Topic: edirol ua-25

[mmmatt]

I just stumbled onto this new (I assume) mic pre that runs on usb power and has compression.  Has anybody looked into this yet?

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UA25/

Matt

[Scooter]

Looks pretty shweet!  A smaller UA5, without optical, but w/ MIDI.  Slightly cheaper as well.

[Craig T]

if you look at the rear panel, it has optical i/o but no coax. 

USB 2.0?

[Scooter]

You are correct sir!  There wasn't a back panel pic that I could find at the above link, but after going to Edirol's site, I see Optical, but no Coax...  It just says USB, so it's prolly not 2.0

[mmmatt]

This looks like a nice option for lappy tapers, but for dat/jb3 tapers it still may be a nice piece.  I can't immagine it would be any trick to make a power rig through the usb connection... just figure out which wires hold the power, right?  I think edirol is a company that is listening to us tapers.  It seems as though it was designed for our purposes.  I hope somebody grabs one of these so it can be tested.  I wonder if the pre section is the same or if it has had a tweak.  I've been wanting to play around with compression in the field, so that feature is appealing to me.  Don't know if I would like it after I tried it but it would be nice to controll dynamics a little better sometimes!

Matt

[InfiniteOhms]

looks pretty damn sweet!! the phantom switch is 10x better then on the ua-5.

I only see a few weaknesses (as compared to the ua-5)
* no 3 mic mixes, as there is no rear analog input
* posibly no 16 bit (?), unless the "advance" switch is a 16/24 bit switch.
* no external power jack (it would be nice to be able to split the power consumption between pre/ad and laptop.

[markgarrigan]

I have a factory UA-5 and am thinking about getting a digi-mod UA-5.  Does anyone think oade will pick up on this product and mod the power supply?  Or anyone here brave? and insured??  I'd love to get one of these knowing that the power supply can be modded.

[nic]

I may be wrong, but 2 of the 4 cables in USB are for power, +5v and -5V.
it *SHOULD* just be a matter of putting a meter to the cable while plugged into a USB port to find out which pin is which, then splicing a USB cable to a 6V(or step it down to 5V) SLA or whatever else you wish to power it with.

of course, this is only practicle if the unit can operate standalone, ala digi-mod UA5(forgoing power req)

[Phil]

if you look at the rear panel, it has optical i/o but no coax. 

USB 2.0?

I think it's got the same jack as the fa-101, which is a combo jack, either coax or optical can be plugged into the same port.

[Scooter]

I may be wrong, but 2 of the 4 cables in USB are for power, +5v and -5V.
it *SHOULD* just be a matter of putting a meter to the cable while plugged into a USB port to find out which pin is which, then splicing a USB cable to a 6V(or step it down to 5V) SLA or whatever else you wish to power it with.

of course, this is only practicle if the unit can operate standalone, ala digi-mod UA5(forgoing power req)

I looked into doing the same thing w/ my Tascam 224, and it wouldn't pass signal unless hooked up to a puter.  I tested it this way:  plug it in the USB port, but don't install any drivers, and see if it passes signal.  Theoreticaly this should power the thing but wouldn't pass signal thru the puter, so then you could tell if the mod would work.

[BobW]

compression with 24 bit ?
seems counter-productive.

Add dynamic range, loose dynamic range.........

[zowie]

More of a limiter.  Extra insurance against digital overs.  Question is at what cost in transparency.

[temis]

* posibly no 16 bit (?), unless the "advance" switch is a 16/24 bit switch.
* no external power jack (it would be nice to be able to split the power consumption between pre/ad and laptop.

The advance-switch seems to be just for that: " 24 bits (ADVANCE SWITCH = OFF: 16 bits) " (specs http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua25.html)

Only if this could be "digi-modded" to work standalone with portable power...

I find it strange there isn't more discussion about this - or is it already determined to be "non-portable"?
...I couldn't find anything more about this, even though it's already on the market and at it seems it's replacing the UA-5...

[temis]

Nevermind....

I found the thread at the Oade board*...It's a shame, really!

* http://www.oade.com/Tapers_Section/Forum/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=100&topic_id=1767&mesg_id=1767&page=4

[zowie]

It's no shame for laptop taping!  It seems to be an improvement over the ua-5 (if there's no sacrafice in sonics or driver problems): USB-powered, smaller, perhaps has useable limiter, and about $70 less. 

I have been using a FW 410, but have to externally power it because my firewire is over a pcmcia card.  Easy to do and works fine, but the ua-25 is $200 less and a good deal smaller and lighter (counting battery pack).  It's a much cheaper solution even if you have powered firewire.

I think I may step up to the plate on this one in a month or two (sooner if a good offer on the FW 410+batt comes along).

Just wish I could find some user feedback out there -- my guess is these are not selling that fast.

Edit:  I guess the lack of coax is a negative.  I won't be able to feed it from my much-loved Roland MMP-2 it situations where AC power is available without using a converter.

[sunjan]

Here's a comparison chart between UA-25, UA-5 and UA-20:
http://www.micsupply.com/ua25.htm

After reading the Oade thread, I guess there's no point going for the UA-25 for standalone use.

[Mojowill]

Can I use this box to run my JB3 via USB into my stand alone CDR burner via optical in so I don't have to transfer to a computer.

Or is there any other type of box out there that will take a 1x1 transfer from the JB3 usb to a digital input (coax or Opt.) on a stand alone burner(tascam CDRW700).

Just wondering

[spyder9]

I found this for powering the UA-25:

http://www.referenceguide.com/reviews/keyspanhub.htm

"I opted to use the external power adapter (called “self-powered” mode), but I could have chosen to omit the adapter and use the hub in “bus-powered” mode, where it draws it’s operating power from the PC. (For those who care about such things, self-powered mode supplies 500 mA of current to each of the hubs four ports; bus-powering supplies 100 mA. Both modes supply 5 volts DC to each port.)"

If you use the USB hub and a RC battery, shouldn't you be able to power the UA-25 sufficiently? 

These mini hubs are tiny.  No bigger than a RC battery pack.  Here's one on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67267&item=5764772421&rd=1

[spyder9]

I'm a dope.  USB has to be by cut via a mod, in order to pass through the other outs.  However, this puppy would then require a plug in power source, an additional mod that is not required on the UA-5.  Guess I will have to wait till 2006 for my dream stealth box.  Schnizzle!