MobilePre USB Review by Douglas Edge
| Review at a Glance |
| What is it? | A simple and straight-forward, bus-powered, two channel preamp that connects to your computer via USB |
| What does it do? | Records live instruments and allows you to setup a monitor mix for low-latency recording. |
| Who would use it? | Anyone with a laptop, or someone looking for a simple way to add some live instruments to their sequences. |
| How does it sound? | Very good. For the cost of admission you get a perfectly capable unit that can record up to 48kHZ/16bit. |
| What is so great about it? | It's simple and works -as well as having very functional driver software. |
| What is not so great about it? | It can be difficult to visually monitor levels from the unit itself, but you can get around this by monitoring via the software driver. The only thing I truly wish this unit had is a ¼” headphone jack rather than stereo-mini. |
| Review Summary? | M-Audio has provided an inexpensive box that is truly portable, functional, and well laid out. |
MobilePre USB –Nuff Said:
M-Audio’s MobilePre USB is a simple name fora simple box. It’s mobile, it’s a preamp, it utilizes USBfor connectivity and power, and its simplicity is welcome in my book.Two-channel preamps based on USB connectivity are not a rare sight thesedays – everyone from Edirol to Apogee are pumping out devices. Asusual, M-Audio has put their philosophy into their hardware – makingan inexpensive unit that doesn’t sacrifice quality. Let’scheck out exactly what this box has to offer.
In a Nutshell
The MobilePre can serve as a preamp for instrument,or High Z inputs, line level signals, and mic signals. The mic preampssound good, deliver plenty of gain (40 dB max), and can also handle amic needing phantom power.
Most of the two channel USB preamps I see these daysincorporate the Neutrix Combo Jacks that accept either XLR or 1/4”connections. This isn’t the case with the MobilePre as it has separatejacks for XLR and 1/4”. This allows you to record both a mic andline level signal simultaneously through only one input –but ofcourse you cannot set different levels for the two signals. This designconcept also allows for a single 1/4” jack on the front of the unit,while it’s corresponding XLR input lives on the back panel, so youcan quickly connect a guitar or bass to the MobilePre USB – a nicetouch in my opinion. A stereo-mini 1/8” jack accepts stereo micsignals. Personally, I didn’t find myself using this at all, butM-Audio asserts that the purpose of this feature is to accommodate inexpensivestereo consumer mics... understandable. Finally the MobilePre has twosets of unbalanced outputs –one stereo mini and another set of 1/4”outputs to connect to an amp or powered monitors.
The front panel holds the preamp gain controls aswell as a headphone level control. The headphone connector is a stereomini 1/8” jack and I found myself wishing that M-Audio skipped outon the 1/8” stereo mic input in favor for a 1/4” jack forthe headphones. Overall though, I was impressed with the simple and functionallayout of the MobilePre USB’s inputs and outputs.
Hookin' Up
As mentioned above the MobilePre USB connectsto the computer via USB. I tested the unit out on a dual processor Macrunning OS X. The driver was a cinch to install and allows you to setlevels for USB Record, Direct Monitor (for low latency monitoring), andDevices Output. You can adjust your monitor mix by changing the DirectMonitor and Devices Output levels respectively.
One thing that is definitely missing from the MobilePreis a power supply/wall wart. You won’t be plugging this unit intoany AC, as it gets all of its juice from the USB connection. Of course,this means you can’t run the unit without a computer, but hey, thisthing is designed to be used with a computer. Another nice feature ofthe MobilePre is the overall size and weight. This thing is truly portableand still feels very sturdy.
The MobilePre USB supports up to 48kHZ/16 bit recording.The converters sound good and produced nice recordings of both guitarsand vocals. While the A/D conversion is perfectly sufficient for mostrecording situations I was really impressed with the D/A conversion. Iwas able to hear subtleties in some of my older mixes, and the D/A sectionin the MobilePre USB seemed more accurate than when I monitored the samemixes on my MOTU 2408.
True Mobility
The MobilePre USB is truly mobile with its buspower and compact as well as light and sturdy design. This unit couldwork perfectly for anyone running a laptop system, or for someone whowants to record and mix some live instruments, like guitar and vocals,over their sequenced tracks. One downside of the MobilePre USB’scompact frame is its level metering. You simply have two LED’s:one to indicate a signal, the other to indicate clipping. Of course, theMobilePre must always be used with a computer and you can gain a muchbetter picture of your levels by visually monitoring the signals fromthe
driver software. The only thing I really wish it had is a 1/4” headphonejack rather than stereo-mini though M-Audio correctly points out thatvirtually all mobile products like Walkmans and laptops have these smallerjacks. Outside of this there isn’t much you can find wrong withthe MobilePre USB, especially for the price. A great value over all!
