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Review: Presonus HP 4

Rick Levine — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:05:33 +0000

You’ve just set up your digital recording studio and you’re with a couple of other musicans, all ready to record. Suddenly you realize there are not enough headphone jacks for everyone. This is a situation that is initially, easily overlooked.

The primary purpose of the Presonus HP-4 is to provide multiple headphone jacks where originally there is insufficient supply. In the recording studio, multiple headphones are a must and a headphone amplifier such as the HP-4 will allow up to 4 people to listen simultaneously. One of the neat things about he HP-4 is the ability to daisy chain multiple units together if more than 4 headphone sets are required. The HP-4 is quiet, has a crisp clear sound and plenty of volume if needed, for headroom purposes.

The HP-4 is an active device and obtains its power by plugging it into the wall with the included AC adapter. A red LED is illuminated when the device is plugged in and obtaining power. When the MONO button on the front panel is pushed in, each input will be summed together on each output producing a MONO signal which in particular situations can be a handy feature to have.

Aluminum Knobs on the front panel of the cast aluminum HP-4 are spaced evenly enough to allow average / large sized fingers, comfortable manipulation space and the unit does not generate any significant amount of unwanted heat when operational.

The rear panel of the HP-4 has separate Left and Right IN-puts’ as opposed to a single TRS input. In order to connect the HP-4 from a stereo headphone output jack, it will be necessary to obtain a standard ‘INSERT cable’ (Y-cable – single TRS 1?4 inch jack on one end and two TS 1?4 inch jacks on the other) which can be purchased at any pro-music store. The pair of Monitor OUTputs will provide a way to output the signal directly to a pair of powered studio monitors. The audio signals to the speakers can be defeated using the conveniently situated MUTE switch that is located on the front panel of this smartly designed, solidly constructed signal router.

Theoretically the HP-4 can be Rack mounted using a ‘Max Rack and Universal Rack Tray’ but a search of this accessory on the presonus website does not reveal any additional information or pricing.

It’s really a pretty simple device and while there are several others on the market that retail for much less than the HP-4, at the end of the day, the HP-4 is sensibly styled, quality built, with superior sound characteristics and will meet or exceed the professional standards of all other devices in a pro-studio environment.

Presonus, a familiar name to musicians, has a large family of recording/playback interface products designed for use by people in the
professional recording industry. For complete tech specs and additional details visit the Presonus website: http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=20.

HP-4 retails for around $140.00 CDN

Duet Breakout Box for Apogee Duet – Un-Tangle the Dongle

Rick Levine — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:10:02 +0000

If you are looking to buy one of the great audio interface boxes for the Macintosh, you may want to look at the Apogee Duet. The Duet is a quality sounding audio interface with a sleek modern design and comes with software specifically designed for the MacIntosh. With all its genius of design, the Achilles heel of the Duet appears to be the ‘The Dongle’ or in other words the way Apogee decided to provide connectivity to peripherals. Many people who love the quality of the Duet Apogee have been concerned about the cheesy looking Dongle and would like to replace that ‘dongle of strings’ with some other more substantial looking device. The Breakout Box for the Duet is now available to “take the tangle out of your Duet”.

The Duet Breakout Box is a welcome companion to the Apogee Duet and is built to the relative high standards. The device is basically in the form of a metal box which comes in either Black or Silver and the kit includes a 16 inch computer cable that connects the computer’s Audio to the outside world. The unit is simple to set up and works pretty much immediately with no flaws, as long as you take the time to hook it up properly in the first place. Notice the word ‘OUT’ on the top of the Box has been placed right where the INPUTS are located. As simple as it is to set up, better IN and OUT markings could clear up any potential confusion during the initial setup or when trouble-shooting.

Just one important note, before connecting or disconnecting the hardware to the MacIntosh, make sure to power down first. Make all the connections while the computer is OFF and then Boot Up your computer. Make sure the Apple Preferences are set up correctly for the Apogee Duet to be operating and you will be making beautiful music in no time at all. The Duet Breakout box for the Apogee Duet is available ‘on line’ directly from the manufacturer at a cost of: $95.00 plus shipping. So put your Apogee Duet ‘Dongle’ away for safe keeping and connect up audio peripherals with the Duet Breakout Box.

Visit: http://www.duetbreakout.com/
For photos, additional specs and further information.

Headroom Releases New Audio Devices for Holidays

andPOP Staff — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:11:09 +0000

Headroom recently announced the release of a variety of headphone and speaker devices for the upcoming holiday season. These products include the following devices:

Sennheiser RS140
These headphones are designed keep the sound in and to not disturb others, and is ideal for those who like to watch TV or movies late at night. $219.99 USD

Total BitHead Amp
The Total BitHead Amp makes headphones compatible with an iPod or other portable player. The BitHead’s USH input also improves the sound of computer audio. (Pricing not immediately available)

Shure SE530
These high-quality in-ear canal headphones are the best headphones available on the market sort of custom-modeled products. $499.99 USD

Sleek and portable, listen to your iPod with iMainGo

Daniel Levine — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:42:10 +0000

Product: iMainGo (by Portable Sound Laboratories)
Link: http://imaingo.com/
Cost: $69.95US
Our Rating: 4/5

The iMainGo touts itself as a device that can deliver the same “rich full sound you’d expect from systems many times its size.” I disagree. Compare it however to any other small, portable audio system (especially those built for the iPod) and you have yourself a winner.

iMainGo is made by Portable Sound Laboratories, and is a compact, portable audio system built for the iPod. The system is zipper enclosed and opens up to reveal a power switch, a battery compartment, an audio connector and a holster for the iPod.

The Design

The design is great. The system looks and feels awesome. The speakers are neatly built into the front of the case, blending right in, while the rear has a clear window allowing one to see and control an enclosed iPod. I was extremely surprised to see how responsive my iPod was while enclosed in the case, using it through the plastic window.

Like most other iPod accessories, iMainGo is incompatible with most others. Don’t expect to use the system while your iPod is in a case. I couldn’t even fit my first generation Nano in while it had a silicone skin on. The unit comes with an adapter to use the Nano and it was with this that I could not fit the Nano in with its case. I was able to use it without the adapter but that meant the Nano was less secure and harder to operate inside the unit.

As stated before, the machine runs off of batteries; four AAA. Originally I was a little disappointed, I usually am not a fan of devices that run off of batteries but this unit lasted a surprisingly long time.

Contributing to the long lasting batteries, the iMainGo has a great wake-up alarm feature that works off the iPod’s built in alarm. The iMainGo can be set to “Alarm” and will sleep – preserving battery power – until the iPod until the iPod wakes it with some audio.

Although extremely insignificant, the small green indicator LED on the inside of the unit is way too bright, and annoying. I could hardly look at it.

The Sound

The first time I used the unit, the first thing I noticed was the tremendous bass response. Better than any other small portable unit I have ever used. Aside from that, I wasn’t particularly pleased with the sound quality of the iMainGo. The system connects to an iPod (or any other audio device for that matter) with a normal stereo headphone jack, as opposed to using the dock connector, which would ultimately produce a much higher quality, digital output. At high volume outputs, the sound can get distorted and unclear (much like headphones would when blasting the sound with low quality MP3s). Up until about 80% of the iPod’s volume maximum, the unit does however sound pretty good. It’s certainly high enough quality for most general uses. I don’t see any audiophiles loving the sound quality of the unit but then again I don’t see them loving the sound quality of any other comparable unit.

Overall Thoughts
Rating: 4/5
I like this unit and I am going to continue to use it. I was a little let down by the fact that it doesn’t connect to my iPod via the dock connector to allow for better sound quality. On the plus side however, that means I can use the device with my shuffle, or any other audio device I chose. It’s compact, sleek, durable and lasts a long time. An added bonus, it also protects the iPod with its tough design. You can find out more information about the iMainGo at http://imaingo.com/. The device can be purchased online for $69.95US at the Mac Pac .