Blue Mic’s new Icicle and subsequent discussion of alternatives like CEntrance’s MicPort Pro has generated some interest and chatter. Matej Isak sends over a review he did of the MicPort Pro:

CEntrance MicPort Pro review [Mono & Stereo]

CEntrance links to some other good reviews online on their product page. Highlights:

• Craig Anderton writes a detailed review for Harmony Central and in March did a short round-up of “fun stuff to plug into your USB bus.”
• Steve Fortner at Keyboard is quite fond of the thing.
• MusicTech gives it a perfect score, even though I’m always suspicious of perfect scores and, well, scores in general.
• Chris Breen likes it at Macworld, as does Joshua Topolsky for Engadget

So, there’s a round-up of people I know and like. I’m still sticking to a dedicated interface, at least until someone makes one of these that doubles as a standalone mic pre. (CEntrance, you listening? I’d even add a little bulk for that, honestly.) Interestingly, one commenter points out that while I didn’t like the lack of a headphone jack for direct monitoring, some people might prefer to listen through the host, so that keeps Blue’s offering in the running.

Certainly, to anyone who thought an XLR-to-USB mic pre wouldn’t appeal to anyone, this proves otherwise.

I’ve personally always been happy carrying around any one of a number of portable USB/FireWire audio interfaces. But as readers pointed out following Blue’s announcement of the Icicle yesterday, various solutions have offered direct mic – to – USB hardware with preamps for connecting a single mic to a single USB port. And several tech blogs picked up on the Icicle announcement, so clearly there’s a need for someone.

The major oversight of the Blue Icicle is that (as near as I can tell) it doesn’t have a headphone jack. Result: the only way to monitor the microphone would be through your computer, which adds latency. And I’m a little hesitant on what the quality of the pre is, as well.

The Icicle isn’t your only option. Readers point to the Mic Mate Pro from MXL, and I’ve heard very positive stories about CEntrance’s MicPortPro. The MicPortPro gets high marks on audio fidelity, both anecdotally from those we’ve heard from and in reviews from Keyboard, TapeOp, and the like. Ronald Stewart writes to say he uses it with his Indamixx, the UMPC-based, tiny portable PC, so I imagine it’s an interesting option for those who like obsessive degrees of portability.

Most importantly, the MicPortPro corrects a number of the weaker points of the Icicle. It has the headphone jack for zero-latency monitoring. It’s made of aluminum, and seems to be pretty solid in build. It supports 24-bit/96kHz recording. ASIO drivers are available on PC (still not sure about that on the Icicle). And it has nice, dedicated knobs for gain. There’s even a software driver for aggregating more than one MicPortPro. It’s roughly twice the cost of the Icicle, but if I were in the market for such a thing, the MicPortPro looks like it wins on just about every single point.

My one gripe: it’s nice to have the unit bus-powered, but why not add the ability to put in batteries so it can double as a standalone mic pre when you aren’t using your computer?

Ultimately, a dedicated mic pre and/or dedicated audio interface seems more functional to me for most folks. But I’m pleasantly surprised to see the MicPortPro is able to make this category make a bit of sense for those who want it. The bottom line seems to be for some people, portability is everything, even just to supplement gear you’ve already got.

CEntrance Product Page

Thanks to everyone who sent in feedback. As always, keep it coming. Even the grumbling – I may grumble back, but grumble away. You’re among friends.

Ever wished you could take any mic you wanted and plug it directly into your computer? With Apple nixing FireWire and the whole size issue, it’s not quite practical to expect an XLR jack on your computer. You could use a USB mic, but they’re useless in other situations. Blue Microphones has a new product called the Icicle, which is a small, pen-sized gadget that has XLR on one end, USB on the other end, and a preamp and a converter in the middle.

Price: US$59.99. No drivers required.

I actually have a couple of questions about this on the PC – will Blue have ASIO drivers? Is this less useful without the nice Mac feature of being able to aggregate interfaces? The primary question, of course, is how it all sounds. Recording engineer Tom McCauley has endorsed the product and is involved in the launch event, but the proof is in the product.

It certainly could fill a key gap, though, especially if Blue has nailed the quality. Specs from Blue:

• Studio quality microphone preamp
• 48V phantom power
• Fully balanced low noise front end
• Analog gain control
• Plug and Play driverless operation
• 44.1 kHz, 16-bit CD quality converter
• Mac or PC operation

It’s not the first time we’ve seen something like this. IK Multimedia’s StealthPlug is a similar concept, for instance, with 1/4” guitar/bass jacks in place of XLR mic connections. And we’ve seen a few USB-XLR cables with audio interfaces, like Lightsnake’s, though I can’t think of any that have caught on. Blue is doing a huge push behind this, so this could be The One.

It’s certainly a prime stocking stuffer target. Just make sure no one tries to eat it.

Certainly, the venerable audio interface isn’t at any risk. Dedicated interfaces give you more I/O options and other functionality, not to mention output. In fact, I use dedicated interfaces so much for input and output alike, I actually can’t see myself making much use of the Icicle. Once you’ve got an interface plugged in, you probably have an XLR jack. On the other hand, somewhere there’s someone with a MacBook Air who wants to just lug in a mic and record beatboxing in a hotel room, I’m sure.

So what do you think? Would you use something like this? In what situations?

Blue Microphones

The mobile recording space keeps rolling along. Alesis is the latest company to try to turn the iPod into a usable digital recorder. With up to 160 GB of storage, the fact that the iPod is a mobile hard drive you may already own certainly has some appeal. But what about quality?

The Alesis ProTrack attempts to bridge that input divide with internal mics and XLR inputs:

• XY pattern stereo condenser mics (they look a lot like the mics on the Zoom H4)
• XLR and 1/4″ inputs (line/mic) with 48V phantom power
• 1/4″ stereo output, making this interesting as a playback device, too
• LEDs onboard (nice!), limiter
• Tripod mount, universal iPod dock

Recording is limited to 16-bit, 44.1kHz; the lack of 48kHz means a big downside for anyone doing video production. Our friend and roving podcaster / NPR reporter Brad Linder has the full story on his blog:
Alesis ProTrack turns your iPod into a pro audio recorder [Brad Linder's blog]

This does look quite like the Belkin Podcast Studio. I’m not totally sold on Alesis’ quality control of late, but I’m more sold on them than on Belkin, so we’ll see.

Edirol R-09 with more storage

If there’s one mobile recorder to rule them all, it may be Edirol’s trusty R-09. The big news there: support for bigger storage, in the form of firmware updates for the R-09 and new, higher-quality R-09HR. The updates add support for Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) cards, for up to 32GB in storage. The 32GB drives are still mighty pricey, but 16GB isn’t a bad sweet spot.

I hadn’t actually paid attention to the HR model, but it has some nice extras: dedicated analog input control, low-cut filter, limiter/AGC (Auto Gain Control), gain boost, and even a remote.

R-09 HR Product Page [Roland/Edirol]

The Edirol has only an 1/8″ mic jack, but I know people who’ve been very happy with it. It may not work as a primary recorder — for that you may be willing to sacrifice something bigger and pricier. But for quick and dirty jobs and internal mic use, it does look quite nice. I sometimes think I should’ve gotten it instead of the Zoom H4 I bought, but I’ll just save up for a real mic pre for the Zoom and go home happy.

Review: Tascam DR-1

The last bit of news from Brad: a quick review of Tascam’s entry to the increasingly-overcrowded handheld recorder market. Brad writes us:

Seems like a decent, but not great device for recording music and interviews. A friend of mine took one for a spin for a little while and ultimately decided to return it and get an Marantz PMD660. I’ve heard good things about the Olympus LS-10 though, and I might pick one up myself eventually as a backup for my trusty Sony PCM-D50.

Got all those models straight, kids?

The DR-1 does have a 1/4″ jack, though no XLR. Downsides: preamps sound a little disappointing (weak levels), there’s no real mono recording, and, well, a lot of competition. Here’s Brad’s review with sound samples:

A short review of the Tascam DR-1 [Brad Linder's blog]