Hayakumo Izarai

Looking for hands‑on control of your monitoring? Hayakumo may well have the answer...

Based in Japan, Hayakumo make a small range of useful high‑quality studio gadgets, including one of very few standalone VU meters currently commercially available that can be properly calibrated. Their Izarai is a thoughtfully designed and nicely assembled passive monitor controller.

Overview

The Izarai’s black, brushed‑metal case allows the controls to be nicely spaced, without the unit being so big that it ever feels like it’s cluttering your desktop. Thanks to the use of a four‑pole, 23‑position rotary switch, it can attenuate the stereo signal from unity gain down to full attenuation, with accurate stereo tracking. There are 2dB increments in the ‑50 to ‑20 dB range, where the finer resolution is arguably more useful, and larger 5 or 10 dB steps at the lowest and highest parts of the range. There’s a satisfying resistance and click when you turn the custom‑designed aluminium knob too, and you won’t risk changing the level accidentally by knocking this control!

There’s provision for two stereo input sources and three outputs, all on quarter‑inch TRS jack pairs on the rear. These are selectable with two buttons to the left of the large attenuator, and three to the right, respectively. The default action is that depressing one of these latching buttons releases the others, but it’s possible to depress both input selectors and/or two of the three output selectors simultaneously for passive summing/splitting. Another pair of jacks provides a thru output, of which more later.

As well as stereo jack pairs for the main inputs and outputs, there’s a ‘thru’ output intended to feed a meter.

In a row along the bottom are five more buttons. First, there’s a dim button, along with another that toggles the dim level between ‑10 and ‑20 dB. There are also mono and mute buttons, whose function should be obvious! Finally, beneath the column of output select buttons is the more mysteriously named C‑Select. This allows you to turn output C on/off without affecting your existing output selection. So, for example, in a small studio with one set of main speakers, you might use the Hayakumo’s A and B outputs to switch between speakers and a headphone amp, and when the speakers are engaged to switch your subwoofer (or a pair of subwoofers) in/out.

In Use

To test the Izarai, I plugged it into my patchbay and tested it with a few different routing setups. It looked the part in my studio: it’s tastefully designed, elegant and understated. Ergonomically it’s satisfying too, with a sloped top panel that sits at just the right angle for desktop use, and controls that are easy to reach for and operate, and which offer a satisfying physical click. The panel labels are clear; I had no problem seeing them even in poor light. Hayakumo have judged the attenuation steps right as well, and the unit’s weight and rubber feet mean it should stay put on your desktop, even with all 12 jack sockets hooked up.

Importantly, it sounds great, just as I’d expect a passive device should. Of course, the Izarai has the usual pros and cons of passive monitor controllers. On one hand, it’s simple and convenient, with no need for a power supply. On the other it’s best to avoid long cable runs to and from the unit, and the lack of power means there aren’t many bell‑and‑whistle features.

All the basic monitoring needs are catered for, and I reckon the two levels of dim, along with the mono, mute and sub switching, will be enough to satisfy most users. There’s no provision to mute the left or right channel independently, though, or to invert the polarity of one channel (to audition the Sides signal). Yet, while I personally find such things useful, most people probably won’t miss them, and they’re arguably less‑used functions that could easily be performed in your DAW. One bonus feature I did enjoy was the thru output. There’s no metering on board, and this meant I could send the source signal to my external meters. That made it easy to manage listening levels, and to compare two similar signals at the touch of a button. Alternatively, I could use it to send the signal to my headphone amp and still have all three outputs available for speakers.

The Izarai is about as good and as stylish as a simple passive monitor controller gets.

All in all, then, the Izarai is about as good and as stylish as a simple passive monitor controller gets. It may not be the least expensive option out there, but if that’s not a worry, I’d say this device is well worth contemplation. It is a high‑quality, elegantly designed product that should give you many years of good service.