product page: https://www.e-consystems.com/usb-cameras/sony-imx415-4k-usb-camera.asp

For the last few years we have been using Weiliang devices. The budget ones are in the $50-$100 range. We buy them on eBay (but beware of fakes). They sound good and are very even and accurate. BTW I really don't like the new AKM chips even though they are all the rage. That's OK, because models with the ESS sabre chips and others are now a bit cheaper.

On a whim, I picked up the DacMagic XS USB portable DAC on eBay freshly refurbed from the factory.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cambridge-Audio-DacMagic-XS-Portable-USB-DAC-Headphone-Amplifier-Gold/253743761348

Comes in different colors. Blue costs more.
This thing is TINY it looks like a deck of cards in the photos but it is light and small. You can take it on trips. USB powered, and there is a USB 3.0 option with a bit better specs and includes a built in ASIO driver. There's two little buttons to change the volume and change modes. I plugged it into my phone and tablet but YMMV of course.

There's some tiny LEDs and two holes. One micro USB and one mini headphone jack. Ultra simple.

OK, blah blah, how does it sound? It sounds expensive. Big, warm, transparent soundstage with lots of depth, detail and presence. The difference between this and a boutique DAC is tiny, and it sounds better than a some of them. It is has the detail you need to edit, with no BS, that's the thing. No DSD, but I will be reviewing a Weiliang if you want that, I never use it myself.

Premiere loaded the ASIO driver no problem. There's a latency setting which will depend on a lot of things. MME works totally fine at 50ms on my system, and it sounds exactly the same so you might want to use that since Premiere's ASIO is not, shall we say, rock solid.

Since it is super portable and cheap, you can buy several and have the same sound at different stations, or you can just unplug it from one device and plug it in another. Be aware that if you turn on Premiere while you are using it elsewhere, like all such devices it will change your settings.

Recommended. (attached photo from DigitalTrends shows the small size and the volume/setup buttons).

i just wondered if it is possible to focus on the GH5 via USB-C? Either with a bought device or by building the controller by yourself. Since the Ronin S can do it i am quiet sure it should also be possible for others?

Thank you!

Such a mod can have a neutral picture with 10+ bits and 4:2:2 maybe.

A similar mod, would be to output raw video frames to a flash drive via USB (3).

I purchased this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073XYYYWR

There's another model that has two USB inputs, so you could use two power banks or use one and draw more amps.

I was skeptical, and the packaging made me even more so, cardboard & crinkly shrinkly, but I plugged it into my cheapest 5200mah power bank and measured the voltage. 8.8 volts, which is just about right (I've gone as high as 9.2, but prefer not to). Notably, the needle on my trusty voltmeter did not wiggle. Also noteworthy, it didn't seem to need the recommended 3 amp draw. It comes with a 3 amp wall wart if you just want to plug the camera into the mains for power.

It comes with a bog standard dummy battery. The step up converter is tiny, not much thicker than the cable. Plugged in the camera (Panasonic G7) and waited. The 5200mah power bank ran the camera for 156 minutes, or two and one half hours. Not bad--you are going to lose some power in the conversion so don't skimp on the power bank. I'll do some tests later with my RAV 20,000mah bank.

Camera ran cooler than expected.

So there you have it, easy, lightweight power from USB. I had been using 9 volt packs with stacks of Panasonic 18650 cells (runs forever....). But this is really easy.

You can buy adapters for most cameras, and considering the fact that it comes with a dummy battery, the price is cheap. Will it burn out? Interesting question.

[Added formatting and photo, VK]

• I need it to have 7+ USB ports, a strong power supply (must be able to drive 2 HHDs and keyboard/mouse), be reliable, compatible with USB 2.0 (also on the computer side) and all USB devices.

• It would be nice if it can be wall mounted (I want to put it on the lower side of my desktop), the power supply is internal (or at least small), the USB ports are not all on one side, an on/off switch and a status LED (not 20 flashing LEDs, just one;-).

Especially for Mac users it looks like a hub with the VIA VL812-B2 is needed to be 100% compatible (the older VL812 might be ok too). It also seems that most of the USB hubs are just rebranded cheap generic boxes as you can find so many (visually) identical hubs with different brand names on it.

Some examples:

A bit too expensive and old chipset, but nice housing: https://www.amazon.co.uk/LINDY-USB-Industrial-Port-Metal/dp/B00DE5YARW/

Also too expensive and does not work with HDDs when using a Mac(!): https://www.amazon.de/EXSYS-EX-1188HMS-Netzwerk-Hub-7-Port-USB/dp/B00B01AMPQ/

Plastic, no mount, but cheap, new chipset and 2 ports on top with extra power: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ClimaxDigital-CHUB307-Charging-Adapter-Warranty/dp/B00EWO1KE0/ (This one looks quite good, but I haven't found it anywhere in Germany with the correct power plug.)

It seems quite hard to finde a good USB 3.0 hub, so any input/help/experience is highly appreciated.

ASMedia Technology has started developing 10Gbps USB 3.5 host and device controller chips with availability scheduled for 2014, according to company president Chewei Lin.

With transmission speeds comparable to those of Thunderbolt, but available at more affordable prices, USB 3.5 controller chips will have more opportunities in the market, especially for SSD applications, Lin stated.

Via: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20130607PD207.html

Just to remind:

This new specification aims to double the data through-put performance of USB 3.0 to 10 Gb/s and incorporate the new USB Power Delivery specification that is capable of delivering up to 100 W of power through a single cable.

I'm pretty sure all the Patona chargers for lumix G camera have that option.

The UH-7000 is a pro-level microphone preamp and audio interface designed with a strong focus on low noise and high audio quality. Not only can this unit be used as a 4-in/4-out audio interface in a DAW production environment, but as a standalone microphone preamp and A/D / D/A converter. The built-in HDIA (High Definition Instrumentation Architecture) microphone preamps are newly designed and perform at −128 dBu equivalent input noise, a signal-to-noise ratio of 117 dB and distortion of 0.0009 % or less.

The grand nature of the UH-7000’s sound is partially due to the careful attention spent on selecting parts. In addition to Burr-Brown converters and metal thin-film resistors, installed is a powerful TCXO clock generator with a precision of ±1 ppm.

The unit’s half-rack size makes it easy to install at a studio console or work desk. The thick aluminum panels used on the front and sides of the full-metal body help increase stability. Highly important but easily forgotten about are the smooth-tension aluminum input level knobs for precise level adjustments.

The UH-7000 microphone preamp and audio interface enables composers, musicians and recording engineers to produce music in their private quarters at a level generally reached only in professional studios.

• Can be used as a stand-alone high-end AD converter for monitoring or recording to stand-alone recorders
• High-performance mic preamp newly designed for this model reduces influence of impedance mismatch with high accuracy resulting in most accurate audio reproduction at the input stage
• Superb audio quality with samling rates up to 192 kHz at 24-bit resolution
• Ultra-high dynamic range of 123 dB (A/D) and 128 dB (D/A)
• Professional-grade PCM4220 A/D and D/A converters from Texas Instruments
• Selected components like metal film resistors and film capacitors for outstanding sound quality with noise and distortion minimized to a minimum
• High-precision clock synchronization with sample-accuracy at both recording and playback
• On-board DSP mixer and effects like EQ, compressor, noise suppressor, de-esser, exciter and reverb (effects up to 96 kHz only)
• Two large TRIM knobs for precise level adjustment
• XLR and TRS balanced analogue inputs
• Switchable 48-V phantom power on XLR inputs
• XLR balanced line outputs
• Line output level can optionally be adjusted with the headphones level control
• Output selector allows a source to be output via the unit's mixer or via a computer connected by USB
• Powerful headphones output with dedicated level control
• AES/EBU digital I/O
• Low-latency monitoring
• Easy-to-read 20-dot LED level meter

http://www.tascam.eu/en/uh-7000.html

It is using advanced ADI DSP chip. Has complete single-chip audio system with a 28-/56-bit audio DSP, ADCs, DACs, and microcontroller-like control interfaces. Signal processing includes equalization, cross-over, bass enhancement, multiband dynamics processing, delay compensation, speaker compensation, and stereo image widening. This processing can be used to compensate for real-world limitations of speakers, amplifiers, and listening environments, providing dramatic improvements in perceived audio quality. Most processing is done in full 56-bit, double precision mode, resulting in very good performance. It is a fully programmable DSP. The easy to use SigmaStudio software allows the user to graphically configure a custom signal processing flow using blocks such as biquad filters, dynamics processors, level controls, and GPIO interface controls.

Long story short. If you use it 2.1 system you can add advanced parametric equalizers and tune subwoofer crossover as you like. Still having USB DAC, headphone amp and power amp included.

If you have big 3 way speakers pair of such devices can fully replace passive crossovers and amplifiers (thing usually done with DCX2496 - http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/DCX2496.aspx and additional amps).

It is now very widely known product, but this company exist for quite long time already.

• GD33 - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DSP-CLASS-D-AMP-SMPS-2-1-OR-THREE-WAY-HI-FI-AMP-WITH-ANALOG-SPDIF/522265351.html
• GD22 - http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/DSP-CLASS-D-AMP-SMPS-2-1-HI-FI-AMP-WITH-ANALOG-SPDIF-USB-SOURCE-SELECTOR/601158_536791086.html

The smaller models only need 5v 1A, you could easily power them off lots of batteries out there. I'm tempted, but I'm not going to make any more major purchases until BlackFriday or after. http://www.gechic.com/product_help_en.asp?s=10

I used an LM3485 3Amp switching regulator evaluation board because 1) I had one lying around, and 2) they are nearly 100% efficient, and don't get warm. The battery holder is a tray from a BLC12 charger I bought off Ebay, and the LED voltage display is also off Ebay (it draws a negligible 10ma and allows you to guesstimate how much battery charge is left). Photos of the rig below.

It would be much easier to just have bought an external USB battery pack, but they are heavy and bulky. This way I get double use out of the batteries I already carry around with my rig.

Available at:

• $99 - http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-3-5-Inch-External-Enclosure-NST-640SU3-BK/dp/B007XJIYI6
• $126 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vantec-NST-640SU3-BK-Quad-3-5-SATA-to-USB3-0-and-eSATA-External-HDD-Enclosure-/261011141852

Mediasonic Pro Box enclosures

4 disks, USB 2.0 - Mediasonic HF2-SU2S2

Available at:

• $99 - http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HF2-SU2S2-ProBox-Enclosure-Drives/dp/B002UUPWP6/ref=sr_1_5

4 disks, USB 3.0 - Mediasonic HF2-SU3S2

It has simple and RAID versions.

Available at:

• $119 - http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HF2-SU3S2-ProBox-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/
• $216 - http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HFR2-SU3S2-ProRaid-External-Enclosure/dp/B003YFHEAC/

8 disks, USB 3.0 -Mediasonic H82-SU3S2 ProBox

Available at:

• $269 - http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-H82-SU3S2-ProBox-External-Enclosure/dp/B005GYDMYG

Uses USB Power Delivery standard.

We also offer regularly Cinematics USB follow focus that is identical to Okii.

does anybody know if it is possible to use this to record directly on an external Harddisk?

Currently "Olin" this is the only company that I know of that makes them, could be wrong.