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kenny serane
Published on 05/30/08 at 02:52
I've been using the monitor station for a week.
The product is well packaged and you can immediately feel its quality. It's heavy, its controls are covered with a gripping and nice-feeling material, while the connectors feel sturdy when you plug a jack.
It comes with a printed manual and a PSU.
Once connected, the monitor lights up and it's at this point that you have to decide how the inputs and outputs work.
You can choose whether you want to toggle input sources or sum them. The same goes for the speaker outputs.
You then have to calibrate the inputs and outputs. Have a look at the manual for a clear explanation.
Among the special features are the talkback, which is very useful, with a built-in mic powerful enough to talk into it at three feet. With a bit of noise, true, but you don't need the best quality for this!
The talkback button has a nice function: If you push it briefly the talkback remains activated, but if you hold it down it deactivates as soon as you release it. A very practical function that not all units have.
The headphone amps are very powerful and have a huge headroom.
You also have Mute and Dim buttons, as well as a Mono function, which comes in very handy when you can't do it via software or after editing something. Here you have it at your fingertips.
I can't say anything about the outputs via CUE, because I don't use them.
To sum it up, I plugged the Mac and a Fireface 800 with a pair of Fostex PM1 and also a pair of $20 Creative speakers and you can toggle between them with a baffling ease. A real delight.
The buttons make no noise when you engage them to toggle sources.
At $350, it's cheaper and better than the Big Knob.
It has no competitor, besides its bigger sibling, the Central Station, but they obviously don't cost the same and the remote is only optional.
The only two drawbacks that justify me taking a point off:
It gets really hot during use and it pops really loud when you turn off the Monitor Station first.
The product is well packaged and you can immediately feel its quality. It's heavy, its controls are covered with a gripping and nice-feeling material, while the connectors feel sturdy when you plug a jack.
It comes with a printed manual and a PSU.
Once connected, the monitor lights up and it's at this point that you have to decide how the inputs and outputs work.
You can choose whether you want to toggle input sources or sum them. The same goes for the speaker outputs.
You then have to calibrate the inputs and outputs. Have a look at the manual for a clear explanation.
Among the special features are the talkback, which is very useful, with a built-in mic powerful enough to talk into it at three feet. With a bit of noise, true, but you don't need the best quality for this!
The talkback button has a nice function: If you push it briefly the talkback remains activated, but if you hold it down it deactivates as soon as you release it. A very practical function that not all units have.
The headphone amps are very powerful and have a huge headroom.
You also have Mute and Dim buttons, as well as a Mono function, which comes in very handy when you can't do it via software or after editing something. Here you have it at your fingertips.
I can't say anything about the outputs via CUE, because I don't use them.
To sum it up, I plugged the Mac and a Fireface 800 with a pair of Fostex PM1 and also a pair of $20 Creative speakers and you can toggle between them with a baffling ease. A real delight.
The buttons make no noise when you engage them to toggle sources.
At $350, it's cheaper and better than the Big Knob.
It has no competitor, besides its bigger sibling, the Central Station, but they obviously don't cost the same and the remote is only optional.
The only two drawbacks that justify me taking a point off:
It gets really hot during use and it pops really loud when you turn off the Monitor Station first.