Recording - August 2015 - 42

B Y M I K E M E T L AY

iConnectivity iConnectAUDIO4+
We're pretty sure you've never seen an audio interface quite like this one before
In our June 2015 issue, I introduced
readers to the iConnectMIDI2+ and
iConnectMIDI4+ MIDI interfaces from
Canadian firm iConnectivity. These
remarkable interfaces not only provide a
huge number of available MIDI streams to
and from devices on either physical 5-pin
DIN MIDI ports or over USB, but they also
allow digital audio routing between multiple sources... complete connectivity with a
single cable. I was so blown away by the
possibilities of these two boxes that most of
my review was pithy sentences and
superlatives.
That having been said, I did promise a
longer and more in-depth review of the
new iConnectAUDIO4+ interface, which
had just arrived as the prior review went
to press. After a month or two of work,
I'm ready to introduce you to this little
box, which is even more remarkable than
its MIDI predecessors.
Hardware overview
The iConnectAUDIO4+ (iCA4+) is a
half-rackspace audio and MIDI interface
for Mac OS X, Windows, and iOS.
Normally I'd say that a rundown of its
inputs and outputs would give a pretty
42

RECORDING August 2015

good idea of what it can do, but in this
case the physical connections merely
show the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Still, we have to start somewhere...
On the front panel of the well-built metal
case are four inputs, each one a balanced
XLR-1/4" combination jack; the first two
1
/4" connections are high-impedance guitar inputs and the other two are for balanced line-level signals. Next to those are
the display/touchplate and a single
push/click encoder dial. Around the back
are five 1/4" TRS jacks for four balanced
line-level outputs and one stereo headphone output. There are also a pair of
conventional 5-pin DIN jacks for MIDI In
and Out, and finally three USB jacks.
We'll get back to those in a minute;
they're where the real magic begins.
The iCA4+ requires AC power from a
wall-wart supply to operate; it draws way
too much juice to run on bus power as its
smaller MIDI cousin can. That's because
each of the four inputs has a high-quality
mic preamp with 60 dB of gain range and
switchable 48V phantom power. Specs on
the inputs and outputs are pretty impressive, with support for up to 24-bit/96 kHz
audio and signal-to-noise ratios ranging

from 95 dBA for the high-impedance
instrument inputs and 100 dBA for the
headphone jack up to 110 dBA or more
for the mic inputs, balanced line inputs,
and line outputs. The downloadable PDF
manual quotes precise specs for each measurement using real numbers if you're curious, but suffice to say that these inputs and
outputs are clean as a whistle.
The user interface on the hardware is
cryptic but quite usable for basic functions.
The display is not so much a full touchscreen as a surface with eight embedded
indicator LEDs, each of which responds to
a direct touch. The four buttons on the top
are numbered 1/2/3/4 and the four buttons along the bottom are labeled 48V, In,
Out, and Phones. A multicolor LED ladder
meter fills out the display.
By turning, clicking, double clicking,
and holding the encoder dial, you can
independently control the gain on one or
more inputs, set output levels for the rearpanel outs and headphones, mute all outputs, power the unit up or down, reset it,
save your settings, and more. This is a
good basic set of quick hands-on adjustments that you're likely to need during a
session.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - August 2015