Heritage Audio RAM 1000

The RAM 1000 combines hands‑on speaker control with Bluetooth streaming.

In these post mixing‑console days, I reckon we could all use a good monitor controller: hands‑on control of the levels in your studio, whether the computer is switched on or not, is a good thing, as is an obvious analogue mute button that you can hit in the event of horrible noises emanating from said computer! Billed as “the solution for mid‑sized studios”, Heritage Audio’s RAM 1000 is a desktop‑format passive monitor controller that can cater for two stereo analogue inputs, two stereo analogue outputs as well as something which is less commonly seen on devices such as this: a stereo Bluetooth input.

Layout & Construction

The RAM 1000 is rather chunkier in the flesh than it seems in context‑free online images, and it has both rubber feet and reassuring heft: even though the input and output cables trail from the rear (as they do with all such desktop designs) those cables certainly won’t be dragging the RAM around your desk. The folded‑steel case forms a box with a sloped top panel whose top and bottom edges curve pleasingly, with a nice finish and no sharp corners or jagged edges.

All the analogue I/O are on the rear panel, with both XLR and TRS jack options available.Around the back are two pairs of stereo analogue inputs, one on Zwee‑branded combi XLRs, the other on TRS jacks, and the latter has a switch for +4dBu or ‑10dBv operation. When nothing’s plugged into the right‑channel jack, the left‑channel jack doubles up as a mono input. Opposite are the two stereo output pairs, one on dual male XLRs (this one also has a Rec/Mon switch) and the other, sans switch, on TRS jacks. Between the inputs and outputs you’ll find a single quarter‑inch headphone output (might it have been better placed on the front panel?) and a grounding point....