Furman

For a long while now I’ve had this idea. My guitar sound system is made up of usually one or more valve amplifier heads, a minimal number of pre-and post-effects (boost pedal, auto wah in front of the amp, chorus and delay in the effects loop) and some basic noise reduction. I connect the pedals via either a Rocktron Patchmate 8 or VooDoo Labs GCX loop, and control everything via a Rocktron All Access MIDI controller. The idea behind this is that I like to have as little as possible at the front of the stage (despite the size of the All Access). Also, I’m a big fan of MIDI and believe that in 2012 the days of the pedal tap-dance should be far off in the rear-view mirror. A while back I found a great deal on some DJ-style lighting and thought they would be a great fit for a band playing smaller venues that may not have robust lighting systems to augment/enhance/improve the lighting and show. The challenge became controlling the lights. Now, some of the lights have sound activation controls, and there’s always the DMX protocol, but I was looking for something WAY more low-tech… something extremely simple that allowed me to turn these lights on/off at will. I then thought it would be even MORE cool if, for instance, the lights came on, let’s say, when I changed patches for a solo. The problem was, there were no lights or lighting controllers that could be controlled via MIDI. Now, in my guitar rig setup I already have gear that can handle either momentary or relay/latching switching, but none of the lights have any type of MIDI interface or way to be controlled via MIDI. There’s basically the DMX protocol, and the power switch. Well, I didn’t want to invest the time into learning how to program DMX, so I was stuck with the idea of turning a power switch on and off. Not the most attractive prospect in the world. Then I began to think… If there were some way I could connect a power strip to a relay switch, well, my relay switching is already controlled via MIDI, so if I could build some interface that would connect to the Patchmate and via an open/closed relay turn a power strip on and off, then I could control the lights via my MIDI controller. Brilliant!! Now all I had to do was build the interface to allow a power strip to be controlled by a simple contact closure. Leave it to Furman to make it easy on me. In the process of researching for different parts and components to BUILD this piece of equipment I found the Furman MP-15 Power Relay. The MP-15 is a two-receptacle power outlet that has a small control block at the bottom that allows power to the outlets to be turned on and off via Class 2 wiring—a basic contact closure. All I had to do was cut one end from a speaker cable and connect the two ends to the control block on the MP-15. The other ¼” end of the speaker cable plugged right into my Patchmate and with a simple MIDI-controlled toggle I could now turn on/off the two power outlets which in turn would turn on/off my lights, or whatever I choose to plug into the sockets (fog machine, other lights, etc.). I got the MP-15 installed in my rack, plugged it into my main power conditioner, connected the ¼” cable to my switching station, programmed the MIDI for on/off, and suddenly I had exactly what I had wanted. Every time I step on my patch for my leads/solo the lights turn on. When I go back to my rhythms, the lights go off. The other value-add is that I can assign that port to an instant access switch on the All Access and turn the lights (outlets) on/off at will, not just when I activate my solo patch. So, while the idea is incredibly simple, the implementation would have been incredibly difficult to design, build, and implement on my own. Furman saved me that hassle via the MP-15 for the price of a nice dinner out. The “15” in the MP-15 indicates that the unit will handle 15 amps of current for whatever is plugged into the outlets. Furman also makes a 20-amp model (The MP-20) if a higher load is needed. All in all, the Furman MP-15 Power Relay is a simple an inexpensive solution to one of today’s most perplexing issues… how do you control something that doesn’t have a control interface? Well, as long as it plugs into the wall, the Furman MP-15 Power Relay is your salvation.

The Furman PL-8 is a power conditioner and lighting unit that is designed for use in both recording studios and live rigs. I've only used it in a recording studio setting, as we've got a few of these to power up our outboard gear in the studio where I work. The PL-8 is a fairly simple power conditioner, with eight power jacks in the back of it. It also has two light fixtures which slide out of the front of it and can give light to everything underneath it. This is probably most useful in a live sound reinforcement sort of setting, but I can see how this could be helpful in a dark studio as well. It has a light dimmer knob on it, so you can set how much light you'd like to emit from the PL-8. This is also a rackable piece of equipment, and it takes up only a single space. There isn't too much more to say about the make up of the Furman PL-8, as it's a pretty standard power conditioner. Furman has a ton of different power conditioners to choose from, so price will definitely play the largest factor here rather than features, as most power conditioners will more or less do the same thing for you. The PL-8 isn't the cheapest power conditioner that Furman has to offer, I guess since it also has the lighting options, but by no means is the PL-8 expensive. If you're after a power conditioner for your studio, I'd probably recommend looking at some of the cheaper options since the lights probably aren't going to be necessary for you. But if you want something for your live sound rig or venue, this is perfect as it will help you to see all of your equipment in the same rack. Furman is definitely the way to go when it comes to power conditioners, so do yourself a favor and see what they've got to offer, even if you aren't interested in the PL-8...

Furman has been the musician's choice in providing accurate and reliable power conditioning and distribution for years. The PL-Plus is one of their more popular offerings. Here are some of the features found in this unit: -Two slide out lamps that illuminate rack with dimmer control. -8 rear outlets that are turned on/off via switch on front panel -Spike and surge protection for your gear -Multi stage RFI filtering to filter out unwanted noise from your rig/gear -15 amp circuit breaker -led monitor system on front that reads incoming voltage I bought my PL-Plus second hand late in 2010. I also purchased a small rack case at the same time. The Furman shipped inside of the SKB rack that I purchased. Upon arrival of the units, it was apparent that UPS had attempted to destroy my package!!! It appeared to have been dropped off of a skyscraper. When I opened the rack case, there were scratches on the case and the SKB's rack ears as well as the ears of the Furman conditioner were bent from the drop. I was pretty upset, but I tested everything and it worked! I eventually got over the damaged rack ears and the bent Furman and now it sits happily in my rig, and does what it's supposed to do! Just a warning, do not ship anything important or fragile via UPS! I've had several pieces of gear broken and carelessly handled by them, and I know some amp builders who have had more broken shipments than intact ones delivered by UPS. Avoid them! Some of the the bars and other places my band plays at have shady electrical wiring. This type of situation is where these units are important. If you play an expensive tube amp for example, you are taking a risk plugging into the venue's AC every night. Spikes and low voltage can damage your gear and cause unwanted noise and less than optimum performance. The Furman uses filtering to clean up the power as well as the signal from your gear, and will shut down your gear in the event of dangerous voltage before it damages anything. Another purchase I will eventually make will be to buy a Furman Voltage Regulator so I know that no matter where I'm playing, I'm plugging my gear into a controlled and filtered 120 volts. A standard power conditioner like mine can monitor the incoming voltage, but cannot change it if it is too low or high. Every rig should have some form of surge protection, even if it's just a plain old power strip. But for optimum sound and performance, pick up a power conditioner and experience less noise as well as outlets for your rack gear and surge protection.

The Furman PB-40 is your run of the mill patch bay, consisting of 40 points in a single space rack mountable unit. It has all 1/4" TRS connections, and is all around quite standard for a TRS based patch bay. I've used the PB-40 on its own in a smaller home studio, but you can definitely get a few of these and use them as a full on patch bay in a professional studio if you so choose. That's pretty much all that you need to know in terms of characteristics, and it really isn't much to know at all. The PB-40 seems to have a pretty good build as well, although since I don't own myself I can't say how well it will hold up over time. Having said this, I think that as long as you treat it properly and don't move it around violently too much, you should be all set. There are a whole slew of 40 point patch bays available, including that made by Tascam which I have also used, and I have to say that I really don't see a difference at all. A 40 point 1/4" TRS patch bay is going to be what it is regardless of who makes it, granted that it is made with the right equipment and isn't made incredibly cheaply. Basically what I'm saying is that if you're in the market for a patch bay of this size, I'd do a comparison of the price between brands as the first thing to look at. The price of the Furman PB-40 is very reasonable and is right in the range of what you should expect for a patch bay like this. There isn't too much more to say that I haven't said, but the bottom line is that the PB-40 is a solid patch bay that will get the job done for anyone who needs a 1/4" TRS patch bay of this size...

The Furman HR-6 is a 6 channel headphone distribution system that gives you individual headphone controls as well as master or monitor volume controls. It cost 160 dollars which makes it very affordable. The knobs that are on the Furman HR-6 are well made, I don’t ever see them getting broken off if you take good care of it and don’t drop or smash it. You can mount the Furman HR-6 on a mic stand or just put it anywhere in your studio and still use it because you can use it with Ethernet cables. The Ethernet cables are very long so you can have it anywhere in the studio or stage that you want it to be. It does come with the stand adapter so you don’t have to go out and purchase that separately. The Furman HR-6 comes with 2 25 foot Ethernet cables or you could go out and purchase longer Ethernet cables if you need longer ones. The Furman HR-6 has 2 RJ45 analog inputs and 2 14/ analog outputs. The quality of sound is very good with the Furman HR-6. We had this unit back in 2007 and ended up using it until about 2009 then we upgraded to a different model and brand of a headphone distribution system. I do wish that we didn’t upgrade because this is one of the best one s that we had. We may purchase another one of these in the near future and maybe just keep on in the studio and take out newer on with us on the road. It is affordable and will work great. The best part of it is that you can use the Ethernet cables which make it great for the studio. Clip it to your microphone stand and you are good to go. This is a great product that has been out for a while now.

This review covers the 120v North American, standard non-rackmount version of the PF Pro. It's a shame that the Furman Power Factor Pro (or "PF PRO") has been discontinued and replaced with a decidedly more expensive version, because these were (and are, though relegated to the used market) great, solid little boxes that sold for a song. The PF pro is an AC power conditioner whose party piece is to correct incoming AC power factor a little closer to unity, where you want it. It also offers the usual surge protection/spike shutdown, and a fairly healthy current reserve to keep a fast, steady, less impeded flow to plugged in items. The box is simple, with a decidedly utilitarian look to it, and the features are very familiar to users of other Furman products: the face has no more than the Furman logo, model in big block lettering, and a handy color-coded multi-segment LED input voltage display accurate to 2 volts AC as found on many other Furman products. The rear panel provides access to two duplex outlets for a total of four plug receptacles. In addition, there is a circuit breaker reset switch and the large, high quality red light-up rocker power switch common to other Furmans. Finally, there is a detachable IEC-type grounded mains cord included, which will appeal to pro audio users because it allows for various lengths of power cord to be used, and to audiophiles because it will allow higher end power cords to be substituted (however, I have substituted the stock basic power cord with a VenHaus/Hubbel DIY cord and a Zu Birth and not noticed much of any difference in the performance of this unit--not much point when it's correcting power factor and providing current reserve post-mains cord). The build quality is sturdy, basic, reliable and of high quality. Though I have not experienced a surge with these particular units, a friend of mine was indeed saved from a lightning storm power surge by his PF Pros which protected many thousands of dollars in connected high end audiophile equipment. The user must be advised that these units are only rated for 12 amps max so should not be used with multiple current-hungry sources such as high power bass, PA and hi-fi amplifiers that could exceed 12amps total draw. The PF Pros are great for a number of uses; mine are most typically in the recording studio for tube guitar amps and pedalboards, and at home for running my high end audiophile tube monoblocks (they're medium-low power and don't tug tons of current) and Class A tube preamp. They also work wonderfully for running studio monitor rigs, rack gear (as most studio rack aren't full of super power hungry gear) and so-on. I've seen them put to good use in high quality video rigs as well...really anything that could benefit from steady, clean current, surge protection and improved power factor. Of course, what the PF Pros can do for you sonically will depend on the relative quality of your mains power supply. If you already have unusually good, steady, clean power at the wall then great, you'll mainly benefit from the surge protection...but for most of us in most situations with less than optimal mains power with the typical heavy loads and noise on the local grid, you will be likely to experience greater clarity and lower noise floor, and sometimes improved punch and dynamics from audio gear on the units, particularly during parts of the day where local grids experience heavier power draws and especially in commercial or industrial areas, and particularly for gear with, shall we say, under-built PSUs. However, again, as ultimate performance is situation-dependent, your mileage will vary. Although I have have not personally required any servicing of my PF Pro units, I have always received exemplary tech service from the company with my other Furman products. I think they're a very good company to deal with. In summary, the PF Pros are basic, well built devices which do very well at their intended jobs. The prices were (and are, on the used market) more than fair and I would buy again.

The Furman HR-2 is a simple headphone box designed to give those monitoring during recording access to their volume levels. This box actually has two channels on it, with ¼” inputs for each of the two channels. It also has an XLR input and output for connecting this to your source. As you can probably tell, this is really the bare bones for a headphone box, but it’s definitely better than having nothing. I don’t think that the HR-2 would be adequate in a full blown professional recording studio, but for smaller professional studios and larger home studios, it’s definitely the perfect little box to give you simple control over your headphone mix. Furman has a variety of products out there for monitoring during recording, the HR-2 being the simplest that I’ve seen. The box won’t change your sound quality as far as I can tell, as what you send to it is what you get. The sound quality will definitely depend mostly on the headphones that you’re using with the HR-2, rather than the box itself. I don’t know if all of the HR-2’s come with this, but the ones that I’ve used had a little clip with it to attach it to a mic stand. This was more than handy as it made it easy to clip right on and have it on a level where it was easily accessible while I was playing or singing. If you don’t have a mic stand clip for it, you kind of have to just place it down. If you aren’t looking to get a full headphone monitoring system, the Furman HR-2’s give you a simple box at a pretty inexpensive rate. Although certainly not a very in depth headphone monitoring system, the Furman HR-2 is great for what it is…

The Furman RR-15 Rack Rider is a simple power conditioner with some pretty standard features. I've used this power conditioner in a professional recording studio to power up a good amount of different outboard gear including microphones preamplifiers and compressor. It can however power up anything that requires a standard power configuration. The RR-15 has nine power inputs in total, with eight in the back and one in the front for easy access. It has a power cord that comes out of the back and plugs directly into the wall for power. There aren't any other characteristics with the RR-15 as it is a very simple power conditioner. Basically, once everything is plugged in and ready to go, this will do it's job without needing to make any changes or do anything else. It is simply a utility tool and should be treated as such. Having said this, the Furman RR-15 Rack Rider is a very good for what it does. I've never had any problems with it whatsoever as it has always done it's job and has never added noise to any of the modules sounds, which has been known to be a problem with things like this. I think that pretty much every power conditioner that I've owned has been made by Furman, although I don't own this one, it's just to say that I trust Furman and the products that they make. For years they have been putting out top notch power conditioners at reasonable prices, which is exactly what the Rack Rider is. While not the most readily available, I don't think I'd necessary recommend it over other Fumran power conditioner if you couldn't find one anyway. Having said this, the Furman RR-15 Rack Rider is a very solid piece of equipment, so if you come across one and are in need of a power conditioner, I wouldn't hesitate with this one.

I compared with/without, i have the exact same annoying noise (ground sort). Ok, maybe it's not made for ground loop noise. BUT: I also have the same spike when I press the on/off switch that makes a spike noise in my sub-woofer. The switch of the sub-woofer does not produce the same spiky noise. AND I tried to plug the power directly into the wall, which is next to the interrupter for the fluorescent tube. You can clearly hear the "pop" in the speakers from the spike when I switch the light on. Who said "clean power"? Given that I have read on other websites that they material did get burn during a storm despite this device, my question is: what does it do? In my case, strictly nothing. Or the same as a power strip costing 100 euros less (with protection for surge as well). So I really wonder what this is supposed to do.

The Furman HDS-16 is a 16 channel well made headphone system. The HDS-16 is more of the big brother to the HRM 16. It comes in at the price of 1100 dollars which is a great buy for what you are getting with it. The HDS-16 has 12 input channels and 12 output channels (extra) . There are 16 ¼ TRS and 16 1/8 TRS input channels and no digital inputs or digital outputs on the HDS-16 by Furman. The unit is less than 10 pounds making it very portable. It can be racked and will take up more than 1 rack space. My favorite feature of the HDS-16 is the talkback system. The talkback system will let each person talk to each other as well as talk to the engineer in the mixing room. The HDS-16 is something every studio needs and it is great for live shows and practices. We have had the chance to use it a few times over the last 2 years and each time we get to use it, it makes us want to buy one. We just don’t have the use for it as of right now. But the studio that we go to does have it, which is great because we get the chance to use it whenever we want to. The sound quality is great and second to none. I have used several similar models and even models from Furman but this is the best one hands down. It is well made and will last a long time. We have not used it on a stage or for live shows just in the studio. But I have heard that it is very convenient to have for a live show because of the talk back feature. The talk back feature alone is what makes me really want to go out and purchase it.

Features: 1u rack mount casing 8 rear mounted outlets grouped into isolated banks with 3 spaced for wall warts 1 front mounted outlet pull out lights with dimmer control rear mounted bnc jack for accessory light with dimmer control and off switch master power on off switch I bought this before fully understanding the difference between a power conditioner and a voltage regulator. I was worried about my amp getting irregular voltages from some of the clubs we play and thought this would help keep a consistent amount of power going to my gear. This actually does nothing to regulate voltage and is more of a tough glorified surge protector with some good filtering and spike protection. After reading up on the subject I came to realize that, unless you are spending hundreds of dollars on something like the ar15, you can probably just get by with a quality power strip. Now with that said I still kept the Furman because it does a great job of filtering out bad noise and they have a great reputation for saving your gear from big spikes. It is also built very tough as I have dropped it numerous times and it has not acted up in any way. There was a noticeable decrease in noises coming from my amp once I started using the Furman and bad lighting rigs no longer seemed to add noise to my amp. Like I said you could probably see the same results with a quality power strip that has some decent power filtering. It would cost much less but the convenience of the front and rear lights, the larger spacing between sockets, and the ability to rack mount this make it worth it to me. I am also forgetful and much less likely to leave this behind than a normal power strip.

The Furman HA-6A is a six channel headphone/monitor distribution amplifier. I've used this in a band's home studio where it's set up for sending Pro Tools to headphones for monitoring during recording. In the back there are both 1/4" and XLR inputs for both the left and right channels as well as speaker cable outputs for sending it to your monitors. It also has an extra XLR for sending your signal to a separate speaker, like a subwoofer I'd imagine. The front panel has controls for the six channels, each of which has a 1/4" input for plugging in headphones and a volume knob to correspond to each one. The front also has an overall input level knob and buttons for turning on the A and B monitors independently. It also has a built in power cord so it just plugs right in without the need for a separate IEC cable. There's nothing flashy or really even too noteworthy about the Furman HA-6A as it's a pretty basic headphone distributor. It's probably best suited in a home studio as in a professional studio you're going to want something with a bit more control in terms of sending mixes to them and users having their own control, like the Private Q systems. If you just need to send the output of your DAW to a few different headphones, this will do the job just fine. In fact, it's a good option since it's now discontinued and can be had for a very reasonable price. Again, if you're looking for a headphone system for your professional studio, I'd go with something more in depth from Furman like the HDS-16. However, the HA-6A will suffice for home studios and smaller ones in general, so definitely check it out if this would apply to you.