Topic: MicPort Pro 24/96 USB Mic Preamp

[china_rider]

Just saw this... Could not find anything on the specs but looks interesting.....

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http://www.centrance.com/about/pr/pr070822.shtml
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Chicago, IL - August 22nd, 2007 - CEntrance, Inc., for years a leading design consultancy for today's top pro audio manufacturers, announced that MicPort Pro has begun shipping to authorized CEntrance resellers. MicPort Pro is the first model in a new line of portable USB products from CEntrance, the MicPort™ Series. List price for MicPort Pro is $149.95 in the U.S. with a MAP of $124.95.


MicPort Pro is a portable, low noise USB mic preamp featuring 24-bit/96kHz performance, 48V phantom power, zero latency monitoring, loud headphone output, and knobs for input and output level. MicPort Pro offers driverless, "wizard-free" installation and lets users record with most Windows™ XP/Vista and Mac OS X™ audio applications. MicPort Pro ships with a 6' USB cable and a carrying pouch. Users can download free software tools for recording and mixing from the CEntrance website.


MicPort Pro plugs into any XLR microphone and instantly transforms it into a recording device, and is ideal for recording vocals, sampling instruments, creating podcasts, and conducting interviews. Housed in a rugged aluminum chassis, MicPort Pro is especially useful on the road for portable recording and broadcasting use. MicPort is powered from the USB cable and generates 48V phantom power internally, requiring no additional power for condenser microphones even when using a laptop.


Stereo and multi-track recording is also possible with MicPort Pro thanks to the CEntrance Universal Driver™ that aggregates input from multiple MicPort Pro units with the lowest latency on the market at less than 6 milliseconds, free for MicPort customers.


"The MicPort Series serves the unmet market need for portable, high-quality USB preamps, leveraging our many years of pro audio design experience," notes Michael Goodman, Managing Director of CEntrance. "CEntrance will continue to grow its consulting business, helping clients develop breakthrough audio technology, and this product line showcases the innovation we bring to the table."

[Roving Sign]

So - sounds like its mono - and you need two for stereo...

[china_rider]

Yep.. Since you plug it directly into the mic you need 2 for stereo.  From what I can tell their software will allow on the fly stereo recording through 2 USB ports without a sound card.  Seems sort of interesting.  I know someone that bought a pair earlier today to play around with.  He figured they are easily returnable if he does not like them.  Said he paid $250 with free shipping.  He is going to try recording to a Samsung mini tablet PC he has.  He should have them by the end of the week.

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

A buddy at work sent this to me today, looked interesting...  Didn't think about mono...

Can you run record 2x USB inputs a once??? 

T

edit:

Stereo and multi-track recording is also possible with MicPort Pro thanks to the CEntrance Universal Driver™ that aggregates input from multiple MicPort Pro units with the lowest latency on the market at less than 6 milliseconds, free for MicPort customers.

nevermind then!

[rowjimmy]

The catch is powering more than one at the same time. Not possible for some laptops (mine, for example will only give up 5v through one of its two ports at a time) But that shouldn't be a problem for most desktop systems.

[Craig T]

If you run >1, do they sync clocks?

[guysonic]

Looks like cool product needing specialize recording software for using two or more USB soundcards at the same time.  Seems additional software for the device is available for maybe this purpose?

As always with audio devices being powered by USB, the interference noise present from USB powering varies with computer model and audio device's sensitivity to such noises.  Many designers get away from USB powering issues with not so convenient/or as cheap external wall wart solutions.

Using M-audio's Transit USB audio device, found some models of (laptop) computers had sufficient USB noise to disrupt the digital data flow so the soundcard did not lock reliably.  When it could lock, the audio had noise issues, but only a problem on some computer models.

[KLowe]

My question is this:

are they "hackable" to power in the field and record without a laptop?

For the price.  It looks like a "sacrificial lamb" could be purchased.


KLowe  (I use " quotes " to much)

[guysonic]

My question is this:

are they "hackable" to power in the field and record without a laptop?

For the price.  It looks like a "sacrificial lamb" could be purchased.


KLowe  (I use " quotes " to much)

It does seem just about ANY device is hackable these days when you know how.

[KLowe]

Do they require a driver from a computer sending them info to tell them to work or not?

Seems like if it is a turn on and it works situation then two could be bought and easily made into a stereo  unit. 

Does it send out a SPDIF signal?  Could that be bypassed and run analog out into a r-09 or something like that?

[china_rider]

My friends were sent out today.  If you guys want him to try anything let me know.  He bought them fully expecting to return them unless they perfectly fit his needs.  I don't know what the signal is that it sends out, but he was told that you needed a PC with audio software to record.  Other devices like the MT or R9 would not work and even if they did they would not supply proper phantom power.  If you wanted to record more than one channel you needed their special driver.  He was worried about the portable powering 2 mics and was told that he could use a powered USB hub for more than one if he wanted. 

Anyway, UPS shows he should have them Friday and he is going to keep them 2 weeks before he decides if he should return them or not.