John Kurlander Fairlight EVO - Audio Media

AUDIO-FOR-VIDEO BROADCAST INTERNET AUDIO LIVE SOUND MULTIMEDIA POST PRODUCTION RECORDINGAUDIOMEDIATHE WORLD’S LEADING PROFESSIONAL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE Final Cut SpecialSystem PreviewA NEWBAY MEDIA PUBLICATION9 7 7 0 9 6 0 7 4 7 0 2 40 4WORLDWIDE EDITION

contentsI S S U E 2 3 3 A P R I L 2 0 1 0REGULARSWHAT’S UP UK 16KEVIN HILTON uncovers the reality behind theBBC's Technology Strategy.GEOFOCUS: SPAIN 18JIM EVANS finds a melodic blend of music inMadrid courtesy of Meyer, while SeeSoundoversees Spain for XTA.CUT SCENE 20Win passes to the Develop conference, BAFTAwinners celebrate, tax breaks on the horizon, andSPECIAL REPOR T:ROGER FURNESS & AES 22Is it all just a horrible rumour, or is there truth inthe tale that the AES is failing? PAUL MAC quizzesAES' Roger Furness to get the real story.FINAL CUT SPECIAL:JOHN KURLANDER 28Having recently mixed the award winning TheHurt Locker, John Kurlander opens up to JOHNBROOMHALL about a note-worthy career.VIDEO GUIDE 58KEVIN HILTON continues his exploration of the artof video post, with the telecine story.AMSRNEWSRECORDING 6It's a double installation for SSL's Duality, whileSPL hits a high five and Sound Devices goes subsurfaceto swim with dolphins.POST 8Pinewood Shepperton annual finances are hungout in public, Barcelona FIg Tree goes Fusion, andgrowing your own drugs is Wong –again.BROADCAST 10Axia keeps the smarts in the family with its iQrange, NETIA pairs up, while the France 2 networkgets an Eclipse.AMSR 12Soundcraft Vi1 and DiGiCo SD9 launch in Frankfurt,Blue Microphones Yeti and Encore, Outline Eidosspeaker range.PROLIGHT + SOUND REVIEW 13Missed it? Well, you needn’t miss out –AUDIO MEDIA rounds up the highlights of one ofthe year’s biggest shows.RUSHESVIOLET MICROPHONESBLACK KNIGHT 24The Black Knight proves to be a gallant hero in theAMSRCOVER STORIESAUDIOMEDIAAUDIO-FOR-VIDEO BROADCAST INTERNET AUDIO LIVE SOUND MULTIMEDIA POST PRODUCTION RECORDINGTHE WORLD’S LEADING PROFESSIONAL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE System Preview9 7 7 0 9 6 0 7 4 7 0 2 4WORLDWID EDITIONJOHN KURLANDER 28Having recently mixed the award winning TheHurt Locker, John Kurlander opens up to JOHNBROOMHALL about a note-worthy career.PRODUCT SAMPLER 52With so many mics to choose between,where to start? AUDIO MEDIA cites somenew possibilities...REVIEWSFAIRLIGHT EVO PREVIEW 32STEPHEN BENNETT gets a sneak preview ofFairlight’s EVOlution in consoles.0 4Final Cut Special 01-ww-04.2010-cover.indd 1 6/4/10 14:39:19ALLEN & HEATH ILIVE T72 34For its small size, ALISTAIR McGHEE finds A&H’slittle mixer packs quite a hefty punch.FOCUSRITE OCTOPRE MKII 42AMSRFEATURESDEAN STREET STUDIOS 38PAUL MAC visits what might be Soho's last bastionof rock and roll – Dean Street Studios, where tosurvive you need to be just a little bit quirky…WORLD PEAS 46It takes a lot of skill and talent to bring aboutWorld Peas, as CLIVE YOUNG finds out on the BlackEyed Peas’ two-year tour.value-for-money class, finds SIMON TILLBROOK.MITCHELL & TODD 301A 26PAUL MAC didn't think he'd been missing outon anything with his current monitors – until heheard sound through the 301As.SONY SOUNDFORGE PRO 10 27From Cool origins comes Sony’s editing andmastering software. RICHARD WENTK finds itretains many of its original unique features.SIMON TILLBROOK tests two preamps that justkeep on giving.RUPERT NEVE DESIGNSPORTICO PRE-AMPS 50The Portico range is practically perfection, saysALAN BRANCH of Rupert Neve’s pre-amp seriesas he struggles to find any faults.PRODUCT SAMPLER:MICROPHONES 52With so many options to choose between, whereto start? AUDIO MEDIA whittles down the list ofsome of the best mics out there.4AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

leaderRUSHES 24BLACK KNIGHTFEATURE 38DEAN STREET STUDIOSREVIEW 50RUPERT NEVE DESIGNS PORTICOAs ever, the Frankfurt show this year (a combination of Prolight +Sound and Musikmesse) was a truly international showcase fornew gear and new ideas. The long corridors and expansive hallsare notorious for wearing down all but the most resilient souls(and soles), but there is something invigorating about seeing most of the industry’swares in one place. The chance to talk four days away on a subject near to all of ourhearts (new stuff), seals the deal for most attendees.It’s true that the dire economy has put pay to the mass gear launches of Frankfurtspast, though I still had a number of memorable equipment encounters worth recountinghere. For a start, there’s the new Schoeps shotgun microphone – the SuperCMIT. I hada short but enlightening demo on this product, which uses an additional capsule andsome DSP to attenuate extra-polar activity, way past that which a traditional singlecapsule and interference tube can hope to achieve.Also, I sat in on a back-room preview of Steinberg’s up and coming Nuendo 5, whichhas some very welcome and post-friendly additions. Combined with the now-shipping(and Colin Broad-designed) SyncStation, the new version will put to rest any serious-prostatuscredibility doubts that might still be lingering around this mature native DAW.SE Electronics seems unfalteringly bent on world domination, backed up by theannouncement that Andy Munro is now onboard. The possibility of some monitorsthat have been jointly designed by Andy Munro, Rupert Neve, and Siwei Zou hittingthe shelves early in 2011 is an enticing one – if a little previous. Of course, most people’smonitor buying habits are a lot less whimsical and prolific than their microphonepurchasing schedule, but it is still a transducer (one of the only technologies left thatuniquely defines the audio industry) with several leading names behind it, and thus isguaranteed a long, hard stare from the pro audio community.There were plenty of other interesting discussions and new bits – too many to listhere, but ample for our show review on page 13. There were also a few reassuringlyfamiliar Frankfurt traditions being kept up, such as the lack of obvious name badges.The dances that some people perform, to try and work out who they’ve just stoppedto talk to, would, on an appropriately contemporary stage, net them a certificateof commendation. Also, the incredible show directory continues to chew up lesserdirectories that get in its way. It’s now so dense that the middle pages recently qualifiedas a singularity. And for those with the right badges, a press room that Carlsberg canonly dream of is a welcome feature.While several shows are now struggling with a lack of attendees and exhibitors,Frankfurt bounds ever-onwards.Paul Mac, EditorAUDIO MEDIA is a Sustaining Member of the Audio Engineering Society.AUDIO MEDIAwww.audiomedia.comAUDIO MEDIA (Europe), 1st Floor, 1 Cabot House,Compass Point Business Park, St Ives, Cambs, PE27 5JL.Telephone: +44 (0)1480 461555 – Facsimile: +44 (0)1480 461550General E-mail: mail@audiomedia.com – Press Release E-mail: pr@audiomedia.comManaging Director/CirculationAngela Browna.brown@audiomedia.comGroup Publisher EuropeRaffaela Calabreser.calabrese@broadcast.itEditor In ChiefPaul Macp.mac@audiomedia.comNews/AMSR EditorJo Fletcher-Crossjfcross@audiomedia.comProduction EditorLanna Marshalll.marshall@audiomedia.comDesign & Production ManagerJohn-Paul Shirreffsjp.shirreffs@audiomedia.comEuropean Sales ManagerGraham Kirkg.kirk@audiomedia.comRegional Sales ManagerBob Kennedybkennedy@imaspub.com+44 (0)1279 861264US Sales ManagerDave Carsondcarson@nbmedia.com+1 615 776 1359Subscriptionssubs@audiomedia.comUK £43European (airmail) £60International (airmail) £72Payable in Sterling through UK bankRUSHES26MITCHELL & TODD 301A MONITORSThe contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or in part, whether mechanical or electronic, isexpressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Great care is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication butneither IMAS Publishing (UK) Limited nor the Editor can be held responsible for its contents. The views expressed are those of the contributors and notnecessarily those of the Publishers or Editor. The Publishers accept no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or artwork.© 2010 IMAS Publishing (UK) Limited. All rights reserved.*Within Broadcast & ProductionAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 20105

ecording newsstreaming news @ www.audiomedia.comNEW USERToronto-based DJ and remixer,Deadmau5, otherwise known asJoel Zimmerman, has invested ina Prism Sound Orpheus FireWirerecording interface. He particularlylikes the driver support forx64 operating systems on bothWindows and Mac. “The fact thatit only took me two minutes tomigrate the same card from PCto Mac made me smile a bit,” saidZimmerman. To date he has mostlybeen using the Orpheus as anA/D converter in the studio, butplans to use it as a D/A for his newlive show.www.prismsound.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTMilab asreleasedthe DC-96C,a sideaddressedlargemembranemicrophone.Designedmainly forstudio work,but alsouseful formany liveapplications.Like previous DC-96 versions it iscardioid only, and can be used forstudio vocals, acoustic guitar andpiano, hi-hats, overheads,and guitar amps. The DC096C has alarge rectangular condensercapsule, 12dB attenuation pad, anda gold plated XLR-connector.Each microphone is measuredindependently and is shipped withan individual frequency chart.www.milabmic.comNEW USERDuality Across The GlobeInstallations of Solid State Logic Duality consoles have taken place in twostudios on the opposite sides of the world. London’s Dean St. Studios hasinstalled a 48-channel SSL Duality console in Studio 1. The famous space– formerly Tony Visconti’s Good Earth Studios – was acoustically designedby Eddie Veale, and has been the creative home of David Bowie andT.Rex. The Duality replaces a 24-channel SSL AWS 900+ SE, and has beenbrought in due to increased client demand for large format sessions.“Before Duality, we found that sometimes our clients would track with usand mix elsewhere,” said Jasmin Lee, co-owner of Dean St. Studios. “Eversince we installed Duality, our clients have been even more eager thanever to complete their projects with us.”Meanwhile in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Studios Gravodic recently upgradedStudio A with a 48-channel Duality console. The studio records someof Brazil’s top musical talent, specialising in Sertanejo, Samba, and popmusic.www.solid-state-logic.comNEW PRODUCTSFive From SPLSPL has launched five new products. The M/S Master offers fullyadjustable separation of L/R signals into middle and side signals, and afrequency filter for bass and room ambience control. It has stereo widthcontrol and inserts for external processors.The Transpressor is a transient designer and twin core compressor,with the ability to use both modules in any order. It combines levelindependentcompression and the treatment of transients, and so aimsto negate the limitations of each processor presented on its own.The transient designer shapes the waveform according to the transient.The compressor is based on the SPL's Twin Core Circuit, and includes allstandard parameters like threshold, ratio, attack, release, and make-upgain. The attack and release parameters can be adjusted automaticallyaccording to the input signal.Also announced was a new mounting frame, RackPack 4, with a powersupply for up to four modules. It comes with a lateral handle and afitting system for a 19-inch rack. A new RackPack module has also beenreleased, the Dual Band De-Esser. The sound neutral unit offers a phasecancellation technique, and an auto-threshold that keeps processingconstant. Finally, the DrumXchanger optimises or replaces drum soundsin a mix and replaces samples phase accurately.www.spl.infoPRODUCT UPDATESpectrasonicshas releasedfree updatesfor Omnisphereand Trillian.Omnispherev1.2 has full64-bit crossplatformsupportand comes with over 200new Omnisphere patches for over7,000 total sounds in the factorylibrary. New features include newsynthesiser filter algorithms and anew Sample File Server Function,giving the software the ability togo beyond 32-bit memory limits onMac OSX systems. Trillian v1.2 featuresmany of the same upgradesand now joins Omnisphere andStylus RMX as fully Mac- andWindows-native 64-bit plug-ins.www.spectrasonics.net. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW USERThe Oceanic Preservation Societyhas made The Cove, a documentaryhighlighting the suffering and killingof wild dolphins in Taiji, Japan.The crew used Sound Devicesrecorders to capture the soundsof the dolphins. The 772 and 744Tdigital audio recorders were setup in harsh conditions, includingunderwater and outdoors understeep cliffs.www.sounddevices.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTModern Beats has released PopAnthemz 1, a melodic construction-style loopset that provides 20multi-track popmusic themesincluding bothstraight andswing rhythmicphrasing. Thepack includes alarge variety ofradio ready top-40 contemporaryand classic pop music themes, withall loops mix-matching seamlesslytogether.www.modernbeats.com6AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

ecording newsstreaming news @ www.audiomedia.comNEW PRODUCTSonivox has released Eighty EightGrand Piano, a virtual embodimentof the Steinway CD 327 grand.Recorded withinthe same acousticconfines as theSonivox SymphonicCollection, EightyEight features over 11GB of instrumentcontent, with 35 piano andpad presets, and 52 solo pianopresets. It also offers 15 adjustablesplit point multi-instrumentcombination patches.www.sonivoxmi.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTNine Volt Audio has brought outMetal Guitar: Riffs and Rhythms,designed to bridge the gapbetween the flexibilityof a sampled instrumentand the inspirationof using loops. MetalGuitar offers 293 uniquepatterns recorded at 15chromatic intervals for a total of4,395 loops, meaning that there isno need to rely on pitch-shifting.www.ninevoltaudio.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTThe second instrument developedby Native Instruments in collaborationwith Abbey Road has beenreleased, with the introduction ofAbbey Road 70s Drums. A Premierand a Ludwig kit wererecorded in StudioTwo, using classicmicrophones from thestudio’s collection, theEMI TG mixing desk, ananalogue two-inch tape machine,and other authentic outboard gear.www.native-instruments.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PRODUCT UPGRADEMelodyne editor has now beenupgraded. Version 1.1 improves thesound quality, performance, andreliability of thesoftware, optimisesfunctions, andfixes a number ofbugs. Updates arealso available forMelodyne assistant and Melodyneessential RTAS. RAM requirementsare reduced, and improvementsmade to the processing ofmonophonic material.www.celemony.comNEW PRODUCTSTriple Threat From sEsE Electronics has made some excitingannouncements. World-leading acousticianAndy Munro will be joining the partnershipbetween sE and Rupert Neve, to head theR&D team for a series of new powered studiomonitors from sE."In my opinion the monitor market hasbecome overcrowded with products that aresimply branding exercises for the companies thatmake them," said Munro. "After 30 years of designing professionalmonitors I can reasonably claim to know what makes a speaker systemdeliver true sound quality." He admits that the primary objectives of lowdistortion and good dynamics make it a tricky design task, but commented:"It is only by taking a few risks that anything innovative can evolve."The monitors will be released in January 2011 and prices will start fromaround GB£400.The company also announced several new microphones. The Gemini5 uses the same capsule as the Gemini II, but only has one tube. This canbe switched out completely to a Solid State only mode, meaning that itcan be used either as a Tube condenser or a FET microphone. The G3500is also derived from the Gemini II, using the same capsule and chassis,but is a FET only version. The Voodoo VR1 and VR2 ribbon microphonesachieve full frequency response using a new mechanical device designedby sE CEO Siwei Zou, allowing the traditional ribbon capsule to developand capture frequencies from 20Hz to 20kHz. The VR2 is an active versionof the VR1. Another release is the sERN17 instrument microphone series,developed in partnership with Rupert Neve Designs, which is a pencilcondenser with a full-size, hand-wound transformer. A high-end tubemicrophone will be released shortly after.A final announcement was that Waves will be giving away a freeTune LT pitch correction plug with every sE microphone and Reflexionfilter product shipped during May, June, and July of 2010.www.seelectronics.comNEW PRODUCTSchoeps Shows Super ShotgunSchoeps has unveiled a new typeof digital shotgun microphone with increased directivity, based on theanalogue CMIT 5 model. TheSuperCMIT uses technologyfrom Illusonic. In additionto the capsule behind theinterference tube, it contains asecond, rear-facing microphonecapsule. Digital signal processingrecognises sound energy arrivingfrom various directions anddetermines whether that soundhas a discrete, persistent directionof arrival or not. It uses thisinformation to suppress diffusesound and to focus on discretesound. This increases the reach ofthe microphone, without colouring the sound. At high frequencies onlythe signal from the front-facing capsule is used, since the interferencetube already offers optimal effectiveness in that range. The SuperCMIThas three push buttons that control the filters and presets of themicrophone. The filters are identical to the CMIT 5, and there are twopreset settings available – moderate directivity increase, and directivityincrease.www.schoeps.deNEW COLLECTIONWaves Audio has unveiled theChris Lord-Alge Artist SignatureCollection, developed in collaborationwith the Grammy-winningmixing engineer. Lord-Alge hasbeen in the business for over 20years, with mixing credits includingU2, Bon Jovi, Pink, AlanisMorissette, Foo Fighters, andDave Matthews Band. Createdfrom his custom processingchains, the collection gives usersaccess to his sound, with six applicationspecific plug-ins includingdedicated tools for bass, drums,effects, vocals, guitars, andacoustic instruments.www.waves.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW RELEASESThere are two new releases fromToontrack Music. Beatstation isToontrack’s first foray into tonalsampling and gives the user acomplete workstation for creatingand editing any kind of instrument.Sound sets are designed bydragging and dropping Wav, REX,MP£, and Toontrack library soundson to the pads of the Beatstationfrom the Beatstation browser orthe user’s hard drive. Also new isSongwriters Drumpack, which is adrum MIDI collection with ballad,mid-tempo, half-time, up-tempo,and shuffle styles in full four toeight bar grooves.www.toontrack.comAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 7

post newsstreaming news @ www.audiomedia.comPinewood Shepperton plc hasposted its 2009 full year results,and they showthat the grouphas remainedresilient in theface of difficult times. The impactof the negotiations between theUS studios and the Screen ActorsGuild is reflected in slight downturnin revenue, with results of £40.3mcompared to £42.9m in 2008. Thecompany posted an operating profitbefore exceptional items of £7.7m.www.pinewoodgroup.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTFairlight has unveiled the EVOconsole, a fully self-contained audioproduction systemfor video, film andmusic. The mixingsurface offersin-line controlsand full-colourdisplays for every fader. It has a builtinmonitoring section capable ofproducing fully automated mixes inmultiple formats simultaneously..www.fairlightau.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTLexicon has introduced the LXPNative Reverb plug-in bundle, acollection of Lexicon's four mostpopular reverbs. Itincludes Chamber,Hall, Plate andRoom reverb plugins,with over 200 studio presets fromLexicon's library of sounds.www.lexicon.comNEW USEREuphonix hasannounced theinstallation of thefirst S5 Fusioninto Spain. FigTree Studios hasinstalled a 32-faderS5 Fusion in theirnewly openedpost-productionfacility in Barcelona.Named for theterm American film makers use when they are dubbing foreign versions of their filmsfor the European market (French-Italian-German-Spanish), Fig Tree specifically mixesfilms for the Spanish film industry. “There are two distinct markets in Spain: the first, andlargest, is the distribution market of mainly American films which need to be dubbedand mixed into Spanish. The other is the local production market for just mixing,"explained Andrew Galletly, owner of Fig Tree Studios. "I sensed that the local producerswould welcome a studio which cared for their productions and would not push themout of the room when Disney knocked at the door with their next mega 3D flick!”www.euphonix.comNEW USERLaboFilms in Mexico City has installed a new Meyer Sound system, based onCQ-1 loudspeakers, at LaboDigital. The 30-year-old facility can now provide a THXcertififedmixing stage for Mexico's burgeoning film industry. To date, ten full-lengthfilms have been made at LaboDigital,including Quinzaine des Realisateurs, whichshowed at the Cannes film festival; and theSpanish adaptations of Fantastic Mr Fox andTooth Fairy. The installed system includesthree Meyer Sound CQ-1 loudspeakers ina left-centre-right configuration behind acustom-made projection screen.Two X-800 subwoofers provide basspower, and the system is completed by a surround system of ten UPJ-1P VariOloudspeakers. “Meyer Sound products do not distort the audio signals, and thischaracteristic is crucial for high-quality audio mixing for films,” commented CarlosCortes, Manager of LaboFilms.www.meyersound.comGrow Your Own Drugs is back fora second series on BBC2, and hasonce again been post-producedat Prime Focus. The series, whichfeatures ethno-botanist James Wongunlocking the medicinal power ofplants, is produced by Silver RiverProductions. The six episodes covergarden herbs, incredible edibles,exotics, petals, trees and shrubs, andwild plants. The audio work was doneby Kevin Boyle for Prime Focus, whopreviously post-produced the firstseries and the Christmas special.www.primefocusworld.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ascent 142 has completed the audiopost on drama Blood and Oil, createdby writer Guy Hibbert and directedby David Attwood for Tiger Aspect.The drama, shown on BBC2, starsNaomie Harris and Jodhi May, andwas filmed in Africa and London. Theaudio team, Chris Roberts, WayneBrooks and Allan Sallabank, wereinvited to pre-production planningsessions, which enabled them toagree priorities on the location soundrecording and provided them withadvance warning of on-set issues tobe corrected in post-production.www.ascentmedia.co.uk

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oadcast newsstreaming news @ www.audiomedia.comPRODUCT UPGRADENETIA has paired its WorkflowEngine with its Radio-Assist 8 suiteof digital automation software.Designed to facilitate exchangesbetween all applications in abroadcast environment, the NETIAWorkflow Engine gives users oneGUI through which to automateprocesses in Radio-Assist 8 interfaceany third-party application. Radio-Assist 8 streamlines the preparationand publication of media, whilethe Workflow Engine is an opensystem that choreographs, visuallyrepresents, and then executesprocesses or workflow..www.netia.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW USERThe France 2 network has equippedits new HD OB van with Clear-Com’s Eclipse Median digital matrixintercom system, six IP-enabledV-Series 12-lever user panels, andoneV-Series24-leverpanel. TheClear-Comsystemswere firstused on the recent RBS Six NationsRugby Tournament. Some France2 operators at the Six Nations usedthe V-Series panels as a monitoringsystem for external sources.www.vitecgroup.comNEW PRODUCTAxia Has Clever iQAxia has released a new console engineered for either standalone studios ornetworked applications. The iQ system is a family of console frames with differentcapabilities. Users start with the eight-fader iQ Main Frame, then add frames withphone controls, programmable routing controls, or more faders as needed. Framesplug into the iQ Core, a fanless, convection-cooled console engine with audio I/O,console CPU, logic, mix engine, power supply, and Ethernet switch. Back-up powerwith auto-switching is also available. The modular frame design means that userscan increase their console’s size by up to 24 faders whenever they wish to by simplyconnecting another frame. Features include three dedicated stereo programmebusses, plus a stereo utility busthat can be used for phonecalls, off-air recording, or as afourth programme bus. Everyfader has automatic mix-minus,show profiles that instantlyrecall favourite settings, recordmode one-touch recording, andcomprehensive talkback.www.AxiaAudio.comFACILITY UPGRADEGerman television company Norddeutscher Rundfunk has replaced its Ü30 OBvan, which has handled the station’s classical radio broadcasts with a Lawo mc80for 13 years. The new Ü30 will be fittedwith a Lawo mc²66, as well as a Zirkon.“Norddeutscher Rundfunk’s new Ü30 isdesigned purely for use as a music OB vanand, as its predecessor, will be used almostexclusively for classical concerts,” said NDRHead of Production and Radio Broadcasting,Peter Dewald. The new van is the largestradio OB van in NDR’s outside broadcastfleet, and as well as the two Lawo consolesis equipped with nine DALLIS I/O systems,including four stage boxes, with an additional DALLIS frame assigned to the Zirkon.The mc²66 will be used as a production console, while the Zirkon serves as abroadcast console.www.lawo.deNEW PRODUCTAVT has unveiled its new MAGICSP2 5.1 to Stereo Downmix System,which provides an automaticdownmix of 5.1 surround signalsto stereo signals. A new downmixalgorithm, developed by the Institutefor Rundfunktechnik in Munich,Germany, is a key componentof the MAGIC SP2, as it avoidsdistracting effects, or compensatesthem effectively. The ITU-R BS.775downmix standard is also supported.www.avt-nbg.de. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW USERDPA’s Portuguese distributorAvantgarde has supplied a 5100mobile surround microphone andten 4017-R shotgun mics withRycote weather protection to Radioe Televisao Portugal, to be used atthe Dragon Stadium in Port on theUEFA Champions League Porto vsChelsea football match. The matchwas broadcast internationally in 5.1and HD, with the DPA 5100 providingthe basic 5.1 sound.www.dpamicrophones.com

ack from audio engineers worldwide, we would very much like to thank: Jens, Rudi,ias, Otto, Koen, Xiaopei, Giuseppe, Tómas, Anna, Bernhard, Engelbert, Carsten, Mick,, Zoltan, Matti, Ahmed, Dominik, Josef, Helmut, Reinhard, Kunitaka, Walter, Jochen,und, Gerhard, Maria, Pascal, Risto, Felix, Georges, Alfred, Bruno, Seok Beom, Yong-Soo,o, Doug, Oldrich, Remco, Hubert, Askan, David, Hans-Joachim, Kang Hoon, Fritz, Marc,Heinz, Pekka, Rolf, Sylvia, Franz, Gregor, Alexander, Claudia, Abdelaziz, Jerzy, Keith,anna, Nils, Steffen, Patrik, Erik, Taniguchi, Willi, Rudolf, Simon, Thomas, Bardo,t, Anthony, Dieter, Jean-Paul, Edgar, Igor, Bertold, Gottfried, Jan-Eike, Harald, Kazuyuki,in, Johannes, Björn, Craig, Anton, Frank, Gábor, Yong-Seok, Stefano, Ties-Christian,ch, Jacob, Christoph, Gaëtan, Flip, Hans-Reinhold, Eckhard, Albrecht, Bettina, Eddy,, Hideto, Wilfried, Petra, Zhang, Steve, Jean-Philippe, Stefan, Ralf, Michele, Susumu,a, Yvonne, Vinnie, Mats, Yutaka, Anders, Clemens, Eighsyn, Georg, Janusz, Karin,ld, Topaciuk, Daniel, Curt, Jan, Andreas, Dirk, Lars-Göran, Calvin, Joachim, Maximilian,, Sascha, Werner, Yinong, Laurent, Tsuyoshi, Kay, Jeroen, Mario, Robin, Max, Roman,Daisuke, André, Burkhard, Axel, Bob, Oliver, Takeo, Jürgen, Maciej, György, Hermann,er, Stephan, Wolfgang, Hans, Jörg, Alwin, Chen Chen, Gernot, Helge, Ben, Martin,ger, Per, Shinji, Winfried, Klaus, Christian, Markus, Volker, Erich, Kari, Friedemann,, Peter, Rolf-Rüdiger, Yuri, Olaf, Horst, Jose, Matthias, Dietmar, Hans-Herrmann,, Ole, Ulla, Ladislav, Ingbert, Tobias, Guido, Ian, Bernd, Michael, Udo, Johann, Ulrich,er, Seppo, Jay, Dennis, Barry, Fredrik, Kojiro, Paulo, Elke, Thierry, Manfred, Erinn, Gerd,-Jürgen, Tim, Raymond, Monika, Koos, Jorge, Reinhold, Norbert, Ryan, Manolo, Uwe,Tom, Herbert, Fred, Heike, Marcus, Richard,i, Philipp, Toon, Claudio, Karl, Friedrich,ou, Roger, Antonio, Gerald, Bruce, Miran,rt, Greg, Erwin, Günter, Ralph, Alessandro,ig, Huub, Tony, Manuel, Carlos, Eric, Olav,z, Francis, Sven, Istvan, Wilhelm, Benjamin.red by your needs – the mc² 66 MKII.www.lawo.deperience the mc² 66 MKII live at the NAB 2010s Vegas, April 12 – 15, Central Hall, Booth C2217

amsr newsstreaming news @ www.audiomedia.comNEW PRODUCTDPA has expanded its 4099 clipmic range, with the addition of the4099B and 4099C,with mountingaccessoriesdesignedspecifically forbass and cello respectively. Bothclips can be mounted on the outerstrings of the instrument, past thebridge, opening up new possibilitiesfor performers who are sharing thestage with a loud rock band.www.dpamicrophones.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Harry Connick Jr has begun touringwith a Midas PRO6. Productionmanager Ted Jonashas been working withConnick since 1995,when he started asthe artist’s monitorengineer. “I’m an oldschool analogue guy… We had nodesire to go digital until we got ourhands on the PRO6.”www.midasconsoles.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Audient’s Black Series is being usedon the German tour of Jesus ChristSuperstar. “The artists are a mixtureof classical andmusical singers,so the dynamicson the mix busare a challenge,”explained TechnicalMusical Director René Reinhardt.“When we tried the BB4 on themaster bus switching the bypass, wewere amazed.”www.audient.co.ukNEW PRODUCTSmaller SoundcraftSoundcraft has launched the Vi1, a smaller, lower-priced version of the Vi digitaldesk. It is a complete standalone console package with 32 channels of analogueinput to 27 analogue outputs, plus digital inputs, four Stereo FX returns, and sixdigital outputs in one chassis. Input to mix capacity is 46 channels, but by adding astagebox, simultaneous channel count increases to 64. Channels are routable to 24multi-function busses, plus LR and mono mix busses. Up to eight of the busses canbe configured as Matrix mixes, each with up to 16 sources. The surface, which is justover a metre wide, and includes 16 motorised channel faders with fixed anduser-definable layers, eight output/VCA faders, and twomaster faders. The console features a widescreenVistonics interface, which displays allparameters for 16 channels side byside on the screen.www.soundcraft.comNEW PRODUCTDiGiCo Brings Out SD9DiGiCo has brought out the SD9, a complete integrated system that includes themixing surface, a D-Rack digital stage interface and CAT5E digital multi-core, withthe additional ability to simultaneously record 56 channels direct to multi-tracksoftware or a DAW. The work surface features a large full-colour digital TFT LCDtouch-sensitive screen, 24 full-length motorised faders with touch-sensitive fadercaps, high resolution bar graph meters, quickaccess encoders and buttons, plus userdefinedRGB backlit LCD scribble strips.Featuring third generation StealthDigital Processing software, its SuperFGPA technology incorporates floatingpoint processing. The new D-Rack, whichis an integral part of the SD9 system andconnected to the work surface by a digitalCAT5E cable, has 32 microphone inputs, eightline outputs, and eight modular outputs thatcan be selected as either analogue or AES.www.digico.bizNEW PRODUCTBlue has launched its new seriesof live microphones. The enCORE100, 200, 300, and 100imodels are designed for anylive application from thesmallest space to a stadiumor auditorium. The enCORE100 is a studio-grade dynamicmicrophone featuring Blue’scustom-tuned dynamiccapsule. The enCORE 200 addsBlue’s Active Dynamic circuitryand output transformer. The enCORE300 is the flagship of the series andfeatures a hand-selected condensercapsule with a matched pre-ampand phantom power circuit.www.bluemic.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTSonodyne has released the EIDOSspeaker range. Currently there arefour models with plans for thereto eventually be seven, equippedrespectivelywith 10, 12, and15-inch speakers,and a subwooferwith twin15-inch speakers.The speakersare aimed atpermanentinstallations, butlines of all the cabinets enable themto also be used as stage monitors.The wide-range models are two-wayunits fitted with a passive crossovermanufactured with coils with verylow resistance and metallisedpolypropylene capacitors.www.outline.itCurious? Please visit our website www.riedel.netNEW!SOUNDCRAFTSTUDER GOESROCKNETROCKNET PERFORMANCE AUDIO NETWORKSThe Solution for World Class Events.12AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

Prolight+Sound 2010 Show ReportDespite general economic anxiety, this year's ProLight+Sound and Musikmesse shows in Frankfurt were as busy asever, with enough product launches to keep everyone happy. We bring you a highlights from the show floor...ADAMlaunched itsAX Series ofmonitors,a newversion ofthe A Seriesmonitors. TheART tweeteris replacedby the X-ARTtweeter,whichfeaturesa higherefficiencyandmaximumsound pressure level as well as a frequencyresponse up to 50kHz. All woofers andamplifiers have been re-engineered fromscratch.www.adam-audio.comAllen & Heath introduced the iDR-16 3UMixRack and iLive-R72 rack-mountablecontrol surface, which connect using Allen &Heath’s proprietary Audio Control Ethernetlink. They also announced a collaborationwith Audinate, to introduce Dantenetworking modules for the iLive digitalmixing series.www.allen-heath.co.ukAKG unveiled its digitalautomatic microphonemixer, the DMM 4/2/4,a studio version of theDMM 4/2/2; as well as itsPerception Live series ofmicrophones. The P2, P4and P3S are all cardioiddynamic instrumentmicrophones. The P5 is asuper-cardioid microphonefor solo vocals.www.akg.comAudient launched the ASP2802, an eightchannelconsole combining analoguefeatures with extensive DAW integrationand control. The console uses Audient’s DualLayer Technology, and fully intergrates withthe computer system, enabling the user toswitch between the analogue layer and theDAW layer.www.audient.comAviom introduced its Pro64 NetworkManager PC application, aimed at userswho desire centralised control and statusmonitoring. The device gives remote controlof every Pro64 device in a network.www.aviom.comBeyerdynamic expanded the range ofmicrophone units for the MCS-Digital wiredconferencing system with the introductionof integrated units featuring Revolutotechnology, which removes the need forgooseneck microphones.www.beyerdynamic.deBlue Microphones showed the enCOREseries of studio-grade handheld livemicrophones, including the 100i instrumentmicrophone. Also on the stand was the YetiUSB THX-certified condenser microphoneand the second generation Mikey portablerecorder for iPod and iPhone.www.bluemic.comFrom BSS Audio there was the SoundwebLondon BLE-100, a digital signal processorwith a fixed configuration of 12 inputs andeight outputs, configurable signal processing,logic processing and a fault tolerant digitalaudio bus.www.bssaudio.comCadac launched the SAM2 control system,an updated version of its Show AutomationManager. It also showcased the finalproduction LIVE1 budget console, andthe ME2, a dual channel mic pre-amplifiermixer and EQ with analogue and digital I/O.www.cadac-sound.comD&M exhibited the DN-F300, a 1U/HErackmount media player for the playbackof MP3 and uncompressed .WAV musiclibraries stored on SD and SDHC flashcards,portable USB flash drives and self poweredHDDs. Also on the stand was the DN-F400, acompact half-rack size SD and SDHC flashcardplayer.www.d-mpro.comDangerous Music introduced the DangerousBax EQ, a mastering and mix bus shelvingEQ inspired by the classic Baxandall shelvingcurves of the 60s and 70s.www.dangerousmusic.comdbx introduced the Media Engine for SCDigital Matrix Processors, which comprisesa DSP card and 1 GB of flash storage. Thisallows storage of media files on the SC deviceitself for subsequent routing and playback.www.dbxpro.comDPA expanded its 4099 clip microphonerange with the 4099B and 4099C, withmounting accessories designed for bass andcello respectively.www.dpamicrophones.comDuran Audio launched the AXYS range ofBeam Shaping Subwoofers. The speakers areself-powered and come complete with builtinDSP, which provides the ability to processeach driver in a bass array individually andhave the maximum possible control over thebehaviour of the bass array.www.duran-audio.comDynaudio launched the BM 5A MKII, are-engineered version of the BM 5A. Thewoofer offers longer excursions so stayslinear for longer, resulting in a cleaner, tighterbass response. At the top end there is a highresolutionsoft dome tweeter.www.dynaudio.comFocal launchedthe CMS40, anultra-compactstudio monitorthat is suitablefor broadcast andpost-production.Equipped withan aluminiumand magnesiuminverted dometweeter, theCMS40 alsointegrates a 4-inchFocal woofer.www.focalprofessional.comAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 13

Focusrite announced the ISA One Digital, aversion of the ISA One mic preamp/DI thatships as standard with on-board analogue-todigitalconversion.www.focusrite.comJBL released its Constant BeamwidthTechnology (CBT) Calculator 1.00 software;and Line Array Calculater II software forVERTEC, a stand-alone application for usewith JBL line array systems. It also showedthe DPDA input module with BSS OmnidriveHD signal processing onboard, for use withall JBL DrivePack-equipped powered speakersystems.www.jbl.comOver at L-Acoustics there was the newKARA modular line source system, with adesign inspired by the K1 stadium system.Introduced at the same timewas the complementary SB18subwoofer for reinforcedLF contour applications.L-Acoustics also launched theLA-AES3 AES EBU input cardfor full digital signal chain.www.l-acoustics.comLexicon launched the OmegaStudio Desktop Recordingbundle, the LXP native reverbplug-in bundle and thePCM92 stereo reverb/effectsprocessor. The PCM92 deliversnew capabilities to traditionalreverbs by adding multimodefilters in the audio flow.www.lexicon.comMic W showcased the HN151 handheldcardioid microphone with pressure gradientcapsule; the BN 151 desktop cardioidmicrophone for use in applications wherevery clear vocal pickup is required; theE436 miniature omni-directional condenserclip-on; and the BE426 boundary layermicrophone.www.mic-w.comNeutrik released XIRIUM, the first productbased on DIWA (Digital Wireless Audio)technology, which will deal with therestrictions of available radio frequenciesfor audio-data transmissions. Itcombines digital receiving andsending lines in one system. Theyalso showed the opticalCON systemand power monitor.www.neutrik.co.ukOutline unveiled its EIDOS seriesof speakers. Aimed at permanentinstallations, they can also be usedas stage monitors. They also showedthe Mini-COM.P.A.S.S, which nowincorporates i-Mode technologymaking it controllable via Webapplications; and the LAB 21 HS SP,the self-powered version of the LAB21 infra-sub.www.outline.itPresonus showed the 24.4.2 digital mixer.Designed for both studio recording and livesound, the mixer provides 24 input channelsand serves as a dual-port FireWire audiointerface.www.presonus.comQSC unveiled the KW Series of loudspeakers,a smaller and lighter version of the K Serieswood enclosure speakers. There are fourmodels, each with a 1000 watt class D powermodule, and a high-output 1.75-inch HFdevice.www.qscaudio.comTHE headphone companyHeadphonesby Ultrasonestand for well-definedexclusiveness andprofessionalismTake a closer lookThe options are yours to explorewww.ultrasone.com14AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

Quested revealed its SBC800 low frequencymanagement system, which improves thelow frequency response of any music or filmreference monitoring system. Control ofgain and phase on LCR and LFE sections isadjustable independently and there are twobands of equalisation.www.quested.comRiedel announced a technology partnershipwith DiGiCo, and also revealed the newRockNet RN.335.DI digital input interface,which provides eight digital inputs via AES.Also unveiled was the RockNet 100 RN.102.IO module which offers 16 line outputs andeight microphone/line inuts; and the RockNetRN.343.VI expansion card for SoundcraftStuder digital mixing consoles.www.riedel.netSchoeps showcased the SuperCMIT digitalshotgun microphone, which has twotransducers and uses digital signal processingalgorithms from Illusonic. Based on theanalogue CMIT 5, the microphone has greatlyincreased directivity.www.schoeps.deTascam had several new products to show,with the DR-680 eight-channel portablerecorder; the US-800 mobile eight-channelUSB 2.0 audio interface; the HS-2 and HS-8high resolution solid state recorders; theMH-8 eight-channel headphones amp; andthe LM-8ST rackmount line mixer.www.tascam.comTC Electronic showedthe BG500 bass amp,which shares manyfeatures with theRH450, including theTubeTone effect andSpectraComp ‘perstring’ multi-bandcompression.www.tcelectronic.comTomo Audiolabs brought the LISA dynamicmastering equaliser, with integrateddynamics section.www.tomo-audiolabs.comTurbosound introduced the Milan MI4digitally self-powered 15-inch two-wayloudspeaker and matching Mmilan MI818-inch 1kW digitally powered subwooder.They also launched the multi-purposeCompact loudspeaker range, and the fourchannelClass D RACK-DP50 with USB ornetwork-controlled DSP processing platform.www.turbosound.comUMAN presented the UNOS platformindependentnetwork operating system.Devices obtain a streaming interface and agraphic user interface. The UNOS core usesan open standard as a high level protocoland supports many current as well as futurenetwork standards.www.umannet.comsE announced a collaboration with AndyMunro which will result in a series of poweredstudio monitors. They also had severalmicrophone announcements, with theintroduction of the Gemini 5, G3500 and theVoodoo VR1 and VR2 ribbon microphones, inaddition to the limited edition Gemini III andthe sERN17 instrument microphone series.www.seelectronics.comSSL announced the release of SoundscapeV6, a high performance DAW for missioncritical applications such as live recording,broadcast and restoration. They alsoshowcased X-Patch, the new softwarecontrolled analogue patch system.www.solid-state-logic.comSonodyne showed the SM200Ak two-wayactive mid-field monitor.They also showed theSLF210 remote controlledpowered subwoofer; theSMac50, a varient of theSM50Ak aimed at thoselooking for a near-fieldmonitoring solution for theMacBook Pro; and the BMC205 DSP Bass managementunit.www.sonodyne.comAt Soundcraft there was the V3.0 softwarefor its Si Series consoles, offering increasedDSP channels, 1/O patching and improvedlayering of the control surface faders. Theyalso released the Vi1 console, a smaller,more affordable model joining the Vi digitalconsole series.www.soundcraft.comEXCELLENCEIN THE FIELDRobust, high specification, professionally engineered portablemixers specifically designed for location film & TV production,FM-4: 4 Channel Mixer with EQFM-4 : FM-3Portable Location Mixerselectronic field production and ENG applications.FM-3: 3 Channel Mixer3-2-35 Musashino, Akishima, Tokyo, Japan 196-0021 Email: info_sales@fostex.jp www.fostex.jpAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 15

what’s upUKwhatsupuk@audiomedia.comTechnology Goodbye, Under Abbey Review Road?When it was announced Abbey Road Studios was up for sale, petitions were quickly raised against it.KEVIN HILTONKEVINdiscoversHILTON ponderswhat thetheTechnologyrole the studiosStrategyhaveat theplayedBBCinactuallyour musicalmeansandforculturalthe broadcaster.heritage.The Beatles are held in great affection by mostBritish Brits, and newspapers there was a love wailing a good and juicy a gnashing storyof involving teeth when the the BBC. news If it’s broke about that editorial AbbeyRoad failings, Studios, overspending, where the Fab perceived Four recorded bias, or most theof inflated their records, salaries of had presenters been put and up executives, for sale by its allowner, the better. EMI. Reports Except on it proposed wasn’t. It restructuring almost had been, of thebut organisation not at the and time services, BBC Radio and how 2 presenter the Licence Chris FeeEvans is spent, led come a campaign in a close to second.save the studios for thenation So the and press Andrew was Lloyd in paroxysms Webber showed ofinterestin joy buying and fury it. in equal measure whenthe The BBC story Trust, that the the broadcastersonly recording studio mostpeople governing have body, heard of published was to be asold broke in theFinancial strategy review Times at on the February beginning15, 2010. The paperis of respected March. In this and Director-Generalusually well informed, but muchof Mark the Thompson piece headlined has set out “EMI’s a longlong and windingroad list of leads proposals to Abbey and analysis Road sale forsign” read like apress the future release. of the BBC.Soon Thethe media,news was all over the media.Chris h o w Evans e v picked e r ,up the story the following dayon focused his breakfast on threeshow and ran with it, devoting,with controversiala few exceptions, his Friday programme tosuggestions; toclose the digitalradio stationsrecordings made at the studios.6Music The immediate and the fear Asian was Network, that the building at 3Abbey and reduce Road, by NW8, half would the BBC’s be turned web into luxuryapartments presence. This or offices. resulted That in acres was understandable;ofthese newsprint, days with the either actual commentatorsbricks and mortar of aproperty, saying this or often was just “a the good land thing” on which it stands,are because worth no more one than listened what to goes digital on within it.radio But anyway; this overlooks or presenters the fact from that thethere are fewstudios channels left concerned in the UK and big musicians enough for orchestralrecording arguing sessions. how it Despite would be the “a rise bad of the projectstudio thing” and laptop because technology, there would mainstreamartists and be no producers outlet for still new want music strings or and brasson recordings, specific making platform for for an a large ongoing demandoutside community. the needs of The classical public labels.ralliedThrough round, all with of this the EMI inevitable maintained a noncommittalFacebook stance. campaign A statement swinging finally came onSunday, February into 21: action. “In response to recent pressspeculation EMI confirms The it is frenzy holding preliminarydiscussions for the revitalisation surrounding of Abbey Roadwith interested and appropriate this review third parties.”The future of Abbey was Road stoked Studios was furtherby cemented leaks to on Monday,February the press 22, the when EnglishHeritage week before awarded thebuilding Grade II Listedstatus. This is usuallygranted to preserve aproperty of architecturalimportance, but in thiscase Abbey Road has beenlisted for its “outstandingcultural interest and toensure that recordingartists for generationsto come can continue tomake and record music inthe same rooms as musicalicons of years gone by”.That seemed to be it.But examining thechronology of eventsand other activity justbefore and during thismedia roller coasterraises more questions.Cynical observers ofthe music business areconvinced that AbbeyRoad Studios had been onthe market unofficially foryears; all that was neededwas the right offer.Like other big recordcompanies EMI hasbeen struggling sincethe late 1990s, hit hardby the downloadingrevolution and the rise oflean independent labelsand artists going out on their own.EMI was thrown publication. a lifeline By in contrast 2007 when anothermajor investor BBC policy Terra document Firma.itwas bought by equityIn its statement EMI was says introduced the new owner with almost “madethe preservation of no Abbey publicity. Road Reaction a priority”, to even thethough the studios Technology had been losing Strategy money seems for toseveral years. In the have middle been of 2009, limited EMI to received postingsan offer of over GB£30 on million the BBC to website, buy Abbey strange Road.This was rejected because EMI the believed main business it should ofcontinue to own the broadcasting studios. – getting programmesAbbey Road to the branded audience online – isIn July last year anmastering service was now launched, more linked giving to artists new technologiesthan to be ever mastered before. bythechance for their recordingsthe studios’ engineers. Abbey Road’s operationshave expanded over A the Central years beyond Position recordingand mastering; an interactiveThe Technologydivision wasStrategylaunchedfor DVD authoring andacknowledgesthe studiosthis:have“Technologybeen usedfor the Channel 4 TVisseriescentralLivetofrommuchAbbeyof whatRoad.theThere is also Abbey RoadBBC doesLive,anda locationthis is becomingrecordingand distribution service.increasingly so right across theThe same day thatBBC...AbbeyThe moveRoadtowardswasdigitallistedby English Heritage,contentEMIandannouncedfile-basedamediarangeisof branded merchandisingleading tobasedsignificantarounddemandthestudios, making them even more of a commodity.This includes t-shirts, laptop cases, and notebooksbearing the Abbey Road name, slogans such as‘Eight Track Mind’ and images of the TG12345 MkIIrecording console.The most puzzling thing in all this is that ListedStatus was applied for in 2002 by an unnamedparty. Roger Bowdler, Head of Designation atEnglish Heritage, admitted in an interview onRadio 4’s PM programme on Tuesday, February 23,that talk of the studios being sold “concentratedsome minds” and resulted in the pending listingbeing confirmed.A spokeswoman for English Heritage toldme that Listed Status provided “an extra layer ofprotection”. She added that while this doesn’tprohibit a change of use for the building therewould be a “lot more scrutiny” of an application.“But it would probably be difficult to find anotheruse for it,” she said.Abbey Road’s importance in the history ofrecording is unquestionable. Even without TheBeatles it would be a shrine because Sir EdwardElgar and the London Symphony Orchestrarecorded Land of Hope and Glory in its Studio 1,and Pink Floyd created Dark Side of the Moon inStudios 2 and 3.But Led Zeppelin’s groundbreaking first albumwas laid down at Olympic Studios, EMI’s otherstudio asset. I didn’t hear Chris Evans shout whenit was closed in February 2009.Some good has come out of this saga –the future of an important artistic resource in theUK has been secured – but some suspect thata lot of very murky things have gone on at thesame time. …1416AUDIO MEDIA MARCH 2010AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

Brits, and there was a wailing and a gnashingof teeth when the news broke that Abbeyrecording sessions. Despite the rise of the projectstudio and laptop technology, mainstreamin buying it.The story that the only recording studio mostartists and producers still want strings and brasson recordings, making for an ongoing demandpeople have heard of was to be sold broke in theFinancial Times on February 15, 2010. The paperis respected and usually well informed, but muchof the piece headlined “EMI’s long and windingcommittal stance. A statement finally came onSunday, February 21: “In response to recent pressroad leads to Abbey Road sale sign” read like apress release.speculation EMI confirms it is holding preliminarydiscussions for the revitalisation of Abbey Roadand distribution service.The same day that Abbey Road was listedwith interested and appropriate third parties.”The future of Abbey Road Studios was furtheron his breakfast show and ran with it, devoting,with a few exceptions, his Friday programme tocemented on Monday,February 22, when EnglishHer itage awarded thebuilding Grade II Listeds t at u s. Th i s i s u s u a l l ygranted to preser ve aproperty of architecturalimportance, but in thiscase Abbey Road has beenlisted for its “outstandingEnglish Heritage, admitted in an interview onRadio 4’s PM programme on Tuesday, February 23,cultural interest and toensure that recordingar tists for generationsto come can continue tothe same rooms as musicalicons of years gone by”.That seemed to be it.B u t e x a m i n i n g t h ec h r o n o l o g y o f e v e n t sand other activity just“But it would probably be difficult to find anotheruse for it,” she said.before and during thism e d i a r o l l e r c o a s t e rraises more questions.C y n i c a l o b s e r v e r s o fthe late 1990s, hit hardb y t h e d o w n l o a d i n gon the BBC’s IP-based networks.” The conclusionis that broadcasting is no longer just aboutterrestrial transmission and traditional engineeringprinciples, but a whole world of new media formsof distribution and reception, in which the BBC iscompeting with the likes of Google, Microsoft, andFacebook.Tech ChiefThis is reflected in the background of the BBC’sChief Technology Officer. John Linwood joined theCorporation in April 2009 from Yahoo, where hehad been Senior Vice President of InternationalEngineering. Prior to that he had worked atMicrosoft, Omega Software, and The DodgeGroup. “What the BBC is doing today is not aboutanalogue broadcasting,” he says. “There is a move toIP operation and into the software world, which ismy background and why I was appointed.”There are two primary elements to theTechnology Strategy: business requirements and aseries of common principles for how work is done inall technology areas. The former cover collaborationand sharing technologies within and outside theBBC, having core business systems and services,securing data management, promoting R&D, andemploying flexible, adaptable ways of operation.One Of ManyCentral to this is the BBC’s move to tapelessproduction but Linwood says the TechnologyStrategy is about more than that. “It’s one ofmany elements,” he explains. “There are contentacquisition, delivery, and IT networks to consideras well. The key message is that technology is anincreasing part of what the BBC does and so weneed to help senior management understand howwe use technology and how that supports ouroverall business.”Goodbye, Abbey Road?EMI was thrown a lifeline in 2007 when itown. their on out going artists andIn its statement EMI says the new owner “madeFirma.Terra investor equity by bought wasthough the studios had been losing money forevenpriority”, a Road Abbey of preservation thean offer of over GB£30 million to buy Abbey Road.receivedEMI 2009, of middle the In years. severalcontinue to own the studios.it shouldbelieved EMI because rejected was Thismastering service was launched, giving artists theonlinebranded Road Abbey an year last July Inthe studios’ engineers. Abbey Road’s operationsbymastered be to recordings their for chanceand mastering; an interactive division was launchedrecordingbeyond years the over expanded havefor the Channel 4 TV series Live from Abbey Road.usedbeen have studios the and authoring DVD forThere is also Abbey Road Live, a location recordingof branded merchandising based around therange a announced EMI Heritage, English byThis includes t-shirts, laptop cases, and notebookscommodity.a of more even them making studios,‘Eight Track Mind’ and images of the TG12345 MkIIas such slogans name, Road Abbey the bearingThe most puzzling thing in all this is that Listedconsole.recordingparty. Roger Bowdler, Head of Designation atunnamedan by 2002 in for applied was StatusLinwood comments. “And we can apply these tousing streams over IP and codecs and how we aremoving from dedicated hardware to software.”A Helping HandLinwood observes that how audio is treated is alsohelped by the older techniques. “There are basicslike not getting background noise from lighting ona recording,” he explains. In general, he says, thereis a move towards embedded audio, with discretechannels for surround sound being looked intonow. “5.1 will be the norm for some things,” he adds,“like music and sport but perhaps not for news. It’sall about adding value where appropriate.”In the strategy review Mark Thompsonrecommended that the BBC should do “fewerthings better”, rather than trying to do everything.HYDRA2, FROM CALREC.INTELLIGENTLY NETWORKED.SOPHISTICATED1-TO-N ROUTINGCONTROLLABLETRANSPARENTPLUG AND PLAYSUPPORTS GPIOKEVIN HILTON ponders the role the studios have played in our musical and cultural heritage.it. against raised quickly were petitions sale, for up was Studios Road Abbey announced was it WhenThe immediate fear was that the building at 3studios.the at made recordingsapartments or offices. That was understandable;luxuryinto turned be would NW8, Road, Abbeyproperty, or often just the land on which it stands,a of mortar and bricks actual the days theseBut this overlooks the fact that there are fewit. within on goes what than more worth arestudios left in the UK big enough for orchestralThrough all of this EMI maintained a non-labels.classical of needs the outside“Our review was done with the full knowledge ofthe whole BBC and is fully in line with the overallthinking,” says Linwood. “The amount of technologyused within the BBC is increasing. Mark talks about90p in the pound for content production anddelivery, and large amounts of those are technologybased.What is being spent on technology isincreasing and there is certainly no talk of cuttingthat.”The Future…The Technology Review has been officially endorsedby the BBC Trust and was published in full duringJanuary. How many of the BBC’s services will be leftto be carried by all the technologies available to itafter the strategy review is finally approved remainsto be seen. TRANSPARENT1-TO-N ROUTINGSUPPORTS GPIOTRANSPARENTSOPHISTICATEDINTELLIGENTFIBER OR COPPERSERIAL DATAFIBER OR COPPERSERIAL DATAPLUG AND PLAYPutting Sound in the PicturePLUG AND PLAYCONTROLLABLE1-TO-N ROUTINGSOPHISTICATEDSUPPORTS GPIOhe Beatles are held in great affection by mostRoad Studios, where the Fab Four recorded mostTowner, EMI. Except it wasn’t. It almost had been,its by sale for up put been had records, their ofEvans led a campaign to save the studios for theChrispresenter 2 Radio BBC time the at not butnation and Andrew Lloyd Webber showed interestChris Evans picked up the story the following daymedia.the over all was news the Soonsome minds” and resulted in the pending listing“concentratedsold being studios the of talk thatA spokeswoman for English Heritage toldconfirmed.beingprotection”. She added that while this doesn’tof layer extra “an provided Status Listed that mewould be a “lot more scrutiny” of an application.therebuilding the for use of change a prohibitSOPHISTICATEDSUPPORTS GPIO1-TO-N ROUTINGCONTROLLABLEFIBER OR COPPERTRANSPARENTmake and record music inSERIAL DATAPLUG AND PLAYSOPHISTICATED1-TO-N ROUTINGREDUNDANTSUPPORTS GPIOTRANSPARENTSOPHISTICATEDSERIAL DATASUPPORTS GPIOSERIAL DATA1-TO-N ROUTINGTRANSPARENTCONTROLLABLEPLUG AND PLAYSOPHISTICATEDFIBER OR COPPERLinwood says the BBC uses a “vast amount oftechnology” and needs a “holistic view” of it. Overthe past 10 to 15 years the BBC has moved fromits famous historical position of using equipmentdesigned in-house by talented but sometimeseccentric engineers. There is more off-the-shelf gearin use today, a lot of which is developed or suppliedby third party partners, including Siemens, whichstill has five years of its contract with the BBC leftto run.If the BBC needs something that is notcommercially available, then, Linwood says,the BBC R&D department will design it. Despitethe move towards a more IT way of working, goodold broadcast engineering skills have not beendiscarded. “Certain engineering principles still apply,”recording is unquestionable. Even without Theofhistory the in importance Road’s AbbeyElgar and the London Symphony OrchestraSir Edwardbecause shrine a be would it Beatlesand Pink Floyd created Dark Side of the Moon in1, Studio its in Glory and Hope of Land recordedBut Led Zeppelin’s groundbreaking first album3. and 2 Studiosstudio asset. I didn’t hear Chris Evans shout whenotherEMI’s Studios, Olympic at down laid wasSome good has come out of this saga –2009.February in closed was itUK has been secured – but some suspect thatthe in resource artistic important an of future thesame time. murky things have gone on at thevery of lot aHydra2 forms the routing backbone for both the Apollo and Artemis consoles.These desks are just one type of client capable interfacing with Hydra2, whichprovides an enormous 8192² synchronous router at its core. A range of I/O boxescan be connected via high density 512 bi-directional copper or fiber connections,while mini-GBIC connectors keeps connections simple and installation easy.Highly scalable, Hydra2’s router is a TDM-type router, capable of ‘one-to-many’routing and truly point-to-point. This allows for enormous networks with highly flexibletopologies involving multiple routers, inputs/outputs, control rooms and studios. Andwith adaptive, intelligent software which automatically recognizes changes to thenetwork and updates all its clients, it’s also a very social network.Hydra2. Minimizing installation overheads and maximizing audio routing flexibility.2calrec.comconvinced that Abbeyarebusiness music theRoad Studios had been onthe market unofficially foryears; all that was neededLike other big recordoffer.right the wasc o m p a n i e s E M I h a sbeen struggling sincerevolution and the rise oflean independent labels1-TO-N ROUTINGINTELLIGENTFIBER OR COPPERAudioMedia_HYDRA_173x122.indd 1 31/03/2010 10:14AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 17A U D I O M E D I A M A R C H 2 0 1 014

MEDIA MATTERSBroadcasting in Spain haswitnessed a spectacular expansionin recent years with the emergenceof new commercial operators andthe launch of digital services.The cable and satellite TV marketsare growing steadily and a freeto-airdigital terrestrial TV (DTT)service was re-launched in late2005. Spain aims to switch off theanalogue TV signal by the end ofthis year.Home-produced dramas,reality shows, and long-running‘telenovelas’ are staple fare onprimetime TV.Public radio and TV are run byRadioTelevision Espanola (RTVE),which is funded by advertisingand state subsidies. As well aspublic and commercial nationalTV networks, there are 13 regionalstations backed by regionalgovernments and many localstations.Multi-channel TV is offered bythe satellite platform Digital Plus.In spite of the proliferation ofprint and broadcast media, andtheir diverse political stances,concerns have been raisedabout political influence in themedia, and particularly in publicbroadcasting.VITAL STATISTICSFULL NAMECAPITALKingdom of SpainCanberraMAJOR LANGUAGES Spanish (Castilian),Catalan and itsvariant Valencian,Gallego (Galician),Euskera (Basque)MONETARY UNIT 1 euro = 100 centMAIN EXPORTS Transportequipment,agriculturalproductsGNI PER CAPITA US $31,960(World Bank,2008)INTERNET DOMAIN .es(.cat for Catalonia)INTERNATIONAL +34DIALLING CODEMeyer M’elodie Blends intoMadrid TheatreMadrid’s Teatros del Canal now features Meyer Sound’s self-powered M1D and M’elodie line arrayloudspeaker systemsThe Teatros del Canal,a new multi-purposeperforming arts complexin downtown Madrid,marks another triumph forrenowned Spanish architectJuan Navarro Baldeweg.The bold exterior statementof angular glass and stonecarries over into the interior,where visual aesthetics arecomplemented in the auraldomain by the performanceof Meyer Sound’s self-poweredM1D and M’elodie linearray loudspeaker systemsin the Main Theatre and theblack-box Theatre Configurable.According to RamonPérez of RPS Broadcasting,the consultant on audiovisualtechnologies for theproject, initial plans for all-Meyer Sound systems hadbeen sketched before he wascontracted as the audiovisualconsultant, and he quicklyconcurred. “I’ve worked withMeyer systems in the past,and I’ve been impressed bythe excellent size/weightto-powerratio, the precisedirectivity, and the phaseSeesound Adds XTA and OptocoreXTA Electronics has announced the appointment ofSeesound as its new distributor for Spain. Barcelona-basedSeeSound is headed up by CEO NachoAlberdi, who formed the company in 2004. Today it is theexclusive distributor for many of the top pro audio brands.Alberdi, who has more than 20 years of experience in thepro audio industry, is supported by a highly motivated andexperienced team offering a broad range of expertise insales, marketing, and technical support.Nacho Alberdi comments, “XTA is a key factor in ourcatalogue because we consider they are the best at doingwhat they do, and that is being the control part of any proaudio system.”Speaking for XTA, Sales & Marketing Director, Bill Woodsadds, “XTA is delighted to be working with SeeSound whoseother lines truly complement our existing product offering.I am very pleased to be working with Nacho and his excellentteam who already have a number of nice sales undertheir belts.”Also joining the SeeSound portfolio is Optocore.The agreement was confirmed at last year’s PLASA Showin London, where Optocore launched its new SANE (SynchronousAudio Networking plus Ethernet) protocol to theworld’s professional audio market.Nacho Alberdi not only has extensive knowledge of theOptocore system, having distributed its fibre products backcoherence between cabinetsin an array.“The architects wantedthe main arrays hidden insidestructures covered withacoustical foam,” continuesPérez. “Meyer Sound Spain’sdesign services departmentfound that M’elodies wouldfit the space. I looked at thepredictions in MAPP OnlinePro and knew that thisapproach would work.”The Main Theatre’s soundsystem includes 14 M’elodieline array loudspeakers, fourfloor-mounted 650-P subwoofers,a centre cluster ofeight M1D line array loudspeakers,and eight UPM-1Ploudspeakers for front-filland under-balcony-fill.In the Theatre Configurable,a free-form performancespace, a versatile solutionprovides a number of designoptions for various eventsand seating arrangements.“We have 32 M1D cabinetsavailable, which can be configuredas left-centre-rightfront arrays if that is desired,”notes Pérez, “or they can bebroken into as many as eightmini-arrays for placing 360degrees around the overheadcatwalk.” Four M1D-Subsubwoofers reinforce the lowend, while additional flexibilityfor music and effects isafforded by free placementof six UPJ-1P VariO and sixUPM-1P loudspeakers.Meyer Sound’s Galileoloudspeaker managementsystem is used for drive andprocessing in both venues.Each control booth has itsown pair of HD-1 studiomonitors, and each stageis equipped with six UM-1Pstage monitors. Final tuningwas accomplished with a SIM3 audio analyser. Installationcontractor for both systemswas BGL S.L.in 2001 as part of AlberdiPro, but has also worked closelywith Optocore’s recently appointed International Sales Manager,Mike Case, over the years.“Having proved to be the industry leader in audio transportthrough fibre, with the upgrade of the Optocore system,and the ability to be linked to the new SANE system,we are delighted to be working with the brand again,” saidNacho Alberdi.“Optocore is well known in Spain, and SANE is clearlydestined to be a big success in the installation market aswell as the live market. It cuts down the cost to very affordableprices, leaving an open door for future expansion of theinstallation. The beauty of SANE is that it shares the sametechnology and can be linked to the fibre Optocore system.”Mike Case added: “SeeSound’s technical expertise andknowledge of our market segments means the choice wasan easy one to make.”18AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

Teatro Campoamor Adopts Soundcraft Vi4Soundcraft’s Spanish distributor, Earpro, has underlinedthe continuing success of the manufacturer’sVi series digital desks, with the recent installationof a Vi4 at El Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo.Roberto Alonso, Technical Manager of the120-year-old venue, believes it is easy to pinpointthe success of Soundcraft digital audio mixers.“The Vi4 is very user-friendly,” he states. “After 20years using an analogue mixer, the transition hasbeen an easy one to make. In very little time soundengineers can gain the same confidence they hadwhen using any traditional mixer.”He continues, “There are certain applicationswhere a particular technology or platform canbe more suitable than another. In our case, theimprovement in audio quality has been noticeableright across our programme ofevents. Due to the varied nature ofAlejandro Sanz in Paradise with AKGgeo focus Spainour theatre programme many different technicianswill mix shows through our sound system – andgenerally the opinions have been entirely positive.Our Vi4 has already been used in operas, zarzuelas,ballets, and all types of event.”Alonso also highlights the importance of theintegrated dynamics and effects processors withinthe consoles. “Thanks to the console’s quality andlarge provision of dynamics processing, we havebeen able to get rid of our external rack and cablingentirely, so now we have a much cleaner and morecomfortable workspace.”As one of the most successful musiciansin Latin America, AlejandroSanz has built a name for himself asa dynamic and exciting performer; sellingover 25m albums worldwide and winning17 Grammys. With his new project ParaisoExpress on the verge of release, Sanz recentlyembarked on his worldwide Paradise tour,showcasing the anticipated album with a setof AKG equipment that included the DMS700, an IVM 4 in-ear system and a variety ofD7 and D5 microphones.Spanish distributor Neotecnica supplied thetour with the AKG equipment. Each and everyconcert will be using 24 different DMS 700channels for voices and instruments and willalso use 16 channels of the IVM4 in ear-system.For vocals, the DMT 700 will be equippedwith D7 and D5 handheld capsules that proveto be the best solution for adapting to Sanz’vocal style.“After speaking with Alejandro’s tour managerand getting the details of the musicand the type of venues he would be playing,we knew that AKG would be the best solution,”said Perdo Medina, Neotecnica, Spain.“The DMS 700 is flexible enough to handle awide array of channels, the IVM 4 is one of themost secure in-ear systems on the market, andthe D7 and D5 are advanced enough to handleeven the most complex audio transmissions.”Hesperia Tower Installs BoschSystemThe 280-room, five-starHesperia Tower in Barcelonais one of the Hesperiachain’s flagship hotels andits most iconic and innovativeproject. Its 5000sq.m conferenceand convention centre is dividedinto 21 meeting rooms, with atotal capacity of 2,500 people.For the convention centre’s auditorium,which seats up to 480people, a multi-language simultaneousinterpretation systemwas required, to enable all participantsto interact in conferenceswithout any interference.The Bosch DCN Next GenerationConference System togetherwith the Integrus Digital InfraredLanguage Distribution Systemwas proposed, accepted, andinstalled by local dealer Mediacom‘95. Microphone connectors wereinstalled in the auditorium’s seats,with one microphone for everytwo participants. In addition tothese 250 microphones, the Integrussystem was installed so thatconferences could be followed inthe participant’s chosen language.The system is completely freefrom interference from devicessuch as cell phones, radios, andlighting systems, and offers HiFisound quality.KME Opens Demonstration AuditoriumTollowing extensive investment, tures are also installed. An extensive audiovideoproduction delivers a comfortablea 170sq.m auditorium has beenopened at the headquarters control of all elements. Heavy load mountingpoint with ChainMaster D8Plus chainof loudspeaker manufacturer KME inKlingenthal. An audio competence centre hoists and FD34 truss allow the mountingwith optimised, lively acoustics has beenof bigger systems, such as KME’s Pano linecreated to present KME systems underarray, with up to 500kg per side. The roomlive conditions, the company says.can also be dimmed automatically.The building includes a functionalIn the neighbouring anechoic chamber,acoustic structure with symmetricalwhich offers a measurement distance of uproom design, with frequency neutralto 7.5m, extensive acoustic source testingreverberation time delivering a naturallistening experience. The space allowscan be carried out with the focus on directivity,frequency, and phase response.the company to demonstrate not only theacoustic properties of the systems, but The company plans to run training programmes,workshops, and product demon-also hardware features like rigging andmounting options.strations for KME dealers and end users inModern electronic and media infrastruc-the building in the future.AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 19

ut SceneGame SounSpecialpecialme Sound Sound SpecialSpecialGame Sound SpecialSound Game Game SpecialSound Game Sound Game Game Sound Sound SpecialTheTGAME British Academy Video GamesTAwards took place on Friday 19 March. ThereTare two directly audio-related awards amongthe categories; Original Score and Use of Audio.The Original Score nominees were Jesper Kyd forAssassin’s Creed II; Ron Fish and Nick Arundelfor Batman: Arkham Asylum; Hans Zommer andLorne Balfe for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2; JamesHannigan for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince;Dom Benken and Alex Paterson for PixelJunkShooter; and Greg Edmonson, Clint Bajakian andJonathan Mayer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.The BAFTA went to the team responsible for theUncharted 2: Among Thieves score.Adam Levenson, Activision’s Director of CentralAudio and Talent, has been confirmed as theAudio Keynote speaker for this year’s Developconference in Brighton (13-15 July 2010). Levenson hasmore than 17 years experience in video game audioproduction having contributed to games as acomposer, sound designer, supervisor and audiodirector. He joined Activision as the Director of CentralAudio 2006 and is responsible for overseeing originalmusic, sound effects, post-production, audiotechnology, voiceovers, celebrity talent, andscriptwriters across Activision’s portfolio of titles.In addition, he is spearheading the creationand implementation of shared audio standards andtechnologies across Activision’s global studios. “In thenext few years, truly interactive music and dialoguewill revolutionise the video game narrative,” Levinsoncommented. “I’m looking forward to describing somekey aspects of this inevitable paradigm shift at theupcoming Develop Conference.” Other confirmedIASIG, the Interactive Audio Special InterestGroup, has been creating guidelines intended toaddress a growing need for appropriateinstruction in audio for games in educationalinstitutes worldwide. The first draft of the GameAudio Education Curriculum Guidelines has beenreviewed by IASIG members and has been revisedto include a recommended skills list as well as dataon jobs and specialisations for game audio.This draft publication was made available at theIASIG Town Hall Meeting at the Games DevelopersConference in San Francisco, USA, in March, inorder to obtain feedback on the proposedThe third person action adventure also wonthe Use of Audio categories, with other nomineesincluding the Development Team at Eidos/Rocksteady Studios forBatman: Arkham Asylum; theDevelopment Team from Activision/Infinity Wardfor their work onCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2;Jamie Jackson, Dan Neil and Tim Riley forDJ Hero;Vincent Diamante, Steve Johnson and Jenova Chenfor Flower;and Gabe Newell, Chet Faliszek and TomLeonard for Left 4 Dead 2.Games were initially voted on by BAFTA’s videogames members and a carefully selected list ofindustry experts via a secure website. The titles whogained the most votes then went through to specialistjuries who received the games approximately sixweeks prior to making their nominations. The VideoGames Award have been in existence as a standaloneceremony since 2003. www.bafta.orgspeakers for the DevelopAudio Track includeGarr y Taylor, AudioManager, WWS CreativeServices Group,S o n y C o m p u t e rEntertainment, (TheGetaway, Eye-Toy, GranTurismo), and Ben Minto,Audio Director, EA DICE(Battlefield, Burnout,Black).Passes for theconference are availablevia the Develop website. Manufacturers and serviceproviders interested in exhibiting at Develop Exposhould contact Andy Lane at Tandem Events (andy@tandemevents.co.uk). INFORMATIONDevelop In Brighton: 13th - 15th JulyHilton Brighton Metropole, Brighton, UKwww.developconference.comguidelines from a wider audience. The goalsof the project, according to IASIG, are toshorten the learning curve of new audiopersonnel in game audio by providingresources that people can learn from; tocreate a clear reference for terminology andcreation methods in the world of gameaudio; and to supply schools withinformation to integrate game audioeducation into their curricula. RichardStevens, IASIC working group Chair, said: “...We brought together dozens of game audioexperts and educators from majorTheTfinal Budget of the currentBritish Government took placeTon 24 March, with a surprise taxrelief announcement for the gamesindustry. The UK Chancellor, AlistairDarling, spoke in his Budget speechof the need to support the Britishgame industry, and that it intends tointroduce a sector specific Games TaxRelief for the UK video gamesindustry, similar to schemes that arein place for the UK film industry.Dr Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, thetrade association representing the UKgames industry, commented: “TheGovernment has chosen the futureover the past, growth over decline,success over failure. Games Tax Reliefwill increase employment, investmentand innovation in the UK video gamessector.” TIGA has produced researchthat predicts that a tax relief measureof this kind should create or protect3550 graduate level jobs, and couldincrease or safeguard £457 million indevelopment expenditure.Gareth Edmondson, ManagingDirector of Ubisoft Reflections, basedin Newcastle, said of the move: “Thisis a real triumph for UK developers.It will enable the UK games industryto remain a success story.”In the run up to the forthcominggeneral election, the other mainparties have outlined their owncommitments to the industry.Ed Vaisey, the Conservative partyspokesperson for the game industry,told Develop magazine that theConservatives would introducegame development tax breaks inits first budget if elected to forma government - though failed toprovide much in the way of detail.The Liberal Democrats initiallycriticised Labour’s tax break plans,but has since backed plans for statesupport of the industry. universities to share their expertise andknowledge and produce a definitive set ofcourse descriptions and learning outcomesfor teaching audio for games.”The draft document can be downloadedfrom the IASIG website. The guidelines arepart of a broader IASIG education initiativethat includes free online resources foreducators and students. www.iasig.org/eduwg20AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

Special ReportAES: London Or Bust?There’s no denying that the European AES show has been a mainstay of corridor conversations for a while, as rumours of crisis andcancellation are rife, but have so far proved unfounded. The exhibitor list for this year’s London show (moved from Excel to theNovotel in Hammersmith), at the time this article was written, had approximately 70 represented brands on 36 stands, althoughin terms of papers and sessions, the conference is one of the biggest ever. Can Europe’s biggest audio economy provide a muchneededboost, or has the AES ignored the criticisms and wish-lists of manufacturers for too long?PAUL MAC talks to AES Executive Director, Roger Furness.Paul Mac: What reasons are people giving youfor not doing the show?Roger Furness: Primarily budgetary.The budget has had to be slashed in justabout everybody’s case, and they’ve had todecide on how to spend that budget...We’re working with a number of othercompanies to find ways for them to be at theshow... Rather than having a situation wherewe were going to have big exhibit halls wherepeople had to have a bigexhibit... we started off withthe idea of having a smallershow... where people couldhave a 3x3 stand and still benoticeable and make theirpresence known....We’ll have a veryintimate show where thetechnical sessions and theexhibits are closely locatedin areas one above theother, so you’ll be able toeasily move from one placeto another, and this willmean that networking isgoing to be much improved...I think you’ll find it’ll be a veryfriendly show where peoplecan network and do business.PM: Who will be networkingand doing what business?Isn’t there an issue of focushere? AES is a single sectorshow, whereas a lot of theother shows are broadcast, orpost production, or a specificdemographic?RF: I think the most importantthing first of all is this is theonly pro audio show that’sgoing to happen in the UK,and indeed has happened inthe UK for many years. AES itself hasn’t been inLondon for 23 years. The advantage of AES isevery stand, regardless of size, is about audio...There will be quite an emphasis, as there hasbeen recently, on audio for broadcast, audio forsound reinforcement, recording, post production,and also games... People who are workingparticularly in the UK, will have an opportunityto come along and see a lot of audio companiesthat they wouldn’t normally get a chance to see...The days of everybody having the opportunity…to get off to foreign places to go to a show are, atthe present, not there... Like every country thatwe go to, the majority of people will be from thehost country and so I think it will give an opportunityfor people who are working in the UK,in London – which as you know is the biggestaudio concentration probably in the world, butcertainly within Europe – to drop in and see a lotof interesting stuff...PM: Audio production has become entwinedwith other media disciplines.Doesn’t that mean the AESneeds to think about otherparts of media – not justaudio?RF: Other parts of mediaget dealt with in sessions.But you know yourself if yougo to a show where the predominantmatter is video orsomething like that, then thecompanies that are on thevideo side take enormousstands, and the people whoare selling audio equipmenttend to end up being very muchthe poor relation. Whereas atAES, because audio is the primaryreason for being there,everybody has a fair crack at thewhip, if you like.PM: You don’t think then thatthe days of being able to supportan audio-only show inEurope are gone?RF: A lot of exhibitors haveexpressed to us that they wantthe AES to continue, becauseit is their opportunity to showtheir wares to people who areprimarily interested in audiorather than primarily interestedin TV and just happen to walk past their stand.I think you also have to, perhaps, think of thesupport we’re giving to audio companies whofeel completely out of place and unable to holdtheir head up in these big broadcast shows...Clearly AES in America was smaller this time,in terms of how it has been in the past, but theexhibitors were very happy and thought it was agreat show, and it worked really well for them...This is an important show about audio – this isreally proclaiming that audio is important andaudio exists, and audio isn’t something that justgets shut in the back room, and ‘oh yeh, maybewe’ll do a couple of sessions on that’... We’re notrunning this show for our benefit, we’re runningthe show for the industry and the people whowork in it, and we’ve been told time and again,even in tough times they want the show to goahead.PM: What’s the priority? Is it the conference orthe exhibition?RF: Very much both – they complement eachother. Clearly a strong technical programmeis doing a service for the industry in giving aplatform for things to be discussed which aren’tdiscussed in other places... It’s very importantthat these things go ahead for the future of theindustry, but the exhibits are also importantbecause people who come to the conventionwant to see the latest products, and most importantlyat AES they feel that the people who aregoing to be on the stand, are the people whowill be knowledgeable enough about the productsto answer technical questions... People feelthat they’re able to talk to representatives forthe companies perhaps in a more serious waythan they otherwise would be able to.PM: I guess there’s not a lot of cross-fertilisationbetween the conference and exhibition in termsof actual target attendee. Is that true?RF: I’m not sure that’s completely true.Clearly the paper sessions themselves arevery much research-orientated and forwardlooking, and would be not immediatelyapproachable by somebody who’s an operatorin a local radio station for example, but one ofthe things which we always have done, andwe’re developing and doing more this time, ismore applied business sessions, which are beingorganised in conjunction with APRS... We’regoing to have a couple of the sessions therewhich will be producers talking about recording,so these are going to be very much, I wouldhave thought, for operators. So there’s a widespread in the technical programme betweenthe highly technical cutting edge papers, andthe broader interest, more practical, sessions.PM: Does the existence of the conferencedepend on the existence of the exhibition?RF: We could run them separately if we wantedto, but it’s not been shown up to now that that’ssomething that people desire.22AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

Special ReportPM: If at some point the exhibition did fail,could the conference continue? Does the conferencedepend financially on the exhibition?RF: No, it’s not essential that two run side byside... People have always asked that the twocontinue to run alongside each other becausethe two feed off each other. For example, ifthere’s a session on digital mics, then peoplegoing to talk to manufacturers who aremanufacturing them and see the products, ismore likely in commercial terms to lead to a sale,than if there was no exhibition and it was just aconference by itself.PM: There are a number ofcommon complaints fromexhibitors, which I’d like toaddress here. One is thatthe organisation of theconference and exhibition,and sale of stand space, isleft very late.RF: Yes, it’s one of theseunfortunate things. It wasalways considered anadvantage that we weren’tin people’s faces and forcingthem to sign up. Wewere always told how niceit was dealing with the AES,which seems to have nowshifted... So yes, we certainlyhave intention to move this up and to startselling the shows earlier than we have in thepast, because it does seem now that that’s whatexhibitors prefer. They still make their decisionsvery late in many cases, but they still like to havethat opportunity.PM: How much information will you have aboutAES Europe 2011 at the 2010 show?RF: It’s probable that we will have full information,and be able to talk about it.PM: Such as date, place, ideas about content,and focus for the show? Is there going to beenough information for a manufacturer to basea decision on whether they can commit to 2011or not?RF: We will certainly do our best... We can’t givedetail about the content because it’s verydifficult to tie people down a year ahead as towhat they’re going to do, and what they’re goingto be able to do, but certainly yes, we can letpeople know more about what’s happening, andwe plan to do that.PM: The late arrival criticism also applies to theavailability of the exhibitor list. A lot of exhibitorsbase their decision on who else is coming – andit is a valid way to make a decision. Not making alist available until very late in the day puts everybodyat a disadvantage?…RF: ...It’s a chicken and egg: ‘let’s wait and seewho else is in, but we’re not in, so therefore,we’re not on the list...’ We try to tread a linebetween the two. The exhibitor list will go upon the website within the next week or two,when the technical programme and everythinggoes up. So by the end of the month (March), itshould all be up.PM: Marketing has in past years been criticisedfor being non-existent for the most part, and alsoleft very late. Is that a budget consideration?RF: It’s partly budget, but it’s also you know, a bitdifficult sometimes to bring out the best featuresof the show early becausethey’re still in the processof being planned... I thinkwe’ve got to change that totelling people what mighthappen, and maybe 10 percentwill change or fall out...we can do that much earlier.But we’ve always done it onthe basis of telling peoplewhat’s really happening,and so their decisions canbe based on fact...PM: Is that at the heart ofwhat’s been going on withAES? Is there a less commercialattitude than othershows to its business?RF: Yes, I think that’s certainly true. We existsolely for the industry, and all the money maderemains within the industry and goes to thethings that we do in standards, and technicalcommittees, education for students, and thatkind of thing. We’re not being run by an exhibitiontender... Not in as commercial a way as otherorganisations with considerably higher budgetsthan we have, and who make considerablyhigher profits as well.PM: It has been difficult over the last four or fiveyears – that’s been the kind of timescale, justfrom my own observations of the show, overwhich the numbers have dropped. Is that fair,five years?RF: Yes, the show has got smaller, but still fulfilsa very important and necessary function. ButI think you’ll find that is also reflected by thenumber of people who are in our business...Even since the turn of 2001, people’s budgetshave been slashed. It used to be that the broadcasterswould send 20 people to a show, nowthey’ll send two... I doubt those times will evercome back, but it will improve if the economyimproves. It’s difficult to say, of course.PM: I guess some of the commercial considerationsare rendered a bit irrelevant by the statusof the AES as a trade body, and a body that existssolely for the audio industry?RF: If you’re running a show just to be profitable,you will probably come to a different conclusionabout what’s important than if you’re runninga show as a service to the industry in which it’sheld. It doesn’t mean that you don’t try to actin some ways commercially, but certainly yourcriteria would be somewhat different... If wechanged our name, and were just a commercialorganisation looking to make a profit for whoeverowned us, then clearly we probably wouldchase other sectors of the market to chasethose dollars. But then there wouldn’t be anaudio show... We’re trying to maintain the audioindustry, which has been severely batteredand doesn’t have the same money to spend assome of the other sectors of the entertainmentindustry.PM: I guess it’s just difficult motivating peopleto see it like that. Exhibitors don’t owe the AES aliving, do they?RF: Absolutely not, no. This is the thing Paul,we need to support each other in the supportof our industry. We could just decide that, look,this is a complete waste of time, we’re just notgoing to bother running a convention any more.Is that doing a service to our industry? I don’tthink so... I think the important thing is that webuild up this show in London, which hasn’t hada pro audio show for a long time... We build thisup as much as we can so that in the future, thenext year will be even better... This is a centrefrontaudio show, and that’s what we’re supporting...We’re not doing it because we’re thinking,‘hmmm, wonder what we can do this year, ohwe’d better have another convention...’ It’s therebecause the industry wants it, and supports it.Yes, there are some companies that don’t wantto be there, and even if we did triple somersaultsand offered to pay them to come, they stillwouldn’t come on principle, but those are justa few people. The majority are either wantingto be there and are, or wanting to be there butcan’t because of budgetary requirements.That’s why we’re trying to make it as simple aswe can for people... You know you don’t have tobuild a huge stand just to show your face. So Ithink in a way we’re in this together. The moresuccessful we are, the more successful you are.PM: Looking into the near future, there’s goingto be an AES 2011 then?RF: Yes... Oh yes.........................AES Europe ConventionLondon, 22-25 May, 2010 www.aes.orgINFORMATIONAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 23

A hero for the entry-levelmarket? SIMON TILLBROOKtakes the Black Knight to thetiltyard to find out.What visually separates Latvian microphonemanufacturer Violet from virtually all othermicrophone producers is its quirky designs, andthe latest one to come my way keeps with this trend.As for the Black Knight’s swivel head, I must admitthat I thought this to be somewhat of a gimmick onfirst inspection, but it is more useful than expected.I do wonder how this would stand up with continuoususe in terms of tightness, but the build quality of the BlackVIOLET BLACK KNIGHTCondenser MicrophoneTHE REVIEWERSIMON TILLBROOK is the PrincipalMusic Tutor at Islington MusicWorkshop in London. The rest ofhis time is spent as a freelanceengineer, mainly in the USA.OverviewThe Black Knight is a side address condenser microphonewith a cardioid pattern, just over eight inches long and1.7 inches in diameter. Finished in a matt black, the 1.1-inch capsule is housed in what makes the Black Knightdistinctive: a swivel mounted head section. You can tiltthe head section by about 15-20 degrees. Three small pegtype stoppers on the Black Knight’s body limit the balljoint mounted head’s movement.This mic has very low inherent noise at just 6.5dB(A-weighted) and can withstand a maximum SPL of 134dB.The frequency graph indicates a good response downto about 40Hz with a small lift from about 2.5 to4kHz of about 1 or 2dB.The microphones has no other switches orbuilt-in facilities, and is supplied in the usualpurple wood box with a microphone stand mountthat screws onto the base. Optional full suspensioncradle and pop shield is available, and I had theseavailable during the review period.UseThe Black Knight is presented as a general purposestudio microphone and sonically, it had more depththan I thought it would. That small lift focusedat around 3kHz is more prominent than thefrequency graph seems to suggest, but not harshor unpleasant as can be the case with low costcondenser microphones.I did think it was a little dull in the high-end,but this was only slight and easily corrected withminimal equalisation, and you do need to keepin mind the price point this microphone sits in.The more subtle proximity effect gives good scope tothe positional options, and I found this easily controlledwith a nice depth without corrective requirementsin most cases.Knight feels far better than its price suggests.The pattern is stated as cardioid, but I found thatthere was a fair amount of rear pickup, more bi-directionalthan cardioid.The capsule has a single layer mesh and can besusceptible to popping, so the optional pop screen is amust, especially for vocal applications. Apparently, thereare more holes than usual in the mesh to giv a more openand ‘airy’ quality, which probably explains the popping.Therefore, the Black Knight does need the additionalisolation offered by the cradle.ConclusionThe Black Knight is a good general purpose entry-levelmicrophone with a nice response and build quality.It certainly represents value for money and is well worthyour consideration. ...................................INFORMATION Black Knight – GB£295.45 (exc.VAT) Violet Design Ltd., PO Box 3393, Tallinn, 10506, Estonia +372 645 5007 www.violet-design.com info@violet-design.com Zen Audio Limited , Unit 9/10 Batley Business Park,Technology Drive, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 6ER +44 (0) 1924 476533 www.zenaudiolimited.co.uk info@zenaudiolimited.co.ukRA-A7Hall 8.0 G54Location, location, collationNEWIf flexible sound on location is important to you, the new S-0808Digital Snake allows you to connect 8in/8out over REAC whereveryou want, using Embedded Power, PoE or an optional battery pack.Up to four Digital Snake heads can now be merged into one REACstream via the S-4000M REAC merge unit, bringing unprecedentedversatility and ease of use to live and installed digital soundapplications. Compatible with all RSS REAC-based Snakes, personalmonitors, and V-Mixers.NEWS-4000MREAC Merge UnitS-0808REAC Portable SnakeLocation is no longer a barrier to getting great audio, isn’t ittime you made the move?www.rolandsg.co.uk or call 01792 70270124AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

ONE WORDABOVEALL OTHERKMR believe that quality comes first. We only supply the most reliable and best sounding products – from triedand tested studio classics to the latest technology for today’s digital studio.Our experienced staff can provide informed advice to help you make the best decision when purchasing newequipment, and KMR’s lifetime technical support helps to ensure our customers keep working when it mattersmost. We stock a huge range of professional audio equipment - available to try in either our dedicated listeningroom or in your own studio. Whether you are a home enthusiast or run a commercial facility, if you wantquality studio equipment and personal service from your supplier, we look forward to discussing your needs.KMRAUDIO

The updated 301A from Mitchell& Todd is already establishedwith many fans around theUK. PAUL MAC finds out if theimprovements really are a bigstep forward.If you don’t recognise the name, Mitchell & Todd used tobe known as Excel Audio, based in the UK. It designs andmanufactures a small but well-formed range ofprofessional active monitors that are well-respected andoften vigorously endorsed by those who have come acrossthem and had the chance to use them – myself included.I’ve had a pair of the original 301A monitors for quite a fewyears, and they are great speakers. In fact, they’ve served asa benchmark on a number of occasions for other speakertests. Now it’s time to re-visit this unit, as there have been anumber of improvements, refinements, and upgrades to theproduct since we last covered it in depth.The differences were obvious, and enough to make mere-check signal paths for each pair.Particularly with some dry, centre-panned vocals thedifference was spectacular. The new monitors broughtthe voice more solidly into the centre and clarified it.Possibly the ventriloquist dummy had, until that point,been in the box and refusing to come out. The older 301sdo not shirk in imaging at all, but I guess you don’t knowwhat you’re missing until you hear it, and that vocal on theolder monitors was definitely ‘smudged’ in comparison.The other thing that is quickly obvious with this kind ofrecording is a more intimate sound that gets brought toMITCHELL & TODD 301AMonitorTHE REVIEWERPAUL MAC is the Editor of AudioMedia magazine.The 301s are the biggest of theMitchell & Todd ‘Compact ReferenceMonitor’ models, with dimensionsof 40x246x300mm and a frequencyresponse reaching all the way down to35Hz. The other two in the range are the101A (320x180x280mm, down to 60Hz),and the 202A (360x215x375mm, downto 35Hz), with the 802FEU (FrequencyExtension Unit) sub that completes thelow end down to 22Hz. The main ‘spec’difference between the 301 and 201 is themaximum SPL of 112dB, as opposed to109dB of the latter.The main internal features of thenew 301A monitors include a 28mm,Ferro-fluid cooled soft dome tweeter and apolypropylene coned, magnetically shieldedbass driver with a large, bullet-shaped fixed phaseplug – not something you see much of in pro audio.These are fed by two amplifiers via a minimum phaseactive crossover.Externally, the most striking thing about these monitorsis the metal front grille. This is removable, if it makes younervous, but I didn’t find a problem with it being there, andit definitely protects the drivers from accidental pokage.Around the back, the main audio input is via eitherbalanced XLR or phono. The most obvious functionaladditions to the 301A are the input level, three-band EQ,and EQ in/out controls on the rear panel. You can leavethese well alone if you wish, but some circumstancesmake this a welcome addition. Other updates to the 301Ainclude doubled LF driver protection and increased powerin the LF amp to 140W (plus larger heatsink); a new tweeterwith phase plate; a new 25mm 'super dense' braced frontbaffle; and improvements to the port design, internaldamping, crossover circuit, and earthing.In UseThe 301A is definitely on the large side of ‘compact’, andquite weighty with it, but this is about quality rather thanwhether or not they will fit on your book shelf. These aredefinitely well-made monitors; with an industrial-strengthaura to them that is probably one of the reasons they havebeen so well received in OB and location music vehicles.The first opportunity I had to try the updated 301Aswas in the studio of an existing customer – BBC MaidaVale – and then back at the ranch, with my older 301Asas benchmarks. I tried my usual audition CDs, plus somerecent and quite raw acoustic recordings.In the comparison test, I was certainly expecting a littlelift from the new monitors – more an enhancement thanan upgrade, I guess. But I was proved wrong from the start.the fore – not because of somethingthat the monitors are adding, butbecause they are exposing more.You can hear the breath on themicrophone, and the resonancesthat a vocalist’s body and voice boxbrings to the mic.In general I thought that themids and highs of the new unitswere the most obviously improved.The spectrum coherence has beenimproved significantly. There's goodseparation between instruments,and that all-important air around thetop of the percussion and reverbs hasmore detail and impact so there’s nofuzzing of attacks here – it’s all hungout for close inspection.On complex mixes, the benefit thishas on the sound field is almost as significant.Switching to the new monitors from the old opensup the stereo field and clarifies it at the same time.You could tell if this was a fault rather than a featurebecause you’d lose clarity – but no, it is definitely animprovement in accuracy.In the bass region I found both the originals and thenew monitors as good as ever. They don’t lie, and theydon’t over-emphasise. For me, differences between oldand new in the low range were harder to discern. I cansay that the improvements in clarity I have describedwork right across the spectrum, which must also endorsethe LF updates.Overall, the effect of switching between the older 301sand the new ones is one of removing a kind of spectral orvertical compression. In other words, there's more clarityand more room to breathe. ...................................INFORMATION GB£2,038.00 (exc.VAT) per pair Mitchell & Todd (Excel Audio Systems), London, +44 (0) 208 354 0820 +44 (0) 208 354 0834 www.excelaudio.co.uk26AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

SoundForge evolved from a simple Cool Edit-style trackeditor, and has kept many traces of its origins. It’sessentially a sound file editor and mastering tool,designed for precision editing. Inside the box – and thedownload – are SoundForge 10.0, CD Architect 5.2, a soundrestoration plug-in called NoiseReduction 2.0, and amastering FX suite from iZotope. Sony’s Acoustic Mirrorconvolution reverb tool is built in.After a slightly awkward installation process and anupdate – Sony still hasn’t gotten VST scanning entirelywith minimal mixing, in CDArchitect, leaving SoundForgefor more challenging tasks. You can of course create andedit playlists, export them, manage PQ events, and doall of the other essential things you’d expect from a CDapplication. You can’t, however, create DVD-A discs orwork with other disc formats.Some omissions remain in the package as a whole. Themost puzzling limitation is the lack of multi-lane editingand mixing. The help file states that ‘SoundForge is nota multi-track recorder’ – you’ll need Vegas or Acid forSoundForge Pro breaksinto double figures.RICHARD WENTK tries hard toavoid hammer and anvil puns.SONY SOUNDFORGE PRO 10Editing and Mastering Softwareright – SoundForge loads withan empty work area. There’sthe usual selection of tools andmenus, which seem to havedrifted towards hinting at acertain well-known competingeditor from Germany.Although there are similaritiesbetween SoundForge andthe competition, both thepresentation and the featuresets are significantly different.SoundForge is very much aimed at precision audiowork. For example, the spectral plotting can be zoomedor expanded to cover any frequency range. There’s noCEDAR-style spectral editing, but you can see what’s ina file with extreme detail, and then use keyframed andautomated filters and other effects to shape it. The NoiseReduction plug-in is a powerful two-step process thatremoves a spectral footprint from a file. It needs carefulsetting up, but can be unexpectedly good at removinghiss and background noise from recordings. It’s not upto high-end standards, but more than good enough forentry level applications. Similarly the iZotope masteringplug-in won’t give Waves or Sonnox any sleepless nights,but packs a lot of powerful features into a small piece ofsoftware. In addition to all of the usual dither, multi-bandcompression, EQ and bit depth options, there’s also aunique multi-band exciter. As with any mastering toolit’s easy to create a digital fry-up, but it’s also possible tocreate excellent results with careful tuning.All Shiny NewNew in SoundForge 10 is event-based editing – whichmeans block-based editing on a single track. This remainsa minimal feature. You can crossfade files and sections, butyou can’t apply a different FX chain to each block or file, asyou can in Vegas. There’s also Disk-at-once burning, whichis perhaps slightly belated, and an enhanced timestretchfeature based on a new plug-in. You can also apply anew resonant filter effect, and save files with EnhancedBroadcast WAV support. File support is a SoundForgestrong point. A few formats are missing, including Apple’s.m4a but to make up for this you can open XDCAM EX.mp4 files natively. Unsurprisingly, Sony’s own formats arecomprehensively supported, including ATRAC. CD rippingis included in CD Architect, although not quite with thesophistication available in a dedicated ripper such as ExactAudio Copy.Although CD mastering isn’t quite as compelling as itwas ten years ago, the external but bundled CD Architectapplication remains one of the more successful takes onthe medium. Including it in the package suggests that theworkflow runs from SoundForge to CDArchitect. But in factyou can do simple cut and paste editing and processing,that – but this seems like anodd feature to exclude. You cando limited multi-track mixingin CD Architect, and the newevent-based mixing allows forsimple crossfades betweentracks. But it feels very limitingto find a professional soundediting tool that isn’t capableof basic multi-lane mixing.I also found meteringslightly quixotic. You can setup separate peak, VU, and phase metering for channelsand audio hardware. Unfortunately all of the metersappear in a single window, and the phase display resizesitself automatically to match the bargraphs. It wouldalso be useful if the level and pan envelopes updatedthe waveform view, so you could get an instant visualindication of possible clipping.ConclusionIn spite of the nitpicks, SoundForge has a lot going for it.It’s relatively affordable, and some of the FX and editingfeatures are unique. Although it’s not quite as generouslyfeatured as the competition, it’s a good tool for in-depthaudio tweaking, especially if you use one of Sony’s otherproducts. Professionals may find it limiting. Parts of theinterface are perhaps more intuitive and productive thanthe alternatives, and the learning curve is less challenging.This isn’t consistently true, but the inconsistencies andquirks are relatively minor, and peripheral, and basicediting is speedy and productive, as it should be. If youalready have a competing editor, you may not find theunique features completely compelling. But if you’relooking for a toolset that can clean up location recordings,create atmospheres, and add ambience to dialogue, it’swell worth considering – and with a free 30 day trial, youcan try it for yourself. ...................................INFORMATION US$374.95 (Download), US$399.95 (Boxed) Sony Creative Software +1 800 577 6642 www.sonycreativesoftware.com UK Distributor: SCV London, 40 Chigwell Lane, OakwoodHill Industrial Estate, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3NY +44 (0) 208 418 0778 +44 (0) 208 418 0624 www.scvlondon.co.ukTHE REVIEWERRICHARD WENTK is the ownerof Skydancer Media, a digitalproduction company providingsound, image, design andconsultancy services to variousclients in London and theWest Country.AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 27

With the lauded The HurtLocker having notched upsome notable awards of late,JOHN BROOMHALL talks tothe film’s Recording Engineer,John Kurlander, about anequally laudible career.What do Abbey Road and videogames have incommon? If you’re thinking The Beatles: RockBand, good answer. However, there’s another…Master Recording Engineer John Kurlander’s staggeringlyillustrious career reads like a who’s who of popular andclassical music, as well as covering the top rank of movieand videogame scores. From iconic Beatles recordings tothis year’s multi-award winning The Hurt Locker soundtrack,he has the t-shirt.Final Cut Special: John KurlanderThey Shoot, He ScoresEmerick and George Martin, came in to tell me theywanted to know if I’d work on the next Beatles’ album.His wise advice was, ‘Don’t ask why you’ve been invited!Do you want to do it – yes or no?’ ”So began a period of working with the ‘fab four’ ontheir legendary Abbey Road album and subsequent soloprojects. “I remember George coming in every day withthe papers and a gigantic bar of chocolate for us. On thatproject he wasn’t like a producer coming in and saying,John Kurlander with composer Jesper Kyd at CapitolStudios. Photo by Linda Rapka, AFM Local 47.The Kurlander mantelpiece boasts three consecutiveGrammys for best score soundtrack album and threeconsecutive TEC awards for best film sound productionfor his engineering and mixing work on the Lord Of TheRings trilogy. He also earned two Grammy nominationsfor classical engineering on the last recordings of EugeneOrmandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra.From 1985 to 1995 he was Chief Recording Engineerat Abbey Road Studios and Chief Engineer at EMI Classics,before moving to Los Angeles to focus on freelance filmscoring – which is where Audio Media caught up withhim between sessions to reflect on a remarkable journey.Way Back WhenKurlander: “When I was 13 years old, I lived one streetfrom Abbey Road (then EMI Studios) and attended schoolnearby. One day my class was invited in to record soundeffects for an EMI spoken word recording. We were usheredinto the live end of Studio 2 shuffling past the Beatles’gear, set up for the Help recordings. I decided this wasreally what I wanted to do.” At 16, Kurlander eschewedthe Marks & Spencer’s management training his fatherhad in mind and applied to EMI, Decca, and the BBC. In anextraordinarily lucky break, he was offered a job at AbbeyRoad (it was only later to dawn on him that his friendlyEnglish teacher had most likely put in a word for him withneighbour Gus Cook, the studio’s Assistant Manager). Bythe time he’d worked on recordings by Sir Adrian Boult,Sir John Barbirolli, and DanielBarenboim, his proud operalovingparents had come round.For three months up to Christmas1967, he dutifully ferried tapesaround the hallowed corridors,getting to know the staff andsetup, until finally making it tothe studio floor.Kurlander’s first major assignmentas Assistant Engineer wasan historic one: “I was doing apost-session tidy-up when ourTechnical Engineer, who’d beenappointed emissary of Geoff‘Right everyone, this is what we’re doing today’. He wasthere to give his expert advice and every time he put hispaper down to get his hands dirty advising on the voicingof a chord or something, he was brilliant.“They’d record basic backing tracks across two tofour reels – about an hour and a half’s material – thenlisten back to everything and either start overdubbingon a preferred take or decide to come back to it anothertime. Then two weeks later there might be a completere-make of the song. Something like The Ballad Of John& Yoko which was mixed and wrapped within eight hourswas very rare. It was more often a piecemeal approachwith multiple takes and multiple versions – so I reallyhad to be on top of the paperwork. Some days all fourof them would be doing backing tracks and other daysjust one or two doing overdubs and vocals. Other times,there’d be lots of visitors coming and going and you’dhave playbacks.”But in spite of the many famous faces drifting in andout, nobody could have eclipsed The Beatles themselvesin Kurlander’s mind. Was he in awe of them? “Oh yeah!Absolutely. I got butterflies whenever they walked inthe room – especially Paul. I was reminded of it 40 yearslater when he walked into a BAFTA party in LA recently – Ihad that exact same feeling! I remember one day Geoff(Emerick) had me make the studio spick and span becauseof a VIP visit and I remarked, ‘Look it’s only the ManagingDirector of EMI – we’re working with The Beatles!’Not even the MD out-ranked them! I learned so much andstill carry it with me today – I’ll find myself mic’ing a pianothe same way we did in ’69.”A Star Never OutshoneIt seems no artist of any stature could phase Kurlanderfrom then on, as he worked on projects ranging throughclassical, musical theatre, orchestral classic rock, andmovies for 30 amazing years at Abbey Road, ten of whichsaw him taking the reins as engineering head honcho, aposition which bought its own distinct pressures. “If therewas a breakdown, we had to jump on it – clients wouldsay, ‘This would be okay at a lesser studio, but hey, this isABBEY ROAD!’, and it was like a stab in the heart. We hadto keep standards so high, brainstorming every problem28AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

to prevent a repeat. Equipment-wise, everyone wanted tosend us everything to try – for instance, around ‘79/’80,EMI Research at Hayes built us a prototype digital mixer– that’s how ahead of the curve we were. It was quite aresponsibility. Given I was still engineering projects, I lookback now at some of my diaries and wonder how I did it.”The grass could not look greener in St. John’s Wood,although perhaps it did look a little more verdant in LosAngeles. “I’d been there on vacation around 1971 andafter some time hanging out at Capitol was offered ajob. Though I had turned it down, my appetite for theadventure of an exciting new lifestyle in film scoring wasstill nagging at me as I began to contemplate retirement.It was ‘now or never’, otherwise I’d have just gone straightfrom school to Abbey Road, done 35 years and thenretired in Harrow! So I got my green card and went for it.”Better Believe ItApparently, so impressive was Kurlander’s CV that someof his new prospective American clients thought it mightbe fictional, but it’s no surprise that his solid reputationwith key individuals led to personal recommendationsbringing a raft of new ventures. The list of movie scoreshe’s recorded or mixed or both is endless and lately, eventhe world of videogames has been benefiting from hisskills, for instance Jesper Kyd’s score for Assassin’s Creed 2(as featured in last month’s issue). Kurlander: “I really like theway the composers interact with the directors and visualartists in games, and I like the respect they’re getting.”about the small stuff because I enjoy it.”So, given he can to a great extent pick and choosegigs these days, what does it take to attract Kurlander?“There’s always somethingpositive about every project. Itcould be box office or criticalacclaim, but the ones that endup being an enjoyable experienceare the best ones and ultimatelyit’s about people. I thinkthe buzz for me is when you’vedone all the homework andyou stick all the faders up andit’s immediately wonderful.You’re not struggling – in factyou’re making it look easy.You’re in the zone – everything’sKURLANDER: SELECTED GEARworking and you know you’ve done a good job. If it thengoes on to have critical or market success, that’s really justthe icing on the cake.” For someone so notable, Kurlander is refreshinglydown to earth, shunning the limelight. “I’m actually veryshy so one of the original attractions of recording was aninvolvement with music without being a public performingmusician (out of the question!) although ironically,I mix better in a room full of people because it’s kind ofa performance – there’s more spontaneity. I get on wellwith people but I couldn’t possibly stand up on a podiumto speak or even work the room at a cocktail party. Peopletell me they hire me because I’m really enthusiastic abouttheir job – they say they don’t know anyone who takesas much care, and I readily accept I have a reputation forbeing fanatical about detail. They don’t have to worryAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 29

“John Kurlander: Studio ViewsKurlander On Mixing:Producer Norman Newell had agreat skill of listening (in his words) as‘Mrs Smith of Wigan’. He’d ask, what would yourelderly aunt say about this mix? And you’d think,‘Well, she’d probably say I can’t hear his voice, orwhat’s he singing about?’“I tend to mix fast setting clear daily targetsand working ahead of schedule leaving time tore-visit and refine ‘problematic’ tracks. I’ll maybeproduce several alt mixes of the difficult onesbefore choosing a master.“Back in 68/69 I was taught that first you putthe bass up, then bass drum, then snare, kit, guitars,piano, then vocals, and then you were done.and genre – I might go through everything individuallyor I might put all the channels up andsee how they interact.“Over-thinking mixes is a big pitfall as is leavingevery decision to the end. A modern 100+tracks PT session can be totally overwhelmingif you don’t sub-mix. People ask why the AbbeyRoad album sounds so good and I think it’sbecause things were combined. At the end wehad eight tracks and eight decisions to make –not 50 or 60.“It’s great to review mixes after living withthem. Come back with fresh ears. Within fiveseconds you’ll know if it’s right. That’s where mixingin the box is wonderful – keeping everythingI didn’t know anybody who didn’t do it in that safely saved. Console recall can be a bit of a dragadRibbon(audio exact order. Nowadays, media)186x129mm.qxd:Mise it depends on the project and en premixing page 1 just 29/03/10 to fit a large PT 14:14 session onto Page a 1console with a lesser channel count can be timeconsuming.I do love having all the fine controlthese days – having more options is good if youcan manage it, but dangerous if you fall prey to it.“Details are important but so is spontaneity –it’s so easy to not see the wood for the trees.“When you’re mixing a variety of cues, it’s vitalto make sure you start with the right track – startwith the ‘problem’ one or the atypical one andyou can find yourself right down the wrong road.“My preferred studio monitors are ATC20Asand at home a B&W 5.1 rig. I check-listen in thecar and I’ve been known to monitor a live orchestralsession through my Macbook speakers justfor a ‘tiny speaker’ reference.“The old ‘listening outside the studio door’trick still holds good – and that’s a mono listen –The perfect gift...has the ribbon insideAlmost 2 decades after revolutionising the studio condensermicrophone market with the AT4033 and AT4050, Audio-Technicahas introduced its first ever ribbon microphones. And what’smore, being part of the 40 Series, the AT4080 and AT4081 arealso covered by Audio-Technica’s unique Lifetime Warranty.AT4080AT4081www.audio-technica.com30AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

even if you’re in 5.1, what comes through thedoor is mono. One thing I learned in the ’60s– ALWAYS check in ‘one-speaker’ mono – putit all one side… On big projects, I’ll even havea ‘mono day’ sometimes.“I check my mixes at incredibly low volume– almost inaudible – it tells you a lot.“Above all, gain structure is so important– I think a lot of people can be overloadingstuff unawares at hidden stages when mixingin the box.”Epcot, Huh?One of John Kurlander’sfavourite press appearances was for anAmerican pro-audio mag'. When asked hisfavourite LA scoring stage he went for 20thCentury Fox. However, on receiving a copy ofthe magazine, he noticed something wrong.Bold as brass, it cited John Kurlander’sfavourite scoring stage as the Epcot Centrein Florida. The writer had got mixed up withanother piece about theme park music.Kurlander: “It didn’t upset anyone becauseit was so absurd, but I’ll never forget walkinginto 20th Century Fox and all the guys saying,‘Epcot, huh? You prefer Epcot?!’” Kurlander’s Modus Operandi“I always have a premeditatedapproach to recording – I imaginehow it should sound in my head and then findthe right gear to achieve it.“When I start off working with a produceror composer I try to get inside their heads soI can customise an approach and sound thatwill work for them. Sometimes people ask me,‘Do you always mic that thing that way?’, andI’ll reply – ‘Well I do for that artist’. I’m trying tocreate a sonic identity.“Every working relationship differs. Somepeople want to be your best friend and they’llcall you at night to discuss stuff and that’sfine. Others want to keep it nine-to-five. Youhave to find out how they want it to be.“Who you are as a person is as importantas your technical knowledge. I’ve seen manytactless people blow it by saying the wrongthing. Good engineers have the knack of sayingthe right thing at the right time – and timingis king. First you have the thought – thenyou think do they really want to hear this? Ifyes, then you think of the right time to say it –but only when the other boxes are ticked.”ProTools Anyone?When Kurlander moved to LAin 1996, the Sony 3348 was the 48-trkstandard ½” digital tape machine for orchestralcapture with ‘this 8-trk computer thing calledProTools’ mostly used by music editors forediting the DA-88 mixes. Occasionally two PTsystems would be hooked up for a mix.“I was working with David Newman andhis assistant Marty Frasu and we startedwondering if anyone had done more than16 channels on PT. We asked our friend TomGraham (now very senior in Digidesign)could he put together a 48-trk set-up andwe’d try an orchestral recording. And so (withtape back-up!) the first ever multi-channel48-trk orchestral PT recording was born.The rest is history.” AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 31

audio productionconsolePreviewSTEPHEN BENNETT gets a sneakpreview of Fairlight’s latestEVOlution in consoles –a truly integrated andpowerful production tool.THE REVIEWERSTEPHEN BENNETT has beeninvolved in music productionfor over 25 years. Now based inNorwich he splits his time betweenwriting books and articles onmusic technology, running hisown Chaos studios and working inthe Electroacoustic Studios in theSchool of Music at the University ofEast Anglia. He’s also a filmmakerwith several music videos andshort films to his credit. www.stephenjamesbennett.co.ukhas been doing post production systemsfor a long time now, with the emphasis on power,speed of operation, and integration into theairlightmodern post workflow. Its CC-1 Crystal Coretechnology is developed and refined, and continues topush boundaries of channel count and functionality;while the software has won many fans for its inclusiveapproach and user interface. Now the company is takinganother step forward with its surface and controltechnology. The product is EVO.New Frontiers“The reason it’s called EVO is because it genuinely isan evolution from our existing consoles,” says KenBarnsley, Fairlight’s Sales and Marketing Director.He’s at pains to point out however, that the new kidon the block won’t mean the extinction of the earliermodel. “The Constellation appeals to a particular typeof person and the EVO will appeal to another,” he says.“Broadcasters with multiple systems may not want tointroduce a new model yet and would rather keepcontinuity throughout their suites.” Tino Fibaek, Fairlight’sGeneral Manager, says that it was time to bring outsomething bigger and better. “The world has movedon and we can do more with the technology we havenow. EVO is literally built onto the Constellation inmany different ways – for example, the chassis of theEVO is technically the same as the Constellation, so youcould take an EVO panel set and drop it into an existingConstellation chassis. That part worked very well and wewere very happy with it – so why change it? We were oneof the first companies in the business to use OLEDS, whichgive us a much better brightness and viewing angle andare much easier to read. We’ve evolved on that by usingOLEDS for channel strips, but this time we’ve gone forhigher resolution and quicker update times. We’ve gotcolour – we’ve got more processing power behind them.We’ve used what was working well for us but taken it toa whole new level.”The EVO is based upon an updated version of Fairlight’saforementioned CC-1 Crystal Core technology, which usesa FGPA (Field programmable Gate Array) based engine.A single CC-1 can support up to 220 physical audio I/Os ineither analogue or digital formats, is scalable and, becauseit is Windows-based, plugs seamlessly into virtually anyexisting IT infrastructure. “We wanted to try and take asmany circuit tracks off the board as possible – and putthem into FGPA chips,” says Fibaek. “You end up with aboard with less tracks, less solder, and which is less fragile.It also means that if you come up with a new creativeidea, you have a much better chance of enhancing thehardware. There’s a lot more scope for future proofing andadapting to the changing world. Because it’s a brand newdesign, we’ve had a chance to use the most cutting-edgeFGPA technology we could lay our hands on. It’s cheaper,it’s faster, and it uses less power.” The Constellation sportsa physical processor on each of the panels, whereason the EVO, this has been replaced by a virtual one.“If we find through the life of the product we need twoprocessors on each channel, we can change that usingthe FGPA – we have much more scope to enhance thesystem in response to feedback from the users,” saysFibaek. This is not a boxed product – it’s something thatcan keep on evolving.“Master Of All?Fairlight’s long expertise in the industry means that thecompany has all the building blocks in place to producea combined digital workstation, mixer, editor, andeffects processor along with extensive video capabilities.“Fairlight is the only company in the world that hasall these parts,” says Barnsley. “We’ve taken thosebuilding blocks, and created a completely new mediaproduction system with them. We use the CC-1 becauseit does recording playback and editing really well.We’ve also we’ve got a range of sync boxes (the SX-20)and we can add 200 channels of MADI if the customerdesires it, for example. We also do video very well – youcan have a guide track which will play pretty muchanything you can throw at it.” Fibaek considers himselfto be a toolmaker, creating the means by which creativepeople can ply their trade. “We try and listen to our usersand turn what we hear into our interpretation of theirneeds,” he says. “We want to give them a tool they canuse all day long and which will allow them to producethe best work they can without them becoming tired– a tool that helps them rather than gets in their way.“The compact size of the new console means that users32AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

fairlight evodon’t need to stretch too far to get to essential controls. “The nature of theEVO means that you can see things a lot easier – everything is close,” saysFibaek. “We combine tactile controls with really powerful graphics and wewant to make it so that your body motor control takes over and lets youoperate the EVO while leaving your brain to concentrate on being creative.”Barnsley adds; “In addition to all of that, it’s really simple to use. I’ve neversee a system that’s so intuitive to operate. It’s the first time I’ve sat behind adesk and thought, ‘I don’t need a manual, this is obvious’.”Fibaek considers that, to an extent, the technology used in modernaudio production systems is now irrelevant. “It’s not the technology; it’sthe end product that’s important,” he says. “We’ve taken the graphicspower available to heart to see how far we can push graphical feedback.”EVO is designed from the off as a flexible system. “This is version 1,” says Fibaek.“We can put the EVO in front of the users and listen to what they have to say.Then we could, if necessary, bring out a new version that was fundamentallydifferent – it could have a bunch of new things in it that we hadn’t thoughtof first time around. We’re not constrained by the hardware in the waywe used to be.” Fairlight has taken this customisation to a new level withthe EVO, by letting the user get down and dirty with the software itself.“We’ve developed a programming language that sits inside the system and,if there are things you’d like done differently or need some extra features orfunctionality, you can change things,” says Fibaek. “For example, if you’d liketo reassign the function of any given switch, you can write a piece of codeto do just that. We believe we understand the basic needs of our customers,but we also appreciate that every single installation is different and the userhas different needs.”Multi-faceted FacilitiesThe days of audio people working in just one area are long gone.The modern studio needs to be able to handle pretty much anything thatcomes its way and the EVO is designed to cope with multiple users andconfigurations – as Fibaek explains. “For example, you might be doing ADRwith multiple talents, so you’d bring up your layout of the in-line panelson the EVO so that it’s got the inputs side by side, perhaps along withgain controls and headphone mixes – you make the console work for you.”The EVO’s 48 assignable dual concentric knobs can be used to easily controlplug-ins (the console supports the VST standard), while the centre section’stouch screen and self-labelling key switches mean that it can hold its ownin more traditional editing scenarios. “You might be picking up audio froma database, exporting to different formats and maybe playing embeddedvideo – the world isn’t as simple as it was in the past,” says Fibaek. “You don’thave a room that does a single job – you have a room that does a lot of jobs,and that’s what we are trying to facilitate with the EVO.” Barnsley hastensto add; “On top of that we have the music guys who don’t just do musicanymore – they work in multi media and find the multiple configurationsetups particularly useful.”Modern high-end production tools are so powerful now that theannouncement of a system capable of handling hundreds of tracks eachwith multiple EQ and compressors is almost commonplace. But allowingusers to instinctively harness all the potential available is not easy – butFairlight is attempting to tackle this problem with the EVO. ”The complexityof using that power can be really mind boggling and not particularlyintuitive, “says Fibaek. “What we are heading towards is a convergence ofall the elements needed in today’s high end productions – editing, mixing,recording, plug-ins, video processing – and putting them logically in frontto you so you can get to them quickly. This is not a control surface that plugsinto a separate mix engine, that plugs into a separate video system, thatplugs into an editing system – it’s a truly integrated console.” ....................................INFORMATION GB£ - TBA Fairlight.Au Pty Ltd., Unit 3, 15 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest,NSW 2086, Australia +61 2 9975 1777 +61 2 9975 1999 www.fairlight.com.au sales@fairlightau.comAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 201033

controlsurfaceWith great power comes…the A&H iLive T72, finds ALISTAIRMcGHEE; a compact mixer thatdoesn’t hold back.THE REVIEWERALISTAIR McGHEE began audiolife in Hi-Fi before joining the BBCas an audio engineer. After tenyears in radio and TV, he movedto production. When BBC Choicestarted, he pioneered personaldigital production in television.Alistair is now Assistant Editor,BBC Radio Wales, but is allowedout occasionally.& Heath has been brewing digital magic forsome years now. From install products like theiDR8 to the substantial iLive series of systems,llenA&H has been burning the candle at both endsand with its latest products has pretty much covered theground in between. Shiny and new are the R72 controlsurface, and the iDR-16 mix engine and I/O unit.As each model has the same mic pre,let’s firstly have a look at the differencebetween the modules:The iDR-16 houses both the digitalprocessing engine and the bulk of theaudio I/O. The engine is identical inpower to the systems across the iLiverange offering 64 DSP channels and 32mix busses. One nice feature is that theDSP is not shared across the outputs,so you can have full processing onall 32 mixes without robbing Peter topay Paul.If you are currently working witha big copper multi-core, then put theiDR-16 next to the surface and patchaway at your inputs and outputs just likean ordinary analogue desk. The iDR-16mix rack comes with a built-in ACE portto connect it to your surface. ACE isA&H’s own audio over Ethernet solution, and althoughit’s not a network topology, offering as it does only pointto point connectivity, it’s still pretty damn clever.If on the other hand, you are tired of handlingenormous drums of cable – and frankly who isn’t? – thenput the mix rack on the stage and connect it to the surfacewith a long piece of Cat5 string. Allen & Heath says youcan run up to 120m, but sells you an 80m drum. I wouldsuggest you err on the side of conservatism, not becauseI’ve had a bad experience, but only because your wholeshow is going down this Cat5 and that’s a lot of egg forone face. Check out the A&H website for full cable info.Back at the surface you have some I/O built in – fourbalanced line inputs on jacks, a pair ofunbalanced phonos, and a coaxial spdif.The outputs have the same connectionconfiguration and there’s also anXLR input for a talk back mic and aheadphone socket (actually two; onebig, one little) for monitoring.Small On Size OnlyThe R72 is the smallest Allen & Heathcontrol surface yet and comes in a19-inch rack friendly package thatfeatures 12 faders divided into 8 + 4, andwith six layers, hence the 72. Squeezingsuch a powerful mixer into a such a smallfootprint does entail sacrifices, and Allen& Heath has put pretty much all of themixer configuration onto the onboardtouch-screen computer.In the original iLive series, A&Hoffered a horizontal channel strip, allowing direct accessto a wide range of parameters for the selected channel.In other words, you had lots of knobs for functions youneeded to access in a hurry. If you bought a big enoughsurface you would get the whole channel strip to playwith. The R72 simply doesn’t have room for all those34AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

allen & heath ilive t–72TIMELESS.hardware controllers so the surface has gone virtual.You don’t lose any functionality, you just have tocontrol it using the touch screen.In a way this has always been an option becausethe iLive controllers have always had an onboardtouch screen working in parallel with the physicalcontrols on the surface. The actual channel stripsseem identical to me to those on its bigger brethren,meaning you get two top bonuses. First, everychannel has a small LCD screen built in, which allowsyou to colour and name the channel and display mixinformation and other valuable stuff. Colour codingand naming your channels is a real winner. On otherconsoles at this hotly contested end of the marketyou can name the channel, but as you can only seethe name of the channel you have selected, it doesnothing for your overview. But I hear you say, ‘that iswhy they invented Post-It tape, so there’. Ah, Post-it isfine for an unlayered console, but do you really thinkyou can stick three strips of tape one above the otherand have any chance of finding the channel youwant in a rush? Personally I prefer having coloured,named labels on every channel that change as I goup and down the layers.Lowest noise floor in its class (3.7 dBA)A classic in its own time, the sophisticated new EquitekE100S, engineered and built in the U.S.A., has the smooth,rich tone with full low end CAD is known for. The bootstrapped,full differential Quadra-FET front end, plusCAD’s proprietary circuitry ensures the highest performance.Vintage cherry case and stealth shock mount included.European DistributorsBox of Trix GMBHGermanyRunway UKGreat BritianMogar Music SPAItalyLETUSA, SASpainSound ServiceGMBHSwitzerlandMusic Leader Int.FranceLauda AudioPolandTamstaLithuaniaR.S.L.Europe AudioNetherlands/BeneluxBelco AudioNorwayO.K. & CO.RussaSecond, every channel has a rotary controller thatcan be pan, gain, or trim. In combination with theshift key and alt-view you can have three functionsper rotary. So for my preference, gain at the top leveland pan on the shift key. It may be something to dowith different work flows, but not having gain at thetop level of accessibility on many digital desks is areal drop off. How many times have I reached out tothe tweak the gain on the ‘selected channel’ and idlywondered why I can’t hear any difference on mic A,only to realise I have been gaily altering mic F? Those days are gone with gain on the rotary.CADAUDIO.COMAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 35

Techie ChatSome system talk now. The R72 has acomprehensive show files system usingUSB keys and is fully interchangeable withthe rest of the iLive system. Booting thewhole system takes about 90 seconds, theslowest item being the linux touchscreen.The system passes audio much quickerthan this, but it’s worth bearing inmind. Because the R72/iDR16 has suchdistinguished blood lines you take forgranted features that are pretty high brow.So plug a laptop into the surface and getextra control of your mix engine as thenetwork connection is tunnelled over theACE connection. In fact, plug a laptop in,running your amp control software, andtunnel that down the ACE and out of amixrack network port and into your amp.That’s cool.Leave the surface at home and mixthe gig using your laptop. Leave the100m Cat5 at home and control themixer over wireless. How about (comingsoon): leave your laptop at home andmix the gig from your iPhone? Actually,I want to do the opposite, take thesurface and the laptop and the iPhoneso that I get belt, braces, and anotherbelt, because I’m a ‘just in case’ kind of guy.The control doesn’t end there. You can plug anA&H PL controller (it makes a whole range ofcontrol modules) into the mix rack and extendit on stage to give musicians control of their ownfoldback mix, or use a PL or MIDI controller toaccess faders that normally live on a lower layerbut you want them to hand during the show.The Power Of EightThe desk has eight custom function buttons ableto control mutes, PAFL, and mix settings, whichyou can blend together to build a setup thatworks just for you. Thislevel of flexibility is reallythe acid test of what theA&H kit is all about. Takestereo channels – manydigital desks strugglewith this and you getkludges involving‘hidden’ channels onlower layers or linkedchannels that don’t havelinked preamps. TheR72 offers two solutions.First, a low level mixerconfiguration that hardcodes a stereo channelat mix engine level, nowyour preamps are linked. But do this at your mixplanning stage because this involves a mix rackrethink that takes almost a minute. Secondly, youhave a gang function (with up to eight membersin my gang) at surface level that is instant.Obviously this means you need to think aboutwhich feature you want to deploy when. A simplersystem with less flexibility will mean less thinkingand less power. One of the reasons to choosethe A&H is because of its power, and with powercomes responsibility, and more to the point, greatconfigurability. If you want the simplest system onthe market, this probably isn't for you.There’s MoreWith that word of warning ringing in our ears, let’sromp round some more features. Dividing thesurface into 8+4 means you can keep your inputson the eight side, and the outputs on the four,or any such combination that takes your fancy.You can even lock them together and treat themas one block. Freeze in layer – fix that vocal micin every layer so you can get at it no matter what.Fader display of all mix sends. On some desks youget a ‘sends on faders’ button associated with theAux sends, allowing you to display and controlthe Aux send levels using the faders. The R72takes a slightly differentapproach. Press theblue mix key on anymix and the faders willautomatically show youthe level send, whilethe LCD panel on everychannel will showthe channel’s status(on or off an pre/postinformation) with regardsto that mix. Or youcan work backwardsfrom the channel fader.If you have inputs on thebank of eight and Auxs onthe bank of four, press ‘mix’on an input and the send level will be displayed onthe Aux master faders. And if you like to haveyour cake but are worried about eating it, you canalways configure the sends on the rotaries so yourchannel faders are always inputs.The mix rack comes with ACE as standard, butthere’s a spare slot into which you can plug moreACE, MADI, or Ethersound. There’s also the MMOwith ADAT, AVIOM, and iDR8 type connectivity,and Dante is round the corner. At the simplestlevel it allows you to grow your system by addinga second mix rack, and then because the rack isn’tjust I/O but also DSP you are then able to spreadallen & heath ilive t–72your mic inputs across a tonne of DSP channelsallowing you to apply different processing for,say, FOH and monitors. And while the mic ampgain has to be the same for both, you get digitaltrim of up to +/-24 dB. So set the mic amp gainroughly and then use trims to set different levelsfor FOH and monitors. And as you’re using thesame mix engine as the big boys, you get thesame option of up to eight onboard FX enginesand the ability to route the sends and returns justlike an analogue console if you want.ConclusionSo what’s not to like? Well that’s a bit trickybecause many of the things I would like – moreI/O on the surface or PL connectivity at the surfaceend, for instance – are available on bigger systemsin the iLive range. I wish it booted quicker, andfrom a selfish broadcast point of view, wish it hadsplit PFL monitoring, and that a tweak of the softkeys would let me use them directly as talk backbuttons on a single key press. But these are reallynit level nit-picks, it’s a live desk after all.On the up, if you’re happy with the idea ofinvesting time in getting to know the system, thepower available is well... considerable (I have givenup ‘awesome’ for Lent), very considerable. Andbecause it is part of a bigger system, upgrading iseasy. As a Stones fan it pains me to say it, but theR72/iDR-16 combo is the Sgt. Peppers of sub tengrand digital mix systems. ....................................INFORMATION iLive-R72 – GB£5,114.00 (exc. VAT)iDR-16 – GB£2,983.00 (exc. VAT) Allen & Heath Ltd., Kernick Industrial Estate,Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9LU, UK +44 (0) 1326 372070+44 (0) 1326 377097 www.allen-heath.co.uk36AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

38AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

street cred – dean street studios Zazcom_TRX900_AM_HiRes.pdf 4/1/10 10:18:23 AM CMYCMMYCYCMYK www.zaxcom.comTo learn more visit us at NAB Booth C154AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 201039

street cred – dean street studios 40AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

street cred – dean street studios ....................................INFORMATIONDean Street Studios59 Dean Street, London W1D 6AN+44 (0) 207 734 8009www.deanst.comA complete professional mixingpackage that fusesEuphonix’ new processingDSP engine with EuConHybrid, a technology thatallows the console surface tosimultaneously and seamlesslycontrol its own DSP channelsas well as tracks from multipleexternal DAWs.AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 201041

mic preamplifiersSIMON TILLBROOKfinds that while the OctoPregives much, the OctoPreDynamic gives even more.THE REVIEWERSIMON TILLBROOK is the PrincipalMusic Tutor at Islington MusicWorkshop in London. The rest ofhis time is spent as a freelanceengineer, mainly in the USA.is one of those companies designing andmanufacturing high-end pro audio equipment ofvarious types, including boutique style dynamicocusriteprocessors and preamps to full blown large formatmixing consoles, that targets the smaller DAW productionbased user.From the early, and verypopular, Green throughto the Platinum and, mostrecently, the Saffire rangesof cost effective processorsand interfaces, Focusrite hasestablished a solid reputationand customer base.Joining this successfulgroup of units, and extendingthe Saffire range, are twonew additions, the FocusriteOctopre Mkll and Octopre MkllDynamic.OverviewBoth the Focusrite OctopreMkll and Mkll Dynamic sport the same blue and blacklivery asd the other units in the range.Both Octopre units are seen as expansion devices to aDAW system for the purposes of tracking and, dependanton the general requirements of the system, you couldgo for either the Focusrite Octopre Mkll, with its simplefeature set, or the more comprehensively featuredFocusrite Octopre Mkll Dynamic.You are not limited to DAW system use as they canboth be used as stand-alone interfaces.Both units are single nineteen-inch rack mountand have eight FET-based microphone preamplifiers.These are the same as seen on the rest of the FocusriteSaffire interfaces and offer a gain range from +10 to +55dB.The Focusrite Octopre Mkll has the addition of a -10dBpad switch.Phantom power is available on all microphone inputs,and this is switched on andoff in banks of four, 1 to 4,and 5 to 8.You have eight balancedline inputs offering a gainrange from -10 to +36dB,and the first two inputs alsogive you a direct input forinstruments with gain from-10 to +55dB.The rotary gain controlsfor each of the eight inputsare lined up along thefront panel. This is wherewe also have metering forthe eight analogue inputs.This metering is a five LED fullscalestyle running from -42, -18, -6, -3, through to 0dBFS.Connection to these various inputs is via Neutrikcombination sockets. In the case of the Focusrite OctopreMkll Dynamic, these are all on the rear panel, but withthe Octopre Mkll the first two inputs are accessed fromthe front panel. These are unfortunately not mirrored onthe rear panel.Eight balanced analogue outputs are provided onboth the Octopre Mkll and Octopre Mkll Dynamic thatcan be accessed by eight TRS sockets on the rear.42AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

DigitalConnectivityWhen it comes to digitalconnectivity, there isa difference betweenthe two Focusriteinterfaces, but it was not so long ago, with earlierincarnations of Focusrite’s Octopre units, wheredigital connection was an optional board fit.Both the Focusrite Octopre Mkll and MkllDynamic have sample rate options of 44.1, 48, 88.2,and 96kHz, which is both indicated and selectedfrom the front panel.When it comes to the Focusrite OctopreMkll, there are two ADAT optical digital outputson the rear. Sample rates up to 48kHz allowall eight channels to come from both outputssimultaneously to feed two separate devices,and with 96kHz the channels are split, 1-4 outputone, and 5-8 output two. There is a single BNCwordclock input socket as well for external clockTHE SYMPHONY SYSTEMThe Most Powerful Audio Workstation Availablereference.The Focusrite Octopre MkllDynamic has both digitalinput and output options.As well as the same digitaloutput specification, aspreviously described, thereare two further ADAT opticalsockets for the input. Themirroring and duplicationrelating to sample rate followsas before. The addition ofthe ADAT format digital input also allows foroptical sync. We also have an addition BNCconnector for wordclock output.The Symphony System combines Apogee’s legendary X-Series and Rosetta Series converters withApple’s revolutionary Mac Pro and Logic Pro audio workstation using the 32-channel SymphonyPCI card.BEST SOUNDINGThe most sonically advanced audio hardwareinterfaces combined with the most advancedmusic creation and production tool.HIGHEST PERFORMANCE1.6 milliseconds at 96k and up to 192simultaneous channels of audio.GREATEST VALUEA fraction of the cost of popular card-based,DSP systems.The Total PackageIntroducing Logic StudioA suite of powerful, easy-to-use musiccreation and production tools, Logic Studiogives musicians everything they need towrite, record, edit, mix and perform.focusrite octopre mkii & dynamicSymphony PCIE Card32-Channels of I/O percard & up to 96 channelsper system.With both the FocusriteOctopre Mkll and MkllDynamic, indication andswitching between clocksources is located on thefront panel.CompressionThe main feature of theFocusrite Octopre MkllDynamic (along with itsdigital input capabilities)is the compressor found on each of the eightanalogue inputs.The design orientation of this compressorseems to have been very specific. This is acompressor designed primarily for use duringthe recording process for drums and bass.Focusrite used its Red3 compressor as thereference, modelling the characteristics by ear ofthe compressor on various drum and bass sources,and then implementing them into the OctopreMkll Dynamic compressor.This is a VCA-based compressor design,unlike the opto designs in previous Octopredevices. These are faster and generally lesscoloured, so good for recording applications. Thiscompressor uses a progressive soft-knee curvewith a fixed attack time of 1.2ms and fixed releasetime of 28ms.Control is via a single rotary control foundnext to the input gain control on each of theFocusrite Octopre Mkll Dynamic eight channels.As you increase the level of this rotary pot, thethreshold level is lowered and the make-up gainis increased.The ratio in this standard operating mode is 2:1,but you have a button next to the rotary controllabelled ‘More’. This is something you would likelyuse on higher SPL signals. The ratio is increasedfrom 2:1 up to 4:1, and the threshold range isreduced over the travel of the rotary control.UseI used both the Focusrite Octopre Mkll andMkll Dynamic in a variety of system setups forrecording. With the various DAW setups, after theinitial process of setting the interfaces up therewere no surprises; all simple enough. When usedstand-alone the signal flow through the unitsworked perfectly into both analogue and digitalsystems.Just utilising the preamplifiers initially, whenworking with loud percussive and bass sounds theperformance was good and solid. These preampsthat are part of the Focusrite Saffire range areclean and exhibit very low noise with little, if any,colouration. For many, an ideal tracking preamp,and in-line with much that has gone before withFocusrite preamplifier designs.With some microphones, and when usingwith lower level sound sources, I found that Isometimes wanted for a little more in the gainrange. This was not going to stop me being ableto use the inputs for the chosen source, but a little44AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

focusrite octopre mkii & dynamicmore gain would have been nice to have. Lineinputs and direct instrument input on the frontof the Octopre Mkll all performed as expected,providing sonically good results every time.The Pad on the Focusrite Octopre Mkll inputpreamp is a useful addition, and as a solid setof Focusrite Saffire preamps the Octopre Mkllrepresents good value as an expansion to anexisting system setup.Now for the Focusrite Octopre Mkll Dynamic,and in particular the compressor. I have used theRed 3 many times and, as a program sympatheticcompressor always found it a joy, thoughfor me, more for use as an effect type than astraightforward compressor.I find myself being more than a little scepticalwhen approaching single pot compressor controls,especially when modelled on or emulating arevered device.In standard operation on drum and basssignals, as the design approach intended, I foundthe compressors very good indeed. The basicmusical ‘not really there’ compression was easilyachieved. When switching the compressor modewith the ‘More’ button you certainly have a moreaggressive level of audible compression, but in noway harsh or unsympathetic to the audio source.The Focusrite Octopre Mkll Dynamic, eventhough it has a higher price tag, does offerquite a lot more. The digital connectivity iscomprehensive but, most importantly, the simplecompression offered on all eight channels is still avery useful feature in a tracking session. It worksremarkably well for a single knob design and hasmuch of the feel that the Red 3 has.As another input option in your setup, you willbe pleased with what both units sonically offer,but the addition features of the Focusrite OctopreMkll Dynamic may well make you fork out thatlittle bit extra. ....................................INFORMATION OctoPre MkII – £329.00 (inc.VAT)OctoPre MkII Dynamic – GB£499.00 (inc.VAT) Focusrite, 19 Lincoln Road, Cressex BusinessPark, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP12 3FX +44 (0) 1494 836307 www.focusrite.comwww.schoeps.de/vsr5u.pdfMoving away from the designed sound use,and applying the compression to vocals, guitars(both acoustic and electric), the Focusrite OctopreMkll Dynamic compressors performed very wellindeed. Its good transparent compression fortracking purposes that you can simply set tolightly control the audio dynamic range to yourstorage medium, and then forget about it.ConclusionThe Focusrite Octopre Mkll and Mkll Dynamic arenow competing in a hugely competitive marketsector unlike many similar Focusrite devicesbefore them. Both units are reasonably priced,but have stiff rivals to deal with.The Focusrite Octopre Mkll offers good solidperforming preamplifiers as we have come toexpect from such a manufacturer and, as part ofa wider tracking setup, represents good valueeven though the lack of digital input may putsome off.SCHOEPS AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 201045

Image Source: www.flickr.com 46AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

world peas Dave Haines mixes the Black Eyed Peas on a Digidesign Venue D-Show console, with the aim to turn every arena into a dance club. AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 201047

world peas Ryan Cecil tackles monitors for all three acts – Black Eyed Peas and openersLudacris and LMFAO – every night. ....................................Clairwww.clairglobal.comINFORMATIONDigidesignwww.avid.comSennheiserwww.sennheiserusa.com48AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

© 2010 Shure IncorporatedNEWSHURE PSM 900 IN-EARPERSONAL MONITORING SYSTEM.THE SOUND OF CONFIDENCE.Purest Audio: Enhanced digital stereo encoding and Shure-patentedAudio Reference Companding for clear, accurate audioPrecision Front-End RF Filtering: Senses and rejects potential RFinterference before it can reach the receiverExceptional Transmitter Linearity: Vastly reduced intermodulation andup to 20 compatible channels in a single frequency bandActive RF Gain Control: Detects and immediately reducesRF signal overloadsCueMode: Patent-pending CueMode allows auditioning of up to 20different receiver mixes on a single bodypack at the touch of a buttonLow Profile, All-Metal Bodypack: Thinnest available, rugged, and loadedwith innovative featuresScan & Sync: Identifies and selects the highest number of availablegrouped RF frequencies and provides 1-touch set-up of transmitterswww.shure.co.uk

5012, 5015, 5032Pre-ampsALAN BRANCH struggles tofind anything to dislike inRupert Neve’s Portico rangeof pre-amps.THE REVIEWERALAN BRANCH is a freelanceengineer/producer and ex-memberof the On U Sound Crew. His longlist of credits include Jamiroquai,Beverley Knight, M People, SimplyRed, Depeche M ode, Shed 7,Sinead O’ Connor, Bjork, and Sade.www.alanbranch.comwith class, heritage, and professionalbuild quality: we look at the Portico range ofmic pres from Rupert Neve Designs, need I sayardwareany more? Just the name alone and a glance atthe product images makes you want one of thesemodules. Rupert Neve is synonymous with sound quality,and that is the power of his fame and achievement inexcellence of circuit design. His creations have helpedmany producers and engineers capture, shape, andproduce some of the greatest soundingrecords of our time.Rupert Neve is now based in therolling hills of Wimberley, Texas, with hisrelatively new company Rupert NeveDesigns (RND henceforth), and has beendesigning and building his own productsfrom there. The Portico Series is a seriesof half rack modules that can be housedin a few ways: either a single module witha half rack join kit, a pair joined together,or several mounted in a special eightspace vertical 19-inch rack. Vertical faceplates can be supplied for mounting this way, and youcan even have a custom cherry wood enclosure for thatclassic look.Make no mistake though, as these are RupertNeve designs of today, not remakes of an old model.As Rupert says himself, “The advances in components andexperience gained means the Portico range outperformsthe classics in many respects.” The Portico moduleshave a new Rupert-designed transformer, short audiopaths, minimal negative feedback, and discrete singlesided transformer-coupled outputs to make sure thereis no possibility of crossover distortion. What does thatall mean? Well, basically it means that the man is backdesigning vintage sounding modules better than before.If you’ve invested in a quality microphone, nicerecording room, and monitoring; but when you turn upyour mic amp you’re hearing a load of internal hiss, thenone of these bad boys is your next step. Here we coverthree modules from the Portico range. The 5012 is a dualchannel mic pre, the 5015 is a single channel mic pre witha compressor, and the 5032 is a mic pre with addition ofthree-band EQ. So, you have a few to choose from, butwhich would you choose if you could only afford one?That’s the question I asked myself, andfound it was quite difficult to answer.It’s A Personal Thing…All of the Portico mic amps are identicalin each module, so it’s purely down topersonal choice depending on yournormal recording situation and whatyou prefer. The first impression as youtake each module out of the box is thequality of the construction: a ventedmetal case with a thick face place,adorned with a beautifully detailedcolour scheme, superb control knobs, and backlit clearswitches. Power is the normal external independentsupply that can be the curse of any studio as they growin numbers hanging behind studio racks, but RND’sapproach is slightly different in that it has designedthe modules to work from virtually any power supplyfrom 9-18 volts that is ‘reasonably’ clean. This means thatthe module can be kept running fairly easily in case ofa power supply problem, but also it’s much easier touse in mobile situations – in fact, a car battery will do.Other manufacturers should take note of this. We couldeffectively power all of our wall-wart dependant devicesfrom one power source. RND also supplies a powersplitter, as each power supply provided with a Portico will50AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

power an additional module. Whilstthe rear of each module is slightlydifferent, all have XLR I/O. The Porticorange also has a buss I/O. These aredesigned for use with other Porticomodules with a matching mix or bussinput, so a simple TRS patch cord canbe used if you add an EQ module to amic pre, for example.As each model has the same mic pre,let’s firstly have a look at the differencebetween the modules:5032 (EQ)The 5032 is a mic pre with a three-band EQ,including a low and high shelf with a boost or cut15dB. The high has a switchable curve of eight to16kHz, also a parametric with EQ and frequencycontrol from 80hZ- 8KHz using a x10 frequencymultiplier to cover the ranges of 80-800 and800- 8kHz respectively, and again a boost andcut of 15dB. Of course in true RND style, it is verymusical in its sound and operation. By that, I meansmooth but powerful EQ tools that can sharpenand enhance a natural sound.5015 (Compressor)The 5015 has the addition of a compressor,interestingly with its own separate I/O. Itsdesign uses a low noise, low distortion VCA-typeto produce a colourless character in its sound.Fully variable threshold, ratio, attack, release, andmake up gain controls are well laid out, and aneight-segment LED meter shows gain reduction. Aneat feature is the addition of a Feed Forward (FF)or Feed Back (FB) VCA control: FF means the VCAcontrol voltage is taken from the 5015 input beforethe VCA, whereas FB takes its control voltage fromthe 5015 output, hence ‘feedback’. This was howRupert Neve’s earlier designs were built, having aless accurate but more musical character, so if youwant to protect your levels from a dynamic sourceyou can use the fast switching FF, or get creativewith the more musical FB to enhance somethingsmoother. There is also a sidechain link to enable stereocontrol or ducking with anothermatching Portico Module.rupert neve designs portico seriesThe Portico 5032.5012 (Dual Mic Pre)The 5012 is simply a twin mic preamp with separate buss sends.The mic pre is identical on eachmodule. There is a large red micgain stepped switch from 0 to66dB of gain in 6dB separations,together with a fully variabletrim control of +/-6dB, perfectfor riding the input gain whenrecording extra dynamic material. A high-passfilter green backlit push-in switch delivers a 12dBper octave filter with a variable rotary controlcovering 20-250Hz. Other backlit switches arethe +48v phantom power, a phase invert, mute, abuss/compressor send, and the SILK switch (seebelow), whilst there is a tiny eight LED segmentmeter showing the output level. All of themodules employ the use of a Class A operation,which basically means it’s the best circuit designfor sonic detail and low noise.Lastly in all of the modules, there is a kind ofspecial boost button that RND has called ‘Silk’.Its function is described as, “reducing negativefeedback and adjusting the frequency spectrumto provide a very sweet musical performance”.A bit like a vintage sound switch, then.In UseSo for those that have read the opening paragraphand skipped the specs (I of course never do that),and just want to know how it sounds… Well, inshort, ‘bloody marvellous’. As a mic pre, you justcan’t go wrong. The transformer design has beenevolving for years in Rupert Neve’s brain, and hispursuit of sonic excellence is clear if you ever getthe chance to hear the man speak (there are someinteresting AES audio snippets of him on the RNDwebsite for those interested). Use on vocal andguitar was very clear and sharp, and althoughunfortunately I didn’t have a Neve classic micamp to compare, from memory I would say it wasless coloured in its character. I suspect this is whythere is the addition of the ‘Silk’ button, whichproduces a very contrasting change in the sound,with a smoother top end whilst more low midbecomes present on the recording. I couldn’t helpmyself but leave it in most times, however it does…move it away from the clarity of the source sound,which the amp seems to capture in supremedetail. I tried a variety of quality mics to see whatdifference it could possibly make over an averagequalityDAW interface with built-in mic amps, andwas amazed to see just howmuch it did. The level and qualityit seemed to draw out of eachmic was so much better.The addition of EQ in the 5032is a great choice and much likethe original Neve1073 mic Pre/EQ. As I mentioned in the detailsection, the EQ is smooth andmusical as you would expectfrom RND, and if you’re goingto EQ when recording, this is thekind of sound sculpturing to use.The 5015 with compression canbe a very useful one, especiallyas it can be used separately in a multi-moduleset-up. The VCA operation switch ‘FF’ or ‘FB’ givesyou a choice of two compression modes, and is alovely choice when recording vocals. I rarely EQ orcompress when I record, so dual channel wouldbe my choice. However, having the compressoris handy for those live recordings or places whenyour recording headroom might be compromised,after all there isn’t an undo for a clipped signal!Plus if I had a rack of the 5032 with EQ, that wouldbe perfect for a multi-mic drum recording.I couldn’t really find any faults with themodules. Some might ask for a Digi output, ora dedicated DI, or a full rack, but there are otherPortico modules that can do these. I like thesemodules; they are the Neve classics of today. ....................................INFORMATION Portico 5012 – GB£1,126.09 (exc. VAT)Portico 5032 – GB£1,213.04 (exc. VAT)Portico 5015 – GB£1,213.04 (exc. VAT) Rupert Neve Designs, Inc. PO Box 1969,Wimberley, TX 78676, USA +1 512 847 3013 +1 512 847 8869 www.rupertneve.com info@rupertneve.com UK Distributor: Sonic Distribution Ltd., Unit 23Westbury Close, Townsend Industrial Estate,Houghton Regis, LU5 5BL +44 (0) 845 500 2500 www.sonic-distribution.com/ukAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 201051

PRODUCT SAMPLERmicrophonesThere are a lot of microphones out there, for a lot of applications.To give you somewhere to start from when you’re thinking about what microphone to get next,we’ve pulled a few together in a nice list.The BP892 MicroSet Subminiature fromAudio-Technica is an omni-directional head-worn microphone, utilising a 2.6mm condensercapsule. This makes itideal for applicationsrequiring minimum visibility.It has a high-SPLcapability of 135dB,and a flat, extendedfrequency response of 20Hz-20kHz.It is available in a wired model as well as in amultitude of terminations to work with A-Tand other manufacturers’ wireless systems; thewired version features a switchable integral80Hz high-pass filter.www.audio-technica.comAudix offers a range of drum microphonesin its Fusion series, including the f6 kick drumdynamic microphone. The f6has a hyper-cardioid pick-uppattern for isolation and feedbackcontrol, and is equippedwith an LM Type A (low mass)diaphragm. This model has awide frequency response of40Hz-16kHz and can handlesound pressure levels of 140dB,making it a good choice formiking instruments that require extended lowfrequency reproduction, such as kick drums,large toms, and bass cabinets.www.audixusa.comThe Valvet X, from German manufacturerBrauner, was released to celebrate the Valvet’s10th anniversary. A tube microphone with anequivalent noise of 9dBA, and a frequencyrange of 20Hz to22kHz, the ValvetX is a cardioid-onlymodel of the Valvet,which was itself adescendent of theVM1 tube microphone.Offering amaximum SPL of 142dB, its intimate, pure soundwould suggest that it is best for vocals oracoustic instruments.www.brauner-microphones.deAudio Technica has added its first ever ribbonmicrophones to the 40 series microphonerange. The AT4080 features dual ribbon constructionfor pronouncedsensitivity, while the singleribbon AT4081 is a low-profilestick design that allows forflexible positioning options.Both the phantom-poweredmodels employ powerful N50rare-earth neodymium magnets,and have a figure-of-eight polar pattern.Traditional ribbon mic problems, such as fragilityand low output, are tackled through the useof a proprietary MicroLinear ribbon imprint.www.audio-technica.comIf the M88 fromBeyerdynamicjust isn’t personalenough, userscan now designtheir own version.The base model is the hyper-cardioid M88 TG,with four design areas available. Retrospectoffers a traditional design with a hand sewnleather shaft and the option to emboss aname; Midnight is all black, and can be made inplatinum with a black diamond; Spectrum hascolours determined by the artist’s date of birth;and Gradient has a voice print on it based on asample of the customer’s voice.www.my-88.comThe CAD Audio E100S large diaphragm supercardioidcondenser has a low noise floor of3.7dBA, an 80Hz hi-pass filter, and a 10dB pad.CAD says that the Quadra-FET front end delivershigh sensitivity and low distortion,with high performancefrom the proprietarycircuitry. Accurate phasingon instruments is deliveredby the nickel plated oneinchcapsule, as well as a richvocal tone accentuated bythe extended low frequencyresponse. It comes with a vintage woodgraincherry case and a stealth shock mount.www.cadaudio.comThe new versions of the AKG C 414 offer ninepick-up patterns, and allcontrols can now be disabledeasily. Both microphones havethree switchable bass cut filtersas well as three pre-attenuationlevels that allow lead vocalsand solo instruments to beplaced in very dense mixes. TheC414 XLS maintains the soniccharacter of longest-lived C414model, the C414 B-ULS, whilethe C414 XLII is the successor ofthe C414 B-TLII, with the sonic signature of theAKG C-12.www.akg.comBlue has expanded its enCORE live stagemicrophone series with the addition of arugged instrument microphone, the 100i.It has a new dynamic capsule with acustom-tuned diaphragm designedspecifically to provide a tighter polarpattern perfect for miking instrumentsand other sources requiringhigh isolation. A custom circuit withtransformer and high-pass filteroptimises frequency response foruse with drums and amplified instruments,while a specially designedgrille provides protection and facilitatesmounting in tight spaces.www.bluemic.comThe CAD22A dynamic microphone from CADAudio offers a frequency responseof 60Hz to 15KHz, and a uniformcardioid polar pattern that reducesfeedback. Aimed at vocalists andmusicians looking for a generalpurpose model, the CAD22A cangive a warm bass-boost by workingclose to the microphone. It comeswith a swivel mount, on/off switchwith recessed button, an effectiveinternal multi-stage blast filter to minimisewind and breath noise, and an effectiverubber shock mount to reduce cable, standand handling noise.www.cadaudio.com52AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

C 414One Legendary NameTwo Legendary SoundsC 414 XLS delivers the well-known C 414 Sound - for any application well-known as the most universal and versatile largediaphragm microphone ever accurate, beautifully detailed pickup of any acousticinstrumentC 414 XL II delivers the unique sonic signature of the highly sought afterAKG C 12 enables lead vocals and solo instruments to be placed, evenin a dense mix unrivalled up-front sound also for classical music recordingor drum ambience mikingSince the mid-1980’s, the C 414 has been THE reference microphone of the recording industry and a proven workhorse for the stage. The new C 414models offer nine pickup patterns that enable you to choose the perfect setting for every application. For live-sound applications and fixed installations,all controls can be easily disabled for trouble-free use, and the peak hold LED displays even the shortest overload peaks.ADV 697/1/Ewww.akg.comAKG SOUNDS BETTER

PRODUCT SAMPLER | MICROPHONESDPA’s 4099 series of condenser clip microphonesfor instruments can be used withalmost any wireless systemthrough the use of anextensive adapter system,and can also be used asa standard 48V phantompowered microphone viathe included XLR connector. The 4099G isdesigned for the guitar family, fitting instrumentswith a body depth of between 1.4-4.8inches. It features a gooseneck for stable andrepeatable positioning, and can be unclippedand repositioned or moved to another instrumentwith one hand.www.dpamicrophones.comThe Horch RM2J is a unique tube microphonedesign, featuring Horch’s four-micron capsule.The microphone is switchablebetween fixed cardioid mode (red)and multi-pattern (blue), using aswitch on the front of the microphone.There is a cardioid patternavailable in the multi-pattern mode,which has a different sound and textureto the fixed cardioid pattern ofthe red mode. Switching to red turnsoff the rear diaphragm element ofthe microphone, creating awider cardioid response pattern andenhanced proximity effect.www.horchaudio.deThe engineers at Mercenary Audiosaw a need for a microphone thatwould behave like the increasinglyold, expensive, and difficult to gethold of Neumann KM-84i, and sodeveloped the KM-69. The soundof the microphone – designed particularlyfor hi-hats – was createdover time solely by listening andusing, and was designed to a particularaesthetic rather than a set ofnumeric specifications. The KM-69 isalso useful for drum overheads andother percussion, acoustic guitar,and piano.www.mercenary.comThe DPA 5100 is a mobile surround microphonethat can be used to add surround ambience –ideal for giving a full surround sound to sportsevents. No externalsignal processingis required, and themicrophone can bemounted on a cameraor a microphone stand,suspended, or handheldvia a hand grip. The 5100 employs five miniaturepressure transducers that have very lowsensitivity to wind and mechanical noise, lowdistortion, consistent low frequency response,and a large dynamic range.www.dpamicrophones.comJZ Microphones released the V47 at the endof last year as the first in its JZ Vintage series.The microphone is based on the capsule soundof the legendary U47. It has an original, flaskshapeddesign with a built-inshock-mounting system andswivel mount. The double diaphragmcapsule was createdusing JZ patented Goldendrops sputtering technology,in which the Mylar diaphragmmaterial is coated with precisely-locateddiscrete dots ofgold alloy. The microphonehas a fixed cardioid pickup pattern.www.jzmic.comThe M990 art is a large diaphragm tubemicrophone made by German manufacturersMicrotech Gefell. The pressure gradienttransducer uses a gold-sputteredPVC membrane, and thetube amplifier is a low noisepentode valve operating in atriode configuration. The ‘art’edition is a special anniversaryedition of the M990; the originalM990 capsule uses a Mylardiaphragm, whereas the newedition uses a PVC-diaphragm version of theM930 capsule. It also features a custom outputtransformer.www.microtechgefell.deThe Drum Periscope tom and snare microphonesfrom Earthworks featurea stiff mini-gooseneck that willnot move when drums are hithard, and microphone capsulehousing that will withstand adirect hit from a drumstick. TheDP25/C is a cardioid microphonefor the snare that has a frequencyresponse of 50Hz to 25kHz, anda short diaphragm settling time.The DP30/C tom microphone hasa frequency response of 30Hz to30kHz. Both models feature a veryfast impulse response.www.earthworksaudio.comThe Oceanus LT-381 from Lauten is a transformer-lessmicrophone that utilises Lauten’snew 31.25mm dual-diaphragm capsule.Featuring a variable polar patternselector that allows users to choosefrom omni-directional, cardioid, andfigure-of-eight, as well as six intermediatepositions, the LT-381 has a widevariety of sound characteristics. Thecapsule is internally shock-mounted,and each microphone has a customheavy-duty shock mount. The microphonecontains a NOS pentode tube as theinput and gain stage, and a transformer-lesstube output stage.www.lautenaudio.comThe MicW G106 is an omnidirectionalmicrophone thatuses a 26mm diameter largediaphragm capsule. It hasthe same design as the MicWN101 microphone, but ituses a gold-plated polymerdiaphragm. The G106 offers afrequency response of 20Hz to20kHz with a 0-2dB soft boostat around 8Hz. It has a totallytransparent audio path with alow noise floor of 24dBA andan SPL handling capability of130dB SPL peak.www.mic-w.comThe H2-5.1 surround microphone fromHolophone comes equipped with SennheiserMKE series microphone capsules. The multidirectionalH2-5.1 is based on the company’sflagship H2-PRO, and features six Sennheisermicrophone capsules arrangedto correspond with a typical 5.1speaker set up. This configurationshould allow the microphoneto capture an accurate5.1 surround recording, froma single point, with no signalmanipulation required. Themicrophone’s six channels of audio are outputto six separate XLR connectors.www.holophone.comManley’s Gold Reference Stereo microphoneutilises its own design of large capsules –1.25-inch overall, with a one-inch diaphragmdiameter. It has two completematched systems installed inone case with the upper capsulebeing fixed and the lower capsulebeing continuously rotatablethrough 90 degrees. Each capsulehas its own continuously variablepattern control and individual-10dB pad switch. The all-tube electronics arebuilt around two triodes in cascade formingan entire gain-block. The grille is a very openweave stainless-steel.www.manley.comSimilar to the TLM 103, but 13 percent smaller,the Neumann TLM 102 is aimed at home andproject-based recordingstudios, smaller broadcastfacilities, and travelling musicians.It has a maximum SPL of144dB, and a slight presencepeak of 6kHz. The microphoneis 166mmx52mm, and hasa foam-lined grille whichreduces harsh sounds andeliminates the need for a popfilter. The elastically mountedcapsule reduces the sound of structure noisewithout the need for a shockmount.www.neumann.com54AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

PRODUCT SAMPLER | MICROPHONESThe Rode M1-S is based on the sturdy Rodestandard M1, with the same heavy duty metalbody. The big differenceis the additionof a fully lockable on/off switch, but otherwisethe M1-S offersthe same high-outputneodymium capsuleand feedback-rejectingpick-up pattern as the M1. The M1-S also featuresa lockable XLR output, to provide extrasecurity in public venues and institutions.The tough live performance dynamic microphonehas a frequency range of 75Hz to 18kHz.www.rodemic.comSanken’s CU-44X MkII has a specially designedtwo-way capsule, one for the bass and onefor the high frequencies. Using dual titaniumdiaphragms, the microphoneprovides a transparent and highresolutionsound. It also featuresa capsule mounting system thatensures phase coherency betweenthe two capsules. The titaniummembranes of the CU-44X MkII areimmune to the effects of humidityand temperature change, resulting in a consistentresponse regardless of the recording environment.The phantom power supply is housedwithin the body of the microphone.www.sanken-mic.comsE Electronics’ sE4400a is based on the samecapsule tuning as the sE2200a, but with a dualcapsule. The microphonehas four polar patterns –cardioid, hyper-cardioid,figure-of-eight, and omni.It has two bass cuts at 60Hzand 120Hz, and two padsat 10dB and 20dB. Thecompact chassis houses atwin diaphragm one-inchcapsule, and the flat, roundedgeddesign allows it to be used flat on adrumhead or guitar cab, or pushed through theskin of a kick drum.www.seelectronics.comRoyer claims that the R-122 is the world’s firstphantom powered active ribbon microphone.It contains a fully balanced, discrete headamplifier system that utilises a speciallywound toroidal transformerand ultra-low noise FETs. The R-122’sproprietary offset ribbon transduceris the first of its kind, positioningthe ribbon element closer to thefront side of the microphone. Thisarrangement gives the ribbon moreroom to move within the primemagnetic field while maintainingfull frequency response during highSPL recordings.www.royerlabs.comSchoeps has recently unveiled the SuperCMIT,a digital shotgun microphone with increaseddirectivity, based on Schoeps’ CMIT 5 analoguemodel. Excellent in situations where diffusesources of noise might interferewith a recording, the SuperCMITgreatly reduces unwanted noise.The SuperCMIT's digital signalprocessing recognises soundenergy arriving from differentdirections, and determineswhether that sound has a discrete, persistentdirection of arrival or not, using that informationto suppress diffuse sound and focus ondiscrete sound.www.schoeps.deThe sE Electronics sE4 is a remodelled sE3,and will replace that model. Designed to soundand perform exactly the same as the sE3, thesE4 has one key difference; the chassis hasbeen re-engineered to accepttwo additional interchangeablecapsules, a hyper-cardioid and anomni. It comes with the cardioidcapsule as standard, and thehyper-cardioid and omni capsuleset is available as an additionalpurchase for both single andmatched stereo pair sE4 microphones.The new capsule set willnot fit the sE3 model.www.seelectronics.comAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 55

PRODUCT SAMPLER | MICROPHONESThe MKH 800 TWIN from Sennheiser is a uni-versal studio condenser microphone, whichincludes a dual capsule consisting oftwo symmetrical push-pull transducerswith high linearity. It is a side firemicrophone with the two cardioidpick-up patterns of the transduceraligned back-to-back across the axis ofthe microphones. The signals of bothtransducers are not combined in themicrophone in order to generate differingpick-up patterns, but are availableseperately as two channels at themicrophone output, allowing the patterns to beremotely adjusted.www.sennheiser.co.ukThe retro-styled Saturn from Sontronics isinspired by the classic vocal microphones of the1940s and 1950s. Designedwith vocals in mind, but witha choice of polar patternsplus filter and pad controls,it is a flexible studio microphonethat can be used onguitars, brass, woodwind,strings, piano, and drums.It has five polar patterns– omni-directional, subcardioid,cardioid, hyper-cardioid, and figureof-eight,variable attenuation of -10/-20dB, anda high-pass filter.www.sontronics.comThe SPS200 Software Controlledmicrophone from Soundfieldis suitable for those working inbroadcast: in the field on laptopbasedrecording systems, or in thestudio on fully-fledged DAWs. It ispowered by 48v phantom powerand incorporates four low noisecondenser capsules. A short breakoutcable outputs the four signalsgenerated by the SPS200 at miclevel on four balanced XLRs, ensuringcompatibility with all equipment.All processing takes place inthe supplied Surround Zone software.www.soundfield.comShure’s PG27USB is a side address condensermicrophone, which easily plugs into a computerUSB port for digital recording. Designedwith a flat frequency response, the microphonenaturally reproduces a widevariety of acoustic, amplified,and vocal sound sources. It iscompatible with Windows Vista,XP, 2000, and Mac OS X (version10.1 or later). The model has anintegrated pre-amp with microphonegain control to allow controlof the input signal strength,and zero latency monitoring.www.shure.comThe Studio Projects CS5 is an externally polarisedfive-pattern pressure gradient transducermicrophone, with FET impedanceconverter. It has a 27mm capsule andfeatures five selectable polar patterns,four selectable pads, four highpass filters and four low pass filters.Studio Projects recommends it for usein close miking of instruments withhigh sound pressure levels; as a spotmic for wind instruments, strings,percussion, and guitar amp; vocalistrecording; or as an announcer’s microphonefor broadcasting or dubbing.www.studioprojectsusa.comThe Black Knight from Violet is based on adual-diaphragm large-size true electrostaticcapsule, providing a fast transient impulseresponse, minimum sound colouration, goodlow frequency response, and competenthandling of low sound pressurelevels. The Black Knight has a unidirectionalcardioid polar pattern, witha wide frontal incidence angle. Themicrophone head can be positionedwithout stand adjustments due to anintegrated head swivel mount, andthe head-grille is made of brass meshto provide a very open acoustic filter.www.violet-design.com“I Wish Everyone Could Hear This . . .”For the last 15 years, Bruce has been mixing on his AttackWall and voicing his mics in the Quick Sound Field.ASC-Quick Sound Field Take the mic out of the roomASC-AttackWall Take the room out of the mixASC ACOUSTICSCIENCESCORPORATION56AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

Steinberg Nuendo SyncStation:Audio synchronisationfor post-productionGet in touch on 03332 409 238 to find out moreEstablished in 1992, Jigsaw are experts in professional audio,video and broadcast equipment. If you need help setting up aproper post-production system - get in touch...Visit www.Jigsaw24.com/syncstation for more information.Tel: 03332 409 238Email: audio@Jigsaw24.com

video guideA Sound Pro’s Guide To VideoColour Grading Part 3KEVIN HILTON continues withthe Telecine tour...GLOSSARYPerforation/perfAs evocative as celluloid, perforationsare the small punched holesthat run on either one or bothsides of a piece of film. These workwith sprocket wheels to allow filmto be passed through cameras,projectors, telecine machines, andother processors. The layout offour perforation holes on 35mmfilm was first used by the EdisonCompany. This arrangement issometimes called the Americanperforation but more usuallyreferred to as 4-perf. Negative35mm film has rectangular holesarced at the corners, known as Belland Howell or negative perforations.Because of their constructionthese holes can tear throughover-use, so the perfs on positivefilm are rectangles with curvedcorners. This is called the Kodakstandard (KS) or simply positiveperforations. The 4-perf methodis good quality but takes up a lotof space on the film. 3-perf 35mmwas introduced to give 25 percentmore room, making for an economicalshoot as well as providingextra image area. A third configuration,2-perf, was introduced in1963 for the Techniscope widescreenformat. Despite being usedon Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time inthe West (1969) and George Lucas’American Graffiti (1973), the processfell out of favour because the pictureshad to be blown up for projection,producing results that filmdoyen Leslie Halliwell described as‘awful’. The process has come backin favour recently for low budgetwidescreen shoots; it was usedon the critically acclaimed Hunger(2008), with a three times biggerpicture in the 2.35:1 format.REFERENCESThe Complete Film Dictionary,second edition by Ira Konigsberg,1997, PenguinFinal Color website:www.finalcolor.com/history4colorists.htmHistory of the Zeiss company:http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~buckland/television.htmlThe telecine (TK) machine is among the most successfulpieces of post-production equipment, allowing filmfootage to be transferred to video for colour correctionand general creative manipulation. Despite the ingeniousconcept, there was the feeling that being based on acathode ray tube flying spot mechanism, telecines werenot the most efficient of devices.Despite leading manufacturer Rank Cintel championingand making a great success out of the CRT telecine, itwas inevitable that chip techology would be applied tothis area. Just in the same way camera developers beganto move away from valves and embrace CCDs (chargedcoupled devices), so manufacturers looking to breakCintel’s dominance of the TK market began to investigatesolid state technology.Let There Be Line ArrayThe first CCD line array telecine appeared in 1979.Developed by the Fernseh (the shortened form ofFernsehapparat, the German word for ‘television’) divisionof the Robert Bosch corporation, the FDL (Film DigitalLine)-60 is significant for several reasons. Its use of solidstate circuits was a major step forward in film transfer, butthe influence and afterlife of the FDL-60 is perhaps themost compelling aspect of this machine.Bosch’s TV operation dates back to the formation ofFernseh AG in June 1929. This was a joint venture betweenRobert Bosch AG of Stuttgart; Loewe Radio GmbH ofBerlin; Baird Television Limited of London; and Zeiss IkonAG of Dresden. John Logie Baird had not only laid thefoundations for television but also invented the telecinemachine in 1938. Annoyed at the lack of enthusiasm shownfor TV by the BBC at the time, Baird collaborated on a seriesof experiments involving a flying spot scanner with theGerman Reichspost.Baird found more acceptance for his innovations inGermany and Fernseh provided a vehicle for furtherdevelopment. Bosch took total control of the companyin 1939 and it continued as the parent group’s TV division,with a few name changes, into the 1970s. In 1979 Bosch andTelemation, a subsidiary of Bell and Howell, formed a jointventure called Fernseh Inc.This arrangement was short-lived; three years later theGerman partner bought out Telemation and renamed theTV venture Robert Bosch Corporation, Fernseh Division.Bosch continued to seek partners to share developmentof its camera and telecine products, and in 1986 it beganworking with Philips – the two companies formingBroadcast Television Systems (BTS).Bosch eventually gave up on what had been Fernsehin 1995, passing all control and ownership to Philips NorthAmerica. The division was renamed yet again, this time asPhilips Broadcast Digital Video Systems (DVS). As both BTSand Philips DVS the company pushed forward the use ofCCDs for both cameras and telecines; in the field of TK itsucceeded in wresting a large proportion of the marketfrom Cintel and its flying spot systems.Splitting UpCCD machines use a halogen lamp with a variabledensity filter as the light source. White light is shone onto exposed film with a prism for splitting the compositecolours into red, green, and blue (RGB). Image data isread by a three line-array of CCD chips, one for eachcomponent colour of RGB. The chips detect one line ofvideo at a time and, after processing, the final signal isfed into a frame store, where it is broken down into fields.From here the chain progresses to a colour corrector, witha DVE added for manipulation of the output (as opposedto flying spot machines, where zoom, pan, and rotationare integral functions).Flying spot and CCD telecines perform the same task– scanning motion picture film and translating it intoelectronic signals that can either be used as televisionimages or recorded on to video tape – but they do this invery different ways. The difference in methods – coupledwith the traditional mistrust of solid state by those loyalto tubes, and the converse dislike of older technologyby those favouring chips – initially restricted CCDs toworking on specific types of material.Flying spot was generally considered more suitablefor transferring and grading drama productions as it gavea warmer look to the images. CCD was seen as harder,producing pictures that looked more like videotapethan film. Even into the late 1990s this perceptioncontinued to limit chip-based telecines to being usedfor commercials, music videos and, as digital becamemore established, transferring images as data. Gradersat the time sometimes found that customers would goto another facility if a post house they had been usingmoved to CCD telecines.Snobbery And FlirtationDespite this technological snobbery CCD was soonestablished in telecine, influencing newcomers to the fieldand even tempting bastions of older technology to givesolid state a try. Cintel flirted with it in 1982, producing theADS machine, while Marconi produced the B3410 threeyears later. Marconi sold 84 machines over three years,some of which are still out in the market today.The pioneers of CCD telecines were encouraged by theresponse and pushed on with development. The FDL-60was upgraded during the 1980s; and where the originalmachine had a single line receiver array, the FDL-60Afeatured three CCDs for reading images. The B model,appearing in 1982, had additional features, while the C,released in 1987, used Fairchild 134 CCDs, replacing the 133sused in the A, and a 24 volt light.The FDL-60 and its variations offered colour control butit could be connected to a colour correction workstationfor finer manipulation of images. A further option wasthe FDGR-60, claimed to be the first all-digital noise/grain reduction unit on the market. Bosch went further bydeveloping a grading system to run with the FDL-60. TheFRP-60 allowed graders to colour correct scene by scene.Some of the development of the FDL-60 was carried outin collaboration with Philips under the BTS banner, but thefirst product produced from scratch by the joint venturedid not appear until the beginning of the 1990s. TheFDL-90, which evolved into the Quadra in 1993, handled58AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

video guide A Sound Pro’s Guide To VideoColour Grading: Part 3newsCintel International expanded its range of film scanners and image processing products atthis month’s NAB Convention with the introduction of the diTTo evolution 2K/4K scannerand imageMill2 restoration system.The diTTo was developed as a high quality, affordable data scanner, and made its firstappearance on the market in 2005. The evolution version takes the original system as itsfoundation, with features including the D/SCO (dust/scratch concealment) restorationcleaningtool and a user interface familiar to operators. Among the new features are amodular structure that can be easily upgraded, faster shuttle speeds, an archive scanningmode that does not require a personal identification number (PIN) for operation, a 3.2Ddensity capability, and imageMill2 for image processing work.Cintel’s Sales Director, Simon Carter, comments, “At NAB 2010 we are very excited to bepresenting new workflows for film scanning and image restoration. DiTTo evolution is thefirst film scanner to be instantly switchable from PIN registration to non-PIN registration,and also the first to include film grain measurement and image stabilisation tools. It isthe ideal film scanner for all applications and stock types, from OCN [open computernetwork] ingest for digitalintermediates to dense printfor restoration work.”Business DevelopmentManager Simon Clarkcomments that diTToevolution is suitable fora range of film scanningand post-productionapplications: “It can evolvefrom a simple to use,calibrated PIN registrationscanner for digitalintermediate (DI) use to amulti-format, non-PIN registration machine for shrunken and damaged film, offering afull set of image restoration tools.”The imageMill was designed as a multi-standard platform and the newversion of the system has additional networking and data managementfeatures. “ImageMill2 will address the industry’s need for an all-in-one, fastbut simple to use noise and grain management tool for both data-centric DIapplications and restoration projects.” The unit can operate at speeds of up to25 frames per second (fps) on 2K and HD files, with 4K material processed at10fps. SD footage can be dealt with at twice real-time.ORIGIN, a new D/SCO due to be launched later in the year, was also onshow during NAB, along with the established GRACE noise and film grainmanagement and STEADY real-time stabilisation systems.Super 35mm, Super 16mm, and Super 8 film, and produced a 4:4:4 digitalvideo output to feed grading workstations. Like most telecines the FDL-90/Quadra was switchable between PAL and NTSC; previous FDL machineswere either one or the other, with SECAM versions also available, although afew multi-standard models were produced. Both included a switch functionto accommodate both 3- and 4-perf film (see glossary). Fairchild 181 CCDswere used in both the FDL-90 and Quadra, so the main difference betweenthe two was upgraded electronic circuits in the latter machine, along withthe capstan being fitted nearer to the film gate.A False DiagnosisBy the mid-1990s the cinema and broadcast industry was realising thatalthough film was not dead – and perhaps not even terminally ill – technologyand the times had moved on. There were growing demands for more efficientways of transferring and post-producing material, which led to the coining ofthe dreaded phrase workflow. High definition was becoming a reality and thismeant film images were being thought of more in terms of data.Just before taking complete control of BTS, Philips began workingwith Eastman Kodak, which, during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, had beendeveloping a digital cinema system. Using Kodak’s scanning and CCDexpertise and BTS’ experience in TV and TK, the world’s first HDTV telecinewas produced. The FLH-1000 was tested in a US post house but never gotto market.Its place in telecine history is assured, though, because after Philips tookcomplete control of BTS the research relationship with Kodak continued,resulting in the SDC 2000, better known today as the Spirit datacine.By the late ‘90s data was having a profound influence on how materialof any format was transferred and how graders did their jobs. The Spiritand Cintel’s C-Reality were at the forefront of datacine development, butcomputer technology was ushering in new forms of film recording and colourmanipulation systems.The traditional telecine was still an important piece of equipment at thattime and its influence continues today, even if the way material is dealt withis changing rapidly. Next month’s Video Guide will look at the technicalbackground of how images are processed in TK work and the introductionof the first specialised colour correction workstations. 60AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

AUDIO MEDIA CLASSIFIEDAngela Brown on +44 (0)1480 461555E-mail: a.brown@audiomedia.comS E R V I C E SSTUDIO ACOUSTICS AIR CONDITIONINGAIR CONDITIONING &VENTILATION TOSOUND STUDIOS ISOUR SPECIALITYWE PROVIDE DESIGN ONLY OR DESIGN ANDINSTALLATION FOR MANY WELL KNOWN CLIENTS.WHETHER IT BE FOR DISPLACEMENT, FREECOOLING, V.A.V., V.R.V., SPLIT, UNITARY ORCENTRALISED CALL MIKE HARDY OFAMBTHAIR SERVICES LTD ON01403 250306 OR FAX 01403 211269WEB: www.ambthair.comEmail: cool@ambthair.comAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 61

3ad1ng/SIGNALSThose of you who want to design high-qualitycircuitry for pre-amplifiers, mixing consoles,and other signal-processing devices could pickup Small Signal Audio Design by Douglas Self.Published by Focal Press, the book is a resourcethat will help you use inexpensive and readilyavailable parts to obtain state-of-the-artperformance in parameters of noise, distortion,crosstalk, and other areas. Focusing mainly onpre-amplifiers and mixers, the handbook offersan extensive repertoire of circuits that canbe put together to make almost any type ofaudio system. It includes a chapter on powersupplies, keeping costs down, and showinghow to power everything. Self has a background in designfor manufacture, and claims to have dedicated himself to demystifyingamplifier design and establishing empirical design techniques based onelectronic design principles and experimental data. He is a regular contributerto Electronics World.www.focalpress.comfat/SP3LL1NGYou know the feeling. You've been watching that lovely piece of vintageequipment on eBay, thinking of putting in a bid and then it gets to the last fewminutes of the auction – and the price shoots up into the stratosphere. How doother people get those fantastic bargains? Some of them might be looking at FatFingers, a website that takes advantage of orthographically challenged listers bysearching for items listed on eBay with spelling mistakes. So you might be able tobid on a nice cheap consloe or cabel that nobody else has been able to find.www.fatfingers.comt1ny/DANC3RSynthesisers. They’re so big and heavy, aren’t they? If youhave found yourself wishing for one you could just stick inyour pocket, then the OP-1, being developed by Swedishcompany Teenage Engineering could be the very thing. It is292mm wide with a height of 102mmand depth of 13.5mm - so very smallindeed. The funky-looking little gadgethas a built-in tape recorder with a beatmatching features that allows you to sync tapespeed to the internal sequencer. Everything is colour-codedto match the loop graphic on the AMOLED display. It alsofunctions as a sampler and controller - connect it to yourcomputer and control your DAW with the common play, stop,rec, forward and rewind. When plugged in to the mini-USBport the OP-1 will show up as a mass storage device, allowingyou to drag and drop audio files between your computer andthe OP-1. Sampling can be done usingthe built-in microphone or line-in jack,and the sampler automatically maps yourrecorded sample across the keys. Thedevice has a durable painted aluminiumbody and no visible screws. The team fromTeenage Engineering say that it will also have a wireless syncfeature.www.teenageengineering.com*ADVERTISERS INDEXAcoustic Sciences 56AES 33AKG 53Audio Technica 30Audix 43Brauner 10CAD Mics 35Calrec 17DPA 31Euphonix 41Fostex 15Jigsaw 57KMR Audio 25Lauten 55Lawo 11Primacoustic 63Prism Sound 47Radial 59Richmond 60Riedel 12RSS 24SADiE 9Schoeps 45Shure 49Sonic Distribution 2-3, 40, 44, 48Sonnox 37Sonodyne 16SPL 8TC Electronics 64Ultrasone 14Waves 21Zaxcom 3962AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010

John Kurlander Fairlight EVO - Audio Media

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