Pro Audio Review - June 2008 - (Page 13) UpSAMPLER Capsule Reviews and Product Review Updates CEntrance MicroPort Pro CEntrance, Inc. | 847-581-0500 | http://www.centrance.com The CEntrance MicroPort Pro ($149) is a simple, four and a half inch long barrel with a female XLR on one end and a USB port, headphone jack and phantom power switch on the other end. The phantom supply current runs at a healthy 48V DC, 20 mA — more than enough for the hungriest condenser mic. There are also rotary mic gain and headphone gain knobs on the barrel. The headphone amp gain is very healthy. When you plug the USB cable in, a sexy, translucent white ring around the unit lights up to let you know you’re connected. You do need to know a little about the sound control panels in your computer and the preferences panels of your applications. They need to be visited to make sure MicroPort Pro is recognized. Everything worked fine with my 10.4 Macs, but I did run in to a few small problems with the newer 10.5 Macs. The audio sounded garbled when I tried to record into QuickTime Pro 7.4.5. After I changed the Mac sound control panel to record and playback at 24-bit/48kHz, QuickTime recorded and played back properly. Curiously, when I recorded into Soundtrack Pro at 24/96 and exported the file, QuickTime Pro recognized the file as 24/96 and played it with no problems. With a Sennheiser 421, I had to turn the MicroPort Pro mic gain control up all the way while I was talking at a subdued conversation level with the mic about two inches from my mouth. Even with the gain full up, there wasn’t a lot of circuit noise. Using iChat and SKYPE, I talked with friends in far away places with better than average quality. In fact, using the Sennheiser, I got comments that the audio I was sending over SKYPE was better than most cell phones. More sensitive condenser mics required less gain and could be used at further distances. My Schoeps cmc641 sounded good, but not as good as it sounds when recorded through my studio’s pricey preamps and A/D converters. There’s a lot going on inside this little tube. Powering MicroPort Pro with USB-available voltages requires two switching power supplies: one for the circuitry and light and one for the phantom power. Being able to quickly convert any mic level source, including Phantom Powered mics, to a 24/96 digital signal with input adjustment and headphone monitoring makes MicroPort Pro a very handy tool. — Ty Ford www.proaudioreview.com June 2008 | ProAudio Review | 13 http://www.centrance.com http://www.passlabs.com http://www.passlabs.com http://www.proaudioreview.com
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