Palmer Monicon L

Best een mooi toestel. Met die houten zijkanten krijgt het die vintage look, oogt altijd leuk in een studio. Gezien die passief is geeft die ook een realistische weergave van het geluid. Voor zijn grote ook wel vrij zwaar en gebouwd als een tank.
Echter jammer dat je -gezien er meerdere speakersets kunnen worden aangesloten worden- geen afzonderlijke volumeregeling is voor de verschillende uitgangen. Dit was voor mij iets wat ik echt wel zocht. vandaar dat ik toch opteer voor de grote broer ‘monicon xl’
Niks verkeerd dus eigenlijk aan deze monicon L maar voor mij te beperkt.
Gezien dit de eerste monitor controller is die ik aankoop was dit nog niet volledig duidelijk wat ik precies kon verwachten van dit toestel. Ik vind het dan ook wat raar om 2 speakersets niet apart te kunnen regelen.
In de toekomst wil ik ook de mogelijk hebben om een sub aan te sturen vandaar dat deze terug gaat en de grotere versie de betere keuze wat mij betreft.
Btw: As always, super fast service and delivery by Thomann!!

The Palmer MONICON seems to fit the bill. It looks nice and solid and doesn't cost a fortune.
The Monicon is a clear device that is available from Thomann for just under €60. There is still the big brother Monicon L. This offers more features (such as two separately switchable inputs and outputs), but costs €100 more.

unboxing
The unboxing is pretty unexciting, the Thomann package comes with a cardboard box that pretty much corresponds to the size of the monicon. Palmer also included a piece of styrofoam to completely fill out the box and instructions.

The device
The Monicon comes in a simple black design, the metal looks really good. The wood paneling on the sides shouldn't have been necessary for my needs, but it looks high-quality and is therefore found to be in order. The workmanship is very good and the device feels heavy in the hand. There are rubber feet on the underside (next to a barcode babbler) so it doesn't just slip on the table.

On the front there is a pleasantly large attenuation control. This feels very valuable. The controller is sensibly rastered: At high volumes (low attenuation) very fine adjustments are possible, at lower volumes you can very quickly turn large areas through. That makes sense and I like it!
Next to it are two small buttons "mute" and "mono", which also do exactly what you would expect. The buttons don't quite match the quality of the large controller, but still have a good feel. You can still see two black screws on the front panel, which somewhat disturb the otherwise quite simple design.

sound
The sound is as it should be: just like without the Monicon. I couldn't see any differences, at least in an A/B test. In this respect, everything was done correctly here. The controller runs very smoothly and there were no scratches on the brand new device. Whether something is still happening there can probably only be said after a certain amount of time.

Conclusion
The Monicon is the perfect device for my purpose. At 100€ it is quite cheap and can do exactly what I want. From my side, therefore, a clear purchase recommendation!

Strong side of this device is its solidness and good build quality, aside from the "Mute" button issue, which i explain below. It's bigger than i've expected. Pots are nice to touch. Headphone amplifier is loud and clear. I like the fact that volume control, output selection and "Mono" button are now within an easy reach of the hand. And the device itself also nicely decorates my work desk, giving it a bit of that analog, moogish style.

For me, the biggest disadvantage is that "Mono" button only works for main output and doesn't work for headphones. For me, this button was one of the reasons for getting such a device, because periodic checking of how your mix sounds in mono is a vital part of mixing process. As i work in the headphones a lot, during these periods, this factor renders the device almost useless to me. I believe that the description might be a bit more clear on this important factor.

Also, the "Mute" button have a different feel when you press it. It feels like it might have been installed under an angle and scratches the metal case when being pressed. I don't think i would be using this button a lot, so it's not a reason enough for me to ask for replacement, but it might be a sign that quality control on the assembly line might also benefit from a certain level of improvement.