Recently Released: Solid State Logic Connex Mic

Three years down the road, we’re getting to the point where we might want – or need – a speakerphone setup for a conference call in a meeting room. Or, maybe you’re just tired of having headphones on all the time, and want to walk around and talk freely. Either way, the Solid State Logic Connex Speakerphone should get the job done.

Of course, these days speakerphones really aren’t phones, per se. They’re a device that needs to plug into a computer to work with whatever the conferencing software of your choice happens to be. Oh, and we should clarify – the Solid State Logic Connex is a microphone, and not a speakerphone. It’s all about getting the audio in. To get the audio out, you’ll be pumping it out of speakers, wireless headphones, or a wired headphone that is plugged into the Connex.

Once you’ve got the setup configured, you’ve got a number of different presets you can cycle through, depending on how you need to use it:

White: Solo mode
- Designed for picking up a single sound source from the front of the unit, e.g. conference call or live streaming with a single presenter
- DSP and microphone optimized for speech coming from the front face while rejecting sound from back and side faces

Green: Group mode
- Designed for picking up multiple sound sources in a space, e.g. broadcasting a roundtable discussion over a video conferencing system or live streaming with multiple presenters
- DSP and microphone optimized for speech from multiple directions

Magenta: Vocal mode
- Designed for picking up sound sources from the front of the unit, e.g. a person singing
- The microphone array is processed to a stereo signal, focused around the front of the unit
- The mic’s internal audio processing is optimized for dynamic sound sources like signing
Blue: Music mode
- Designed for picking up louder sound sources from the front of the unit, e.g. acoustics guitar
- The microphone array is mixed down to a stereo signal, focused around the front of the unit. The mic’s internal audio processing will be optimized for louder musical sources
Immersive: All four modes feature an advanced immersive recording setting. This allows the user to access each of the four individual mic sources for the purpose of immersive and spatial recordings or broadcasts

So, basically – if you want a higher-end mic to use and don’t want to dangle it off of a boom, the Solid State Logic Connex looks like it’l get the job done. They’re running $199.99, and you can check them out in more detail at solidstatelogic.com

Key Features

Advanced quad microphone array for recording and video conferencing applications
Four separate digital signal processing (DSP) modes using SSL EQ and dynamics algorithms
24 bit / 96 kHz professional quality DAC / ADC converters

Automatic smart mixer for picking up multiple room sources on group calls
Enhanced dual-mono, stereo and quad signals provided for video conferencing, stereo recording and immersive recording applications respectively
High quality 3.5 mm headphone output with mic Loopback option for ambient monitoring

Touch-sensitive controls for headphone level and microphone muting
Backlit RGB illuminated logo indicates mic mute state and DSP mode
Includes 1⁄4” camera tripod thread in base and mic stand thread adapter provides flexible mounting options