By Brady Betzel

If you’re tasked with buying a gift for the hard-to-please professional editor, colorist or creative in your life, you may have a hard time finding something they will love. In this year’s Top 5 Holiday Gift list, you will find some odds and ends to help elevate their creations and even bring them to the next level. Whether they need professional mix level headphones, color charts for accurate color or a high-functioning port expander, you’re sure to see something in this list that they will love.

KRK Systems KNS8402 Pro Studio Headphones 
Whether you are a video editor who loves to sound design or a mixer who needs the most discriminating sound isolation possible, KRK is widely known for its high-quality studio monitors. From the GoAux 4 portable nearfield monitors to the ROKIT 10-3 G4 10-inch tri-amp mid-field studio monitor, KRK delivers the impressive sound.

But sometimes you may just want to throw on a pair of headphones that will produce a consistent output much like KRK monitors. This is where the KNS8402 pro headphones come in. Not only are the KNS8402s light and comfortable enough to wear for hours on end, but they have amazing sound isolation produced from their closed-back circumaural (“around the ear”) design.

One of the most unanticipated (and greatly appreciated) features of the headphones is the up to 30dBA of isolation from outside sounds. This not only helps to limit any bleed when recording on a microphone nearby, but also helps to limit outside noise. That means if your 5-year-old is playing a crazy Roblox game at the top of the audio spectrum, the KNS8402 will help to eliminate that distraction, at least temporarily. This is a true story that happened during my testing! They really helped keep my focus on the editing at hand, while not being completely noise canceling. I could still hear my kids yell, asking for a snack.

When pushing the KNS8402s through a DAC, I could turn the gain all the way up without the audio falling apart. What was even crazier was when I was listening to songs on Spotify, when boosted I got the same SPL tickle in my ears like I had with some high-end subwoofers. This comes to us courtesy of the 124dB Max Peak SPL, 5Hz-23kHz response and 97dB SPL sensitivity. These headphones connect via ⅛-inch locking jacks and come with an in-cord volume control slider (which is removable), ¼-inch adapter, soft bag, antimicrobial cleaning cloth and user manual.

Any complaints, you ask? Sound quality-wise, no — definitely not. The wide dynamic range with little to no distortion set these studio quality headphones apart from gaming ones picked up at Best Buy. And while the ultra-light weight of them is nice (weighing in at .54lbs), I tend to like beefier headphones… something with some heft.

If you are like me, then the KNS8402 will take a little while to get used to. This personal preference has no bearing on the build quality. In fact, I may have dropped the KNS8402s a few times, including once when my French bulldog was carrying them around the house, and they still held up. If your dog chews the ear cushions, don’t worry (as long as it doesn’t hurt the dog), they are completely replaceable for $30.

You can pick up a pair of the KNS8402 headphones for $149 from the KRK website.

Sonnet Technologies Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock 
Every year, new connections and storage needs increase. From Thunderbolt 3 (or 4) to HDMI 2.1 to easily replaceable M.2 NVMe SSDs, there are a lot of I/Os to remember. One of the most trusted names in professional-level docks and PCI-e I/O cards is Sonnet. The Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock has more connections than I have seen in other Thunderbolt docks at a low retail price of $299.99. If you’re like me and you move between remote and in-person work, you may use multiple computers throughout the day. KVM switches are ok, but most don’t offer the connection variations that pros require.

The Echo 20 is not only compatible with Mac, Windows, Chromebook and iPad Pro, but contains a combo audio jack (i.e. mic and headphone on one cable), four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports; four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C charging ports; fast UHS-II SD card slot (SD 4.0); HDMI 2.1; Thunderbolt 4 computer/100W charging port; two Thunderbolt 4 peripheral ports; 2.5Gb Ethernet port; audio line-out jacks (a.k.a. RCA); ⅛-inch microphone jack; and an M.2 SSD slot on the bottom.

The ability to quickly and easily install an M.2 SSD in the Echo 20 was what initially grabbed my attention. When working on different projects, I find myself wanting to isolate projects using different SSDs. With the Echo 20, I can finish up a project, remove the M.2 SSD and install a different SSD without having to reboot my computer. What makes it even better is if I have to switch machines but still need access to the projects on the SSD installed in the Echo 20. It’s quick and easy.

Sonnet claims an approximate 750MB/s read range when using an SSD through the Echo 20, and (all pun intended) I echo that sentiment. I was able to achieve 759MB/s read speeds and about 355MB/s write speeds. Not the fastest, but for backups and quick handoffs it works great.

You may be at the point where new HDMI version numbers don’t mean anything, and because of inconsistencies and lack of information, I don’t blame you. However, HDMI 2.1 is one to pay attention to. The Echo 20 has an HDMI 2.1 port allowing for up to 4K resolution video at 240Hz as well as up to 48Gb/s speeds. Compare this to HDMI 2.0, which allows for 4K at 60Hz and up to 18Gb/s speeds, and you can see what the big deal is. You can even connect up to two 6K displays at 60Hz or one 8K display a 60Hz.

And for those of us who need their phones or tablets charging while working (with emails flying nonstop), there are plenty of device ports. All of this can connect and charge your laptop (100W) from one passive Thunderbolt 4 cable. If you want to leave the charging cable in the dock without worrying if it disconnects, Sonnet includes a ThunderLok 4, which includes a container clip to avoid the cable slipping out.

Monoprice Power Bank with Wireless Charging
While a power bank isn’t necessarily a production-type product, there is always something that needs charging. Whether you need to run a GoPro for multiple hours, wirelessly charge your phone or make sure the iPad runs all day to keep the kids busy, it is a necessity to have a reliable power bank at all times.

Monoprice’s 20,000mAh five-port + wireless power bank has run for months with no problems. From keeping a GoPro running over multiple baseball games to keeping ALL of the family’s phones charged, I could probably not get by without it.

If you have a new-ish phone, the 15W wireless charging works amazingly well, but if you need to charge through a cable, the power bank’s QC3.0 and PD3.0 fast charging standards work through USB-A up to 22.5W and USB-C up to 20W. Micro-b USB cables are also supported. On paper, Monoprice touts four to six full phone charges per one charge of the power bank, up to five devices simultaneously, and even includes a USB-A to USB-C charging cable.

The only downside is charging the actual power bank. Monoprice says it takes about six hours to fully charge the power bank. This was more-or-less verified in my real-world experience. The LCD screen on the Monoprice Power Bank is infinitely useful. From the percentage of power left to whether or not the power bank is charging using Fast charging technology, the Monoprice Power Bank 44371 is one of the easiest, cheapest and longest lasting wireless power banks I have used. And at $24.99, the Monoprice 20,000 mAh power bank is a must have holiday gift for anyone who uses technology.

Datacolor Spyder Checkr Video
Datacolor gets two spots on this year’s holiday list. First, is the Datacolor Spyder Checkr Video. Whether you’re a proud enthusiast who wants the most accurate color and contrast in your video creations or a professional who needs a quick way to get accurate color in your shots, Datacolor has what you need. A color reference chart is a great gift because it’s something that creators forget often to use.

The Datacolor Spyder Checkr Video is a pocket-sized Rec.709 color and exposure reference chart enclosed in a durable and lanyard-capable case. Whether you are shooting an interview and want to quickly dial in your color and exposure settings, or are color correcting footage shot with the Datacolor Spyder Checkr Video, you will be able to get a lot closer to the true color of the scene. The Spyder Checkr Video measures 3.84-inch-x-4.81-inch-x-0.53-inch and weighs .22lbs. It ships with five replaceable/interchangeable cards: patent-pending color pattern card (Rec.709), conventional color patch card (Rec.709), greyscale card (white, 50% grey and black), 22-step grey scale), solid/neutral grey (for white balance), and Focus Star.

Don’t worry if you aren’t a professional colorist, color charts are a standard used in film production. Nonlinear editors like Blackmagic Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro all work with color charts. Essentially, as long as you record one frame of a chart, you can view the Datacolor Spyder Checkr Video chart inside of your NLE, go into color correction mode while enabling your vectorscope, and align each color in the scope to the proper box. So red to red or magenta to magenta.

If you’re using Datacolor’s patent-pending color pattern card, you will see a circular pattern connecting the points in both the 100% saturation and 75% saturation zones. Once they are lined up on the vectorscope, your color hues will be generally accurate. For the greyscale card, you will see a ladder-style stepping on the waveform scope, aligning each step and the three large bars to the waveform will generally mean you are properly exposed.

The Datacolor Spyder Checkr Video costs $129.99 — and look for a more in-depth review coming soon.

Datacolor Spyder Cube 
Last, but not least, is one of the more interesting products I’ve seen in a while: the Spyder Cube. The Spyder Cube is small, around 1-inch square with a reflective ball on top — it would make a great Christmas tree ornament, actually. Joking aside, the Spyder Cube retails for $54 and produces the essential information for on-set exposure using a three-dimensional object allowing for primary and secondary light sources.

Chrome ball for catchlight and reflected images, white faces to adjust highlights, neutral grey for white balance, black sides to adjust shadow and mid-tone exposure with my favorite feature in the middle a black hole that acts as a light trap to set a true black point on an image.

The Spyder Cube is constructed of ABS Cycoloy (a hybrid resin) that is touted as fade-proof, shock proof, water resistant and spectrally neutral. While this is specifically advertised to be used with RAW image editing software, when combined with the Spyder Checkr Video color chart above will give the ultimate in exposure and hue accuracy in two small products.

Look for a more in-depth review to come soon.

Other Ideas
If you’re still stuck searching for a unique gift for the media creator in your life and live in the Southern California area, grab your car keys and head to FilmTools.com’s retail store in Burbank where I’m sure some bolo-ties or clamps will fit the bill.

Or try a screen printing and vinyl store like McLogan.com. This is where I go to grab my wife’s supplies for her business, but always end up looking at all the machines and even the tape aisle… it’s more interesting than it sounds. Really!