This month’s Playback column features two reviews: AlphaTheta euphonia and Sensaphonics dB Check Pro.
This month’s Playback column features two reviews. Minnesota’s DJ Deets handles AlphaTheta’s new rotary mixer – the euphonia. Meanwhile Colorado’s Wesley King tests out Sensaphonics’ sound-level analyzer – the dB Check Pro.
AlphaTheta euphonia
If you look around the DJ market, you might say that the industry is in the midst of a rotary-mixer renaissance. Major brands have entered the fray, competing with a seemingly endless number of offerings from boutique manufacturers.
Notably, AlphaTheta – the brand closely affiliated with Pioneer DJ – recently launched the euphonia, a $3,799 monster with the singular goal of becoming rotary royalty. I recently got the chance to get my hands on a euphonia unit, and here’s what I thought:
Look & Layout: For starters, the euphonia is visually stunning. It has a black finish highlighted by copper/rose-gold accents on the major knobs. Two dark-wood panels on the side add additional visual flare. It’s very industrial chic and would look right at home as part of a high-end audiophile setup or next to various pieces of studio gear.
Let’s break down the layout: the euphonia has two levels. The top level has a large three-frequency isolator, the effects section, the master level knob, and a bright screen (more on that later). The three-band isolator has individual knobs for low/mid/high frequencies, and each frequency has a dedicated Send button for effects. A Note: Although very large and great to use, the isolator knobs don’t click at the center position, which is something I would have liked to see.
The effects section has a few in-built effects and the ability to send and return signal through any external effects device. A notable omission from the effects section is a low-pass filter (something I find myself using a lot while performing). Additionally, I could not find a way to run multiple different effects on multiple channels – like what you can do with individual channel-level high/low pass filters. I may have gotten a little too accustomed to having individual channel filter controls, so I find myself missing that functionality here.
Below the effects section is a color screen that AlphaTheta calls an “Energy Visualizer.” The screen shows detailed levels for each channel on a simulated needle gauge (in addition to the physical VU meters on each channel), as well as the master level. Pressing the View button brings up a detailed view showing any active effects. Long-pressing the View button opens the utility menu. FYI, it’s not a touch screen; when I first got my review unit, I made the mistake of trying to tap the screen expecting something to happen. It’s not a big deal by any measure, but worth pointing out.
The lower level has the traditional channel controls, headphone controls, microphone controls, and the booth level and equalizer. Each channel contains the usual fare (three-band EQ, trim control, VU meters, headphone cueing) plus a send/return knob to send an individual channel to the effects section.
Rotary Faders: Now, let’s get to the centerpiece of the euphonia: the rotary controls. These are among some of the best rotary faders I’ve ever used. AlphaTheta says there’s a special system that allows the knob to provide different levels of resistance depending on how quickly and forcefully it is turned. It’s buttery smooth and a joy to work with. I can hope that they will still feel as satisfying after years of heavy use. All the special faders have a nice, scalloped, rubberized side and a shiny copper/rose-gold top.
There are two headphone jacks – one on 1/8-inch and one on ¼-inch. Some mixers have started adding two separate headphone-cue circuits, and I am curious if any users will find themselves missing that functionality here. There’s an option for mono split-cue or stereo cueing as well. There’s a dedicated booth level with its own EQ functionality (high/low) and a mic input with its own high/low EQ controls.
On the back, you’ll find all the usual ins-and-outs. There are separate RCA phono and line-level inputs for each channel, as well as digital inputs for each channel. The master output is on XLRs, and there’s a record output on RCAs. All the effects send-and-returns run on TRS jacks, and the mic input is a combo XLR/TRS input. There are two turntable grounding plugs, and a USB-C for connecting the mixer to a computer. Finally, power comes in via a lockable IEC cable.
Ear Test: Simply put, the euphonia sounds great. AlphaTheta worked with Rupert Neve Designs to design special circuitry for the mixer, and it shows. They describe the sound as “glossy and energetic,” and I definitely agree. Pair the sound with the functionality, and you get what feels like limitless control. I found myself constantly tweaking the EQs (maybe I was just looking for an excuse to play with the faders). I ran the mixer with both external sources, as well as simply plugging my laptop and routing my DJ software into the various channels. And, in both forms of testing, it performed great.
(Note from AlphaTheta: You can hear the effect of the transformer depending how you crank the volume. On the VU meter, anything under the white gives you a clean neutral signal, but anything above the white will saturate. Thanks to the high-quality converters and DSP, you can push the signal to hear the strong saturation without clipping the output signal within the mixer.)
Conclusions: Who might the euphonia be aimed at? It’s not exactly affordable – it is easily one of the most expensive mixers on the market. Nonetheless, I could see this being purchased as a studio tool for big-name DJs who mix house and techno styles of music. Clubs that regularly host these kinds of DJs and events (or rental houses that support these venues and DJs) could also look at picking one up to have on inventory. High-end home DJs whose mixing styles are conducive to the rotary mixer workflow may also be considering this mixer. For the proper application, I must say this is simply a killer unit.
I certainly enjoyed my time with the euphonia, and I’m sad I have to send my demo unit back. Well-done, AlphaTheta.
Sensaphonics dB Check Pro
Anyone who’s read my reviews and articles in the DJ and pro audio space over the years knows that I care deeply about hearing protection. For DJs and other professional performing musicians, the ability to hear is mission-critical to the artform. And yet, loud music and noise are occupational hazards that have to be taken very seriously.
It’s why I’ve reviewed and written extensively about passive hearing protection over the years, along with custom-fitted in-ear monitors (IEMs) and other monitoring solutions designed to provide not just clear audio, but hearing protection as well.
The problem, however, is that even when you use solutions, such as professionally fitted IEMs with excellent passive ambient noise reduction, you still have a risk: Turning up the sound so high that you potentially cause as much hearing damage as not using a monitoring solution with passive reduction to begin with.
Sensaphonics, the Chicago-based manufacturer and retailer of custom IEMs, earplugs, and other audio solutions recently rolled out a very intriguing solution to this particular “second-tier” problem. That solution? The Sensaphonics dB Check Pro sound-level analyzer.
The Basics: The dB Check Pro is a clever accessory for IEM users that can be worn on a belt or slipped into a pocket, and goes in-line between the audio source, and your IEMs or headphones. With a color display and onboard software, the device displays a range of details about your audio levels, including the fundamental “how loud, how long” parameters that get right to the very core of the issue.
To achieve this feat, Sensaphonics compiled data on over 140 different IEMs and headphones – not just with Sensaphonics’ own IEMs, but across 12 major brands in the market, including my day-to-day custom IEMs from Ultimate Ears Pro, along with Westone and others. These analyses, coupled with the device’s ability to measure the signal level of the audio stream, allows the dB Check Pro to accurately calculate sound pressure from the signal itself, and provide safe exposure times under both NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) guidelines.
Beyond the monitored stream, the dB Check Pro also leverages an onboard microphone that enables it to show level information for ambient sound in the environment as well. It’s a clever solution to an otherwise difficult challenge.
In Use: Setting up the dB Check Pro is extraordinarily simple. With the unit’s internal battery fully charged, turn the unit on, and use the pressure-sensitive screen to select the make and model of your IEMs or headphones. Set the desired averaging time, and whether you want to see information about your listening device, the ambient sound levels, or both.
Then, connect the sound source to one of the two jacks on the unit, and your IEMs or headphones into the other. Turn on your audio, and take in what the screen of the device has to say about your monitoring environment and levels. An integrated belt clip is a handy way to keep the device inline and handy during a listening or performing session.
Two icons on the screen of the device allow you some control over the experience. One allows you to pause or resume audio level averaging for your session, while the other will end the session; a second press clears the display.
Perhaps the most valuable information the dB Check Pro provides is an allowable-exposure-time display, based on the current sound levels. There are two — one based on NIOSH guidelines, and the other on OSHA guidelines. NIOSH is the more conservative of the two, and Sensaphonics strongly recommends using the NIOSH exposure times as your guide. Shown in hours and minutes, it provides a simple, easy-to-understand “not-to-exceed” guideline to avoid the potential for permanent hearing damage.
Perhaps, obviously, you can extend your not-to-exceed time by simply turning your audio levels down to align with the duration of your performance or monitoring session.
Depending on your own preexisting hearing acuity, you might find yourself a bit surprised at the numbers displayed by the unit; I know I was. It doesn’t take as long as you might think at seemingly appropriate volume levels to get into the potential danger zone. That, in fact, is the entire point of the dB Check Pro… If you take your hearing health seriously, you’d do well to heed the unit’s advice, and tame your monitoring levels accordingly.
Conclusions: This level of intelligence and hearing protection doesn’t come cheap, however; the dB Check Pro runs $500. For that investment, you get the unit itself, a hard-shell case, USB-C charging cable, and an audio jumper cable. Is it worth it? I suppose the answer depends on just how important your hearing is to you. To be sure, it takes the guesswork out of equation, and provides insight that you just can’t get any other way.
For those of us who’ve invested in the custom IEM ecosystem — and it is an investment in and of itself — it feels like the dB Check Pro is just rounding out that investment, and the hearing protection benefits that come along with it.