Another great product from Midiman... They make soundcards & related audio i/o gear... that is ALL they make, that is what they do, and they stick to it and do it very well indeed... yes, we are great fans of Midiman at Dancetech, cos their products do exactly what it says on the tin!!....
Here's the product in question this time... The Midiman 'Audio Buddy' - It's a small stand-alone two channel mic/line pre-amp with phantom power. - It runs off a 9v DC wall wart which is included, and is the answer to all problems of getting quality mic & line signals into your pc via the soundcard Line inputs.
The model I got is the older look, but is the same, the current model has a redesigned look, but all the features are the same and in the same position on the new-look version which you can see at the Midiman site.
On the front of the unit is the two 1/4" high-impedence input sockets; each one with it's own accompanyoing 'peak/clipping' led indicator and also a handy 'signal' led indicator which is a great touch for quickly solving signal problems.. Also on the front is the main power switch, which has it's own power on/off led and another 'phantom-power' on/off led indicator...
Round the back of the unit you have the two main XLR mic inputs complete with phantom-power on/off switch, power connector and the two 1/4" line outputs for sending to your soundcard L/R IN....
The unit is only a bit bigger than a standard cassette, so it's about as big as a walkman, and is constructed of sturdy 2mm steel plate with four rubber-button feet to stop it slipping about on desktops etc... It is robust in feel & would withstand someone stepping on it in the studio, and yet is small & light enuff to easily slip into your bag to take to your live sessions so that you are always ensured of a good mic signal whatever you are asked to plug into!!
Here's the unit with a cassette to give you an idea of it's size!!...
Compact & bijou eh?...
All in all this is a great value unit, and solves all your problems of getting that final link in the pc-studio chain.. decent mic input to the system when working with stereo or other line input soundcards/devices which has no proper facility for mic input.
Nowadays more and more people are running s/w setups to create their productions, and many of those users want to go on to add vocals & BV's as well as other mic recorded items such as bass, percussions etc etc... These systemks work great all in s/w and require only a quality stereo i/o card with fast latency to work... but these same cards whilst great for asio latency and realtime s/w synth playing etc don't cut it when it comes to getting a mic into the system. They come with quality line inputs and no mic-amps or connectors. This 'Audio Buddy' solves all that and add's the final touch to the system.
I actualy got this one for the boys setup. He uses a VST/REASON setup for his garage/RnB music, all played and controlled via a master keyboard. His setup actualy uses a midiman Delta 'Audiophile' stereo i/o card which gives him great realtime latency for playing the vsti's and Reason gear in realtime via the keyboard, and for adding fx like reverb & delay to any incoming signal, but he has no ability to get his mic into the mix without a proper mic amp because the 'Audiophile' card, like most stereo analog i/o cards offers hi-quality LINE inputs but with no provision for mic input or amplification or phantom power... mic's give out tiny signals compared to say a synth line-out, and so a mic-amp IS required to get the signal to a proper level. - So I got the 'Audio-Buddy' to provide that last link in his studio chain, so he can add vocals & BV's to his songs and get them mixed & ready.
The 'Audio Buddy' is perfect for this use as that is what is was designed to do.. to accompany & compliment Midiman's range of non mic-amp equipt soundcards & get prestine mic input... What is ALSO handy for his setup is the fact that the 'Audio Buddy' has TWO channels... He can allocate one of them to his master keyboard audio out and route that permenently into the PC via the 'Audio Buddy'/soundcard to the vst mix where it can appear in realtime alongside his VSTi's & REASON synths & audio channels & blend in with the mix in realtime as it is played and sequenced on it's own midi channel.
Even with the synth routed in on one 'Audio Buddy' channel, he can still use the other 'Audio Buddy' channel to feed the mic into another seperate VST mono channel and track vocals as the synth also is inputted for monitoring to it's own channel. Of course, with two mic's you can use the 'Audio Buddy' for doing stereo recordings to your soundcard, or to use two mic's at once to maybe dual-mic something like an acoustic guitar, or two vocalists doing a duet... whatever, getting two channels for the cheap price is a good bonus!!
Oh well... there it is.. very cheap, well made, crisp sound... works with any mic, cheap dynamic to top studio phantom powered plate mic etc, and it's small & transportable & cheap!!!....
Yup, the 'Audio Buddy' - a great essential pc studio tool... so many people's studio's are typical setups like the one I bought this for... If you are a newbie and want to see more about configuring a PC for a stereo soundcard to record outboard/mic's over s/w backing, check the ARTICLES section of dancetech.
Here's the spec's
- Two preamp channels with individually adjustable
gain
- Each channel offers one balanced XLR (Low Impedance) or one 1/4"
instrument level (High impedance) input
- Phantom power both microphone XLR inputs
- Independent 1/4" outputs - unbalanced or balanced TRS
- Super small - only 5.5" x 3.3" x 1.7"
- Super quiet - the best dollar-to-noise ratio
Specifications:
- Frequency Response: 5hz to 50khz, +0, -3dB
- Mic Gain: 60dB Max.
- Mic Input Impedance: 1K Ohm
- Instrument Gain: 40dB Max.
- Instrument Input Impedance: 100K Ohms
- Weight: Under 1/2 lb.
- Power Supply: 9V AC, 300mA
http://www.midiman.net/products/m-audio/audibudy.php
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