November | 2015 | Imagination Works

M-Audio M-Track Quad – external sound card with 4 inputs, outputs and inserts

Lets review professional external sound card M-Audio M-Track Quad, which is able to work with sampling rates up to 96 kHz and 24 bits precision. Its frontal panel has : 4 combined XLR/TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) inputs, which can work in mictophone ( there is ability to switch phantom power +48 V for them ), linear and instrumental Hi-Z modes; volume controls for each of them and linear/microphone and instrumental work mode and phantom power switches; TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) output for monitor headphones, Direct Monitor switch, their volume control knob and Direct Monitor source switch ( all channels or only 1st and 2nd ones ); stereo/mono Direct Monitor switch, outputs volume control knob and power and work indicator. Its back panel has : USB port, through which it is powered and communicates with computer, and another 3 ports for external devices plugging in hub mode; 4 analogue TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) outputs; MIDI input and output, power adapter input and power switch button; and 4 TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) insert inputs for effects.

External sound card M-Audio M-Track Quad ( rear view )

M-Audio M-Track Quad is bundled with AIR Music Technology Ignite software, containing Smart MIDI Chord and Phrase players with 275 sound samples. For it drivers are released for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X 10.7.5 and newer operating systems, with ASIO 2.0 and Core Audio interfaces support, which allow it to work tightly with modern DAWs : Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools and others. Its body is made from metal; sizes are 333 ( width ) x 89 ( height ) x 156 ( depth ) mm. Package contains : M-Audio M-Track Quad sound card itself, USB cable, optical disks with drivers and software, warranty card and user’s guide. From one side : this is a good professional sound card, which allows to work with sound on studio-grade level; from the other : supported maximal sampling rate is not the highest and it does not support balanced inputs and outputs. So, when external audio interface is compared with other similar models ( Behringer, Steinberg, Roland, Focusrite, ESI and other manufacturers ), there is need to look on prices of devices and accordance of technical characteristics to specific task, for which device will be used.

Sony Alpha NEX-5N – compact mirrorless APS-C camera

Today in the optics part we will talk about compact mirrorless camera Sony Alpha NEX-5N with Sony E mount for interchangeable lenses and 16.1 MP CMOS APS-C sensor. Camera shoots photos with 4912 x 3264 pixels maximal resolution and saves them in JPEG, RAW and Multi Picture Object formats; supported video recording modes are Full HD 1920 x 1080 60p and 1440 x 1080 30p with saving in AVCHD ( with AAC sound encoding ) and H.264 formats with stereo sound recording via built in or external microphone. ISO sensitivity levels are in 100 – 25600 range; image is processed by graphical processor BionZ; stabilization is optical with lenses, that support it. It has no built in viewfinder and flash, they can be attached to it, its 3″ LCD screen can be tilted and has 921 K dots resolution.

Photo camera Sony Alpha NEX-5N ( rear view )

Camera saves photos and videos on Memory Stick PRO HG-Duo, SD, SDHC and SDXC ( UHS-I ) flash memory cards; it supports Eye-Fi cards for remote data transferring via Wi-Fi connections; optional infrared remote control unit is released for it and can be bought separately. Sony Alpha NEX-5N supports automatic and manual focus, exposure and diaphragm settings and can be used for astronomical photos making. Following connectors are placed on camera : USB 2.0 for data transferring and Li-ion battery charging, HDMI Mini Type-C, AV output and Smart Accessory Terminal 2; 1 charge of battery is enough for 430 photos.

Photo camera Sony Alpha NEX-5N ( back view ) — Photo camera Alpha NEX-5N ( back view )

Camera sizes are 111 ( width ) x 59 ( height ) x 38 ( depth ) mm and mass is 210 g ( only camera without lens, memory card and battery ). Package contains : Sony Alpha NEX-5N camera itself, USB cable, Li-ion battery, strap on hand, recharger, external flash, CD-ROM disk with software, 1-year warranty card and users guide; there are also kits with bundled lenses. This is a good camera with large sensor and compact sizes and small mass, which gives great videos and photos quality; its minuses are : too small body, which makes good grip harder, not always convenient menu and high cost ( Sony products are always priced very high, but in majority of cases they worth this ). Wherein APS-C and Micro Four Thirds sensored cameras of other manufacturers also produce great photos and videos, if used properly, so, when camera is being chosen, there is need to look on the price, technical characteristics and personal taste.

Ride in the direction of Large Lavrovka village and Berezovaya mountain

Raged aspen on the way to top of Berezovaya mountain

At this Saturday I rode in the direction of Large Lavrovka village and to Berezovaya mountain. Road to village is periodically cleared from snow, but not often, so it is covered with 3 – 5 cm of snow in cars’ tracks area and with 20 – 30 cm snowdrifts on the sides. There is ability to ride on the asphalted part, but on the clay area and further on ground road there is ice under fresh loose snow and wheels are dragged in different directions, rear wheels does not cling to surface. There is ability to manage to Shunuth, but only on foots and, taking into account distance surface conditions and distance itself, closer to the beginning of next day morning. When daylight hours will be longer ( at least up to 6 p.m. o’clock ), December and January frosts will pass and temperature will rise up to -3 – -1 degrees on Celsius during twenty four hours and snow will be solid ( at the beginning of February ) I’ll ride again in the direction of Large Lavrovka, will make snowshoes by that time and will walk to Shunuth on foots.

Walking and riding back to turn to Berezovaya, I went to mountain; on part of this road cars periodically ride, but wheels are dragged anyway, so there is need to walk on foots to the mountain. After recent thaws puddles melt again : somewhere it is water-snow-ice freezing mass, which gives good adhesion for feet, somewhere it is deep puddles, in pair of them I drenched my boots, initially I did not noticed this in snowdrifts and noticed only when I rode home and feet were purged by wind on the speed. After bulldozer road turn road area is covered with the snow further and in grooves legs go into snowdrifts up to the waist, central part is still walkable. Way to the mountains – every time is a new tests, adventures and difficulties and obstacles overcoming, even if I already rode and walked to them and know the road. Snow layer on the meadow in front of mountain is deeper this time, only in the forest it is still not so deep.

On top of mountain part of trees were fallen by wind, from some old and drying pines it tore off all needles, but majority stay and wait for the next Spring to unfold and blossom again. This day wind was not so strong on top of mountain and mist thickened only in the distance, so I was able to discern open areas closer to horizon : these are not lake, these are plains near Kenchurka village, somewhere there Ustig ( 601 m ), Nikulichev ( 600 m ) and Darovatskiy Stone ( 575 m ) mountains are located; to the south from Berezovaya 500 – 600 m high Ufaley ridge peaks go on and to the south from Glubochenskiy Pond 532 m high mountain is located. Wish Spring to come faster and snowdrifts to melt also. When I rode back from mountain, road was cleared from snow, maybe it is being cleared up to Large Lavrovka village, so at the beginning of February there will be ability to ride to it and walk to Shunuth in 1 daylight hours time. By the way, area, to which I rode previous time near Zuzleka village – is not a White Stone, rocks are big, but it is not it, it should be 534 m high and be much higher, than forest around, its rocks massif goes from south to the north for almost 1 km, so, next time, when weather will be warm enough, I’ll ride to search for it, but this time via the other road to not to stray in the Zuzelka forest crossroads and glades. See you there!

Tilted tree on top of Berezovaya mountain

You can see rest of photos here.

MIDIPlus Origin 62 – MIDI keyboard with drumpads for optimal price

Lets review MIDI keyboard MIDIPlus Origin 62 with 4 drumpads and 125 USD price ( for MIDI keyboards with such functions it is one of the lowest prices ). It has : 62 velocity-sensitive full size keys ( with ability to choose one of the 8 sensitivity response curves ), 8 knobs, 8 sliders with 40 mm size, 6 transport control buttons and pitch bend and modulation control wheels. Its side has : TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) input for sustain pedal, MIDI input and output, USB port, from which it is powered and via which it communicates with computer, and USB/power adapter switch ( seems like it has input for this adapter on one of its other sides ). It works in Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X without additional drivers and tightly integrates in them with modern DAWs ( FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others ), their instruments and VST plugins.

MIDI keyboard MIDIPlus Origin 62 ( side view )

Keyboard sizes are 919 ( width ) x 120 ( depth ) x 76 ( height ) mm and mass is 3.99 kg. Package contains : MIDIPlus Origin 62 MIDI keyboard itself, USB cable and user’s guide. It is functional keyboard with optimal price for such devices; taking into account its low price, there is need to look on manufacturing quality, if it is good, then it is one of the best keyboards in value/price ratio respect.

Roland A-300PRO – MIDI keyboard with LCD screen and all functions for professional work

Lets meet in audio part with MIDI keyboard Roland A-300PRO, designed for professional work. It has : 32 velocity-sensitive keys with aftertouch; 8 drumpads; LCD screen, which shows keyboard states; 13 buttons; 9 knobs; 9 sliders; pitch bend and modulation control lever; and TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) inputs for hold and expression pedals. Its left side also has : power adapter input, power switch, USB port, through which it is powered and communicates with computer, MIDI input and output and their work mode switch and Kensington Lock slot.

MIDI keyboard Roland A-300PRO ( side view )

It is bundled with Cakewalk Production Plus Pack software, including 3 instruments and production software. For Roland A-300PRO drivers are released for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard and newer operating systems, in which it tightly integrates with modern DAWs ( Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others ), their instruments and VST plugins. Its sizes are 605.9 ( width ) x 250.8 ( depth ) x 91.4 ( height ) mm and mass is 2.9 kg. Package contains : MIDI keyboard Roland A-300PRO itself, USB cable, CD-ROM disk with software and drivers and user’s guide; after purchase there is ability to download newer drivers and additional software from manufacturer’s web-site. From one side : this is a good MIDI keyboard with all functions, that are needed for professional music creation; from the other : for the same money there is ability to buy keyboard with larger amount of keys, velocity and pressure sensitive drumpads and roughly the same controllers; so, here is need to look on manufacturing quality and discounts on these devices.

Panasonic Lumix DMC GX1 – mirrorless camera with great RAW photos quality

Lets review compact mirrorless photo camera Panasonic Lumix DMC GX1, which has semi-professional functions and Micro Four Thirds mount for interchangeable lenses. 16 MP Live MOS sensor with 4/3″ size is built into it, image is processed by graphical Venus Engine FHD, image stabilization is optical with lenses, that support it. Camera makes photos with ISO 160 – 12800 sensitivity levels and saves them in JPEG, RAW and MPO formats; supported video recording modes are Full HD 1920 х 1080 and HD 1280 х 720 with saving in MP4 ( AVCHD image encoding ) and MOV ( Motion JPEG ) with Dolby Digital Stereo Creator sound recording. Wherein microphones are located very close to each other and stereo channels separation, the most probably, is low. It has no built-in viewfinder, has built-in flash, its 3″ touch LCD screen has 460 K dots resolution.

Photo-camera Panasonic Lumix DMC GX1 ( top view )

Camera saves photos and videos on SD, SDHC and SDXC ( UHS-I ) flash memory cards; it has no Wi-Fi connections support for remote data transferring and control. It supports automatic and manual focus, exposure and diaphragm control and can be used for astronomical objects shooting. Following connectors are located on Panasonic Lumix DMC GX1 : USB 2.0 for data transferring and Li-ion battery charging; HDMI Mini Type C; AV output; Hot Shoe; and remote wired control port; one charge of battery is enough for 310 photos making. Camera sizes are 116.3 ( width ) x 67.8 ( height ) x 39.4 ( depth ) mm and mass is 318 g ( without lens and with battery and memory card ); its body is made from metal with rubberized insets for better and more convenient grip.

Photo-camera Panasonic Lumix DMC GX1 ( rear view )

Package contains : Panasonic Lumix DMC GX1 camera itself, USB cable, Li-ion battery, strap on hand, mount cap, optical disks with software ( PHOTOfunSTUDIO 7.0 HD Edition, SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.1 SE and LoiLoScope ), warranty card and user’s guide; there are also kits with bundled lenses. Overall, this is a great camera with interchangeable lenses, which gives very good RAW photos quality; JPEG photos of Panasonic cameras with Venus Engine FHD can give higher amount of compression artifacts, in comparison with competitors. Its other minus is weak stereo channels separation, this is a consequence of its primary design for still photos making.

Review of wireless headphones Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ with active noise-canceling

Lets review new wireless monitor headphones Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ with active noise-canceling. Manufacturer tells almost nothing about their audio technical specifications, there is no information about : used magnets, reproduceable sounds frequencies range, impedance, signal/noise ratio and maximal power input – this already rises suspicion. 40 mm drivers are built into them ( this is relatively small diameter for high-quality basses reproduction ), Bluetooth connection has 100 m range ( there is ability to use 3.5 mm mini-jack connector and USB connection for battery recharging ), one charge of battery is enough for 24 hours of work and there are buttons for phone, playback and volume control. Active noise-canceling can be disabled, if needed, to hear what’s going on around; price, that manufacturer asks for this device, is 300 USD ( for such money there is ability to buy semiprofessional photo camera kit with bundled lens, is there something in these headphones, that is equal to such high-tech device? ). Package contains : Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ headphones themselves, wireless receiver-transmitter, 3.5 mm mini-jack cable, USB cable for battery recharging and user’s guide. Overall, manufacturer tells almost nothing about about their sound technical characteristics and asks very high price for them; there is ability to buy more than 3 times cheaper professional studio monitor headphones with known very good technical details, which this model does not have; and there is ability to buy much cheaper consumer-grade wireless active noise canceling headphones with known very good technical audio details of other manufacturers. So, this model Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ is not recommended for purchasing and it is better to look on other devices.

Olympus PEN E-PM1 – very compact mirror-less MFT camera

Lets meet today in photo area with compact mirror-less photo-camera Olympus PEN E-PM1 with Micro Four Thirds mount for interchangeable lenses. 4/3″ MOS sensor with 12.3 MP effective resolution is built into it, image stabilization is performed via this sensor shifting, image is processed by TruePic VI graphical processor. Camera makes photos with 4032 x 3024 pixels maximal resolution and saves them in JPEG, RAW ( with 12 bits per channel precision and lossless compression ), RAW + JPEG and MPO; it records video in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60i, HD 1280 x 720 60i and VGA 640 x 480 30 modes, saving it in AVCHD and AVI Motion JPEG formats with Dolby Digital and stereo РСМ 16 bits and 48 kHz sound formats, accordingly. Microphone records stereo sound and there is ability to attach external one via special Olympus SEMA-1 adapter ( however in this case it is better to buy separate sound recording device with higher-quality microphones and lossless audio formats ). ISO sensitivity levels are in 200 – 12800 range, color space is only sRGB. There is ability to attach external flash to camera ( it is bundled in package ), it has no built-in internal one, has no built-in viewfinder and has 3″ LCD screen with 460 K dots resolution.

Photo-camera Olympus PEN E-PM1 ( top view )

Olympus PEN E-PM1 supports automatic and manual focus, exposition and diaphragm settings, it can be used for astronomical photos making. It saves photos and videos on SD, SDHC and SDXC ( UHS-I ) flash memory cards; has no Wi-Fi connections support for remote data transfers and control, but has Eye-Fi and Bluetooth connections for this purpose. From connectors there are USB 2.0 for data transferring and Li-ion battery charging, HDMI Micro Type D, AV output, Hot Shoe and Accessory Port 2; 1 charge of its battery is enough for 330 photos making.

Photo-camera Olympus PEN E-PM1 ( rear view )

Camera sizes are 109.5 ( width ) x 63.7 ( height ) x 34 ( depth ) mm and mass is 265 g ( without lens and with memory card and battery ); its body is made from metal. It can work in 0 – 40 degrees on Celsius temperatures range and relative air humidity levels 30 – 90 %. Package contains : Olympus PEN E-PM1 camera itself, external flash, USB cable, audio-video cable, Li-ion battery, recharger, optical disk with software ( Olympus Viewer 2 ), shoulder strap, warranty card and user’s guide; there are also kits with bundled lenses. Camera gives great photos and videos, lenses are interchangeable and it records stereo sound ( basing on my experience of use of other Olympus camera, I can say, that sound is good with basses, which are not present in sound of many large mirrored cameras, and with good stereo channels separation; the most likely, this model has similar microphones ). Its minuses are : small amount of specialized controls, very small sizes, lack of protruding parts for hands grip and high slipperiness of surface, but this is mainly a consequence of its compact sizes.

Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD – external sound card with 4 inputs, 4 outputs, 192 kHz and MIDAS preamplifiers

Lets review external sound card Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD, designed for studio work; it can work with 192 kHz sampling rates and 24 bits per sample precision, MIDAS preamplifiers are built into it. Its frontal panel has : 4 combined XLR/TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) inputs, which can work in linear, instrumental Hi-Z and microphone modes, there is ability to connect phantom power +48 V to them; for each of them there are amplification level control knobs, clip indicators and linear/instrumental modes and PAD switch buttons; TRS output for monitor headphones, their volume control knob, Direct Monitor switch, headphones source selection knob, its stereo/mono mode button, main outputs volume control knob and power, phantom power and inputs and outputs state indicators. Its back panel has : power adapter input; USB port through which it is powered and communicates with computer ; MIDI input and output; Kensington Lock slot; phantom power switch; 4 RCA and 4 TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) analogue outputs, which duplicate each other; 2 TRS and 2 XLR duplicating each other main outputs; and 4 TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) insert for external effects mixing to signal.

External sound card Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD ( rear view )

Sound card is supplied with code for downloading of DAW Tracktion 4, after its purchase there is also ability to download from manufacturer’s website around 150 additional applications, VST plugins and sound samples packages; it is eligible to 3-years manufacturer warranty. For it drivers are released for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X with ASIO 2.0 and Core Audio interfaces support, via which it tightly integrates with modern DAWs : Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live and others. Package contains : Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD audio card itself, USB cable, optical disc with drivers and user’s guide. This is a great professional sound card, which has all functions and connectors, that are needed in small – middle level studio; so, when audio interface of such level is being chosen, there is need to look on prices and specific characteristics of this device and similar devices of Steinberg, Roland, Focusrite, ESI and other manufacturers, because they are very close in quality and functional aspects.

Panasonic Lumix DMC GF3 – one of the smallest mirror-less cameras

Lets review compact mirrorless photo camera Panasonic Lumix DMC GF3 with Micro Four Thirds mount for interchangeable lenses. Its 4/3″ Live MOS sensor has 12.1 MP resolution; it has built in optical image stabilization with lenses, that support it. It can make photos with ISO 160 – 6400 sensitivity levels and save them in JPEG and RAW formats; camera records video in Full HD 1920 x 1080 50i and HD 1280 x 720 50p formats ( from sensor data comes with 25 fps frequency ) and saves them in AVCHD and Motion JPG formats, wherein it records only mono sound signal and has no external microphone input and Hot Shoe connector. 3″ touch screen has 460 K dots resolution, it has built in flash and has no built in viewfinder. Image is processed by Venus Engine FHD graphical processor.

Photo-camera Panasonic Lumix DMC GF3 ( top view )

It saves photo and video on SD, SDHC and SDXC flash memory cards and does not support Wi-Fi connections for remote data transferring and control. It has following connectors : USB 2.0 for data transfers and Li-ion battery charging, HDMI Mini Type C and AV output; 1 charge of battery is enough for 320 photos. Camera supports automatic and manual focus, exposure and diaphragm settings, it can be used for astronomical photos making. Panasonic Lumix DMC GF3 works in 0 – 40 on Celsius temperatures range and in 10 – 80 % relative air humidity levels; its sizes are 108 ( width ) x 67 ( height ) x 32 ( depth ) mm, mass 225 g ( only camera body without lens, battery and memory card ).

Photo-camera Panasonic Lumix DMC GF3 ( back view )

Package contains : Panasonic Lumix DMC GF3 camera itself, USB cable, Li-ion battery, strap on hand, optical disks with software and user’s guide; there are also kits with bundled lenses. From one side : this is a very good compact mirror-less camera with interchangeable lenses, which gives great photos and videos quality; from the other : it records only mono sound and has no specialized microphone input and Hot Shoe connector. So, this camera should be chosen only if videos recording is only its additional use to photos making and there is no need in stereo sound.

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