Reviews | Imagination Works

Roland QuadCapture – external sound card, which is able to record 4 audio channels simultaneously

In this article we will review Roland QuadCapture semi-professional external sound card. It can record and play 4 audio channels with 96, 48 and 44.1 kHz frequencies and 2 channels with frequencies up to 192 kHz. Card works with computer with 24 bits precision; digital to analogue conversion and opposite conversion are performed with the same precision; all other calculations are performed with 40 bits precision. It is powered via 1 USB port, through which data is also transmitted, and supports coaxial digital input and output and MIDI input and output. Other connectors include : balanced XLR and TRS inputs and TRS balanced and unbalanced outputs. Card has microphone VS preamplifiers, to which phantom power is connected ( for microphones, which require it ); also : low-cut filter, phase inverters and digital compressors ( which allow sound to not clip during recording ) are connected to them. Roland QuadCapture supports VS Streaming technology for audio recording and playback with low latency; also it supports ASIO 2.0 / WDM for Windows and Core Audio for Mac OS, which allow to use card with all modern DAWs : FL Studio, REAPER, Cakewalk SONAR and others. Card contains low noise power supply, its body is produced from aluminum, and it supports Direct-Box ( DI ) for use on open scenes. Card sizes are : 185 x 134 x 44 mm ( width x depth x height ), and its weight is : 570 g. Package contains : Roland QuadCapture sound card itself, USB cable, CD-ROM disk with drivers and software and user’s guide.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED – new wide-angle lens from Nikon

Nikon announced new light-weight wide-angle lens Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED. Its focal lens is 24 mm with max apperture f/1.8 and minimal apperture f/16, it is attached to cameras with use of Nikon F-Bayonet mount. Angles of view are : 61 and 86 degrees for DX ( 24 x 16 мм ) and FX ( 36 x 24 мм ) sensors accordingly. Minimal focus distance is 23 cm with automatic and manual focusing modes, automatic focusing is provided via AF-S ( Silent Wave Motor ). Optical filters with 72 mm size and Screw-on type can be attached to lens. It contains 12 lens elements in 9 groups; among them : 2 low-disperse lenses, manufactured from ED glass, and 2 aspherical lenses; they reduce light dispersion and other optical distortions. All lenses are coated with Nano Crystal Coat anti-reflective coating and Super Integrated Coating protective coating. Objective lens weight is 355 g, its sizes are : 77.5 x 83 mm. It is suited most for landscapes, towns squares, sportive events and other scenes shooting, which require wide angle of view. Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED will be available in shops from 17th September.

Philips Fidelio M1 MKII headphones – portable audio novelty from Philips

Philips released new monitor type headphones Philips Fidelio M1 MKII. They have closed type architecture, which isolates from outer sounds, and comfortable materials, which make their long time wearing convenient. Outer surfaces of earshells have vents, which allow air to move in and move out from shells, this makes air pressure on membrane optimal and allows to reproduce high quality sound over all frequencies range. Earshells have 2 layers, that make sounds reproduction clear without additional noise. 40 mm membranes are moved by neodymium magnets. Headphones can reproduce sounds in 15 – 24000 Hz frequencies range, have 16 Ohms impedance, 106 Db per 1 mW sensitivity and 150 mW max power input. Cable length is 1.1 m and it has built-in module with microphone and remote answer button for smartphones. Headphones weight is 166 g. Package contains : Philips Fidelio M1 MKII headphones themselves with built-in cable and pouch for compact storage.

AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION external sound card review

AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION sound card

In this article we will describe external professional sound card AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION. It has high quality digital to analogue converter Wolfson, which works on 94 kHz frequency with 24 bits precision, and National Semiconductor LME49860 operational amplifiers ( OpAmps ), which provide high quality sound without addition of noticeable amount of noise. There is ability to replace them on OpAmps of even higher quality, because they are mounted via special socket. Card has built-in electrolytic capacitors Sam Young AHS Series in digital and in most of analogue parts of it; from one side : they have good enough quality, but from the other side : it is better to place into analogue tract ( and into digital also ) high quality ceramic or film capacitors, because they have much better quality and characteristics, than electrolytic capacitors, for audio tract. And only in Low-Pass filters after OpAmps it has film capacitors WIMA Film Capacitor.

USB аудио интерфейс AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION, задняя панель — USB audio interface AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION, задняя панель

It has : USB connector for signal input and card powering; 3.5 mm mini-jack, 6.5 mm jack and 2 RCA connectors for analogue sound output to headphones or speakers; coaxial and optical digital outputs for signal passing to other devices for processing and playback; microphone input ( card saves recorded sound in 48 kHz and 24 bits format ); output switch; and volume control. Card sizes are : 94 x 90 x 22 mm ( width x depth x height ) and mass is 0.54 kg. It has drivers for following operating systems : Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP and Mac OS X.

Dynamic range of AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION is 108 dB, THD+N is 0.00008 %; card can be used for sounds and music playback and for semi-professional work with sound; there is need to note, that AUDIOTRAK is long known for very good devices for semi-professional and professional work with sound. Package contains : AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY CUBE BLACK EDITION sound card itself, 2x RCA cables, USB cable and user’s guide.

All in all, this is a good entry-level audio interface, however it is slightly less functional, than modern devices of Steinberg, Behringer, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio, Alesis and other manufacturers production. Company Audiotrak currently is an ESI subdivision and produces PCI, PCI Express and USB audio interfaces, loudspeakers, microphones and other sound equipment. Its main office is located in Korea.

Philips L2BO/27 – high quality monitor headphones

Philips released high quality monitor headphones Philips L2BO/27 of semi-open type. They have built-in 40 mm drivers with membranes, which are moved by neodymium magnets. They can reproduce sounds with 6 – 40000 Hz frequencies, their impedance is 16 Ohms, sensitivity is 105 dB / 1 mW and maximal power input is 200 mW. Earshells of Philips L2BO/27 are produced from aluminum, which allows them to reproduce sounds clearly without additional noise; wherein their drivers are directed into acoustic ears canals, which allows to reduce reverberation from the outer ear and makes sounds more natural. Semi-open architecture allows to isolate ears from outer sounds and enrich deep basses reproduction, at the same time this allows to reduce headphones weight and makes their wearing more comfortable. Philips L2BO/27 comply with Hi-Res Audio standard, which means that they reproduce sounds precisely enough and do not add additional noise to it. Headphones cable has unit with microphone and smartphones remote answer button; also there is 3.5 mm – 6.3 mm mini-jack adapter included in the package. Package contains : Philips L2BO/27 headphones themselves with built-in cable, adapter and pouch for compact cable storage.

Denon AVR-S500BT 5.2 AV receiver review

In this article we will look on Denon AVR-S500BT 5.2 AV receiver. It is compatible with HDMI 2.0 standard and has 5 such inputs and 1 output. It can pass-through 4K video signal to other devices with 60 Hz frequency and in 4:4:4 Pure Color color format. Receiver can accept signals via wireless Bluetooth connection, USB port or different analogue connectors, that are placed on its front and back panels. It can output audio signal to 5 speakers and 2 subwoofers with 140 W max power. It supports decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD sound formats and precise setup of speakers position with use of microphone, which allows to place given speakers optimally in given room for best audio picture. Denon AVR-S500BT 5.2 maximally consumes 330 W of energy in working mode with ability to go into eco mode and 0.3 W in stand-by mode. There is ability to control receiver via remote control, front panel and smartphone ( with use of special application ); there is also FM/AM tuner built into receiver for radio signal pick up.

Yamaha RX-V577 AV receiver review

In this article we will review Yamaha RX-V577 AV receiver. It is created for receiving audio, video and images signals from different sources and their conversion into analogue format with amplification or direct pass-through to other devices for processing. It can accept signals from HDMI, Wi-Fi, AirPlay ( for data receiving in digital format from iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac and PC devices ), HTC Connect and USB connections. Receiver can transmit audio signal to 7 speakers and 2 subwoofers and can pass-through 4K video signal. It supports YPAO function, which allows to precisely tune speakers position with microphone to obtain optimal sound quality. In stand by mode Yamaha RX-V577 consumes only 0.1 W of energy. For each audio channel it uses separate digital to analog converters ( DACs ), which work on 192 kHz frequency, with 24 bits precision. It has following sound processing effects and technologies : CINEMA DSP, 17 DSP programs, Virtual Presence Speaker, SILENT CINEMA, Virtual CINEMA FRONT, Extra Bass, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Pro Logic IIx. It has 115 W max power output; built in FM/AM tuner; and can be controlled via remote control or smartphone.

Sony α7R II – camera with very professional functions and corresponding price

Sony released new professional camera Sony α7R II. It has built in CMOS back lit sensor with full-frame 35 mm size and 40.2 MP effective resolution; its image processor is BIONZ X; and interchangeable lens are attached to it via Sony E-mount. 5-axis image stabilization is performed by sensor shifting. Camera supports ISO 50 – 102400 sensitivity levels; and photos shooting in 7952 x 5304 pixels maximal resolution with saving in JPEG and RAW ( with 14 bits per channel of color depth; it is worth to note, that camera supports only lossy compression in RAW saving mode ) formats. It supports following videos recording modes : 4K 3840 x 2160 30p/25p/24p, Full HD 1920 x 1080 60p/30p/25p/24p and HD 1280 x 720 120p/100p/30p/25p/24p, with saving in XAVC S, AVCHD format Ver. 2.0 compliant or MP4 with MPEG-4 AVC or H.264 image encoding and Dolby Digital ( AC-3 ) 2ch, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, MPEG-4 AAC-LC 2ch or LPCM 2ch sound formats. Camera supports manual setting of exposure and focus parameters, which allow to use it for astro photo. Its main TFT LCD display has 2.95-inch size and 1.2288M dots resolution; its XGA OLED viewfinder with 0.51-inch size has 2.359M dots resolution. Camera supports only one flash memory cards slot of following standards : Memory Stick, SD, SDHC ( UHS-I ), SDXC ( UHS-I ), micro SD, micro SDHC and micro SDXC; it can establish Wi-Fi and NFC wireless connections for photos and data transmitting and remote control of camera from smartphone; and has USB ( for data sending and battery recharging ), HDMI micro Type-D ( for pictures and videos viewing on screens of TV or monitor ), and two 3.5 mm mini-jack ( for external microphone and headphones ) connectors. Package contains : Sony α7R II camera itself without objective lens, Li-ion battery ( one charge of which is enough for making of 290 photos ), recharger, AC power cable and adapter, USB cable, strap on hand, user’s guide and different caps and coverings for camera. It is worth to note, that professional cameras of other manufacturers, for example, Nikon, Canon, Olympus and others, cost much less ( manufacturer suggested retail price at the beginning of Autumn of 2015 year for Sony α7R II is 3.2K USD ) and interchangeable lens of these manufacturers usually cost much less.

Review of external semi-professional sound card ESI UGM96

In this article we will review semi-professional external sound card ESI UGM96. It was released in 2008 year, but in this electronics segment devices become obsolete not so fast, as in other areas. It has 2 unbalanced stereo outputs and 2 unbalanced mono Hi-Z inputs. There is ability to switch one input into microphone input with preamp mode; and there is ability to switch one output into linear mode, so that signal is not processed by sound card’s amplifier. It supports playback modes up to 96 kHz and 24 bits and the same recording modes. There are drivers released for sound card for Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP ( with ASIO support ) and Mac OS X 10.4 and newer ( with Core Audio support ) operating systems; support of these professional audio playback and recording interfaces allows to do this with very low latency, which is extremely important in professional work with audio. Sound card is fully powered by one USB port. Card has 2 stereo outputs, but does not work in 4 channel mode : both outputs transmit the same signal; it does not support hardware acceleration of 3D sound in games and virtual reality applications ( but software implementation of these functions works without problems with this sound card in all applications ). Sound card sizes are 7 x 8 cm. Based on my experience of work with ESI UGM96, I can say, that this is great sound card : quality of music and sounds in films and games is great; quality of audio recordings with good microphone is also great, and card is supported by all moderns DAWs : FL Studio, REAPER and other. Package contains : ESI UGM96 sound card itself, USB cable, CD-ROM disks with drivers and additional software and user’s guide. There is need to note, that this sound card has one of the lowest prices among external semi-professional sound cards.

3D Sound Labs One – headphones with 3D sound positioning

3D Sound Labs anounced new headphones 3D Sound Labs One with 3D sound positioning. They have built in gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer sensors, which track head movement and allow to precisely determine head position. This data then sent to computer via Bluetooth connection, where special program processes it and changes sound so, that person have feeling, that he or she rotates head in respect to real sound source. This way there is realistic 3D sound picture is reproduced, which is most plausible for multichannel sound : movies, games and virtual reality applications. Headphones have built in Li-ion battery, which powers sensors and wireless transmitter. Headphones themselves are of monitor type, with isolation from surround sounds and neodymium magnets, which move membranes. All in all this is interesting novelty for mobile use, but taking into account their price ( 269 USD at the beginning of Autumn 2015 ), it is better to buy 5.1 or 7.1 speakers with subwoofer or by drivers and create speakers by yourself and receive sound with much better quality without dependence on some application. 3D Sound Labs One headphones will be available in stores from 15th September of this year.

Category: Reviews