Avisoft UltraSoundGate 124 P48

Avisoft-UltraSoundGate 124 is a very compact USB audio recording interface with phantom power supply and integrated trigger button. It has been optimized for mobile harddisk recording with the nature sound recordist and bioacoustics researcher in mind.

Key features

24bit/192kHz AD converter,
Native sampling rates : 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128, 192 kHz *,
Bit depths : 16 or 24 bit,
Analog input bandwidth : 10 Hz ... 80 kHz,
Input level range : -80 ... -3 dBu,
Dynamic range : 110 dB (A-weighted),
Microphone connector : XLR 3,
Transformer-less microphone input for low distortion,
Low-noise pre-amplifier,
Very quiet switchable P48 phantom power supply,
Trigger (recording) button for remote-controlling the harddisk recording process in conjunction with appropriate software,
USB 1.1 interface,
Bus-powered operation with low power-requirements (there is no need for additional batteries). A maximum current of 280 mA is drawn from the USB (at 192 kHz sampling mode with a phantom-powered microphone attached),
True Plug&Play capability (the native OS driver will be used - there is no need to install any device-specific driver),
Peak level meter with 5 LEDs,
Monitor output (3.5mm mini-jack),
Extremely compact and rugged aluminium housing (56 * 35 * 140 mm including control knobs, weight : 300g),
Watertight, dustproof and unbreakable transport box.

* Thanks to the re-sampling capabilities of the Windows operating system, other rates below 48 kHz (e.g. 44.1 kHz) will be available too.

Avisoft-UltraSoundGate 124 provides unparalleled features! It's 24bit/192kHz converter in conjunction with the compact size allow you to get the most out of high-quality condenser microphones with extended frequency ranges, especially in mobile applications.

UltraSoundGate 124 P48

phones volume and gain control knobs

UltraSoundGate 124 with laptop and microphone

USG 124 operated from a mini-laptop and directly attached to a phantom-powered condenser microphone (MKH 800)

This extremely compact-sized device with an integrated record button allows to conduct very comfortable PC-based harddisk recording in the field. In conjunction with appropriate recording software as Avisoft-RECORDER or other custom-written software *, there are no further arguments against harddisk recording in the field. The trigger button and the peak-level meter will grant full control over the recording process while the laptop is stored safely in your backpack (several laptop models allow to close the screen without suspending operation). If you prefer to look at the real-time spectrogram display while recording, you could also hang the laptop over your shoulder to observe the screen. A simple carrying belt would allow that with most laptop models. Especially one of the smaller mini-laptops, that weight around 1kg (e.g. SONY Vaio PCG-C1, PCG-SR or JVC XP7210 / XP3210 series devices) would be very useful for this application. Besides its pre-trigger and real-time spectrogram capabilities, the Avisoft-RECORDER software also supports flexible sound-activated recording if you want to deploy the laptop somewhere in the field and let the software do the job. For convenience, the RECORDER software can also be configured for an automated start after booting the computer. In such a configuration, no further user interaction is required to get ready for recording.

* General-purpose recording software (e.g. CoolEdit) can be used too, but the trigger button would not be supported.

Principle of the UltraSoundGate 124 P48

System requirements

PC with USB port (version 1.1 or 2.0), running at 500 MHz with Windows 2000 or Windows XP *. Windows 98 and ME do no support the 24 bit mode and 96 kHz sampling. 16 bit sampling will be available at all sampling rates (up to 192 kHz) with all Windows versions.

* Currently, the Windows USB audio driver supports 24 bit sampling only at sampling rates of up to 128 kHz (192 kHz is available a 16 bit resolution only).

USG 124 attached to a Telinga parabola

USG 124 hanging on the mic cable