Hosa Technology Tracklink Microphone XLR Female to USB Interface Cable (10')

Some Added Info and a Critical Review

Hosa ReviewSome info from the Hosa press release:The new Hosa TRACKLINK Microphone to USB Interface incorporates switchable 48 V phantom power for condenser microphones and adjustable gain for dynamic microphones. With its 16-bit/48 kHz sampling rate, this easy-to-use interface delivers CD Audio sound quality. When I first saw this I thought It's too good to be true. After trying this DAC in a cable, I think I was right.The good stuff: broad Mac ... Show Morecompatibility and ease of use. The bad: 16 bit, 48 kHz is severely limiting. 24 bit 96kHz is pretty much the standard for quality these days, with 192kHz is not far behind. Running a good mic through this cable is like drinking beer through a leaky straw. You get some of the flavour but none of the satisfaction. Save your pennies. There are lots of quality DAC's out there and prices are falling. You can pick up an interface for under a $100 that will give you 2 or more channels of 24bit 96kHz conversion.I also founm that the Hosa, in several setups I tried, seems to suffer from cable noise. Equally irritating was the compression effect inflicted on my mics. It's only a slight exaggeration to say that it felt as if I was listening through an AM radio. I've tried other units for inline conversion. The Shure X2u suffers from some of the same compression problems. I believe this is because it shares the same conversion stats as the Hosa. Because the Shure allows me to use my own cables, which are a much higher quality, I can avoid much of the noise I found on the Hosa Unit. Beyond cable noise, I found that the Hosa adds and unwanted hi-end shimmer (and sometimes more of a hi-frequency rain shower). I found this effect regardless of the miI used. Not a loud effect, but enough to be a problem.With either the Shure or the Hosa it's worthwhile noting that USB cables that run much more than 12 or 15 feet become quite lossy and require the use of a repeater (usually built into better quality cables). In many setups you'll want to use XLR cables to connect your microphone to the units. I don't know why but I found that the HOSA was noisier when I used an XLR cable between it and the mic.Show Less

Reviewed on B&H Photo Video