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TC Electronic Desktop Konnekt 6 Review

Dec 10, 2009 12:00 PM, By Gary Eskow

Audio interface offers outstanding analog/digital conversion.

The Near Control Panel is well laid out, and the mixer page provides a fine introduction to the console environment. If you're working with a DAW, you'll appreciate the button marked "Panel" on the unit. This button brings the software into view when it's buried behind the screen of your DAW. Next to it is another pair of useful buttons. Depress Mono, and you'll hear how your stereo mix folds into mono. Using the dim button in conjunction with the Near Control Panel software lets you predetermine the drop in level you'll experience when you touch this button. You may like to check your mixes at different levels or simply want a quick way to drop the level when you're talking to someone in the room. If so, you'll rely heavily on the dim button.

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Consult the tricolored meter from time to time. The meter shows you where your audio level lies, from a floor of -60dB (too low) all the way up to 0dB. When you get close to 0dB, you'll be in red territory, which tells you that your signal is way too hot. At this point, you'll use the input on your DAW or the knob on the Konnekt 6 to settle things down. Look out, you've become a recording engineer.

Despite its modest price tag, the Konnekt 6 also provides a headphone output, and it carries a quite serviceable amount of gain. You'll use the headphones' rotary trim (level) control to raise or lower the level to this output. While we're on the subject of outputs, the Konnekt 6 has a pair of 1/4in. outs. Purists will argue the superiority of XLR outputs, and they're right. However, these outputs are just fine; they have a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz, and besides, TC Electronic has licensed the PreSonus Audio Electronics JetPLL technology, which it uses in the Konnekt 6 as well as in its more expensive interfaces. JetPLL reduces the jitter in audio systems, but forget the technical details. The sound that the Konnekt 6 yields is superb—particularly in the low end, which is both warm and detailed. Very impressive.

With a long history of providing outstanding signal-processing devices and audio interfaces, TC Electronic was poised to make a move into the lowest end of the market. That's just what the company has done with the Konnekt 6. Don't let its price fool you, though. The Konnekt 6 is a thoroughly professional device that makes it possible for almost anyone to integrate a high-quality audio path into his or her studio.

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bottomline

Company: TC Electronic
www.tcelectronic.com
Product: Desktop Konnekt 6
Assets: Outstanding analog/digital conversion; quality mic preamp; built-in reverb and volume control.
Caveats: 1/4in. outputs rather than XLR.
Demographic: Videographers wanting to record audio on a professional level.
Price: $199 (street)

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