USB-fying Any Microphone: the CEntrance MicPort Pro

Well, this is a really hot one: the CEntrance MicPort Pro is indeed one of the coolest audio gadgets I have seen during the last two weeks... and I'm talking functionality and "coolness" at the same time; this is not only a neat thingie to play with and throw it away as soon as you get bored of it. The CEntrance MicPort Pro is one helpful tool for the recording musician and opens a whole new set of possibilities when on the road or in the studio.

As a professional sound solution, the CEntrance MicPort Pro comes in even more handy due to its small design, light weight and ease of operation. We're speaking a plug and play USB mic preamp that will connect to any XLR microphone on the face of the Earth and allow you to both preamplify it and convert the analog signal in a digital one, then send it to a DAW or any other digital recording device via a common USB cable. Neat, isn't it?

Well, if you're getting ready to ask me what about condenser mics... everything has been taken care of: the CEntrance MicPort Pro sports a 48V phantom power capability so the limitations are off; you can even monitor the direct signal via the headphones out jack. The 24/96 operation with both Mac OSX and Windows XP/Vista makes the CEntrance MicPort Pro an ideal solution for a compact, rugged, low noise circuitry preamp in your pocket. Even more, this on-cable preamp ADC runs with USB power and needs no batteries.

As CEntrance themselves spec, the MicPort Pro sports:

-24-bit/96kHz performance (MicPort Pro) -48V phantom power internally generated based on 5V of input so even condenser mics can be used with laptops (MicPort -Pro) -Low-noise mic preamp with input level control knob -High quality analog to digital (A/D) conversion -Loud headphone amp with output level control knob -USB bus powered - no batteries or external power supply needed -Rugged anodized aluminum construction -6' (1.83m) USB cable included

The CEntrance MicPort Pro sells for a decent $125 and is currently shipping.

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