard of middle level of Roland company is a A-49 – portable device with 49 velocity-sensitive keys and inputs for Hold and Expression pedals. It also has : 2 assignable buttons, 2 assignable knobs, pitch bend and modulation control lever, buttons for octaves control, programming of other buttons functions and other controllers. On back panel with pedals inputs there are MIDI output and USB port for connection to computer and powering. Also it has power and octaves settings LED indicators.

USB MIDI keyboard Roland A-49
USB MIDI keyboard Roland A-49

Roland A-49 draws maximum 98 mA of current and works in Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X 10.5 and newer via specialized drivers, which allow it to work with modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others and their VST/AU instruments and effects.

USB MIDI keyboard sizes are 836 ( width ) x 182 ( depth ) x 84 ( height ) mm and mass is 2.5 kg. Package contains : Roland A-49 keyboard itself, USB cable, CD-ROM disk with drivers and software, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all, keyboard is good : there is ability to wish for drumpads ( however, with proper setup, keys can be used as them ) and power adapter input for work with tablet PCs and notebooks without load on their battery. There is also ability to look on USB MIDI keyboards of other manufacturers with close keys amount, which can have wider functionality.

Excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg from Sportek shop

On start, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
On start, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop

Yesterday excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg was held on, organized by Sportek shop ( group and meeting album in VKontacte social network ), it was led on by Anna Bushmeleva – the representative of this shop. For exercising for Kirgishany competitions event I rode from home at morning and directed on Polevskoy highway into Yekaterinburg, at morning it was quite cold and strong cold wind blew in the face, cooling muscles and whole organism, so it was harder to rotate pedals, than in more comfortable weather. Excursion started in a first half of day from southern part of city, first we rode through little parks of South-West of Yekaterinburg, then into Green Grove, after it in Dendrarium and park near Youth Palace. Closer to evening wind became not so strong and cold and it started to be much warmer on the streets, so now rotating pedals became much more interesting. On the event I met old acquaintances, which I know from rides of previous year, and became acquainted with new people. Overall around 20 people participated in excursion, on the way some people leaved the group, part returned back and new ones joined the ride.

One of the south-west parks of city, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
One of the south-west parks of city, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop

I found common topics for conversation with Suvorov Sergey – another one photographer on the event, part of photos in this article belong to him, here is his group in VKontakte, devoted to photographing. At the beginning of evening we have come into Weiner Garden in the center of city, after it again small ride on the city streets; park on the Malyshev and Bazhov streets crossroad with photos making with the locomotive maquette in the background; small uphill and we are on the Meteohill : setting Sun in the city mist fills everything with a light. After it – Pavlik Morozov Park – brave soviet boy, which made ideologically right ( ideologically tough duckspeak ), but in terms of moral and soul – quite controversial deed. Lots of memories are connected with this place. Further we moved to Mayakovskiy Central Park of Culture and Recreation – the largest park of Yekaterinburg, on the way we visited food shop, others made some purchases, I took everything with me : already taught by experience.

Photographing with locomotive maquette in the background, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Photographing with locomotive maquette in the background, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop

On the way in each park Anna told us small story about them and people shared their knowledge about these places, in Mayakovskiy park she made small quiz on the topics of event with give-away of a delicious prizes and small picnic. Closer to evening it started to be colder and people started to ride to their homes, I made some more photos, said “Good bye” to people and rode home – to wind up the distance, accommodate with clip-less pedals even more and make speed on the asphalt. By the 9th May I already knew, what awaits me at evening after sunset, so, this time I dressed much warmer and was not cold at all on the way to home : only hands were slightly blown by the wind, but even this was not strong. Closer to night beginning, receiving impressions and feelings for this day, I arrived at home, met on the way acquainted bicycle rider, we talked for a while and I continued my way. Cooked food, washed myself, sent photos and made connections in social network, then went to sleep. Now training on the ground roads and small hills in the city go on and competitions will start, see you there!

Meteohill, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Meteohill, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Meteohill, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Meteohill, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
In Central Park of Culture and Recreation, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
In Central Park of Culture and Recreation, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Sunset above Polevskoy highway, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Sunset above Polevskoy highway, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
I'm in person, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop ( photographer is Sergey Suvorov )
I’m in person, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop ( photographer is Sergey Suvorov )

You can see additional photos here : Excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg from Sportek shop.

Superlux HD-685 – 40 mm monitor headphones with microphone, 10 Hz – 20 kHz and neodymium magnets

Headphones Superlux HD-685
Headphones Superlux HD-685

One of the novelties among dynamic monitor headphones is a 40 mm Superlux HD-685 with microphone, 10 Hz – 20 kHz sounds frequencies playback support, neodymium magnets, closed acoustic architecture, dynamic audio emitters and price around 85 USD. Their impedance is 68 Ohms, sensitivity is 102 dB/mW and mass is 285 g without wire accounting ( 310 g with it ); it has 1.2 m length, attached only to 1 cup, can be disconnected and is plugged to sound source via 1/8″ mini jack connector with gold-plated contacts. With headphones 2 cables are supplied, one of them contains volume control module with microphone and mobile devices remote control button.

Monitor headphones Superlux HD-685
Monitor headphones Superlux HD-685

Superlux HD-685 are foldable for compact carrying and storage, earspads are made from leatherette for comfortable sounds and music listening over long time. In each cup there is only 1 sound emitter, they have no active noise-cancellation function, as some other monitor headphones do, but they have good isolation from external sounds. In place of entering into cup wire is additionally reinforced with resin tube for increased wear resistance and durability during bending and tear-off forces application. It is equipped with clip, for tangling and clinging to clothes and surrounding objects prevention, it has no slider for this purpose.

Package contains : Superlux HD-685 headphones themselves, 2 cables, carrying and storage pouch, cable clip, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all, headphones are good : with large membranes, wide reproducible sounds frequencies range, neodymium magnets and microphone, their price is not high for their functions. However, there is need to note, that there is ability to buy cheaper 40 mm monitor headphones, or for the same amount of money – 50 mm monitor headphones, providing better basses reproduction quality. There is also ability to say that, if from device compactness and lightness are needed, then there is ability to buy much cheaper in-ears headphones, oriented for use during sportive trainings and exercises and everyday compact use. Their cable is also often equipped with clip and slider.

Superlux – is a company, which main office is located in Taiwan development and testing laboratories and facilities in Hong Kong and other China cities. This name is a brand of company Goang-Fann Co. Ltd., which in 1997 year acquired Tenlux – company-producer of microphones and started to release headphones, microphones and other audio equipment under this name. Company is known for production of very functional devices with very attractive prices; so, when according sound devices are being choosen, it is useful to look on products of Superlux.