Tuesday 25 August 2020

Prif Streambox Kit

 So, this was overdue and especially for futures plans and even the chance to really be able to see how this would work out, the Prif streambox kit. Now this I've had word from the owner and did help with the manual creation. But in the end I did purchase online for about £120 somewhere now. But this has a lot of things going for it which I was shocked and amazed at. Now most places sell it for £129 or some too good to be true at £19.99 . But we will look into this and see how it can perform. 











The Packaging: 

One good thing here is that the packaging is actually decent and easy to see, with it being clear on what it does and the colour scheme does fit Prif in their own regard with the Dark blue and the Black and 
White. The image of each part of the kit is a bonus as well. 

The front of the box 

The bottom of the box 

The left side of the box 

The right side of the box 


The back of the box 


The Top of the box 

But its when you look inside, the layout is really organised with each box named inside which is really cool, you don't get that normally with other cards or packaging too. But each box was named for each part. 

  • HD Microphone
  • Webcam
  • Streambox
  • Underneath that is the cables and CD

The layout of the box 


Then it was time to have a look at each Box. 

HD Microphone. 

The front of the box 

Now this has a bit of the case of the little packet then it has in 
  • 1 x Tripod that folds
  • 1 x Microphone with single 3.5mm jack
  • 1 x 3.5mm Splitter

Now the Mic does fit in a certain way which makes it somewhat easy to use on the stand, but the stand is rigid as well. This does make it stable for it to stand. 

The bottom

The 3.5mm Splitter

A side view of the stand

The holder for the mic

A Side view for the mic

The 3.5mm jack end of the mic


Which this is pretty much the part of the mic done. which then it was for the next box to be seen. 

The HD Webcam: 


Now for this, there was a suprise which made some sense when you read other reviews. But the box had its own little mansual inside it as well as a webcam lens cover. 

The box for the webcam

The webcam lens cover

The front of the manual

The setup of the camera

More of how the camera can work in the manaul


Then it comes to the webcam, this looks like a knockoff of a Logitech C920 but it has some unique features such as the screwhole for the tripod and also it uses a Mircro USB connection. Now this is unqiue and can explain why some people say about the issues with the webcam not working after a while due to the loose micro usb port. My only thing I can see is that the cable should have been a right angled micro USB cable, which would have helped with the connections issues. 


This is the front of the camera
 
 

The bottom of the camera with the tripod
 
 

The camera from the side

The camera with the lens cover but open

The Camera with the lens cover but closed

The good feature is that the cable can be changed but of course with the reputation of the cheap cables, the connection could break. There is also a good mention that this works on Android as well as even Smart TVs with the skype calling features. This wont be tested since well its not really a requirement due to so many more devices such as Portal and even Echo with the screen. This then lead to the star of the show. 

The Streambox: 

Now this is actually the simplest of the Boxes, since it only had the streambox inside it. 
 
The Front of the Box for the streambox inside
 
 
 Then it comes to the box itself, a curved box with a fair amount of inputs and outputs such as 2 3.5mm jacks, both HDMI in and out a component cable in (with a special connector that is acutally supposed to be sold from the prif website) . The box uses USB Type C for the connection which is actually a good point since Micro USB is a eadly pain (RIP the usb port on the TBOX Mini and even soldering it back on did not work.
 
The LED indicators on the front of the box
 
 
The Bottom of the box with the Batch number












Then it was the back outputs. 





The front jacks of the streambox
 
I mean this has the potential to do more than I was expecting. But we were not done yet. 

The bottom of the box: 

This is where we finally look at the other bits, so we get inside: 

  • 1 x Dual USB Cable to Type C
  • 1 x HDMI to HDMI Cable
  • 1 x Driver DVD (We do not look into this actually) 
  • 1 x Manual

A look in the box before we open it



Showing underneath the flap
 

 Now for this bit, the Dual USB cable is acutally surprising on this, since most cases laptops now support USB 3.0

The Dual USB to usb type C

The Manual is one of the things i've seen and helped written,  Now it is detailed and also gives screenshots on how to do things, this is always a good shout. Even with how to use and install the Software from the CD. That and the table of troubleshooting is good. 


A Blurred look at the manual

When it comes to the CD/DVD, it does mention that Cyberlink Power Director and also SysCap is put on there. Most of the Drivers you will find out are what we call UVC which really applies to 8.1 and 10 more than 7. This means plug and play which means you do not need the disc to set this up.


The blurred look at the CD

Also the HDMI Cable and the 3.5mm Jack cable is added in. This is useful since of the issue that PS4 can not allow multi output (But the PS3 can even if it reduces the audio channels to stereo), so you can plug in the Dualshock 4 into the box.

Also a jack to jack cable is added in
 

With that all done, it was time to test and setup: 


Setting up the Kit: 

The microphone: 

Getting this instaled was easy for most devices, but with the Xiaomai 6 Pro, there was a problem where the realtek drives did not pick it up, but actually that was to the laptops fault. Using modded drivers fixed that issue and it worked fine when selecting Mic in using the Pop up on plugin option in Realtek Audio console . The quality is not too bad from a distance, not mich of a boom unless your lips are closer, this is not omni directional from what i can make of it.
 

The Webcam: 


Now this is where things really make a difference, since the bezel on the Maibenben is quite thin, it can make it tricky for it to grip on, but with normal monitors, the grip is much much better.  Which OBS just picked it up no problem and I really even managed to do a comparison of the 2 cameras on the laptop (one built in and one of the Prif camera).

The 2 camera on OBS from my view
The camera look from OBS on its own

This allows me to then change any settings such as brightness or even  the contrast just inc ase. 

The Camera settings

Both cameras shown sort of PiP

But that means its good for the 720p which can only record at 30 FPS but bundled woth this kit, the quality is quite good.  More realism on the light compared to the camera built in.  

But then it was time to have a look at the big part. 

The Streambox: 

Now for this bit, since the box is supposed to also be plug and play aka UVC compatible. But we check that in Device manage when its plugged in. I also used a cheap USB type C cable to USB A and not the cable it was provided with. Device manager tells us its a camera, not a video device. The cheap cable does not work with quality but a Morphie or braided USB to C to USB A cable works nicely 


The Device general tab

The Driver tab

The Driver details

The Look at the Hardware ID

The Device description

Now that name is somewhat dejavu in a way, I will tell you why, its Velocap U3 Pro in a cut down version, I kid you not. By that regard it means I have a feeling about the quality and well, its GOOOD. Now it made no issues on response times if playing directly in OBS preview, well maybe some minor input lag but only some games will notice that. If you look at the properties as well, it does mention there is a separate audio device for that box as well.

The properties of the U3 in OBS

 
 
 But when I was previewing it, it worked on PS4 no problems, with non HDCP on the box no problem. Even 1080p 60fps works fine. But if HDCP is turned on or use a PS3, then sadly its a blank screen.

The PS4 working Fine without HDCP (Resolution is at 720p due to the Acer monitor not supporting 1080p)

The HDCP makes it like this or if resolution is changed

HDCP turned on makes this happen

The PS3 CAN work if you use a HDCP Splitter or in this case the TBOX Mini as a passthrough



Testing: 

Now what can I say, it was smooth as butter and the laptop managed to record using all 3, even at 1080p 60fps with no lag. But the sound I did need to tweak since the Turtle Beach headset I used and plugged into the Streambox did cause it to do a double echo since it was used along with the Mic in, Also there is a chance t could have echoed using the microphone using the HD Webcam. 

Remember the laptop or PC must be powerful enough to record or stream 1080p 60fps, 4K will downscale but I don't have 4k so cannot test this. In the case of the Maibenben, the quality worked fine with very little issues. The Camera worked fine and looked good, perfect for lets plays, green screen would work but the light will need to be a bit brighter in my opinion. 


Conclusion: 

Now this is a great bit of kit for the Price, yes I might of purchased overpriced compared to prices I've seen but they might be used or refurbished. But for what i want, its got everything I want and ease of use, well its there and that is what matters. The U3 being UVC or plug and play, its really the best feature since drivers for capture cards or boxes can be a nightmare to sort, the Velocap u2. 
That was a clear example of messed up drivers being the problem and boy it killed the review rating ( I need to review that) . The camera works fine even if it can be a bit problematic for some uses who do not look after cables properly. The Mic is clear if spoken close to it. 

With all this in mind. 

omracer's Rating: 8/10

The Good Points: 

  • Bundle of 3 items
  • Amazing Value for that bundle 
  • Decent Looking of each item
  • Works with OBS Studio or any App for streaming
  • Both the Streambox and the Camera being UVC aka plug and play
  • Records 1080p 60fps no problem if the laptop or desktop can handle it
  • The Camera can fit onto a tripod
 

 The Bad Points: 

  • Can be hard to find brand new, be wary if the price is £19.99
  • The Camera uses a Micro USB Connection so can be easily damaged
  • Make sure you have Audio drivers if you use the Mic on laptop (Windows default Drivers will not work) 
  • Some slight glitches on the recording on loading screens or resolution changes in game
 
 
And there you have it, now that for me will be eased off for 2 weeks or so. Plans to accerlate and Future with special to be chosen and questions to be asked (the normal blog might clear that up one day). But this will be used for things like Fallguys and even other games in the later of this year. 

all the best

omracer