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| Review: Miglia Harmony Audio Interface |
| Despite being equipped with FireWire, most digital video editors still rely on the computer's analogue soundcard to digitise audio. But there's a better way. |
 For the trogolodytes among you who shut themselves away in state-of-the-art digital audio studios, you'll have access to the full range of analogue-to-digital input converters and interfaces. However, for those with more modest ambitions it could be that a simple, more cost-effective solution is required when contemplating the means by which an analogue sound source can be input to a Mac or Windows PC with the minimum of deterioration and the greatest ease. You might be a Mac user looking to input a musical instrument into GarageBand, Logic Audio, Logic Express etc., or you might simply wish to play in material from a reel-to-reel tape machine, audio cassette, record turntable or MiniDisc player and convert to digital in the best way possible. Even if you have a digital video capture program, it isn't necessarily the most convenient way of editing the audio on its own - it's often much better to use a dedicated audio package. But first, you need to get it into the computer with the minimum of loss - digitally. That's where Miglia's Harmony Audio interface has a role to play.
First Impressions
It's designed with the same stylish brushed-aluminium look of the company's other recent products (including the much-admired Director's Cut Take 2 and Director's Cut SCART video digitisers), and sits happily among Apple's G5 family of computer products. Both the font and rear panels are packed solid with inputs, outputs and level pots; Windows users shouldn't be put off by the Mac-ish looks, however; it works perfectly well with Windows XP PCs. The unit itself is geared more toward the musician - who is more likely to outputting signals via unbalanced 1/4" mono jack than balanced XLR line outputs, and for that reason there's two front-panel jack inputs for direct input, hi/lo impedance switches on each channel, soft clip LED peak indicators and a stereo 3.5" headphone output with volume control. The rear of the unit contains four 3.5" stereo jack outputs (8 outputs ganged into pairs), one line level stereo audio ouput 3.5" jack, two 6-pin bus-powered FireWire (IEEE1394) sockets and individual L/R channel trim pots allowing manual control of input level. FireWire is Oxford 970 powered, using Oxford Semiconductors' leading FireWire interface technology, and the unit provides full Core Audio support (which will mean something to audio technicians!).
Getting Connected 1: Apple Mac
Connecting to an Apple Mac requires OS 10.3.5 or later. Using the supplied FireWire 6-pin  cable, it's a simple job to plug into one of the Mac's 6-pin ports and get started immediately. With a musical instrument or other analogue source connected and running, GarageBand or 3rd party capture utilities like Sound Studio will detect the source immediately and let you get started. It's a good idea to render the Mac's audio card redundant; the Harmony Audio unit itself will take over the sound card role and provide not only input conversion but also output monitoring, to a 7.1 Surround system if desired.
Getting Connected 2: Windows XP PC
Connecting to a Windows XP machine requires a little bit more work. In fact, the saying Plug and Pray comes to mind when installing and setting up. To be fair to Miglia, it's more likely to be a PC hardware/software problem that prevents an Apple-like ease of installation. After downloading the required zipped Oxford ASIO driver package from Miglia's online support section, it's then installed onto a 6-pin FireWire equipped machine. For the purposes of a simple real-world test, Harmony Audio was assigned the job of enabling the digitisation of analogue audio archive recordings from audio tape, audio cassette and MiniDisc (analogue line out) using the Audacity audio capture and editing program. It took a while for the PC to see the hardware, and when it did the program kept hanging once the Record (audio capture) button was clicked. However, it was quickly realised that there was a conflict between the Harmony interface and the PC's resident SoundMax Pro sound card. Having selected the Harmony as the default input and output device, it was possible to capture with ease, and with audio monitoring being supplied via outputs 1 and 2 on the rear of the unit to a monitoring amp and monitor speakers.
No external power supply required
It should be noted that as the unit draws its power via the 6-pin FireWire connection from the PC's FireWire bus, no external power supply is required. This makes it a very convenient portable recording aid when, for instance, connecting musical sound sources to a 6-pin FireWire equipped laptop computer - such as Apple's Powerbooks and iBooks. The unit could, of course, provide a useful means of recording a PA sound-desk output direct to laptop, providing that it was given jack inputs. A 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable is supplied with the unit, though a 10v DC power cable is an optional extra.
Conclusion
When comparing the quality of audio captured with the Harmony against identical sources captured via the host PC's resident sound card, the quality of the resulting audio is instantly noticeable. It's full of body, well defined and has loads of clout. The only noise evident in the captured files originates from the original analogue source, but even then Harmony seems to work wonders in bringing out every ounce of definition and clarity. Without a doubt, this is a remarkable unit that can't be faulted in any way. Top marks, Miglia!
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| Points for: |
Superb styling, ease and choice of connectivity, manual control over inputs, astonishing clarity of digitised audio, value for money! |
| Points against: |
Not a single thing
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| Conclusion: |
Fantastic value for money from a company renowned for its well-made and reliable range of products, and ideal for Mac and Windows XP users alike |
| Rating 1-5: |
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| More Information: |
www.miglia.com
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