naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Preamp question

Subject: Re: Preamp question
From: "Robb Nichols" robb_nichols
Date: Tue Jun 23, 2009 6:26 pm ((PDT))
I won't stick my neck out and say the USB Pre sounds great, because that 
would just be my subjective opinion anyway and there are bound to be 
some audiophiles who would differ.  But I will say that I think it 
offers a great value.  It offers a lot of functionality at a low price.  
It seems to be well-built and noise seems to be quite reasonable.  It 
carries a CE mark and is RoHS-compliant, so it should be available in 
Europe.

I was very interested in selling these as an accessory to our 
hydrophones, so I brought one into my shop a few weeks back for 
evaluation.  I didn't do any objective tests.  I just played with it a 
bit, listening and taking it apart and putting it back together.  I was 
favorably impressed overall.  I chose not to bring any stock into my 
shop for the following reasons:  (1) I wish it offered more gain.  It 
might be fine with sensitive mics, but for hydrophones I was wishing for 
another ten dB.  (2) There is no ability to pan or switch a single mic 
into both channels.  This may not be a big deal for many nature 
recordists, but again, for hydrophones, it is nice to be able to monitor 
a mono source on both channels of a headset or amplifier system without 
Y-adapters.  (3)  The the 9V battery gets stuck in its holder.  This 
could easily be resolved with a short loop of dental floss or anything 
to grab onto, but it doesn't make a favorable first impression.

It is supposed to be compatible with Windows software without any 
proprietary drivers.  I could play music though it right after plugging 
it in, but I tried to monitor a signal though it using Spectra Plus and 
it didn't work immediately.  This may have had nothing to do with the 
hardware.  I didn't take the time to look into it.

Again, I'd like to reiterate that it seems like a nice piece of gear for 
the money.  We shouldn't expect perfection from a device that costs less 
than a hundred dollars.

If anybody wants my brand new evaluation unit, I'd be willing to sell it 
at a nice discount.  Contact me off-list if interested.

Regards to all,  Robb



Emanuele Costantini wrote:
>
>
> Hi Paul,
> I don't have the USB Pre, but I like the ART stuff in general.
> I just downloaded the manual and I should say it wouldn't be the
> perfect thing for field recording.
> It has usb 1.1 instead of 2.0 but we can live with it.
> It has only 44.1 or 48 but we can live with it.
> It has just 16 bit ADDA and I'm not so sure I can live with it.
> Potentially is a great thing, I would couple two or more of them with
> Aggregate device on Mac for multitrack recordings but I don't know how
> it sounds,
> the specifics are very good but experience is telling me not to
> believe in manufacturer specifics too much.
> If somebody has it, please tell us it sounds great!
> :-)
>
> Emanuele
>
> >
> >
> > Has anyone used the new ART USB DualPre as a very affordable ($80)
> > battery-powered preamp? Ignoring the USB component, it looks like it
> > might
> > work out perfectly for field use. (Ideally I'd buy a MixPre, but
> > bringing
> > one of those home would probably result in "camping" in my back yard
> > for,
> > say, ten years.)
> >
> > Is the self-noise reasonably low? Are there any issues which would
> > disqualify it for hobby-level soundscape recording?
> >
> > Thanks!
> > -Paul
> >
>
>
> 









"While a picture is worth a thousand words, a 
sound is worth a thousand pictures." R. Murray Schafer via Bernie Krause


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/

<*> Your email settings:
    Digest Email  | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
     
    

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU