TSL PAM1-3G8 Review

This unit from TSL has been in use by us for nearly a year.
Its small and sleek and certainly looks professional, as you would expect from TSL.
It sits at just 1U high, is not too deep and enables monitoring of 2x analogue, Embedded AES (16 channels) and Dolby E , however the Dolby E comes at a price due to it being an added option – I hate that, don’t you!
On the front there are 2 speakers, a volume control, a couple of buttons and 2 small LCD screens which show your bar graphs, menu options or a thumbnail picture. This is one of the units downsides. The screens are just too dam small! I almost needed a telescopic lens to read the graticule and it almost looks like the speakers are too big. TSL would do well to reduce the size of the speakers and increase the size of, or add more LCDs.
Having said this the sound quality produced by these large speakers is superb for such a small box. Great for small OB work or sitting in the back of a links van.
There are only 2 knobs on the front of the device and I like the fact that one is dedicated to volume. After all, this is the one you jump for when the drummer starts his sound check or Sandi Toksvig takes to the stage. It’s a shame there is no quick way to switch between monitoring the left or right legs only. Unfortunately you have to access a menu, scroll to the correct option and then press and hold the knob while twisting it to select the audio you need to monitor. It’s a bit like trying to access the hidden menu on a Sony minidisk player; once you’ve found it your laughing every time but the first time is a real sod!
The unit takes SD and HD video and will show a limited amount of metadata with regards to embedded audio. I won’t bore you with the details but it’s not fantastic. However this is towards the bottom of the TSL product line and if you are mainly working in analogue audio and just dabble with embedded AES/Dolby E then it’s better than a chocolate tea pot (not my words Carol, the words of Top Gear Magazine – ah how I miss you Partridge!).
On the back you get the normal arrangement of BNCs, XLRs etc etc but enough of that. If you are really bothered then check out the TSL website – I expect there will be a picture on there somewhere.
Overall I like the unit for occasional monitoring, perhaps in an apparatus room or in the back of a links truck. But do me a favour – don’t put it in your Master control room or Sound control room, it just isn’t up to scratch.
Chris Thornton