TC Electronic Desktop Konnekt 6 Review

TC Electronic Desktop Konnekt 6. Price: $199 (street)

Are you a videographer who has been shy or—come on, admit it—perhaps even afraid to dip your toes into the audio end of the industry? We've talked about the minimal investment it takes to get into the game these days, but with the release of the Desktop Konnekt 6, TC Electronic has made it possible for almost anyone to begin developing the skills necessary to record audio on a professional level.

The Desktop Konnekt 6 is an audio interface that offers outstanding analog/digital conversion, a quality mic preamp, built in reverb, and (of critical importance) a volume control that lets you handle the level of audio passing through your system at all times. The latest in a series of TC Electronic interfaces, the Konnekt 6 even ships with Cubase LE 4, the light edition of Steinberg's digital audio workstation.

Just about 6.5in. square, the Konnekt 6 is an attractive unit that's small enough to fit into almost any environment. The device connects to either a Mac or PC via FireWire, which can also supply power to the Konnekt 6. However, you're better off using the the wall wart that's included and leaving the FireWire bus to handle more essential tasks.

Inputs include a pair of 1/4in. line-ins and a single XLR input with phantom power provided. OK, your eyes are already glazing over, right? Things get really simple if we place this connectivity in a real-world context. You need a narration track for the corporate video you're working on, but you are tired of blowing your budget by going to an outside facility each time you need to record a voiceover. So you buy the Konnekt 6 and a microphone—if you budget a couple of hundred bucks for the latter, you'll be in good shape. The Konnekt 6's phantom power means that you can plug in your mic, launch Cubase LE 4 (or any DAW you may have on your system other than Digidesign Pro Tools; Real-Time AudioSuite [RTAS] drivers are not part of the package), and go to work without needing an outside power source for the mic. It's easy!

The Konnekt 6 does not provide MIDI to your system, but let's say you know a keyboard player. He or she brings over a digital keyboard and plugs into the stereo inputs, and the two of you are ready to begin scoring your film. See, you're an expert already. On the left side of the front panel, you'll find the Input section of Konnekt 6. Here's where you'll select from one of three scenes labeled "Mic + Instrument," "Dual Instrument," and "Stereo In." Once you begin working with the Konnekt 6, you'll find it easy to navigate among the scenes. Using the included Near Control Panel software, you'll be able to modify the presets—varying input levels or reverb settings, for example—and save them.

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.

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)