Equipment previews – John Reekie

miniDSP 2×4 HD with Raspberry Pi Streamer

John Reekie — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 06:06:32 +0000

Pretty killer for the price, with a Dirac Live enabled version coming out as well.

Admittedly, the cabling on tiny boxes like these is not the most elegant…

The articles on the streamer start here.

Nothing yet on the 2×4 HD. Suggestions?

Geek Pulse by LH Labs – unboxing

John Reekie — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 10:55:02 +0000

The long-awaited Geek Pulse from LH Labs has finally arrived! Here’s my “unboxing” video.

Note: for those unfamiliar with the LH Labs crowd-funding campaigns, the 1G USB cable is not a standard inclusion with the Pulse. It is included only for backers of the first campaign. If you are interested in buying a Pulse now, you will need to purchase the 1G cable separately if you want one.

Watch this video on YouTube.

As of this post, the Geek Pulse is still available on pre-order at a substantial discount off the retail price in LH Labs’ “Forever Funding” campaign. The Forever Funding campaign ends on December 27th.

MOTU Microbook II highpass and lowpass filters

John Reekie — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:07:41 +0000

Since the MOTU Microbook II has, as part of its onboard DSP, highpass and lowpass filters on all outputs, I figured that I can use it as an active crossover, by setting the appropriate highpass and lowpass filters on each output channel. This will be described more fully in the Microbook review that I am working on, but for now, here’s a teaser.

Each output on the Microbook has a set of parametric filters, as well as highpass and lowpass filters at 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 dB octave. Here are high pass and lowpass filters at all of these slopes:

Microbook II filter slopes

As you can see, they are Butterworth filters with -3dB at the specific cutoff frequency (no Linkwitz Riley). This is fine, for what is a bit of a surprise bonus in the Microbook II package!

Note: to obtain the correct filter slopes, you need to be running a version of CueMixFX that is at least 1.6 55864, as the original version had an error that caused the slopes to be incorrect. As of 14 Nov 2012, this version is not publically available, but I expect it will be soon.

I tried using the Microbook as an active crossover and it works great! To do so, set up a mix that just includes the Aux inputs, and select that mix as the source for the output channels. In each output channel, set the high and/or lowpass filters. And set your computer to send audio to the Aux channels. Done!

Measurement roundup!

John Reekie — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 03:16:50 +0000

Since I do get asked what hardware to purchase for acoustic measurement, I figured I better come up with a good recommendation. To that end, I’ve selected and purchased some items that I will be evaluating for the September issue:

From left to right:

Calibrated Dayton EMM-6 microphone from Cross-Spectrum Labs
MOTU Microbook II
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (they must have a problem with the paint mixer, as this one is anything but scarlet!)

I’ve gone with recent hardware (USB Class 2), as I think there are some advantages to it, rather than the cheapest possible. It is, nonetheless, an amazing investment in the quality of sound you will experience from your system. More in September.

Aktimate Micro in the house

John Reekie — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:39:36 +0000

The Aktimate Micro is an active (powered) speaker with an iPhone dock, USB input, and a line input. It looks like the perfect solution for desktop audio and for a small den or bedroom system. Dimensions are 145 x 200 x 240 mm (WxDxH).

I’ll be trying it in a few locations and taking measurements to determine where is optimum – desktop, bookshelf, and an “audiophile” placement out into the room. For the latter, I’ll probably integrate a subwoofer with it. Let me know by posting a comment below if there is something in particular that you are interested in being covered in the review.

Full review is scheduled for HifiZine June issue.

Aktimate Micro with iPhone 3gs