Lets review functional MIDI keyboard Alesis V61. It has 61 full-size keys, which react on pess velocity; octave up and down buttons; 4 programmable buttons and 4 programmable knobs; 8 drun pads, which react on presses velocity and applied force; and pitch bend and modulation wheels. All additional controls have variable back-light, which shows their activity degree. Controller is connected to computer via USB port ( through which it also receives power ) and is automatically recognized by Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, in which it can integrate with modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others. Alesis V61 is bundled with DAW Ableton Live Lite 9 and multifunctional instrument AIR Music Tech Xpand!2. There is also need to note compact design of MIDI keyboard and its adequate price ( 169 USD at the middle of Autumn 2015 ) in comparison with other MIDI controllers.
Photo objective lens Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./POWER O.I.S.
Today in optics section we will review compact standard objective lens Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. It is attached to camera via Micro Four Thirds mount ( it can be used with Panasonic and Olympus cameras ). Its focal distances range is 14 – 42 mm; maximal aperture : f/3.5 – f/5.6 ( for maximal and minimal focal lengths, accordingly ), minimal aperture is f/22, it is controlled with use of 7 diaphragm blades. Minimal focusing distances are : 0.2 m ( for 14 – 20 mm focal distances ) and 0.3 m ( for 21 – 42 mm focal distances ); field of view : 75 – 29 degrees ( for minimal and maximal focal distances ). Objective photo lens contains 9 lens elements in 8 groups ( this is average value for zoom lenses ), 4 are aspherical, 2 are made of ED glass; all of them are coated with protective and anti-reflective Nano Surface Coating. It supports POWER O.I.S. ( Optical Image Stabilization ) and automatic Internal Focusing. 37 mm optical filters can be attached to it, its sizes are : 61 ( diameter ) x 26.8 ( length ) mm, weight is : 95 g. Package contains : Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. photo lens itself, frontal and rear caps, carrying and storage bag and user’s guide. This is quite convenient compact and light-weight objective photo-lens, with zoomable focal distance, many automation functions and adequate price. Its minuses are : small maximal aperture ( photos in low-light scenes will be dark ) and big amount of lens elements ( they disperse light and increase internal reflections ). So, it can be recommended to novice photographers or for video recording, where its light weight and automation functions are very useful.
External sound card Roland DUO-CAPTURE EX ( front panel )
Today we will review external studio audio interface Roland DUO-CAPTURE EX. It is equipped with configurable functions and is oriented on professional work. Frontal panel of card contains : 2 combined XLR/TRS inputs with professional VS Preamps, one of which is switchable instrumental Hi-Z/Lo-Z, second is microphone input, to which phantom +48 V power can be connected; amplification levels controls for them; volume control for main analogue outputs of card and for monitor headphones; TRS 6.3 mm ( 1/4″ ) jack output for headphones themselves. Back panel of card contains : USB port for communication with computer and for powering from it; DC input ( it is not supplied with card ); MIDI input and output for instruments and other devices; 2 TRS 6.3 mm ( 1/4″ ) jack analogue balanced outputs ( they neutralize all noise signals, which are added to main signal, when it is transmitted in the cable ); sampling rate switch ( 44.1 or 48 kHz ); phantom power switch; instrumental input switch Hi-Z or Lo-Z; Direct Monitor mode switch for headphones ( mono, stereo, off ); power button; and ground contact. Card is powered via USB port, or batteries, or from electric line via power adapter; its built in power supply unit has low noise levels, which reduces unwanted signals levels in sound card’s internals.
External sound card Roland DUO-CAPTURE EX ( back panel )
It works with 24 bits precision; and supports following interfaces WDM and ASIO for Windows and Core Audio for Mac OS and iOS; through them it can work with modern DAWs : Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live and others. Audio card body is produced from aluminum, it weights 460 grams and has relatively small dimensions : 153 ( width ) x 119 ( depth ) x 47 ( height ) mm. Package contains : Roland DUO-CAPTURE EX sound card itself, USB cable, optical disks with drivers and software and user’s guide. In a whole, this is a good professional sound card : it has high quality preamplifiers for analogue inputs, balanced analogue outputs, and MIDI input and output. Its main weakness is only 48 kHz max sampling rate, but not always higher frequencies are needed, for example, if sound after recording will not be processed too much.
In optics section today we will look on photo objective lens attachment Goliton 58mm 2.0X Magnification Tele Converter Lens. When it is mounted to objective photo lens, it receives 2x magnification of image, wherein base objective photo lens should be able to focus on infinity for this attachment to work correctly. It is mounted on lens via 58 mm thread ( there is modification with 52 mm thread ); it has 62 mm thread on frontal side for optical filters. It has 4 lens elements in 2 groups, probably, it is similar to Plossl eyepiece for telescopes ( symmetrical eyepiece with 4 lens elements in 2 groups ), but there is need to look on its optical scheme in order to say precisely. Package contains : Goliton 58mm 2.0X Magnification Tele Converter Lens photo lens attachment itself, frontal and rear caps, storage and carrying pouch and user’s guide. As with all photo attachments : this is attractable solution in terms of price, but there is need to look in shop or read in Internet how it works with given photo lens; and it is desirable if base photo objective lens would have small amount of glasses in order to reduce optical surfaces amount.
Todays audio part will be dedicated to professional MIDI keyboard Novation Launchkey 49. It has 49 velocity-sensitive keys; 16 drum-pads with RGB backlight, which are also velocity-sensitive; 8 knobs; 9 sliders; pitch bend and modulation wheels; 2 octave/transpose buttons; 1 LED display; 2 Track/MIDI Channel buttons; 8 mute/solo tracks buttons; 3 InControl buttons; 2 RGB backlit buttons; 6.3 mm ( 1/4” ) TRS jack input for sustain pedal; and Kensington Lock port. Keyboard can be connected to computer via USB or MIDI port. In first case it receives power only from this connection; in the second – it requires additional power adapter input ( which is not supplied with device ). MIDI keyboard tightly integrates with DAWs Ableton Live and FL Studio, wherein it can work with other modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Steinberg Cubase, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others. It is automatically set up, when connected to Windows or Mac OS based computers via Plug In and Play function. Novation Launchkey 49 package contains following software : DAW Ableton Live Lite, virtual instruments Novation Bass Station and Novation V-Station, and 1 GB of Loopmasters samples. For connection to iOS devices MIDI keyboard requires power adapter and camera connection kit, or special iOS USB camera adapter. Device sizes are : 775 ( length ) x 270 ( depth ) x 90 ( height ) mm.
Photo-objective lens attachment Opteka 10x High Definition II Professional Macro Lens
Lets look on photo-objective lens attachment Opteka 10x High Definition II Professional Macro Lens. When it is added to photo-objective lens, it receives macro functions ( allows to make magnified photos of objects ) and its zoom is increased 10x times. It is attached to photo-lens via 52 or 46 mm thread, there is ability to attach 52 mm optical filters to it on frontal side. Wherein there are variations of this lens with different diameters : 55, 58, 62, 67, 72 and 77 mm. Attachment contains 4 lens elements, that are made of low-dispersion glass, all of them are coated with protective and anti-reflective multicoating. Its body is made of metal to increase its durability. It supports auto-focusing of objective lens and does not cause problems for infra-red shooting. There is need to note, that attachment’s lens elements has 40 mm diameter and on photo-lenses with large frontal glass it can obstruct part of scene; in this case there is need to reduce lens diaphragm, so that it will not produce image artifacts. Package contains : Opteka 10x High Definition II Professional Macro Lens attachment itself, frontal and rear caps, carrying and storage pouch and 5-years warranty card. In general, it is interesting solution, which costs much less, than specialized macro photo lens; but before its purchasing there is need to read in Internet information about how it works with given photo-lenses models. It has 4 lens elements and together with photo-lens this can produce large amount of optical surfaces, this increases light dispersion and internal reflections, so it is desirable, that base photo lens would have small amount of optical elements.
Today among audio devices we will look on MIDI keyboard M-Audio Keystation 49 II USB. It is DAW parameters controller and MIDI notes recording instrument. Overall process looks like so : human plays on this instrument and controls various parameters, they are recorded by DAW in MIDI editor, then they are played by software synthesizer. Keyboard has 49 full-size keys, which react on press velocity ( it is very useful, because many synthesizing parameters can be controlled with press velocity, this allows to perform these actions faster and more creatively ); has USB and MIDI connectors for communications with computer; is powered from 1 USB port; has different buttons and knobs for DAW parameters controlling; has small weight ( this is useful for its use on concerts ); and can be plugged to iOS devices via Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit adapter ( which is not bundled with MIDI keyboard ). With M-Audio Keystation 49 II USB controller following software is supplied : SONiVOX Eighty-Eight Ensemble – sample based synthesizer-emulator of piano 9-foot CD327 Steinway ( it has in itself recorded samples of this instrument, from which it can synthesize different sounds of this instrument ); DAW Ableton Live Lite; and multi-functional AIR Music Tech Xpand!2 synthesizer. Keyboard can work with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 and Mac OS X 10.5 and newer operating systems; it integrates very well with modern DAWs : FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others.
Attachment lens for photo-objective lens Polaroid Studio Series .43x High Definition Wide Angle Lens With Macro
Lets review attachment lens for photo-objective lens Polaroid Studio Series .43x High Definition Wide Angle Lens With Macro, when it is added to photo lens, it receives wide angle and macro characteristics. It is attached at frontal side of lens into 58 mm thread, there is ability to add to attachment itself 62 mm optical filters to its frontal side. It works with zoom objective lenses and can be used for photos shooting in infrared range. Attachment minificates image by 0.43x times. There is need to note that lens is quite big and can obstruct built-in flash of camera. All in all : it is good solution for optimal price and allows to receive wide angle lens with macro with small amount of lens elements, if main objective lens have their small amount. Wherein specialized wide angle macro lenses are engineered to reduce amount of geometrical and chromatic distortions and usually produce better image, than photo-objective lenses with such attachment. But there is possibility, that photo lens and attachment will fit together very well and will not produce noticeable amount of distortions : this depends solely on them.
Professional objective lens Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm F2.8 ASPH
Today we will look on professional objective lens Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm F2.8 ASPH with built in Optical Image Stabilization ( OIS ). It is designed for Micro Four Thirds mounts ( it can be attached to Panasonic and Olympus cameras ), has 35 – 100 mm focus distances range, f/2.8 – f/22 aperture in all focal range ( it is controlled via 7 diaphragm blades ), 34 – 12 degrees field of view and 0.85 m minimal focusing distance. Objective lens is mainly designed for video recording, for this purpose it has : built-in OIS, silent Power Zoom focusing motor and constant aperture. It has 18 lens elements in 13 groups, among them 2 are made of ED glass and 1 is made of UED glass; all lens elements are coated with protective and anti-reflective Nano Surface Coating. There is ability to attach 58 mm optical filters to objective lens, its sizes are : 67.4 mm ( diameter ) x 99.9 mm ( length ), and weight is : 360 g. Package contains : Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm F2.8 ASPH objective lens itself, frontal and rear lens caps, carrying and storage bag and user’s guide. Lens is produced only in black color variant. It is mainly oriented to videos recording, because it allows to change automatically many recording parameters without degrading picture quality. But, if there is need in photos-only objective lens, then there is ability to find better-suited and cheaper ones models ( with less amount of lens elements and more adapted for specific types of scenes ).
Lets review new studio monitor headphones KRK KNS 6400. They have closed-back architecture and their 40 mm membranes are powered by neodymium magnets. They can absorb outer sounds with 26 dB max volume. They can reproduce sounds in 10 – 22000 Hz frequencies range, their sensitivity is 95 dB, impedance is 36 Ohms and maximal power input is 1000 mW. Headphones are equipped with 2.5 m pluggable cable with 3.5 mm ( 1/8″ ) gold-plated mini-jack connector, it has no built-in volume control unit. Wing and earcups are made of plastic, cushions from leatherette; which provide comfortable long-time use in studio conditions. Head and ears cushions can be replaced in case of damage. Headphones weight 210 g. Package contains : KRK KNS 6400 headphones themselves, pluggable cable, screw-on 6.3 mm ( 1/4″ ) jack converter, storage and carrying case and user’s guide. These are good studio-level quality headphones for optimal price, which can be used for professional work and for in-home use for music listening.
