Sound:
Well, it doesn't have sound exactly. Unless you count the signal generator - which, by and by, works great and has about every single tone or test signal you could need. Plus for, say, sine waves you can select your own frequency and level. Nice job there.
But for sound, I'm just rating how it picks up sound. And that is a perfect 10. I tested this next to a $6000 unit in my lab and it held up excellently. When compared to RTA programs and whatnot you can get on your computer and smartphone, there's really no comparing if you want accuracy. I have had to calibrate it once, but I used my calibrator and did it myself on the actual unit. Piece of cake.
Feature:
For the price, I can't think of an analyzer that gives you this much. It's all listed on this page so I don't need to repeat it, but the functions are all there and they're all fully operational. The most interesting part, though, is the different settings you're given. Weightings and peak hold and response times.
Ease of Use:
A touch screen, seriously? Very nice. I've had a few portable analyzers before and nothing's been this easy. I've had a PAA3 and it's got this menu that you scroll through and you need to find the different options and settings and it's just time consuming. I've had an NTi unit where it took me forever to work out how to set it up and run it. The screen MAY need to be calibrated, which is fine. You can use the little control thing to get to the calibration screen. From then on it's a breeze.
Quality:
It works great, it's reliable. I mean I've had it for a year and a bit and it hasn't failed me. I guess I would worry about it falling to the floor with a heavy thud, but I can't imagine not being scared of that regardless of what I'm using. Definitely one for using on the road, that's what it's made for. It drains battery kind of fast (3 hours is a long time... but then again it's not), although the power adapter and rechargeable batteries more than make up for that.
Value:
Like I said earlier, I can't think of another portable analyzer that has this much for this price. Or another analyzer, period: portable or stationary. It's accurate and feature-packed.
Manufacturer Support:
When I was having problems with the screen, Phonic's support helped me get to the calibration screen (the manual tells you how to use the little control properly, I just didn't check it thoroughly enough). They were more than helpful, got me to the calibration screen in no time. In no way were they condescending, which I really appreciated.
The Wow Factor:
My only complaint would be that it doesn't have that kind of mad punch that a lot of modern products have. The housing looks okay, but in the 2000s it's glossy, hard acrylic that gets people going. I mean at the end of the day, I don't care one way or the other if the product works well - just thought it was worth mentioning. It looks fine, but as I've already said in 2011 people want sleek, shiny acrylic. Thinking about it, though, it could slip right out of your hand in the field and that wouldn't be good. As it is, it's easy to keep a firm grip on.
The touch screen steals the show, as far as I'm concerned. Nice layout, nice graphics, and easy to understand and use.
Overall:
I can't imagine myself going with another product unless I see something with the same feature-set with a bunch of additions. I do see myself going for a PAA-whatever-the-next-one-is in future. I'll see how long this one lasts me first, but so far so good.
5 of 6 people
(83.33%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Sound:
NA
Feature:
Features are there but hard to manipulate without the stylus. Doesn't come with any kind of duty cycle or sleep mode so the battery lasts only about 3 hours when idle.
Ease of Use:
This is one of the worst devices to operate that I have ever owned. It takes 3 minutes to boot, 10 seconds to change menus (what chip did they put in this thing anyway?). The touch screen resolution is so low that you constantly have to use the stylus...the era of which I thought had long passed, and even then the finer functions are difficult to control accurately. They REALLY went cheep when it came to design and materials. They should wither fire their designers/engineers, buy them iPhones, or both.
Quality:
It looks and feels like a cheep answering machine from the 1970s. So far it has been reliable; namely because I can't stand using it.
Value:
No. For 1/5 of the cost you could buy an iPhone, and download many free, and some $80 apps, which if calibrated correctly could serve you 90% of the time, depending on what you do. And of course you would have a phone and be able to surf the internet etc.
Manufacturer Support:
NA
The Wow Factor:
I love using the audio analyzer on my iPhone; the interface was designed for that hardware, the resolution of controls is great etc. The PAA looks like an awkward teenager who is in between an older hard switch type device and a newer touch screen devise, but not quite there yet. Its obvious that the touch screen was an add-on and not a central design. I hate using it and am sorry I bought it.
Overall:
I started searching for another product after the first week of ownership.
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