New Music Gear Monday: Centrance MixerFace R4 Mobile Recording Interface And Recorder

Like you I see a lot of new products and so many of them I like and can find a use for. There aren’t many that I really get excited about though, which is why the new Centrance MixerFace R4 mobile recording interface and recorder is so unusual. It’s really a cool little piece of hardware that does so many things.

First of all, the unit packs a powerful punch, with 2 great sounding mic preamps, excellent convertors capable of 192kHz/24 bit operation, a loud and clean headphone amp, and the ability to connect to just about everything in the modern world. Yep, there’s a USB jack to your phone or computer, an 1/8th inch stereo jack aux input, an output specifically for shooting audio to a DSLR camera, and two output jacks for connecting to outboard speakers.

Here’s where it become special though. It’s a pretty powerful little mixer. The two mic inputs use XLR combo jacks so that you plug a mic or guitar/bass/keyboard via the 1/4″ inch portion of the jack. The mic inputs each have a Hi/Lo-Z input switch, 130Hz HPF switch, and signal and peak LEDs, and a volume control for each on the top panel. There’s also the ability to mix the mic input signal with an incoming signal from a USB device like a phone or computer. That’s controlled via two Channel/USB blend controls. Then there’s the stereo Aux in volume control that allows you to mix an analog signal into the signal path as well. The top panel is complete with the Monitor control for the headphone amp.

The front of the unit contains all the aux inputs and outputs as well as the phantom power on/off switch, a stereo/mono switch for the headphone amp, a low/high output switch for the camera output, and the power switch and USB charging input.

That’s another little cool thing that the R4 offers. It has a built-in Li-Po battery that can last 7 hours even feeding 48V phantom power to the mics. Plus there are 3 LEDs that intelligently tell you how much power you have. If all 3 LEDs are lit then there’s 100% batter life, 2 LEDs mean 50% battery, and 1 LED means 33% of the battery is left. Why don’t other manufacturers use a similar helpful scheme?

To really make the MixerFace R4 the perfect mobile unit there’s also a model (the R4R) with a built-in 48/24 recorder. The front panel also contains a slot for a micro-SD card, with a red record button and LED, a stop button, and forward and back buttons to move between files. Plus, you can also make your computer recognize the R4 as another disc drive with a card in place if you want to.

Another great thing about the R4 is that it feels substantial in the hand with a solid metal case and positive feeling controls. There’s nothing cheap about the unit.

The MixerFace R4 can be used in podcast, broadcast, video and music situations, which makes it supremely versatile. For a musician on the road, it’s very cool to be able to put your ideas down easily and be assured that you’ve captured some high quality audio. Just install the Audio Evolution Mobile Studio software on your phone ($6.99) and you’re all set. (iPhone users will need to purchase a Lightning to USB adaptor – Apple calls it a “camera kit”)

The Centrance MixerFace R4 retails for $349, while the R4R with built-in recorder lists for $449. Check out the website for a few more details (it’s new so there’s more coming soon), or watch the cool video below featuring Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater work with the unit.