Excellent Interface - I highly recommend it

I have used an Apogee Duet exclusively before trying this Icicle. Obviously the Duet is in another class, but coming from that experience, I was blown away by the quality and functionality of this little interface. At the price they are definitely a steal.

Works Perfectly, Adjustibility is Great

The attractive in-line design and variable gain make this a keeper. The gain adjustment stays put despite dragging around the floor. Suits my miced amp requirement perfectly.

ICICLE AND RODE NT1-A

Sorry about my english, but i try, well i received my icicle yesterday, and i tried with my mac recording with audacity, and with my laptop recording with sound forge8 any problems with my other ldc mics (blue bluebird, akg perception 220, akg c3000, behringer c1 and my lovely neumann u87) but with the rode nt1-a i have a lot of noise and clicks and pops, the blue lights in the icicle turns white, i suposed that the icicle dont have enough power for that mic, if you have a rode nt1-a the icicle is not for you, but with another mics the icicle works really good, no noises,hums or things like that and the gain knob works really really great with a extraordinary quality, i wiil use my icicle for interviews for broadcast, i recomend this item obviously not with the rode nt1-a. peace

Weak phantom power for LDC mics

When plugged into a Rode NT1A, the phantom power was not enough, and experienced clicks and pops.

Used a 58, and no pops, but the idea was to place a large diaphragm condenser on the desk to record both guitar and vocal.

Checked the computer spec on the USB output vs the requirement for the Icicle, and tried both USB ports, and still had the problem.

Routed the NT1A through a mixer, using it's phantom power, and line out, and it worked well.

The objective was to have minimal gear, and because of the weak phantom power, the original set up failed.

It may be enough for an active D.I. box, but not a LDC mic.

You get what you pay for...

I own a production studio and tend to travel a lot for my day job so I bought the Icicle as a travel A-D converter thinking that I could do some on site sampling with my laptop when on the road and having to pack light... boy was I wrong. I plugged in an AKG C414 B and the audio sounded like a scratched up dirty record. There were nasty pops and clicks every couple of seconds. After reading a few reviews, I found out that this thing can't handle large diaphragm condensers at all because the phantom power simply sucks. So bummed, I decided to see how well it worked with an SM58 dynamic mic... well, the pops and clicks were less but still existed. So, for me this is completely unusable and will be going back ASAP.

Other things to mention about it:
* It is super cheap plastic (they couldn't use metal... really?!)
* The converter is sensitive and sometimes looses clock causing crackle distortion
* It feels like it would break if you tried to put in a laptop bag or something
* The gain nob is hard to actually work because its so recessed.

Bottomline.. don't buy this cheap piece of crap... buy an Apogee One, you will be much happier