April | 2016 | Imagination Works

Xiaomi Mi 4s – 5″ IPS Android 6.0 smartphone with 4G LTE, 3 GB of RAM, 6-cores CPU and 13 MP camera for 340 USD

Company Xiaomi presented new top-level Android 6.0 smartphone Mi 4s, in which are placed 5″ multitouch IPS screen with Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, 4G LTE, 3 GB of RAM, 6-cores 64-bits processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 and 13 MP main camera and which costs around 340 USD. It also has : graphical chip Adreno 418, 64 GB of on-board memory, slot for Micro SD flash cards with 128 GB max capacity, combined with second SIM cards connector, and Micro SIM and Nano SIM cards slots themselves. It supports 2G ( GSM 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 ), 3G ( WCDMA 850, 900, 1900 and 2100 ) and 4G LTE ( 1800, 2100 and 2600 ) networks and GLONASS, GPS+A-GPS and BeiDou satellite navigation; in it lighting, proximity, Hall and gravitation and acceleration sensors and gyroscope, electronic compass and fingerprints scanner are built-in.

Xiaomi Mi 4s has 2 good for smartphones cameras : 13 MP main one with flash and lens with f/2.0 aperture and 5 elements and 5 MP frontal one with 85 degrees wide-angle lens with f/2.0 aperture, they both support Full HD 1080p video recording. It supports wireless connections Wi-Fi ( 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac ) and Bluetooth 4.1 for remote data transfers and communications with other devices and does not support NFC. On its external panels there are : 1/8″ mini jack headphones and headsets connector, Micro USB 2.0 port for connection to computer and battery charging, microphone and speaker and power and volume control buttons. Battery charge is 3260 mAh – this is a good value for smartphones; device’s body is made from aluminum, its sizes are 70.8 ( width ) x 139.3 ( height ) x 7.8 ( depth ) mm and mass is 133 g.

Package with Xiaomi Mi 4s includes : USB cable, recharger, headset, warranty card and user’s guide. Smartphone is great : it supports 4G LTE, satellite navigation GPS+A-GPS and BeiDou, has large IPS screen, powerful system, good cameras, capacitive battery and wide spectrum of wireless connections options; for its functions its price is not hight. If such characteristics are not needed, then there is ability to buy for smaller sum optimal Windows or Android smartphone and tablet PC; also there is ability to acquire with them good photo camera.

Philips FX3BK – 40 mm monitor headphones with 8 Hz – 23 kHz, neodymium magnets and 102 dB sensitivity

Company Philips brings mirth again with its novelties in monitor headphones area and releases 40 mm device FX3BK with closed acoustic architecture, 8 Hz – 23 kHz sounds frequencies reproduction support, neodymium magnets and 102 dB sensitivity. Their impedance is 32 Ohms, maximal input power is 40 mW and mass is 154 g. Cable with 1.2 m length is connected to both cups and is plugged to sound source via 1/8″ mini jack gold-plated connector. Device’s sizes are 185 ( height ) x 173 ( width ) x 40 ( depth ) mm, they can be folded for more compact carrying and storage.

Package with headphones Philips FX3BK contains : warranty card and user’s guide; they are supplied only in black color variant. Headphones are great : they have wide reproducible sounds frequencies range, neodymium magnets, large membranes and good other characteristics; there is ability to anticipate, that Philips will not set high price on them and they can be recommended for purchase. There is also need to note, that there are 50 mm monitor headphones, providing better basses reproduction quality, with acceptable price.

Investments fond of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, policy of Central Bank of Russia, India investments into Iran port and new planet’ll not destroy life on Earth

On this week Egypt и Saudi Arabia signed agreement about creation of investments fond with 16 billions of USD capital; this should contribute to economical development of the region and implementation of large industrial projects, which will lead to increase of income of citizens and work places amount. Central Bank of Russia told, that it will decrease key rate for increasing of credits availability for companies, but with taking into account keeping inflation in acceptable range and decreasing it to 4% in 2017 year; it will not force restrictions on currencies trading and will not try to fix ruble course, to not cause disbalance in economics. Oil prices are slightly increased after publication of information about decrease of its reserves in USA, which caused small growth of key stock indices of country, there is ability to anticipate similar movements of indices of other countries too. Britain Ministry of Foreign Affairs called China to decrease steel production level to increase its prices and make plants profitable; situation is similar to oil in some respect. India is ready to invest 20 billions of USD in development of Iran port Chabahar to increase oil and gas trading amounts of two countries; by this India will also pay part of debt to Iran for supplied oil. And to conclude today, not exactly economics, but interesting anyway : astronomers told about possible discovery of new planet in Solar System, which, presumably, causes anomal movements of other bodies in this space area. It can cause deviations of comets and asteroids movements and send them into inner areas of Solar System, to Earth inclusively, hitting of which of our planet caused mass extinctions of live organisms on Earth in ancient times; but rumors, appeared in some mass media, about “Close Judgment Day” and “No later, than before the end of April” are too exaggerated : in near time ( some millions of years ) no things of such scale are foreseeable from astronomical point of view.

Alesis V49 – middle-sized USB MIDI keyboard with 8 drumpads, 4 knobs and 4 buttons

One of the devices with middle-level size and functionality of Alesis company is a MIDI keyboard V49 with 8 velocity and pressure sensitive drumpads, 4 assignable knobs, 4 programmable buttons and, as it follows from its name, 49 velocity-sensitive full-sized keys. It also has : octaves control buttons, modulation control and pitch-bend wheels, USB port for powering and connection to computer and 1/4″ jack input of sustain pedal. Keyboard is fuly powered from USB connection and has no power adapter input. It can work in Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X and interact 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 Alesis V49 ( back panel )

Package contains : MIDI keyboard Alesis V49 itself, USB cable, warranty card and user’s guide; after purchase there is ability to download from manufacturer’s web site DAW Ableton Live Lite 9 and program AIR Music Tech Xpand!2. Keyboard is good : it has large amount of keys, drumpads, modulation control and pitch-bend wheels and assignable controls, wherein Alesis usually does not set high price for its devices and Alesis V49 is one of the cheapest MIDI keyboards with such functions. So, it can, for sure, be recommended for purchase for long-time creative development; there is ability to wish power adapter input for work with tablet PCs and notebooks without load on their batteries, but these are devices with larger price.

M-Audio Bass Traveler – USB headphones amplifier with 2 outputs, built-in battery and volume control knob

USB headphones amplifier M-Audio Bass Traveler

Among M-Audio devices there is headphones amplifier Bass Traveler with 2 outputs, built-in battery and volume control knob. Battery is charged via USB port, wherein it is used only for this purpose and device cannot be used as audio interface. On its top panel there are : volume control knob and TRS 1/4″ jack headphones output; on bottom panel there are : device work mode selector, TRS 1/4″ jack signal input and USB connector. On its frontal panel there is battery charge level indicator; device can power 16 – 100 Ohms headphones and supports smartphones remote answer buttons.

USB headphones amplifier M-Audio Bass Traveler ( top and left panels )

Package contains : M-Audio Bass Traveler device itself, USB cable, recharger, warranty card and user’s guide. This headphones amplifier is needed only if portable deice can not give enough power for their loud sounding. But overall : it is better to choose such headphones, that sound good with available equipment and, instead of this amplifier, buy good audio interface of Steinberg, Behringer, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio and other companies production, if headphones are used with tablet PCs or notebooks; there is need to say, that some Android and the most modern Windows smartphones also allow to use USB audio interfaces.

Philips SHL3065 – 32 mm monitor headphones with microphone, 10 Hz – 22 kHz, 106 dB sensitivity and neodymium magnets

Lets look today in audio part on 32 mm monitor headphones Philips SHL3065 with microphone, closed acoustic system, 10 Hz – 22 kHz sounds frequencies reproduction support, 106 dB sensitivity and neodymium magnets. Their impedance is 24 Ohms, maximal input power is 1000 mW and mass is 125 g. Cable is attached to both cups and has 1.2 m length, in its volume control module microphone and smartphones call answer button are built-in, it is connected to sound source via 1/8″ mini jack connector. Headband is adjustable and cups has soft cushions for comfortable wearing over long time. With Philips SHL3065 package contains : warranty card and user’s guide. Headphones are great, they have high technical characteristics, microphone and smartphones control button; probably, Philips will not set high price on them, so they can be recommended for purchase, when there is need in compactness and lightness with high-enough sound quality. However, when sound quality is main selection criterion, then there is ability to look on 40 or 50 mm monitor headphones.

LG K10 K430n – 5.3″ IPS Android 6.0 smartphone with 4G LTE, 13 MP camera, GLONASS+A-GPS, 2 GB of RAM and 8-cores CPU, but with 2300 mAh battery

Lets look today on smartphone LG K10 K430n, working under Android 6.0 OS operation and having 5.3″ multitouch IPS screen with HD 720 x 1280 pixels resolution, 4G LTE, 13 MP main camera, GLONASS+GPS+A-GPS satellite navigation, 2 GB of RAM and 8-cores processor, working on 1.14 GHz frequency, with price around 250 USD. If also has following modules : graphical chip Adreno 306, 16 GB of on-board memory and ability to use Micro SD flash cards with 32 GB max capacity ( with almost for sure available ability to use larger data storage modules ) and 1 slot for SIM cards. It can work in 2G ( GSM 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 ), 3G ( 850, 900, 1900 and 2100 ) and 4G LTE ( 2100, 1800, 2600, 900 and 2300 ) networks.

LG K10 K430n has 2 good for smartphones cameras : 13 MP main one with auto-focusing and flash and 5 MP frontal one. It supports wireless Wi-Fi ( 802.11 b/g/n ), Bluetooth 4.2 LE and NFC connections for remote data transfers and communications with other devices. On its external panels there are : 1/8″ mini jack headphones and headsets connector, Micto USB 2.0 port for connection to computer and battery charging, microphone and speaker and power and volume control buttons. Battery charge is 2300 mAh, from one side : this is enough for 400 hours in stand-by mode or 15 hours of talking, but from the other : with intensive use of smartphone it’ll not be enough for long-time work; so, battery is one of its weaknesses. Device’s sizes are 74.8 ( width ) x 146.6 ( height ) x 8.8 ( depth ) mm and mass is 140 g; it is supplied in white and indigo-black color variants.

Package with LG K10 K430n contains : USB cable, recharger, headset, warranty card and user’s guide. From one side : smartphone has advanced functions and optimal price for them : 4G LTE, large IPS screen, good cameras, GLONASS+A-GPS satellite navigation, very powerful system and full set of wireless connections; from the other : it has weak battery and only 1 SIM cards slot. So, it can be bought, if its advantages outweight its disadvantages for specific tasks; otherwise it is better to look on other Windows and Android smartphones and choose from them appropriate one.

Behringer Ultragain Digital ADA8200 – ADAT audio interface with 8 MIDAS preamplifiers and 48 kHz and 24 bits

ADAT audio interface Behringer Ultragain Digital ADA8200

Among the most functional studio audio interfaces of Behringer there is an ADAT-device Ultragain Digital ADA8200 with 8 MIDAS preamplifiers for analogue inputs and 48 kHz and 24 bits work mode with Cirrus Logic converters. On its frontal panel there are : 8 sets of XLR microphone inputs and TRS 1/4″ jack linear inputs ( both types can work in balanced mode ) with signal and clip indicators and gain control knobs; synchronization mode indicators ( is it master and is it locked ); phantom power +48 V switch button with backlight and power on button. On back panel of device there are : power line input, digital optical ADAT input and output; synchronization connector with work mode selector; and 8 linear XLR outputs, able to work in balanced and unbalanced modes.

ADAT audio interface Behringer Ultragain Digital ADA8200 ( back panel )

Parameter THD of Behringer Ultragain Digital ADA8200 equals to 0.008 %, channels isolation is 87 dB; device consumes maximum 15 W of energy. It can work in Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X with support of ASIO 2.0 and Core Audio interfaces, via which it works with modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others. Body of Behringer Ultragain Digital ADA8200 is made from metal with black and red coloring, its sizes are 44.5 ( height ) x 482.6 ( width ) x 217 ( depth ) mm and mass is 2.1 kg.

Package with Behringer Ultragain Digital ADA8200 contains : warranty card and user’s guide. Audio interface is oriented on use in large studios and has necessary amount of inputs and outputs and high characteristics for this. Small and middle studios can look on cheaper USB audio interfaces of Steinberg, Behringer, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio and other manufacturers production with the same high quality components and technical characteristics.

Puma PMAD6007 – 14.8 in-ears headphones with microphone, 15 Hz – 20 kHz and moisture protection for 8.5 USD

Company Puma presented its new device PMAD6007 – 14.8 in ears headphones with microphone, ability to reproduce 15 Hz – 20 kHz sounds frequencies and protection from moisture for approximately 8.5 USD. Cable with 1.2 m length is connected to both cups, to sound source it is plugged via 1/8″ mini jack connector, in its volume control module microphone and smartphones control buttons are placed; both cups have over ears bands for fixation. Package contains : Puma PMAD6007 headphones themselves, carrying and storage case, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all headphones are good and have great sportive in-ears headphones characteristics for such price. There is also ability to look on other in-ears headphones or, if there is need in sound quality over device’s compactness, then on 40 or 50 mm monitor headphones.

Lenovo A3690 – new 5″ IPS Android 5.1 smartphone with 4G LTE, A-GPS, 8 MP camera and Bluetooth 4.0 for 100 USD

Another one novelty of Lenovo is an Android 5.1 smartphone A3690 with 5″ multitouch IPS screen with HD 1280 x 720 pixels resolution, 4G LTE, satellite navigation GPS+A-GPS, 8 MP main camera and Bluetooth 4.0 for 100 USD. It also has : 4-cores 64-bits processor MediaTek MT6735, working on 1 GHz frequency, graphical chip Mali-T720, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of on-board memory with flash cards slot with 32 GB max capacity ( larger ones almost for sure work too ) and 2 Micro SIM cards slots. It has gravity, proximity and lighting sensors; it can work in 2G ( GSM 900, 1800 and 1900 ), 3G ( WCDMA 850, 900, 1900 and 2100 ) and 4G LTE ( 1800, 2100 and 2600 ) networks.

In Lenovo A3690 two good for smartphones cameras are placed : 8 MP main one with flash and lens with f/2.2 aperture and auto-focusing and 2 MP frontal one. On external panels of device there are : 1/8″ mini jack headsets and headphones output, Micro USB 2.0 port for connection to computer and battery charging, microphone and speaker, as well as power and volume control buttons. It supports wireless connections Wi-Fi ( 802.11a/b/g/n ) and Bluetooth 4.0 for remote communications with other devices and data transfers and does not support NFC connections. Battery charge is 2300 mAh – this is a low value for smartphones; device’s sizes are 141 ( height ) x 71 ( width ) x 8.8 ( depth ) mm and mass is 140 g.

Package contains : Lenovo A3690 smartphone itself, USB cable, recharger, warranty card and user’s guide. From one side : smartphone is good, with 4G LTE, large IPS screen, satellite navigation GPS+A-GPS, good cameras and modern wireless connections standards and optimal price for such functions. From the other : it has quite weak battery and there’ll be need to recharge it often. So, everybody decide on their own, whether its advantages overcome this one weakness; if there is need in more capacitive battery, then there is ability to look on close Windows or Android smartphones with not very different price.

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