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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.

Olympus PEN E-P3 – mirror-less MFT camera with great photos quality

Lets review today compact mirror-less photo-camera Olympus PEN E-P3 with interchangeable lenses for Micro Four Thirds mount and 4/3″ High speed Live MOS sensor with 12.3 MP effective resolution. Camera can shoot photos with 4032 x 3024 pixels maximal resolution ( with ISO 200 – 12800 sensitivity levels ) and save them in JPEG, RAW ( with 12 bits per channel precision and lossless compression ), RAW+JPEG and MPO formats in sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces. It records videos in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60i, HD 1280 x 720 60p and SD 640 x 480 30 modes and saves them in AVCHD or AVI Motion JPEG formats with Dolby Digital or Stereo PCM 16 bits and 48 kHz sound recording formats, accordingly. Image is processed by Dual-core TruePic VI processor. Camera has sensor-shifting image stabilization, built-in flash, 3″ OLED screen with 614 K dots resolution; and have no built-in viewfinder.

Compact photo-camera Olympus PEN E-P3 ( top view )

It supports automatic and manual focus, exposure and diaphragm settings, so, it can be used for astronomical photos making; its noise reduction system can be switched off or camera can control it in automatic mode. There is ability to control it via wired remote control; it has no Wi-Fi connections support for remote data transfers and control of camera; and saves photo and video on SD, SDHC, SDXC ( UHS-I compatible ) and Eye-Fi flash memory cards. It has following connectors : USB 2.0 for photos and videos transferring and Li-ion battery charging, AV output, Mini HDMI type-C, Hot Shoe and Accessory Port ( AP2 ); one charge of its battery is enough for 330 photos making. Its body is made from metal, frontal plastic panel can be removed, if needed; its sizes are 122 ( width ) x 69 ( height ) x 36 ( depth ) mm and mass is 321 g ( only camera body without lens, memory card and battery ). It can work in 0 – 40 degrees on Celsius temperatures range and 30 – 90 % relative air humidity range.

Compact photo-camera Olympus PEN E-P3 ( rear view )

Package contains : Olympus PEN E-P3 camera itself, Li-ion battery, its charger, USB/Video multi cable, optical disk with OLYMPUS Viewer 2/ib software, warranty card and user’s guide; there are kits with 1 – 2 included lenses. This is a great compact mirror-less photo-camera with very good photos quality and good video quality and large amount of specialized controls. Its weak side is only sometimes wrong light temperature determination under artificial lighting; this can be solved by its manual setting in such situations.

Compact photo-camera Olympus PEN E-P3 ( right side view )

Akai MPK Mini Mk2 – very compact and functional MIDI keyboard

Lets review compact MIDI keyboard Akai MPK Mini Mk2, that is reach with functional, despite its small sizes. It has : 25 velocity-sensitive mini-keys; mini thumbstick for pitch and modulation control; 8 velocity-sensitive drumpads with backlight; 8 assignable knobs; built-in arpreggiator; and specialized octave control buttons. Also it has : USB port for communication with computer and powering and TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) input for sustain pedal.

Compact MIDI keyboard Akai MPK Mini Mk2 ( rear angle view )

After MIDI keyboard purchase there is ability to download from manufacturer’s web-site programs Akai Pro MPC Essentials, SONiVOX Wobble, AIR Music Tech Hybrid 3 and MPK mini MIDI Editor; it works without additional drivers in Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X 10.7 and newer operating systems, in which it tightly integrates with modern DAWs ( FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live and Steinberg Cubase ), their instruments and VST plugins. Its sizes are 305 ( width ) x 178 ( depth ) x 25 ( height ) mm and mass is 0.45 kg. Package contains : Akai MPK Mini Mk2 MIDI keyboard itself, USB cable and user’s guide. It is good compact MIDI keyboard with optimal price and reach functional; it has not very big amount of keys and they are mini, but this is a consequence of its compact sizes.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 – compact camera, which records AVCHD Full HD 1920 × 1080 60i video

Lets meet today with compact mirror-less camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 with Live MOS sensor Micro Four Thirds ( with 12.1 MP effective resolution ) and the same mount for interchangeable lenses. It can save photos in JPEG ( in this format it has higher amount of compression artifacts, than competitors have ) and RAW formats; it can record videos in Full HD 1920 × 1080 60i/50i and HD 1280 x 720 60p/50p modes and save them in AVCHD format with MPEG-4/H.264 image encoding and stereo sound recording. Image is processed by Venus Engine FHD; camera supports optical image stabilization with lenses, which can perform it. Its ISO sensitivity levels range is 100 – 6400; during videos recording camera does not let to control optical parameters manually and controls them in automatic mode. It has built-in flash, has no viewfinder and its 3″ touch LCD screen has 460 K dots resolution.

Photo-camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 ( top view )

During photos making camera lets to control focus, diaphragm and exposure automatically and manually and it can be used for astronomical photos making. It saves photo and video on SD, SDHC and SDXC flash memory cards; and does not support Wi-Fi connections for remote data transfers and control of camera. It has following connectors : USB 2.0 for data transfers and Li-ion battery charging, HDMI C Mini, AV output and Hot Shoe interface. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for 300 photos making; its sizes are 113 ( width ) x 68 ( height ) x 33 ( depth ) mm and mass is 265 g ( only camera body without lens, battery and memory card ).

Photo-camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 ( rear view )

Package contains : Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 camera itself, USB cable, strap on hand, optical disks with software ( PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.0 HD Edition, SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.1 SE and Super LoiloScope trial version ) and user’s guide; there are also kits with bundled interchangeable lenses. All in all, this is a very good compact mirror-less camera with interchangeable lenses, its weak sides are relatively big amount of compression artifacts during JPEG photos saving and only automatic optical parameters control during videos recording; in all other aspects this camera is very good. So, when camera of such type is being chosen, there is need to look on its price and on the fact, whether its characteristics and weaknesses are acceptable.

Roland OCTA-CAPTURE – external sound card with 8 inputs and 192 kHz

Lets review external sound card Roland OCTA-CAPTURE, designed for professional studio work; it can work with sampling rates up to 192 kHz and 24 bits per sample precision ( internal processing is performed with 40 bits precision ). Its frontal panel has : 4 combined XLR/TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) inputs, first two are instrumental Hi-Z inputs, rest 2 – microphone inputs with switchable phantom power +48 V; preamplifiers, phantom power, compression and SENS function control buttons with back-light; LCD display, that shows information about card’s work; TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) output for monitor headphones, Direct Monitor switch, display, headphones signal source and card power control buttons with back-light and outputs volume control knob. Its back panel has : USB port, through which it is powered and communicates with computer; power adapter input; MIDI input and output; coaxial digital RCA input and output; 8 analogue TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) outputs; and 4 additional combined XLR/TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) inputs. To all combined XLR/TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) inputs high-quality preamplifiers are connected, such inputs and all 8 main TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) inputs of card are balanced.

External sound card Roland OCTA-CAPTURE ( rear view )

Dynamic range of 8 inputs is 104 dB, 8 outputs is 113 dB; for it drivers are released for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X 10.6 and newer with support of ASIO 2.0, WDM and Core Audio interfaces, via which it tightly integrates with modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others. Its sizes are 284 ( width ) x 158 ( depth ) x 50 ( height ) mm and mass is 1.3 kg; its body is made of aluminum. Package contains : Roland OCTA-CAPTURE sound card itself, USB cable, optical disks with drivers and software and user’s guide. In the entry level studio sound cards segment Steinberg and Behringer are leaders and Focusrite and Roland devices are slightly weaker than them; in the middle level studio sound cards class, second ones catch up with leaders and show no weaknesses. So, when audio interface of such level is being chosen, there is need to look on specific task, for which card is bought, and on prices of these devices.

Sony Alpha NEX-3N – compact mirror-less camera with APS-C sensor and Sony-E lens mount

Lets meet today with compact mirror-less photo-camera Sony Alpha NEX-3N with APS-C sensor with 16.1 MP effective resolution and Sony E mount for interchangeable lenses. It can make photos with 4912 x 3264 pixels maximal resolution and save them in JPEG, MPO and RAW formats; and video in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60, 1440 x 1080 30 and VGA 640 x 480 30 modes and save it in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and MPEG-4 AVCHD formats with AAC stereo sound. Wherein ISO sensitivity levels are in 200 – 12800 range. Camera has no built-in viewfinder and has 3″ tiltable LCD display with 460.8 K dots resolution and built-in flash.

Photo camera Sony Alpha NEX-3N ( top view )

Camera supports automatic and manual focus change, exposure and diaphragm settings; it can be used for astronomical photos making. It saves data on Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory Stick PRO HG-Duo, SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards; and does not support Wi-Fi connections for data transfers and remote control. It has following connectors : USB 2.0 for data transfers and Li-ion battery charging, HDMI D Micro and DC input for powering from electric line and battery charging. Its sizes are 112 ( width ) x 64 ( height ) x 36 ( depth ) mm and mass is 210 g ( only camera body without lens, battery and memory card ).

Photo camera Sony Alpha NEX-3N ( rear view )

Package contains : Sony Alpha NEX-3N camera itself, Micro-USB cable, power adapter, strap on hand, 1-year warranty card and user’s guide; there are also kits with bundled lenses. It is very functional compact mirror-less camera : it has APS-C sensor ( larger sensors are usually built into heavy mirror cameras ) and it can record Full HD video; so, if there are enough money for purchasing of this camera, then it is the best choice. But if APS-C sensors of Sony are too pricey ( this company never set low prices on its products, but usually have very good quality ), then there is ability to look on Olympus and Panasonic cameras of such type with Micro Four Thirds sensors.

Review of new in-ear headphones Skullcandy S2PGGY

Lets review new in-ear headphones Skullcandy S2PGGY, manufacturer again does not tell anything about their technical details. Judging by their view, 8 or 10 mm drivers are built into them; information about their sound frequencies range, sensitivity, impedance, signal to noise ratio and maximal power input Skullcandy does not provide. Volume control module with microphone is built into their cable; price of device is 30 USD. Price of Skullcandy S2PGGY is not overly high, if they have very good specifications, but, accounting the fact, that manufacturer does not tell anything about them, it is better to buy high-quality in-ear headphones of Sony, Philips and other manufacturers with very good technical characteristics, which manufacturers openly name, and which has the same or even smaller price and quality design.

Review of mirror-less camera Olympus PEN E-PL3 with interchangeable MFT lenses

Lets review compact mirror-less camera Olympus PEN E-PL3 with interchangeable lenses for Micro Four Thirds mount. It has High speed Live MOS Sensor with 4/3″ size and 12.3 MP effective resolution; it can make photos with 4032 x 3024 pixels maximal resolution ( with ISO 200 – 12800 sensitivity levels ) and save them in JPEG, RAW ( with 12 bits per channel precision and lossless compression ), RAW+JPEG and MPO formats in sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces. Camera can record video in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60i, HD 1280 x 720 60p and SD 640 x 480 30 modes ( wherein picture data from sensor comes with 30 fps, it seems that, 60 fps are received via software interpolation ) and save them in AVCHD ( with Dolby Digital sound encoding ) and AVI Motion JPEG ( Stereo PCM, 16 bits and 48 kHz ) formats. Camera has no built-in viewfinder and flash, they can be attached via Hot Shoe interface. Its tilting 3″ LCD display has 460 K dots resolution; sensor-shifting image stabilization is built into it.

Photo camera Olympus PEN E-PL3 ( rear view )

Camera supports automatic and manual focusing, exposure control and diaphragm settings, it has remote control support via special cable; it can be used for astronomical photos making. It saves photos and video on SD, SDHC, SDXC ( UHS-I compatible ) and Eye-Fi flash memory cards and does not support Wi-Fi connections for data transmitting and remote control. Following connectors are built into it : USB 2.0 for data transferring and Li-ion battery charging, Mini HDMI type-C, VIDEO-OUT, Accessory Port ( AP2 ) and Hot Shoe. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for 300 photos making, its body is made from metal, its sizes are 109 ( width ) x 64 ( height ) x 37 ( depth ) mm, and mass is 312 g ( including battery and memory card and without lens ). Camera can work in 0 – 40 degrees on Celsius temperatures range and relative air humidity range 30 – 90 %.

Photo camera Olympus PEN E-PL3 ( top view )

Package contains : Olympus PEN E-PL3 camera itself, Olympus FL-LM1 flash, Li-ion battery, charger, USB/Video multi-cable, strap on hand, optical disk with OLYMPUS Viewer 2/ib software, warranty card and user’s guide. There also are kits with bundled photo-lenses. This camera is one of the cheapest cameras with interchangeable lenses, wherein it has relatively big sensor ( of the same size as top-level Olympus cameras have ) and can record Full HD video; it has no mirrors, its body is made from metal and it has compact sizes and small mass, so, it is useful in travels and shooting from hands ( especially with optical image stabilization ). Weak side of camera is small amount of dedicated controls, but this is a consequence of its compact size and design for novice photographers. So, this camera can be surely recommended for purchase, when there is need in camera with big sensor and interchangeable lenses and there is no wish to pay for Sony NEX and Canon EOS M cameras with their APS-C sensors.

Photo camera Olympus PEN E-PL3 ( tilting display )

Skullcandy S5AVGM – new women’s monitor headphones

Lets review new monitor headphones Skullcandy S5AVGM, which, as manufacturer says, are designed specially for women. And begin with the fact, that manufacturer does not tell anything about their technical specifications ( sound “specially for women” – is not a technical detail ); judging by their view, 40 mm drivers are built into them – this all, that can be said about their technical data. Information about their reproduceable sounds frequencies range, impedance, sensitivity, signal to noise ratio and maximal power input is not provided by Skullcandy. Their cable is detachable; in its volume control unit microphone and phones remote control buttons are built in. They are supplied in 3 color variants : orange, blue and black. With total lack of technical information, their price 100 USD is too big : for smaller sum there is ability to buy professional studio monitor headphones ( which are far superior, than this device ) and for 2 times smaller sum there is ability to buy very good monitor headphones of Sony, Philips and other manufacturers with very good technical details, which their manufacturers openly disclose. Wherein such devices have nice design and will fit both men and women, they can be decorated, if so needed. So, these headphones Skullcandy S5AVGM are not recommended for purchase and it is better to chose device of other manufacturers, which publish their real technical details.

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