Behringer X32 - Audio Media

AUDIOMEDIA<br />

AUDIO AUDIOMEDIA MEDIA<br />

PROFESSIONAL AUDIO IN PRODUCTION<br />

Luci Live<br />

Focusrite Forte<br />

RME HDSPe MADI FX<br />

Tech Focus:<br />

Headphones<br />

Special Supplement<br />

Recorders<br />

Buyer’s Guide<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL<br />

BUYER’S GUIDE<br />

A SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL PUBLICATION<br />

FROM THE NEWBAY MEDIA GROUP<br />

RECORDERS<br />

2013<br />

INTERNATIONAL EDITION<br />

PRODUCED BY<br />

AUDIO MEDIA<br />

In association with:<br />

A NEWBAY MEDIA PUBLICATION<br />

9 7 7 0 9 6 0 7 4 7 0 2 4<br />

1 1<br />

WORLDWIDE EDITION<br />

ISSUE 264 • NOVEMBER 2012 • UK £3.80<br />

PROFESSIONAL AUDIO IN PRODUCTION<br />

Fable<br />

� e J o u r n e y<br />

“…That emotional connection,<br />

where the sound makes you feel<br />

something, is striking.”<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong> <strong>X32</strong><br />

New Benchmark for Digital Value?

---

SD5 Main Features:<br />

124 Input Channels<br />

56 Configurable Busses Plus<br />

Master Buss<br />

24 x 24 Matrix<br />

24 Dynamic Equalizers<br />

24 DiGiTuBes<br />

24 Multiband Compressors<br />

24 Digital FX<br />

32 Graphic Equalizers<br />

Multi Channel Folding<br />

8x AES/EBU I/O (mono)<br />

The All New SD5. A Real Crowd Pleaser.<br />

A decade after the launch of the D5 Live, DiGiCo launches its newest Control Mixing Surface, the SD5. As you would expect, the SD5 fits<br />

snugly into the D5’s shoes, but benefits from the advancements made possible by DiGiCo’s proprietary Stealth Digital Processing.<br />

Featuring a low noise, heat dissipation worksurface benefiting from Hidden-til-lit (HTL) technology, its five digitally driven full colour<br />

TFT LCD screens, three of which are touch sensitive, have a new configuration that allows easy access to single or multiple users. There<br />

are also two interactive dynamic metering displays (IDM) and quick access buttons are positioned down the left side of the channel<br />

screens for fast and easy navigation.<br />

Incorporating the master screen into the worksurface design has allowed for complete user feedback, but maintained a lower profile<br />

meter bridge. This still allows clear visibility of those on stage for the user, with everything in close reach to the mix position.<br />

The SD5’s superior headroom, dynamic range and audio quality are of paramount importance and its feature set surpasses any other<br />

console in its class.<br />

The Brand New all SInging & All Dancing, SD5 Digital Console. Shipping Now.<br />

DiGiCo UK Ltd. Unit 10 Silverglade Business Park, Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Surrey KT9 2QL. Tel: +44 (0) 1372 845600<br />

www.digico.biz/sd5

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AUDIOMEDIA<br />

AUDIO AUDIOMEDIA MEDIA<br />

NEWS<br />

PROFESSIONAL AUDIO IN PRODUCTION<br />

Luci Live<br />

Focusrite Forte<br />

RME HDSPe MADI FX<br />

Tech Focus:<br />

Headphones<br />

A NEWBAY MEDIA PUBLICATION<br />

1 1<br />

9 7 7 0 9 6 0 7 4 7 0 2 4<br />

WORLDWIDE EDITION<br />

ISSUE 264 • NOVEMBER 2012 • UK £3.80<br />

Fable<br />

� e J o u r n e y<br />

“…That emotional connection,<br />

where the sound makes you feel<br />

something, is striking.”<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong> <strong>X32</strong><br />

New Benchmark for Digital Value?<br />

Technology News 8<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong> finds its XEN with a new series of<br />

mixers, and <strong>Audio</strong>-Technica takes pride in<br />

elistism with its new flagship 50 Series.<br />

Recording News 12<br />

DPA monkeys around in the jungles of<br />

Indonesia and Africa, while The Voice gets<br />

heard through TC Electronics.<br />

Broadcast News 14<br />

Yamaha has the right answers for Question<br />

Time, while Calrec hits a first in Russia.<br />

Post News 15<br />

Sound gets a boost at Twickenham with the<br />

studios’ latest upgrade, while Meyer’s the<br />

pick at MegaBox.<br />

AMSR News 16<br />

JBL, <strong>Audio</strong> Technica, and Crown help give<br />

the presidential debates in the USA an extra<br />

shine, while Riedel rises to the challenge of<br />

the Red Bull Stratos.<br />

What’s Up UK 20<br />

KEVIN HILTON gets an update on the moves<br />

taking place at the BBC.<br />

GeoFocus: Belgium 22<br />

JIM EVANS finds how La Chapelle studios<br />

in Belgium reaches out to an international<br />

audience.<br />

Game Sound News 24<br />

Halo 4 scores a long-time fan as its newest<br />

composer, and Hitman rides out for a fifth<br />

time.<br />

Contents<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> <strong>Media</strong> | November 2012 | Issue 264<br />

FEATURES<br />

Final Cut:<br />

Fable: The Journey 26<br />

JOHN BROOMHALL talks to Lionhead about<br />

its latest production, Fable, where creating an<br />

emotional connection through sound served<br />

to help make unreality real.<br />

Level Playing Field 30<br />

Starting a station and needing to know more<br />

or wanting to move up a rung on the ladder?<br />

The subject of on-air signal processing,<br />

whichever platform you broadcast on, is<br />

always a hot potato. The market for entry<br />

level to mid-range processors has rich<br />

pickings. IAIN BETSON takes a look at what’s<br />

on offer.<br />

Wisseloord Studios 34<br />

FRANK WELLS pays a visit to the revamped<br />

Wisseloord Studios in Belgium, where rack<br />

n’ ruin has turned into rock n’ roll once more.<br />

Aladdin: On Stage 36<br />

PAUL MAC reports on a Disney-partnered<br />

musical production in Denmark that puts<br />

sound at the heart of the matter.<br />

Consoles:<br />

Internal Effects 38<br />

PAUL WATSON speaks to four leading console<br />

manufacturers about what kind of internal<br />

and third-party effects they offer within their<br />

respective digital console ranges, and looks<br />

at the philosophies that they adopt to ensure<br />

complete customer satisfaction.<br />

Video Guide 62<br />

The end of the storage chain is where KEVIN<br />

HILTON focuses this month, with a look at<br />

the variety of deep archive storage formats<br />

out there.<br />

Classic Cut:<br />

Blow Out 66<br />

KEVIN HILTON tackles the task of finding the<br />

‘perfect scream’, in a 1980’s film where audio<br />

gets dark and messy.<br />

TECHNOLOGY<br />

Focusrite Forte 50<br />

Forte packs a truly professional recording setup<br />

into a mobile device at an accessible price,<br />

finds RUSS LONG.<br />

Tech Focus:<br />

Headphones 42<br />

In the world of audio, what could possibly<br />

be more important than listening? There are<br />

plenty of times when that listening will be<br />

done via headphones or in-ear monitors, so it<br />

is important to get the right ones. Tech Focus<br />

this month looks at the increasingly varied<br />

headphone selection available to those who<br />

want to listen well.<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong> <strong>X32</strong> 48<br />

‘Powered by Midas’, but made by <strong>Behringer</strong><br />

– what will ALISTAIR McGHEE makes of<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong>’s brave foray into the console<br />

market?<br />

Native Instruments<br />

Premium Tube Series 52<br />

Alan Branch finds the tube processing<br />

software from NI adds a creamy life-force to<br />

flat, lifeless mixes.<br />

RME HDSPe MADI FX 54<br />

The latest card from RME is a prince among all<br />

MADI cards, says Alistair McGhee.<br />

Sanken CO100K 57<br />

IAN SCHRIEIR finds he’s hearing things he’s<br />

never heard before with the CO100K, proving<br />

that frequencies up to 100kHz unheard by<br />

the human ear can still affect the listening<br />

experience.<br />

Luci Live 58<br />

The times they are a’changing – and JERRY<br />

IBBOTSON finds that this app offering<br />

broadcast quality reporting from your mobile<br />

phone could quickly change the way live<br />

reporting is done.<br />

Microphone Splitters 60<br />

ALISTAIR McGHEE considers three of the top<br />

contenders in the field of mic splitters from<br />

mmstudioz, Palmer <strong>Audio</strong> Tools, and Radial.<br />

audiomedia.com |November 2012 3

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Everyone is a creative. Most people, when asked for an opinion,<br />

will give one. Sometimes they will give an opinion even when<br />

they’re not asked. Sometimes they will make one up, just<br />

because they’ve been asked, even if they didn’t have one in<br />

the first place. It’s the eternal problem and one that can become very<br />

political. The hierarchy of the attended session or the precedence of<br />

the music producer? Is the artist ‘alpha’? Or is he or she just another<br />

instrument? Sometimes this comes down to<br />

individuals, sometimes it’s down to job titles,<br />

sometimes it’s down to contracts, and sometimes<br />

it’s down to who’s paying for the thing in the first<br />

place. Who is taking the most risk?<br />

Putting politics aside for a moment though,<br />

the creative chaos that can be reached as<br />

contributions from concerned by-standers<br />

mount up knows no limits. To manage these<br />

opinions, suggestions, and hints takes personal<br />

and social skills that nobody can teach. As an<br />

Engineer, Operator, Producer, Editor – you may<br />

become a no-man’s land for a pitched battle over an aesthetic that<br />

could have been put to rest if only they’d drawn on your experience;<br />

on your knowledge.<br />

Sometimes, the track is hard to jump. When a client has a destination<br />

in mind, is it prudent to show them an alternative? That depends on the<br />

client, of course. And that judgement is down to you.<br />

One upshot of this is that repeat business can be won or lost<br />

depending on how you play this game. Whether the client feels listened<br />

to, acknowledged, respected, and even ‘deferred to’ can make the<br />

difference. And that, in turn, is one of the main reasons that in certain<br />

parts of our industry the runner system still persists. No matter how<br />

many letters you have after your name, unless you can demonstrate the<br />

human skills necessary to look after a client, an employer just cannot<br />

take the risk of letting you loose. That’s just the way it is – single clients<br />

can be significant proportions of income for small studios. Lose one,<br />

and you lose a lot.<br />

It’s a good thing. An evolved filtration that takes a lot of risk out of<br />

a financially often precarious business and a proving ground for the<br />

ambitious. Long may it continue.<br />

Paul Mac, Editor<br />

AUDIO MEDIA<br />

www.audiomedia.com<br />

AUDIO MEDIA (Europe), Suite L16, South Fens Business Centre,<br />

Fenton Way, Chatteris, Cambs, PE16 6TT<br />

Telephone: +44 (0) 1354 669960 – Facsimile: +44 (0) 1354 669965<br />

General E-mail: mail@audiomedia.com – Press Release E-mail: pr@audiomedia.com<br />

Managing Director/Circulation<br />

Angela Brown<br />

a.brown@audiomedia.com<br />

Group Publisher Europe<br />

Raffaela Calabrese<br />

r.calabrese@broadcast.it<br />

Editor In Chief<br />

Paul Mac<br />

p.mac@audiomedia.com<br />

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 911380<br />

News/AMSR Editor<br />

Jo Fletcher-Cross<br />

jfcross@audiomedia.com<br />

Tel: +44 (0)1223 911133<br />

Production Editor<br />

Lanna Marshall<br />

l.marshall@audiomedia.com<br />

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 911639<br />

Design & Production Manager<br />

John-Paul Shirreffs<br />

jp.shirreffs@audiomedia.com<br />

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 911415<br />

European Sales Director<br />

Graham Kirk<br />

g.kirk@audiomedia.com<br />

Tel: +44 (0)1223 911224<br />

European Sales Executive<br />

Lenette Howard<br />

lhoward@nbmedia.com<br />

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 911153<br />

www.nbmedia.com<br />

The contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or in part, whether mechanical or electronic,<br />

is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Great care is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication but<br />

neither IMAS Publishing (UK) Limited nor the Editor can be held responsible for its contents. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not<br />

necessarily those of the Publishers or Editor. The Publishers accept no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or artwork.<br />

4 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

US Sales West Coast<br />

Janis Crowley<br />

jcrowley@nbmedia.com<br />

US Sales East Coast<br />

Paul Leifer<br />

pleifer@media-sales.net<br />

Subscriptions<br />

subs@audiomedia.com<br />

UK £43<br />

European (airmail) £60<br />

International (airmail) £72<br />

Payable in Sterling through UK bank<br />

© 2012 IMAS Publishing (UK) Limited. All rights reserved.<br />

*Within Broadcast & Production<br />

NEWS<br />

GeoFocus: La Chapelle 22<br />

TECHNOLOGY<br />

Focusrite Forte 50<br />

FEATURE<br />

Aladdin On Stage 36<br />

AES Games Conference 29<br />

AES Pro 35<br />

Allen & Heath 17<br />

<strong>Audio</strong>-Technica 20<br />

CES 45<br />

DiGiCo 2<br />

Focusrite 25<br />

HHB 7<br />

IK Multimedia 51<br />

KRK 45<br />

Lawo 55<br />

Midas 68<br />

Advertisers Index<br />

Mogami (HHB) 18<br />

Nugen <strong>Audio</strong> 11<br />

Orban <strong>Audio</strong> 33<br />

PMC 13<br />

Prism Sound 32<br />

Radial 67<br />

Richmond 63<br />

RME 19<br />

Sennheiser 41<br />

Sonnox 21<br />

Source Distribution 31, 40<br />

Ultrasone 6

---

Modular Mounting System<br />

Totally flexible. Totally secure.<br />

Endlessly versatile and superbly engineered, m!ka is the modular equipment mounting system that lets you<br />

configure the perfect set-up for your studio.<br />

Build your perfect studio equipment mounting system from this comprehensive range of components<br />

7 Mic Arms<br />

A range of sizes in silver or<br />

black finishes, incorporating<br />

on-air signalling and tidy<br />

cable management.<br />

3 Screen/Speaker Arms<br />

Long, medium and short<br />

reach monitor mounts, all<br />

incorporating infinitelyvariable<br />

swivel heads.<br />

Studiolight<br />

The right level of light, exactly<br />

where you need it, with this<br />

elegant, m!ka-compatible<br />

multi-LED task light.<br />

Exclusively distributed in the UK and Ireland by HHB Communications<br />

T: +44 (0)20 8962 5000 E: sales@hhb.co.uk W: hhb.co.uk<br />

LITT LED Signalling<br />

Modular, programmable LED<br />

signalling device that<br />

integrates right into the m!ka<br />

equipment support system.<br />

Universal Pole/Desktop<br />

Tubes and Accessories<br />

A comprehensive range of<br />

wall or desk-mounting poles<br />

and accessories.<br />

Find out more at yellowtec.com

---

„The tiniest details are there.<br />

Awesome headphones!“<br />

(CeCe Rogers)<br />

THE headphone company<br />

www.ultrasone.com<br />

Don Dexter Agency ©

---

On Twitter this month…<br />

“Danny Baker radio show axed....”<br />

Stephen Fry @stephenfry<br />

Next week @prodnose is inducted into Radio Academy Hall of fame. Not surprising, he’s the best.<br />

Today the BBC are axing his show. Dickwits.<br />

Rob Brydon @RobBrydon<br />

Glad that BBC are axing @prodnose Danny Baker’s daily radio show. I’ve had it up to here with<br />

his wit, warmth and originality.<br />

Danny Baker @prodnose<br />

Deep thanks to everyone who has responded about the radio. We dwell amid pinheaded weasels<br />

who know only timid, the generic and the abacus.<br />

Subscriber Prize Draw Winner<br />

Congratulations to Tom Cookson, from London, who is this<br />

month’s lucky winner of the AM subscriber’s draw. Every month<br />

throughout 2012, one randomly selected subscriber will win an sE<br />

4400a microphone. To be entered into the draw, you must have a<br />

current digital or print subscription. To get one, go online to the<br />

address below. Good luck!<br />

www.audiomedia.com/subscribe.html<br />

NEW This Month!<br />

The 2013 International Recorders Guide will be released this month. An invaluable<br />

resource for those navigating a sea of products, the Guide will be available as a PDF<br />

download from our website, and digital subscribers will receive a digital edition.<br />

With comprehensive overviews of products and manufacturers – including AETA,<br />

Mayah, Olympus, Roland Systems Group,<br />

Sound Devices, Yellowtec, and Zaxcom – the<br />

Guide also contains an in-depth technical<br />

introduction to portable recorders by audio<br />

expert Stephen Bennett.<br />

Also coming up in December is our<br />

Console Guide, which will be our biggest<br />

ever, so if you are thinking of a console<br />

upgrade, don’t miss it.<br />

PLUS...Why not check out our brand<br />

spanking new website? You can keep up to date with industry news, covering recording,<br />

post production, broadcast, live sound, and events. There are interesting features about<br />

all aspects of the world of audio, and upcoming blogs from a wide variety of contributors.<br />

Available for download from the website are our ultra-useful International Buyer’s Guides,<br />

each focused on a specific area of technology; and back editions of <strong>Audio</strong> <strong>Media</strong> itself. A<br />

comprehensive events guide will keep you abreast of where you should be and when to<br />

see the latest technology or network with like-minded professionals. Come and visit us at<br />

www.audiomedia.com<br />

http://blog.ivgroup.cc/<br />

iV interactive is a company specialising in<br />

strategic audio branding. Their blog is a<br />

‘forum to designed to foster a conversation<br />

about the ways sound connects with us<br />

emotionally, intellectually, and behaviourally<br />

– particularly within the context of audio<br />

branding.’ Interviews, literature reviews, and<br />

posts on best practices make it an interesting<br />

visit...<br />

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20186937<br />

Inside the first all-female game jam: teams<br />

of developers, programmers, and artists get<br />

together to create computer games from<br />

scratch in 24 hours. For the first time in the<br />

UK, all the participants were women.<br />

http://playitloudmusic.wordpress.com/<br />

Play It Loud Music’s blog features the Above<br />

00 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

The Noise Industry Podcast, which includes<br />

interviews with key industry figures such as<br />

music marketing expert Brian Thompson,<br />

producer and performer Doug Green, and<br />

music and technology entrepreneur Mark<br />

Montgomory, among many others.<br />

https://twitter.com/Lord_Sugar/<br />

status/266122122345193472<br />

This was the worlds first twin deck audio<br />

(1977) unit started a long legal battle over<br />

copyright. we won in the end<br />

2013 Events Calendar<br />

For an up-to-date events listing,<br />

check our online calendar at www.<br />

audiomedia.com<br />

January 8-11<br />

International CES<br />

Las Vegas, US<br />

January 24-27<br />

NAMM 2013<br />

Anaheim, USA<br />

January 29-31<br />

Integrated Systems Europe<br />

Amsterdam, Netherlands<br />

February 4-6<br />

Siel<br />

Paris, France<br />

February 13<br />

Music Producers Guild Awards<br />

London, UK<br />

February 26-28<br />

BVE<br />

London, UK<br />

March 5-9<br />

CeBIT<br />

Hannover, Germany<br />

March 12-14<br />

Cabsat MENA 2013<br />

Dubai, UAE<br />

April 6-11<br />

NAB<br />

Las Vegas, USA<br />

April 10-13<br />

ProLight + Sound<br />

Frankfurt, Germany<br />

April 10-13<br />

Musikmesse<br />

Frankfurt, Germany<br />

April 17-18<br />

Plasa Focus<br />

Leeds, UK<br />

May 4-7<br />

134th AES Convention<br />

Rome, Italy<br />

May 21-23<br />

PALME Middle East<br />

Dubai, UAE<br />

June 12-14<br />

Infocomm International<br />

Orlando, Florida<br />

June 18-21<br />

Broadcast Asia (Communicasia)<br />

Suntec, Singapore<br />

July 12-14<br />

Develop<br />

Brighton, UK<br />

audiomedia.com |November 2012 7

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TECH NEWS<br />

Moog announced The Delay, its<br />

second 500 Series module at AES<br />

2012. It is the Moog delay with<br />

bucket brigade technology but<br />

with updated components for the<br />

professional studio environment.<br />

This is the first analogue delay for<br />

the 500 Series format, and features<br />

800ms delay time, assignable CV/<br />

tap tempo input on the front panel,<br />

plus MIDI on the front panel. Moog<br />

has also announced a decrease in<br />

the price of its first 500 module, The<br />

Ladder, from £649 to £549.<br />

www.sourcedistribution.co.uk<br />

Cartec <strong>Audio</strong> has launched The THC (Tone Harmonic<br />

Compressor), a two channel hybrid compressor that<br />

employs eight valves and four discrete amplifiers<br />

to achieve a unique level of control over dynamic<br />

range, harmonic distortion content and tonal<br />

balance. After the transformer coupled input, audio<br />

is split into two separate parallel processing paths;<br />

the first with a pair of EF183 valves operating in<br />

a push-pull configuration, the second split from<br />

a separate winding of the input transformer<br />

and is intended to be blended together with the<br />

compressed output.<br />

www.cartecaudio.com<br />

Alcons has<br />

released the<br />

BC332, a selfcontained,highoutput<br />

cardioid<br />

subwoofer<br />

system for both<br />

permanent<br />

and portable<br />

ground-stacked<br />

applications. The BC332 is designed to offer a<br />

directivity controlled, high output, tight and<br />

accurate sub-bass response, for low-frequency<br />

extension of any Alcons pro-ribbon system.<br />

By means of a front and rear located woofer<br />

configuration, in combination with dedicated<br />

processing, the BC332 enables selectable cardioid<br />

low-frequency pattern control and rear rejection (up<br />

to 18dB), without the need for additional cabinets.<br />

www.alconsaudio.com<br />

Universal Shadow and Precision<br />

Universal <strong>Audio</strong> has released new UAD software<br />

v6.3.2, bringing the Shadow Hills Mastering<br />

Compressor Plug-In and Precision K-Stereo<br />

Ambience Recovery Plug-In to the UAD Powered<br />

Plug-Ins platform and Apollo <strong>Audio</strong> Interface. The<br />

Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Plug-In is a<br />

true-to-life emulation of Shadow Hills’ hallmark<br />

Mastering Compressor, featuring a world-class<br />

signal path that controls music dynamics in<br />

two stages - first with an optical section, then<br />

with a discrete (VCA) section. Both sections can<br />

be bypassed, providing a variety of compression<br />

sounds.<br />

The Precision K-Stereo Ambience Recovery<br />

Plug-In was created by Universal <strong>Audio</strong> in<br />

collaboration with mastering engineer Bob Katz.<br />

It extracts ambient cues from source recordings,<br />

8 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong> Gets Busy<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong> has announced the availability of<br />

several new products. The new XENYX Q<br />

Series USB mixers come in configurations<br />

ranging from five to 24 inputs, and feature<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong>’s XENYX microphone pre-amp. Sound<br />

shaping for any input signal is provided by ‘British’<br />

EQs, while select models feature switchable<br />

phantom power plus dedicated wireless-ready<br />

integration for <strong>Behringer</strong>’s upcoming ULM<br />

Series digital wireless microphones. Other<br />

features include<br />

“The new XENYX<br />

Q Series USB<br />

mixers come in<br />

configurations<br />

ranging from<br />

five to 24 inputs”<br />

built in USB/<br />

audio interfaces,<br />

one knob<br />

mono channel<br />

compressors and<br />

Klark Teknik FX<br />

engines.<br />

The company<br />

is also now<br />

shipping its<br />

Eurolive B115D<br />

and B115MP3<br />

active twoway<br />

loudspeakers. The new systems feature an<br />

integrated dual-channel mixer with two-band<br />

EQ, built-in sound processor and 1000 Watts<br />

of Class-D bi-amplification. They have an enclosure design that allows them to be polemounted,<br />

stacked, or placed horizontally for floor monitor wedge applications. A dedicated<br />

USB-style 3.0 input provides integration with <strong>Behringer</strong>’s upcoming Ultralink Series<br />

wireless microphones. Both speakers have custom-engineered 15-inch long-excursion LF<br />

drivers and a 1.35-inch aluminium diaphragm compression driver. The B115MP3 has a fully<br />

addressable embedded MP3 player.<br />

Finally, now available for download is the Eurocom AX Series Amplifier Control<br />

Software. AX Remote Connect V1.1 allows integrators to set up, control and monitor all<br />

Eurocom AX Series DSP models with a local PC, via the front panel USB connector or<br />

remotely over a network via the rear panel Ethernet port. A front panel LCD display also<br />

allows set up and adjustments directly at the amplifier, without the need for a PC. AX<br />

Remote Connect V1.1 also allows full access to the AX Series onboard test section, which<br />

includes pink noise, white noise and a fixed/sweeping sine wave generator.<br />

www.behringer.com<br />

allowing users to enhance the stereo depth and<br />

imaging of mixes without unnatural artifacts.<br />

www.uaaudio.com<br />

Aphex 500 Modules<br />

Aphex debuted its new 500 Series modules at AES.<br />

The J PRE 500 mic pre is inspired by the Aphex 1788A<br />

preamp, with Aphex mic limiter technology. The EQF<br />

500 reissue is a modern take on the Aphex EQF-2<br />

500 three-band equaliser, with a Jensen output<br />

transformer and 25Hz to 20kHz operation. The DUAL<br />

RPA 500 mic pre is a two-channel solid state/tube<br />

hybrid preamp, and also has mic limiter technology.<br />

The A PRE 500 mic pre is inspired by the Aphex<br />

188 eight-channel preamp, both using a custom<br />

designed Aphex input transformer. The COMP 500<br />

module is an optical compressor, featuring an<br />

electronically balanced input and an optocoupler.<br />

www.aphex.com<br />

On The Slate<br />

Slate Pro <strong>Audio</strong> introduced the Raven MTX<br />

Multitouch Production Console at AES. The Raven<br />

MTX is touch screen display featuring the Raven<br />

Mixer, a powerful multitouch mixer that can control<br />

all major DAWs, with a flexible, user-customisable<br />

toolbar. The Raven also incorporates a full-featured<br />

analogue monitoring section with multiple speaker<br />

outs and input sources, smart phone connectivity,<br />

USB, and multiple headphone send and cue options.<br />

The Raven touch display uses new touchscreen<br />

technology, and has a custom made Nano Glide<br />

surface, making the surface slick and smooth. The<br />

46-inch screen makes it easy to tweak DAW controls.<br />

Slate says that the Raven was built to ‘modernise the<br />

idea of the classic recording console.’<br />

www.slateproaudio.com<br />

Nagra LINO and PICO<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> Technology Switzerland introduced two new<br />

Nagra hand-held digital audio recorders at AES.<br />

The Nagra LINO records to a removable SD memory<br />

card in the same way as the Nagra SD. It will record<br />

in linear PCM (up to<br />

96 kHz) and MP3 in<br />

both 16 and 24 word<br />

lengths. The LINO has<br />

the same physical<br />

size and shape as<br />

the Nagra SD, but<br />

uses a pair of built-in<br />

capsules. It also uses<br />

the same software<br />

structure for all the<br />

internal settings<br />

as the SD. It offers<br />

high quality preamplifiers,<br />

stereo and<br />

mono recording, VOR operation and long running<br />

time. The Nagra PICO is even smaller, and fits in<br />

the palm of the hand. It records both PSM linear<br />

and MP3 formats to an internal 4GB flash memory.<br />

www.nagraaudio.com<br />

>

---

AKG Adds Antennae<br />

AKG has unveiled two new antennae. The Floorpad<br />

is designed to help touring and equipment rental<br />

companies meet audio demands where a small to<br />

medium coverage area is required, and provides an alternative<br />

approach to the typical antenna design normally applied<br />

to wireless microphones and in-ear monitoring systems.<br />

Floorpad is placed on the floor, and can be hidden under a<br />

stage, carpeting or podiums, with a high-quality RF link to<br />

wireless audio devices. Floorpad is connected to microphone<br />

receivers or in-ear monitor transmitters via low-loss coaxial<br />

cable and placed in the area of operation. It reduces interference<br />

sources lying outside of its range. It is a round, rubberised<br />

package approximately 20 inches in diameter by ¼-inch thick,<br />

with a 10 foot RG316 coaxial tail terminated with a female<br />

BNC. The device has a hemispherical radiation pattern,<br />

circular polarisation<br />

“The lightweight<br />

device achieves<br />

9dB gain…”<br />

Avalanche At Unity<br />

Unity <strong>Audio</strong> previewed the forthcoming<br />

Avalanche sub-woofer at AES. The third product<br />

in its monitoring range is designed to complement<br />

Unity’s existing Rock and Boulder for those that<br />

want extra SPL and low frequency extension, but<br />

can also be used in conjunction with other monitor<br />

brands. The Avalanche has been designed by Kevin<br />

Van Green and retains the sealed cabinet approach,<br />

but it has a dual chamber with an aperiodic vent<br />

which gives all the benefits of a sealed cabinet but<br />

also increases the bass response from a smaller<br />

cabinet. It uses a downward firing 12-inch woofer<br />

designed for heavy duty sub-woofer application<br />

in a 65 litre enclosure. The Avalanche extends low<br />

frequencies down to 30Hz with the -3dB point down<br />

being 23Hz.<br />

www.unityaudio.co.uk<br />

Quantum of Fairlight<br />

The Fairlight Quantum made its debut at AES 2012.<br />

A complete audio post production system<br />

combining Fairlight’s hardware and software,<br />

recording, editing, mixing plug-ins, MIDI and<br />

video with a fully integrated 12 or 24 fader console.<br />

and deliberate reduction<br />

in sensitivity across its<br />

470-740MHz frequency<br />

range.<br />

Also available is the Helical antenna, which is designed for touring<br />

sound professionals, sports broadcast engineers and engineers<br />

operating FOH greater-than-normal distances from the stage. The<br />

Helical passive circular, polarised directional antenna operates in the UHF range, carrying a frequency<br />

between 470 and 740MHz. The lightweight device achieves 9dB gain; connected to microphone receiver<br />

or in-ear monitor via low-loss coaxial cable the antenna increases the overall performance. It has a durable,<br />

water-resistant nylon cover, and compresses from 12 inch to three inch to easily fit inside a rack drawer<br />

for storage. It is designed for rapid deployment as users can unfold, extend and mount the unit on a stand<br />

quickly, connecting the cable with a N or BNC connector to receivers, transmitters or antenna combiner.<br />

It has a directional pattern and circular polarisation.<br />

www.akg.com<br />

It offers a tactile control surface with faders,<br />

switches, knobs and jogger wheel, augmented<br />

with touch screen and mouse based functions.<br />

Quantum includes an embedded Edit controller<br />

utilising Fairlight’s Picture Keys. Fairlight’s new<br />

iCan technology, with drag-and-drop Layout Editor,<br />

allows engineers to design their own button layouts<br />

for specialised functions. The CC-1 <strong>Media</strong> engine<br />

supports up to 192 disk recorder tracks and 230<br />

mixing channels. Included is support for up to<br />

256 inputs and outputs, built-in EQ and dynamics<br />

for every channel, and access to VST plug-ins and<br />

instruments.<br />

www.fairlight.com.au<br />

Antelope Leaps To Orion<br />

Antelope <strong>Audio</strong> has unveiled Orion 32, the world’s<br />

first 32-channel AD/DA converter and audio master<br />

clock in a 1U rack. The new device supports both<br />

MADA and USB interfaces, clocked by Antelope’s<br />

renowned 64-bit Acoustically Focused Clocking<br />

(AFC) technology. Orion 32 allows 192 kHz I/O<br />

streaming of 32-channel digital audio through its<br />

custom-built USB chip, which provides connectivity<br />

to any USB-enabled DAW or computer. The<br />

converter also provides 32 channels of 96 hKz audio<br />

through its fibre optic MADI I/O connections, which<br />

can be used to connect with any suitably equipped<br />

MADI device. Orion also supports ADAT protocol<br />

by offering 16 I/O channels. The multi-channel<br />

converter inputs and outputs pass the analogue<br />

signal through eight D-SUB 25 I/O connectors.<br />

www.antelopeaudio.com<br />

Coda Launches ViRAY<br />

Coda <strong>Audio</strong> has<br />

launched ViRAY,<br />

a compact<br />

three-way line<br />

array. Designed<br />

for both touring<br />

and fixed<br />

installations,<br />

ViRAY has a<br />

maximum hang<br />

of 24 cabinets.<br />

The high output<br />

enclosures can<br />

be used as single<br />

units as well as in multiple arrays, allowing it to<br />

be used as FOH or as a sidefill/infill system. ViRAY<br />

incorporates Coda’s new DDP Dual Diaphragm<br />

Planar-wave-driver Technology, a double<br />

diaphragm transducer which balanced with two<br />

eight-inch neodymium ultra low distortion cone<br />

drivers for the LF section, which feature high flux<br />

linear motors with triple demodulation rings. All<br />

ViRAY drivers are loaded to a common ViCOUPLER,<br />

British microphone brand Sontronics has announced<br />

the launch of SONORA 2, a dual-channel solidstate<br />

preamp/DI. The preamp features Sontronics’<br />

proprietary Class A vintage circuit design and has<br />

two combined XLR and ¼-inch jack inputs plus four<br />

individual outputs - two XLR and two TRS jack - as<br />

well as a 20dB pad, 75Hz high-pass filter, 180-degree<br />

phase reverse switch and 48V phantom power on each<br />

channel. It has a linear frequency response, 66dB of<br />

gain and +23dBu of headroom.<br />

www.sontronics.com<br />

Line 6 has announced that the free v2.1 firmware<br />

update for POD HD500, POD HD Pro and POD HD are<br />

available immediately for download online. This<br />

firmware update provides five new HD amps, bringing<br />

the total HD amp count to 30. The update features<br />

three new HD amps based on the Soldano SLO100,<br />

with two custom-designed originals, Line 6 Doom and<br />

Line 6 Epic, making up the rest. POD HD500 and POD<br />

HD Pro now integrate with StageSource loudspeakers.<br />

www.line6.com<br />

TC Electronic has released BS.1770-3 compliant<br />

updates for its DB2 Loudness Correction Processor,<br />

DB4, DB8, DB4 MKII TV Transmission Processors, LM2<br />

Stereo Loudness Meter, LM2 and LM6 Native Loudness<br />

Meter Plug-Ins and the pro audio signal-processing<br />

flagship System 6000 MKII. ITU-R BS.1770-3 is a global,<br />

open standard defining hope to measure programme<br />

loudness and true-peak level. Having donated key<br />

technology to both areas, TC Electronics says it is<br />

‘committed to keeping its meters and processors<br />

updated as this audio revolution unfolds before<br />

our ears’.<br />

www.tcelectronic.com<br />

which combines the energy produced from all<br />

transducers allowing them to perform as a single<br />

source, without phase destruction.<br />

www.codaaudio.com<br />

SSL Fades To Pro<br />

Solid State Logic has introduced its A-FADA<br />

automation system at AES, which uses DAW<br />

automation to drive the analogue faders on an SSL<br />

console. This is made possible by use of the MDACdriven<br />

faders on AWS and Duality consoles. The<br />

workstation automation is used to drive the MDAC<br />

faders on each channel, instead of the on-board<br />

automation system. The system can be retrofitted<br />

to all models of Duality console.<br />

Also launched at AES was the Duality Pro-Station,<br />

a new version of the SSL Duality large-format<br />

console, which expands the available range of<br />

options. The new winged layout of the Pro-Station<br />

is designed to serve producers and engineers<br />

who wish to conduct their DAW session editing,<br />

arrangement and audio mixing from a single<br />

central position.<br />

www.solidstatelogic.com<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 9

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A-T Mic News<br />

<strong>Audio</strong>-Technica launched its flagship 50<br />

Series of elite studio microphones at<br />

AES in San Francisco, with the AT5040<br />

cardioid condenser microphone. The hand-built<br />

studio microphone offers ‘profound realism and<br />

depth, presence and purity of sound’. It features<br />

a proprietary breakthrough element design<br />

and employs four ultra-thin rectangular diaphragms<br />

that function<br />

“The<br />

microphone<br />

has advanced<br />

internal shock<br />

mounting that<br />

effectively<br />

decouples the<br />

capsule from<br />

the microphone<br />

body. ”<br />

10 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

together.<br />

It is designed<br />

as a vocal<br />

microphone,<br />

with smooth<br />

top end and<br />

controlled<br />

sibilance,<br />

but its large<br />

diaphragm<br />

characteristics<br />

and fast<br />

transient<br />

r e s p o n s e<br />

also make<br />

it ideal for<br />

recording acoustic instruments such as piano,<br />

guitar, strings and saxophone. The microphone has<br />

advanced internal shock mounting that effectively<br />

decouples the capsule from the microphone body.<br />

For additional isolation, each AT5040 is also provi<br />

ded with the new AT8480 shock mount, which<br />

is engineered to not only isolate the microphone,<br />

but to rid the apparatus itself of any unwanted<br />

In response to Avid’s introduction of its AAX plugin<br />

format, CEDAR <strong>Audio</strong> has announced DNS One<br />

AAX, an AAX Native plug-in that combines the DNS<br />

One process with the DNS CS remote control for<br />

the DNS2000 and DNS3000. Compatible with the<br />

latest Pro Tools 10 systems, DNS One AAX retains<br />

the zero latency of previous versions and offers the<br />

same noise suppression as the DNS1000, DNS1500,<br />

DNS2000 and DNS3000. Pricing remains unchanged<br />

from previous (RTAS and <strong>Audio</strong>suite) versions.<br />

www.cedaraudio.com<br />

Zeehi’s CueCast Digital Mixing Console User File<br />

Conversion Service will support the DiGiCo SD7<br />

platform from mid-November 2012. This raises<br />

the number of supported console models to five<br />

in CueCast’s latest Beta release. CueCast enables<br />

sound engineers, hire companies and production<br />

managers to quickly and easily convert complex<br />

show files between different digital audio mixing<br />

consoles. In its latest version, CueCast converts user<br />

files between Avid, Yamaha, PM5D and now three<br />

DiGiCo models: SD7, SD8 and SD10. The company<br />

plans to develop solutions for every major console<br />

model.<br />

www.cuecast.com<br />

Millennia has released the HV-37. Based on<br />

Millennia’s HV-3 preamp circuit, the Millennia<br />

resonances and audio aberrations that could be<br />

transmitted to the microphone.<br />

Also debuting at the show was its new System 10<br />

digital wireless system. Operating in the 2.4 GHz<br />

range, it offers instantaneous channel selection,<br />

sync and set up. Up to eight channels may be used<br />

together without any frequency co-ordination<br />

problems or group selection issues. System 10<br />

receivers and transmitters have an easy-to-read<br />

digital ID display. The system is aimed at houses<br />

of worship, musicians and corporate applications,<br />

with an economical price point. System 10 ensures<br />

clear communications by providing three levels<br />

of diversity assurance: frequency, time and space.<br />

Frequency Diversity sends the signal on two<br />

dynamically allocated frequencies for interferencefree<br />

communication. Time Diversity sends the<br />

signal in multiple time slots to maximise immunity<br />

to multipath interference. Finally, Space diversity<br />

uses two antennae on each transmitter and receiver<br />

to maximise signal integrity.<br />

www.audio-technica.com<br />

HV-37 is a pair of the 500 series HV-35 preamp cards<br />

housed in a rugged 16 gauge steel, single rackspace<br />

package with an on board universal power<br />

supply. The panel front has an instrument input<br />

jack, DC couple ribbon mic switch with 10dB gain<br />

boost setting, 80 Hz roll off filter, 48V phantom<br />

power switch, 15dB Pad, polarity flip, signal present<br />

and overload LEDs and a continuously variable gain<br />

control.<br />

www.mil-media.com<br />

Dynacord’s new A-Line mobile loudspeaker family<br />

offers three active and three passive models,<br />

comprising one 12-inch and one 15-inch two-way/<br />

full-range system, and an 18-inch subwoofer, in<br />

both active and passive versions. The A112A and<br />

A115A models can either be pole-mounted or<br />

stacked on top of the subwoofer. Each of the two<br />

way/full-range models has a Class D two-channel<br />

digital power amplifier and state-of-the-art signal<br />

processing. The integrated FIR filters result in a more<br />

linear frequency response and less overlapping in<br />

the crossover region.<br />

www.dynacord.com<br />

Electrovoice has introduced the latest member of its<br />

ZX loudspeaker family. The passive ZX1-Sub features<br />

a 12-inch EVS-12S woofer which operates in the<br />

42Hz to 200 Hz (-10dB) frequency range and has<br />

a frequency response of 53Hz-125Hz (-3dB). The<br />

nominal impedance of the subwoofer is eight ohms<br />

and its maximum sound pressure level is 127dB. The<br />

ZX1-Sub’s two recessed NL4-type connectors are<br />

wired in parallel, meaning the input signal can be<br />

looped through and making it possible to operate<br />

full-range loudspeakers with the ZX1-Sub using a<br />

single amplifier channel.<br />

www.electrovoice.com<br />

NOVA Distribution has announced that the Lindell<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> 500 series modules are now shipping in the<br />

UK. The series comprises of the 6X-500 microphone<br />

pre-amp and passive EQ, the one channel 7X-500<br />

FET Compressor, which is Lindell’s take on the classic<br />

iZotope Provides Insight<br />

iZotope has released Insight, a metering suite<br />

for post production and broadcast applications.<br />

Insight provides a full suite of audio analysis and<br />

metering tools, for visualising changes made<br />

during mixing and mastering, troubleshooting<br />

problematic mixes, and ensuring compliance with<br />

broadcast loudness standards. Fully customisable<br />

and scalable, it allows the user to visually monitor<br />

all relevant information from a stereo or surround<br />

mix in a floating window. Insight provides level<br />

meters, a spectrogram, spectrum analyser,<br />

vectorscope, surround scope and a loudness<br />

history graph. “Visualizations of audio have always<br />

played a major role in our products and with the<br />

recent onset of loudness standards across the<br />

world, we saw a challenge to encompass a suite of<br />

essential meters into a single plug-in,” said iZotope<br />

Product Manager, Brett Bunting.”<br />

www.iZotope.com<br />

1176 Sound, and the PEX-500 passive EQ. “Tobias<br />

Lindell has managed to create superb sounding<br />

modules that will add that big punchy analogue<br />

sound to any recording at an unbelievable price,”<br />

said Nova Distribution’s Phil Skins.<br />

www.nova-distribution.co.uk<br />

Eventide has announced the availability of the<br />

H3000 Factory Ultra-Harmonizer plug-in for<br />

AAX, VST and AU, featuring 64-bit support. The<br />

H3000 Factory native is a re-creation of several<br />

algorithms from the H3000 that combine pitch,<br />

delay, modulation, and filters in a new modular<br />

interface. It features over 450 presets including<br />

over 100 new presets from Alessandro Cortini (NIN),<br />

Chris Carter (Throbbing Gristle) and Damian Taylor<br />

(Bjork), among many others. It also includes over<br />

100 original presets from the H3000.<br />

www.eventide.com<br />

iZ Technology Corporation has launched the ADA<br />

II Converters at the AES Convention. It features<br />

pristine iZ conversion and a modular I/O structure,<br />

touch screen controls, and direct interfacing to<br />

native DAWs and Pro Tools. The new version is more<br />

powerful than the original ADA I and comes with<br />

a larger 10.1% higher resolution display. The user<br />

interface is easier to use with the main screen<br />

showing both the A/D and the D/A meters.<br />

www.iZcorp.com

---

Solid State Logic has released the<br />

E-Series EQ Module and E-Series<br />

Dynamics Module for the API 500<br />

modular rack format, based on<br />

the ‘gritty’ tonal character of the<br />

1980s SSl SL 4000 E console. The<br />

Dynamics Module reproduces the<br />

sonic signature of the VCA channel<br />

dynamics of the classic console, and<br />

features a compressor/limiter and<br />

an expander/gate. The EQ module<br />

features two different EQs found on<br />

editions of the console produced<br />

between 1979 and 1987.<br />

www.solidstatelogic.com<br />

Stagetec has extended the<br />

functionality of the NEXUS based<br />

audio consoles Aurus and Crescendo<br />

with a new loudness metering feature. Loudness<br />

values may be exported for long term logging and<br />

legal audit trail. “In broadcast where our systems are<br />

in common use, the importance of loudness metering<br />

is still increasing,” said Sam de Pauw, Stagetec<br />

International Sales Manager. “Our new interface to<br />

the most sophisticated loudness logging system on<br />

the market today significantly eases the burden of<br />

documenting and analysing loudness measurements<br />

for our customers.”<br />

www.stagetec.com<br />

Simaudio has begun shipping its new Moon 3500MP<br />

microphone pre-amplifier. The 3500MP is a solid-state<br />

two-channel mic preamp designed to deliver extreme<br />

detail, with an open and neutral sonic transparency,<br />

allowing the engineer to showcase the colourisations<br />

of their microphone choice. It is AC-couple and<br />

transformerless for increased bandwidth and accurate<br />

sonic reproduction, and offers a wide gain range of<br />

8.0-66 dB with -3.5dB of variable output trim. There<br />

are no electrolytic capacitors in the signal path in nonphantom<br />

mode.<br />

www.moon-professional.com<br />

Blue Cat <strong>Audio</strong> has released Blue Cat’s Oscilloscope<br />

Multi 2.0, a brand new version of their multiple tracks<br />

oscilloscope plug-in. Oscilloscope Multi enables the<br />

visualisation of the waveform of multiple instances on a<br />

single screen in order to compare them or detect phase,<br />

synchronisation or distortion issues. The new version<br />

comes with a completely redesigned user interface with<br />

improved workflow and readability as well as many new<br />

features: a new presets manager, new presets, Windows<br />

AAX support, multiple display sizes and more.<br />

www.bluecataudio.com<br />

ADAM <strong>Audio</strong> has<br />

introduced a new entry<br />

line of studio monitors.<br />

The F Series consists of<br />

two near field monitors<br />

and a dedicated<br />

subwoofer. The aim is<br />

to focus on the ‘essence<br />

of ADAM speakers at a<br />

new, lower price point.’<br />

The F5 and F7 near field<br />

monitors feature a newly designed version of the<br />

ADAM proprietary Accelerating Ribbon Technology. The<br />

high performance woofers are designed to seamlessly<br />

integrate with the tweeters performance. The SubF<br />

subwoofer has been specifically designed to match<br />

the F monitors.<br />

www.adam-audio.com<br />

Grund <strong>Audio</strong> Design has announced the debut of the<br />

new VIP Series loudspeakers. The VIP Series consists<br />

of the VIP-06, VIP-08, VIP-10 and VIP-12 models. These<br />

loudspeakers are passive designs with high power<br />

capabilities and injection moulded enclosures. VIP-08,<br />

VIP-10 and VIP-12 are all three-way designs. The VIP-06<br />

is a two-way design that utilises a one-inch HF dome<br />

tweeter coupled with a 6.5-inch cone LF transducer. The<br />

loudspeakers offer four M6 integrated flypoints.<br />

www.grundorf.com<br />

QSC <strong>Audio</strong> Products has announced that Acoustic<br />

Echo Cancellation (AEC) is now available as a standard<br />

component of its Q-Sys integrated system platform.<br />

“Because of the powerful Q-Sys DSP processing engines,<br />

we have been able to offer AEC as an integrated feature<br />

to serve our customers,” said Joe Peavey, QSC Product<br />

Manager. “The tight integration between the Q-Sys<br />

processor, DSP, hardware and control software, gives<br />

Q-Sys the ability to do AEC on audio signals coming from<br />

any number of sources.”<br />

www.qsc.com<br />

NUGEN <strong>Audio</strong> has launched ISL, a true-peak limiter that<br />

helps music producers avoid introducing distortion into<br />

the sound when encoding audio files to compressed<br />

audio formats. Unlike traditional peak limiters, ISL<br />

measures and corrects for intersample levels, protecting<br />

against distortion that can be introduced when codecs<br />

such as MP3 and AAC are applied downstream. ISL<br />

gives producers complete control over peak levels by<br />

allowing the user to set the true-peak limit rather than<br />

the traditional threshold at which limiting begins.<br />

www.nugenaudio.com<br />

The new V4.7<br />

release of<br />

software for<br />

Soundcraft’s<br />

Vi Series of<br />

digital consoles<br />

brings a major<br />

input capacity<br />

increase for the Vi4 model, as well as new Virtual Vi<br />

software for the Vi1 and a number of feature upgrades<br />

across the board. The Vi4 can now handle 96 inputs to<br />

mix, bringing it into line with the Vi2 and Vi6 models,<br />

and show files are now fully compatible between Vi2,<br />

4 and console, so settings can be moved between<br />

consoles from a USB memory stick.<br />

www.soundcraft.com<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 11

---

RECORDINGNEWS<br />

Recording<br />

The Great Apes<br />

Sound Designer Craig Carter<br />

has recently undertaken 15<br />

weeks of filming in the jungles<br />

of Africa, Indonesia, Sumatra, and<br />

Borneo for The Last of the Great Apes,<br />

a 3D film covering all six species of<br />

great apes. Carter chose to use a DPA<br />

Miloco Studios has unveiled its latest recording<br />

studio, La Fabrique Residential Recording Studio.<br />

The studio, in the Saint-Remy de Provence region of<br />

southern France, is based in an early 19th century<br />

mansion which provides luxury accommodation for<br />

clients to stay in. The control room features a Neve<br />

88R 72 channel console, and a Studer A800 MK2 twoinch<br />

tape machine is available; otherwise, recording is<br />

to Pro Tools HD. There are four live rooms, The Library,<br />

The Mill, The Arcades and The Dark Room.<br />

www.miloco.co.uk<br />

The recording control room of Vienna Volksoper has been<br />

equipped with a mc 2 56 mixing console from Lawo. In<br />

the opera season, around 300 performances, with more<br />

than 150 singers, 95 orchestra musicians and 100 dancers<br />

forming the ensemble. The Lawo mc 2 56 with HD core and<br />

one DALLIS frame for the control suite offers 32 faders and<br />

96 DSP channels, and the router offers a capacity of 8000<br />

x 8000 crosspoints.<br />

www.lawo.de<br />

The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing<br />

has launched an initiative to find solutions to the lack of<br />

credit information in the digital domain. The Recording<br />

Academy has launched Give Fans The Credit, to ensure<br />

music creators are credited for work on diital releases.<br />

The overall goal is to ensure that all music creators received<br />

proper credit with a technical solution that will standardise<br />

recording metadata.<br />

www.grammy.com/credits<br />

Producer and television music composer Dru<br />

Masters has recently moved into a new studio at<br />

the Amplifi complex near Kings Cross, London.<br />

KMR <strong>Audio</strong> has supplied much of the recording equipment,<br />

including an array of three Barefoot MM27 monitors, plus<br />

a subwoofer, and a lunchbox rack housing Neve 1073 and<br />

API 512s mic pre-amps. A Benchmark DAC fulfills the role<br />

of what Masters calls ‘the most expensive headphone amp<br />

ever’.<br />

www.kmraudio.com<br />

Country artist Billy Ray Cyrus has just released his latest<br />

album, Change My Mind, produced and engineered by<br />

Brandon Friesen. Friesen used the Mojave MA-300 Multi<br />

Pattern Vacuum Tube condenser microphone, the MA-200<br />

Vacuum Tube condenser microphone and the MA-101fet<br />

condenser microphone on the recording.<br />

www.mojaveaudio.com<br />

12 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

5100 mobile surround microphone<br />

for surround ambience, while using<br />

a DPA 4017B shotgun microphone<br />

with a Rycote windshield on a<br />

long boom to capture the sounds<br />

he wanted without disturbing the<br />

apes. “I chose the DPA 5100 surround<br />

microphone for its sound<br />

pressure capabilities and its<br />

ease of use in the conditions<br />

I was working in,” said Carter.<br />

“Thanks to its compact size<br />

and extreme portability,<br />

it was ideally suited to<br />

these very challenging<br />

conditions. Also, it only has<br />

one multi-core cable, which<br />

Getting The Voice Right<br />

Randy Faustino and Tim Hatayama<br />

from Burbank, California-based<br />

Creative Sound Solutions, have<br />

recorded and mixed the music<br />

for each of the auditions and final<br />

interactive singing competitions<br />

involved on The Voice, NBC<br />

Universal’s weekly TV talent series.<br />

The duo used an array of TC<br />

Electronic plug-ins to streamline the<br />

process.<br />

“For each season of The Voice we<br />

record between 100 and 150 artists<br />

during the pre-Turnaround sessions,<br />

using a 96-Track Avid Pro Tools rig<br />

equipped with TC Electronic CL1B,<br />

Non Lin 2, DVR2 and VSS3 dynamics<br />

and reverb plug-ins,” explained<br />

Faustino. “Tim and I have set up a<br />

number of multi-channel templates<br />

that we use to drop compression<br />

and ambience settings on the vocals<br />

and instrumental tracks.”<br />

www.tcelectronic.com<br />

was an important consideration<br />

because I was mainly recording<br />

and booming on my own.”<br />

The shotgun microphone was very<br />

responsive, Carter said, adding:<br />

“It was easy to mount quickly and<br />

had an excellent signal to noise<br />

ration. Because it is very directional<br />

it was easy to eliminate unwanted<br />

sounds and was certainly my first<br />

choice of microphone when there<br />

was a lot of background noise.<br />

It’s also very light,.”<br />

The Last of the Great Apes is a<br />

feature-length documentary that<br />

will be released in cinemas and<br />

supported by a six-part TV series.<br />

“With this project I took a drama<br />

approach to the audio recording<br />

by trying to capture ‘edge of frame’<br />

dialogue, and wherever possible,<br />

taking a multi-track approach to FX/<br />

atmosphere recording,” explained<br />

Carter. “My main microphone was<br />

the DPA 5100 but I also linked two<br />

Sound Devices eight-track recorders<br />

at times, which allowed me to<br />

include other microphones, such as<br />

the DPA 4017B, in the set-up as well.”<br />

www.dpamicrophones.com<br />

APRS Fellowship<br />

Awards<br />

The sixth annual APRS<br />

Sound Fellowship Awards<br />

Lunch is to be held at the<br />

Roof Gardens, Kensington<br />

on November 20. The<br />

celebration, hosted by Sir<br />

George and Lady Martin,<br />

sees the recognition of six<br />

new recipients of the APRS<br />

Sound Fellowship. This year<br />

the association is recognising<br />

Pink Floyd member and<br />

owner of Astoria studio<br />

David Gilmour; Engineer<br />

and Mixer Bruce Swedien;<br />

The Who guitarist and<br />

songwriter and founder of<br />

HEAR, Pete Townshend;<br />

film soundtrack producer<br />

and Air Edel owner Maggie<br />

Rodford; UK acoustic and studio designer Eddie Veale; and John Borwick,<br />

audio journalist and founder of Surrey University’s Tonmeister course. Record<br />

producer Joe Boyd will give the President’s Toast, while Alison Wenham, CEO<br />

of AIM will give the keynote address.<br />

www.aprs.co.uk<br />

Experimenting With Midas<br />

Belgian experimental music studio and sound<br />

laboratory, Champ d’Action, has chosen a Midas PRO2C<br />

as its main studio console. The Antwerp studio invested<br />

in the PRO2C as an integral part of of its concept to<br />

offer ‘a platform for contemporary music open to other<br />

artistic disciplines such as contemporary video art,<br />

theatre or dance.’ Champ d’Action’s Sound Engineer<br />

Marc Dedecker, who is responsible for the technical<br />

specification of the studio, tested several digital consoles<br />

before settling on the Midas. “I chose the Midas because<br />

of its superior sonic performance, which is absolutely<br />

critical to my work at the studio,” said Dedecker.<br />

“The surround feature of the PRO2C works really well<br />

and the panning is superb.”<br />

www.midasconsoles.com

---

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BROADCASTNEWS<br />

Question Time<br />

For Yamaha<br />

TThe Dugan-MY16 automated<br />

mic mixing card for Yamaha<br />

digital mixers is currently in<br />

use on BBC One’s Question Time,<br />

the UK’s flagship political debate<br />

programme. Question Time, which<br />

is recorded as live, features a high<br />

profile panel answering questions<br />

Clear-Com has installed FreeSpeak<br />

digital wireless intercoms at the Madrid<br />

headquarters of Spain’s national<br />

broadcaster, Television Espanola (TVE).<br />

Forming two separate networks for<br />

two stations, the systems comprise 40<br />

FreeSpeak antennas and 70 FreeSpeak<br />

beltpacks. The digital matrix enables<br />

coverage across virtually all areas of<br />

the stations, and has contributed to the<br />

improvement of the broadcasters overall<br />

workflow. Operating license-free in the<br />

1.88 to 1.93 GHz frequency band, FreeSpeak<br />

permits interconnection in all critical<br />

production areas, with antennas dispersed<br />

throughout the facility.<br />

www.clearcom.com<br />

Aspen <strong>Media</strong> has announced that it will be<br />

at BVE North for the first time this month,<br />

bringing three renowned German audio<br />

manufacturers to the show – DirectOut,<br />

RTW, and Jünger <strong>Audio</strong>. DirectOut is<br />

showcasing its range of MADI tools, while<br />

RTW is bringing its range of EBU R128<br />

compliant TouchMonitor loudness and PPM<br />

meters, including the new TM3-3G. Jünger<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> will be advising visitors who need<br />

to manage loudness, with its T*AP eight<br />

channel audio processor on display.<br />

www.aspen-media.com<br />

Danish broadcaster TV2 East has recently<br />

purchased a Studer Vista 5 digital mixing<br />

console for its studio in Vordingborg. TV2<br />

East is primarily using the Studer Vista 5 M2<br />

console for news and sports programming,<br />

along with regional talk shows and<br />

documentaries. “This Vista 5 console has<br />

the best audio quality I’ve heard from a<br />

broadcast console,” said Kasper Thor Larsen,<br />

Head of Technology at TV2 East.<br />

www.harman.com<br />

BeTV is the first broadcaster in Belgium<br />

with Jünger <strong>Audio</strong>’s T*AP Television <strong>Audio</strong><br />

Processors. It has installed the processors<br />

into its transmission chain to control audio<br />

loudness levels across its entire output.<br />

“..Junger <strong>Audio</strong>’s T*AP units corresponded<br />

exactly to our needs as they offer compact<br />

material, clear management, one band<br />

audio for loudness treatment, integration<br />

with Dolby technology and engineering<br />

dialogue, all in a very easy to use format,”<br />

said Paulin Deiautte, Engineering and<br />

Maintenance Manager at BeTV.<br />

www.junger-audio.com<br />

14 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

from the audience, and is broadcast<br />

from a different UK venue each<br />

week. There can be up to 10<br />

omnidirectional microphones open<br />

at the same time, and the Dugan<br />

MY-16 is helpful in this application<br />

because, instead of keeping the<br />

channel levels low and having to<br />

rapidly bring up a fader<br />

when someone speaks,<br />

the operator can keep<br />

all the channels open<br />

at the required level<br />

without loss of quality.<br />

This is acheived by gain<br />

sharing, which allocates<br />

Wohler And Aero<br />

Wohler Technologies has announced<br />

that the Linear Acoustic AERO.file<br />

audio processor and loudness manager<br />

will be offered exclusively by Wohler as<br />

a turnkey solution: WohlerLoudness.<br />

“We’re building on our acquisition<br />

of RadiantGrid Technologies<br />

and extending the broad set of<br />

RadiantGrid features by creating<br />

tightly built appliance and software<br />

packages that solve broadcasters’<br />

most challenging issues,” said<br />

Carl Dempsey, Wohler President<br />

and CEO. “Enabling new levels of<br />

efficiency in file-based loudness and<br />

audio control, WohlerLoudness is<br />

just another example of this initiative.<br />

We’re excited to offer this acclaimed<br />

loudness management technology,<br />

pioneered by the recognised industry<br />

leader, Linear Acoustic.”<br />

WohlerLoudness provides filebased<br />

inspection and correction<br />

software that enables users to identify<br />

and correct loudness issues at ingest,<br />

before they become a problem.<br />

www.wohler.com<br />

the amount of overall gain across<br />

all of the open mic channels.<br />

With a number of channels open,<br />

this reduces background noise.<br />

However, once a panellist starts<br />

to speak, the card automatically<br />

allocates all the available gain to that<br />

channel, ensuring they can be heard<br />

and effectively muting the rest.<br />

Should another panellist interrupt,<br />

their microphone automatically<br />

opens and shares the gain between<br />

the two mics, ensuring both are<br />

heard. Yamaha Commercial <strong>Audio</strong>’s<br />

Tree Tordoff said: “It not only<br />

makes life easier for the sound<br />

engineer, but also makes it much<br />

more natural for those speaking.<br />

They can talk as if they are having a<br />

normal conversation.”<br />

“Being an old school live engineer<br />

with 30 years experience, I was<br />

sceptical about auto mixers,” said<br />

Engineer Jeremy Farnell. “But I’ve<br />

been delighted with the way the<br />

MY16-Dugan performs. The card<br />

increases the intelligibility of the<br />

panel and reduces overall colouration<br />

of the broadcast sound.”<br />

www.yamahacommercialaudio.<br />

com<br />

Calrec Goes Into Russia<br />

Calrec has announced its first sale<br />

in Russia. Television Technical<br />

Centre Ostankino purchased two<br />

Artemis Beam consoles for NTV-<br />

PLUS, a Russian subscriber satellite<br />

service. The 48-fader desks were<br />

installed in the Moscow Television<br />

Technical Centre and were used<br />

by NTV-PLUS for the Wimbledon<br />

tennis tournament in London<br />

this year. The consoles have been<br />

networked together using Calrec’s<br />

Hydra2 system, allowing either<br />

console to access any I/O on the<br />

network. Calrec designed a panel<br />

that sits in the control surface and<br />

houses a Colin Broad SR4 serial<br />

remote/synchroniser, which allows<br />

operators to control multiple<br />

playback/record machines from<br />

the Artemis desk. “We believe this<br />

choice offers the best answer for live sports productions and studio shows,” said<br />

Oleg Kolesnikov, CTO at NTV-PLUS.”<br />

www.calrec.com<br />

Kodiak<br />

And Calrec<br />

Kodiak Mobile<br />

Television is<br />

installing a Calrec<br />

Omega console in<br />

the first of its OB<br />

trucks, a midsized<br />

unit serving clients that do not require full-size OB trucks. “Before we<br />

started construction, we talked to existing and potential customers about what<br />

they’d like to see in an OB truck,” said Co-owner David Kearnes. “The single most<br />

requested piece of equipment was a Calrec console, so when it came to audio, the<br />

choice was clear. “The Omega’s multi-channel I/O capability means we can send<br />

dozens of different mixes that can be isolated for separate live feeds, or recorded<br />

and sent to postproduction. The ability to create so many mixes from a single<br />

console makes the Omega a really powerful system.”<br />

www.calrec.com

---

Twickenham Studios Ltd<br />

(TSL) has announced a<br />

complete upgrade of the<br />

Sound Centre, to provide state-ofthe-art<br />

facilities for film, television<br />

and commercials producers. TSL<br />

has contracted with AMS Neve to<br />

provide three DFC Gemini consoles.<br />

Maria Walker, the new Chief<br />

Operating Officer of Twickenham<br />

Studios, commented: “We are<br />

committed to providing the best post<br />

production facility in London for the<br />

global entertainment industry, and<br />

are equipping ourselves with $1.6m<br />

of equipment installed by spring 2013.<br />

We chose AMS Neve DFC Gemini<br />

Golf Channel Ups Game<br />

Golf Channel, the world’s foremost distributor of golfrelated<br />

programming, is currently upgrading all of its<br />

post-production at its Orlando studio as a facility-wide<br />

upgrade to HD and surround sound production. Control<br />

rooms PCR 1 and PCR 3 now host a new Solid State<br />

Logic C100HDS and C10 HD, respectively. The three<br />

consoles offer a consistent operator interface throughout<br />

the facility; all feature SSL’s Production Assistant options<br />

to help streamline production and are connective<br />

via a MORSE Router to enable audio asset sharing<br />

between studios.<br />

www.solid-state-logic.com<br />

7th HPA Winners<br />

The 7th Annual Hollywood Post Alliance Awards<br />

took place on November 1 in Los Angeles.<br />

The award for Outstanding Sound – Feature Film went<br />

to Chris Ward, Brent Burge, Michael<br />

Hedges, Christopher Boyes, and Andy<br />

Nelson from Park Road Post Production<br />

for their work on The Adventures of Tin<br />

Tin. Universal Sound’s Mark Lanza,<br />

Larry Mann, Alan Decker and Nello<br />

Torri received the Outstanding Sound –<br />

Television award for Grimm, while Jimmy<br />

Hite from Margarita Mix Santa Monica won Outstanding<br />

Sound – Commercial.<br />

www.hpaonline.com<br />

consoles for their immense capability,<br />

highest quality of sound and as the<br />

chosen console for the most creative<br />

people in our industry. We are looking<br />

forward to the future with great<br />

confidence and excitement.”<br />

Mark Crabtree, Managing Director<br />

of AMS Neve said: “AMS Neve has<br />

consistently led the way with digital<br />

products and techniques, from the<br />

world’s first microprocessor controlled<br />

digital effects units, to pioneering<br />

the hard disk recording revolution<br />

all the way to the latest DFC Gemini<br />

console. As a private, engineeringled<br />

British company passionate about<br />

both the art and science of sound,<br />

Twickenham<br />

Upgrades<br />

Sound Centre<br />

we are delighted that Twickenham<br />

Studios are on board with us and we<br />

know they will use our equipment to<br />

maximum effect.”<br />

Huw Gwilym, AMS Neve Product<br />

Manager, said “With a reputation for<br />

creating the world’s best sounding<br />

and most updatable<br />

digital consoles, the<br />

most discerning artists,<br />

producers and facility<br />

owners regard the AMS<br />

Neve DFC as the premier<br />

film mixing console with<br />

its enormous power<br />

and future-proofed<br />

design. New formats<br />

Meyer Sound For Megabox<br />

South Korea’s Megabox chain of movie theatres has<br />

selected Meyer Sound’s cinema loudspeaker system for<br />

its newly enhanced ‘M2’ premium screen concept. The<br />

‘M2’ screen in Megabox COEX, Korea’s largest multiplex,<br />

is now operating in 5.1 and 7.1 surround modes, and<br />

the room is set to become Asia’s first Atmos-compliant<br />

cinema to be equipped with a Meyer Sound cinema<br />

system. All ‘B chain’ elements are in place, including<br />

the extensive complement of side, rear and overhead<br />

loudspeakers. “There has been a lot of competition<br />

among the new 3D immersive sound formats,” said<br />

Youlgoo Lee, Chief Technical Manager for Megabox. “But<br />

Meyer Sound convinced us that any new format requires<br />

high-quality speakers to present clear and powerful<br />

sound to the audience.”<br />

www.meyersound.com<br />

Pinewood’ Completes Journey<br />

Pinewood Post Production has completed work with<br />

Lionhead Studios on the recently released game, Fable:<br />

The Journey. “We chose Pinewood because we wanted a<br />

cinematic sound for our game,” said Steve Brown, Sound<br />

Supervisor from Lionhead Studios. “The team have been<br />

able to create a world of sounds and content for us that<br />

brings our world to life. The facilities, the talent, and the<br />

expertise of the staff at Pinewood have brought something<br />

really special and unique to our game.”<br />

www.pinewoodgroup.com<br />

POSTNEWS<br />

such as Dolby Atmos are easily and<br />

comprehensively supported and the<br />

equipment is a great draw for leading<br />

mixers, engineers with their flagship<br />

projects.”<br />

www.twickenhamstudios.com<br />

www.ams-neve.com<br />

BBC Studios and Post Production has<br />

announced that its Digital <strong>Media</strong> Services<br />

business which preserves, re-masters and<br />

manages content through its archiving,<br />

restoration and digital distribution services,<br />

will move to a new permanent facility at<br />

Odyssey Business Park, South Ruislip from<br />

early 2013. “We’re delighted to be moving to<br />

a new permanent home,” said Clive Hodge,<br />

head of Digital <strong>Media</strong> Services at BBC Studios<br />

and Post Production.<br />

www.bbcstudiosand<br />

postproduction.com<br />

Vaudeville, a company specialising in<br />

creative audio for broadcast, has announced<br />

the opening of a brand new audio suite<br />

in Brighton, UK, that will be used across<br />

a broad range of programming for Shed<br />

<strong>Media</strong>’s regional production companies.<br />

After refurbishment and acoustic treatment of<br />

the space, Vaudeville specified and installed<br />

the new Pro Tools system, supplied by Scrub.<br />

www.vaudeville.tv<br />

DreamWorks Animation has become the<br />

fourth Hollywood studio to adopt the Dolby<br />

Atmos mix, announcing that its new film<br />

Rise of the Guardians, released by Paramount<br />

Pictures, will be implementing the new<br />

technology. Re-recording Mixer Jim Bolt,<br />

along with Re-recording Mixer Andy Nelson<br />

and Supervising Sound Editor Richard King<br />

will be designing the Atmos mix. Warner<br />

Bros have also announced that The Hobbit:<br />

An Unexpected Journey, and two 2013 releases,<br />

Gravity and Pacific Rim, will receive the Dolby<br />

Atmos mix.<br />

www.dolby.com<br />

The Royal Television Society Craft & Design<br />

Awards will take place at The Savoy, London<br />

on November 26. Nominations in the Sound<br />

Drama Award include Ben Baird, Jamie<br />

McPhee, Adrian Bell and Team for Merlin;<br />

Russell Jeffery Tony Gibson, Roger Dobson<br />

and Billy Mahoney for Misfits; and David Old,<br />

Chris Roberts, Richard Fordham and Martin<br />

Trevis for White Heat. Nominated in the Sound<br />

– Entertainment and Non Drama Productions<br />

category are John Rogerson, Johnathan Rush<br />

and Alastair Sirkett for David Attenborough’s<br />

Bachelor King 3D; John Rogerson and Alistair<br />

Sirkett for Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design;<br />

and Ben Winston and Mark Atkinson for Gary<br />

Barlow: On Her Majesty’s Service.<br />

www.rts.org.uk<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 15

---

LIVENEWS<br />

Presidential Sound<br />

At Debates<br />

The presidential and vice-presidential debates, which take place in the runup<br />

to the US presidential election, have been giving a selection of sound<br />

equipment the chance to shine. The presidential debates took place at<br />

the University of Denver on October 4, Hofstra University in Hempstead, New<br />

York on October 16, and Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida on October<br />

22. The vice presidential debate took place on October 11 at Centre College in<br />

Danville, Kentucky. The PA system for each event remained consistent across the<br />

different locations, with JBL VRX932LA portable line arrays arranged in clusters<br />

of two each in left-centre-right configurations, with two additional delay fills of<br />

two VRX932LA loudspeakers each. Crown I-Tech 4x3500HD amplifiers powered<br />

the system, with processing<br />

The St James Theatre in London, the first<br />

newly built theatre complex in central London<br />

for thirty years, features a main 312-seat theatre<br />

and 100-seat studio theatre. The sound design<br />

was undertaken by Mathew Smethurst-Evans<br />

of Theatreplan. A proscenium LCR system<br />

of EM Acoustics MSE-159 two-way medium<br />

format passive loudspeakers was installed in<br />

the main theatre with three EMS-61s as delays<br />

www.emacoustics.co.uk<br />

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar<br />

has been touring to venues in the UK and<br />

Northern Ireland, including Liverpool’s Echo<br />

Arena, Wembley Arena, and Dublin and<br />

London’s O2 Arenas. Full touring audio is<br />

supplied by SSE/Canegreen with a DiGiCo<br />

SD7 in monitor position. “It is literally the only<br />

console that can handle a show like this,” said<br />

Monitor Engineer Seamus Fenton.”<br />

www.digico.org<br />

A MIDAS Pro6 console has been supplied to<br />

Abu Dhabi’s Heritage Theatre, a 550 seat multipurpose<br />

venue. “MIDAS is enjoying increasing<br />

popularity in the Middle East, as it increasingly<br />

becomes a destination for international<br />

events,” said Chicco Hiranandani, Business<br />

Development Manager at MIDAS’s Middle<br />

East distributors NMK. “The Heritage Theatre<br />

is an iconic venue in the capital of the United<br />

Arab Emirates... and now the technical team<br />

can manage these shows with an excellent<br />

digital platform.”<br />

www.midasconsoles.com<br />

The International Space Orchestra is the<br />

world’s first orchestra of space scientists. The<br />

world premiere of Ground Control: An Opera<br />

In Space, a staged concert inspired by mission<br />

control rooms, was recently performed by the<br />

orchestra, using an assortment of Lectrosonics<br />

wireless technology. Three Lectrosonics<br />

Venue receiver systems were used, augmented<br />

by three Lectrosonics UCR411a compact<br />

receivers. Feeding the receivers were a wide<br />

range of Lectrosonics beltpack, handheld , and<br />

plug-on, transmitters.<br />

www.lectrosonics.com<br />

The Veerkracht Ecocentre is a new conference<br />

centre built in Klarenbeek in the Netherlands,<br />

and has been constructed according to strict<br />

sustainable principles, making maximum use<br />

of natural materials and recycling as much as<br />

possible. Centrally controlled AV systems can<br />

be activated remotely and the main auditorium<br />

has a QSC KLA line array composed of eight<br />

full-range KLA elements and four KW181 subs.<br />

www.qsc.com<br />

16 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

handled by a dbx SC32.<br />

Larry Estrin, of Best <strong>Audio</strong><br />

in Studio City, California, who<br />

serves as <strong>Audio</strong> and Production<br />

Communications Director for<br />

Yee Hah <strong>Audio</strong>-Technica<br />

<strong>Audio</strong>-Technica has provided an extensive<br />

selection of vocal and instrument microphones<br />

for the Country Music Association (CMA)<br />

Awards. The 46th Annual CMA Awards aired live<br />

in 5.1 channel surround sound on November 1 on<br />

the ABC Television Network, and featured over<br />

200 <strong>Audio</strong>-Technica microphones, including<br />

an array of hard-wired microphones and Artist<br />

Elite 5000 Series UHF wireless systems. The team<br />

responsible for the audio at this year’s CMA’s<br />

was supervised by audio producers Tom Davis<br />

and Paul Sandweiss; ATK/<strong>Audio</strong>tek provided the<br />

sound system with FOH mixers Patrick Baltzell<br />

and Rick Shimer; the broadcast music mix was<br />

handled by M3’s John Harris and Jay Vicari; while<br />

stage monitoring was done by Tom Pesa and<br />

Jason Spence.<br />

www.audio-technica.com<br />

Everyone Can Hear You<br />

Scream<br />

Riedel Communications recently<br />

provided the entire communications<br />

solution for the Red Bull Stratos,<br />

the 120,000 feet skydive by Felix<br />

Baumgartner from the edge of space.<br />

Baumgartner ascended to 24 miles<br />

in a stratospheric balloon and made<br />

a freefall jump towards earth at<br />

supersonic speeds before parachuting<br />

to the ground. A specially developed<br />

communications solution from Riedel<br />

was used for reliable communication<br />

between Baumgartner and Mission<br />

Control. All ground-based facilities<br />

and positions were integrated into one<br />

single communications infrastructure<br />

via a Riedel Artist Digital Matrix<br />

system. Riedel also furnished the<br />

on-side digital radio network with<br />

more than 100 radio receivers and ten<br />

channels, which were integrated into<br />

the wired matrix intercom system.<br />

The connection to the launchpad<br />

of the capsule was realised with the<br />

MediorNet system.<br />

the Commission on Presidential Debates, chose <strong>Audio</strong>-Technica microphones<br />

for each of the four debates in the series. Products used included A-Ts 5000<br />

Series wireless with AEW-T5400a condenser handheld transmitters and AEW-<br />

R5200 receivers for President Obama and Governor Romney, which allowed the<br />

candidates to freely roam while answering questions. Moderator Candy Crowley<br />

used an AT898cW subminiature cardioid condenser lavalier microphone with<br />

AEW-T1000a body packs – doubled for redundancy. Audience members<br />

asking questions of the candidates were given AE6100 hypercardioid dynamic<br />

handheld wired microphones connected to <strong>Audio</strong>-Technica’s AT-MX351a<br />

SmartMixer five-channel mixers.<br />

Integrated communications solutions for co-ordinating the production<br />

elements within the venues were provided by Clear-Com, with an Eclipse<br />

<strong>Media</strong>n digital matrix and HelixNet Partyline systems in use, as well as the<br />

Tempest 2400 digital wireless intercom with the new Seamless Roaming feature.<br />

www.harman.com<br />

www.audio-technica.com<br />

Go To Defcon1<br />

The Defcon1 Dance Party, a massive outdoor festival featuring seven stages and<br />

attracting 22,000 people, recently took place at Sydney International Regatta<br />

Centre, Australia. The main ‘Red’ stage had an audio system design executed<br />

by event FOH Engineer Scott Harrison using the new Adamson Blueprint AV<br />

software, which enabled the plotting of the four hangs plus a front fill. The main<br />

E15 hangs per side were made up of 16 boxes in each, outer hangs had 10 Y18<br />

boxes and the subwoofer extension was provided by three clusters of eight T21<br />

subs arranged in a two high, four wide configuration at each location. Front fill<br />

features three stacks of three Y10s and for DJ monitors, EAW’s SB730 with KF730<br />

subs were used.<br />

www.adamsonsystems.com

---

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Hear The Voice<br />

DPA Microphones’ new hand held d:facto<br />

vocal microphone made its debut on Chinese<br />

television when it was used extensively during<br />

the production of The Voice of China, based<br />

on the same concept as NBC’s The Voice.<br />

The Chinese show featured four judges/<br />

coaches who used blind auditions<br />

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#30813 - Mogami AM_Layout 25/04/2012 10:32 Page 1<br />

Microphone<br />

Guitar<br />

00 18 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

One of Europe’s biggest festivals,<br />

Pukkelpop in Belgium, featured eight<br />

stages all powered by Lab.gruppen<br />

amplifiers. The systems generally<br />

consisted of three types of rack,<br />

featuring the fP Series and the flagship<br />

PLM 20000Q. EML’s A rack consists<br />

of two fP6400 and an fP 3400, with<br />

the fP 3400 for the highs and 6400s<br />

for the mids and lows. They also used<br />

a SpekTrix rig with the rack consisting<br />

of three fP200, while the monitor rack<br />

consists of four fP 3400s.<br />

www.labgruppen.com<br />

The Soundcraft Si Performer<br />

integrated sound and lighting control<br />

desk has made its world debut,<br />

mixing the current UK club tour for<br />

emerging Sony artist Kyla La Grange.<br />

PA company Amber <strong>Audio</strong> is the first<br />

rental house to take out the board.<br />

“The feedback I have had from<br />

engineers couldn’t be more positive;<br />

they all speak of the ease of getting<br />

around the work surface and how<br />

quickly they can be up and running<br />

on the board,” said Amber <strong>Audio</strong><br />

Co-owner Paul Bullimore.<br />

www.harman.com<br />

Studio<br />

AES/EBU<br />

Adlib is supplying an L-Acoustics<br />

K1 sound system and delays for the<br />

UK and European leg of Radiohead’s<br />

current world tour. The main hangs<br />

comprise 14 elements of K1 per side<br />

with four KARA downfills, and next<br />

to these is an array of eight flown K1<br />

SB subs per side. The side/outer left<br />

and right hangs are made up from 10<br />

K1 speakers with six KARA downfills,<br />

which can be split into two arrays per<br />

side for larger venues. On the floor are<br />

24 L-Acoustics SB28 subs.<br />

www.l-acoustics.com<br />

Stockholm’s Bryggarsalen, a former<br />

brewery, has been transformed<br />

into a live venue, with a newly<br />

installed Alcons <strong>Audio</strong> system. The<br />

acoustically-challenging room has<br />

a high ceiling with tiled walls and<br />

floor, marble stairs, and a tiled wall<br />

facing the stage from a balcony. “From<br />

previous installations, we knew that<br />

the clarity and precision of Alcons<br />

systems helps a huge amount in a<br />

room with as many reflections as this<br />

one,” said installer Electrosound’s<br />

Brollan Soderstrom.<br />

www.alconsaudio.com<br />

Scottish band Wet Wet Wet recently<br />

re-formed for a one-off show in<br />

Glasgow to mark its 25th anniversary,<br />

appearing on Glasgow Green to a<br />

crowd of 12,000. FOH Engineer<br />

Steve Pattison selected an Allen &<br />

Heath iLive digital mixing system,<br />

comprising an iDR-64 MixRack and<br />

iLive-112 Control Surface with Waves<br />

networking. “With a brass section<br />

and the world of keyboards we hit 56<br />

inputs but the 112 surface allowed me<br />

to see a lot of what was happening,”<br />

said Pattison.<br />

www.allen-heath.com<br />

A Martin <strong>Audio</strong> OmniLine system<br />

has been specified and installed at<br />

Central Railway Station in Sydney,<br />

the largest in Australia, to conquer<br />

a speech intelligibility problem.<br />

Acoustic Directions took on the job,<br />

and installed 120 steered elements<br />

with a special version of the Martin<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> Display software, operating<br />

under an FIR filtering regime that<br />

addressed every element in the array<br />

with its own processed channel.<br />

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---

WHAT’S UP UK NEWS<br />

The BBC’s New Home?<br />

T<br />

The British have a strange attitude<br />

towards architecture and buildings.<br />

Overly elaborate edifices or perceived<br />

monstrosities can suddenly become national<br />

cultural treasures the moment they are threatened<br />

with demolition or a change of use. The BBC’s<br />

Television Centre (TVC) in White City, west<br />

London has been written off as either a leading,<br />

offensive example of late 20th century brutalism<br />

or, more affectionately, a concrete doughnut.<br />

But news that it had been sold earlier this year<br />

to a property developer had the message boards<br />

buzzing with indignant comments about public<br />

resources – and viewer’s childhood televisual<br />

memories – being cynically hived off for profit.<br />

A Ribbon Revolution<br />

...the rules have changed<br />

Steve Levine<br />

Connect with us...<br />

AT4080 - AT4081<br />

facebook.com/<strong>Audio</strong>TechnicaUK<br />

twitter.com/<strong>Audio</strong>TechnicaUK<br />

A Long Goodbye<br />

Plans for a purpose-built broadcast complex<br />

where the BBC could centralise its TV production<br />

and administration went back to 1949. The new<br />

building at White City, with its famous circular<br />

central section, was designed by architect Graham<br />

Dawbarn and opened in June 1960.<br />

The site has housed up to 13 studios, with smaller<br />

There’s a revolution underway in recording studios and on live stages stretching far and<br />

wide across the UK and beyond.<br />

Renowned producer and Chairman of the Music Producer’s Guild, Steve Levine has<br />

added his voice to a chorus of unswerving praise aimed directly at <strong>Audio</strong>-Technica’s<br />

revolutionary AT4080 and AT4081 Ribbon Microphones:<br />

“Using the AT4080 for vocals, it sounds instantly like a late 50’s,<br />

early 60’s session, but without the noise. It has that thick warm<br />

vocal sound reminiscent of so many great vocals of the era...<br />

...The AT4081 is now my first call when recording guitar amps...<br />

they sound so sweet...”<br />

www.audio-technica.com<br />

20 November ad Levine(186x129mm)<strong>Audio</strong><strong>Media</strong>.indd 2012 | audiomedia.com 1 06/05/11 18:16<br />

>

---

presentation rooms and news booths. Since 1998 the<br />

studios and post-production suites at TVC and BBC<br />

Elstree to the northwest of London have been run by the<br />

BBC’s commercial subsidiary BBC Studios and Post<br />

Production (S&PP).<br />

In 2007 both S&PP and TVC were put up for sale.<br />

The building was scheduled to be sold by 2012 or 2013<br />

but S&PP was subsequently taken off the market when<br />

agreements could not be reached with potential buyers.<br />

Five Go To Manchester<br />

Running parallel to this was the BBC’s plan to move<br />

five departments, including BBC Sport, from London to<br />

<strong>Media</strong>CityUK (MCUK) at Salford Quays. The new Studios<br />

block there, now rebranded dock 10, was built along<br />

similar lines to TVC and opened officially last year. With<br />

BBC News moving into the ‘new’ Broadcasting House<br />

in London, commentators wondered whether the BBC<br />

no longer considered London a major production base.<br />

TVC finally went up for sale in June this year and was<br />

bought by property developer Stanhope PLC for £200<br />

million. Speculation was rife as to what would happen<br />

to the place that had hosted so many programmes dear<br />

to the hearts of British viewers, including children’s<br />

programme Blue Peter, music shows Top of the Pops<br />

(TOTP) and The Old Grey Whistle Test, Michael Parkinson’s<br />

famous chat show and, more recently, hits like Strictly<br />

Come Dancing.<br />

In the background was the question of where S&PP<br />

would end up and where London-based programmes<br />

would be made. The answer came at the beginning of<br />

August when S&PP, which has been operating six TV<br />

studios, audio dubbing suites, the Digital <strong>Media</strong> Services<br />

department and supporting areas at TVC, announced<br />

its long-term future would still be at White City.<br />

Stanhope is to re-develop TVC into a “mixed use” site,<br />

with leisure, office, and residential facilities. The existing<br />

BBC studios will be redeveloped and S&PP will lease<br />

these once work has been finished, estimated at 2015.<br />

In the interim S&PP will move during 2013 into<br />

temporary accommodation, using space at both the<br />

BBC studios and the commercially-run studio at Elstree.<br />

Craig White, Head of New Business and Entertainment<br />

at S&PP, says this will involve BBC Studio D and Studios 8<br />

and 9 at Elstree Studios, which has a long history in film<br />

production but is also known for its TV work. Today its<br />

fame rests mostly on being home to Big Brother.<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> desks, cameras, and lighting gear will be<br />

moved from TVC to Elstree to ‘enhance’ the facilities<br />

on offer.”Both BBC Elstree and Elstree Studios will have<br />

digital sound systems installed to cater for the expected<br />

studio shows,” says White. This installation will be based<br />

on Studer Vista 8 equipment from TVC.<br />

The ‘new’ TVC is planned to accommodate three<br />

HD TV studios, all ready for surround sound work.<br />

White comments that no decision has been made<br />

yet regarding what desks will feature. There is also<br />

no definite decision on post-production gear.<br />

“Moving away from TV Centre in the short term will give<br />

us the ability to strengthen our team and invest in more<br />

technology,” White comments. The BBC Elstree site will<br />

operate up to four edit suites and a multiplex area for<br />

live transmissions.<br />

There And Back Again<br />

There is no firm timetable for the redevelopment of<br />

TVC but S&PP will move out by the spring of 2013,<br />

with the aim of returning in 2015. “As everyone knows,<br />

technology changes are always happening in our<br />

industry so we’re keeping our options open around<br />

what set-up we’ll have at the new site,” says White.<br />

“We’re in discussions with our current customers with<br />

returning series at TVC from April 2013 to ensure that we<br />

can cater for their production needs at Elstree Studios<br />

and BBC Elstree.”<br />

“Moving away<br />

from TV Centre<br />

in the short<br />

term will give<br />

us the ability<br />

to strengthen<br />

our team and<br />

invest in more<br />

technology…”<br />

Craig White,<br />

Head of New<br />

Business and<br />

Entertainment<br />

S&PP<br />

A Digital Move<br />

In the last month S&PP announced that its Digital<br />

<strong>Media</strong> Services department will relocate to a new<br />

permanent facility early next year. This division deals<br />

with archiving, restoration and digital distribution,<br />

including multichannel sound QC (quality control)<br />

and file/tape based processing and will operate from<br />

purpose-built premises at the Odyssey Business Park<br />

in South Ruislip, west London.<br />

Suites are being installed starting this December<br />

until February 2012, with Digital <strong>Media</strong> Services due to<br />

take up residence at the end of March. “We’re delighted<br />

to be moving to a new permanent home,” comments<br />

Clive Hodge, Head of Digital <strong>Media</strong> Services. “With the<br />

accommodation and technical infrastructure designed<br />

for optimum handling of current and legacy film and<br />

tape formats and connectivity to link to customers,<br />

distributors and other BBC S&PP locations, this base<br />

will allow us to grow our range of media storage and<br />

content handling services.”<br />

For anyone prone to nostalgia about television, it’s<br />

good news the BBC will continue to have a presence<br />

at TVC. ∫<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 21

---

geofocus belgium<br />

Native<br />

Speakers<br />

Stijn Verdonckt,<br />

Studio Manager<br />

La chapelle<br />

22 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

RecoR ding Studio & <strong>Media</strong> c entR e<br />

La chapelle & gam<br />

Located in the village of Waimes in the<br />

heart of the Belgian Ardennes is one<br />

of Europe’s largest recording studios. La<br />

Chapelle & Gam Recording Studios consists<br />

of two studios – La Chapelle (Studio 1)<br />

and Gam (Studio2) situated a couple of<br />

hundred metres from one another and<br />

close to converted farm buildings that<br />

house the delightful residential facilities.<br />

The recording facilities date back to<br />

1995 and were previously the relocated<br />

Katy Studios where Marvin Gaye recorded<br />

his final album Midnight Love. For the past<br />

three years, the studios have been under<br />

the ownership of recording engineer and<br />

How is business for your studios at present?<br />

“Business is going well. We have the<br />

impression that things are better than two<br />

or three years ago. I think our strong point is<br />

that we attract Belgian artists as well as international<br />

artists, which means we have a huge potential market.<br />

Being a residential recording studio complex, we<br />

offer accommodation, which facilitates a stay for<br />

international artists. For example, we just finished<br />

recording the new album for Stephen Malkmus &<br />

The Jicks. We were also contacted earlier this year by<br />

Miloco in London to join their roster of international<br />

recording studios. We do see a clear development in<br />

the international markets.”<br />

What sort of projects are you attracting?<br />

“We are attracting mainly album recording projects.<br />

That’s our core business. Our biggest assets are our<br />

big recording hall, our great mic collection, and the<br />

beautiful setting of the studios. And of course the nice<br />

‘feel at home’ vibe makes people come and record<br />

here.<br />

From time to time we also do orchestral movie<br />

soundtracks. These productions are mainly coming<br />

musician Stijn Verdonckt.<br />

“I think it’s fair to say that we are<br />

now the only true residential recording<br />

studio in Belgium, as we offer the<br />

accommodation for no extra charge at<br />

all” says Verdonckt who first came to La<br />

Chapelle when they needed a Flemishspeaking<br />

assistant. “Happily, there still<br />

appears to be a role for facilities such<br />

as ours in the international recording<br />

market.”<br />

The main studio is housed in a<br />

former hat factory that dates back to<br />

the 19th century and was once a leasing<br />

employer in the region. The building was<br />

from the Luxemburg film business.<br />

Over the past year, we have also opened up the<br />

studio to audio companies looking for a great place<br />

to present new products to their customers. The 250<br />

metre square recording hall allows us to receive up to<br />

200 persons for product launches, demos... and all this<br />

in a unique setting.”<br />

How is the business in general in Belgium right<br />

now?<br />

“First of all, I think the financial crisis is hitting<br />

everyone, and we can’t deny we also feel it. I hear a<br />

lot of people complaining, but myself, I am rather<br />

optimistic.<br />

I don’t take part in the eternal discussions on<br />

the future of large recording studio complexes, on<br />

mixing in the box, or home recording... I feel there are<br />

a couple of key points that are important to running<br />

a successful studio: offer good service, make sure<br />

everybody leaves the studio more than happy, and<br />

most of all, make sure that what you offer is unique<br />

and irresistable. For us, this is the key to our success,<br />

and this is what ensures our future.”<br />

completely acoustically treated by Harris<br />

Grant & Associates and Tom Hidley.<br />

The recording area is one of the biggest<br />

in Europe and can easily accommodate a<br />

full symphony orchestra. Acoustic panels<br />

and curtains allow the recording space<br />

to be altered acoustically and physically.<br />

At the heart of the control room is an<br />

analogue Euphonix console backed up<br />

with a full range of outboard gear – both<br />

vintage and state of the art.<br />

www.lachapellestudios.com

---

RecoR ding Studio<br />

champ d’Action<br />

Experimental music and sound<br />

laboratory, Champ d’Action, has<br />

recently chosen a Midas PRO2C as its<br />

main studio console. Antwerp’s Champ<br />

d’Action invested in the PRO2C as an<br />

integral part of its concept to offer ‘a<br />

platform for contemporary music open<br />

to other artistic disciplines such as<br />

contemporary video art, theatre or dance’.<br />

One of the primary characteristics of<br />

Champ d’Action is its remarkable ability<br />

to reinvent itself and today it’s well<br />

known for being a pioneer in an everchanging<br />

music scene.<br />

Champ d’Action’s Sound Engineer<br />

Marc Dedecker, responsible for the<br />

technical specification of the studio, says<br />

he tested several digital consoles before<br />

deciding on the Midas PRO2C. “I chose<br />

the Midas because of its superior sonic<br />

performance, which is absolutely critical<br />

to my work at the studio.<br />

AttRAction<br />

the<br />

Parliamentarium<br />

The Parlamentarium, the new visitors’<br />

centre at the European Parliament<br />

in Brussels, uses a variety of interactive<br />

multimedia exhibits to take visitors on<br />

a journey into the heart of European<br />

Politics. Electrosonic engineered and<br />

installed the main exhibition audio-visual<br />

hardware for Stuttgart-based designer<br />

Atelier Bruckner. The Parlamentarium is<br />

the first visitors’ centre fully accessible in<br />

23 languages, and to-date has attracted<br />

over 120,000 visitors from across the<br />

globe.<br />

Guided through exhibitions by a<br />

personal electronic multimedia guide,<br />

visitors see how policy decisions<br />

are made and how they influence<br />

FeS tivA l<br />

Rock Werchter<br />

“The surround features of the PRO2C<br />

work really well and the panning is<br />

superb,” he continues. “This, in addition<br />

to the stunning EQs and combined with<br />

the huge headroom, made my choice an<br />

easy one – a Midas PRO2C.”<br />

The PRO2C has been supplied to<br />

the studio by The <strong>Audio</strong> Specialists<br />

Europeans’ daily lives. All signage and<br />

media is presented in 23 languages,<br />

which had an enormous influence<br />

on how AV techniques were used<br />

throughout the centre.<br />

Electrosonic won the bid for the<br />

project in an open Europe-wide<br />

competitive tender; the scope of work<br />

consisted of the detailed design, supply,<br />

installation, set up and commissioning<br />

of the media hardware for different<br />

themed exhibition areas. These areas<br />

include a pair of 360º theatres, nearly<br />

100 LCD panels, an innovative voxel<br />

BV, the authorised Midas and Klark<br />

Teknik distributors for BeNeLux. Axel<br />

Nagtegaal, Director of The <strong>Audio</strong><br />

Specialists comments, “Champ d’Actions<br />

sets the benchmark in their studio<br />

market and we wish Mark and his clients<br />

many memorable recordings.”<br />

www.champdaction.be<br />

display featuring 13,000 LED globes,<br />

140 computers, multi-channel audio,<br />

40km of signal cables, and 18 racks of<br />

AV equipment.<br />

Electrosonic also integrated RFID<br />

hardware for customised, language<br />

specific handheld Multimedia Guides<br />

supplied by Nous of Austria; they<br />

consist of repackaged Apple iPod Touch<br />

units augmented by RFID technology<br />

to provide customised interactivity,<br />

including exhibit activation in the<br />

visitors’ preferred language.<br />

www.europarl.europa.eu/parlamentarium<br />

R ock Werchter is one of the five biggest annual rock music festivals in Europe (the other four being Exit, Sziget Festival, the<br />

Glastonbury Festival, and Roskilde Festival). The 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007 festivals received the Arthur award for best festival<br />

in the world at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC). It can host 85,000 guests<br />

daily, of which 67,000 combine all four days, to add up to a total maximum of 139,000<br />

different attendees.<br />

The festival started in 1974 as a one-day event with performances from Banzai and<br />

Kandahar, but over the years it has evolved to become Belgium’s largest music festival.<br />

Originally it was a double-festival, called Torhout-Werchter, with two festival areas at<br />

different sites in Belgium: one in Werchter and one in Torhout.<br />

In 1999, the festival dropped the Torhout site and since then has taken place only<br />

in Werchter. Since 2003 Werchter has been a four-day festival, as it was sold by owner<br />

Herman Schueremans to American organizers Live Nation. Schueremans however<br />

remains the main organiser of the event.<br />

<strong>Media</strong> Viewer<br />

Belgian broadcasting<br />

mirrors the unique political<br />

and linguistic nature of<br />

the country. The cultural<br />

communities, rather than<br />

the federal authorities, are<br />

responsible for regulating<br />

radio and TV.<br />

So, unlike most other<br />

European countries, Belgium<br />

does not have a single public<br />

broadcasting organisation,<br />

but two separate bodies,<br />

with their own regulations,<br />

running their own radio, TV,<br />

and external broadcasting.<br />

Some 95% of Belgians are<br />

hooked-up to cable TV; one<br />

of the highest take-up rates<br />

in the world. Cable offers<br />

dozens of domestic and<br />

foreign channels, including<br />

Dutch and French stations.<br />

Belgium aims to complete<br />

the conversion to digital TV<br />

by 2011.<br />

The Belgian press is selfregulated<br />

by the Federation<br />

of Editors – to which all<br />

editors of major newspapers<br />

belong. A small number of<br />

media groups own the main<br />

newspaper titles.<br />

There were 8.1 million<br />

internet users by June 2010<br />

(InternetWorldStats).<br />

Television<br />

RTBF – French-language<br />

public broadcaster<br />

VRT – Dutch-language public<br />

broadcaster<br />

VTM – Dutch-language<br />

commercial broadcaster<br />

VT4 – Dutch-language<br />

commercial broadcaster<br />

RTL – French-language<br />

commercial broadcaster<br />

Radio<br />

RTBF – French-language<br />

public broadcaster; stations<br />

include La Premiere, Classic<br />

21, and external service RTBF<br />

International<br />

VRT – Dutch-language public<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 23

---

NEWS GAMESOUND<br />

24 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

Halo 4 Massive’s Maestro<br />

Neil Davidge clearly remembers playing the<br />

first Halo game on breaks from writing,<br />

producing, and mixing duties on such<br />

iconic Massive Attack albums as Mezzanine.<br />

A decade later, he was asked to score Halo’s fourth<br />

iteration, developed by 343 Industries...<br />

Davidge reflects on being chosen for the hugely<br />

prestigious gig: “When I first met the team there was<br />

good chemistry, and I think the fact that I’ve been a Halo<br />

fan right from its beginning really helped... I’ve been<br />

working on electronic music for many years but I also<br />

have a pretty authentic touch with emotional music.<br />

There’s a real blend of human and machine and a lot<br />

of sound design – I think that was a big pull for them.<br />

“I’d been listening to Marty O’Donnell’s music<br />

(original Halo series composer) for ten years. If I allowed<br />

myself to think about following on from that, it was<br />

daunting – I mean, he’s the dude – he made game score<br />

into a serious art! Music is probably a third of what<br />

made the game so successful in the first place… I tried<br />

as much as I could to put that out of my mind and just<br />

write from the heart in a progression from what he’s<br />

done, rather than a complete revolution.<br />

Bartschi Nails Hitman<br />

IO Interactive recently shipped the fifth in its<br />

highly successful Hitman franchise, in which<br />

gamers play the now-famed ‘Agent 47’. The<br />

popular series, which has been garlanded<br />

with a number of Bafta nominations and wins,<br />

is noted for top-drawer audio.<br />

Taking a well-earned breather, <strong>Audio</strong><br />

Director Thomas Bartschi spoke to <strong>Audio</strong><br />

<strong>Media</strong>: “Since joining it in 2009, my aim has<br />

been to focus the audio department on sound<br />

as an emotional and communicative element,<br />

and think of interesting ways to use adaptive<br />

audio to support game-play, enhance mood,<br />

and tell the story. Used correctly, sound has<br />

a magical ability to make the player connect<br />

with the experience.”<br />

Hitman: Absolution has been developed<br />

using IO’s own Glacier 2 game engine.<br />

Under the hood FMOD is the base audio<br />

engine embellished with various custom<br />

tools and features to service specific<br />

requirements. <strong>Audio</strong> functionality is<br />

controlled from within ‘G2’ with a special<br />

‘graph view’ enabling designers to work<br />

experimentally, intuitively, and creatively on<br />

complex audio set-ups, connecting audio<br />

functionality with advanced game-play<br />

mechanics. The team created a custom<br />

“Marty<br />

O’Donnell…<br />

he’s the<br />

dude – he<br />

made game<br />

score into a<br />

serious art!”<br />

Neil Davidge<br />

dynamic music system for maximum creative<br />

freedom in integration and implementation.<br />

Gear-wise, the audio department<br />

streamlines its studios for ease of<br />

interchanging projects and templates. All<br />

sound designers have Pro Tools installed<br />

plus an additional DAW of their choice (Live,<br />

Cubase, Nuendo, etc). Bartschi: “Most of my<br />

work is centralised around Ableton Live. I find<br />

it fast and intuitive. I used it in creating more<br />

than 2.5 hours of music and countless SFX –<br />

both in-game and for cut scenes. However<br />

“I think there’s a far more expanded sound palette<br />

in this score – a lot of very original sounds created<br />

specifically for the game, making the music very<br />

individual. I create instruments by a lot of processing,<br />

for instance, I might take the rich orchestral sounds<br />

from our Abbey Road recordings then play around<br />

de-tuning, processing and editing to produce<br />

something unique.”<br />

Davidge’s score runs for some four hours so creating<br />

a soundtrack album (released last month) with ‘a<br />

cohesive and intriguing musical flow’ presented some<br />

tough decision making. Additionally, many stems were<br />

handed out to re-mixers, for the production of a second<br />

Halo 4 music collection.<br />

Davidge’s outlook on being involved in videogames<br />

is positive: “Everyone knows the music industry has<br />

gone through a pretty bad time and it’s still really<br />

struggling. There’s a lot of work and creativity in scoring<br />

games. A lot of the people in games development are<br />

fairly young. They’re excited about doing something<br />

different and there’s a lot of passion for music.<br />

www.halo4soundtrack.com<br />

Pro Tools and Wavelab are my preferences for<br />

working with surround and dialogue, as well<br />

as batch processing.<br />

According to Bartschi, who holds a<br />

Tonmeister degree from Copenhagen’s Royal<br />

Academy of Music and London’s SAE, what<br />

sets Hitman: Absolution’s audio apart from<br />

previous iterations is the overall enhanced<br />

attention to detail and deep integration of<br />

sound and music to create the sense of a<br />

living, breathing world.<br />

http://hitman.com/

---

Your sound. Our Forte.<br />

Our best 2 x 4 USB audio interface, for Mac and PC.<br />

For more information visit www.focusrite.com/Forte

---

FEATURE FINALCUT<br />

26 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

Fable: The Journey<br />

John Broomhall<br />

Lionhead’s latest Kinect-only Fable game casts the<br />

player in the role of main protagonist, Gabriel,<br />

who undertakes an epic journey of destiny.<br />

The award-winning developer’s attention to<br />

detail is exquisite, with sumptuous graphics and superb<br />

characterisation, supported by a rich music score and<br />

wealth of intricate sound design.<br />

Music and sound production took place over an intense<br />

eight-month period, which composer and overall audio<br />

head honcho, Russell Shaw, describes as a ‘head-mash’.<br />

To make it through the epic production journey – 20,000<br />

lines of dialogue, some five hours of music, and thousands<br />

of sound effects – Shaw brought in Sound Supervisor,<br />

Steve Brown, to shoulder the day-to-day burdens of spot<br />

effects, foley, and ambient sound requirements.<br />

Brown: “It was an incredible opportunity. As a big<br />

Fable fan, I’m in love with the game world of Albion, so to<br />

work on its soundscape was really amazing. My job was<br />

to organise and divvy up the work, operating in-house<br />

“We’ve had people playing the game<br />

finding themselves apologising<br />

profusely to Seren when they hear her<br />

emote pain – they’re saying a heartfelt<br />

sorry to a virtual horse! It was quite<br />

an undertaking but that emotional<br />

connection, where the sound makes you<br />

feel something, is striking.”<br />

Russell Shaw, Lionhead<br />

at Lionhead’s UK development studio, as well as sound<br />

designing a key area – the travelling experience – and<br />

especially the horse and cart.”<br />

Working with the Microsoft Game Studio’s Central<br />

<strong>Media</strong> <strong>Audio</strong> team (directed by Kristofor Mellroth),<br />

Soundelux, Pinewood Studios, and a couple of animal<br />

sound effects specialists, Brown controlled the vision and<br />

directed traffic, working closely with Shaw: “Russ and I<br />

would often have creative conversations about say, what<br />

do we want the tone of this particular area to be like?<br />

What are we going to do with sound? What is the feeling<br />

that Russ is going to conjure up music-wise to support that<br />

or jar against it, or maybe we have no sound at all at some<br />

points for dramatic effect?”<br />

Shaw: “It’s been a great working relationship and in<br />

many ways, it’s been more like doing an interactive movie<br />

than a game – it’s a very linear experience and there’s a<br />

sense that you’re building the game from start to end. I<br />

think Gary Carr, the Creative Director, realised quite early<br />

on in the project that we were taking it in a direction that<br />

he was really comfortable with, so he pretty much left us<br />

to it. I’ve worked with Gary on so many games now and<br />

he knows I’m not going to do anything that isn’t in the<br />

game’s best interest.”<br />

Kinecting Ambitious Ideas<br />

One of Brown’s key ambitions was that the sound design<br />

should help tell the story and convey the actions of the<br />

user, particularly bearing in mind the game is Kinect-only<br />

(meaning the player controls and engages with the game<br />

via the movement of their own hands and body which are<br />

tracked by Kinect’s camera technology). For instance, if<br />

the player over-whips Seren the horse, the whip crack will<br />

become much more abrasive and harsh in character subtly<br />

telling the player to rein back. Brown: “I really wanted<br />

to embed the ‘UI’ (user interface) sounds into the things<br />

that you’re interacting with using your hands via Kinect.<br />

We have an iconic sound for Seren’s footsteps as she goes

---

over rough terrain – it’s very slatey and sharp, which<br />

makes you think, ‘I’m going to damage my horse if I keep<br />

going over this,’ so you gently pull back on her and via her<br />

vocalisations, she sounds happier again.<br />

“We put a lot of effort into the travelling as it’s such<br />

a massive part of the experience. We approached the<br />

sound design of the cart much as you would for a car in a<br />

racing game, breaking it down to component parts – the<br />

wheels, the chassis, the canopy with its dangling objects.<br />

We wanted it to be incredibly rich. You’re surrounded by<br />

it for nearly 14 hours so we couldn’t just do a loop. The<br />

cart mix had to evolve with the terrain it was moving on<br />

so we have a layered spindly type element for the wood of<br />

the spokes, and 19 different surface wheel loops – gravel,<br />

snow, cobbles, and so on. On cobbles you’ll also get the<br />

sound of the canopy lanterns jiggling around.”<br />

Detail By Design<br />

‘Dialling up the detail’ was the project’s sound design<br />

mantra. For creature character types carried over from the<br />

previous games, the sounds were completely re-designed<br />

to create more layers and components that could be<br />

dynamically applied. For instance, for the ‘Balverines’,<br />

who approach from 20 metres away until they are snarling<br />

in your face, up close and way too personal, the various<br />

sound elements are programmed to be dialled in on-thefly<br />

as the creatures get closer.<br />

Meanwhile, when it came to handling the sound of<br />

the game environments, the team liberally scattered very<br />

individual pinpoint sounds around the 3D geometry<br />

maps – right down to individual bird song and leaf<br />

rustle samples. The result, as you move through the<br />

forest triggering audio replay of these emitters, which<br />

are dynamically surround panned, is a visceral sense of<br />

the world rushing past according to Brown, though as<br />

Shaw points out this plethora of sound triggers pushed<br />

things severely from a technical viewpoint: “The detail is<br />

incredible, I think, but we had to be very smart with voice<br />

count. We teetered around 130 sound channels, working with a memory<br />

limit (RAM) of 30MB of audio loaded at any one time – this audio being<br />

compressed using a combination of Microsoft’s XMA and WXMA. Dialogue<br />

and multi-layered ‘interactive’ music are streamed from the disc.”<br />

The project’s sound code technology was <strong>Audio</strong>kinetic’s Wwise, providing<br />

blend containers, random containers, and real-time parameter controls.<br />

Brown: “We used a real-time parametric EQ for Seren’s footstep. When<br />

recording her foley we got soft, medium, and hard individual hooves, which<br />

we eventually boiled down to six per surface type. That’s quite tight but we<br />

came up with the idea of using EQ to create a deep gallop effect in real-time,<br />

so as the horse speeds up, the parametric EQ boosts the bass frequencies of<br />

the horse’s feet. It’s pretty cool and one of the ‘procedural’ audio things we’re<br />

most pleased with.”<br />

Shaw: “Actually, I think our Senior <strong>Audio</strong> Programmer at Lionhead,<br />

Erik Pettersson, was pulling out what little hair he’s got left as over 35 audio<br />

designers came up with cool ideas like this. It was Erik who developed the<br />

systems to get Altiverb Convolution Reverb implemented in the game and<br />

he was responsible for integrating Wwise’s audio middleware into the Unreal<br />

game engine, liaising with our game-play coders to realise the feature sets<br />

we wanted. For instance, we will track the real-time parameter of Kinect’s<br />

tracking you waving your hand – say, for the fireball magic, if you wave a little<br />

bit, you’ll get small bursts of fire sounds, shake it a bit more and you get the<br />

explosion of the fireball ready to throw into the game world. The player’s<br />

movement is treated as a data input – a real time parameter we interpret for<br />

sound choices.<br />

“Someone once asked Valentino Rossi how he managed to win nine<br />

championships and he said something like, ‘I ride as fast as I possibly can<br />

until I’m just about to fall off, and that’s how I ride through the whole race’.<br />

That’s pretty much our ethos regarding pushing the Xbox hardware to its<br />

limit. We throw as much as we can at it until it breaks, then we rein it back<br />

a fraction.”<br />

Horsing Around<br />

With Seren, the horse, being such a significant part of the overall gaming<br />

experience, the team paid particular attention to creating a vocabulary of<br />

emotes that would allow her to ‘speak’ – or at least express key emotions. For<br />

instance, she may warn the player of impending trouble. Brown: “She’s a key<br />

character with a strong bond to Gabriel. For me, horses in Hollywood movies<br />

have often been misrepresented – they just whinny all the time, or blurt (the<br />

exhale sound). We did a lot of research into the sounds horses make, learning<br />

to recognise individual elements. One of our creature designers even got<br />

some input from movie audio ace Gary Rydstrom, who did such a great job<br />

on Warhorse. Our Microsoft team did some horse recordings and we started<br />

to build a library. I would go through it and think, that sounds like the<br />

horse is distressed, or it’s saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Then we got in touch with Ann<br />

Kroeber who worked on movies like Gladiator and The Horse Whisperer,<br />

and she supplied further sounds that were very shocking to the team. We<br />

needed some horrific sounds because Seren can be hurt in the game. You<br />

might have to pull an arrow out of her. Some of these sounds were almost<br />

pig-like – really emotional high squeals that you can’t quite believe are being<br />

made by a horse.”<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 27

---

Steve Brown – Key<br />

Equipment List<br />

Hardware:<br />

• Monitors ADAM S2x,<br />

ADAM Sub 8<br />

• RME Fireface 800<br />

• MCU Pro Control Surface<br />

• ZOOM H4N – my ‘go-to’<br />

portable digital recorder. I<br />

continually carry this with<br />

me, you never know when<br />

you will come across and<br />

an interesting sound that I<br />

want for my own library.<br />

• Denon AVR 3312 – Great AV<br />

Reciever with Pre Analogy<br />

outs to decode the XBOX 360<br />

DD stream and back into my<br />

RME for XBOX Monitoring<br />

on my ADAMs.<br />

Mics (All used for Journey<br />

Dialogue)<br />

• Senheiser MKH416<br />

• Senheiser MKE2<br />

• Neuman U87<br />

Software/Plugs<br />

• Wwise, Altiverb IR<br />

Convolution Plugin for<br />

Wwise<br />

• Waves Diamond Bundle –<br />

go-to EQ comp is always<br />

Renaissance Waves Plugs.<br />

• Pro Tools 9<br />

• SoundForge 10<br />

• Adobe Audition – really<br />

starting to see great<br />

potential in this product,<br />

may even become my<br />

SoundForge replacement!<br />

• Movavi Video Converter –<br />

easily the best conversion<br />

software for getting video<br />

into Pro Tools friendly DV<br />

format.<br />

• SoundMiner HD+<br />

• KONTACT<br />

28 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

Rydstrom advised the team to focus on the<br />

horse’s breath when trying to convey emotion.<br />

They undertook capture sessions with digital<br />

recorders mounted on a horse and Lavs gaffermounted<br />

down its face and near its mouth, but<br />

found the results suffered too much bleed and<br />

wind noise. Soundelux came to the rescue by<br />

having a recordist ride the horse one-handed<br />

whilst holding a shotgun mic on a short boom<br />

at the horse’s mouth.<br />

Shaw: “It’s a very powerful moment in the<br />

credits when the list of horses’ names comes<br />

past. It was an amazing amount of effort<br />

to produce those horse sounds. We’ve had<br />

people playing the game finding themselves<br />

apologising profusely to Seren when they hear<br />

her emote pain – they’re saying a heartfelt<br />

sorry to a virtual horse! It was quite an<br />

undertaking but that emotional connection,<br />

where the sound makes you feel something,<br />

is striking.”<br />

Mixing On The Journey<br />

The mix process sounds just as striking.<br />

According to Shaw, there has been a ‘mix-asyou-go’<br />

modus operandi on previous Fable<br />

titles but towards the end FTJ, it became<br />

obvious the team would need to pull all the<br />

faders back and start again. Approximately<br />

one month out from the end, Brown flew to<br />

Redmond to work at Microsoft’s considerable<br />

stateside studio facilities.<br />

Brown: “It was very daunting to undertake<br />

a mix given the amount of sound designers<br />

working on the project and the massive amount<br />

of content. We had tried to mix as we went<br />

along, but the dialogue was getting masked and<br />

as Kristofor Mellroth (MGS) always reminds<br />

me: ‘dialogue is king’. As well as the obvious<br />

story-telling stuff, Gabriel vocalises lines that<br />

will give you a lot of key game-play hints and<br />

tips to help you solve puzzles.<br />

“Each sound designer came to the mix<br />

with their particular area of responsibility – I<br />

had the horse and cart, someone else had the<br />

creatures, and so on. We had the luxury of<br />

three independent mix rooms, and Kristofor<br />

instigated a process where each point person<br />

for a sound design area came in and balanced<br />

all their sounds to the dialogue. This was the<br />

sandbox room. Then we had the world room,<br />

handling the balance of the atmospheres and<br />

atmos objects like waterfalls plus any interactive physics<br />

sounds like barrels exploding. Meanwhile, Kris and I sat<br />

in the third room, the master mix suite. Since the game<br />

is comprised of linear chapters, on day one, we tackled<br />

chapter one and played through the game, mixing from<br />

start to finish. The beauty of Wwise is that everything was<br />

organised neatly into work units, all version-controlled in<br />

Perforce. People could make changes and drip-feed them<br />

through to the master mix suite where we could collect all<br />

the latest data, build the sound banks, and be completely<br />

up-to-date. As the week went on, an overall new clarity<br />

emerged...”<br />

Shaw: “Ultimately, I<br />

think the polish you get<br />

from a game mix is in<br />

large part down to the<br />

ducking. For instance, you<br />

might be casting magic<br />

and someone’s screaming<br />

at you trying to give you<br />

some important game-play<br />

feedback, so at that precise<br />

moment the magic needs<br />

to go down in the mix...<br />

With a game, you can only<br />

really take it to a certain<br />

point where everything sits<br />

pretty much together. Then<br />

the player is effectively<br />

conducting what happens<br />

to those sounds at any<br />

time. He might fire a piece<br />

of magic when someone’s<br />

talking so then you’re in<br />

the hands of the ducking<br />

system, and how accurate<br />

and effective it is… It’s a<br />

complex ducking system<br />

and Steve did a great job<br />

maintaining it.”<br />

Brown: “We have<br />

to ensure that the key<br />

sounds which provide you<br />

feedback and tell the story<br />

always come through when<br />

they need to and then dial<br />

back when they don’t need<br />

to be there. Kinect is all<br />

about feedback. With no<br />

physical controller, there’s<br />

no rumble – no haptic<br />

feedback – so your audio<br />

mix really does have to<br />

be slanted towards gameplay.”<br />

Shaw: “The way I see<br />

it – your level of mastering at the end is a testament to<br />

what you’ve actually done with the rest of the mix. You<br />

know when you used to go in and cut a piece of vinyl and<br />

the mastering engineer says, ‘I don’t actually have to do<br />

much here because you’ve done such a good job with the<br />

mix in the studio’. That final level of mastering, I think<br />

Steve and the team got so right that we actually didn’t<br />

have to put any final touches to it. There is no multiband<br />

compression and we just rely on Wwise limiting to<br />

stop the levels getting too hot.”<br />

Shaw’s epic five hours’ worth of score was orchestrated<br />

and conducted by long-time collaborator, Allan<br />

Wilson, and featuring the Slovak National Symphony,<br />

percussionists from the London Philharmonia, The<br />

Pinewood Singers and Celtic instrument specialist, Bob<br />

White, was recorded at the Slovensky Rozhlas Studios in<br />

Bratislava, Air Studios in London and Phoenix Sound in<br />

Pinewood. ∫<br />

W www. lionhead.com<br />

Russell Shaw – Key<br />

Equipment List<br />

Hardware:<br />

• Monitors ADAM S2x (L, R,<br />

LS, RS, C), ADAM Sub 10<br />

• Yamaha DM2000 Console<br />

• Dolby DP564 decoder<br />

• 3 x PCs – a) Sequencer,<br />

b) Vienna Sample Library<br />

Slave, c) Pro Tools/Sound<br />

Forge<br />

• Digidesign 96 i/o<br />

• Digidesign Sync i/o<br />

• Avalon Vt 737sp<br />

mic pre-amp<br />

• Neumann U87 Condenser<br />

mic<br />

• Rosendahl Nanoclock<br />

wordclock<br />

• TC Electronic System 6000<br />

reverb<br />

• TC Electronic Firewire<br />

Powercore for software<br />

version of System 6000<br />

• Takamine acoustic guitar<br />

• Fender Telecaster<br />

• Yamaha classical nylon<br />

acoustic<br />

Software:<br />

• Cubase 6<br />

• Pro Tools 9<br />

• Vienna Symphony Sample<br />

Library<br />

• Sound Forge 10<br />

• Amplitube Guitar modelling<br />

• Reason<br />

• Omnisphere<br />

• Kontact<br />

• Wwise

---

FEATURE<br />

30 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

Level Playing Field<br />

Modern Broadcast Processing<br />

Iain Betson investigates the role processing plays near the end of the modern broadcast chain, and samples a few<br />

of the options available available to to your your station.<br />

Processing. If there is anything<br />

more likely to spark fierce debate<br />

amongst the chattering radio<br />

classes then it is the subject of<br />

on-air processing. Whilst researching this<br />

piece, a web trawl threw up a forum thread<br />

on the subject going back to 2002, and<br />

running for over five years! Weighing into<br />

that forum ring were posts from the CEOs of<br />

the two main US processor manufacturers,<br />

debating the pros of their products and<br />

the cons of the others, asserting the radio<br />

markets in which they were dominant and<br />

highlighting that the other wasn’t. It got<br />

that heated.<br />

To Process Or Not?<br />

Today I don’t think that there is any argument<br />

against the fact that a radio station, broadcasting<br />

on whichever transmission platform, needs to<br />

control the level, dynamic range, and EQ of its<br />

output. Self-op presenters are not known to<br />

be audio engineers. So processing is a given.<br />

The questions are: by how much and with<br />

which device?<br />

Whilst there is a strong argument that<br />

additional compression or equalisation of a<br />

station output is not necessary, especially with<br />

jazz or classical music formats, this does not<br />

take into account the factors outside the radio<br />

station’s control; factors such as the station’s<br />

geographical terrain, less-than-ideal receivers<br />

and listening conditions, and that frankly the<br />

basic human psyche tends to be “if it’s loud it<br />

must be good!”<br />

Processor manufacturers rightly say that a<br />

processed signal transmitted via an analogue<br />

medium allows the signal-to-noise ratio<br />

to be raised, thus increasing the likelihood<br />

of reception on the edges of the station<br />

transmission footprint and, with the advent<br />

of ‘hybrid’ reception (devices that can receive<br />

terrestrial analogue and digital signals as<br />

well as via the web), processing will “soften<br />

the perceived quality difference between the<br />

modes”.<br />

The other term they like to use is ‘signature<br />

sound’. That is, the claim that the way you set<br />

up your processor will be so different from your<br />

rivals that a listener will instantly be able to tell<br />

that it’s Adele being played on YOUR station<br />

and not anyone else’s. This claim can often<br />

be reduced to “makes it loud” (so it must be<br />

good!). We have RDS, DLS, and websites to tell<br />

us which station we’re on, though I concede that<br />

in a competitive market where every trick in<br />

the book is needed to gain and retain listeners,<br />

this position may have some validity; in less<br />

competitive markets, squashing the signal<br />

to 4dB of dynamic range may be doing your<br />

station a disservice.<br />

Treat Me Like I’m Four<br />

If you’re new to the dark-side of radio station<br />

on-air processing or perhaps mystified as to<br />

why there is all this hullabaloo over a box<br />

that essentially just protects your transmitter<br />

from distorting when in the hands or an overenthusiastic<br />

DJ, then allow me to explain. For<br />

the experienced, I’m sorry if this next bit treats<br />

you like you are four years old, but a little recap<br />

never hurt anyone.<br />

The market for on-air processing originated<br />

in the fiercely competitive US radio industry.<br />

Until the 1960s, all you needed in the way of<br />

transmitter protection equipment was a simple<br />

wide-band limiter to make sure you didn’t<br />

distort the signal through the broadcast chain,<br />

or cause the transmitter to over-deviate and<br />

thus spread your signal into adjacent broadcast<br />

channels. Indeed some stations, even those in<br />

the US, had a technical operator between the<br />

presenter and the transmitter to make sure<br />

this didn’t happen, acting as a human limiter<br />

by keeping one hand on the main fader ready<br />

to pull down the level if things got too loud.<br />

Later, broadcast engineers with an eye not just<br />

on the technical side but also on the station<br />

programming soon realised that the limiters<br />

could be set up to compress too, thus reducing<br />

the dynamic range of the signal, improving the<br />

difference between the wanted signal and the<br />

background hiss, and generally adding some<br />

excitement to the music the station played.<br />

Unfortunately, a simple wide-band<br />

compressor/limiter when worked too hard<br />

suffers from a one-size-fits-all approach to<br />

levels. For example, a loud kick-drum will cause<br />

the limiter to limit this low frequency sound<br />

with the same gusto as, perhaps, the higher –<br />

but not as loud – vocal frequencies of the singer.<br />

The result is a kind of lopsided audio signal<br />

that, frankly, is fatiguing to listen to.<br />

So they hit upon the idea of a multi-stage<br />

unit. They added an auto-volume control stage<br />

(an AGC), then split the signal into narrow<br />

frequency bands, one for the lows, one or two<br />

for the mid range sounds, and another for the<br />

high stuff. This meant that a sound in one<br />

frequency band that needed some attention<br />

did not affect the sound in the other bands<br />

that did not. Four to six of these band-limited<br />

compressors in a processor unit became the<br />

norm. Once the signal had been split and each<br />

band had been compressed, it was then mixed<br />

back into a single signal again before passing<br />

through a final protection limiter. This, in<br />

essence, is an on-air processor.<br />

From analogue-based solutions, things have<br />

moved to digital processors to address the<br />

requirements of broadcasting on both analogue<br />

and digital platforms. Constant refinement<br />

over the years now means these devices have<br />

phase equalisers to time the band-split signals<br />

so they reach the mix stage at the same time,<br />

equalisation to tweak the tonal content of each<br />

band, speech and music detectors to cope with<br />

different material, and look-ahead limiting that<br />

has the ability to see into the future and adjust<br />

itself before the high peaks of the signal even<br />

reach it. Indeed, as Dan McQuillin of Broadcast<br />

Bionics says, the job of the processor has now<br />

gone full circle; in addition to its original<br />

purpose of making the output as loud as<br />

possible, a modern on-air processor now aims<br />

to remove many of the annoying artefacts found<br />

in heavily compressed, or bit reduced, source<br />

material that will result in listening fatigue.<br />

You see, processors don’t just have a single<br />

button on the front labelled: ‘Make my station<br />

sound good’. If only it were that simple. >

---

The control of each compression band, its EQ, limiting,<br />

and a host of other settings means that the configuration<br />

combinations, to get that signature sound, are near<br />

infinitesimal.<br />

This has resulted in processor wars, where each<br />

manufacturer – and the stations using their products –<br />

competes to have the loudest, smoothest, punchiest on-air<br />

signal. If you have half-a-mind to search, numerous pages<br />

and forums exist on the web detailing optimal set-ups for<br />

this processor or that one. There is even an aptly named<br />

Processing Freak Day, held annually in The Netherlands,<br />

where those with more than a passing interest in the<br />

subject meet at a convention centre and critically listen to<br />

these devices to discuss the merits of what product X does<br />

to the signal over that of its rival. At the end of the day,<br />

I assume the organisers open the doors and the attendees<br />

then have a much-needed chance to get out more!<br />

#31558 - Rode NTG8 Ad-AM_Layout 28/08/2012 10:38 Page 1<br />

The Audessence PodBlaster.<br />

“...these devices<br />

have phase<br />

equalisers to<br />

time the bandsplit<br />

signals so<br />

they reach the<br />

mix stage at<br />

the same time,<br />

equalisation<br />

to tweak the<br />

tonal content<br />

of each band,<br />

speech and<br />

music detectors<br />

to cope with<br />

different<br />

material.”<br />

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Pick Your Poison<br />

For the purposes of this article, I am<br />

going to stick to pure processing and sidestep<br />

related topics such as processing for<br />

podcasts, streaming data compression,<br />

studio-to-transmitter links, etc. These<br />

areas have become blurred in the last few<br />

years and to do it justice would require<br />

more space than we have here.<br />

Processing equipment ranges in price<br />

and sophistication from the low to the<br />

stratospheric. But having all the bells and<br />

whistles, with a price tag to match, doesn’t<br />

necessarily mean that it is the right box to<br />

hang on the end of your station output.<br />

Sometimes, less is more. I mentioned<br />

above that a wideband compressor can<br />

be inferior to a multi-band version in<br />

what it does to the signal. Audessence<br />

produces a nice range of processors all<br />

based on a single wideband compressor.<br />

Owner Martin Spencer said: “If your<br />

station doesn’t need to have its signal<br />

compressed to death in order to retain<br />

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>

---

listeners, why spend money on an expensive processor?”<br />

He went on to say that when it comes to broadcasting<br />

on digital platforms, a wideband compressor will do a<br />

better job than a multi-band one. After all, the signal has<br />

been messed about with enough already so why mess it<br />

about some more? This may be one of the reasons the<br />

company’s quirkily named £500 PodBlaster wideband<br />

limiter/intelligent compressor has been accepted as such<br />

a good solution for streaming.<br />

The hardware approach found in the PodBlaster is also<br />

present in the company’s bigger brothers: the ProCoder-2;<br />

the fully-appointed ProCoder-3, a processor/stereo<br />

encoder/RDS encoder in one box; and the AM PRO-1 for,<br />

as the name suggests, AM transmissions. These products<br />

have carved out a niche with the BBC World Service as<br />

they like the sound produced.<br />

According to Andy Bantock of Station Z <strong>Media</strong><br />

Production Services, the DSPX range of processors from<br />

BW Broadcast have been popular with small scale and<br />

community stations for the past few years. Very likely this<br />

has been based on price, since BW Broadcast promotes its<br />

philosophy as “Smart gear, priced right”.<br />

BW Broadcast produces an extensive range of on-air<br />

processors to suit all platforms and budgets. The base<br />

range is the DSPXmini series. There are three devices,<br />

PrismLyraAM118x173ad:Layout 1 05/11/2012 11:45 Page 1<br />

32 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

Clearly new<br />

“To a large<br />

extent, the<br />

days of a<br />

producer<br />

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gone.”<br />

Shaun Lowe,<br />

Prism Recording<br />

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depending upon your transmitter – AM, FM, or digital<br />

(DAB or, for the US, HD radio). At a price level of £1,000,<br />

these processors use four bands: the top-of-the-range<br />

DSPXtra models have (amongst other enhancements) six.<br />

No article would be complete without the two US<br />

heavyweights in broadcast processing: Orban, founded<br />

by Bob Orban, with its Optimod-branded products,<br />

and Omnia from founder Frank Foti. These companies<br />

have top-of-mind awareness amongst those who love<br />

processing and equally divide them into two opposing<br />

camps. Much to every other processor manufacturer’s<br />

chagrin, Optimod seems to be a catch-all name for radio<br />

station on-air processing, regardless of the product that<br />

actually sits in the rack. In the UK, Preco is the dealer for<br />

Orban and Broadcast Bionics handle Omnia.<br />

I said the prices of processors range from the low to<br />

the stratospheric, and both Orban and Omnia produce<br />

range-topping big-boxed units, getting on for five<br />

figures in price. But they haven’t forgotten to cover all<br />

segments of the market. Before mentioning these lower<br />

end products, it is wise to say that sometimes looking<br />

at a more expensive product makes sense. These highend<br />

products won’t just deal with the processing on one<br />

platform but contain the hard and software to encode<br />

audio streams too. So consider whether this approach is<br />

suitable for your application.<br />

At entry level, Orban offers the dual two- and five band<br />

5500 for FM, the 9300 for AM with five bands, and a 6300<br />

model to address both AM and DAB broadcasting. Omnia<br />

brands the whole segment range as the Omnia ONE and<br />

tacks an FM, AM, etc, moniker on the end.<br />

Unquestionably, both manufacturers offer excellent<br />

products and really are like the Audi and BMW of the<br />

processing world, each bringing out a solidly build<br />

product, packed with innovation and facilities. They are<br />

popular too. Omnia states it has shifted over 8,000 ONE<br />

models in the last few years (that is huge in terms of<br />

processor sales) and I would strongly suspect Orban can<br />

boast something similar.<br />

Both companies have similar routes concerning the<br />

method of processing web streams. Orban produces a<br />

PCI card, the Optimod-PC 1101. Since the hardware costs<br />

are massively reduced, Orban has added value through<br />

incorporating the processing features of their near topof-range<br />

8500 model so you do get more punch for your<br />

pound. Omnia takes this a stage further and offers a<br />

software-only product, the A/XE. It’s down to you to<br />

provide all the hardware, but it means that a single PC can<br />

have Omnia processing onboard and stream the output<br />

to the web.<br />

Signing Off<br />

So, a brief overview on the not-always-simple world of<br />

on-air processors. Ask 10 people for advice on what is best<br />

and you will get 10 different answers.<br />

This topic covers so many areas: technical, artistic, and<br />

creative; which in turn means things are never clear cut.<br />

Ultimately, choosing or upgrading your station processing<br />

will be decided by the needs and budget of the station.<br />

Happy processing. I may see you at the next Freak<br />

Day! ∫<br />

BW Broadcast<br />

W www.audio-processor.com<br />

Audessence<br />

W www.audessence.com<br />

Orban<br />

W www.orban.com<br />

Omnia<br />

W www.omniaaudio.com

---

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---

FEATuRE<br />

34 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

Wisseloord Studios<br />

A Legend Resurrected<br />

By Frank Wells<br />

Two years ago at the 129th AES Convention in<br />

San Francisco, plans were announced for the<br />

resurrection of Wisseloord Studios, a much<br />

storied facility near to Amsterdam, steeped in<br />

the history of rock-n-roll and sadly in the depths of<br />

financial and physical disrepair. The partners in the<br />

plan brought their own legacies to the table: renowned<br />

engineer Ronald Prent, top-ten mastering engineer<br />

Darcy Proper and industry business strategist Paul<br />

Reynolds.<br />

The construction process ran some 14 months,<br />

having grown in complexity after hammer machine<br />

and accelerometer testing<br />

by German Acoustician<br />

new appoinTMenT aT wiSSeloord<br />

Wisseloord is pleased to announce that Crispin<br />

Murray has joined them in a role as consultant<br />

working from the UK. Murray has worked in<br />

the industry for more than thirty years working<br />

originally for the BBC, moving to Virgin’s<br />

Townhouse Mastering and The Manor Mobile<br />

and for the last twenty years being the Technical<br />

Lead for Metropolis Mastering; he is the winner<br />

this year, of The Unsung Hero Award from the<br />

Music Producers Guild in the UK. Wisseloord has<br />

recently reopened to critical acclaim following a<br />

two year, no expense spared, refit: the rebirth of<br />

a classic studio complex to give two Studios and<br />

two Mastering Rooms, complete with a <strong>Media</strong><br />

team covering all aspects of the musical and visual<br />

creative arts, from microphone to release. Said<br />

Murray, “I have privileged to work only for top<br />

facilities where quality comes first, granting an<br />

ease of use that gives the client quickest route to<br />

surpass their dreams and concentrate on creating<br />

those moments of magic without effort: when I<br />

left Metropolis I didn’t expect to work for another<br />

facility that that inspiring approach. Wisseloord<br />

however is such a place, with a world class team<br />

to capture that magic for all to enjoy: I relish the<br />

opportunity to work with such talent in such an<br />

inspirational environment “<br />

Jochen Veith (over what<br />

Reynolds called a “very<br />

expensive weekend” in<br />

regards to longterm costs).<br />

The original isolation<br />

scheme was revealed to have<br />

degraded over 35 years, and<br />

some aspects weren’t that<br />

well conceived to begin<br />

with. Keeping the vibe and<br />

acoustics of the two tracking<br />

spaces was a design goal,<br />

the larger room getting an<br />

iso booth shuffle (leaving<br />

a space large enough for<br />

orchestral recordings as<br />

well as video and television<br />

production) and the smaller<br />

(Studio 2) getting a major<br />

lift, literally.<br />

“The whole inner room<br />

– we lifted it,” said Veith.<br />

The old subflooring was<br />

cleaned out down to a sand<br />

layer, then new isolation and<br />

floor installed and the walls<br />

and ceiling lowered on to<br />

it. The control rooms were<br />

yet another story. “The old<br />

“The facility<br />

went<br />

from four<br />

recording<br />

studios to<br />

two, but<br />

added<br />

mastering<br />

and media,<br />

meaning that<br />

it can now<br />

cater to more<br />

client needs<br />

in-house,<br />

and do so<br />

efficiently<br />

that come<br />

through it.”<br />

had their day,” said Reynolds, as he laid out some of the<br />

design goals: to improve the quality of the rooms; to make<br />

the rooms 5.1 – and even 10.1 – capable (which would<br />

require more height); have floors at the same level as the<br />

rest of the facility; to facilitate the ability to work standing<br />

and still have vision to the studios; and finally, to have<br />

comfortable, inviting lounges for clients.<br />

The solution became to completely remove the old<br />

control rooms and start over. A new isolation approach<br />

allowed the floors to match the level of the studios and<br />

hallways; the windows into the studios were now at eye<br />

level when sitting or standing, and interior room height<br />

was gained by eliminating the raised floors. The acoustic<br />

goals for the control rooms were realised by turning the<br />

rooms 90 degrees, eliminating the problems inherent in<br />

having a hard glass window surface between the front<br />

monitors, resulting in a side view into the studio, mirrored<br />

somewhat acoustically by having the patchbays mounted<br />

in the opposing walls. Improved isolating structure<br />

between rooms and added machine rooms made the<br />

concept of adjacent lounges impossible, though the height<br />

gained by removing the old flooring made it unnecessary<br />

to raise the ceilings, so the lounges could move upstairs.<br />

Paul Reynolds,<br />

Yes, Mr Speaker<br />

Monitoring is identical in the two recording control<br />

rooms. PMC BB5-XBD-A speakers, the most powerful<br />

in PMC’s range, were chosen for the front monitors, with<br />

a pair of MB2S-XBDs ceiling hung as rear surrounds.<br />

“I have a good relationship with PMC; I can rely on them<br />

and they can rely on me,” said Veith, the rooms and<br />

monitors becoming an interdependent system.<br />

No EQ was required for the front monitors, which<br />

are soffit-mounted with wood surrounds in a wall<br />

incorporating limestone, concrete, and elastomeric<br />

isolation; there’s simply power balance between the<br />

loudspeaker components. Reynolds personally developed<br />

a dye and stencil method of putting a pattern on the<br />

acoustic fabric (paint would have unacceptably sealed<br />

the fabric’s pores) carrying Wisseloord’s Persian design<br />

theme into the control rooms. For the rear walls, Veith<br />

Industry Business<br />

developed custom mid- and high frequency diffusors<br />

from wood and vertical elements of an aluminum/plastic<br />

rooms were cool, but they’d Strategist<br />

sandwich material that would be lightweight and not ring. >

---

The depth of the cavities varies and holes are drilled in the<br />

backing wood to let the panels breath, cleverly making<br />

the diffusors also serve as a tuned Hemholtz resonator for<br />

low frequency absorption. The console fronts were also<br />

treated to eliminate vibration and acoustic reflections.<br />

As with Veith and PMC, numerous aspects of the<br />

facility reflect the cooperation of manufacturers between<br />

each other and with Wisseloord. Studio 1 was fitted with<br />

an Avid/Euphonix System 5 digital desk, while Studio 2<br />

is home to an API Vision analogue console. At Prent’s<br />

request, Prism Sound and Avid worked together to marry<br />

Prism converters to the System 5, resulting in one of the<br />

largest Prism Sound installations in the world. API, in<br />

turn, developed a custom version of the Vision for<br />

Prent, who was instrumental in the original<br />

specification of the first API Vision built for his former<br />

room at Galaxy Studios in Belgium. Prent wished for<br />

a larger desk than the room could accommodate, and<br />

API accommodated his needs by adding to the 48 main<br />

channels an additional bank of API 200 frame modules for<br />

stereo and surround returns. Even the wiring is custom,<br />

Prent working with Grimm <strong>Audio</strong> on the development<br />

of a studio version of its audiophile cable, that Prent says<br />

delivers within 5 percent of the performance of Grimm’s<br />

high-end cable in a bundled multi-core format which<br />

“makes a huge difference – you don’t see it but you hear it.”<br />

Clocking from Antelope <strong>Audio</strong> is employed at Wisseloord.<br />

Master Of One<br />

It was “harder to get here than we’d hoped, not so<br />

much harder than we’d expected,” said Proper of the<br />

Wisseloord makeover. For her part, Proper had the<br />

luxury of developing a space that was her own. “Having<br />

so many choices was difficult at times,” she said, as she<br />

challenged her comfortable choices, and considered trying<br />

new tools and approaches. Her mastering suite, and an<br />

adjacent room similarly treated to house vinyl cutting<br />

and additional mastering (and archiving), were originally<br />

another recording space and control room.<br />

The spacious suite has acoustic elements, broken<br />

up at points to reveal a stone-look plaster surface on<br />

the structural concrete walls. The result is a space that<br />

sounds natural to occupy while still being appropriately<br />

controlled for monitoring. “We were able to make it into<br />

something that feels good as well as sounds good,” said<br />

Proper, adding that the sonic balance holds up as you<br />

move around the room.<br />

Mastering rooms can have a laboratory or dentist<br />

office feel, but client comfort is important to Proper. “It is<br />

easier for me to work with people when they are feeling<br />

comfortable,” she explained.<br />

Proper’s surround monitoring system is built on<br />

Eggleston Works monitors, with Krell amps, “a special<br />

combination.” The centrepiece of her mastering gear is an<br />

SPL high voltage rail analogue controller, surrounded by<br />

gear from Weiss, Neve, Millennia, Dangerous Music, and<br />

Maselec, with Avid Pro Tools and Merging Technology<br />

Pyramix DAWs. She adds Lavry, DCS, and Merging’s<br />

Horus converters to her Prism compliment.<br />

Studio In Use<br />

Staffer Rob Sannen, Operations Manager, first worked<br />

with Prent as an assistant engineer well before Wisseloord<br />

was conceived. He and staff assistant engineers Lukas<br />

Morawski and Erik Van Der Horst were essential to the<br />

reconstruction process. Wisseloord’s media department,<br />

whose offerings include DVD and BluRay authoring, is<br />

overseen by Wouter Strobbe.<br />

“Working at the new Wisseloord Studios was an<br />

absolute pleasure,” said Los Angeles and Nashvilleanchored<br />

producer/engineer Csaba Petocz who recently<br />

returned from Wisseloord where he recorded and mixed<br />

Studio 2’s first full album project with Dutch artist Ilse<br />

Delange (who had done all her previous projects in<br />

Nashville). “The console in studio 2, where I spent three<br />

months, sounds fantastic... The staff were wonderful.”<br />

“harder to<br />

get here<br />

than we’d<br />

hoped, not<br />

so much<br />

harder<br />

than we’d<br />

expected.”<br />

Darcy Proper,<br />

Mastering Engineer<br />

“Our model is pretty simple,” Reynolds<br />

states. The facility went from four recording<br />

studios to two, but added mastering and<br />

media, meaning that it can now cater to more<br />

client needs in-house, and do so efficiently,<br />

supporting today’s multiple product streams.<br />

“All these rooms are the best we can do,”<br />

he said, with no budget room and no<br />

compromise. Even though Wisseloord is a<br />

premium-priced facility, Reynolds explained<br />

that economy through efficiency means<br />

“our value for money is extremely high.”<br />

The Euphonix room can accommodate day<br />

and night sessions, and the mastering and<br />

media suites will see additional traffic around<br />

the clock as demand grows.<br />

If You Build It...<br />

The Wisseloord team firmly believes that<br />

there is a market for what the facility has<br />

to offer. “We believe there’s enough people<br />

who will still look for a studio like this,<br />

explained Reynolds. “There’s also a whole<br />

other generation who have never had access<br />

to a studio of a particular [high-end level]<br />

and they’re coming through the door now,”<br />

experiencing hardware (from well-equipped<br />

racks) that matches what those clients had<br />

only known as plug-ins previously. Wisseloord<br />

is elegant through simplicity. “The vibe in here<br />

comes from the people that come through it,”<br />

said Reynolds. Prent says the partners “had<br />

high expectations” for Wisseloord, and the<br />

result of a lot of hard work is everything they<br />

hoped it would be “and much more.” ∫<br />

Wisseloord Studios<br />

W wisseloord.nl<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 35

---

FEATurE<br />

36 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

Aladdin, The Musical<br />

By Paul Mac<br />

The production of Aladdin, the musical,<br />

that opened at Denmark’s Frederica Theatre<br />

on October 4, 2012, is one of five regional<br />

productions (and the only one in Europe)<br />

that have been specifically sanctioned by Disney prior<br />

to the development of the broadway show version.<br />

The Frederica was chosen based on its exceptional<br />

reputation in musical theatre, and the sound has<br />

been entrusted to the theatre’s Sound Director, Tim<br />

Andreasen. “The only stipulation was that it’s not a copy<br />

of the film... That it’s our own interpretation.”<br />

That, it has to be said, is a big opportunity, and<br />

understandably, the theatre’s Artistic and Executive<br />

Director, Søren Møller, is very happy about it.<br />

“We are thrilled,” he said in a recent press release.<br />

“...At the Frederica we are committed to the development<br />

of new musical theatre and the presentation of Danish and<br />

European premieres...”<br />

Andreasen took me on a tour of theatre while it was in<br />

full Aladdin mode, starting down below...<br />

The Music Box<br />

The Orchestra pit is well enclosed. The stage is extended<br />

past the proscenium, leaving only a letter box-type<br />

opening along and<br />

underneath the<br />

length of the stage.<br />

The conductor<br />

emerges from<br />

there a couple of<br />

times during the<br />

show to gee-up the<br />

audience a bit, and<br />

it must also help the<br />

musicians to share<br />

the same air as the<br />

audience. It’s a little<br />

tight, but there<br />

is a large band of<br />

musicians catered<br />

for, including a big<br />

percussion array at<br />

slightly by screens but still with line-of-sight to the<br />

conductor. This performance space is comprehensively<br />

miked, which is a core requirement when the objective is<br />

to create a large, controlled, detailed show-sound.<br />

The percussion area, however, is surprisingly mic-light.<br />

There are three DPA 4015C wide cardioid microphones<br />

spaced across the front, where Andreasen used ‘mic<br />

placement 101’ - trial and error – to get the balance<br />

right. All three mics use three ganged channels with<br />

the same EQ, same compression, and same level; the<br />

only difference between them is position. “One problem<br />

is to get separation between the glockenspiel and the<br />

xylophone – not have the glockenspiel too overpowering.”<br />

Working with the percussionist and a pair of headphones,<br />

Andreasen managed to arrange the mics so an excellent<br />

“I’ve seen<br />

balance was struck. There are a couple of other mics in<br />

shows where<br />

the percussion area, but the only one that Andreasen<br />

uses regularly is the timpani mic; not for the full range<br />

it sounds<br />

experience – just the essence. Andreasen’s main point here<br />

like the<br />

was that you could, if you felt so inclined, fill the area with<br />

orchestra in<br />

microphones and mix that, but you have to be so precise<br />

with everything and end up with a lot that can go wrong.<br />

the pit. And<br />

A simple, acoustic overhead percussion balance wins out.<br />

sometimes it<br />

However, most other things are pretty close-miked<br />

around the pit, which Andreasen sees, amongst other<br />

should – the<br />

reasons, as a way of making the room disappear –<br />

sound design<br />

putting the emphasis on mixing the show. Andreasen<br />

is created to<br />

has to complement different parts of the show with<br />

different approaches to the overall sound, including the<br />

just reinforce<br />

music. “You have an idea about how it should sound<br />

the sound<br />

– not necessarily how it should sound the whole time.<br />

But people down here are playing the same...<br />

coming from<br />

The musicians are playing it like it’s written, but I of course<br />

the pit. But<br />

have my own ideas about what it should sound like...<br />

I would like<br />

“I’ve seen shows where it sounds like the orchestra<br />

in the pit. And sometimes it should – the sound design<br />

to just close<br />

is created to just reinforce the sound coming from the<br />

the floor and<br />

pit. But I would like to just close the floor and have<br />

full control.”<br />

have full<br />

The whole pit area is lined with absorbent material<br />

control.”<br />

and is as dead as you can get something like that, given<br />

enough foam.<br />

Tim Andreasen,<br />

The orchestra is wired with the 16-channel Aviom<br />

the back, separated Sound Director A-Net-based Pro 16 personal monitoring system. >

---

Of course, with an 18-person orchestra, there are a few<br />

The most unpredictable microphones in<br />

stems on that network, especially as he prefers a stereo<br />

a production are always those worn by the<br />

keyboard and drum feed, and where possible a stereo<br />

actors. Romantic moments inevitably bring<br />

vocal feed: “Some people say they don’t care about having<br />

in some comb filtering, but Andreasen<br />

the vocals in stereo, but they do when they hear it.”<br />

doesn’t jump to the fader for emergency<br />

While the orchestra were getting used to the Aviom<br />

adjustment because: “I think it sounds a bit<br />

system, Andreasen used a small monitor on the keyboards<br />

unmusical.” Worse, Andreasen says, is the<br />

to give it an acoustic presence in the orchestra pit, so the<br />

effect of clothing and hair on those more<br />

musicians could at least get a real acoustic guide while<br />

sneaky mic placements, which he views as<br />

they grappled with the monitoring. The common feeds on<br />

compromises – not near enough to the source.<br />

the monitor units are drums, percussion, keyboards, bass,<br />

So, for Aladdin he took the decision to go for<br />

guitar, strings, reeds, brass, talkback, click, and vocals.<br />

boom mics – specifically 40 of DPA’s dual-ear<br />

For the root monitor mix, one of the theatre’s DiGiCo<br />

omnidirectional d:fine headset mics with two<br />

SD8 digital consoles mixes the stems for the Aviom system<br />

different boom lengths. All were supplied by<br />

into a MaDiRack and directly to the monitor stations via<br />

Denmark’s DPA distributor, Alfa <strong>Audio</strong>.<br />

the DiGiCo D-16C A-Net card. Andreasen contributes the<br />

Some of the big wins here include the<br />

effects and vocals to the monitor console and each deals<br />

tolerance of the omni capsule to changing<br />

with the orchestra feed for their own purposes.<br />

placements, and the addition of the stability<br />

DPA 2011C twin diaphragm cardioid mics sit amongst<br />

of the capsule position relative to the mouth.<br />

the violins, cello, flute, and brass sections. DPA d:vote<br />

You can even change the microphone without<br />

4099 instrument microphones are used on the guitar<br />

having to detach the cable.<br />

and bass cabinets and as additions on the strings, while<br />

Feedback from the actors is positive too,<br />

another 2011C sits in front of the kick drum. “I was pretty<br />

with most reporting that once used to it, they<br />

surprised about that,” relates Andreasen, “But of course<br />

can’t actually feel the microphones.<br />

you have to have a good-sounding kick drum. You can<br />

And as for the sound, well, coupled with<br />

hear everything in the drum.”<br />

a Sony digital wireless system, Andreasen<br />

reports, “I like the sound of the d:fine capsule...<br />

Theatre Craft<br />

It has an enhanced high end – and I’d rather<br />

At the FOH position there’s a DiGiCo SD7 (the theatre<br />

have a bright mic than a dull one, because you<br />

actually owns two DiGiCo SD8s, but for the show it hired<br />

in an SD7 for front of house to take care of over 100<br />

can pull the bright one down a bit.”<br />

inputs), a TTS Stagetracker system, and a TC Electronic<br />

system 6000, amongst other things. The Stagetracker “I have a<br />

system isn’t actually in use as a tracker for this show - it’s a<br />

surround playout system for the show’s effects. The vocals tendency<br />

are bussed to a 5.1 group, and the orchestra is bussed to do a<br />

Performance Specialist<br />

As a Disney partnered production, Andreasen<br />

was aware that he needed to be in full control<br />

in order to fulfill the audience expectations<br />

as well as his own. This was never going to be<br />

to the main left-right group - though Andreasen uses lot more...<br />

the option in certain instances to route instruments to<br />

the rear channels via an auxiliary. “In some scenes, in the Maybe it’s a<br />

late part of a song, I will bring a lot of reverb and some bit less safe,<br />

brass to the rear speakers... just to bring out another<br />

dimension - to ‘make’ a big number that might be ten but I can’t<br />

minutes, that needs a crescendo....”<br />

program<br />

simple reinforcement.<br />

Andreasen describes the sound of the show<br />

as a more “polished” performance, with a fair<br />

amount of compression to help ‘apparent’<br />

loudness. He agrees that it is more filmic,<br />

especially with the addition of surround and<br />

an LFE channel. Some aspects of the orchestra<br />

Andreasen does a fair amount of live mixing, which a show<br />

is in contrast, he reports, to a particular broadway show<br />

he went to observe. “I have a tendency to do a lot more... where it’s<br />

Maybe it’s a bit less safe, but I can’t program a show where completely<br />

it’s completely static; I have to have fingers in there... And I<br />

have groups from the orchestra on the board all the time.” static; I<br />

He admits to changing things a fair bit from have to have<br />

are panned into the surrounds at various<br />

points, but they are mostly for effects.<br />

The show itself is energetic, tight, and<br />

funny, and the on-stage performances are<br />

completely committed. This is perfectly<br />

complemented by Andreasen, who obviously<br />

cares a great deal about his own performance<br />

show to show, especially in the early phases of public fingers in<br />

performances: “I always figure out better ways of doing<br />

things - change reverbs and things like that. I try to keep there...”<br />

on the evening, the quality of the sound that<br />

comes from the stage, and considers himself to<br />

be an active part of the show, rather than just<br />

the whole show as it is and add small things.”<br />

Tim Andreasen,<br />

Andreasen is not keen on ‘creative insights’ from<br />

everyone on a production, but he does concede there Sound Director<br />

is a place for it: “Last night I spoke to the<br />

guy playing percussion,” he says, ”Who had<br />

heard a recording of the show. He said on one<br />

song ‘it might be a good thing to bring one<br />

thing out’... When you feel you’ve got a full<br />

mix, you don’t hear the things you’re missing.<br />

Maybe you’ve missed something that’s<br />

being played.”<br />

In other words, the percussionist had an<br />

inside track on an absent note or instrument<br />

and was able to point it out.<br />

“It’s great,” he continues. ”If it’s done with<br />

respect, its fine. I love to get the Musical<br />

Director to hear the recording before opening,<br />

just to ask ‘is this the way you think it should<br />

sound?’ But I don’t want any comments on<br />

the build up... I know I don’t have this or that.<br />

I’m the first one to hear if a microphone is not<br />

on... don’t worry about it.”<br />

a baby-sitter. ∫<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 37

---

FEATURE<br />

38 October 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

“Overall, quality is clearly paramount for<br />

all of these manufacturers, be it through<br />

reviving the old analogue sounds of<br />

yesteryear through plug-ins or using other<br />

new technologies”<br />

Paul Watson<br />

Due Process?<br />

Effects Processing Inside The Console<br />

Paul Watson talks to four of the many manufacturers now putting their internal effects forward as a one of the big<br />

reasons to buy. What philosophies populate this hard-fought piece of ground?<br />

“W<br />

explains Brand Development Manager<br />

e write all our own effects algorithms,<br />

because all of our digital consoles operate<br />

an automatic latency management routine,”<br />

at Midas, Richard Ferriday. “It’s very important that<br />

however the operator deploys those effects processors,<br />

the console is able to manage the resulting latencies and<br />

make sure that the audio is always in phase, right down<br />

to single sample accuracy, whenever they sum that audio<br />

together at any point.”<br />

The company philosophy in terms of its effects and<br />

processing, Ferriday says, is to continually improve them:<br />

after purchasing a console, any new effects that are built<br />

into the software are always released to the customer at<br />

no extra cost.<br />

“If you take our latest Generation II software as an<br />

example, which we released at ProLight + Sound earlier<br />

this year, that added lots of new functionality into our<br />

entire console range,” he continues. “We added an<br />

additional five reverbs, a dynamic EQ, a matrix mixer,<br />

several additional modulation effects, and a new tapdelay.”<br />

Because Midas’s digital consoles all boast identical<br />

effects and processing options, from the Pro 1 all the<br />

way up to the XL8, the manufacturer can provide full<br />

compatibility across the board, so to speak.<br />

“Uniquely, you can take a show file from any one of our<br />

consoles with a certain effects rack as a component in that<br />

show file and it will load onto any of our other consoles,<br />

and run perfectly,” Ferriday states. “Although we’ll always<br />

continue to develop our palette of effects units, we also<br />

appreciate that there’ll always be something that someone<br />

is going to want that we won’t be able to provide – an<br />

effect that perhaps 99 per cent of our customers will never<br />

use – so we have made it easy to interface our consoles<br />

with external DSP resources so users can run an effect<br />

on a laptop and interface it specifically with the console<br />

whenever they need to.”<br />

DiGiCo<br />

One manufacturer that uses more than just DSP is<br />

DiGiCo: unlike any other brand, it uses Super Field<br />

“Anyone<br />

else that<br />

can interact<br />

with Waves<br />

has an<br />

Ethernet<br />

connector to<br />

a SoundGrid<br />

server,<br />

whereas we<br />

offer that<br />

capability<br />

via a 2U<br />

rack-mount<br />

[SoundGrid]<br />

server, and<br />

everything<br />

else is then<br />

incorporated<br />

into the<br />

console...”<br />

Dave Webster,<br />

DiGiCo<br />

Programmable Gate Array (Super FPGA) for all its audio<br />

path.<br />

“DSP is certainly powerful, but nowhere near as<br />

powerful as Super FPGA,” claims DiGiCo’s marketing<br />

director, David Webster. “What that means is, when you’re<br />

dealing with something that needs a lot of arithmetic<br />

calculations, like a reverb, you can get a much higher<br />

quality out of Super FPGA. In the old days, for your house<br />

vocal, you’d have either your Lexicon 224 or 480, or your<br />

Yamaha SPX 90 – now when you look at that, they’re<br />

both reverbs, but I know which one I’d want! Plenty of<br />

manufacturers can deliver quality similar to something<br />

like the SPX 90, but using Super FPGA, we can provide<br />

the quality of the Lexicon – and you can really hear the<br />

difference.”<br />

Something else that DiGiCo doesn’t need to worry<br />

about, Webster says, is clogging up the I/O on the console<br />

with effects returns.<br />

“With an SD7, because of the Super FPGA and the DSP<br />

together, we can do up to 48 stereo effects – just returns on<br />

a console you’d need 96 inputs for that,” he smiles. “And<br />

that’s excluding any of the compressors, dynamic EQs and<br />

gates, because they’re on every channel and every bus of<br />

our consoles anyway.”<br />

Webster stresses that although all DiGiCo customers<br />

are happy with the internal effects and processing<br />

DIGICO/WAVES SOUNDGRID<br />

The DiGiCo SoundGrid module provides instant access to up to<br />

16 fully integrated low-latency Waves stereo processor racks<br />

(32 I/O) on the SD8 and SD9, and up to 32 (64 I/O) on the SD7,<br />

using Super FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) technology<br />

that links directly via Ethernet to the SD7, SD8, or SD9’s digital<br />

mixing engine. SoundGrid is pre-loaded with Waves SoundGridcompatible<br />

plug-ins, and other features include total snapshot<br />

integration, redundancy and recovery via SoundGrid, and touch<br />

& turn plug-in control.

---

available in its consoles, the manufacturer realises that<br />

people will always have their personal preferences in the<br />

way something should sound, therefore offers plug-in<br />

capability, via Waves.<br />

“Is it the Waves DSP add-on? Yes and no, really.<br />

It is, but anyone else that can interact with Waves has an<br />

Ethernet connector to a SoundGrid server, whereas we<br />

offer that capability via a 2U rack-mount [SoundGrid]<br />

server, and everything else is then incorporated into the<br />

console as standard,” Webster explains. “Using DiGiCo,<br />

you can have up to 32 stereo racks from Waves – that’s 64<br />

channels. Most other people aren’t able to do that... We<br />

are the only manufacturer that allows that 64 I/O on top<br />

of any I/O we have in any of our consoles.”<br />

DiGiCo also offers control of Waves via its<br />

consoles’ touch-screens, which eliminates the need for an<br />

additional PC.<br />

“Instead of a running a separate laptop, you’re<br />

basically running a separate server for audio only, and it<br />

uniquely saves that within a session. The only thing that’s<br />

happening is its number-crunching and the audio I/O is<br />

going in and out of the 2U box; everything else all happens<br />

within the console,” Webb reveals. “It’s then saved as a<br />

Waves live session file with a DiGiCo session file – the<br />

two are married. So, for example, say Eric Clapton’s using<br />

a particular effect and you change it for his guitar solo in<br />

Layla, that’s there, even though it’s in Waves; the console<br />

knows it, and it tells the Waves box what it wants, then you<br />

see it on the screen on the console. It’s totally integrated,<br />

whereas everybody else has to run it as if it’s a separate<br />

piece of outboard gear.”<br />

Soundcraft<br />

One of the benefits of being part of the Harman Group,<br />

says Soundcraft’s Head of Digital Console Strategy,<br />

Andy Brown, is being able to utilise the best of all of its<br />

brands, which has had a positive impact on the effects and<br />

processing that’s gone into Soundcraft’s Vi and Si ranges<br />

of digital consoles.<br />

“We are in a very good position as we have access to<br />

lots of well known and well-respected brands, going from<br />

the Lexicon reverbs to the dynamic stuff like BSS graphics<br />

and dbx processing,” he says. “Our general philosophy is to<br />

“We<br />

added an<br />

additional<br />

five reverbs,<br />

a dynamic<br />

EQ, a<br />

matrix<br />

mixer,<br />

several<br />

additional<br />

modulation<br />

effects, and<br />

a new tapdelay.y...”<br />

Richard Ferriday,<br />

Midas<br />

try and get those brands into our consoles, and although<br />

we have certainly done that in our current offering,<br />

there’s a lot we’d like to do on that side of things. What’s<br />

also really cool is that these fellow-Harman brands also<br />

happen to be industry standard – brands that engineers<br />

would have on their wish-list when speaking to any digital<br />

console manufacturer. That’s a big bonus for us.”<br />

Using Lexicon, Brown says, was “a complete<br />

no-brainer”:<br />

“Being such a super-respected brand – probably the<br />

leading brand in the industry at one time – meant we<br />

had to put it into our Vi and Si consoles; we got a very<br />

positive reaction from engineers and I think it made<br />

people remember just how well made those original<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 39<br />

>

---

Lexicon algorithms were; they were developed by real<br />

academics, which made Lexicon the force it was in the 70s<br />

and 80s. We provide eight totally integrated stereo Lexicon<br />

FX engines from a single card installed in the rack, all<br />

controlled directly through the Vistonics II user interface,<br />

with a host of patching and control options.”<br />

All of Soundcraft’s Vi consoles boast BSS graphic EQs,<br />

which can be deployed on all buss outputs (providing 35 x<br />

30-band graphic EQs with no loss of effects or processing<br />

power) and engaging any graphic brings band control<br />

onto the channel faders. The channel FaderGlow turns red<br />

to show graphic mode, and the band frequency is shown<br />

above each fader in the LCD display. The current channelstrip<br />

dynamics on Soundcraft’s consoles originated with<br />

Studer, and because the audio quality was so high, the<br />

manufacturer says it saw no reason to change them.<br />

“The EQs and dynamics are currently Studer<br />

algorithms, developed for both live and broadcast<br />

applications, and there’s actually a plan in development<br />

to offer more choice of those algorithms,” he says. “At the<br />

moment we have a Vi dynamic strip, but it would be nice<br />

to have the option of putting a dbx 160 in there too, and<br />

a BSS DPR901 – these are classic bits of kit and obvious<br />

targets for us to incorporate in the future.”<br />

“We have<br />

access to<br />

lots of well<br />

known<br />

and wellrespected<br />

brands,<br />

going from<br />

the Lexicon<br />

reverbs to<br />

the dynamic<br />

stuff like<br />

BSS graphics<br />

and dbx<br />

processing...”<br />

Andy Brown,<br />

Soundcraft<br />

p L ug-inS and recording on S oundcraft vi<br />

Yamaha<br />

Yamaha’s latest line of digital consoles is the CL Series<br />

(CL1, 3 and 5), all of which include high quality Portico<br />

5033/5043 EQ and compressor devices. The company’s<br />

current philosophy in terms of effects and processing,<br />

according to R&D product specialist, Chris Angel, is<br />

three-fold, and right in line with the Yamaha’s basic<br />

philosophy when it comes to designing and building<br />

digital consoles.<br />

“First and foremost, our customers always expect<br />

Soundcraft offers an inexpensive solution to using plug-ins on<br />

its Vi Series consoles. Using the existing MADI connections on<br />

either the console or stagebox, a direct link is set-up between the<br />

console and the host computer running Waves Multirack or a DAW<br />

system, simply by adding a MADI interface for the computer. No<br />

further hardware or Ethernet switches are required, or additional<br />

special cards or servers.<br />

Once connected, by patching the channel insert or bus insert<br />

sends and returns to the MADI port allows the plug-ins to run on<br />

the selected sources with very low latency, and with multiple loops<br />

available through the Waves Multirack.<br />

The same computer can then also host the DAW system, taking<br />

100 per cent reliability from our products, so processing<br />

its feeds from the channel direct outputs, again over MADI, and<br />

reliability is completely key,” he insists. “Secondly, it’s about<br />

utilising the returns from the DAW patched in to the secondary<br />

quality: we and our customers have always demanded the input source on each channel (input 2).<br />

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interface with UA analogue design<br />

• Realtime tracking with UAD Powered Plug-Ins<br />

(Neve®, Studer®, Lexicon®, Roland® & more)<br />

• Additional mixing and mastering DSP horsepower for your sessions<br />

• Thunderbolt I/O option card (sold separately)<br />

Exclusively distributed in the UK and Ireland by Source • www.sourcedistribution.co.uk/ua • T: 020 8962 5080 facebook.com/sourcedistribution twitter.com/sourcedist<br />

©2012 Universal <strong>Audio</strong> Inc. *Compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7; Windows 7 support coming Summer 2012. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. Individual UAD-2 plug-ins sold separately.<br />

#30814 - UAD Apollo AM.indd 1 25/04/2012 10:57<br />

40 October 2012 | audiomedia.com

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MIDAS SHARC-BASED PROCESSING<br />

The SHARC-based effects and dynamics algorithms are identical<br />

on all of Midas’s digital consoles, from the Pro Series up to<br />

the flagship XL8. They are incorporated within the console’s<br />

automatic delay management system, so wherever they are<br />

patched, the audio will be completely phase-coherent when<br />

summed into the user’s mix. It is also possible to assign up to<br />

36 1/3 octave Klark TekninDN370 graphic EQs, all of which can be<br />

controlled using the optional Klark Teknik DN9331 Rapide moving<br />

fader remote. There are four types of compression available on<br />

inputs and five types on outputs; and FX options, configurations,<br />

settings and patching are all changeable with each scene recall.<br />

best, so we need to make sure that the audio quality we<br />

generate will always be excellent; and thirdly, we insist on<br />

a seamless user-interface: everything needs to be builtin,<br />

so the user has no need to administrate third-party<br />

solutions.”<br />

Angel says processing and effects expectations have<br />

increased massively in recent years, and as a result,<br />

Yamaha has chosen to collaborate with a small and select<br />

number of processing partners.<br />

“Our main partner is Rupert Neve Designs; both<br />

through Yamaha and our sister company, Steinberg,<br />

we have been able to provide these plug-ins, and in<br />

the future we certainly hope to expand upon that,” he<br />

adds. “Everything is based around our Virtual Circuitry<br />

Modelling technology, of course, and we also have<br />

many classic pieces of in-house hardware we are able to<br />

model digitally: a number of classic reverbs, EQs, and<br />

compressors, for example.”<br />

Angel reiterates that above all, it’s about quality, not<br />

quantity:<br />

“We are not going to go for a complete plug-in system<br />

– that brings problems, which we have seen in several<br />

YAMAHA VIRTUAL CIRCUITRY MODELLING (VCM)<br />

Yamaha’s VCM technology was designed to create highly accurate<br />

digital copies of analogue hardware. It does this through the<br />

digital reproduction of individual components in analogue<br />

circuits such as resistors and capacitors; and besides modelling<br />

the functionality of a circuit and the interaction between single<br />

components, VCM focuses on the musical simulation of analogue<br />

sound qualities, including saturation and non-linearity, which less<br />

complex digital simulations cannot capture as accurately.<br />

“We are not<br />

going to go for a<br />

complete plug-in<br />

system – that<br />

brings problems,<br />

which we have<br />

seen in several<br />

competing<br />

manufacturers...<br />

anything that<br />

isn’t completely<br />

solid is not<br />

acceptable.”<br />

Chris Angel,<br />

Yamaha<br />

competing manufacturers; we may have a slightly ‘closedgarden’<br />

approach, but anything that isn’t completely solid<br />

is not acceptable to us as a Yamaha solution.”<br />

Shut Down<br />

Overall, quality is clearly paramount for all of these<br />

manufacturers, be it through reviving the old analogue<br />

sounds of yesteryear through plug-ins or using other<br />

new technologies; in fact, it’s the one thing that does<br />

seems constant: people still want to recreate the classic<br />

processing of the 60s and 70s, and it doesn’t look like that<br />

is going to change any time soon. ∫<br />

Midas Consoles<br />

W www.midasconsoles.com<br />

DiGiCo<br />

W www.digico.biz<br />

Soundcraft<br />

W www.soundcraft.com<br />

Yamaha<br />

W www.yamahacommercialaudio.com<br />

PERFECT SOUND<br />

for<br />

PERFECT PICTURES.<br />

Sennheiser has the solution<br />

for video journalists.<br />

The new MKE 600 camera microphone is capable<br />

of mastering even the toughest video sound<br />

challenges. Its high level of directivity ensures that<br />

it picks up sound from the camera direction while<br />

reliably avoiding unwanted background noise.<br />

Wind noise is minimised with a switchable low-cut<br />

filter and the MKE 600 can be powered by either a<br />

standard AA battery or by phantom power.<br />

Inspire your audience with lifelike, full-bodied<br />

sound, great bass response and speech<br />

reproduction with high levels of intelligibility.<br />

MKE 600 – perfect sound for perfect pictures.<br />

www.sennheiser.co.uk<br />

Sennheiser UK Ltd, 3 Century Point,<br />

High Wycombe, Bucks, HP12 3SL<br />

01494 551551<br />

@Sennheiser_UK<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 41

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[<br />

]<br />

TECH<br />

]<br />

FOCUS<br />

42 November2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

><br />

Headphones & In-Ear Monitors<br />

If you are an audio professional, you are probably going to be using headphones on a fairly regular basis. How do you<br />

know what will be best for your needs, and what choice is available? You turn to <strong>Audio</strong> <strong>Media</strong>, of course, because we<br />

have sorted out a buyer’s guide for you. Get your cans on and listen to what we have to say.<br />

Witness<br />

There is a fair amount of choice out there for<br />

professional headphone users. The first thing<br />

to do is to identify the design features that will<br />

suit your needs.<br />

Closed Back or Open Back?<br />

Open backed headphones allow acoustical<br />

energy to leave the system through the back of<br />

each earpiece, which means less resonance and<br />

a better sound quality than a closed system.<br />

Closed back headphones use materials to<br />

dampen that energy – this adds extra weight<br />

and will change the nature of the sound.<br />

If you plan to use headphones for long periods,<br />

it might be worth considering an open back pair<br />

as they are less tiring for your ears. Why doesn’t<br />

everyone just use open back headphones then?<br />

The answer is lack of isolation.<br />

You can hear everything going on around you,<br />

and others will hear what you are listening to.<br />

A closed system provides isolation of around<br />

30-40 dB. So, for use over long periods where<br />

interference isn’t a problem, use open back.<br />

If there will be distracting background noise,<br />

closed back.<br />

Circumaural or Supra-Aural?<br />

Headphones with large ear pads with an<br />

elliptical cushion that circles the ear are<br />

circumaural. Supra-aural headphones<br />

sit on top of your ears. For extensive use<br />

circumaural headphones will probably be more<br />

comfortable, as the cushions contact each side<br />

of your head, which removes pressure from<br />

your ears. The cushions can also provide<br />

extra isolation. Supra-aural headphones<br />

tend to be significantly smaller, making<br />

them more convenient for location sound.<br />

Because the acoustical volume being moved<br />

is smaller, resulting in higher sound pressure<br />

levels for the same amount of energy, sounds<br />

can be played more loudly through supra-aural<br />

headphones.<br />

Heavy or Lightweight?<br />

Lightweight headphones are more comfortable,<br />

and lower weight results in less pressure being<br />

applied to the user’s head and ears. The overall<br />

weight has no bearing on sound quality –<br />

the only exception is the magnet system,<br />

which has to be the right size to provide<br />

sufficient power.<br />

Which Materials?<br />

Commonly used materials include magnesium,<br />

aluminium, and high tech plastics – all<br />

lightweight and non-resonant. High-tech<br />

plastic has an inner damping, while metal parts<br />

require extra material to dampen resonance.<br />

Transducers<br />

The most commonly used transducer design<br />

is the dynamic, moving-coil driver. These use<br />

a stationary magnet and a wire voice coil to<br />

move a stiff diaphragm. Several manufacturers<br />

have tweaked this design with their own<br />

principles and proprietary elements. Thus,<br />

different design principles are not necessarily<br />

particularly different, but you will get what<br />

you pay for.<br />

Marketing<br />

If you start looking around for a high-quality<br />

headphone, you will quickly realise that certain<br />

buzz words come up again and again. These<br />

mostly involve transducer design, with exciting<br />

shiny phrases to convince you that you should<br />

buy this product because it has the latest, most<br />

special transducer. Of course, the quality of<br />

the headphone is affected by these things but<br />

there are also other details that are important<br />

too – the quality of the wire in the voice coil,<br />

the kind of glue used to attach the diaphragm.<br />

These will all make a noticeable difference to<br />

sound reproduction.<br />

Conclusion: There is a wide choice of<br />

headphones available, and we hope this guide<br />

will help you narrow your search. There is<br />

no substitute, however, for listening to lots of<br />

different sets and deciding what you like the<br />

sound of.<br />

Expert Witness<br />

This expert witness section is a summary of a longer piece<br />

in our International Buyer’s Guide to Monitoring and<br />

Headphones, which was compiled from contributions by<br />

various manufacturers.<br />

EXPERT<br />

[If you are an audio professional, you are probably going to be using headphones on a fairly regular basis. How do you<br />

]<br />

A nice look gives you<br />

grab inspiration at the time of recording.<br />

Simplicity grants the microphone a long life<br />

and durability. After having recorded, you<br />

will never be surprised<br />

by incorrect settings, as<br />

there will be a chance to<br />

change them.<br />

And most importantly,<br />

and refl ections. New tech<br />

‘Golden Drops’, is used<br />

capsule microphones from 2008.<br />

PRODUCTS<br />

In 2008-2009, Violet introduced several new<br />

microphones and accessories.<br />

SOUNDFIELD<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

A nice look gives you<br />

time of recording.<br />

icrophone a long life and refl ections. New tech<br />

‘Golden Drops’, is used<br />

from 2008.<br />

+ + + SOUNDFIELD<br />

SOUNDFIELD<br />

Surround Recording<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

A nice look gives you the possibility to<br />

time of recording.<br />

icrophone a long life<br />

communication with the membrane, and<br />

reduction of parasitic internal resonances<br />

and refl ections. New technology, named<br />

‘Golden Drops’, is used in all our large<br />

from 2008.<br />

time to:<br />

Get back to what matters – get into Violet Microphones.<br />

that is predictable and can be tailored with<br />

some precision to what is required.<br />

Physics Versus Emotion<br />

Despite what many would regard as the<br />

benefits of the techno-physical approach,<br />

a great deal of the literature and advice<br />

on the use of microphones is based on<br />

apparently non-technical considerations.<br />

Often a microphone will be listed as best<br />

Often a microphone will be listed as best<br />

suited for vocals simply because it has,<br />

suited for vocals simply because it has,<br />

by chance, sounded pleasant on a previous<br />

by chance, sounded pleasant on a previous<br />

by chance, sounded pleasant on a previous<br />

occasion or looks similar in shape to one<br />

occasion or looks similar in shape to one<br />

that was used in that way.<br />

that was used in that way.<br />

tube (valve) microphones give ‘a warm<br />

sound’ because they become physically<br />

warm in use – or that large microphones<br />

yield a bigger ‘sound image’ (whatever that<br />

means) than smaller designs. This latter<br />

notion undoubtedly stems from folklore<br />

that has been fostered by those with<br />

vested interests in the promotion of large-<br />

vested interests in the promotion of large-<br />

diaphragm microphones. In purely physical<br />

diaphragm microphones. In purely physical<br />

diaphragm microphones. In purely physical<br />

terms there is, of course, no requirement<br />

terms there is, of course, no requirement<br />

terms there is, of course, no requirement<br />

terms there is, of course, no requirement<br />

for the diaphragm to be large in order to be<br />

for the diaphragm to be large in order to be<br />

for the diaphragm to be large in order to be<br />

for the diaphragm to be large in order to be<br />

able to respond to low frequencies.<br />

able to respond to low frequencies.<br />

able to respond to low frequencies.<br />

Making Comparisons<br />

Every innovation needs to be tested and<br />

Every innovation needs to be tested and<br />

Every innovation needs to be tested and<br />

Every innovation needs to be tested and<br />

proven – which leads us to the awkward<br />

proven – which leads us to the awkward<br />

proven – which leads us to the awkward<br />

proven – which leads us to the awkward<br />

problem that some of the steps<br />

problem that some of the steps<br />

forward are very small ones. To hear<br />

forward are very small ones. To hear<br />

them requires controlled listening<br />

them requires controlled listening<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

them requires controlled listening<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

them requires controlled listening<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

under good conditions and, above<br />

under good conditions and, above<br />

under good conditions and, above<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

under good conditions and, above<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

under good conditions and, above<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

all, with a proper reference; but<br />

all, with a proper reference; but<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

all, with a proper reference; but<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

all too frequently a new product<br />

all too frequently a new product<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

all too frequently a new product<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

all too frequently a new product<br />

all too frequently a new product<br />

or design is assayed in splendid<br />

or design is assayed in splendid<br />

or design is assayed in splendid<br />

or design is assayed in splendid<br />

isolation. Expectation or fervent<br />

isolation. Expectation or fervent<br />

isolation. Expectation or fervent<br />

isolation. Expectation or fervent<br />

belief that it must be better<br />

belief that it must be better<br />

belief that it must be better<br />

belief that it must be better<br />

belief that it must be better<br />

belief that it must be better<br />

strains judgement, and within<br />

strains judgement, and within<br />

strains judgement, and within<br />

strains judgement, and within<br />

strains judgement, and within<br />

strains judgement, and within<br />

strains judgement, and within<br />

a short time highly coloured<br />

a short time highly coloured<br />

a short time highly coloured<br />

a short time highly coloured<br />

opinions are circulating and<br />

opinions are circulating and<br />

opinions are circulating and<br />

opinions are circulating and<br />

opinions are circulating and<br />

opinions are circulating and<br />

a myth is built which is as<br />

a myth is built which is as<br />

a myth is built which is as<br />

a myth is built which is as<br />

a myth is built which is as<br />

a myth is built which is as<br />

baseless as it is hard to<br />

baseless as it is hard to<br />

baseless as it is hard to<br />

baseless as it is hard to<br />

eradicate.<br />

eradicate.<br />

There really is no<br />

There really is no<br />

There really is no<br />

alternative to properly<br />

alternative to properly<br />

alternative to properly<br />

alternative to properly<br />

controlled listening<br />

controlled listening<br />

controlled listening<br />

controlled listening<br />

tests if audio devices<br />

tests if audio devices<br />

tests if audio devices<br />

tests if audio devices<br />

tests if audio devices<br />

are to be compared in<br />

are to be compared in<br />

are to be compared in<br />

are to be compared in<br />

an impartial way. AB<br />

the membrane, and<br />

an impartial way. AB<br />

the membrane, and<br />

an impartial way. AB<br />

an impartial way. AB<br />

an impartial way. AB<br />

an impartial way. AB<br />

tests are limited to<br />

the membrane, and<br />

tests are limited to<br />

the membrane, and<br />

tests are limited to<br />

tests are limited to<br />

a reciprocal basis where, say, microphones<br />

have different frequency responses that<br />

affect perceived loudness.<br />

Microphones for a Particular Use?<br />

Although it is extremely common to be told<br />

that such and such a microphone is good<br />

for, say, violins, this poses the question of<br />

why it should be considered to be so.<br />

why it should be considered to be so.<br />

why it should be considered to be so.<br />

Should a microphone be chosen purely on<br />

Should a microphone be chosen purely on<br />

Should a microphone be chosen purely on<br />

Should a microphone be chosen purely on<br />

the grounds of what the sound source is?<br />

the grounds of what the sound source is?<br />

We don’t, after all, have more than one set<br />

We don’t, after all, have more than one set<br />

of ears to hear everything, and common<br />

of ears to hear everything, and common<br />

sense dictates that if the microphone is<br />

sense dictates that if the microphone is<br />

an ideal one it transforms a sound into a<br />

an ideal one it transforms a sound into a<br />

perfectly corresponding electrical signal.<br />

That suggests that the closer a microphone<br />

That suggests that the closer a microphone<br />

That suggests that the closer a microphone<br />

is to the ideal, the more neutral it sounds,<br />

is to the ideal, the more neutral it sounds,<br />

and the more universally it can be used.<br />

and the more universally it can be used.<br />

and the more universally it can be used.<br />

There is certainly a wide variety of very<br />

There is certainly a wide variety of very<br />

There is certainly a wide variety of very<br />

different top-quality microphones, but it<br />

different top-quality microphones, but it<br />

different top-quality microphones, but it<br />

would be wiser to see these as physically<br />

would be wiser to see these as physically<br />

would be wiser to see these as physically<br />

suited to a particular application rather<br />

suited to a particular application rather<br />

suited to a particular application rather<br />

than a particular sound source.<br />

than a particular sound source.<br />

than a particular sound source.<br />

As far as the ‘perfect’ microphone go<br />

As far as the ‘perfect’ microphone goes,<br />

es,<br />

omni-directional capacitor (condens<br />

omni-directional capacitor (condens<br />

omni-directional capacitor (condens<br />

omni-directional capacitor (condenser)<br />

designs approach the ideal very<br />

designs approach the ideal very<br />

designs approach the ideal very<br />

designs approach the ideal very closely.<br />

Where you want to favour sound from<br />

Where you want to favour sound from<br />

Where you want to favour sound from<br />

Where you want to favour sound from a<br />

single direction and exclude neighb<br />

single direction and exclude neighb<br />

single direction and exclude neighb<br />

single direction and exclude neighbouring<br />

ouring<br />

instruments or unwanted sound, then o<br />

instruments or unwanted sound, then o<br />

instruments or unwanted sound, then of<br />

course you need a directional micr<br />

course you need a directional micr<br />

course you need a directional micr<br />

course you need a directional micr<br />

course you need a directional micr<br />

course you need a directional microphone<br />

ophone<br />

which will be a little further from perfec<br />

which will be a little further from perfec<br />

which will be a little further from perfec<br />

which will be a little further from perfec<br />

which will be a little further from perfection.<br />

tion.<br />

For a start, any directional micropho<br />

For a start, any directional micropho<br />

For a start, any directional micropho<br />

For a start, any directional micropho<br />

For a start, any directional microphone (such<br />

ne (such<br />

as a cardioid) will demonstrate th<br />

as a cardioid) will demonstrate th<br />

as a cardioid) will demonstrate th<br />

as a cardioid) will demonstrate th<br />

as a cardioid) will demonstrate the so-called<br />

e so-called<br />

proximity effect when used close to a<br />

proximity effect when used close to a<br />

proximity effect when used close to a<br />

proximity effect when used close to a sound<br />

sound<br />

source. Low frequencies will be a<br />

source. Low frequencies will be a<br />

source. Low frequencies will be a<br />

source. Low frequencies will be a<br />

source. Low frequencies will be a<br />

source. Low frequencies will be accentuated.<br />

ccentuated.<br />

For a microphone that will commonly<br />

For a microphone that will commonly<br />

For a microphone that will commonly be used<br />

be used<br />

in this situation a compensating freq<br />

in this situation a compensating freq<br />

in this situation a compensating freq<br />

in this situation a compensating frequency<br />

uency<br />

getting techno-physical<br />

reduction of parasitic<br />

getting techno-physical<br />

reduction of parasitic<br />

and refl ections. New tech<br />

getting techno-physical<br />

and refl ections. New technology, named<br />

getting techno-physical<br />

nology, named<br />

in all our large<br />

getting techno-physical<br />

in all our large<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

More Than A Black Box!<br />

the sound image is highly accurate. various processes (recording, mixing<br />

and mastering) in which various people,<br />

locations, and therefore speaker systems,<br />

will be involved, corrections may be applied<br />

due solely to phase irregularities that<br />

are not present on the actual recording.<br />

The PSI <strong>Audio</strong> speakers feature our unique<br />

CPR system that generates a Compensated<br />

I <strong>Audio</strong> can be compared ers. Our vision is to be<br />

pioneers in precision au + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + +<br />

PM Series MkII<br />

The PM-Series MkII offer exceptional audio<br />

The PM-Series MkII offer exceptional audio<br />

performance matched to jaw-dropping good<br />

performance matched to jaw-dropping good<br />

performance matched to jaw-dropping good<br />

looks at an affordable price. Fostex strives to<br />

looks at an affordable price. Fostex strives to<br />

looks at an affordable price. Fostex strives to<br />

design and build studio monitoring systems<br />

design and build studio monitoring systems<br />

that enable you to experience your unique<br />

that enable you to experience your unique<br />

sound in all its dimensions. And through<br />

tireless research and development, endless<br />

measurements and real-world listening<br />

tests, Fostex’s engineers have achieved<br />

this in the form of the beautiful second<br />

generation PM-Series.<br />

Capitalising on Fostex’s supreme<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

Capitalising on Fostex’s supreme<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

knowledge of acoustics and speaker<br />

knowledge of acoustics and speaker<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

knowledge of acoustics and speaker<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

engineering, and now offering a brighter,<br />

engineering, and now offering a brighter,<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

engineering, and now offering a brighter,<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

engineering, and now offering a brighter,<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

tighter sound, these studio monitors are<br />

tighter sound, these studio monitors are<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

tighter sound, these studio monitors are<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

tighter sound, these studio monitors are<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

PM-2 MkII<br />

PM-2 MkII<br />

Created for larger rooms, the PM-2 has<br />

Created for larger rooms, the PM-2 has<br />

Created for larger rooms, the PM-2 has<br />

Created for larger rooms, the PM-2 has<br />

Created for larger rooms, the PM-2 has<br />

Created for larger rooms, the PM-2 has<br />

the power (240 watts of bi-amped power<br />

the power (240 watts of bi-amped power<br />

the power (240 watts of bi-amped power<br />

the power (240 watts of bi-amped power<br />

the power (240 watts of bi-amped power<br />

actually) and sophistication and, most<br />

actually) and sophistication and, most<br />

actually) and sophistication and, most<br />

actually) and sophistication and, most<br />

importantly, the versatility to handle the<br />

importantly, the versatility to handle the<br />

importantly, the versatility to handle the<br />

importantly, the versatility to handle the<br />

most demanding recording applications.<br />

most demanding recording applications.<br />

most demanding recording applications.<br />

most demanding recording applications.<br />

Equipped with a 200mm low frequency unit<br />

Equipped with a 200mm low frequency unit<br />

Equipped with a 200mm low frequency unit<br />

Equipped with a 200mm low frequency unit<br />

and remaining natural and transparent right<br />

and remaining natural and transparent right<br />

and remaining natural and transparent right<br />

and remaining natural and transparent right<br />

across the audio spectrum, even at high<br />

across the audio spectrum, even at high<br />

across the audio spectrum, even at high<br />

across the audio spectrum, even at high<br />

sound pressure levels, the PM-2 is great for<br />

sound pressure levels, the PM-2 is great for<br />

sound pressure levels, the PM-2 is great for<br />

sound pressure levels, the PM-2 is great for<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

sound pressure levels, the PM-2 is great for<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

sound pressure levels, the PM-2 is great for<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

today’s bass heavy music.<br />

today’s bass heavy music.<br />

today’s bass heavy music.<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

today’s bass heavy music.<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

today’s bass heavy music.<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

PM-1 MkII<br />

PM-1 MkII<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

PM-1 MkII<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

Perfectly proportioned and offering the type<br />

Perfectly proportioned and offering the type<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

Perfectly proportioned and offering the type<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

of clear-transparent sound that singles<br />

of clear-transparent sound that singles<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

of clear-transparent sound that singles<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

out a great speaker, the PM-1 is capable<br />

out a great speaker, the PM-1 is capable<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

out a great speaker, the PM-1 is capable<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

of producing extremely high<br />

of producing extremely high<br />

SPLs accurately across the<br />

SPLs accurately across the<br />

full audio spectrum. With 120<br />

full audio spectrum. With 120<br />

watts of bi-amped power and<br />

watts of bi-amped power and<br />

a bass response that’s full and<br />

a bass response that’s full and<br />

ers. Our vision is to be<br />

a bass response that’s full and<br />

ers. Our vision is to be<br />

dynamic, and a crisp high-<br />

dynamic, and a crisp high-<br />

ers. Our vision is to be<br />

dynamic, and a crisp high-<br />

ers. Our vision is to be<br />

end that sparkles with vitality,<br />

end that sparkles with vitality,<br />

the PM-1 delivers the type of<br />

the PM-1 delivers the type of<br />

sonic quality that’s usually the<br />

sonic quality that’s usually the<br />

domain of monitors<br />

costing thousands.<br />

various processes (recording, mixing<br />

costing thousands.<br />

various processes (recording, mixing<br />

PM0.5 MkII<br />

and mastering) in which various people,<br />

PM0.5 MkII<br />

and mastering) in which various people,<br />

locations, and therefore speaker systems,<br />

PM0.5 MkII<br />

locations, and therefore speaker systems,<br />

The ideal choice for smaller<br />

locations, and therefore speaker systems,<br />

The ideal choice for smaller<br />

locations, and therefore speaker systems,<br />

will be involved, corrections may be applied<br />

The ideal choice for smaller<br />

will be involved, corrections may be applied<br />

studios requiring nearfi eld<br />

will be involved, corrections may be applied<br />

studios requiring nearfi eld<br />

will be involved, corrections may be applied<br />

due solely to phase irregularities that<br />

studios requiring nearfi eld<br />

due solely to phase irregularities that<br />

monitoring, the perfectly<br />

due solely to phase irregularities that<br />

monitoring, the perfectly<br />

due solely to phase irregularities that<br />

are not present on the actual recording.<br />

monitoring, the perfectly<br />

are not present on the actual recording.<br />

The PSI <strong>Audio</strong> speakers feature our unique<br />

monitoring, the perfectly<br />

The PSI <strong>Audio</strong> speakers feature our unique<br />

formed PM0.5 MkII offers<br />

are not present on the actual recording.<br />

formed PM0.5 MkII offers<br />

are not present on the actual recording.<br />

The PSI <strong>Audio</strong> speakers feature our unique<br />

formed PM0.5 MkII offers<br />

The PSI <strong>Audio</strong> speakers feature our unique<br />

70watts of bi-amped power<br />

The PSI <strong>Audio</strong> speakers feature our unique<br />

70watts of bi-amped power<br />

The PSI <strong>Audio</strong> speakers feature our unique<br />

CPR system that generates a Compensated<br />

70watts of bi-amped power<br />

CPR system that generates a Compensated<br />

and produces great full range<br />

PM0.4<br />

The ultra-compact PM0.4 now completes<br />

The ultra-compact PM0.4 now completes<br />

the lineup of the reputed PM-series ranging<br />

the lineup of the reputed PM-series ranging<br />

from 4” to 8” woofer size. PM0.4 is naturally<br />

from 4” to 8” woofer size. PM0.4 is naturally<br />

recommended for desktop use but its superb<br />

audio performance in compact physical<br />

size expands its applications to professional<br />

console top studio monitoring, audio<br />

installation, as well as portable<br />

audio monitoring.<br />

PM0.5-Sub MkII<br />

Designed ideally for use with the PM0.5<br />

Designed ideally for use with the PM0.5<br />

MkII, the 110watt, 200mm driver PM0.5-<br />

MkII, the 110watt, 200mm driver PM0.5-<br />

Sub produces precise, low frequency<br />

Sub produces precise, low frequency<br />

reproduction and an excellent deep bass<br />

reproduction and an excellent deep bass<br />

output. Easy to set-up (just a single gain<br />

output. Easy to set-up (just a single gain<br />

control and phase reverse switch), the<br />

control and phase reverse switch), the<br />

combination of a pair of PM0.5s and<br />

combination of a pair of PM0.5s and<br />

PM0.5-Sub provides superb sonic quality<br />

PM0.5-Sub provides superb sonic quality<br />

PM0.5-Sub provides superb sonic quality<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

PM0.5-Sub provides superb sonic quality<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

PM0.5-Sub provides superb sonic quality<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

at an affordable price. Recommended for<br />

at an affordable price. Recommended for<br />

at an affordable price. Recommended for<br />

use with PM0.4.<br />

NX-5A<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

More Than A Black Box!<br />

the sound image is highly accurate.<br />

This technology allows the design of<br />

surround sound systems with different types<br />

of PSI <strong>Audio</strong> speakers that maintains an<br />

various processes (recording, mixing<br />

and mastering) in which various people,<br />

locations, and therefore speaker systems,<br />

will be involved, corrections may be applied<br />

due solely to phase irregularities that<br />

are not present on the actual recording.<br />

The PSI <strong>Audio</strong> speakers feature our unique<br />

I <strong>Audio</strong> can be compared to Swiss watch designers. Our vision is to be<br />

pioneers in precision audio, combining innovation, creativity<br />

Choosing Nearfi eld<br />

Monitors Should Be Easy<br />

PM Series Group<br />

After all, they only have one job to do. The job of monitoring.<br />

Not enhancing, not diminishing, not in any way altering<br />

the source material.<br />

+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

icrophones Made in Latvia<br />

to picture today’s<br />

g industry without<br />

tions and expressive<br />

Violet<br />

nes are<br />

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in Latvia<br />

to picture today’s<br />

g industry without<br />

tions and expressive<br />

A nice look gives you<br />

grab inspiration at the<br />

Simplicity grants the m<br />

and durability. After h<br />

The benefi ts of Violet<br />

Design microphones are:<br />

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+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

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that is predictable<br />

some precision<br />

Physics Versus Emotion<br />

Despite what many would regard as the<br />

benefits of the techno-physical approach,<br />

a great deal of the literature and advice<br />

on the use of microphones is based on<br />

apparently non-technical considerations.<br />

Often a microphone will be listed as best<br />

Often a microphone will be listed as best<br />

suited for vocals simply because it has,<br />

by chance, sounded pleasant on a previous<br />

by chance, sounded pleasant on a previous<br />

occasion or looks similar in shape to one<br />

occasion or looks similar in shape to one<br />

that was used in that way.<br />

that was used in that way.<br />

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Given that the<br />

6<br />

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Violet Design – Microphones Made<br />

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designs introduced by Violet<br />

nes are<br />

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technological innova<br />

+ + + + + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

For a while only price mattered, but now, it is<br />

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pro audio and recordin<br />

+ + + VIOLET<br />

VIOLET + + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + + + VIOLET+ + +<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

+ + +<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

Violet Microphones –<br />

Ears For Your Sound<br />

For a while only price mattered, but now, it is<br />

For a while only price mattered, but now, it is<br />

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Violet Design – M<br />

It is almost impossible<br />

pro audio and recordin<br />

Violet Design – M<br />

Violet Design – M<br />

Violet Design – M<br />

It is almost impossible<br />

pro audio and recordin<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

More Than A Black Box!<br />

More Than A Black Box!<br />

The philosophy of PS<br />

The philosophy of PSI <strong>Audio</strong> can be compared<br />

globally recognised as<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

More Than A Black Box!<br />

I <strong>Audio</strong> can be compared<br />

globally recognised as pioneers in precision au<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

More Than A Black Box!<br />

I <strong>Audio</strong> can be compared<br />

pioneers in precision au<br />

+ + +<br />

+ + + FOSTEX<br />

FOSTEX<br />

PM Series MkII<br />

The PM-Series MkII offer exceptional audio<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

SOUNDFIELD<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

tems can produce<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

from a single mic? With their surround-ready mic<br />

technology, it’s easy to see why SoundField systems<br />

are the products of choice for many HD broadcasters<br />

working in surround...<br />

SOUNDFIELD<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording + + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

tems can produce<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

their surround-ready mic<br />

why SoundField systems<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

More Than A Black Box!<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

+ + +<br />

+ + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

The Swiss Precision Active Monitoring Series:<br />

More Than A Black Box!<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI+ + + + PSI<br />

How Everything Started<br />

The founder of Horch, Gibbs Platen is very familiar with<br />

the world of audio. His recording studio Zuckerfabrik<br />

was famous for American Jazz and Rock productions,<br />

and acoustic bands such as Colosseum, Wolfgang<br />

Dauner, John Scofi eld, Alphonse Mouzon, The United<br />

Jazz + Rock Ensemble, etc. He also freelanced for TV<br />

and broadcast productions.<br />

During this time, Platen became familiar with a<br />

During this time, Platen became familiar with a<br />

During this time, Platen became familiar with a<br />

wide variety of microphones, but his all time favourite<br />

wide variety of microphones, but his all time favourite<br />

wide variety of microphones, but his all time favourite<br />

for vocal recordings was the Neumann M49 tube<br />

for vocal recordings was the Neumann M49 tube<br />

microphone. However, Platen felt that of these<br />

microphone. However, Platen felt that of these<br />

old microphones had lost some of their expected<br />

old microphones had lost some of their expected<br />

excellence by this time. Here, Horch <strong>Audio</strong>’s<br />

excellence by this time. Here, Horch <strong>Audio</strong>’s<br />

story begins.<br />

The Microphones<br />

In the early nineties, Gibbs Platen and two friends<br />

In the early nineties, Gibbs Platen and two friends<br />

In the early nineties, Gibbs Platen and two friends<br />

In the early nineties, Gibbs Platen and two friends<br />

founded Horch <strong>Audio</strong> with the ambition to build a<br />

founded Horch <strong>Audio</strong> with the ambition to build a<br />

founded Horch <strong>Audio</strong> with the ambition to build a<br />

microphone in the same vein as the M49, but improved.<br />

microphone in the same vein as the M49, but improved.<br />

microphone in the same vein as the M49, but improved.<br />

microphone in the same vein as the M49, but improved.<br />

That’s where the Horch RM2 came to life. In the<br />

That’s where the Horch RM2 came to life. In the<br />

That’s where the Horch RM2 came to life. In the<br />

That’s where the Horch RM2 came to life. In the<br />

beginning, the RM2 was built using original parts<br />

beginning, the RM2 was built using original parts<br />

beginning, the RM2 was built using original parts<br />

beginning, the RM2 was built using original parts<br />

beginning, the RM2 was built using original parts<br />

from Neumann. As a fi nishing touch, Platen placed<br />

from Neumann. As a fi nishing touch, Platen placed<br />

from Neumann. As a fi nishing touch, Platen placed<br />

a 0.5-carat brilliant diamond into the front of the<br />

a 0.5-carat brilliant diamond into the front of the<br />

a 0.5-carat brilliant diamond into the front of the<br />

a 0.5-carat brilliant diamond into the front of the<br />

a 0.5-carat brilliant diamond into the front of the<br />

RM2, which was illuminated from the inside. Later<br />

RM2, which was illuminated from the inside. Later<br />

RM2, which was illuminated from the inside. Later<br />

RM2, which was illuminated from the inside. Later<br />

RM2, which was illuminated from the inside. Later<br />

RM2, which was illuminated from the inside. Later<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

on, Horch modifi ed the RM2 into the RM2J, with the<br />

intention to move the sound more in direction of the<br />

intention to move the sound more in direction of the<br />

intention to move the sound more in direction of the<br />

intention to move the sound more in direction of the<br />

intention to move the sound more in direction of the<br />

U47. The triode was replaced by a pentode, and a<br />

U47. The triode was replaced by a pentode, and a<br />

U47. The triode was replaced by a pentode, and a<br />

U47. The triode was replaced by a pentode, and a<br />

U47. The triode was replaced by a pentode, and a<br />

new developed capsule and transformer were built in.<br />

new developed capsule and transformer were built in.<br />

new developed capsule and transformer were built in.<br />

new developed capsule and transformer were built in.<br />

new developed capsule and transformer were built in.<br />

new developed capsule and transformer were built in.<br />

new developed capsule and transformer were built in.<br />

The RM3 was released, harking back to the sound of<br />

The RM3 was released, harking back to the sound of<br />

The RM3 was released, harking back to the sound of<br />

The RM3 was released, harking back to the sound of<br />

The RM3 was released, harking back to the sound of<br />

The RM3 was released, harking back to the sound of<br />

The RM3 was released, harking back to the sound of<br />

The RM3 was released, harking back to the sound of<br />

the old ELA M251 and especially designed for female<br />

the old ELA M251 and especially designed for female<br />

the old ELA M251 and especially designed for female<br />

the old ELA M251 and especially designed for female<br />

the old ELA M251 and especially designed for female<br />

the old ELA M251 and especially designed for female<br />

the old ELA M251 and especially designed for female<br />

vocals and instruments. The RM4, recalling the U47<br />

vocals and instruments. The RM4, recalling the U47<br />

vocals and instruments. The RM4, recalling the U47<br />

vocals and instruments. The RM4, recalling the U47<br />

vocals and instruments. The RM4, recalling the U47<br />

vocals and instruments. The RM4, recalling the U47<br />

vocals and instruments. The RM4, recalling the U47<br />

sound, launched in 2007/2008. It displayed a whole new<br />

sound, launched in 2007/2008. It displayed a whole new<br />

sound, launched in 2007/2008. It displayed a whole new<br />

sound, launched in 2007/2008. It displayed a whole new<br />

sound, launched in 2007/2008. It displayed a whole new<br />

sound, launched in 2007/2008. It displayed a whole new<br />

sound, launched in 2007/2008. It displayed a whole new<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

concept – adjustable compression, and saturation of<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

the microphone.<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

the microphone.<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

Horch’s Vision<br />

Horch’s Vision<br />

The idea behind Horch’s vision is to build microphones<br />

The idea behind Horch’s vision is to build microphones<br />

The idea behind Horch’s vision is to build microphones<br />

The idea behind Horch’s vision is to build microphones<br />

The idea behind Horch’s vision is to build microphones<br />

The idea behind Horch’s vision is to build microphones<br />

The idea behind Horch’s vision is to build microphones<br />

with outstanding quality for a new listening experience.<br />

with outstanding quality for a new listening experience.<br />

with outstanding quality for a new listening experience.<br />

with outstanding quality for a new listening experience.<br />

with outstanding quality for a new listening experience.<br />

with outstanding quality for a new listening experience.<br />

That is why everything in a Horch microphone is<br />

That is why everything in a Horch microphone is<br />

That is why everything in a Horch microphone is<br />

That is why everything in a Horch microphone is<br />

That is why everything in a Horch microphone is<br />

That is why everything in a Horch microphone is<br />

handmade in Germany. A lot of effort is spent on<br />

handmade in Germany. A lot of effort is spent on<br />

handmade in Germany. A lot of effort is spent on<br />

handmade in Germany. A lot of effort is spent on<br />

handmade in Germany. A lot of effort is spent on<br />

handmade in Germany. A lot of effort is spent on<br />

handmade in Germany. A lot of effort is spent on<br />

+ + +<br />

handmade in Germany. A lot of effort is spent on<br />

+ + + PSI<br />

handmade in Germany. A lot of effort is spent on PSI<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

+ + +<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

+ + +<br />

+ + +<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

+ + +<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

+ + +<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

+ + +<br />

+ + +<br />

research and listening, mechanical fi ne-tuning, and<br />

+ + +<br />

keeping in contact with customers and artists.<br />

keeping in contact with customers and artists.<br />

keeping in contact with customers and artists.<br />

keeping in contact with customers and artists.<br />

The company is situated in the German high-<br />

The company is situated in the German high-<br />

The company is situated in the German high-<br />

The company is situated in the German high-<br />

tech region of Stuttgart (Mercedes, Porsche),<br />

tems can produce<br />

tech region of Stuttgart (Mercedes, Porsche),<br />

tems can produce<br />

tech region of Stuttgart (Mercedes, Porsche),<br />

tech region of Stuttgart (Mercedes, Porsche),<br />

which promotes high standards for mechanical<br />

tems can produce<br />

which promotes high standards for mechanical<br />

tems can produce<br />

which promotes high standards for mechanical<br />

which promotes high standards for mechanical<br />

and electrical quality.<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

and electrical quality.<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

and electrical quality.<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

and electrical quality.<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

Each Horch is a precious sound tool, that looks<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

Each Horch is a precious sound tool, that looks<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

their surround-ready mic<br />

Each Horch is a precious sound tool, that looks<br />

their surround-ready mic<br />

Each Horch is a precious sound tool, that looks<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

Each Horch is a precious sound tool, that looks<br />

, M/S and surround<br />

their surround-ready mic<br />

Each Horch is a precious sound tool, that looks<br />

their surround-ready mic<br />

Each Horch is a precious sound tool, that looks<br />

Each Horch is a precious sound tool, that looks<br />

great and sounds unique.<br />

their surround-ready mic<br />

great and sounds unique.<br />

their surround-ready mic<br />

great and sounds unique.<br />

their surround-ready mic<br />

great and sounds unique.<br />

their surround-ready mic<br />

are large-diaphragm<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

What other microphone systems can produce<br />

simultaneous mono, stereo, M/S and surround<br />

from a single mic? With their surround-ready mic<br />

SOUNDFIELD + + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOUNDFIELD+ + + + SOU<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

From A Single Microphone<br />

Surround Recording<br />

16<br />

Gibbs Platen, founder of Hor<br />

Gibbs Platen, founder of Horch <strong>Audio</strong>.<br />

ch <strong>Audio</strong>.<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

Since 1945 Klein + Hummel has been setting global standards<br />

Since 1945 Klein + Hummel has been setting global standards<br />

in sound reproduction. For over 40 years K+H has focused<br />

in sound reproduction. For over 40 years K+H has focused<br />

in sound reproduction. For over 40 years K+H has focused<br />

on the professional market by developing precise measuring<br />

on the professional market by developing precise measuring<br />

on the professional market by developing precise measuring<br />

instruments – tools to analyse sound and detect the tiniest aural<br />

instruments – tools to analyse sound and detect the tiniest aural<br />

instruments – tools to analyse sound and detect the tiniest aural<br />

nuances.<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

Since 1945 Klein + Hummel has been setting global standards<br />

Since 1945 Klein + Hummel has been setting global standards<br />

Since 1945 Klein + Hummel has been setting global standards<br />

in sound reproduction. For over 40 years K+H has focused<br />

in sound reproduction. For over 40 years K+H has focused<br />

on the professional market by developing precise measuring<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

12<br />

12 DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS AUDIO<br />

DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS AUDIO<br />

DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS AUDIO<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS AUDIO<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

Since 1945 Klein + Hummel has been setting global standards<br />

DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS AUDIO<br />

Since 1945 Klein + Hummel has been setting global standards<br />

Since 1945 Klein + Hummel has been setting global standards<br />

DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS AUDIO<br />

Since 1945 Klein + Hummel has been setting global standards<br />

TICS+ + + + DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS+ + + +<br />

get integrated TC Electronic digital<br />

get integrated TC Electronic digital signal<br />

processing. This combination<br />

processing. This combination offers you<br />

the best of both worlds, making<br />

the best of both worlds, making Dynaudio<br />

Acoustics speakers second to n<br />

Acoustics speakers second to none.<br />

Two Main Ranges – One High S<br />

Two Main Ranges – One High Standard<br />

Clarity and consistency come as<br />

Clarity and consistency come as standard<br />

– the question is, how versatile do<br />

– the question is, how versatile do you want<br />

your setup? Dynaudio Acoustics<br />

your setup? Dynaudio Acoustics markets<br />

two extensive ranges of DSP po<br />

two extensive ranges of DSP powered and<br />

analogue near-fi eld and mid-fi<br />

analogue near-fi eld and mid-fi eld monitors.<br />

analogue near-fi eld and mid-fi eld monitors.<br />

analogue near-fi eld and mid-fi<br />

AIR<br />

It makes great sense to compare<br />

It makes great sense to compare the AIR<br />

sound with any other speaker y<br />

sound with any other speaker you own or<br />

consider acquiring. We both en<br />

consider acquiring. We both encourage and<br />

requires the addition of a number<br />

requires the addition of a number of external<br />

boxes such as Monitor Matrix Co<br />

boxes such as Monitor Matrix Controller,<br />

ntroller,<br />

Bass Management Crossover,<br />

Bass Management Crossover, external<br />

external<br />

EQs and Delays. This obviously adds<br />

EQs and Delays. This obviously adds<br />

EQs and Delays. This obviously adds to the<br />

system price, and moreover<br />

system price, and moreover often degrades<br />

often degrades<br />

the signal path. With an AIR S<br />

the signal path. With an AIR System<br />

ystem<br />

everything is integrated and match<br />

everything is integrated and match<br />

everything is integrated and matched – it’s<br />

right there for you to use from th<br />

right there for you to use from the menu<br />

e menu<br />

on the front of a Master-Module s<br />

on the front of a Master-Module s<br />

on the front of a Master-Module speaker<br />

via a 32-segment LCD display, o<br />

via a 32-segment LCD display, or through<br />

r through<br />

an optional dedicated hardware<br />

an optional dedicated hardware remote, or<br />

remote, or<br />

an optional dedicated software a<br />

an optional dedicated software application<br />

pplication<br />

(Mac and PC). The user interfac<br />

(Mac and PC). The user interface allows<br />

e allows<br />

for storing and recall of factory<br />

for storing and recall of factory and user<br />

and user<br />

presets taking into account THX<br />

presets taking into account THX and Dolby<br />

and Dolby<br />

recommendations, reference l<br />

recommendations, reference levels, LFE<br />

evels, LFE<br />

sensitivity, and so on.<br />

sensitivity, and so on.<br />

AIR Soft<br />

This MAC and PC<br />

This MAC and PC<br />

compatible remote<br />

compatible remote<br />

compatible remote<br />

compatible remote<br />

application allows central<br />

application allows central<br />

real-time control of AIR<br />

real-time control of AIR<br />

system parameters such as<br />

system parameters such as<br />

system parameters such as<br />

system parameters such as<br />

volume control, reference<br />

volume control, reference<br />

volume control, reference<br />

volume control, reference<br />

level, presets, and setup. AIR S<br />

level, presets, and setup. AIR Soft is included<br />

oft is included<br />

oft is included<br />

oft is included<br />

with all AIR monitors.<br />

with all AIR monitors.<br />

AIR Remote<br />

AIR Remote<br />

AIR Remote provides instant acc<br />

AIR Remote provides instant acc<br />

AIR Remote provides instant access to the<br />

AIR system volume, independent<br />

AIR system volume, independent<br />

of your DAW or computer.<br />

of your DAW or computer.<br />

Additionally, AIR Remote<br />

Additionally, AIR Remote<br />

features one-touch<br />

features one-touch<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

features one-touch<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

operation of system<br />

operation of system<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

operation of system<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

operation of system<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

reference levels, preset<br />

reference levels, preset<br />

reference levels, preset<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

reference levels, preset<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

recall, and solo/mute<br />

recall, and solo/mute<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

recall, and solo/mute<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

status for each monitor.<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

status for each monitor.<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

status for each monitor.<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

tracking, as well as calibrated loudness for<br />

any AIR setup. The AIR remote is powered<br />

through TC-Link of any AIR monitor.<br />

AIR PC-IP<br />

The optional<br />

PC compatible<br />

advanced<br />

Installer’s<br />

Package<br />

provides<br />

access to<br />

virtually any<br />

AIR system<br />

parameter. This includes 4-band parametric<br />

EQ in each monitor, placement del<br />

EQ in each monitor, placement delay, preset<br />

control and more. PC-IP access to<br />

control and more. PC-IP access to advanced<br />

advanced<br />

bass management features indepen<br />

bass management features indepen<br />

bass management features independent HP/<br />

dent HP/<br />

LP crossover frequencies as well as phase<br />

l as phase<br />

l as phase<br />

l as phase<br />

and polarity control of any AIR subwoofer.<br />

bwoofer.<br />

Additionally, PC-IP allows the installer<br />

staller<br />

to control system access via individu<br />

to control system access via individual<br />

parameter securing, preset protection,<br />

tection,<br />

and UI locking.<br />

THX Certifi ed<br />

AIR monitor systems are<br />

AIR monitor systems are<br />

AIR monitor systems are<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

AIR monitor systems are<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

THX certifi ed for use in<br />

THX certifi ed for use in<br />

THX certifi ed for use in<br />

THX certifi ed for use in<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

THX certifi ed for use in<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

THX certifi ed for use in<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

PM3 rooms.<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

AIR 12<br />

Powerful Two-Way Nearfi eld<br />

Powerful Two-Way Nearfi eld Speaker – 8”<br />

Woofer And 1.1” Soft Dome<br />

Woofer And 1.1” Soft Dome Tweeter<br />

The latest addition to the AIR<br />

The latest addition to the AIR<br />

The latest addition to the AIR<br />

The latest addition to the AIR family. AIR12<br />

family. AIR12<br />

suits all sizes of control<br />

suits all sizes of control<br />

suits all sizes of control<br />

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room and OB vans, and<br />

room and OB vans, and<br />

room and OB vans, and<br />

its high precision amp/<br />

its high precision amp/<br />

driver system (+/- 0.2<br />

driver system (+/- 0.2<br />

dB accuracy) ensures<br />

dB accuracy) ensures<br />

complete consistency with<br />

complete consistency with<br />

the entire AIR family in a var<br />

the entire AIR family in a variety of stereo<br />

and 5.1 setups – remote contr<br />

and 5.1 setups – remote controllable via<br />

the AIR Remote or the includ<br />

the AIR Remote or the includ<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

the AIR Remote or the includ<br />

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ed Air Soft<br />

application. DSP room adapti<br />

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application. DSP room adapti<br />

application. DSP room adapti<br />

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application. DSP room adapti<br />

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on allows for<br />

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on allows for<br />

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perfect customisation for any<br />

perfect customisation for any<br />

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perfect customisation for any<br />

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perfect customisation for any<br />

room construction and its int<br />

room construction and its int<br />

room construction and its int<br />

room construction and its inter-<br />

monitor level calibration featur<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

monitor level calibration featur<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

monitor level calibration featur<br />

monitor level calibration featur<br />

monitor level calibration feature<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

e<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

ensures consistent levels in<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

ensures consistent levels in<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

ensures consistent levels in<br />

ensures consistent levels in<br />

ensures consistent levels in<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

all<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

sessions.<br />

sessions.<br />

+ + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + + KLEIN + HUMMEL+ + + +<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

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or computer crashes.<br />

It also offers digital inputs, iCheck (to<br />

check audio compression), and calibrated<br />

listening for headphones and active<br />

speakers.<br />

BMC-2: your pro DAC and monitor control!<br />

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Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

Decoding The DNA Of Sound<br />

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+ + + + techno-physical+ + + + techno-physical+ + + + techno-physi<br />

Getting Techno-Physical<br />

majority of users of microphones have very<br />

little engineering background and are far<br />

more familiar with the world of art, this<br />

should not be surprising. They have no other<br />

guidelines to follow.<br />

Art and emotion do, without question,<br />

have a central position within music but,<br />

equally, the key to the successful recording<br />

of it is a technical understanding of the<br />

devices that need to be used. Trying to<br />

muddle up both approaches in some<br />

haphazard fashion is no help either.<br />

That leads to quaint notions, such as that<br />

tube (valve) microphones give ‘a warm<br />

on one will skew judgements in favour of it.<br />

Such experimental pernicketiness has to<br />

be refined even to the extent of intentionally<br />

adding a small imbalance of levels but on<br />

a reciprocal basis where, say, microphones<br />

e on attitudes to micropho<br />

rt, or the mind?<br />

+++HORCH AUDIO<br />

+++HORCH AUDIO<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL<br />

BUYER’S GUIDE<br />

A SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL PUBLICATION FROM THE NEWBAY MEDIA GROUP<br />

AUDIOMEDIA<br />

AUDIO-FOR-VIDEO • BROADCAST • INTERNET AUDIO • LIVE SOUND • MULTIMEDIA • POST PRODUCTION • RECORDING<br />

THE WORLD’S LEADING PROFESSIONAL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE<br />

RECORDERS<br />

2012<br />

AUDIO MEDIA<br />

PRODUCED BY<br />

In association with:<br />

INTERNATIONAL EDITION<br />

01-recorders-buyers-cover-2012.indd 1 21/11/2011 17:10<br />

+++HORCH AUDIO<br />

+++HORCH AUDIO + + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + AUDIO TECHNICA<br />

+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + AUDIO TECHNICA<br />

+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + HORCH AUDIO+ + + + AUDIO TECHNICA<br />

The Sound Of Emotion: Horch<br />

Horch was established in the 1990s by a small team of dedicated<br />

audio experts, whose vision was to create a microphone able to<br />

convey emotion through sound. All Horchs are large-diaphragm<br />

tube microphones.<br />

+++HORCH AUDIO<br />

+++HORCH AUDIO<br />

The Sound Of Emotion: Horch<br />

tube microphones.<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL<br />

BUYER’S GUIDE<br />

A SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL PUBLICATION FROM THE NEWBAY MEDIA GROUP<br />

AUDIOMEDIA<br />

AUDIO-FOR-VIDEO • BROADCAST • INTERNET AUDIO • LIVE SOUND • MULTIMEDIA • POST PRODUCTION • RECORDING<br />

THE WORLD’S LEADING PROFESSIONAL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE<br />

AUDIO<br />

CONSOLES<br />

2012<br />

AUDIO MEDIA<br />

PRODUCED BY<br />

In association with:<br />

INTERNATIONAL EDITION<br />

+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + +<br />

+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + +<br />

+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + + + FOSTEX+ + +<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL<br />

BUYER’S GUIDE<br />

A SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL PUBLICATION FROM THE NEWBAY MEDIA GROUP<br />

AUDIOMEDIA<br />

AUDIO-FOR-VIDEO • BROADCAST • INTERNET AUDIO • LIVE SOUND • MULTIMEDIA • POST PRODUCTION • RECORDING<br />

THE WORLD’S LEADING PROFESSIONAL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE<br />

In association with:<br />

AUDIO MEDIA<br />

PRODUCED BY<br />

LIVE SOUND<br />

APPLICATION<br />

2012<br />

+ + +<br />

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+ + + + DYNAUDIO ACOUS<br />

+ + + + DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS+ + + + DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS+ + + +<br />

TICS+ + + + DYNAUDIO ACOUSTICS+ + + +<br />

The Truth, The Whole Truth,<br />

The Truth, The Whole Truth,<br />

The Truth, The Whole Truth,<br />

And Nothing But...<br />

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Superior Tools For Critical Mo<br />

Superior Tools For Critical Monitoring<br />

In fi lm, post, gaming, broadcast, a<br />

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entional<br />

monitors. On top of ultimate precis<br />

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monitors. On top of ultimate precision<br />

and sou

---

Headphones<br />

In the world of audio, what could possibly be more important than listening? There are plenty of times<br />

when that listening will be done via headphones, so it is important to get the right ones. This is a category<br />

that is expanding at a rate of knots, and there are plenty of options to consider. Closed, open, glitzy, woodveneered<br />

– Tech Focus this month looks at the increasingly varied headphone selection available to those<br />

who want to listen well.<br />

1<br />

3<br />

[1] Headphones with a celebrity<br />

link can be a bit gimmicky, but<br />

the AKG by Tiesto range consists<br />

of three very high-performance,<br />

professional-grade headphones,<br />

designed to appeal to a broad<br />

range of users. “AKG is rooted in<br />

the passion for music at the same<br />

time as having a unique eye for<br />

design and style,” said the Dutch<br />

DJ and producer. “Together we’ve<br />

created a line of headphones that<br />

are perfect for those who want the<br />

best quality of sound, but don’t<br />

wish to compromise on style.” The<br />

flagship of the range, the K267<br />

TIESTO has an over-ear, closedback<br />

design, with an oversized<br />

low resonance driver providing a<br />

higher SPL, while still maintaining<br />

a matched low frequency bass<br />

response. It has a user-adjustable<br />

bass boost, to keep sound neutral<br />

or maximise deeper sub-bass<br />

frequencies when prompted.<br />

The Dual Plug-In feature allows<br />

the user to attach the cable to<br />

either side, and each set has<br />

3D-Axis folding mechanisms for<br />

optimum fitting and flat storage.<br />

It’s not all celebrity-endorsed<br />

products at AKG, of course<br />

– there’s a wide range of<br />

headphones to choose from.<br />

The K 702 are pitched as the<br />

“new reference for open-back<br />

dynamic AKG headphones.”<br />

Using flat-wire voice coils and a<br />

patented Varimotion two-layer<br />

diaphragm, they combine an<br />

extremely accurate response with<br />

excellent agility and spaciousness.<br />

The design is totally open and<br />

they have specially shaped<br />

3D-form ear pads and a padded<br />

leather headband, and each one is<br />

individually tested and numbered.<br />

www.akg.com<br />

[2] Sennheiser has a variety of<br />

headphones to choose from.<br />

The HD280 PRO are closedback<br />

circumaural headphones,<br />

designed for professional<br />

monitoring applications.<br />

The 32dB attenuation of external<br />

noise makes them particularly<br />

useful for use in a high-noise<br />

environment, particularly good<br />

for guitarists and drummers who<br />

need excellent isolation, and also<br />

for vocalists who don’t want the<br />

headphone mix to bleed into<br />

their vocal mic. The relatively<br />

flat frequency response makes<br />

for accurate EQ adjustments.<br />

They have swivelling earpieces so<br />

single-ear monitoring is possible,<br />

and a folding design.<br />

Or you might go for the HD 380;<br />

collapsible high-end headphones<br />

with a closed circumaural<br />

design which, according to<br />

Sennheiser, provides “excellent<br />

2<br />

passive attenuation of ambient<br />

noise.” They utilise Sennheiser’s<br />

Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement<br />

(E.A.R) design, which channels<br />

the audio signal directly into<br />

the user’s ears. The headphones<br />

provide an extended frequency<br />

response with increased sound<br />

pressure level – up to 110dB – for<br />

accurate sound reproduction<br />

in all kinds of situations.<br />

The lightweight design means<br />

they are comfortable for long<br />

periods of use.<br />

Another design is the closed-back<br />

HD-25-1s, also offering a high<br />

attenuation of background noise,<br />

and capable of handling very high<br />

sound pressure levels. Purposedesigned<br />

for professional<br />

monitoring, Sennheiser suggests<br />

these as ideal monitoring<br />

headphones for cameramen,<br />

and their robust construction –<br />

including a tough, detachable<br />

steel cable, allows them to cope<br />

with challenging conditions. The<br />

headband splits in two to allow<br />

adjustment to your particular<br />

head shape. The capsule is<br />

rotatable for one-ear monitoring.<br />

www.sennheiser.co.uk<br />

[3] The PRO 900 is Ultrasone’s<br />

‘reference headphone’ for<br />

the professional sector; the<br />

company’s first closed-back<br />

In-Ear Monitors<br />

There are quite a few applications that in-ear headphones<br />

can be used for, whether monitoring a recording mix or<br />

to allow a musician on stage to hear themselves. Just like<br />

regular headphones, there are a variety of different types,<br />

shapes, finishes and fancy doo dahs to differentiate<br />

between them. And like regular headphones, you will<br />

probably want to listen and try them out for yourself.<br />

Here’s a selection to get you started.<br />

[1] The Earsonics EM6 is based<br />

on the EM4, which is mostly<br />

used for critical listening,<br />

but adapted for live sound.<br />

Earsonics say that it has a<br />

rigorous spectral balance,<br />

and has a ‘musicality never<br />

achieved before in an in-ear, with deep and clean lows,<br />

an Earsonics touch medium and treble with incredible<br />

sharpness’. There are six balanced armature drivers with a<br />

three way passive crossover which gives a long frequency<br />

response.<br />

www.earsonics.com<br />

[2] Futuresonics offer a range<br />

of completely custom made made<br />

earphones. The mg6pro<br />

13mm Ear Monitors feature<br />

13mm proprietary miniature<br />

miniature<br />

dynamic transducers.<br />

transducers.<br />

The The mg6pro are multi-driver and crossover free, and<br />

deliver deliver ‘full range audio with natural high end sparkle,<br />

warm mids and a low-end frequency no two, three,<br />

four or more way balanced armature earpiece can<br />

touch’. Futuresonics offer a ‘Bigger Sound at Lower<br />

Volume promise’, and the earphones have a 18Hz-20kHz<br />

TrueTimbre response.<br />

www.futuresonics.com<br />

[3] JH <strong>Audio</strong> claims to<br />

offer the world’s first<br />

custom in-ear monitor<br />

with eight drivers per<br />

ear. The JH16 has double<br />

dual low-frequency<br />

drivers which offer lower<br />

distortion, increased headroom and greater detail and<br />

accuracy. They also say they are the only company offering<br />

dual-driver technology across the entire frequency range.<br />

The JH16 offers -26dB of isolation, eliminating stage<br />

volume and ambient noise. The earphones are based on<br />

custom ear moulds made for the individual users ears.<br />

www.jhaudio.com<br />

[4] The UM3X RC is<br />

Westone’s top of the line<br />

universal-fit in-ear musicians’<br />

monitor. Each one is<br />

handcrafted in Colorado<br />

Springs and features threedriver<br />

balanced armature<br />

technology – using one bass,<br />

one mid-range and one high frequency driver for dynamic<br />

sound reproduction. It also offers a three-way crossover,<br />

which splits the audio signal into separate frequency<br />

bands that can be routed to each micro driver. Each driver<br />

is optimised for a particular frequency range.<br />

www.westone.com<br />

[5] Ultimate Ears takes customisation to another level with<br />

its Personal Reference Monitors. Each pair not only has<br />

personally moulded shells, faced in a choice of fine wood<br />

veneers, but they are also personally tuned. Each set is<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 43

---

[ In-Ear Monitoring ] [ Headphones ]<br />

custom tuned to the individuals<br />

precise acoustic specifications.<br />

It also features a proprietary<br />

five-way armature design, a<br />

three-way crossover circuit with<br />

fully independent frequency<br />

bands and triple bore sound channels.<br />

www.ultimateears.com<br />

[6] The ACS T1 Triple Driver<br />

In-Ear Monitor uses three<br />

drivers, including the<br />

largest bass drivers in the<br />

ACS range, with integrated<br />

crossover. Manufactured<br />

from soft medical grade<br />

silicone, the earphones create a consistent seal at all times,<br />

offering excellent isolation and comfort. The speakers are<br />

sealed into the silicone mould, which means that the shape<br />

of the ear cannot affect how the monitors sound. There are<br />

a selection of bespoke silicone finishes available.<br />

www.acscustom.com<br />

[7] AKG’s IP2 earphones provide a<br />

high performance, full spectrum<br />

sound for professional in-ear<br />

monitoring, with ‘sharply contoured<br />

bass reproductions’. It also offers<br />

excellent isolation to suppress high<br />

ambient noise levels encountered.<br />

An integrated sliding cable tie and<br />

the supplied soft-rubber earmoulds<br />

in three different sizes enable the<br />

earphones to adapt to every shape<br />

of ear. The IP2 has an SPL of 121 dB,<br />

and a frequency range of 12Hz to<br />

23.5Hz.<br />

www.akg.com<br />

[8] The SE535 from Shure<br />

utilises triple high definition<br />

microdrivers – a dedicated<br />

tweeter and dual woofers<br />

for spacious sound and rich<br />

bass. It includes an integrated<br />

passive crossover that ensures<br />

high and low frequencies<br />

remain distinct and defined.<br />

It comes with sound isolating sleeves in multiple sizes for up<br />

to 30dB of isolation. Cables are lockable for safe connection<br />

while in use and detachable for easy replacement.<br />

www.shure.co.uk<br />

[9] The EP3 Dynamic In-Ear<br />

Headphones are equipped with<br />

proprietary <strong>Audio</strong>-Technica<br />

dynamic drivers, offering a<br />

full frequency response and<br />

detailed high-fidelity sound.<br />

They come with three sizes of<br />

flexible earpieces and universalfit<br />

foam tips for a custom fit and<br />

long-wearing listening comfort.<br />

The in-ear design forms an<br />

acoustic seal for isolation from<br />

background noise. The ultracompact<br />

design makes them suitable for on-stage use.<br />

They feature a gold-plated locking stereo mini-plug.<br />

www.audio-technica.com<br />

44 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

5<br />

headphones, using its new<br />

S-Logic Plus technology.<br />

They come with a hard case<br />

equipped with extra earpads,<br />

detachable USC cable and Neutrik<br />

connectors. The Pro 750 are also<br />

closed-back headphones, with<br />

specifically developed velvet<br />

earpads to provide comfort for<br />

extensive working along with<br />

maximum isolation. The PRO 750<br />

comes with one straight and one<br />

coiled cord and a spare pair of<br />

velvet earpads. The PRO 550 has<br />

a 50mm heavy duty driver and<br />

a ‘tight and powerful bass’, plus<br />

detailed instrument placement.<br />

Popular with bass players and<br />

drummers, the PRO 550 now has<br />

an additional function which<br />

enables them to be folded easily.<br />

The foldable open-back PRO 2900<br />

uses stiff titanium-plated drivers<br />

with an airy and transparent<br />

sound. It also has speed-switch<br />

ear pads and detachable cables.<br />

Then there’s the Signature<br />

PRO, based on the luxurious<br />

but delicate-looking Edition<br />

headphones – all the technology<br />

and top class materials of the<br />

Edition range, but with minimalist<br />

design. The ear and headband<br />

pads are made from the leather of<br />

the Ethiopian long-haired sheep.<br />

It has removable cables and<br />

B-Lock connection, and uses the<br />

Ultrasone ULE technology, which<br />

protects against electromagnetic<br />

radiation.<br />

www.ultrasone.com<br />

4<br />

[4] The DT 1350 is quite a departure<br />

from beyerdynamic’s usual<br />

headphone style, lightweight<br />

and with a streamlined look.<br />

The compact over-ear closed<br />

superaural headphones are<br />

designed for control and<br />

monitoring applications,<br />

and for musicians and DJs.<br />

They feature highly efficient<br />

ambient noise reduction and<br />

a maximum sound pressure<br />

level of 129 dB. Tesla drivers<br />

offer a high degree of efficiency<br />

with low levels of distortion,<br />

allowing the DT 1350 to produce<br />

a well balanced, analytical sound<br />

even at very high volumes.<br />

The removable ear cushions<br />

and flexible split headband<br />

design ensure the headphones<br />

sit securely and are comfortable<br />

for prolonged periods of use.<br />

Single-ear monitoring is enabled<br />

by the swivelling ear cups.<br />

The DT 880 PRO is perhaps<br />

a more traditional choice; a<br />

reference-class, semi-open<br />

studio headphone with specially<br />

designed housings. It is a<br />

‘remake’ of the studio classic DT<br />

880, turning it into an ideal<br />

studio monitoring headphone<br />

with analytical qualities, with<br />

improved system equalisation.<br />

Another offering is the popular<br />

DT 770 PRO; there is currently<br />

a Limited Edition version of<br />

these available with 32Ω drivers,<br />

especially for the 88th anniversary<br />

of Beyerdynamic. The newlydeveloped<br />

drivers are based on<br />

their 80 and 250Ω drivers.<br />

www.beyerdynamic.com<br />

[5] <strong>Audio</strong>-Technica offer quite<br />

a few headphone options.<br />

The ATH910PRO is a fullsize,<br />

closed-back dynamic<br />

headphone, featuring Samarium<br />

Cobalt magnets and large<br />

diaphragm drivers.<br />

Those working with low-frequency<br />

sound sources such as drums and<br />

bass might want to consider<br />

the ATH-D40FS, with its bassenhanced<br />

frequency response.<br />

High quality components provide<br />

very high SPL capabilities while<br />

maintaining sound clarity. Exterior<br />

design features include sturdy<br />

strain-relief cable and comfortable<br />

circumaural earpieces that can<br />

be rotated 180 degrees to allow<br />

one-ear monitoring. It utilises<br />

40mm drivers with neodymium<br />

magnets and copper-clad<br />

aluminium wire voice coils,<br />

and comes with a 11-foot cable.<br />

<strong>Audio</strong>-Technica’s premium<br />

professional ‘studiophones’ are<br />

the ATH-M40FS, which offer a flat,<br />

extended frequency response for<br />

monitoring. The lightweight and<br />

compact ATH-M35 was created<br />

especially for field recording<br />

and studio tracking and mixing.<br />

The headphones can be folded<br />

up and taken on the road quickly<br />

and easily. A 40mm rare-earth<br />

neodymium driver is at the heart<br />

of each earpiece, while padded<br />

circumaural ear cups provide<br />

acoustic isolation and comfort<br />

for extended listening sessions.<br />

www.audio-technica.com<br />

6

---

Record. Mix. Monitor. Enjoy.

---

[ Headphones ]<br />

[6] KRK Headphones offer two models,<br />

both of which provide a precise listening<br />

experience with a consistent voicing<br />

philosophy. The company prides itself<br />

on a very natural frequency response<br />

that will give a reference standard<br />

unaffected by location. The KNS 8400<br />

is a closed-back circumaural dynamic<br />

headphone, with a newly-developed<br />

headphone acoustical system.<br />

The headphones offer a large dynamic<br />

range with consistent low-distortion<br />

detail and clarity. Extended low<br />

frequency definition ensures the bass<br />

component is accurately reproduced,<br />

while transparent reproduction of<br />

high frequencies results in highly<br />

accurate imaging. The ear cushions<br />

are made from acoustic memory foam,<br />

and the headphones have a nominal<br />

impedance of 36Ω.<br />

The closed-back, around-the-ear KNS<br />

6400 features highly isolated surround<br />

pads, keeping live instruments out<br />

of what you are monitoring, and<br />

keeping the monitor mix out of open<br />

microphones. They feature a detachable<br />

and replaceable locking cable, rotating<br />

ear cups for travel and storage, durable,<br />

impact-resistant materials, and<br />

replaceable ear and head cushions.<br />

The lightweight construction avoids<br />

fatigue in use over long sessions, and<br />

comfort is provided by the adjustable<br />

low-pressure headband system and<br />

advanced memory foam ear and head<br />

cushions. A self-aligning yoke system<br />

ensures the best possible fit.<br />

www.krksys.com<br />

[7] The new SRH1840 is the flagship<br />

46 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

8<br />

7<br />

professional open-back headphone<br />

from Shure. It features individually<br />

matched 40mm neodymium drivers for<br />

excellent acoustic performance with<br />

smooth, extended highs and accurate<br />

bass. The lightweight construction<br />

features an aircraft-grade aluminium<br />

alloy yoke and stainless steel grilles<br />

for enhanced durability. It has a steel<br />

driver frame with vented centre pole<br />

piece, which improves linearity and<br />

eliminates internal resonance to give<br />

consistent performance at all listening<br />

levels. The oxygen-free copper cable<br />

has a Kevlar-reinforced jacket, while<br />

dual-exit cables with gold-plated MMCX<br />

connectors provide secure connection<br />

and detachability for easy storage or<br />

replacement. The velour ear pads feature<br />

high density, slow recovery foam, and<br />

are replaceable.<br />

Alternatively the SRH1440 headphones,<br />

designed for mastering and critical<br />

listening, provide full range audio with<br />

detailed highs and rich bass with a sleek<br />

design, at a lower price point. They also<br />

features an open-back, circumaural<br />

design, which gives a natural sound,<br />

wide stereo image, and increased<br />

depth of field.<br />

www.shure.co.uk<br />

[8] The new Fostex T20RPmkII and<br />

T40RPmkII join the company’s popular<br />

T50RP in offering true and accurate<br />

headphone monitoring for recording<br />

studios, post houses, remote broadcast<br />

facilities, project studios, and DJs.<br />

The headphones deliver uncoloured<br />

reproduction and a natural clear<br />

sound, with particularly strong sonic<br />

9<br />

10<br />

quality at high sound pressure levels.<br />

Fostex promises powerful and distortionfree<br />

bass even at high levels. Key to<br />

the transparent sound reproduction is<br />

Fostex’s Regulated Phase Technology, a<br />

proprietary transducer and diaphragm<br />

design, which has been enhanced<br />

further a new RP Diaphragm, which<br />

uses copper foil etched polyimide film<br />

to provide excellent resistance to high<br />

level input peaks of up to 3000mW,<br />

ensuring an accurate sound regardless<br />

of the volume. The T20RPmkII offers a<br />

frequency response of 20Hz to 30kHz,<br />

while the T40RPmkII offers 15Hz to 30kHz.<br />

The T40RPmkII is particularly suited for<br />

use in noisy environments.<br />

The leatherette padded ear cushions<br />

enhance the sound isolation and deep<br />

bass reproduction, while a wide, selfadjusting<br />

headband offers comfort over<br />

extended wearing periods.<br />

www.fostexinternational.com<br />

[9] The MDR-7520 is Sony’s highest level<br />

of professional headphone, designed<br />

for critical listening applications.<br />

These dynamic closed headphones<br />

utilise ultra wideband 50mm HD driver<br />

units incorporating liquid crystal<br />

polymer film diaphragms. The 7520<br />

employs newly developed noise isolation<br />

earpads with a pliable cushion material<br />

that conforms to the natural shape of<br />

the ear, providing comfort and acoustic<br />

isolation. The model has a lightweight<br />

magnesium alloy housing to decrease<br />

weight and increase comfort, reduce<br />

fatigue, and help prevent unnecessary<br />

vibration. It also has a detachable cable.<br />

Also available is the MDR-7510, dynamic<br />

closed headphones designed for both<br />

reference monitoring and audio mixing<br />

applications. It has a new fixed design,<br />

and features 50mm drivers utilising PET<br />

diaphragms, to provide a wide frequency<br />

response, broad dynamic range and<br />

accurate sound reproduction. The 7510<br />

offers high power handling capability<br />

– 2000mW – and uses neodymium<br />

magnets and OFC voice coils. Like the<br />

7520, it has noise isolation earpads with<br />

pliable cushion material.<br />

www.sony.co.uk<br />

[10] The flagship of Grado’s headphone<br />

line is the dynamic, open-air PS1000.<br />

The hybrid design has an inner sleeve<br />

of a selected species of hand-crafted<br />

mahogany, made by using an intricate<br />

curing process. Its outer housing of<br />

metal machined from a special nonresonant,<br />

very hard metal alloy, utilises a<br />

special processing and casting method<br />

to increase the porosity of the alloy.<br />

This combination of wood and metal<br />

ensures that the earphone chamber<br />

has no ‘ringing’ which might obscure<br />

detail or add colouration. Grado has also<br />

designed a new cable for the PS1000.<br />

The new eight-conductor cable design,<br />

utilising UHPLC copper, improves control<br />

and stability of the total range of the<br />

frequency spectrum. The PS1000 also<br />

has a newly re-configured voice coil<br />

and diaphragm design. The cushion<br />

design creates the correct balance<br />

between the driver and hybrid housing<br />

to give the resulting desired musicality.<br />

The PS1000 offers a an SPL of 98dB and<br />

an impedance of 32 ohms.<br />

www.gradolabs.com

---

[11] M-<strong>Audio</strong> offers the Studiophile that prefer a<br />

Q40, lightweight, collapsible head- more com-<br />

phones with a removable and replace- replace- pact headheadable cord. The<br />

phone. It<br />

large padded<br />

weighs 2.5oz<br />

ear cups totally<br />

less than<br />

surround the<br />

the EX-29,<br />

ears to ensure a<br />

but features<br />

comfortable fit.<br />

the same<br />

This, along<br />

technology.<br />

with sealed<br />

The speaker<br />

backings, deliv-<br />

is tuned for<br />

ers excellent<br />

the unique<br />

sonic isolation<br />

cavity shape of the earmuff.<br />

for accurate<br />

monitoring.<br />

www.extremeheadphones.com<br />

The Q40 head-<br />

[14] Audeze’s LCD3 dynamic headphones<br />

feature<br />

phones use a proprietary thin-<br />

extra-large 40mm-diameter drivers film diaphragm that is housed<br />

for extended low frequencies. Bass between a unique super-efficient<br />

response is also enhanced by efficient push-pull magnetic structure.<br />

components like neodymium magnets, The earcups<br />

copper-clad aluminium voice coils and are made of<br />

vented diaphragms made of low-mass precision-<br />

treated mylar. The custom enclosure crafted,<br />

has been specially tuned to further hand-select-<br />

maximise low-frequency extension. ed Zebra<br />

www.m-audio.com<br />

Wood, while<br />

the sloped<br />

[12] Canford’s DMH205 is a heavy duty ear pads are<br />

closed-ear studio headphone, with made of pre-<br />

a very robust construction. The two miumlamb- metre cable has steel conductors (with skin leather,<br />

tinned ends) for extra strength. It is fit- with specially<br />

ted with a robust three-pole A-gauge moulded<br />

Neutrik plug. It offers impedance of of 2 foam to offer<br />

x 400 ohms,<br />

the right amount of firmness. The left<br />

and an SPL<br />

and right transducers have matched<br />

of 102dB at<br />

sensitivity and frequency response<br />

maximum<br />

within +/- 0.5dB. The LCD3 features a<br />

power. The<br />

frequency response of 5Hz to 20kHz,<br />

maximum<br />

with a useable high-frequency exten-<br />

rated power<br />

sion of 50Khz. Impedance is 50Ω. The<br />

handling is<br />

maximum output is 133dB, 15 W.<br />

100mW. The<br />

DMH285 has<br />

www.audeze.com<br />

an identi-<br />

[15] The Stax SR-009 is an open-back<br />

cal physical<br />

electrostatic ‘earspeaker’. The diaconstrucphragm<br />

features a newly developed<br />

tion to the<br />

sound element, which according to<br />

DMH205, but with new extended Stax is made from a new ‘high poly-<br />

response ear loudspeaker for excep- mer ultra-thin<br />

tional music reproduction. It is par- film’ mateticularly<br />

suitable for main programme rial called Super<br />

monitoring in broadcast and recording. Engineering<br />

The frequency response is Plastics. Stax<br />

10Hz-33.4kHz, with impedance of 2 x say that this is<br />

300 ohms.<br />

reinforced and<br />

www.canford.co.uk<br />

‘much thinner<br />

than conven-<br />

[13] The EX-29 from Direct Sound is, tionalengi- according to the manufacturers, the neered plastics’.<br />

“perfect headphone for sound and The The SR-009<br />

studio engineers and all musicians.” features features all-new<br />

This claim is backed up by ultra- MLER elecfidelity<br />

high input speakers featuring trodes that that are<br />

TruSound Tonal Accuracy technology, made through through<br />

integrated with 29dB of ‘eco-friendly’ a new process<br />

(no batteries required) natural pas- that uses ultra-precision photo etch,<br />

sive isolation. The dynamic, closed- and high-tech heat diffusion techback<br />

headphones also offer Red is niques to join three layers of material<br />

Right E-Z Channel Identification. to form the thin, flat electrode pan-<br />

They have a padded adjustable els. This is one of the most expensive<br />

Incrediflex headband and are foldable headphones on the market, at over<br />

for storage.<br />

US$5000.<br />

The EX-25 is also available, for those www.stax.co.jp<br />

[ In-Ear Monitoring ]<br />

[10] Sennheiser’s IE4 are<br />

earphones for wireless monitor<br />

applications. The IE 4 ‘reproduces<br />

an outstanding sound quality and<br />

high dynamic’. It is equipped with<br />

exchangeable ear sleeves, which<br />

give an optimum fit to different<br />

ear canals, resulting in high isolation against environmental<br />

noise as well as a very good bass response. The SPL is 106dB,<br />

and Sennheiser says it is extremely robust, even at high<br />

sound pressure levels.<br />

www.sennheiser.co.uk<br />

[11] Fit-Ear offer the PS-5, with a<br />

custom design which makes it<br />

comfortable to wear for extended<br />

periods. It has five drivers and two<br />

crossover in each ear piece. The cord<br />

exits out the top of the ear piece and<br />

goes over the top of the ear, making it<br />

easier to conceal the cord in performance applications. It<br />

provides 29-33db of reduction of ambient sound, and has a<br />

frequency range of 20Hz to 18kHz.<br />

www.fit-ear.com<br />

EXPERT<br />

Witness<br />

Ben Booker has been working in live sound for 17 years, and has mixed<br />

monitors for many acts including Spiritualized, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour<br />

Scene, PJ Harvey, Scissor Sisters, Elton John, and the Sex Pistols. Here he<br />

gives us his take on in-ear monitoring.<br />

In ears are great in many ways:<br />

• Being able to control exactly what you hear (as long as you have a good<br />

monitor engineer). It’s like being in your own world.<br />

• The stage volume from wedges and side fills comes down in level, or<br />

are removed from the stage, which means less noise for the FOH guy<br />

to deal with; especially that low mid range 160-400Hz that comes from<br />

the stage, which can often muddy an FOH mix.<br />

• If you use in-ears at a sensible level you can protect yourself from ear<br />

damage caused by long periods of loud sound. Great for when you’re<br />

rehearsing for hours and days at a time.<br />

• Engineers can talk directly to a band member into their in-ears without<br />

the audience listening. They don’t really need to know the singer can’t<br />

hear the cowbell again...<br />

The only minor problem with in-ears are that often people can feel<br />

isolated from the crowd. This can be fixed with crowd mics fed into the in<br />

ear system to give back some connection with the crowd.<br />

My main advice when using in-ears is to buy the best set of moulds you<br />

can afford. It makes a big difference. Also having a great engineer helps.<br />

When I mix bands I normally try to have everybody in the band, and me, on<br />

the same in-ears – just so you can hear what each band member is hearing<br />

as close as you can. If using radio IEMs I too listen to the mixes using another<br />

identical radio system. This also acts as an instant back-up if their pack stops<br />

working. I can simply PFL their mix and run on stage and give them my pack<br />

until their pack can be fixed.<br />

When mixing in-ears i use a lot of compression on most channels<br />

to control any peaks. Not heavy compression, just a gentle 2:1 ratio.<br />

I also normally take any limiters off the IEM pack and add my own ‘bus<br />

compression’ normal 1.5:1 with a slow attack and release. This just glues<br />

the mix together.<br />

When mixing in-ears I always mix in stereo. It just sounds more natural.<br />

I normally try and pan instruments to give some separation and space<br />

within a mix.<br />

I normally compress crowd mics with a heavy 5:1 ratio and slow attack<br />

and release and often side chain the compression off the bass drum.<br />

This means when the band finish the song the crowd noise turns up slowly<br />

in their ears - like magic.<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 47

---

THE REVIEWER<br />

ALISTAIR McGHEE<br />

began audio life in<br />

Hi-Fi before joining<br />

the BBC as an audio<br />

engineer. After ten<br />

years in radio and<br />

TV, he moved to<br />

production. When<br />

BBC Choice started, he<br />

pioneered personal<br />

digital production<br />

in television. Most<br />

recently, Alistair was<br />

Assistant Editor, BBC<br />

Radio Wales and has<br />

been helping the<br />

UN with broadcast<br />

operations in Juba.<br />

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW<br />

48 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

“It looks and mostly feels like a professional sound mixer.<br />

This does not come over as an MI industry product,<br />

even if the price tells a different story. “<br />

Alistair McGhee<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong> <strong>X32</strong><br />

Digital Mixing Console<br />

It’s not often I feel sorry for <strong>Behringer</strong>,<br />

but I have to confess the release of the<br />

<strong>X32</strong> has plucked a slightly sympathetic<br />

chord from my otherwise stony heart.<br />

Having acquired Midas and KT, via the Music<br />

Group, it seemed to me that the <strong>Behringer</strong>’s<br />

‘Midas Lite’ digital desk would attract an awful<br />

lot of attention, a quiver full of poison arrows<br />

from the haters, and demand some tricky<br />

decisions. If <strong>Behringer</strong> priced the <strong>X32</strong> at the<br />

slot below the Midas Pro 1, then many would<br />

rail against them for taking advantage of the<br />

power of the Midas brand and profiteering.<br />

If they priced it in <strong>Behringer</strong> world, then the<br />

accusation would be that they were diluting<br />

the great Midas name… etc, etc. I haven’t<br />

been disappointed.<br />

Personally though, I’m pleased <strong>Behringer</strong><br />

stuck to its guns and priced this desk with its<br />

normal aggressive gusto. I plugged a U87 into it,<br />

happy in the knowledge that this one mic cost<br />

about the same as the street price of the desk.<br />

That’s perspective for you right there.<br />

Overview<br />

I think a deal of thought has gone into the <strong>X32</strong>.<br />

It looks and mostly feels like a professional<br />

sound mixer. This does not come over as an<br />

MI industry product, even if the price tells a<br />

different story. At some point the designers<br />

faced head-on the modern digital desk<br />

conundrum: how many mic amps on the desk<br />

itself? The answer they came up with: 32, for a<br />

32 channel desk, is surely the right answer at<br />

this price point? It is a sign of what we have<br />

become used to: 24-channel desks with 16 mic<br />

amps on the console, or 48-channel desks with<br />

eight. The unexpectedly refreshing approach of<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong> is all the more welcome. I’ve bought<br />

an X-channel desk I want to plug X-mics into<br />

it, now. Not X-12 or X/2, or eight, or even X…<br />

but only after spending another grand on a<br />

stage box.<br />

Why is that so important? Well, if you tour<br />

your gear and already have a multi-core then<br />

you don’t need to spend any more money out of<br />

the box. And if you are a small club, venue, or<br />

church, then again you can use all of your desk<br />

with your existing infrastructure and leave the<br />

remote stage box issue until next year’s budget.<br />

And, if you have a load of outboard, replay, and/<br />

or radio mics at the mix position, you plug them<br />

all in. Job done.<br />

A note on maximum input and output.<br />

The desk also offers six line ins and outs as<br />

matrix or aux feeds, making it – in a way –<br />

an X38.<br />

But what if I want to join the cat5 revolution?<br />

Well don’t worry, because the <strong>X32</strong> has two AES<br />

50 inputs and in the S16, a 16-in, 8-out stage<br />

box. You can cascade two S16s into each AES<br />

50 input, so if you fully load your <strong>X32</strong> that’s<br />

64 physical inputs over cat5. You can also use<br />

AES 50 to share the mic amps between two<br />

<strong>X32</strong>s, monitor and FOH, although in this<br />

configuration, currently only one desk has<br />

control of mic amps. Sort out any issues in the<br />

sound check!<br />

The S16 itself is a tidy bit of kit: sixteen mic<br />

amps, remote controllable from the <strong>X32</strong>, and<br />

eight balanced analogue outs. So far much like<br />

stuff from the other guys, but there’s more…<br />

two 8-channel ADAT outs, local control on your<br />

S16 of your input gains, phantom power, and<br />

local monitoring of everything running through<br />

the box on the headphone socket. Then there’s<br />

the <strong>Behringer</strong> Ultranet port, offering a sixteen<br />

channel Aviom style monitor mix functionality<br />

over cat5. Remember, though, that the desk is<br />

still a 32 channel mixer (ok, thirty eight if you<br />

include the six aux inputs at line level on the<br />

desk). So you will have 96 input mic amps from<br />

which you select 32 for your mix.<br />

The format of the <strong>X32</strong> is pretty familiar,<br />

particularly if you look at the Allen and Heath<br />

approach. Sixteen input faders offering two<br />

banks for your 32 mic inputs. Along side eight<br />

bus (or group) output faders, again two layers<br />

for your sixteen outputs and another layer<br />

for eight DCA groups. And a master fader.<br />

There’s the option to IP all your input faders to<br />

buss masters for a global overview of all sixteen<br />

outputs, and using ‘sends on fader’ you can<br />

view the buss sends from any input channel<br />

on your buss output section in the two layers<br />

of eight faders.<br />

The top left of the desk gives you access to<br />

the selected channel. All the usual goodies are<br />

here: gain, phantom, phase (though I couldn’t<br />

find any MS functionality), high pass filter,<br />

dynamics, EQ, and buss, master, and mono<br />

outputs sends. You get two meters up here: one<br />

showing level at the pre-amp, and one showing<br />

gain reduction through the dynamics.<br />

You have a four band EQ, all of which can<br />

be parametric, and there’s shelving options for<br />

your high and low filters. At this point the user<br />

feedback is through the illuminated encoders<br />

and there’s no absolute indication of amount<br />

of gain or frequency. For that you will need<br />

the screen. There are four buss send controls<br />

and four ‘page’ selections to give access to your<br />

sixteen busses. The sends are all selectable pre<br />

or post, with options to go pre or post EQ.<br />

Each of the sections has a view button, which<br />

will instantly display the settings and options<br />

on the screen at the right hand side. The screen<br />

is controlled by six encoders and four page/<br />

layer controls. As you might expect there’s<br />

been some bitching about it not being touch<br />

>

---

screen, but there’s an iPad app if you want touchtastic.<br />

While we’re on the subject, the current app supports<br />

inputs and outputs comprehensively but there’s no channel<br />

processing (dynamics or EQ) support in this version.<br />

Go… Record<br />

In terms of recording, the <strong>X32</strong> can make stereo recordings<br />

direct to a USB flash drive (careful here: test your drive<br />

before doing this as it’s not fool proof; also a display<br />

of duration and time remaining would be nice), and<br />

it comes with a plug-in card supporting USB 2 and<br />

Firewire. This enables all 32 channels to be recorded<br />

directly to your computer. And the card appears as an<br />

input source alongside the other desk inputs. You get 32<br />

total, so you can record 16 tracks, and play 16 or play 32<br />

if you’ve recorded the band and want to playback for a<br />

virtual soundcheck.<br />

Though I didn’t get to play with one, <strong>Behringer</strong> is<br />

offering a very affordable P16 personal monitor mix<br />

system: sixteen channels of mix-down ethernet, each<br />

P16 has a through so the system is cascadable, and the<br />

P16s offer three band EQ with a swept mid and an<br />

onboard adjustable limiter. This, of course, frees more<br />

outputs on the desk: let the band worry about mixing their<br />

own monitor levels, and you get those outputs back to do<br />

cool things with.<br />

And I think what we see here is at the heart of a system<br />

like the <strong>X32</strong>: it’s not just a desk.<br />

Out Loud<br />

So to the two thousand pound question, “what does it<br />

sound like?”<br />

There’s been enough Internet controversy to make<br />

any wise reader listen for themselves before shelling out<br />

the hard earned. Surely here’s the ‘powered by Midas’<br />

crunch? But for the record, considering single channels,<br />

a Neumann through the <strong>X32</strong> or Neumann into a standalone<br />

8-channel mic pre (available at all good outlets at<br />

around £3,000), I felt it was honours close enough to even.<br />

What about straight into the mic input of a Nagra<br />

LB? As you might expect, the direct Nagra recording<br />

has the edge. My <strong>Audio</strong> Developments 147 mixer sounds<br />

better too. In both cases the difference is clear but not<br />

massive. On the other hand, my older 16-channel digital<br />

mixer doesn›t do half as much as the <strong>X32</strong>, costs more, and<br />

doesn’t sound as good.<br />

And by the way the <strong>Audio</strong> Developments has six<br />

channels and four outputs: do you want to mix your<br />

band on it?<br />

Which brings me to my point: you can play this game<br />

with any mixer you want, but what you can’t do is avoid<br />

the question of whether the global package offered by the<br />

<strong>X32</strong> meets the total requirements of your gig.<br />

Working with a small band, three vocals, two guitars,<br />

keys, bass and cajon, the sound of the desk was good<br />

enough to let the U87s breathe their magic and you could<br />

clearly hear it.<br />

Maybe the total mix doesn’t offer the ultimate in<br />

transparency – I felt it was a bit congested in places – but<br />

then, this isn’t an XL8.<br />

The onboard effects are pretty good. I took my TC<br />

Electronic M5000 (there’s one on eBay as I write for £700<br />

if you are quick, or if you just want some perspective) and<br />

we ended up using a vocal patch from that, but if I hadn›t<br />

taken it, the on-board reverb would have done just fine.<br />

The EQ has some foibles but, again, does the job.<br />

There are eight onboard effects slots, which are divided<br />

between four for busses and four for inserts, but as<br />

the division isn’t absolute, just consider you have eight<br />

effects boxes.<br />

Conclusion<br />

So am I a signed up <strong>Behringer</strong> fan? (which would have<br />

been ironic given my long-standing unwillingness to<br />

purchase from the big B in the past? )<br />

Well, there are lots of things I would like to be different.<br />

I think a live desk needs a gain trim pot accessible on<br />

every channel (the <strong>X32</strong> has a fader but no encoder on<br />

every channel), and some people feel the same way about<br />

pan. I’d like to see another 5dB or, better, 10dB of gain in<br />

the mic amps. Direct outs on the channels. And surely<br />

you want enough DSP for a graphic on every buss output?<br />

I would like to ‘link’ stereo channels across layers to<br />

conserve fader space, and I found the menu system a<br />

little hard to find my way round – I sympathise with the<br />

reviewer who couldn’t find the ‘channel label’ function.<br />

Well… a little bit.<br />

Some theatre guys are bitching that a hundred scenes<br />

aren’t enough, and others that the MIDI implementation<br />

isn’t comprehensive enough.<br />

For those lovers of high bit rates, look elsewhere…<br />

the desk runs at 44 or 48kHz. There’s no digital in (other<br />

than AES 50), and no obvious way to clock the desk<br />

externally. The faders and buttons are ok, but I think there<br />

is a plastickiness to their feel.<br />

However, the answer to all these questions is: ‘look at<br />

the price – now what are you complaining about?’<br />

Conclusion<br />

I think the <strong>X32</strong> is an astounding proposition. As I joked<br />

with the editor, ‘Not so much a console as a declaration<br />

of war’. The AES 50 functionality alone is worth the cost<br />

of entry, and maybe – perish the thought – the reason<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong> didn’t price it a bit higher is to leave room for<br />

an X48 or X64.<br />

And what of an X16? I don’t see any evidence yet of<br />

major software bugs or dramatic reliability issues. While I<br />

had the desk, a software update rolled out, and upgrading<br />

was simple and stress free. Time will tell of course about<br />

long-term reliability, but as it stands, the <strong>X32</strong> is – as the<br />

marketing claims – quite simply a game changer... ∫<br />

Information<br />

Feature Set<br />

• 32 channels<br />

• 16-bus, 40-bits<br />

• Programmable Midas pre-amps<br />

• Motorised faders<br />

• 32-channel audio interface<br />

• iPad remote control<br />

Manufacturer<br />

<strong>Behringer</strong><br />

www.behringer.com<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 49

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THE REVIEWER<br />

Russ Long is a<br />

Nashville-based<br />

producer, engineer,<br />

and mixer.<br />

www.russlong.ws<br />

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW<br />

50 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

“I have never used a bus-powered mic pre for a legitimate studio<br />

recording session. This all changed with the Forte for the first<br />

time. Based on the pres found in Focusrite’s RedNet network<br />

audio range, Forte’s mic pre-amps are simply stellar.”<br />

Russ Long<br />

Focusrite Forte<br />

Portable <strong>Audio</strong> Interface<br />

Taking its name from the original<br />

Focusrite console that Rupert Neve<br />

designed for Air Studios three<br />

decades ago, Forte is a two-input,<br />

four-output portable USB audio interface<br />

for Mac and Windows computers. The box<br />

features a pair of microphone pre-amps,<br />

high-quality 24-bit A/D and D/A converters<br />

that support sample rates up to 192kHz, and<br />

independent headphone and monitor routing.<br />

Features<br />

Forte’s solid yet chic aluminum enclosure<br />

measures approximately 6.5 x 4.5 x 1.5 and<br />

weighs just over a pound. Non-slip strips on the<br />

base of the box ensure that Forte remains stable<br />

during operation. An external power supply is<br />

included with the unit, however Forte can also<br />

operate as a USB powered interface.<br />

Minimum system requirements for the<br />

Forte are an Apple Macintosh with a USB<br />

2.0-compliant USB port running Mac OS X 10.7<br />

(Lion) or 10.8 (Mountain Lion), or a Windows<br />

compatible computer with a USB 2.0 compliant<br />

USB port running Windows 7 or Windows 8<br />

(32- or 64-bit). In addition to the Forte Control<br />

software that provides complete computer<br />

control over the device, Forte includes the<br />

Focusrite Midnight Plug-In Suite and Ableton<br />

Live Lite 8 Software. The Midnight suite<br />

includes an EQ and compressor plug-in that<br />

do an astonishing job of modelling the ISA110<br />

EQ and ISA130 compressor, two of Focusrite’s<br />

classic hardware pieces. Forte supports 44.1, 48,<br />

88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192 kHz sample rates and<br />

24-bit resolution.<br />

Inputs are provided via a breakout cable that<br />

connects to the rear of the box. The breakout<br />

cable includes two XLR3F connectors for<br />

microphone input and two TRS quarter-inch<br />

jacks for line and instrument input. Outputs are<br />

on the Forte and include two quarter-inch TRS<br />

jacks for main output on the rear of the box and<br />

a quarter-inch TRS jack for stereo headphone<br />

output on the front of the box. Also found on<br />

the rear is a USB 2.0 Type B connector.<br />

The Forte provides a 117dB (A-weighted)<br />

Real World ADC Dynamic Range and a 118dB<br />

(A-weighted) Real World DAC Dynamic Range.<br />

The RedNet remote controlled microphone<br />

preamplifiers provide 0 to +75 dB of gain<br />

and are electronically balanced with 1.3 kΩ<br />

impedance. They include a 10dB pad and 48kHz<br />

phantom power (phantom only available when<br />

using the external power supply) and feature a<br />

117dB signal-to-noise ratio. All inputs include<br />

a switchable 75Hz, 12dB/octave high-pass filter,<br />

and switchable phase reverse.<br />

In Use<br />

Forte installation is simple and straightforward,<br />

and the product’s documentation is detailed<br />

and complete.<br />

While I primarily used the Forte with an<br />

Apple MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, I also<br />

successfully installed and used the device on an<br />

Apple Macintosh 2 x 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel<br />

Xeon Mac Pro and a Sony Vaio 2.27 GHz Intel<br />

Core i3 Laptop. I used the device to record to<br />

Logic, Studio One 2, Nuendo, and Pro Tools at<br />

sample rates of 44.1, 48, 96, and 192kHz and it<br />

worked flawlessly in every instance.<br />

The Forte Control software makes it<br />

simple to control all of Forte’s features from<br />

a computer, and configurations can be easily<br />

saved and recalled. My only complaint is that<br />

you can’t open the software without the Forte<br />

being attached. If I wanted to tweak a preset<br />

when I didn’t have the Forte with me, I’d be<br />

out of luck.<br />

The single large control knob, which also<br />

functions as a push button, and the four<br />

touch-sensitive buttons found below the bright<br />

color OLED display makes it easy to see the<br />

Forte’s current status as well as make standard<br />

adjustments without having to utilise the<br />

Forte Control software. The touch-sensitive<br />

Information<br />

Feature Set<br />

• 2-in, 4-out USB audio interface<br />

• Mac and Windows<br />

• Remote controllable mic pre-amps<br />

• 24-bit, 192kHz<br />

•OLED colour display<br />

• Touch controls and control knob<br />

• DAW integration<br />

Manufacturer<br />

Focusrite<br />

www.focusrite.com<br />

Price Details<br />

GB£399.00 (inc.VAT)<br />

>

---

buttons switch between Input Mode, Main Output<br />

Mode, Headphones Mode, and DAW Mode. Input Mode<br />

provides control of input type, gain, link, pad, phase<br />

reverse, and phantom power functions. Main Output<br />

Mode and Headphone Output Mode provide control of<br />

gain, mute, dim, and mono functions. The DAW Mode<br />

provides limited control for several major applications<br />

including Pro Tools 10, Cubase 6, Logic 9 Pro, Ableton<br />

Live 8, GarageBand, Studio One 2, FL Studio 10, Sonar<br />

X1, Reaper, Reason 6, iTunes and Windows <strong>Media</strong> Player.<br />

Forte’s navigation is extremely natural and intuitive.<br />

The Forte’s outputs are included on the actual box,<br />

rather than the breakout cable, so when being used solely<br />

for playback, it isn’t necessary to attach the breakout cable.<br />

When the breakout cable is needed, it securely locks into<br />

the Forte, preventing it from being accidently pulled<br />

out. The Forte Control software makes no-latency direct<br />

monitoring a breeze and it’s simple to route completely<br />

different mixes to the headphone and monitor outputs.<br />

Since there are separate microphone and instrument/<br />

line input connectors, inputs don’t have to be re-patched<br />

every time you switch from a microphone to a direct<br />

sound source.<br />

I do wish there was some form of digital input.<br />

I used the box to record a couple of live shows and if I’m<br />

recording from a digital console, I’d rather just stay in<br />

the digital realm rather than convert to analogue before<br />

immediately converting back to digital.<br />

I used the Forte along with a MacBook Pro and a pair<br />

From The Manufacturer<br />

“Forte brings Focusrite’s<br />

finest pre-amps and DAW<br />

control to the compact<br />

desktop interface<br />

category.<br />

Now professional<br />

engineers can access<br />

this world without<br />

compromising the<br />

highest standards of<br />

sonic integrity.<br />

Well adapted for stereo<br />

location recordings and<br />

playback applications<br />

where compact and<br />

light-weight are the<br />

order of the day, Forte<br />

will become the go-to<br />

compact interface for<br />

people who share our<br />

belief – that sound is<br />

everything.”<br />

Giles Orford, Marketing<br />

Director, Focusrite<br />

of Emotiva airmotiv 5 monitors and found that I had a<br />

fantastic sounding studio that I could carry anywhere<br />

and set up in a flash. The Forte’s mic pre did a fantastic<br />

job recording an acoustic guitar/vocal performance with<br />

an AKG C-28B on the guitar and a Sony C-800G on the<br />

vocal. I used a pair of Coles 4038 ribbon mics to record<br />

a piano and found that the mic pre’s 75dB of gain was<br />

more than sufficient to capture a fantastic piano sound.<br />

I love having the mono control on the output paths.<br />

Being able to reference mono at the push of a button is<br />

always handy whether recording or mixing. I’ve used<br />

a significant number of mobile bus-powered mic pres<br />

over the last several years and while many have sounded<br />

really good, I’ve always mentally considered them as such<br />

considering they are bus-powered and, with the exception<br />

of my review testing, I have never used a bus-powered<br />

mic pre for a legitimate studio recording session. This all<br />

changed with the Forte for the first time. Based on the pres<br />

found in Focusrite’s RedNet network audio range, Forte’s<br />

mic pre-amps are simply stellar. I wouldn’t hesitate to use<br />

them in the most critical recording situation.<br />

The Midnight EQ and Midnight Compressor are<br />

fantastic plug-ins that have quickly become part of<br />

my go-to group of plugs. I’ve been using them daily –<br />

regardless of whether I’m using the Forte or not.<br />

When running off USB power, there are a couple of<br />

limitations including the lack of phantom power on the<br />

microphone inputs and volume limits on the speaker and<br />

headphone outputs. The outputs still maintain extremely<br />

high audio quality, but they just don’t have the same<br />

volume potential as when running off AC power.<br />

Conclusion<br />

Forte packs a truly professional recording set-up<br />

into a mobile device at an accessible price. It’s for<br />

anyone in need of a way to record on the go without<br />

compromising quality or an affordable way to<br />

set up a streamlined, capable project studio. ∫<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 51<br />

irig_pre_adv_v1_QUARTER_<strong>Audio</strong><strong>Media</strong>UK_201210-ol.indd 1 27/09/12 17.20

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THE REVIEWER<br />

Alan Branch is a<br />

freelance engineer/<br />

producer and<br />

ex-member of the<br />

On U Sound Crew. His<br />

long list of credits<br />

include Jamiroquai,<br />

Beverley Knight, M<br />

People, Simply Red,<br />

Depeche Mode, Shed<br />

7, Sinead O’ Connor,<br />

Bjork, and Sade. www.<br />

alanbranch.com<br />

Technology Review<br />

52 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

“This high headroom gives a lovely saturated effect, which is very musical for<br />

tone shaping sounds and song stems, and because it’s modelled on Pultec-type<br />

circuitry it gives wonderful results no matter how hard you push.”<br />

Alan Branch<br />

Native Instruments<br />

Premium Tube Series<br />

Tube Processing Plug-Ins<br />

Whether you’re lifting the top<br />

end of a vocal or adding punch<br />

to drums, choosing the right<br />

plug-in is important. It’s not just<br />

about a boost in level – overtones or harmonic<br />

distortion help add character and colour to<br />

the tone, which can give a mix quality and<br />

depth. Developers are trying harder and harder<br />

to deliver the most accurate models of classic<br />

hardware used by engineers worldwide for<br />

decades on some of the greatest records.<br />

Native Instruments’ Premium Tube Series<br />

is a new series of stand-alone native effects<br />

– models of tube-driven hardware units,<br />

created in collaboration with the excellent<br />

Softtube, the simulation masters from Sweden.<br />

The three effects are Passive EQ, Vari Comp,<br />

and Enhanced EQ, all available as VST, AU,<br />

RTAS, and AAX.<br />

Installation and GUI<br />

Installation was as easy as ever, with all formats<br />

VST, AU, RTAS, and AAX as optional installs.<br />

No iLok is needed as registration is done via<br />

NI’s own Service Centre – if you have any<br />

previous NI software you’ll know registration is<br />

simply a serial number and Internet connection.<br />

Having 64-bit support is essential nowadays,<br />

and I have moved completely to running Logic<br />

64, but the plugs run either as AAX, VST,<br />

RTAS, or AU.<br />

Firstly the look of the Premium Tube Series<br />

is certainly striking: a kind of taupe (dark<br />

brown/tan-ish grey) emblazoned with bright<br />

purple lettering and rack-end plate lines.<br />

It’s a GUI I’m sure some might love or hate.<br />

My philosophy is that if a GUI or finish to a<br />

plug-in is distracting then that’s not a good<br />

thing for your listening ability. Fortunately, I<br />

found the Tube Series really pleasant to work<br />

with. All plugs have A-B comparison selection,<br />

a preset drop down menu, as well as a user<br />

preset save ability.<br />

Passive EQ<br />

A four band parametric EQ with low pass and<br />

high pass filters, this looks to me like an obvious<br />

clone of the Manley Massive Passive: a tubebased<br />

EQ loved by many studio and mastering<br />

engineers for its ability to saturate and add large<br />

smooth EQ curves. The layout has a dual set<br />

of controls that can be linked or unlinked for<br />

stereo and mono operation, with both sides<br />

featuring four parametric EQ bands. Each band<br />

can be bypassed or set to cut or boost, and each<br />

operation toggles a colour switch so it’s quick to<br />

see which mode it’s in. With the same frequency<br />

ranges as an original Manley, each band has<br />

a bandwidth control and a switchable Band<br />

mode of a Bell or a Shelf. The centre section<br />

with two columns of controls gives easy access<br />

to Gain, Lowpass, Highpass, and a master link<br />

for the two channels either in stereo operation<br />

mirroring each channel or with independent<br />

control of each side. What’s really interesting is<br />

a Mid/Side mode switch – this brilliant addition<br />

enables the EQ to control the mono information<br />

on the left side and the stereo information on<br />

the right side, and as well as EQ there’s a balance<br />

fader that allows you to adjust the stereo width.<br />

I found the Passive EQ to be very musical<br />

and great fun to use on almost anything.<br />

Like all EQs, it’s good to remember that it’s<br />

material dependant; sometimes it’s nice to<br />

use a super-clean digital Linear Phase EQ and<br />

sometimes you want that analogue character<br />

and power. The Passive EQ operation can be<br />

quite different to other EQs, especially in the<br />

way it boosts and cuts as it has a large 20dB range<br />

with wide filters. This high headroom gives a<br />

lovely saturated effect, which is very musical<br />

for tone shaping sounds and song stems, and<br />

because it’s modelled on Pultec-type circuitry<br />

it gives wonderful results no matter how hard<br />

you push. Large boosts in HF and a wide bell<br />

filter resulted in a lovely air with no harshness.<br />

Whilst at the bottom end a nice thickness was<br />

achievable that’s often hard to get with other<br />

EQs – a kind of Pultec quality that I really<br />

like for drum loops and low end percussion.<br />

The Mid/Side control turns the Passive EQ into<br />

a very nice stereo tone shaper, which enables<br />

you to, for example, carve out frequencies from<br />

>

---

the centre or mono image thus making room for either<br />

bass and bass drums or mid range parts like vocals or<br />

guitars. I really like this use of Mid/Side control, and it<br />

add so much more to the plug-in.<br />

Vari Comp<br />

This plug-in has a simple interface based,<br />

I’m guessing, on another Manley classic.<br />

Input/output controls, adjusted by a slow/fast recovery<br />

knob and a slow/fast attack knob, make operation quick<br />

along with an optional sidechain gain and selection<br />

switch. A threshold control sets where the compression<br />

kicks in and a high pass detector switch enables a filter of<br />

around 100Hz before the threshold level detection, these<br />

can protect the compressor from being driven by bass or<br />

bass drums. Then there is a magical Dry control knob –<br />

this is what a lot of people will like as it enables quick and<br />

easy parallel compression.<br />

Another classic modelled refined and packaged<br />

by the NI/Softtube team, this has to be the infamous<br />

Manley Vari-MU, using the re-biasing of vacuum tubes to<br />

achieve compression much like the luscious Fairchild 670.<br />

This compressor has the ability to overdrive the input<br />

gain to produce a lovely tube distortion. Slightly different<br />

to a lot of compressors this Vari Comp (in compression<br />

mode) has a fixed compress or limit function, with<br />

the compressor using a fixed 1.5 to 1 ratio with a soft<br />

knee; so it’s a soft effect. In Limit mode the compression<br />

automatically varies from 4:1 to 20:1 ratio dependant on<br />

input level and threshold.<br />

The Vari compressor will probably be very popular.<br />

It’s quick and easy to set up, and its hardware inspiration is<br />

one of the no.1 compressors used by mastering engineers.<br />

However, I wouldn’t think of this just for mastering;<br />

it certainly has something of a sound to it but at low<br />

levels it’s so transparent you can hardly hear it working,<br />

then overdriven it behaves wonderfully, pumping drums<br />

with the simple Dry control for some fantastic parallel<br />

compression. The recovery control shows ms times as<br />

you adjust it – not a huge selection but enough to get it<br />

in time with your track, and there’s plenty of that lovely<br />

tube saturation character and colour. If you have a cold<br />

lifeless mix or drum sound it’s like pouring some rich<br />

cream over it for warmth and a supreme power boost.<br />

And don’t forget the Side Chain input in case you want<br />

to stop it pumping to a kick drum – by filtering the low<br />

end of the signal into the side chain, this gives a smoother<br />

compression and preserves your transients.<br />

Enhanced EQ<br />

Finishing off the trio is the Enhanced EQ – a simple threeband<br />

EQ, possibly based on the tube-amplified Manley<br />

enhanced Pultec EQP–1A. The controls comprise a lowfrequency<br />

band, high-frequency band, high cut band, and<br />

an overall output gain. So there’s no need to really explain<br />

each section, as it’s such a simple layout. The beauty of<br />

“The Vari-<br />

Comp offers<br />

a very simple<br />

but unique<br />

compressor,<br />

with a lovely<br />

glossy sound<br />

effect, easy<br />

to set up<br />

with its<br />

input gain<br />

control and<br />

recovery<br />

dial, yet<br />

has the<br />

ability to be<br />

driven with<br />

high levels<br />

for some<br />

fantastic<br />

results.”<br />

Alan Branch<br />

this plug is its simple operation and its Pultectype<br />

of cut/boost with filters. Its unique<br />

ability to lift certain frequency ranges while<br />

not affecting others is great for tonal change<br />

when EQ-ing individual instruments. I think,<br />

of all outboard gear, the Pultec classic EQP-<br />

1A has to be my favourite, and the Enhanced<br />

EQ doesn’t disappoint; it even sounds good<br />

just passing audio through the plug-in! I’m<br />

not sure if it’s because the boost and cut<br />

controls become more aggressive in a kind<br />

of logarithmic way but the tonal character is<br />

very musical and natural sounding. Although<br />

the tube and transformer circuitry provides<br />

warmth, it’s the precision that enables the<br />

Enhanced EQ to become more effective on<br />

individual instruments like bases and bass<br />

drums without muddiness.<br />

Conclusion<br />

The Native Instruments Premium Tube Series brings<br />

together NI’s experience with the excellent expertise<br />

of Softube, now without the need for the guitar Rig<br />

host software. Together they have created a unique<br />

selection of plug-ins based on some classic tube driven<br />

analogue hardware.<br />

I’ve been impressed with the Softube crew ever since<br />

I got to try their simulation of the Abbey Road brilliance<br />

pack, and their own collection of plug-ins excels at<br />

offering something different as well some of the best<br />

modelled studio classic hardware. It’s certainly not an easy<br />

task to model into software all the intricacies of classic<br />

hardware circuit design, but Softube seems to pull this task<br />

off better than most others. The Passive and Enhanced<br />

EQ offers two very different tube EQ types: the Passive<br />

EQ being very coloured in its tone, with the addition of<br />

harmonic saturation but remaining natural and smooth,<br />

whilst the addition of Mid/Side control makes it so useful<br />

when dealing with stereo signals. On the other hand,<br />

the Enhanced EQ brings great precision and delightful<br />

enhancement of frequencies; it’s this famous Pultec pushpull<br />

effect where you can boost and cut and the same<br />

time that can be used to bring out certain frequencies<br />

like nothing else. The Vari-Comp offers a very simple<br />

but unique compressor, with a lovely glossy sound effect,<br />

easy to set up with its input gain control and recovery<br />

dial, yet has the ability to be driven with high levels for<br />

some fantastic results. It works on almost everything from<br />

pumping drums to smooth vocals.<br />

I really like this collection. I’ve got used to the GUI<br />

interface, the preset collection is good, and saving your<br />

own is simple. I know there are many of these classic<br />

style plug-ins out there, but this is a faithfully modelled<br />

set of authentic sounding plugs, not too expensive, easy<br />

to use, and which give a great sound – which has to be the<br />

important part. If you’re a fan of Tube-driven hardware,<br />

just think all of that wonderful original tube sound<br />

with no need for a re-tube! What more can you ask! ∫<br />

Information<br />

Feature Set<br />

• Passive EQ<br />

• Vari Comp<br />

• Enhanced EQ<br />

• AU, VST, RTAS, AAX<br />

• Mac OSX 10.6/7, or Windows 7, Intel Core Duo<br />

Manufacturer<br />

Native Instruments<br />

www.native-instruments.com<br />

Price Details<br />

€199.00 download<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 53

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THE REVIEWER<br />

ALISTAIR McGHEE<br />

began audio life in<br />

Hi-Fi before joining<br />

the BBC as an audio<br />

engineer. After ten<br />

years in radio and<br />

TV, he moved to<br />

production. When<br />

BBC Choice started, he<br />

pioneered personal<br />

digital production<br />

in television. Most<br />

recently, Alistair was<br />

Assistant Editor, BBC<br />

Radio Wales and has<br />

been helping the<br />

UN with broadcast<br />

operations in Juba.<br />

Technology RevIew<br />

54 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

“of course if you’re brave enough, you might think with nearly 400 channels of Io,<br />

who needs a mixing desk? you could mix the whole show on your MADI FX card.”<br />

Alistair McGhee<br />

RME HDSPe MADI FX<br />

PCIe MADI Interface with DSP<br />

The HDSPe MADI FX, features not one, or two,<br />

but three MADI inputs and outputs, for a total<br />

of 192 ins and outs. No, sorry, 192 MADI ins and<br />

outs – there’s also AES3 I/O, and an anolgue<br />

monitor out making 196 outputs and 194 inputs, so call<br />

it 390 total. I had the vanilla flavoured card with two<br />

pairs of optical SC connectors on the card and MADI 3<br />

on coax on the expander card. There is also a version of<br />

the expander card available with optical if you prefer that<br />

route. As an aside, you can run the card in redundancy<br />

mode, which means that the three MADI inputs become<br />

a single fast switching triple-redundant input. The small<br />

‘e’ in the HDSPe tells you this is a PCIe card, but what, I<br />

wonder, does the FX stand for? Yes, using the onboard<br />

DSP you can apply EQ, reverb, and dynamic effects to the<br />

inputs and outputs of the card.<br />

Isn’t the day of custom dsp over? Yes and no. The DSP<br />

is there for use inside RME’s TotalMix mixer application<br />

and it’s what TotalMix can do alongside your DAW that<br />

makes it exciting.<br />

There are individual, independent effects on the inputs<br />

and outputs separately. In the settings window of the<br />

RME HDSPe MADI FX there is an ‘EQ + D for record’<br />

option. Selecting this directs the post EQ and dynamics<br />

input signal to the DAW for recording, rather than the pre<br />

EQ and dynamics input signal which is sent as default.<br />

The most obvious advantage here is to process your cue<br />

mixes without your DAW latencies. Simply apply some<br />

TotalMix reverb to a vocalist’s cue mix, for example, and<br />

they will hear in their headphones their vocal with added<br />

reverb, while the clean vocal is being recorded; or your<br />

drummer wants a mix feed with some basic EQ. In fact,<br />

every member of your band (even your big band) can have<br />

their own feed with individual EQ and dynamics and a<br />

share of the FX.<br />

If you’re brave enough, you might think with nearly<br />

400 channels of IO, who needs a mixing desk? You could<br />

mix the whole show on your MADI FX card. In real life<br />

you would need at least two things: Low enough latencies,<br />

and a way of handling a mixer that will fill three monitors<br />

side by side. Thirdly, you’ll want a controller capable of<br />

doing that size of gig justice.<br />

RME has a neat video showing TotalMix running on<br />

an iMac (using a thunderbolt expansion box to house the<br />

MADI FX) claiming buffers as low as 14 samples.<br />

With this many inputs and outputs managing the<br />

software is a real issue. As the software stands, the stretch<br />

from input 1 to 192 is long, and applying the same EQ<br />

From The Manufacturer<br />

“The HDSPe MADI FX is<br />

the first to offer 390<br />

channels on a PCIe card<br />

with full matrix routing<br />

using TotalMix FX and<br />

of course, proven RME<br />

reliability. This allows for<br />

superb flexibility and a<br />

greater track count in a<br />

variety of workflows that<br />

you simply could not<br />

achieve elsewhere. And<br />

by effectively merging<br />

3 MADI cards into one,<br />

there is of course a real<br />

cost advantage.<br />

This makes HDSPe MADI<br />

FX a unique solution<br />

for broadcast, postproduction,<br />

mobile and<br />

location recording.”<br />

Dave West,<br />

Synthax <strong>Audio</strong><br />

to multiple inputs is laborious. A ‘hide’ option makes<br />

managing the sheer number of channels easier though,<br />

and the preset store/recall functions offer a shortcut for<br />

both EQ and dynamics. However, we really need presets<br />

that include both in one snapshot, store-able as a channel,<br />

with copy/paste functions. You can also have four each of<br />

fader, mute, and solo groups, which is great, plus there’s<br />

a dynamic fader group you can create. However, if you<br />

bought a desk with 190 odd inputs you might want more<br />

than four groups.<br />

There is one global effects buss with a range of ten<br />

effects, mostly reverbs. You also get a three-band EQ, all<br />

of which can be parametric or shelves top and bottom,<br />

or a low pass option on the top. Plus, a dynamic section<br />

with a compressor and an expander. RME says at standard<br />

sample rates you have about 90 channels of processing.<br />

Conclusion<br />

The MADI FX is a prince among MADI cards. Having just<br />

reviewed the AES50-capable <strong>Behringer</strong> <strong>X32</strong>, I can but wish<br />

that we could all agree to live together in peace, harmony,<br />

and a single format for multi-channel digital audio. MADI<br />

is the oldest and probably has the widest support. And if<br />

MADI is your business, the MADI FX is so good you have<br />

to have one. At this price it’s a steal.<br />

And personally, I think three hundred and ninety<br />

channels is enough. Isn’t it? ∫<br />

Information<br />

Feature Set<br />

• 390 channels<br />

• 192 kHz<br />

• 194 input and 196 output channels<br />

• 3x MADI I/O (2x optical and 1x coaxial)<br />

• TotalMix FX<br />

Manufacturer<br />

RMe<br />

www.rme-audio.com<br />

Distributors<br />

Synthax (UK) – www.synthax.co.uk<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> AG (worldwide) – www.audioag.com<br />

Price Details<br />

GB£1,099.00 (inc.vAT)

---

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“I never got the impression of the high frequencies simply being boosted; I was hearing<br />

things I hadn’t heard before when a mic was between the source and me.“<br />

Ian Schreier<br />

Sanken CO 100K<br />

Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone<br />

The conventional wisdom regarding the<br />

frequency range of human hearing is that it<br />

falls between 20Hz to 20kHz. So why on earth<br />

would you need a microphone that is capable of<br />

capturing frequencies up to 100kHz?<br />

Speaking as a part of the team here at Manifold Studios,<br />

it turns out we did need some microphones that go that<br />

high – especially once we heard them. After spending<br />

some time recording and experimenting with a pair of<br />

Sanken CO-100K microphones and comparing them to<br />

other options in our mic locker, it became crystal clear<br />

(pun intended) that these mics capture nuanced detail in<br />

a way that our ears – and, more importantly, our clients –<br />

will immediately appreciate.<br />

The CO-100K is a 48v phantom-powered<br />

omnidirectional condenser microphone with factorylisted<br />

specs that reveal a frequency range from 20Hz to<br />

100kHz, a maximum SPL of 125dB, and an equivalent<br />

noise level of 22dB (A-weighted). After unpacking<br />

the demo set from Sanken, I did a quick glance at the<br />

included measurement data. The first thing I noticed<br />

was a very flat response from 20Hz to 10kHz, then a<br />

rise of 6dB from 10k up to 20kHz. Ordinarily, I would<br />

be wary of a mic with that kind of high-end lift.<br />

My previous experience when I’ve seen this kind of curve<br />

has been one of a false and hyped top end that I don’t like.<br />

So, it was with a little skepticism that I fired them up and<br />

started listening.<br />

In Use<br />

Well, wow. What I did hear is that the top end just seems<br />

to go out to infinity. While it does feel extended, it’s always<br />

seamlessly connected to the rest of the sound. I never<br />

got the impression of the high frequencies simply being<br />

boosted; I was hearing things I hadn’t heard before when<br />

a mic was between the source and me.<br />

After listening for a while, I decided to look again<br />

at the specs. With a more careful eye I noticed that the<br />

rise was very smooth with almost no deviation from the<br />

graceful arc described by the response curve. In other<br />

words, pick any point along the mic’s response curve,<br />

and the amount of variation within 20 percent above or<br />

below that frequency is very small. I don’t know if that is<br />

the reason why the high end sounds so natural even with<br />

the lift, but the lesson I was reminded of that day is to let<br />

my ears decide, in spite of making assumptions based on<br />

a list of specifications.<br />

To be sure my impressions were not a result of having<br />

more high-end in the generally accepted audible range,<br />

Michael Tiemann (the studio owner) wisely suggested that<br />

we take the signal from our comparison mic (DPA 4006-<br />

TL omni) and – using our most neutral and precise EQ<br />

(the five-band, stereo parametric GML 8200) – attempt to<br />

match what we heard from the CO-100K.<br />

Nope. Not the same. While we could definitely get<br />

the output of the high frequency to sound equally loud<br />

From The Manufacturer:<br />

“This is the first 100kHz<br />

microphone designed<br />

for actual professional<br />

recording, not for<br />

measurement purposes...<br />

Designed with NHK’s<br />

Science & Technical<br />

Research Laboratories,<br />

it is Sanken’s response<br />

to those enthusiastic<br />

engineers who wish to<br />

record frequencies as high<br />

as 100kHz.<br />

After rigorous test<br />

recordings, it was found<br />

that this microphone<br />

is especially suited for<br />

classical music, acoustic<br />

instrument, and sound<br />

effect recording.”<br />

Masaaki Yamada,<br />

Sanken<br />

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW<br />

– and certainly down in the rest of the frequency range<br />

they very much agreed – the CO-100K sparkled in a way<br />

that sounded completely natural and completely smooth.<br />

Our listening tests convinced us that there is<br />

information being captured by these microphones that<br />

cannot be duplicated by simply boosting frequencies<br />

reachable with an EQ, even if you can match the apparent<br />

frequency response. This was even more apparent in a<br />

stereo miking configuration. The localisation of sounds<br />

in the stereo field is completely natural, and much<br />

more precise than I’m used to hearing with a spaced<br />

omni set-up.<br />

These mics sound absolutely stunning on large<br />

ensembles, as room or ambient mics, and solo acoustic<br />

instruments sound 10 miles deep with them. Most notably,<br />

when miking at a distance, everything sounds razor sharp<br />

and in focus. There is no loss of clarity as you increase<br />

the distance from the source. And if you’ll indulge me<br />

stretching that metaphor even more, it really does remind<br />

me of looking through a pair of really good binoculars for<br />

the first time.<br />

Summary<br />

I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending<br />

these microphones. It should be understood, however,<br />

that these are not the tools for every application.<br />

Quite often discretion is the greater art of recording.<br />

These mics get everything, good and bad. Use at your own<br />

risk in a less than optimal, noisy, or unflattering room.<br />

You’ll hear it – all of it.<br />

On many instruments and in many situations, I<br />

prefer the sound of the DPA 4006-TL or the Schoeps<br />

CM6. While they are in the same class of ultra-sensitive<br />

omni condensers as the Sanken, they both (and each<br />

in their own way) have a rounder quality to the midrange<br />

that I find appealing, especially up close to the<br />

source. I wouldn’t trade these old favourites for anything.<br />

But, nothing I’ve heard does what the CO-100Ks can do<br />

as well as they do it. They are a true benchmark in my<br />

book, and are a great addition to our mic locker. ∫<br />

Information<br />

Feature Set<br />

• 20 Hz - 100 kHz<br />

• Super wide range<br />

• Unique diaphragm design<br />

Manufacturer<br />

Sanken Microphones<br />

www.sanken-mic.com<br />

UK Distributor<br />

O-Video Ltd<br />

www.o-video.co.uk<br />

Price Details<br />

UGB£2,156.40 (inc.VAT)<br />

THE REVIEWER<br />

Ian Schreier is the<br />

chief engineer for<br />

Manifold Recording, a<br />

world-class recording<br />

studio/media<br />

production facility<br />

near Chapel Hill, North<br />

Carolina. miraverse.<br />

com<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 57

---

THE REVIEWER<br />

Jerry Ibbotson has<br />

worked in professional<br />

audio for more than<br />

twenty years, first as<br />

a BBC radio journalist<br />

and then as a sound<br />

designer in the games<br />

industry, working on<br />

more than 30 titles.<br />

He’s now a freelance<br />

audio producer and<br />

writer<br />

Technology RevIew<br />

58 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

“everybody wants to go mobile now, as it saves costs and<br />

at the same time increases productivity. But quick and<br />

professional support is still vital for broadcasters.”<br />

Joost Bloemen, Technica del Arte<br />

Technica del Arte LUCI Live<br />

Live Internet broadcasting/contribution software<br />

Ten years ago, when I was doing<br />

some freelance radio reporting on<br />

the floods that had hit my part of the<br />

country, I can remember setting up<br />

for the live interviewing via a portable satellite<br />

unit. Moments before my guest and I were<br />

due to go live, the wind picked up. It dragged<br />

the sat dish along the roof of my car and onto<br />

the ground with an expensive crack.<br />

“This isn’t going to happen, is it?” remarked<br />

the guest, a senior police officer, before<br />

walking off.<br />

Now we need nothing heftier than a<br />

smartphone to do high-quality (in an audio<br />

sense) live reporting without fear of being hit<br />

by a flying satellite dish. LUCI Live is an app<br />

that’s been licensed to hundreds of users in<br />

the BBC alone. It sends live audio over a 3G<br />

signal or wi-fi connection at a quality level on<br />

a par with much more expensive hardware and<br />

software codecs.<br />

It’s use among BBC radio news teams is<br />

largely down to 5 Live journalist Nick Garnett<br />

who has helped pioneer new technology for<br />

reporters and news teams across different parts<br />

of the Beeb for nearly two decades.<br />

“When I joined 5 Live we got on the air using<br />

a transit van with a 30 foot mast, which was<br />

driven by a technical manager. It wasn’t the<br />

greatest use of their audio skills. When the<br />

cuts came we took delivery of portable satellite<br />

dishes. They changed the face of broadcasting.<br />

The downside was the cost: £5 a minute.“<br />

After experimenting with different hardware<br />

and software solutions, including Skype, Nick<br />

learned that something called LUCI was coming<br />

to the iPhone. This was software he’d played<br />

with in the past but it had previously been a<br />

Windows application. So, using his own iPhone,<br />

he sourced a copy of the program.<br />

“I was given a secret http address to<br />

download a version of it on the day that Ed<br />

Miliband was elected leader of the Labour<br />

Party. That afternoon I was sent to get reaction<br />

from Doncaster, where Miliband is an MP.<br />

Then it started raining and the wind picked up.<br />

By 22.30 when Stephen Nolan went on the air,<br />

the weather was awful. There was no way of<br />

getting a satellite signal, as the dish was moving<br />

around too much. The only thing I had with me<br />

was LUCI Live on the iPhone – so I dialled in,<br />

using 3G, to the studio.<br />

“It was the first time it had been used and<br />

I knew that any producer worth their salt<br />

would panic if they knew what I was using to<br />

broadcast, so I ‘forgot’ to tell them. The piece<br />

went out on air, and was absolutely fine and<br />

nobody was any the wiser – which is how it<br />

should be. Producers shouldn’t have to worry<br />

about how a guest or reporter is appearing on<br />

the air, they should just expect it to work and<br />

that’s what, most of the time, LUCI Live does.”<br />

Working Details<br />

So how does it work? I downloaded a<br />

copy to my Android phone and had a play.<br />

There are precious few controls to play<br />

with, just a few simple buttons on the<br />

screen. Connection to a radio station is easy.<br />

Most reporters will have a phonebook<br />

of appropriate LUCI contacts on<br />

their device and it takes just a few<br />

virtual clicks to ‘dial up’ and connect.<br />

Technically speaking it works in a similar way<br />

to Skype (the company says this itself) but<br />

with much better audio quality – LUCI claims<br />

“studio quality”. Sound is digitised, compressed<br />

(in a data way), sent across the network and<br />

decompressed the other end.<br />

I also downloaded LUCI 2 for Windows,<br />

which acts as the “receiver” on a LUCI Live<br />

connection (it can both receive from and make<br />

Information<br />

Feature Set<br />

• iOS, Android, Windows, Mac OS compatible<br />

• RTP or UDP low-delay streaming, two-way, so<br />

including return channel<br />

• Record while broadcasting<br />

• Play prerecorded material while broadcasting<br />

• Codecs: MP2,AAC, AAC-HE, AAC-<br />

HEV2,G711,G722,ULCC<br />

• 24-bit ULCC audio codec,<br />

44.1 to 384 kHz sample-rate.<br />

• N/ACIP compatible<br />

• Sample-rate from 44.1 to 384 kHz<br />

• Free help desk via email<br />

Manufacturer<br />

Technica del Arte<br />

www.LUCI.eu<br />

UK Distributor<br />

Vortex Communications<br />

www.vtx.co.uk<br />

Price Details<br />

€399.00 download<br />

>

---

calls to LUCI-equipped phones). It looks similar to the<br />

phone app and allows the “call” to be fed to air. Using this<br />

isn’t compulsory as LUCI has worked with some leading<br />

codec hardware designers to have the algorithm run on<br />

its kit. This allows LUCI to be used in the same way as an<br />

ISDN link or sat equipment.<br />

Most LUCI users have a separate microphone plugged<br />

into their phones. LUCI makes one available with each<br />

license, and there are a range of other units on the market<br />

for both iPhone and Android hardware. As I write this<br />

I have a copy of <strong>Audio</strong> <strong>Media</strong> beside me with an advert<br />

for an XLR equipped iPhone pre-amp that plugs into the<br />

phone’s standard mini-jack headphone connection.<br />

Apart from sourcing a separate mic, Nick says there<br />

are certain important rules to using LUCI: “The key to<br />

a successful broadcast is the quality of the connection.<br />

I never use anything less than full bars on a 3G signal or a<br />

good fast wi-fi connection.<br />

“It has been the single biggest change in the way I<br />

broadcast in the last 25 years. Now I go into airports, into<br />

council chambers, on the top of buildings, deep in the<br />

basements of offices, even on the underground – and am<br />

able to broadcast in quality. It’s live radio in places where,<br />

otherwise, we couldn’t possibly have broadcast from.”<br />

In Use<br />

Often with a new piece of broadcast technology,<br />

particularly something used in a news environment, it<br />

takes one big event to show how good it can be. With<br />

LUCI the event in question was the rioting that struck<br />

some English cities in the summer of 2011. In Manchester<br />

a BBC radio van had been overturned and set on fire by<br />

rioters who also targeted camera crews. Nick Garnett was<br />

on the scene using LUCI.<br />

“I was able to talk into my phone as if I was having a<br />

standard conversation whilst appearing, in quality, on 5<br />

live and the BBC News Channel as an audio only feed.<br />

I was safe and wasn’t a target whereas my colleagues, with<br />

traditional equipment, were in real danger.”<br />

It’s a sign that technology is changing in ways<br />

we could hardly have imagined just a few years ago;<br />

national broadcasters using mobile phones and a simple<br />

downloadable app to produce ISDN quality connections<br />

would have been laughed even when I started writing for<br />

this magazine.<br />

Download any kind of app or software these days and<br />

chances are you’ll find it updating itself on a semi-regular<br />

basis. The same goes with LUCI: at the time of writing it<br />

wouldn’t run on my wi-fi only Android tablet (as it does<br />

on the iPad), but I’ve been assured it will do soon and may<br />

well do so by the time you read this. That will open it up<br />

to even more users.<br />

Although this app is now very much embedded in<br />

From The Manufacturer<br />

“The mobile platforms iOS<br />

and Android are giving<br />

a whole new insight<br />

into new fluid ways of<br />

working in real-time<br />

news broadcasting, and<br />

this is a clear indicator<br />

of the future of news<br />

media. “If it ain’t in<br />

your hand, it ain’t<br />

worth having…”, is a<br />

customer’s comment on<br />

LUCI Live, which sums up<br />

what’s happening in the<br />

real world, and now in<br />

broadcast mobile.”<br />

Paul Wishart,<br />

Technica del Arte<br />

broadcasters like the BBC, it did take a while for potential<br />

customers to see how something so simple could cater<br />

for their needs. LUCI’s Joost Bloemen told me, “It’s been<br />

organic and has grown over time. As it was a totally new<br />

type of product, broadcasters needed more time to get<br />

accustomed to it.”<br />

But with budgets being under more pressure than<br />

ever before, he said it won people over. ”Everybody wants<br />

to go mobile now, as it saves costs and at the same time<br />

increases productivity. But quick and professional support<br />

is still vital for broadcasters. That’s what we aim to offer.”<br />

In a series of conversations I had with the LUCI team<br />

while preparing this article, we discussed how times have<br />

changed in many areas of professional audio (get sound<br />

people together and it’s bound to happen). An analogy<br />

developed: that nimble, cheap apps like LUCI are the Sex<br />

Pistols of the pro-audio world, compared to the more<br />

expensive complex solutions of just a few years ago that<br />

are the mega-buck rock legends like Pink Floyd (I didn’t<br />

say it was a great analogy). What many people want<br />

now are products that do the job but aren’t necessarily<br />

developed by a vast team, with ensuing large costs.<br />

The BBC’s Nick Garnett has the final word:<br />

“I’ve given up wondering what’s next in broadcast<br />

technology, because normally by the time I’ve<br />

finished wondering it’s already happened. ∫<br />

“I lean on Sonnox Plug-Ins”<br />

Jason Goldstein<br />

Jay-Z, Beyoncé,<br />

The Roots<br />

www.sonnox.com<br />

audiomedia.com | November 2012 59

---

THE REVIEWER<br />

ALISTAIR McGHEE<br />

began audio life in<br />

Hi-Fi before joining<br />

the BBC as an audio<br />

engineer. After ten<br />

years in radio and<br />

TV, he moved to<br />

production. When<br />

BBC Choice started, he<br />

pioneered personal<br />

digital production<br />

in television. Most<br />

recently, Alistair was<br />

Assistant Editor, BBC<br />

Radio Wales and has<br />

been helping the<br />

UN with broadcast<br />

operations in Juba.<br />

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW<br />

60 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

““With both capacitor and dynamic mics, I couldn’t reliably tell the difference between<br />

the JS-3 and the Allegro. They are both very, very good. The Palmer, too, provides a lot<br />

of transparency and is also a good listen…“<br />

Alistair McGhee<br />

Microphone Splitters<br />

Everyone knows that mics are naturally<br />

monogamous: one mic, one lead, one<br />

channel. That’s how it’s supposed to be.<br />

But one is never enough in the world<br />

of live, FOH has to have a feed of course, but<br />

the monitor mixer needs some love too, and<br />

if you’re really adventurous, then there’s a<br />

recording truck after some shared microphone<br />

action. And here’s a word about safe splitting…<br />

If someone you know suggests sharing a mic<br />

over a Y lead, I advise you to get out of that<br />

relationship, as it will end in tears.<br />

No, if you want to split safely, the minimum<br />

you need is a transformer-based mic splitter. If<br />

you are lucky you only need a couple of splits,<br />

and rather than splashing out on a rack of<br />

transformers or getting entangled in the heady<br />

world of active splitters, you need one or two<br />

channels of high quality transformer splittage<br />

to keep everyone happy. So where do you start?<br />

Well, you start with a quality transformer.<br />

And the big names here are Lundahl (Sweden),<br />

Jensen (USA), and Sowter (UK). Though,<br />

currently I can’t find a Sowter-based mic<br />

splitter. I think that’s a gap in the market.<br />

Radial JS-3<br />

Let’s start on the other side of the pond with<br />

Canadian kit from Radial. We love its DIs, the<br />

company uses Jensen transformers, and it has<br />

a big rep. You have a choice of Radial splitters<br />

with one or two split outputs alongside the<br />

‘direct’ output – the one everyone fights over.<br />

I tried the two output JS-3 (that’s two splits<br />

and a direct, hence the ‘3’)for this review. The<br />

standard Radial case is a steel book format with<br />

nice rounded corners, and the overhang of the<br />

‘covers’ give some protection against kickage<br />

of switches or roadies stomping on your<br />

connection. It is a beautifully finished piece of<br />

kit that looks and feels like the business.<br />

mmstudioz Allegro<br />

From Sweden we have a new contender:<br />

mmstudioz is an outfit just starting out offering<br />

a price advantage (as you buy direct) and the<br />

much favoured Lundahl transformers. I had the<br />

Allegro model, which also has two split outputs<br />

alongside the direct out. The Allegro comes in a<br />

standard extruded case with Neutrik connectors<br />

and very positive earth lift switches. The finish<br />

is robust and professional.<br />

Palmer <strong>Audio</strong> Tools PMS-02<br />

And finally, a new name to me, Palmer<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> Tools. Made in Germany (includes<br />

the transformers). The Palmer PMS-02 has a<br />

simple trick up its sleeve: it’s a two-channel<br />

device offering direct outputs from its two<br />

inputs, and two additional splits per channel.<br />

It’s a sturdy diecast box with Neutrik XLRS,<br />

and some nice screen printing on the top plate.<br />

There are two ground lift switches on the side<br />

of the box, which are intuitive in operation, but<br />

nonetheless would benefit from labelling.<br />

Down To Business<br />

First off, I should say these are all well made,<br />

professional quality products, and all of them<br />

are relatively expensive, although remember<br />

that the Palmer gives you two splitters in one<br />

box. All will give you years of hard service.<br />

I think the Radial has the best exterior<br />

design and finish – the overhang protects your<br />

connectors and the switches, and the finish and<br />

feel are tops. My one question is why have a<br />

fitted non-latching XLR on the input? Like the<br />

Palmer, the in and direct outs are on the same<br />

face, which I prefer.<br />

The Allegro has a split next to the input,<br />

and on the back the direct and the second<br />

split. The Allegro has a utilitarian feel – but<br />

very professional. It has a locking input XLR,<br />

is considerably lighter than the other two, and<br />

like the Radial features lovely non-slip footage<br />

that stops it sliding round the stage.<br />

The Palmer is surprisingly compact for<br />

a dual splitter, and though plenty robust is<br />

still lighter than the Radial. I think the side<br />

mounting of the earth lift switches keeps the<br />

size down, but they are prone to kickage. Palmer<br />

supplies some stick on rubbery feet, but this is<br />

in no way as comprehensive as the foam-type<br />

base on the Allegro and Radial.<br />

With both capacitor and dynamic mics, I<br />

couldn’t reliably tell the difference between<br />

the JS-3 and the Allegro. They are both very,<br />

very good. The Palmer, too, provides a lot of<br />

transparency and is also a good listen, but I<br />

felt the Radial and Allegro edged it. However,<br />

I’ve heard bigger differences between the same<br />

model of mic, or the same mic seeing a different<br />

input impedance.<br />

Both Bill Whitlock at Jensen and Per<br />

Lundahl of Lundahl were very willing to<br />

answer my questions. Lundahl favours the<br />

widest bandwidth possible, while the Jensen<br />

HF philosophy is according to Bill, “...every<br />

transformer we make be tailored to gradual,<br />

linear-phase roll-off that generally behaves as a<br />

second-order Bessel low-pass filter.”<br />

Looking at core saturation as a fixed (line)<br />

level out of and into my sound card (this is a<br />

higher impedance input than most mic amps<br />

though!), the Allegro leads the way, followed<br />

by the Radial, with the Palmer in third place.<br />

However, bear in mind Palmer does a line level<br />

splitter if that is what you want, and the Radial<br />

has a 30dB pad included.<br />

Conclusion<br />

The Radial stands tall for the deepest of pockets<br />

– best build, big name transformer, and the<br />

dynamic range extension from the 30dB pad.<br />

For an equally big name, high performance<br />

transformer from Lundhal, a solid build, and<br />

that locking input XLR, plus a handy price<br />

advantage (in Europe that is), the Allegro from<br />

mmstudioz is a very strong contender.<br />

The winner for value is the Palmer - the ‘buy<br />

one get one free’ of our splitter trio. ∫<br />

Information<br />

Manufacturers<br />

Radial Engineering<br />

www.radialeng.com<br />

Mmstudioz<br />

www.mmstudioz.com<br />

Palmer <strong>Audio</strong> Tools<br />

www.palmer-germany.com<br />

Price Details<br />

Radial JS-3: TBC<br />

Mmstudioz Allegro (MM1121): €198.00<br />

Palmer PLS02: €302.00

---

FEATURE videoguide<br />

62 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

Deep Archive Storage<br />

Part three of Video Guide’s examination of video storage looks at the end of the chain,<br />

where footage and programmes are stored on a long-term basis.<br />

I<br />

n these days of targeted digital television channels<br />

and specialist DVD/Blu-ray labels offering a great<br />

many of the programmes people remember from<br />

their youth, broadcast archives are hugely important<br />

resources, both culturally and commercially. Archiving is<br />

also a priority for post-production facilities, which need<br />

to keep both the raw footage and finished segments, such<br />

as effects sequences and titles.<br />

Film and videotape are instant archives. Reel tins and<br />

tape boxes can be put on shelves in the library and left.<br />

If labelled correctly they can be retrieved when needed.<br />

As is now well documented, the reality in the days<br />

of analogue was often very different. Episodes, and<br />

sometimes whole series, of classic series were lost because<br />

videotape was routinely reused to save money. Producers<br />

had to ensure that their programmes were not erased but<br />

sometimes their best efforts were not enough. Another<br />

potential danger was tape and film degrading over time<br />

if it was not kept in the right conditions, which calls for<br />

expensive and time-consuming restoration if something<br />

is to be re-screened or released commercially.<br />

Today material on film or videotape is being digitised<br />

to go into a new type of archive alongside footage and<br />

programmes that were shot, post-produced and, very<br />

likely, originally transmitted as data on file-based systems.<br />

While material is held in file-form on storage servers<br />

during the post process, on both high quality online and<br />

more cost-effective nearline stores, deep archives still<br />

rely on tape to provide a secure, long-term home for<br />

programmes.<br />

Like server storage, data tape for archiving was<br />

originally developed in the computer industry to store<br />

large quantities of information. In both the computing<br />

and broadcast realms the idea of an archive is to keep<br />

material that needs to be retained in a safe environment<br />

but without requiring instantaneous retrieval.<br />

In computing terms an archive differs from merely<br />

backing up files to guard against accidental loss of data<br />

because the information is transferred on to a specific<br />

storage medium that has a higher capacity than the<br />

computer hard drive but is often slower and so cheaper to<br />

implement. The situation is similar in broadcasting but<br />

in most cases material will be transferred from editable<br />

formats to read-only media.<br />

Optical disc, such as CD and DVD-ROMs, have<br />

been used for this, but broadcasters and post houses<br />

have increasingly followed the lead of IT companies and<br />

employed magnetic tape. Half-inch tape has been used<br />

for storing data since the early 1960s but it wasn’t until<br />

the mid-80s that it was built into a cartridge housing a<br />

single reel. This new method was developed separately by<br />

IBM, with its 3480 cartridge, and DEC (Digital Equipment<br />

Corporation) with the CompacTape.<br />

Later renamed DLT (digital linear tape), CompacTape<br />

technology was sold to Quantum Corp in 1994. DLT has<br />

become an industry standard in computing, delivering<br />

storage for between 10GB to 40GB of uncompressed<br />

“While material<br />

is held in<br />

file-form on<br />

storage servers<br />

during the<br />

post process,<br />

on both high<br />

quality online<br />

and more<br />

cost-effective<br />

nearline<br />

stores, deep<br />

archives still<br />

rely on tape<br />

to provide a<br />

secure, longterm<br />

home for<br />

programmes.”<br />

data. A higher capacity version, Super DLT (SDLT), is<br />

also available.<br />

The long-term data storage market soon polarised<br />

between Quantum’s DLT and AIT (Advanced Intelligent<br />

Tape), produced by Sony. Both were proprietary<br />

systems, so in the late 1990s Hewlett-Packard, IBM and<br />

Seagate collaborated to develop an open competitor/<br />

replacement. LTO (linear tape – open) was designed as<br />

a non-proprietary format with a higher capacity for large<br />

volume back-up and archiving. Development of LTO is<br />

overseen by the LTO Consortium, which is also in charge<br />

of licensing and certification of media and mechanism<br />

production.<br />

The LTO Consortium originally comprised H-P, IBM,<br />

and Seagate, but the third partner hived its tape business<br />

into a company called Certance and then eventually sold it<br />

to Quantum. The standard form-factor of LTO technology<br />

goes by the name Ultrium. This first appeared in 2000<br />

with a capacity for data of 100GB on a single cartridge.<br />

The most recent version, LTO-5, was released in 2010<br />

and is able to hold 1.5TB in the same size of cartridge.<br />

LTO-6 is due for release this December and will be a 2.5TB<br />

storage system.<br />

Information is stored on LTO in the form of 384 data<br />

tracks, which are separated into four data bands, each<br />

of 96 tracks. The four data bands are edged with bands<br />

of servo information that is created when the tape is<br />

manufactured. Data bands are recorded linearly, one at a<br />

time. LTO tapes have 4KB of non-volatile memory, which<br />

is accessed using a non-contacting passive RF interface.<br />

This storage space contains data about the tape and may<br />

be read without needing to read the magnetic tape itself.<br />

Navigation and interconnectivity is aided by the<br />

Linear Tape File System (LTFS). This is a self-describing<br />

tape format and file system based on a XML schema<br />

architecture, allowing files and directories to appear on<br />

desktop and directory listings, drag-and-drop movement<br />

of files on and off the tape, file level access to data and data<br />

exchange support.<br />

In keeping with its open nature, LTO and the Ultrium<br />

cartridge is produced by a number of manufacturers;<br />

some, such as H-P and Quantum, are still largely<br />

associated with IT, while others, including Fujifilm and<br />

Cache-A Corporation, have tailored the format and<br />

technology for specific broadcast and post-production<br />

applications.<br />

Cache-A has adapted its LTO-5 systems for on-set<br />

working, enabling productions to save large amounts<br />

of material shot using digital cameras directly into a<br />

mobile archive (see Product Focus). In 2011 Panasonic<br />

announced new software products, the AJ-SF110 Video<br />

Ingest software and AJ-SF100 Linear Open-Tape (LTO)<br />

Archive software, to make the secure storage and easy<br />

retrieval of P2 content smoother. The software supports<br />

all P2 card sizes, formats and frame rates. ∫

---

TECHNOLOGY NEWS<br />

The Linear Tape-Open (ITO) Programme technology<br />

provider companies – Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and<br />

Quantum Corporation – recently announced that licensing<br />

details for the LTO Ultrium had been finally agreed.<br />

These cover specifications for generation six of the format and will be<br />

used by storage mechanism and media manufacturers with licences<br />

to the technology.<br />

This announcement comes less than two years after the LTO<br />

Programme launched a new partitioning feature for LTO-5 systems,<br />

which allows use of the LTFS (Linear Tape File System) to give easy<br />

drag and drop operation when transferring material on to the tape.<br />

This makes using LTO-5 more like working with a disk or USB stick, with<br />

PRODUCT FOCUS<br />

Cache-A Corporation<br />

Prime-Cache5<br />

TO/hard drive desktop archiving system<br />

Price: US$7,995, www.cache-a.com<br />

Main functions<br />

• Built-in searchable database<br />

• Integral automated backup capability<br />

• Standard LTO-5 tape tar compatibility, enabling read<br />

out tapes on any LTO-4 drive<br />

• New LTO-5 tape LTFS compatibility<br />

Specifications<br />

• LTO-5 Drive<br />

• Native Capacity: 1500GB<br />

• Average Access Time: 52 seconds from BOT<br />

(beginning of transmission)<br />

• Average Load Time: 19 seconds<br />

• Rewind Time: 96 seconds from EOT (end of<br />

transmission)<br />

• MTBF: 250,000 hours<br />

<strong>Media</strong> Specs<br />

• Archival Life: 30 years<br />

• Durability: 5,000 load/unload cycles<br />

Archiving appliances specialist Cache-A<br />

Corporation has been developing deep storage<br />

systems for broadcast and film production since<br />

2008. The company’s product range is based<br />

on LTO technology and includes the Prime-<br />

Cache and Pro-Cache tape archives, supported<br />

by the Power-Cache server and Library 24/48<br />

automation appliance.<br />

During IBC 2012 Cache-A introduced a new<br />

version of its Prime-Cache5 desktop system,<br />

which now features a 2.5-inch hard disk RAID<br />

0 drive alongside the LTO-5 store. This has<br />

been added to speed up disk-based transfer of<br />

material. The upgraded product also features<br />

v3.1 software, which uses 64-bit enterprise level<br />

CentOS 6.2 to add new LTFS features for better<br />

operability and performance.<br />

The Prime-Cache5 was Cache-A’s first<br />

product, designed to be quiet enough to use<br />

in both production offices and on-set. Chief<br />

Executive Phil Ritti comments that the intention<br />

was to “make archiving easy” in terms of both<br />

use and installation. He adds that although<br />

videotape has been “driven out of TV and film<br />

production”, the requirement to store the vast<br />

amount of material now being generated<br />

Dimensions:<br />

• 273mm x 112mm x 273mm<br />

Sustained Transfer Rate:<br />

• Up to 75 MB/s (large fi le performance)<br />

• Hard Disk Drive Capacity: 2000 GB<br />

Connectivity<br />

• GB Ethernet Port<br />

• USB Ports – 6 each<br />

• 2 x USB 3.0 (front panel)<br />

• 4 x USB 2.0 (rear panel)<br />

• IP Services<br />

• NFS - Unix/Linux<br />

• SMB/CIFS - Windows<br />

• afp - MacOS<br />

simplified transfer of material.<br />

With LTO-6 due to be released soon, offering higher storage<br />

capacity, faster transfer speeds, and realisable operation, the data<br />

tape option is being regarded as the central part of long-term archives.<br />

“With this next generation of LTO technology, we see tape moving from<br />

just being included in the data centre game plan into a starring role,”<br />

says George Crump, Senior Analyst with IT analysis consultants Storage<br />

Switzerland. “LTO tape will have a significant density advantage,<br />

more capacity on a per form factor basis, ease of use with LTFS, and a<br />

significant throughput advantage on a per device basis.”<br />

Specifications for LTO-6 were finalised recently and include: 6.25TB<br />

storage on a cartridge, giving over double the capacity of the last<br />

through file-based working has created a need<br />

for data tape.<br />

Cache-A is now working with a new<br />

operating system, CentOS, which is a 64-bit<br />

version of Linux. This improves on the previous<br />

32-bit OS used by the company and so, says Ritti,<br />

gives faster working.<br />

Archiving is generally thought of as a process<br />

that happens at the end of the production<br />

chain, with everything loaded into a special<br />

store somewhere in a basement, but Cache-A is<br />

seeing growing demand for its systems on set. A<br />

recent production that used the system was BBC<br />

reality show Turn Back Time (pictured), produced<br />

by Shed <strong>Media</strong>.<br />

Among the facilities using the ProCache5 in<br />

this way is The Chimney Pot in Warsaw. Head of<br />

DI (digital intermediate) Kamil Rutkowski says<br />

that archiving “gives peace of mind” in managing<br />

“thousands of file on commercials and feature<br />

film projects”. He adds that LTO-5 delivers more<br />

secure storage over hard drive back-ups, which<br />

are also expensive to use in terms of recovering<br />

information.<br />

generation of compressed LTO and drive data transfer rates of up to<br />

400MB a second for in excess of 1.4TB of storage performance an hour<br />

per drive. LTO-6 drives will be backwards compatible and able to read<br />

and write LTO-5 cartridges and read LTO-4 units.<br />

“As LTO tape evolves with greater capacity, speed and functionality,<br />

it will take on an even greater critical data protection role for an<br />

even wider array of applications,” said Sanjay Tripathi, Director and<br />

Business Line Executive of IBM Data Protection and Retention Systems.<br />

“The continued development of LTO technology and LTFS reflect our<br />

belief that a smarter approach to storage can help customers not only<br />

improve overall system performance and reliability but reap greater<br />

returns on their investments.”<br />

GLOSSARY<br />

Deep storage is for material<br />

and data that needs to be kept<br />

but which does not have to be<br />

instantly accessible. Archives<br />

are important and necessary<br />

for post-production houses<br />

to store raw footage and<br />

completed sequences, while<br />

broadcasters and production<br />

companies need them to store<br />

finished programmes, which<br />

can be shown again or released<br />

on DVD and Blu-ray. Until<br />

recently TV archives have been<br />

based on film and videotape<br />

but file-based acquisition and<br />

production has caused a move<br />

to material being stored as<br />

data on computer tape housed<br />

in cartridges, primarily the LTO<br />

(linear tape - open) format.<br />

REFERENCES<br />

Oxford Dictionary of Computing,<br />

sixth edition, 2008, Oxford<br />

University Press<br />

http://www.supermediastore.<br />

com/article/u/dlt-tape-sdlt-ltotape-media-faq<br />

audiomedia.com | September 2012 63

---

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November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

N Other<br />

S Manufacturer<br />

T Education/training Facility<br />

U <strong>Media</strong>/industry Association<br />

V Other<br />

X Games <strong>Audio</strong><br />

G Pro Video Technology<br />

H Consoles<br />

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without charge, it is available by subscription at:<br />

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---

FEATURE CLASSICCUT<br />

“Blow Out has its<br />

roots in the low<br />

budget, college<br />

girls in peril slasher<br />

movies of the 1980s.<br />

Both are ultimately<br />

about finding the<br />

perfect scream.”<br />

Kevin Hilton<br />

66 November 2012 | audiomedia.com<br />

Blow Out<br />

KEVIN HILTON<br />

Sound has been an integral part<br />

of movies since the talkies but<br />

usually as a supporting component<br />

behind the story, acting, and visuals.<br />

In all that time there have been very few films<br />

about sound itself, its nature and meaning.<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> technology was central to the plots<br />

of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation<br />

(1974) and The Lives of Others (2006), but<br />

both focused on speech and the murky world<br />

of surveillance. In Blow Out (1981) political<br />

intrigue meets the world of filmmaking,<br />

with everything hinging on the interpretation<br />

of sounds.<br />

Just as this year’s Berberian Sound Studio<br />

uses 1970s Italian giallo horror as a backdrop,<br />

Blow Out has its roots in the low budget,<br />

college girls in peril slasher movies of the 1980s.<br />

Both are ultimately about<br />

finding the perfect scream.<br />

Blow Out begins with<br />

scenes from a basement<br />

budget schlocker, Coed<br />

Frenzy, and Director<br />

Brian de Palma takes the<br />

opportunity to send up the<br />

sound clichés of the genre.<br />

Heavy breathing and<br />

heartbeat-like music<br />

accompany a point of view<br />

shot, putting the audience<br />

in the position of the killer.<br />

The camera/psycho moves past the ground floor<br />

windows of a college dorm building. Music and<br />

conversation changes at each window, from the<br />

disco soundtrack accompanying scantily clad<br />

young women dancing to a couple making out.<br />

Eventually the killer gets to the shower room<br />

and attacks his victim. Exaggerated stabbing<br />

noises are accompanied by dissonant electronic<br />

shock chords.<br />

The tension created by these aural devices<br />

is completely blown by the scream the<br />

showering coed emits. In the dubbing theatre<br />

soundman Jack Terry (John Travolta) laughs<br />

at its awfulness. The director is less amused.<br />

“What cat did you strangle to get that?” he<br />

asks. When he hears the isolated track and<br />

realises it’s the actress’s own voice, the director<br />

admits he didn’t hire her for her scream but her<br />

physical attributes.<br />

Terry explains the problem is trying not<br />

to use library material, which makes films<br />

sound the same. The director orders Terry to<br />

go and find something that sounds different.<br />

The soundman goes back to his track laying<br />

room and, as the opening credits roll, works<br />

through a large collection of quarter-inch<br />

tapes. Sound effects and spooling noises<br />

jostle with news reports on a TV Terry<br />

has on in the background. These set up<br />

the political background of local politician<br />

Governor McRyan preparing for an election<br />

and foreshadow what is to happen.<br />

That night Terry takes his Nagra out to<br />

record new atmospheres on a stretch of road<br />

near a bridge over a river. Moving a long<br />

shotgun mic around he picks up the sounds<br />

of a couple bickering, an owl, and a toad.<br />

Suddenly he hears a car approaching at<br />

speed. One of the car’s front tyres explodes<br />

but Terry is convinced it is not an ordinary<br />

puncture, as there was a noise before the<br />

blow out.<br />

The car wheels squeal as the driver loses<br />

control and the vehicle crashes off the<br />

bridge into the river. These sound effects<br />

are underscored by the dramatic music of<br />

Pino Donaggio, which always threatens to<br />

smother the audio design of Supervising<br />

Sound Editor Dan Sable. Terry dives into the<br />

water and sees the driver is dead but manages<br />

to rescue the passenger, Sally (Nancy Allen).<br />

At the hospital Terry tries to tell shady<br />

men in raincoats that the tyre was shot<br />

out. When the dead driver is revealed to be<br />

McRyan and Sally is not his wife, political<br />

aides try to persuade Terry to say he heard<br />

nothing untoward and the governor was the<br />

only person in the car.<br />

Terry reluctantly agrees and takes Sally<br />

away from the hospital. They check into<br />

a motel, where Terry listens to his recording<br />

and confirms what he knew he had heard<br />

– a gunshot moments before the tyre blows.<br />

The police still don’t want to know,<br />

but Terry thinks the situation is changing<br />

when photographs of the accident appear<br />

in a magazine.<br />

These were taken by lowlife photographer<br />

Manny Karp (Dennis Franz), who was working<br />

with Sally to blackmail McRyan. Terry uses the<br />

stills to make a film of the incident, with a flare<br />

in the dark syncing with the gunshot on his<br />

recording. But, unbeknownst to him, he, Sally,<br />

and Karp are being targeted by the hit man,<br />

Burke (John Lithgow).<br />

Terry is convinced there is a conspiracy<br />

at work and this is confirmed when he finds<br />

all his tapes have been erased. The sickening<br />

“wup wup” noise on them proves they have<br />

been degaussed. The only person who<br />

remotely believes Terry is TV reporter Frank<br />

Donahue (Curt May), who wants to hear the<br />

surviving copy of the home movie soundtrack.<br />

Disguised as a telephone engineer Burke has<br />

tapped into Terry’s line and, posing as Donahue,<br />

sets up a meet with Sally.<br />

To cover themselves Terry fits Sally with a<br />

wireless microphone and follows her to record<br />

the conversion with “Donahue”. In the final<br />

confrontation both Burke and Sally are killed.<br />

De Palma abandons the early tension of the film<br />

and his experiments with stark sound effects to<br />

create mystery and tension in favour of over the<br />

top stunts and Donaggio’s alternately bombastic<br />

and sickly music.<br />

Back in the dubbing theatre the director<br />

Coed Frenzy is overjoyed with the new scream.<br />

What he doesn’t know is it is a recording of Sally’s<br />

last moments at the hands of Burke. “That’s a<br />

scream!” he crows. “Yeah, it’s a good scream,”<br />

mumbles a distracted Terry, as the audience is<br />

left with the uncomfortable pairing of fantasyfiction<br />

and realistic horror-tragedy. ∫

---

© 2012 MUSIC Group IP Ltd. Technical specifications and appearances are subject to change without notice and accuracy is not guaranteed.<br />

MIDAS and KLARK TEKNIK are part of the MUSIC Group (music-group.com).<br />

ONE more reason<br />

to get excited<br />

PRO1 expands the ever increasing<br />

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24 mic / line inputs on the surface<br />

Expandable to 40 input channels<br />

27 sample-synchronous phase-coherent busses<br />

Up to 12 multi-channel FX units<br />

Up to 28 KLARK TEKNIK DN370 31-band EQs<br />

6 POPulation groups<br />

8 VCA groups<br />

Daylight-viewable full colour TFT display screen<br />

MIDAS Latency compensation system<br />

iPad remote control<br />

Light weight, compact aluminium frame<br />

midasconsoles.com

---

THE INTERNATIONAL<br />

BUYER’S GUIDE<br />

A SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL PUBLICATION<br />

FROM THE NEWBAY MEDIA GROUP<br />

RECORDERS<br />

INTERNATIONAL EDITION<br />

2013<br />

PRODUCED BY<br />

AUDIO MEDIA<br />

In association with:

---

FouR good REAsoNs whY You'd<br />

NEvER wANT To usE A CoMPuTER<br />

AT A LIvE show<br />

tel: +44 (0) 1223 911 000<br />

info@joeco.co.uk<br />

www.joeco.co.uk<br />

BLACKBOX BBR64-MAdI RECoRdER<br />

Designed for a range of applications requiring the capture of multiple channels of live audio material with minimum fuss,<br />

including Live Music, Broadcast, Film & TV Sound.<br />

• 64 channels in one rack unit!<br />

• <strong>Audio</strong> recorded direct to external USB2 drive<br />

in BWAV format<br />

• USB drive plugs straight into workstation for<br />

instant editing, mixing and post production<br />

• 64 channels in one rack unit!<br />

• <strong>Audio</strong> recorded direct to external USB2 drive<br />

in BWAV format<br />

• USB drive plugs straight into workstation for<br />

instant editing, mixing and post production<br />

• 24 channels in one rack unit!<br />

• Analogue and digital i/o options<br />

BLACKBOX BBR64-dANTE RECoRdER<br />

Designed for capturing multiple channels of live audio material via Dante network.<br />

Applications in Live Music, Broadcast, Film & TV Sound.<br />

BLACKBOX BBR1 RECoRdER<br />

Unique technology lets you capture live multi-channel audio without taking a computer or DAW to the<br />

performance. Robust, rugged, rack-mounted and ready to record.<br />

• <strong>Audio</strong> recorded direct to external USB2 drive<br />

in BWAV format<br />

• USB drive plugs straight into workstation for<br />

instant editing, mixing and post production<br />

• 24 channel playback in one rack unit!<br />

• Analogue and digital i/o options<br />

• Synchronous playback to timecode<br />

• Available as plug-in for BlackBox Recorder<br />

BLACKBOX PLAYER<br />

Dedicated multi-channel playback option specifically designed to replay backing tracks and multiple<br />

surround stems for live shows and themed entertainment.<br />

Multi-track technology for the 21st century

---

contents<br />

4 Portable Recorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />

8 AETA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />

10 Mayah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />

14 Roland Systems Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />

16 Sound Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />

18 Yellowtec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />

20 Zaxcom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />

22 Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />

Welcome to Recorders 2013, an international<br />

Buyer’s Guide. We’ve been busy rooting around<br />

the professional recorder ranges to bring you a<br />

healthy stack of options in the recorder genre.<br />

This publication is a collection of promotional articles looking<br />

at six of the world’s leading recorder manufacturers and their<br />

product ranges. Inside you’ll find the stories behind the gear<br />

– the ethos’ and design ethics that go into producing one<br />

of the key components in professional audio – and plenty<br />

of info on the products themselves. In addition we’ve collated<br />

a directory of professional recorder manufacturers and<br />

commissioned an article that takes a fresh look at the basics<br />

of the audio recorder world.<br />

Even through the rise of the DAW, the need for reliable,<br />

high quality, and feature-rich recording devices has never<br />

gone away – as confirmed by the recent peak in new models,<br />

especially for the location recordist and audio journalist.<br />

New media types have accelerated development and now<br />

you can choose CD, hard disk, DVD, and solid state types to<br />

suit your needs and your budget. There’s also a vast array of<br />

audio file formats to handle, each one bringing the benefit<br />

of choice in data economy, audio quality, archive suitability,<br />

and more.<br />

Even newspapers and other print-based media are finding<br />

the need for suitable recording devices now that podcast<br />

and multimedia channels are becoming a necessary part of<br />

everyday content provision.<br />

Are you a Foley editor? Are you a production recordist?<br />

Are you a new media journalist? Are you a broadcast<br />

professional? Are you a sound designer? All of these roles<br />

and more require the best in recorder technology to make<br />

your job easier and your results better. Do you know what<br />

functions, facilities, and frills are available nowadays?<br />

Wouldn’t you like a large choice put right in front of you,<br />

rather than starting your hunt through the normal myriad of<br />

sales and dealer channels?<br />

This guide is the place to start your recorder shopping<br />

spree. This, and the other Buyers Guides in the series (Monitors,<br />

Microphones, Consoles, Live Sound Technology, Live Sound<br />

Applications, and DAWs) are <strong>Audio</strong> <strong>Media</strong> projects, designed<br />

to help you find your way though the information explosion<br />

and find the product that suits your needs. <strong>Audio</strong> <strong>Media</strong> is an<br />

internationally distributed magazine that deals with professional<br />

audio production in film, TV, radio, music, games, and on stage.<br />

It’s available in both print and digital editions. For more details,<br />

go to www.audiomedia.com.<br />

The NewBay Team<br />

AUDIO MEDIA www.audiomedia.com<br />

(UK) Tel: +44 (0)1354 669960 - Fax: +44 (0)1354 669965<br />

Sales Manager<br />

Graham Kirk<br />

g.kirk@audiomedia.com<br />

Editor In Chief<br />

Paul Mac<br />

p.mac@audiomedia.com<br />

www.nbmedia.com<br />

Editorial Manager (Europe)<br />

Lanna Marshall<br />

l.marshall@audiomedia.com<br />

Design & Production Manager<br />

John-Paul Shirreffs<br />

jp.shirreffs@audiomedia.com<br />

The contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or in part, whether<br />

mechanical or electronic, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Great care is taken to ensure<br />

accuracy in the preparation of this publication but neither NewBay <strong>Media</strong> nor the Editor can be held responsible for its contents or<br />

any omissions. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Publishers or Editor. The Publishers<br />

accept no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or artwork.<br />

© 2012 NewBay <strong>Media</strong>. All rights reserved.

---

ecorders 2013<br />

Portable Recorders<br />

In my day I’ve recorded on location using<br />

Nagra reel-to reel tape recorders, Walkmanstyle<br />

cassette recorders, portable DAT (Digital<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> Tape) machines and, on one memorable<br />

occasion, I captured the performance of retired<br />

members of the BBC big band on a Sony PCM<br />

F1 system connected to the noisiest Betamax<br />

recorder in the world. These portable systems<br />

often had several things in common – they were<br />

actually not that portable and usually needed<br />

external external microphones or mains power supplies<br />

to achieve anything anything like like acceptable results.<br />

The advent of direct direct to data recording means<br />

that the the current current crop of portable systems are…<br />

well… well… more portable and, just as as<br />

importantly, means that even even<br />

the least expensive systems<br />

can produce high quality<br />

recordings and cope with<br />

the longest performances.<br />

Back To Basics<br />

There are many portable/<br />

location recording devices on the<br />

market and the range runs from<br />

extremely inexpensive dictaphonestyle<br />

stereo recorders to rugged multichannel<br />

devices designed for capturing<br />

audio for music, fi lm, and television on set.<br />

As is often the case, higher cost usually brings<br />

higher quality, and, with regard to portable<br />

recorders recorders this often often results in improved ononboard microphones and their pre-amplifi ers,<br />

high quality headphone amplifi ers, and better<br />

build quality quality – which is is extremely important<br />

if you’re you’re going to be performing mission<br />

critical recordings in<br />

challenging locations.<br />

However, some of<br />

the least expensive<br />

recorders are stuffed<br />

to the gills with bells and<br />

whistles, and many feature multimicrophone<br />

and multi-track capabilities,<br />

along with the ability to work at high sample<br />

rates and generate 24-bit fi les.<br />

Apart from being able to be easily<br />

transported to the recording location, there<br />

are several features that all portable recorders<br />

have to have to be truly useful in the fi eld.<br />

Solid state drives mean that the power<br />

consumption of the audio capture parts<br />

of the device is usually pretty low,<br />

so standard batteries are usually<br />

useable – and many come with<br />

built-in rechargeable cells<br />

that can provide hours of<br />

recording time. <strong>Audio</strong> is<br />

relatively meagre in<br />

its demand of drive<br />

space, so multigigabyte<br />

Secure<br />

Digital (SD) or<br />

Compact Flash<br />

(CF) cards<br />

or hard drives<br />

can capture hours<br />

of stereo or multi-track<br />

audio direct to data in various<br />

audio formats including MP3. Off-loading your<br />

recordings is then a simple matter of connecting<br />

the device via USB to a computer, or popping<br />

out the card and inserting it into your Mac or PC<br />

either directly or via a dedicated card dongle.<br />

The most basic systems offer just<br />

two-track stereo recording and utilise inbuilt<br />

microphones, usually in an X-Y<br />

confi guration, and record directly to<br />

SD cards. Others can record at up<br />

to 96kHz sample rates and often<br />

feature a 3.5mm stereo jack<br />

input for connecting external<br />

microphones – many of<br />

which provide power for<br />

condenser and back-electret<br />

devices. Characterised by their<br />

4 PORTABLE RECORDERS<br />

extreme<br />

portability,<br />

these devices are<br />

useful for interviews and in discrete<br />

location recording. I’ve been extremely<br />

impressed with the results from the Zoom H4n,<br />

Olympus LS5 and Tascam DR07 recorders when<br />

used to capture both music and environmental<br />

recording. One common characteristic of the<br />

least expensive recorders is that they often<br />

rely heavily on screen menu-based systems to<br />

access their often-sophisticated feature set and,<br />

because of their small size, it’s not always easy<br />

for aging eyes to navigate the menus.<br />

Once set up though, level and transport buttons<br />

are usually easily accessible – although making<br />

changes to sample rate and fi le formats could<br />

prove frustrating when the pressure is on.<br />

These recorders often feature auto recording<br />

start after a set level threshold is reached,<br />

fi le editing, built in compressors, limiters, and<br />

automatic level control (ALC – shades of my<br />

old Phillips cassette recorder there!), which can<br />

be extremely useful when you’re capturing<br />

unknown sources.<br />

Some of these devices don’t only do<br />

audio; the Zoom Q3 is actually a pretty nice<br />

HD video camera hitched onto a high-quality<br />

stereo recorder. I often capture lectures and<br />

performances with the ALC switched on and I’m<br />

always impressed with the audio quality such a<br />

simple set-up can produce. The Zoom H2n allows<br />

you to record in several modes, XY stereo, twoand<br />

four-channel surround, and in Mid-Side, all<br />

wrapped up in a small lightweight package.<br />

Speaking of weight, quite a few low cost<br />

recorders suffer from handling noise issues,<br />

but I fi nd that screwing in an inexpensive<br />

tabletop tripod and using it as a pistol grip<br />

solves this problem.

---

COMPACT STUDIOS<br />

Even more Portastudio than ever before<br />

DP-32: The 32-track luxury class among Portastudios<br />

DP-24<br />

24 tracks on SD/SDHC card, high-contrast LC colour display, dynamic<br />

and send effects, dedicated controls for direct access to EQ, panorama<br />

and effect send channel, CD burner for mastering and backup …<br />

© 2012 TEAC Corporation. All rights reserved.<br />

All speci� cations are subject to change without notice.<br />

TEAC UK Limited<br />

Suites 19 & 20, Building 6 | Croxley Green Business Park | Hatters Lane | Watford | Hertfordshire WD18 8TE | UK<br />

Southern Area Sales Manager: Alex Farrell | Mobile: 07779-795656 | Mail: alex.farrell@tascam.co.uk<br />

Northern Area Sales Manager: Russ Fitton | Mobile: 07836-329281 | Mail: russ.fitton@tascam.co.uk | www.tascam.co.uk<br />

32 audio tracks (8 mono, 12 stereo), best-take function<br />

with additional virtual tracks, 40 channels during mixdown<br />

(32 playback channels + 8 input channels), dynamic<br />

and send effects, mastering effects including EQ, compression<br />

and normalisation, CD burner for mastering and<br />

backup, intuitive ease of operation …<br />

DP-03<br />

8 tracks + stereo master track on SD/SDHC card, built-in stereo<br />

condenser microphone, 2 XLR inputs with phantom power, reverb<br />

processor plus mastering effects, CD burner for mastering and<br />

backup …<br />

www.tascam.co.uk | www.tascam-europe.com

---

Some recorders, such as the Zoom H4n,<br />

can record two channels via their internal<br />

microphones while simultaneously capturing<br />

two more via their XLR inputs. The H4n can<br />

also act as a multi-track recorder, Mid-Side<br />

decoder, and can also be used as a basic USB<br />

audio interface with a computer. The Zoom’s<br />

microphones are set in a close X-Y confi guration<br />

that attempts to limit any phase issues when<br />

recording, while the Tascam DR40 offers a novel<br />

microphone set-up that allows you to move<br />

the microphones from a X-Y to an A-B setting<br />

– and it also has a four-track capability and<br />

XLR microphone inputs. The Roland (Edirol) 09<br />

builds on the successful R-1 and R-2 recorders<br />

and provides most of the features we’ve come<br />

to expect from these devices,<br />

but in an extremely compact<br />

package – and it also comes<br />

in red!<br />

On Set<br />

Move up the food chain<br />

and portable recorders<br />

start appear with two<br />

extremely useful features;<br />

XLR XLR microphone microphone inputs inputs and/<br />

or better ergonomic design. design.<br />

The aforementioned Zoom<br />

H4n is extremely popular with<br />

both environmental recordists<br />

and on-set sound sound engineers<br />

and, consequently, consequently, there’s<br />

a large add-on industry that<br />

has built up around the device. These include<br />

professional windshields, and my favourite<br />

accessory: a box that slips into the Zoom’s XLR<br />

inputs and provides connection and power for<br />

my DACS binaural microphones. Devices such<br />

as the Tascam DR100 offer choices of onboard<br />

microphone type (X-Y and omnidirectional<br />

in the Tascam’s case) as well as XLR inputs,<br />

but also all of the main controls for input/<br />

microphone selection, level range, phantom<br />

power, and transport controls available on<br />

dedicated buttons – which I fi nd extremely<br />

6 PORTABLE RECORDERS<br />

important in any situation<br />

where peering at tiny<br />

menus might be an<br />

issue. In my opinion,<br />

the microphones<br />

and pre-amplifi ers on<br />

the DR100 are also<br />

signifi cantly better than<br />

those on the really low<br />

cost devices, as are those on the Marantz<br />

PMD661 and Olympus LS100 and the<br />

Sony PCM D50 – the latter having<br />

the advantage of two microphone<br />

pattern choices. Adding all these<br />

dedicated controls inevitably<br />

increases the size and weight of<br />

the device and most would need<br />

very big pockets for transport, so<br />

you’ll need to use a carry case<br />

for them. But the advantage that<br />

this increase in size brings in is<br />

in low handling noise levels, ease<br />

of use, and a feeling of quality<br />

that might have the unexpected<br />

consequence of increasing the<br />

confi dence your director has in<br />

your abilities!<br />

Professional<br />

recordists will fi nd that<br />

the most important features on<br />

their portable recorders will be<br />

clear metering, dedicated controls<br />

for setting for record and playback<br />

levels, along with other controls<br />

for useful day to day functions<br />

such as transport and limiting.<br />

Also important is a high-quality<br />

headphone output, and physical<br />

reliability and ruggedness.<br />

The Nagra LB is a two-channel<br />

digital recorder that takes this<br />

philosophy and runs with it.<br />

Built into a case that would<br />

survive being run over by Steven<br />

Segal in a Boeing 747, it’s a<br />

two-channel recorder with a huge, easy to<br />

read colour screen, dedicated<br />

controls for the most useful<br />

functions, XLR inputs and<br />

outputs, and high capacity<br />

rechargeable battery<br />

capabilities. However,<br />

though this machine has<br />

a single built-in electret<br />

microphone, it’s really<br />

designed to be used in<br />

conjunction with your DPA<br />

or Sennheiser microphones on location. This is<br />

a trend that we see in the higher-end portable<br />

recorder market, and one which makes a lot of<br />

sense as you’re unlikely to be able to mount<br />

the recorder itself near the source and will<br />

usually be using a boom or radio microphones.<br />

The Sound Devices 702 also exemplifi es this<br />

philosophy and is housed in a thoroughly<br />

rugged case and features a high resolution<br />

LED display, clear metering, and dedicated<br />

controls for the most used functions.<br />

Sound Devices’ microphone<br />

pre-amplifi ers are amongst the<br />

best in the business, and what<br />

you’re effectively getting here<br />

is a set of boutique-grade preamplifi<br />

ers coupled to a solid<br />

state SD card-based recording<br />

system. The ‘T’ version can also<br />

handle timecode, while the 722<br />

model records directly to a hard<br />

drive – I predict though that<br />

the boundaries between HD<br />

recording and SD and Compact<br />

Flash recording will blur in the<br />

future with manufacturers<br />

moving to Solid State Drives (SSD)<br />

when ultra-long or multi-channel<br />

recording times are needed.<br />

Speaking of Compact Flash, Tascam (which<br />

arguably started all this ‘recording to card’<br />

malarkey in the fi rst place) produces the SS-<br />

R200 rack mount stereo audio recorder that,<br />

apart from utilising the aforementioned storage<br />

method, is a high quality audio recorder with<br />

brightly lit chunky transport buttons and clear<br />

metering and display – perfect for use next to<br />

a console on a dim stage. Apart from balanced<br />

analogue and digital inputs and outputs, the<br />

SS-R200 accepts an IBM compatible keyboard,<br />

and a dedicated Tascam remote is also<br />

included. Unusually, there are also RS232 and<br />

parallel interfaces for direct computer control<br />

of the device. On lifting the Marantz PMD 671<br />

out of its box I was overwhelmed by a strong<br />

sense of nostalgia for my old portable compact<br />

cassette recorder from the same company

---

that had accompanied me throughout my<br />

fl edgling recording career. The PMD 671 records<br />

to Compact Flash cards of course, but in other<br />

ways it’s similar to its mechanical predecessor<br />

with its chunky dual concentric input level<br />

controls and functions that are easily accessible<br />

when slung across the shoulder. Also, like its<br />

cassette-based ancestor, it features a speaker for<br />

on-site playback while its professional nature is<br />

emphasised by software based features such as<br />

Edit Decision List (EDL) and Broadcast Wave ID<br />

tagging. While the aforementioned devices are<br />

complete solutions, if you wish to simply record<br />

stereo audio on location, Zaxcom’s ZFR series<br />

are tiny Timecode based SD recorders that can<br />

be used, for example, where wireless reception<br />

to the main recording rig is poor or you need to<br />

capture audio remotely and unattended.<br />

Back To Multi-track<br />

If you want to capture a multi-track of a live<br />

band or you work in fi lm or TV production,<br />

you’re going to need more recording channels.<br />

If you’re on set, you might be recording several<br />

channels of audio from actors and also have<br />

to capture environmental atmos tracks.<br />

While many experienced engineers use portable<br />

mixers to produce audio pre-mixed for the dub,<br />

most will want to generate separate stems for<br />

at least the main actors on set. Most of the<br />

features and capabilities that you’d need for<br />

location stereo recording will also be needed<br />

for multi-track – apart for the need for internal<br />

microphones, as these recorders are usually<br />

going to be used with fi xed mics or wireless<br />

systems. Tascam’s DR-680 is, effectively, six<br />

DR-100s in a neat portable package intended<br />

to be slung over the shoulder. Six microphone<br />

pre-amplifi ers (four on XLR, two on TRS) are<br />

found on<br />

the side and<br />

dedicated<br />

controls for<br />

input type,<br />

phantom<br />

power<br />

and menu<br />

controls lie<br />

on the top of the unit, while the LCD screen/<br />

meters and chunky transport are on the ‘front’<br />

(or top when it’s in use.) The DR-680 records<br />

to six mono broadcast WAV fi les and generates<br />

a stereo mix automatically so you can get a<br />

rough off to your dub engineer right away.<br />

Its big brother, the HSP82, is a thoroughly<br />

professional machine with a price tag to match.<br />

Recording eight channels at up to 192kHz<br />

on to dual SD cards (for back-up,) its light yet<br />

rugged aluminium case can be run off<br />

multiple power sources, and it can accept<br />

timecode and word clock sources.<br />

Nagra’s VI is an eight-channel (four<br />

mic, two line, two mix) unit that<br />

brings the company’s renowned<br />

audio and build quality into the<br />

multi channel portable recorder<br />

market. It records to an internal<br />

2.5-inch hard drive, and a<br />

copy can be streamed to<br />

the internal Compact Flash<br />

card for back-up and<br />

transfer. Features such as<br />

the ‘crackle free’ digital<br />

encoder system mean that<br />

it should perform reliably<br />

in any environment, and<br />

the recorder’s ability to chase<br />

timecode enables it to slip in nicely in any fi lm<br />

or TV production facility. Sound Device’s 744T<br />

is a timecode enabled four-channel multi-track<br />

recorder that captures audio on hard drive,<br />

Compact Flash, and external Firewire drives – or<br />

any combination of all three for redundancy<br />

and, as the need for power is everything on<br />

location, it can utilise standard Sony camcorder<br />

batteries. The two microphone inputs are of the<br />

quality to be expected from Sound<br />

Devices, while the<br />

two line inputs<br />

could be used<br />

to add an<br />

external sub<br />

mixer. If you need<br />

more recording<br />

channels, the 788T expands<br />

of its sibling’s capabilities with up to twelve<br />

pre-amplifi ers (four on XLR, two on TRS) are batteries. The two microphone inputs are of the<br />

channels of audio including a stereo mix track<br />

and two aux ‘stems,’ along with the capability<br />

to handle AES42 standard digital microphones.<br />

Zaxcom’s range of portable multi-track recorders<br />

combine high quality internal mixing with<br />

dedicated faders alongside multi-track recording<br />

to Compact Flash cards. The Deva series are<br />

ten or sixteen channel units with up to twelve<br />

microphone/line inputs and multi-channel digital<br />

outputs. Unusually, the Deva units feature<br />

compressors, EQ, and delay on each channel,<br />

reducing the necessity for an additional mixing<br />

desk. The Nomad series are dedicated recorders<br />

– for example, the Nomad Lite is a ten-channel<br />

unit that also features DSP effects, internal<br />

mixing, and is capable of sending up to three<br />

stereo mixes to up to fi ve outputs which might<br />

be to cameras on set, for example, while the<br />

Nomad 12 is, well, a 12-channel system. All of<br />

Zaxcom’s recorders come<br />

in small, light packages<br />

with all controls easily<br />

accessible. The Zaxcom<br />

Maxx is an example<br />

of the innovation<br />

fl ourishing in the market<br />

and consists of a fourchannel<br />

audio mixer,<br />

RF transmitter, recorder,<br />

timecode reader/generator,<br />

and visual timecode slate all<br />

in one small package.<br />

Conclusion<br />

The portable recorder market<br />

is a mature one, with fi erce<br />

competition in the mid to low<br />

price sectors – which inevitably leads<br />

to the development of innovative features,<br />

as each company tries to stand out from the<br />

others. These range from the capability to<br />

record using multi-microphone patterns, to<br />

other more musician- and journalist-friendly<br />

capabilities such as multi-track recording, tuners,<br />

and automatic level controls. When we get<br />

up to the more ‘professional’ segment of the<br />

market, there are still several well respected<br />

companies vying for your interest, all of whom<br />

are producing machines capable of delivering<br />

multi-channel audio reliably to your dubbing<br />

engineers on a multi million pound feature.<br />

We’ve come a long way from clunky tape<br />

machines and even clunkier direct to video<br />

tape digital systems of the past, and the<br />

manufacturers of the current range of portable<br />

recording devices don’t look like they’ll be<br />

running out of ideas any time soon.<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDERS BUYER’S GUIDE<br />

7

---

+++ AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++<br />

4MinX: Mixer/Recorder Designed<br />

For The Most Demanding<br />

With its scalable and up-gradable<br />

design, its fl exible monitoring and<br />

routing capabilities, the 4MinX is ideal<br />

for almost any situation from TV/fi lm<br />

location sound recording to music<br />

recording. With six hours’ operation<br />

from its on-board battery, the 4MinX<br />

is remarkably lightweight and features<br />

high-end preamplifi ers, as always,<br />

from AETA <strong>Audio</strong> Systems.<br />

Born out of the desire to meet new workfl ows for<br />

engineers, this compact and lightweight mixerrecorder<br />

benefi ts from 20 years of AETA <strong>Audio</strong><br />

Systems’ expertise in high quality analogue and<br />

digital audio design.<br />

The 4MinX brings new solutions, power,<br />

and fl exibility, without compromising on the<br />

essential needs of fi eld recording: autonomy,<br />

audio quality, and user-friendliness.<br />

Whether broadcast or media industry<br />

(documentary, fi lm, music), the 4MinX opens<br />

new possibilities for production in different<br />

specialities. Combining the features of a multi-<br />

track recorder (two to eight tracks) and portable<br />

digital mixer, the 4MinX is ideal for stereo as well<br />

as multi-channel multi-channel productions.<br />

<strong>Audio</strong><br />

Through its superb audio performance, the<br />

4MinX is ideal for the most demanding sound<br />

recordist to showcase their work.<br />

It combines 10 inputs (four Mic/Line, two<br />

lines, four digital channels AES3/AES42) and 12<br />

outputs (six analogue channels and six digital<br />

channels AES3).<br />

Digital inputs also support AES42 for digital<br />

microphones (10V phantom power) without<br />

degradation. Gain/Trim/Filter controls are<br />

available on each channel in both analogue and<br />

digital modes.<br />

AETA AUDIO is renowned for producing high<br />

quality mic preamplifi ers. The 4MinX remains<br />

true to this reputation, and even offers the<br />

user an improved mic pre-amp audio<br />

specifi cation:<br />

• Maximum overall<br />

gain: 92 dB – useful for<br />

dynamic and ribbon<br />

microphones<br />

8 PROMOTIONAL FEATURE<br />

• Four Mic/Line transformerless inputs – very<br />

low noise (-128dBu) but with great fl exibility of<br />

trim and excellent headroom (input headroom:<br />

40dB, independent of input stage gain).<br />

It is suitable for all types of sound production,<br />

from standard mono, through stereo (X/Y or<br />

fully-featured M/S) to surround (A or B formats<br />

from our SoundField partnership, or Double M/S)<br />

Designed To Be Robust, Easy To Use,<br />

And Open For Future Features<br />

The construction uses a stainless steel chassis<br />

and carbon-fi bre loaded polymer casing, to<br />

give both lightness and durability. The result is<br />

surprisingly lightweight at only 2.1kg including<br />

the on-board battery!<br />

The design allows the unit to be used safely<br />

in extreme extreme conditions (heat, cold, high humidity,<br />

shocks). The The 4MinX 4MinX is fully shielded against<br />

radio interference, interference, and the casing casing has better<br />

resistance to denting denting and damage than heavier<br />

conventional metal structures.<br />

Navigation of the menus is by a rotary<br />

encoder (thumbwheel) on a superb 3-inch 3-inch TFT<br />

transfl ective display, and and offers a simple, fast,<br />

and readable user user interface. Multiple buttons<br />

allow direct access to assignable functions.<br />

The hardware already includes interfaces<br />

(USB, Ethernet) to implement future features:<br />

MIDI device, transfer audio... and, since software<br />

can be improved and rewritten, rewritten, the 4MinX is<br />

future-proof.

---

Power Management<br />

The new lightweight 4MinX allows you to work<br />

on location for more than six hours with its<br />

rechargeable standard DV Li-Ion battery (NP-F).<br />

This type is commonly used with Sony cameras.<br />

A spare battery will double this time.<br />

The DC input allows the 4MinX to be<br />

powered from an external battery (NP1 or<br />

alternative): it is also possible to recharge the<br />

internal 4MinX NP-F battery at the same time.<br />

The 4MinX can switch automatically between<br />

power sources without interrupting recording.<br />

A robust and optimised power supply has<br />

been designed for the 4MinX, to provide up to<br />

15 Watts for your peripherals.<br />

A Neutrik MiniCON 12-pin About AETA<br />

connector (located on the left<br />

side) offers two additional<br />

line outputs for wireless TX<br />

to camera, to the presenter’s<br />

earpiece, etc. Receivers and<br />

transmitters can be powered<br />

from the 4MinX through this<br />

connector; up to 6 Watts of<br />

consumption.<br />

Recording<br />

The 4MinX uses an Ambient<br />

Recording Time Code module<br />

– highly regarded within the<br />

industry and used in ARRI<br />

cameras – to provide highaccuracy<br />

LOCKIT TC.<br />

The time code module can<br />

be used as a TC generator (all<br />

video formats supported) or<br />

as a receiver to synchronise<br />

the 4MinX to any TC source.<br />

Sophisticated project<br />

management makes it simple<br />

to handle multiple recordings.<br />

The multi-track recorder on<br />

SD/SDHC card can extend to<br />

recorders 2013<br />

++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++AETA++++<br />

eight tracks, with background back-up on<br />

external USB disk. More than 15 hours of<br />

eight-track/96kHz/24-bit recording can be<br />

held on a 128GB SDHC card.<br />

When you record with the 4MinX,<br />

you don’t record directly to tracks but<br />

create self-contained fi les that hold one,<br />

two, or more tracks depending on the<br />

selected confi guration. With the 4MinX<br />

it is possible to simultaneously record<br />

two stereo microphones on two different<br />

stereo fi les, for example.<br />

All recordings are done in<br />

BWF (Broadcast Wave File) format.<br />

BWF metadata in<br />

iXML format can be<br />

managed directly<br />

on the 4MinX and is<br />

compatible with most<br />

post-production software.<br />

The availability of an<br />

optional USB keyboard<br />

simplifi es metadata<br />

management.<br />

A complete project<br />

management system<br />

satisfi es the needs of the<br />

most demanding users<br />

and generates sound<br />

report fi les automatically.<br />

AETA <strong>Audio</strong> Systems is French, and<br />

a leading international developer<br />

of portable sound recording units,<br />

mixers, and advanced audio codecs,<br />

optimised for any kind of media and<br />

transmission infrastructure. “Made by<br />

AETA” is a synonym for high quality<br />

and investment protection.<br />

From its very beginning in 1978,<br />

the company focused not only on<br />

developing innovative products, but<br />

also on making them as small as<br />

possible allowing for mobile use and<br />

easy handling. They have acquired<br />

Flexible and Powerful<br />

a considerable reputation in the<br />

To design the 4MinX,<br />

audio fi eld.<br />

we were not afraid to<br />

re-write the rulebook in<br />

Some references:<br />

order to offer you more<br />

1999: PSP3 – Stereo Pre-amp power and fl exibility.<br />

2000: MIX2000 – four channel<br />

The routing capability<br />

portable mixer<br />

for each input and<br />

2007: MIXY – three mic/line stereo each output gives the<br />

mixer<br />

user a completely free<br />

hand. A 4MinX user can<br />

set a specifi c interface<br />

and adapt it to their own preferences<br />

regarding inputs and outputs.<br />

Apart from the record sources<br />

that you include in each fi le,<br />

the 4MinX offers additional<br />

powerful and detailed<br />

routing, enabling the<br />

user to defi ne what is<br />

sent to mix busses,<br />

and to analogue and<br />

digital outputs.<br />

No need to go back<br />

into the menus – personal<br />

confi guration snapshots<br />

allow complete fl exibility of settings, and are<br />

simple to use. They give total freedom and users<br />

can save up to eight snapshots.<br />

With an optional 10-pin HIROSE socket, it is<br />

possible to handle camera return and dedicated<br />

communication circuits.<br />

Pricing<br />

The 4MinX price is very competitive.<br />

With 4MinX you pay only for what you<br />

need, and what your budget can afford.<br />

The 4MinX is an “evolutive product”, allowing<br />

you to upgrade at any time after purchase.<br />

You can upgrade your 4MinX from two to eight<br />

tracks recording, or add Soundfi eld monitoring<br />

with just a software upgrade, thus avoiding any<br />

return to the factory.<br />

AETA’s 4MinX was given an award for<br />

technological innovation by SATIS Trophies<br />

2011 in France for its compactness and futureproof<br />

technology.<br />

AETA <strong>Audio</strong> Systems<br />

18-22 Avenue Edouard Herriot<br />

Parc technologique – Kepler 4<br />

92350 Le Plessis-Robinson FRANCE<br />

www.aeta-audio.com<br />

t +33 1 41 36 12 00<br />

F + 33 1 46 36 12 69<br />

e contact@aeta-audio.com<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDERS BUYER’S GUIDE<br />

9

---

+++ MAYAH COMMUNICATIONS++++MAYAH COMMUNICATIONS++++ MAYAH COMMUNICATIONS++++<br />

MAYAH Communications GmbH –<br />

World Leading <strong>Audio</strong> Technology<br />

MAYAH develops technologies aimed squarely at<br />

broadcast and high-end audio production users.<br />

The Munich-based fi rm are specialists in problem<br />

solving for broadcasters – for example by<br />

developing systems like Flashcast, which allows<br />

different codecs (in fact almost all proprietary<br />

systems) to recognise each other automatically:<br />

a godsend in the cut and thrust of broadcasting<br />

and newsgathering.<br />

The company has also been developing<br />

innovative hard and software products for<br />

in-house streaming, web radio, ISDN, other<br />

broadcast networking applications, and digital<br />

handheld recording. The original MAYAH<br />

Flashman recorder was one of the original<br />

Photo: Cameron Whitman, 2010.<br />

small, solid-state machines favoured by radio<br />

journalists the world over.<br />

One of MAYAH’s latest developments is the<br />

Impload Triple R, Rapid Remote Recorder. This is<br />

a system that allows remote audio recording via<br />

the Cloud (online) with the key feature being the<br />

low latency, or delay, of the playback.<br />

Studios and production facilities often<br />

need quick performer inputs from contributors<br />

and performers being situated in very remote<br />

locations, away from the studio. In the past the<br />

only solution has been to bring in the musician<br />

in – a costly and time consuming way to obtain<br />

what is often just a few bars of music.<br />

10 PROMOTIONAL FEATURE<br />

MAYAH is a world leading designer<br />

and distributor of high-end<br />

equipment for broadcast and<br />

audio/video production.<br />

With TripleR it now becomes much easier,<br />

less expensive, and far quicker to let the<br />

performer work from his home base or another<br />

studio location somewhere on the globe. TripleR<br />

combines the transmission of audio and also<br />

simple MIDI control through the Cloud.<br />

The performer can listen to live playback<br />

from the production software with a minimum<br />

of latency. By choosing the open source edge<br />

technology Opus codec algorithm, audio is sent<br />

through the Cloud with a minimum of latency<br />

and stunningly high quality.<br />

This is the fi rst product of its kind to offer a<br />

MIDI control data transfer, together with the<br />

edge technology codec algorithm Opus.<br />

TripleR is also a fully<br />

operational PC audio board,<br />

with all controls not only<br />

accessible through the browser<br />

but also with a full set of front<br />

panel controls:<br />

• Gain Control<br />

• Mic/instrument input<br />

level<br />

• Phantom Power<br />

• Pad-Headphone Volume<br />

TripleR also features the<br />

following I/O’s:Rear Panel:<br />

• Balanced 6.3 analogue in<br />

(Left/Right)<br />

• Balanced 6.3 analogue<br />

out (Left/Right)<br />

• USB to PC<br />

• MIDI In/Out<br />

• AES In/Out<br />

• USB device link

---

ecorders 2013<br />

MAYAH COMMUNICATIONS++++ MAYAH COMMUNICATIONS++++ MAYAH COMMUNICATIONS++++ MA<br />

Centauri IV<br />

Centauri IV is MAYAH Communications’ new universal scalable audio codec with up to 64 freely confi gurable audio channels. As a combined<br />

breakout box and audio interface, all MADI and AES devices currently on the market can be used.<br />

It is the fourth generation of Centauri audio codecs, the result of fourteen years of development across the codec line that has proved highly<br />

successful around the world.<br />

The Centauri IV supports the most relevant industry and EBU standard audio coding formats, from Opus to Linear. It is one of the world’s only<br />

unique codec devices designed to support the new open source Opus codec algorithm.<br />

MAYAH Communications is also highly renowned for high-end device features, such as:<br />

• Standardised Protocols<br />

• Automatic Jitter Buffer<br />

• Error Concealment<br />

• FEC<br />

• Remote Control<br />

The MAYAH Communications Centauri IV is<br />

the the fi rst rst of its kind to demonstrate such powerful<br />

features in such a compact form at a competitive<br />

price point.<br />

MAYAH Communications C10 & D10<br />

Along MAYAH Communications developments, the C10 is designed as an economically low budget audio codec, but still fulfi lling the high<br />

expectations of today’s broadcast industry. C10 is also equipped with the newest codec algorithm Opus, featuring the same high quality<br />

properties as all the other MAYAH devices<br />

The C10 is manageable by a highly intuitive remote<br />

application, and is able to work with various other codec<br />

formats besides Opus.<br />

For receive-only purposes, the D10 (which looks the<br />

same as the C10) is a receiving-only audio codec.<br />

Front:<br />

• Combined XLR/balanced 6.3 jack socket<br />

• 2x Headphone out<br />

• Level Control<br />

• Mixing Control<br />

• Mic/Line Switch<br />

• Phantom Power<br />

• Mic Pad<br />

At the heart of TripleR is the OPUS audio codec,<br />

which runs with an extremely low latency<br />

without sacrifi cing sound quality. This allows it<br />

to be used for musicians to play together for a<br />

session, a recording, or a production. The audio<br />

will be in both directions, from the studio to the<br />

musician and from the musician to the studio in<br />

excellent quality and via regular Internet access.<br />

TripleR is not only capable of transmitting<br />

live streaming audio, but also MIDI control data<br />

between contributors and studio. The transport<br />

goes in both directions. <strong>Audio</strong> is sent from the<br />

production site to the musician who will play<br />

a MIDI device and use the Impload TripleR to<br />

transmit this control data to the studio.<br />

MAYAH Communications GmbH<br />

Am Söldnermoos 17<br />

D-85399 Hallbergmoos, Germany<br />

t +49 811 5517 0<br />

f 49 811 5517 55<br />

e info@MAYAH.com<br />

MAYAH Communications U.S. Offi ce<br />

North American Business Development<br />

Bellingham, WA<br />

United States<br />

t +1 360 618 1474<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDERS BUYER’S GUIDE 11

---

Recording Studios<br />

that fit in your pocket<br />

OLYMPUS LS-100 MULTI-TRACK LINEAR<br />

PCM RECORDER: HIGH PERFORMANCE,<br />

MOBILE MULTI-TRACK RECORDING<br />

Uncompromising sound quality and portable<br />

recording versatility have been the hallmark<br />

of the Olympus LS range since its inception.<br />

Now, the new LS-100 has gone further<br />

to provide musicians and broadcasters<br />

with a state-of-the-art tool enabling<br />

convenience of studio-grade, multi-track<br />

audio recording just about anywhere.<br />

Furthermore, this impressive mobile<br />

recording studio is capable of<br />

handling a maximum sound<br />

pressure level of up to<br />

140dBspl.<br />

As with its cousins in the<br />

LS-family, the new LS-100<br />

delivers ultimate sound<br />

recording quality in<br />

uncompressed 96 kHz/24 bit<br />

Linear PCM splendour. This<br />

extreme audio quality has now<br />

been amplified with eight-track<br />

recording and overdubbing<br />

capabilities to turn sounds and<br />

individual tracks into complete<br />

compositions - all within the palm<br />

of the hand.<br />

Besides its integrated stereo mics, the<br />

LS-100 also features dual XLR/Phone combo<br />

jacks to facilitate the direct connection with professional<br />

external microphones or other musical equipment.<br />

The durable and compact Olympus LS-100 Multi-Track<br />

Linear PCM recorder bestows musicians and broadcasters<br />

a high performance, mobile multi-track recording studio to<br />

fulfil all their needs - from a single track to a complete<br />

composition - boasting highest possible audio qualities.<br />

LS-100 MULTI-TRACK LINEAR<br />

PCM RECORDER - MAIN<br />

FEATURES:<br />

Record superior quality sound<br />

Connect to professional audio<br />

with XLR<br />

Built-in sound on sound multitrack<br />

sequencer<br />

L/R independent recording

---

Capture your demos, interviews<br />

and gigs in high-quality audio<br />

LS-11 AUDIO<br />

RECORDER<br />

LS-3 SMALLEST<br />

& SLIMMEST LS<br />

RECORDER<br />

The LS-100 joins the<br />

recently launched<br />

LS-3 and LS-20 to<br />

offer a complete<br />

range; The LS-3 is<br />

the smallest,<br />

slimmest linear<br />

PCM LS recorder<br />

to fit in your pocket<br />

and capture sounds<br />

and riffs on the go.<br />

The LS-11<br />

can record<br />

.wav files<br />

as high as<br />

96 kHz/24 bit,<br />

as well as MP3<br />

and WMA files<br />

in a range of bit<br />

rates.<br />

It comes with<br />

8 GB of internal<br />

memory which<br />

can be expanded<br />

through the use of SD<br />

cards and includes an<br />

infra-red remote control,<br />

and Cubase LE software.<br />

To see the complete LS range and full features,<br />

please visit www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/ls-series<br />

or email music@olympus.co.uk for details<br />

LS-20M HD SOUND AND HD MOVIE<br />

The LS-20 offers<br />

the ability to also<br />

shoot HD movies to<br />

accompany your<br />

HD sound, the<br />

added full HD<br />

movie at 1920 x<br />

1080P (30 fps) with<br />

image stabilizer<br />

allows you to live<br />

life on a film set<br />

ready for ‘action’.<br />

LS-20<br />

MAIN FEATURES:<br />

Record superior to<br />

CD quality sound<br />

Shoot incredible full HD<br />

movies with magic movie effects<br />

Movie image stabilisation<br />

reduces camera shake<br />

PCM (WAV) and MP3<br />

recording/playback format<br />

LS IS More<br />

What Musicians, journalists and<br />

podcasters have been waiting for

---

+++ ROLAND SYSTEMS GROUP++++ROLAND SYSTEMS GROUP++++ROLAND SYSTEMS GROUP++++ROLA<br />

Professional Recording Solutions<br />

From Roland Systems Group<br />

The Roland R-88 establishes a new standard in professional portable recording by integrating a<br />

recorder, mixer, and multi-channel audio interface – and joins the R-1000 standalone recorder/player<br />

and the R-26 hand held device to offer a comprehensive range of recording solutions.<br />

R-88 Portable Recorder and Mixer:<br />

on the computer as 10 individual inputs and<br />

Eight Tracks and Two Channel Recording<br />

Capability<br />

eight individual outputs.<br />

This new multi-track SDHC/SD card recorder with On Board Mixing Capability<br />

eight-ch XLR inputs/outputs has the recording The on board mixing capability with fader, pan,<br />

capability of eight tracks + two channel<br />

EQ, and two channel mixing allows the user to<br />

stereo mix at 24-bit/96kHz, or four tracks at mix as well as record. Studio class effects such as<br />

24-bit/192kHz – totally uncompressed recording three-band EQ, six-band GEQ, enhancer or de-<br />

of broadcast wave fi les assuring outstanding esser can be used as tools to perfect the audio<br />

sound quality – with<br />

quality of the recordings.<br />

selectable bit depths About Roland<br />

Effects can be applied while<br />

(16-bit or 24-bit), and<br />

sampling frequencies<br />

(44.1kHz/48kHz/88.2kH<br />

z/96kHz/192kHz).<br />

The R-88 has eight<br />

XLR inputs, each with<br />

phantom (+48V)<br />

Roland Systems Group is dedicated<br />

to supporting audio and video<br />

professionals who demand excellence<br />

in terms of performance and system<br />

design by consistently providing the<br />

entertainment industry with the most<br />

recording or simply for<br />

monitoring/playback.<br />

Fully Compatible with SMPTE<br />

Timecode<br />

The R-88 is fully compatible<br />

with SMPTE timecode, and can<br />

and onboard effects creative and technically advanced act as slave (with timecode<br />

including limiter products. Offering solutions to regeneration on the timecode<br />

and low cut on each many markets including broadcast, out), or as master to enable<br />

channel. The built-in education, live production, theatre, a fully synchronised video<br />

limiter helps deliver visual performance and worship, workfl ow. Further workfl ow<br />

a stable and reliable<br />

recording free of<br />

clipping noise from<br />

sudden input surges,<br />

whilst the low-cut fi lter<br />

is included to help<br />

prevent things like wind<br />

Roland System Group provides<br />

intuitive, fl exible products that can<br />

be used in standalone or system<br />

confi gurations using the V-Mixing<br />

System, Digital Snakes, or S-MADI<br />

connectivity.<br />

aids are included such as Slate<br />

facility from onboard mic for<br />

memo recording or Slate tone<br />

(1kHz/-20dBFS), and a jack<br />

input, which allows control<br />

of play, record, rewind, and<br />

more via optional or dual<br />

noise or mic handling<br />

footswitches.<br />

noise, both greatly<br />

The USB host terminal of the R-88 enables<br />

improving the audio quality.<br />

high speed and instant back-up of recorded data<br />

to affordable and easy obtainable media like<br />

Flash memory, memory cards via card reader, or<br />

HDD storage. Easy and high-speed duplication of<br />

recorded data improves production workfl ow<br />

across multiple locations.<br />

SDHC/SD Card Recorder<br />

The R-88 uses SD cards or large capacity<br />

SDHC cards as the recording media, enabling<br />

easy transfer of data to PC or post-production<br />

hardware. Connecting the R-88 to a PC/Mac is<br />

easy, either using the R-88 as a removable drive<br />

to transfer audio fi les, or using the dedicated<br />

driver as an audio interface. The USB AUDIO I/F<br />

feature means that the R-88 can also act as an<br />

audio interface to a computer (PC or Mac) when<br />

connected by USB, appearing to audio software<br />

For Film, Surround,<br />

and Concert Recording Applications<br />

For fi lm recording on location, multiple<br />

wireless and boom microphones can be<br />

connected to the R-88. The R-88 mixes<br />

the audio signals and outputs a stereo mix<br />

14 PROMOTIONAL FEATURE<br />

to a video camcorder or DSLR, simultaneously<br />

recording each microphone audio signal for<br />

subsequent post-production.<br />

For surround recording on location,<br />

six channel surround microphones can be<br />

connected to the R-88, providing two-mix<br />

monitor on headphones.<br />

For concert recording with multiple<br />

microphones, the microphones and PA outputs<br />

are connected to the R-88. The R-88 records<br />

each individual channel and two-mix from the<br />

microphone inputs at the same time.<br />

The R-88<br />

With rugged construction, an extended<br />

feature set, and superb sound quality, the<br />

R-88 Eight Channel Recorder and Mixer<br />

enables recording of up to eight channels<br />

at 24-bit/96kHz, as well as the ability to<br />

provide simultaneous two mix sound.<br />

Complementing the existing award winning<br />

range of Roland portable and hand held<br />

audio recorders, the R-88 addresses the<br />

market need for a portable recording and<br />

mixing solution for situations where there<br />

are multiple microphones on location,<br />

and music recordings with more than<br />

four microphone channels. Designed for<br />

a variety of professional needs, such as<br />

recordists who currently record with twomix<br />

but want to switch to multi-channel<br />

recording, and for those who need more<br />

than their existing four-channel recorder,<br />

the R-88 is an affordable solution.

---

R-26 Hand Held Recorder – Professional Portable Device<br />

With dual stereo mics, six channels of simultaneous recording<br />

and three channel IARC (Isolated Adaptive Recording<br />

Circuit), the R-26 is designed to be easy to use and includes<br />

added benefi ts such as on-board editing, a touch panel<br />

display, and a USB audio interface for your PC.<br />

The dual stereo mics (omni-directional and directional)<br />

operate independently of each other to give greater fl exibility<br />

in different recording applications. The OMNI mics mics are entirely<br />

enclosed in a mesh and optimised to to faithfully capture sounds down down<br />

to super-low frequencies. In addition to the the onboard mics, the R-26 R-26<br />

provides XLR/TRS XLR/TRS inputs for for up to six channels (three (three stereo) of<br />

simultaneous recording. This useful feature allows you to capture capture<br />

sound up close with with the built in mics, mics, record room room ambience with<br />

external mics, and and save them as separate fi les for mixing mixing together<br />

later. To reduce reduce interference between inputs inputs to to achieve clear, high<br />

quality sound, the the R-26 is is equipped with with Roland’s proprietary IARC<br />

on both the the inputs inputs for the the built in mics and the external inputs.<br />

The two analogue combo (XLR/TRS) jacks have 48V phantom<br />

power, power, as well as a side mounted plug-in mic mic (stereo mini) input<br />

with support for plug in power. The R-26 supports 24-bit/96 kHz<br />

linear PCM recording and also simultaneous recording in WAV/BWF<br />

and MP3 formats, whilst a pre-recording function actually begins your recording two seconds before you initiate it – a great feature for capturing<br />

environmental sounds. The mic pre-amp is fi tted with a limiter and low cut fi lter, which when activated reduces distortion with selectable cut off<br />

frequencies of 100, 200, or 400 Hz.<br />

R-1000 48-Track Recorder/Player<br />

recorders 2013<br />

ND SYSTEMS GROUP++++ROLAND SYSTEMS GROUP++++ROLAND SYSTEMS GROUP++++ROLAND SYST<br />

The R-1000 is an intuitive, standalone, dedicated recorder/player designed to work with<br />

the V-Mixing System in any live event or production, making it ideal for virtual rehearsal,<br />

rehearsals, playback, and training. It can also be used with any digital console with a MADI<br />

output via the Roland S-MADI REAC MADI Bridge. Based on REAC (Roland Ethernet <strong>Audio</strong><br />

Communication), the R-1000 eliminates the bulk and noise susceptibility typically associated<br />

with analogue snakes and replaces it with Cat5e/6 (Ethernet/LAN) cable. Recording up to 48<br />

tracks of 24-bit audio in BWF format, its removable hard drive ensures smooth integration<br />

with DAWs and allows approximately 20 hours of recording (44.1/48 kHz) using a 500GB<br />

HDD. Multi-track playback (48 tracks of 24-bit audio via REAC) is also provided, while a marker<br />

function enables playback at any designated point.<br />

Data can be loaded from external devices, and analogue monitor and headphone outputs<br />

are provided, along with USB ports for backing up data and connecting a PC for further<br />

software control, plus a versatile feature set that includes video sync, timecode, GPI,<br />

and RS-232C.<br />

Company Headquarters:<br />

Roland Corporation<br />

2-7 Kandasuda-cho, Chiyoda-ku,<br />

Tokyo 101-0041, JAPAN<br />

w www.roland.com<br />

UK:<br />

Roland Systems Group<br />

Metropolis Studios, The Power House,<br />

70 Chiswick High Road, London W4 1SY<br />

Tel: +44 (0) 1792 702701<br />

w www.rolandsystemsgroup.co.uk<br />

e simon.kenning@rolandsg.co.uk<br />

US:<br />

Roland Systems Group<br />

801 West Orchard Drive,<br />

Suite 3 Bellingham, WA98225<br />

t +1 (360) 5944282<br />

w www.rolandsystemsgroup.com<br />

e sales@rolandsystemsgroup.com<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDERS BUYER’S GUIDE 15

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+++ SOUND DEVICES++++SOUND DEVICES++++SOUND DEVICES++++SOUND DEVICES++++SOUND DE<br />

Sound Devices’ 7-Series<br />

Digital <strong>Audio</strong> Recorders Recorders<br />

Sound Devices’ digital recorders are designed<br />

specifi cally for documentary and feature fi lm/<br />

video production, sound effects gathering, and<br />

live multi-channel music recording. The 7-Series<br />

recorders include high-performance, highresolution<br />

analogue microphone preamplifi ers.<br />

Developed for high-bandwidth, high bit-rate<br />

digital recording, these preamps set the standard<br />

for linearity, distortion performance, and lownoise<br />

gain.<br />

Sound Devices’ two-input (702, 702T, 722),<br />

four-input (744T), and eight-input (788T)<br />

recorders write and play audio fi les with either<br />

16 or 24-bit depth at all professional sampling<br />

rates, up to 192 kHz (96 kHz on the 788T).<br />

Multiple storage mediums, analogue/digital<br />

I/O, and high-speed computer connectivity<br />

make 7-Series recorders stand out as<br />

world-class products.<br />

7-Series recorders are controlled by a fast<br />

and intuitive user interface, with easy to access<br />

buttons and an informative LCD display and LED<br />

metering. All controls can be accessed on the<br />

front panel of the unit.<br />

Created with documentary, ENG, and feature<br />

fi lm recording engineers in mind, Sound Devices<br />

keeps its recorders as small and lightweight<br />

as possible without compromising sonic<br />

performance. No other audio recorders<br />

approach their size/performance ratio.<br />

The 788T can easily fi t into a standard<br />

production audio carry case such as the CS-5,<br />

and weighs less than four pounds. All other<br />

7-Series recorders weigh less than three pounds<br />

and easily fi t in an accessory pouch.<br />

The 7-Series records Broadcast WAV fi les<br />

(with iXML Metadata) to CompactFlash cards on<br />

all recorders and to internal hard drives on the<br />

drive-equipped 722, 744T, and 788T<br />

(160GB). <strong>Audio</strong> fi les can be transferred<br />

over FireWire (USB 2.0 and FireWire<br />

800 on 788T) to a Windows PC or<br />

Mac OS computer for post-production<br />

or archiving.<br />

While the 7-Series recorders are<br />

very capable tools alone, they excel<br />

when used in conjunction with Sound<br />

Devices 552 and 664 audio mixers.<br />

Using an external mixer extends the<br />

fl exibility of the recorder and gives the<br />

next level of audio I/O and control.<br />

Two-Track Recorders –<br />

702, 702T, 722<br />

Sound Devices’ two-track recorders<br />

are powerful fi le-based digital audio<br />

recorders. Sound Devices 702 is a two-<br />

16 PROMOTIONAL FEATURE<br />

Sound Devices’ 7-Series line is the<br />

next generation of digital audio<br />

recorders. The two, four, or eight<br />

track 7-Series recorders shatter the<br />

size, performance, and featuresetset<br />

paradigms paradigms of of all all previous<br />

generations of audio recorders. recorders.<br />

CL-8 Controller with Sound Devices 788T Digital Recorder.<br />

track fi le-based digital audio recorder, while the<br />

Sound Devices 702T adds time code.<br />

The time code implementation makes the<br />

702T perfect for any double-system video or<br />

fi lm production application. Sound Devices<br />

722 is designed with an internal hard drive for<br />

extended recording time.<br />

These compact, two-track devices record<br />

and play back audio to CompactFlash cards<br />

and/or external FireWire drives (as well as<br />

internal hard drives for the 722), making fi eld<br />

recording simple and fast. They record and play<br />

uncompressed PCM audio at 16 or 24 bits with<br />

sampling rates between 32kHz and 192kHz.<br />

Compressed MP3 audio and data-compressed<br />

FLAC recording and playback are also supported.<br />

Removable, rechargeable batteries are a<br />

standard Sony-compatible Li-ion camcorder cell.<br />

The CompactFlash card appears as a removable<br />

storage device when connected via the FireWire<br />

port to Windows or Mac OS computers.<br />

Four-Track Recorder – 744T<br />

Sound Devices’ 744T is a powerful<br />

four-track fi le-based digital audio recorder.<br />

The super-compact 744T records and plays<br />

back audio to and from its internal hard drive,<br />

CompactFlash cards, and external FireWire<br />

drives. It records and plays uncompressed<br />

PCM audio at 16 or 24 bits with sample<br />

rates between 32kHz and 192kHz.<br />

Compressed MP3 audio recording<br />

and playback from 64kb/s to 320kb/s and<br />

data-compressed FLAC are also supported.<br />

The time code implementation makes the<br />

744T ready for any recording job – from<br />

over-the-shoulder to cart-based productions.

---

664 Field Mixer with Integrated Multi-Track Recorder<br />

The new 664 Field Mixer integrates a high-performance<br />

multi-track recorder with its powerful mixing capabilities.<br />

This combination makes for a light-weight, all-in-one<br />

portable mixer for both small and large productions. Its six<br />

full-features inputs with phantom, limiters, dual-stage gain,<br />

high-pass fi lters and pan, plus its four output busses, are all recordable,<br />

for 10 tracks of uncompressed broadcast WAV recording. Like the timecode-enabled 7-Series recorders, the 664 integrates a high-precision<br />

time code generator. The available CL-6 Input Expander adds six line-level inputs, providing for 12 inputs. With the CL-6 attached, the 664<br />

records up to 16 tracks.<br />

Eight-Track Recorder – 788T<br />

Intended for on-location, multi-track<br />

productions, the eight-input, 12-track 788T<br />

features a signifi cant expansion of input<br />

and output capability – eight full-featured<br />

microphone inputs and 12 tracks of recording.<br />

The eight inputs, together with a fl exible digital<br />

architecture, provide unprecedented recording<br />

fl exibility. The added I/O, new architecture, and<br />

powerful accessories such as the CL-8 and CL-9<br />

controllers, make the 788T suitable for a wide<br />

range of applications.<br />

To accommodate the larger data storage<br />

requirements of multi-track recordings, the<br />

788T comes equipped with either a 160 GB<br />

2.5-inch internal SATA hard disk drive or a<br />

256GB SSD (788T-SSD). Hard drive-equipped<br />

recorders provide up to 30 hours of eighttrack,<br />

uncompressed 24-bit audio recording<br />

of industry-standard Broadcast Wave fi les.<br />

Additionally, CompactFlash cards with UDMA<br />

support and external FireWire mass storage<br />

volumes can be used for recording and<br />

Compact, linear<br />

fader controller<br />

with enhanced<br />

monitoring.<br />

recorders 2013<br />

VICES++++SOUND DEVICES++++SOUND DEVICES++++SOUND DEVICES++++SOUND DEVICES++++SOU<br />

The 788T is a powerful eight input, twelve-track digital audio recorder designed for production sound.<br />

playback. All three storage mediums can be<br />

selected for simultaneous, redundant recording.<br />

As with the 702T and 744T’s time code<br />

recorders, the 788T has a high-performance,<br />

full-featured time code generator. It is also<br />

equipped with selectable word clock sync<br />

source, including numerous video sync sources.<br />

The 788T is powered by 7.2 V Li-ion batteries or<br />

external DC (10-18 V) and offers an on-board<br />

Li-ion battery charger.<br />

The CL-8 Controller for the 788T Digital<br />

Recorder is a portable mixing control surface<br />

companion for its 788T recorder, which provides<br />

additional capabilities to the 788T without<br />

a signifi cant increase in weight, making it<br />

adaptable to a variety of fi eld productions.<br />

The CL-8 features eight large, rotary faders<br />

to control the eight inputs of the 788T.<br />

It offers command over numerous input settings,<br />

including high-pass fi lter, limiter, polarity, and<br />

mute. When used with the CL-8, the original<br />

788T input controls function as input trims, and<br />

the CL-8 controls offer fader control.<br />

With the CL-8 users now have access to four<br />

additional recording tracks (eight ISO tracks,<br />

L/R master, and Aux 1 and Aux 2) through the<br />

CL-8’s associated fi rmware, for a total of 12<br />

record tracks. The CL-8 is connected to the<br />

recorder over a USB connection and it includes<br />

a USB keyboard pass-through port.<br />

Sound Devices, LLC.,<br />

P.O. Box 576, E7556 State Rd. 33,<br />

Reedsburg, Wisconsin 53959 USA<br />

w www.sounddevices.com<br />

t +1 (608) 524 0625<br />

f +1 (608) 524 0655<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDERS BUYER’S GUIDE 17

---

+++ YELLOWTEC++++YELLOWTEC++++ YELLOWTEC++++ YELLOWTEC++++ YELLOWTEC++++ YELLOWTE<br />

iXm:<br />

Capture Pristine<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> in any Location.<br />

Designed and engineered to create perfect location<br />

recordings, the iXm is a revolutionary product developed<br />

inside the most familiar familiar of audio devices – the microphone.<br />

With switchable, professional microphone heads by Beyerdynamic<br />

Beyerdynamic<br />

and an intuitive SD recorder, the iXm allows you to capture your best<br />

interview ever with perfect audio levels at the push of a button. It’s never been easier<br />

to record pristine, broadcast-ready audio on location.<br />

Meet LEA: Perfect Levels, Every Time<br />

When we designed the iXm, we set out to make<br />

the fi nest recording microphone ever. One of our<br />

most challenging requirements was to ensure<br />

perfect auto levelling in any environment.<br />

The result was an excitingly innovative processor<br />

we call the LEA engine. LEA analyses RMS<br />

level and transients, comparing the signals to<br />

calculate a well-balanced analogue gain level.<br />

Whether recording a whisper or a scream,<br />

you will always capture perfect levels with<br />

no clipping. LEA lets you capture amazing<br />

recordings under the most stressful conditions<br />

without AGC or artifacts. Take an iXm to the<br />

most demanding locations and you will<br />

be amazed.<br />

Hello Easy Dashboard.<br />

Goodbye Complex Display<br />

One of the things you’ll notice about the iXm<br />

is that we’ve made it extremely easy to use.<br />

Since a major part of our design goal was<br />

accomplished with LEA, we could eliminate the<br />

display and design a dashboard of three lightup<br />

icons. Because you don’t need to constantly<br />

monitor levels, you only need three intuitive<br />

indicators: Recording Status, Battery Status, and<br />

Memory Status. And our dashboard is where<br />

you expect it, well-positioned and always visible.<br />

There is no better way, day or night, to keep your<br />

recordings under control. Freed from monitoring,<br />

you can concentrate on your interview for a<br />

better, more personal recording.<br />

Under Your Thumb: Silent Buttons<br />

An incredible amount of design attention was<br />

put into every detail of the iXm. The buttons<br />

are smooth and produce no handling noise.<br />

Yet they are also rugged to survive repetitive<br />

fi eld operation. They are large, so you can be<br />

confi dent during recording. And they are dust<br />

and waterproof to cope with any environmental<br />

hazard. The result was worth it: Record and Stop<br />

buttons exactly where you expect them, working<br />

just as you require.<br />

The iXm truly puts control<br />

under your thumb!<br />

Always Just In Time<br />

With an adjustable<br />

“pre-roll” recording<br />

buffer, you’ll never<br />

miss a conversation.<br />

18 PROMOTIONAL FEATURE<br />

What sounds like a miracle is just our clever<br />

engineering. Whenever you start a recording<br />

you add up to 30 seconds of previously buffered<br />

recording. And thanks to our silent buttons<br />

you will hear no clicks even if you triggered<br />

your recording “after” the interview started!<br />

Unbeatable Stamina With Options<br />

Our unique dual power supply offers an<br />

unbelievable total operation time of up to 16<br />

hours. Further, you can choose your primary<br />

power source. Because the iXm comes with a<br />

built-in, rechargeable lithium-ion battery and a<br />

battery compartment for three standard AA<br />

cells, you get power assurance on location.<br />

Our intelligent power management<br />

will automatically load-balance<br />

power sources without asking for<br />

your attention. And in the unlikely<br />

event you ever run low on power,<br />

your dashboard warns you well in<br />

advance, so you can replace the<br />

AA batteries for another eight hours<br />

of operation.

---

Our Cooler Heads Prevail<br />

Our Twist-Off-Twist-On (TOTO)<br />

exchangeable mic heads give you the<br />

options you need to perfectly match your<br />

recording environment. Whether you<br />

require a cardioid, super-cardioid, or an<br />

omnidirectional pick-up pattern, you can<br />

easily change it right on the spot.<br />

Our TOTO auto sensing detects which<br />

type of mic head you’re using and<br />

automatically adapts the DSP to the<br />

right parameters. No need for any<br />

manual settings!<br />

Playback In The Field<br />

Listen to your recordings during a fi eld<br />

check using the built-in headphone<br />

output. Use the playback<br />

keys to jump from track to<br />

track. When you do, you<br />

will experience another<br />

great design element of<br />

the iXm: human voice<br />

announcements guide<br />

you through your each<br />

recording. No need to<br />

follow track indicators.<br />

Could you imagine<br />

anything easier?<br />

Port Panel:<br />

You’re Free to Go<br />

The port panel on the<br />

bottom of the iXm holds<br />

all the interfaces.<br />

You will fi nd a USB 2.0<br />

port for downloading your<br />

recordings and recharging<br />

the internal battery.<br />

Use this port to confi gure<br />

your iXm for your individual<br />

preferences. The SD card<br />

slot is well protected<br />

against accidental ejection.<br />

An integrated headphone<br />

output makes your fi eld<br />

check easy. We’ve also<br />

included a 3.5mm jack<br />

for recording line levels,<br />

a valuable feature if you<br />

want to use iXm to record<br />

a supplied mic feed during<br />

press conferences.<br />

We’ve even included a<br />

connector for use with an<br />

optional speed charger.<br />

recorders 2013<br />

C++++ YELLOWTEC++++ YELLOWTEC++++ YELLOWTEC++++ YELLOWTEC++++ YELLOWTEC++++ YELLOW<br />

Storage and Memory:<br />

SD or SDHC<br />

Finally, as we strive to make your<br />

work easy, secure, and reliable,<br />

iXm uses a built-in SD/SDHC<br />

memory card slot. Recording<br />

capacity is based on widely<br />

available SD and SDHC cards<br />

with memory capacity of up to<br />

32GB. When you share iXm with<br />

others on a team, take your SD<br />

card with you and use it with any<br />

external SD-card reader.<br />

Or, if you do not wish to swap<br />

memory cards, download<br />

your recordings via USB to<br />

a computer for sharing and<br />

editing.<br />

Full Metal Jacket<br />

The iXm’s body is constructed<br />

of solid aluminum and coated<br />

with a smooth, touch-friendly<br />

and wear-resistant fi nish.<br />

The dashboard and the playback<br />

keyboard are embedded in<br />

precision milled pockets that are<br />

completely waterproof.<br />

A true engineering achievement<br />

in both materials design and<br />

technology, the iXm is as durable<br />

as it is usable.<br />

With its easy functionality,<br />

industry-fi rst features, and robust<br />

design, the iXm is ideal in the<br />

most demanding environments<br />

you can imagine.<br />

CONTACT DETAILS<br />

Yellowtec<br />

Heinrich-Hertz-Str. 1-3<br />

D-40789 Monheim am Rhein<br />

Germany<br />

t +49 2173 9673 0<br />

e info@yellowtec.com<br />

UK Distributor:<br />

HHB Communications Ltd.<br />

t +44 (0) 208 962 5000<br />

e sales@hhb.co.uk<br />

US Distributors:<br />

Broadcasters General Store<br />

t +1 352 622 7700<br />

w www.bgs.cc<br />

SCMS Inc.<br />

t +1 800 438 6040<br />

w www.scmsinc.com<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDERS BUYER’S GUIDE 19

---

+++ ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZA<br />

Zaxcom – <strong>Audio</strong> Innovators for Film<br />

and Broadcast Production<br />

Zaxcom Inc. is a<br />

ground breaking<br />

creator of professional<br />

audio equipment for<br />

fi lm and television<br />

production.<br />

Zaxcom, Inc. designs and manufactures<br />

innovative professional audio equipment for<br />

the television and fi lm industries. The US<br />

company is a pioneer in audio technologies<br />

for sound mixing and ENG professionals.<br />

It engineered the fi rst digital wireless<br />

microphone and the fi rst wireless microphone<br />

to feature integrated audio recording.<br />

The fi rm was founded in 1986 by Glenn<br />

Sanders. He started Zaxcom after working in<br />

post-production and seeing the need for a<br />

piece of equipment to create a more effi cient<br />

workfl ow. He went on to build the fi rst TBC<br />

System (Time Base Control System) used<br />

for video editing. The TBC System became<br />

an industry staple and won the Emmy for<br />

outstanding achievement in Engineering<br />

Development in 1989-90.<br />

The company then took a different course<br />

and began making gear for the professional<br />

audio industry. In 1992, Zaxcom introduced<br />

its fi rst full feature digital audio mixer for<br />

post-production: the DMX1000. In 1995 the<br />

six-channel digital mixer, Arria, was introduced.<br />

Arria was expanded in 1998, becoming the Arria<br />

HD, an eight-channel expandable digital audio<br />

mixer designed specifi cally for high defi nition<br />

edit suites and live applications.<br />

In 1996, Zaxcom began work in the fi eld<br />

they are experts in today: location audio.<br />

Glenn Sanders, President, and Howard Stark,<br />

Chief Engineer, designed, developed, and<br />

manufactured the Deva, the fi rst four-channel<br />

portable hard disk recorder. Deva has since<br />

changed the way professional location recording<br />

is done and is used across the fi lm and TV<br />

production industry.<br />

In 1999, two digital mixers were released,<br />

the Cameo LRC and Cameo SV.<br />

The Nomad Range<br />

Zaxcom’s Nomad is a complete location<br />

sound recording system for video<br />

productions. It provides all the functionality<br />

necessary to mix and record in a power<br />

effi cient space-saving package. It comes in a<br />

range of models:<br />

Nomad 12 is the top end machine. It has<br />

a complete set of DSP effects to give you the<br />

tools to not just mix and capture tracks but<br />

to provide a level of quality not possible with<br />

analogue-based mixing.<br />

12 recorded tracks, ZaxNet, NeverClip,<br />

auto-mixer, linear fader control (with Mix-8),<br />

visual timecode slate, and MARF ultra high<br />

reliability fi le system are some of the unique<br />

features that add to the value of Nomad 12.<br />

A combination of compact size, light weight,<br />

low power consumption, and integrated<br />

features make Nomad 12 the perfect choice<br />

for any sound bag or cart.<br />

All mixing and<br />

monitoring functions<br />

are directly accessible<br />

from the control panel.<br />

Nomad 12 offers the<br />

right combination of<br />

track count, DSP effects,<br />

analogue inputs,<br />

mix busses, and digital<br />

mixing at an unmatched<br />

price point.<br />

The Nomad 12<br />

mixer can send three<br />

independent stereo mixes<br />

20 PROMOTIONAL FEATURE<br />

to fi ve cameras. It will record 12 tracks from<br />

its internal mix busses. All 10 analogue<br />

inputs are instantly available for control via<br />

the six rotary faders and the menu encoder.<br />

This eliminates the need for external add<br />

on fader hardware keeping Nomad 12<br />

as small and light as possible. All of the<br />

mixing functions can be stored in memory<br />

for instant access or stored to an external<br />

memory card.<br />

There are a number of other models<br />

within the range to match both budget and<br />

technical requirements of the end users. The<br />

Nomad 10, for example, offers an impressive<br />

ten recording tracks and 16 mix busses (to<br />

the 12’s twelve and eighteen respectively).<br />

And the entry-level machine, the Nomad<br />

Lite, still packs an impressive punch, offering<br />

recording at 96kHz, six hardware faders, and<br />

digital mixing.

---

ecorders recorders 2012 2013<br />

XCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++<br />

COM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++++ZAXCOM++<br />

Company History<br />

STA042 AES Adaptor<br />

Glenn Sanders, President of Zaxcom, fi rst launched the company in 1986 to introduce<br />

All Digital Sound Bag to Camera<br />

a workfl ow-control system for video editing. The TBC (time base control) system<br />

Zaxcom recently introduced a new<br />

quickly became an industry staple and received an Emmy Award for outstanding<br />

addition to its professional audio<br />

achievement in engineering development in 1989.<br />

equipment family, the STA042<br />

In 1992, the company fi rst addressed the professional audio market and has since<br />

digital stereo adaptor. The STA042<br />

introduced a number of systems designed to help audio professionals keep pace with<br />

allows ENG audio professionals<br />

developments in digital and HD broadcasting.<br />

to transform an existing single-<br />

Sanders and Zaxcom Chief Engineer Howard Stark embraced on-location audio<br />

channel Zaxcom TRX900/<br />

in 1996 with the introduction of the Deva four-channel portable hard disk recorder.<br />

TRX900AA wireless transmitter into<br />

This unique product received the Scientifi c and Engineering Award at the 75th Annual<br />

a digital two-channel transmitter<br />

Academy Awards in 2003, and was recognised with a Primetime Emmy Engineering<br />

sound bag-to-camera link.<br />

Award in 2008. Frequently a pioneer in the audio industry, Zaxcom engineered<br />

Pairing a TRX900AA and QRX100<br />

the fi rst digital wireless microphone and the fi rst wireless microphone to feature<br />

with the STA042 forms a one<br />

Zaxcom Maxx<br />

integrated audio recording (patent pending).<br />

hundred percent digital audio<br />

The Zaxcom Maxx is a powerful rates up to 192kHz.<br />

Maxx comes standard<br />

There is also a six-channel<br />

transmission system.<br />

new tool for fi lm sound<br />

Each input channel has a high with the ability to record the recording option giving you the<br />

recordists: it’s an audio mixer, pass filter, two variable notch two-channel mix output on ability to record four pre-fader<br />

RF transmitter, recorder,<br />

filters, variable delay, and a soft a CompactFlash or SD card). tracks along with the two-<br />

analogue mic/line inputs<br />

timecode reader/generator, and knee compressor.<br />

Files can be recorded at up<br />

ZFR100<br />

with 48-V phantom power,<br />

to channel mix.<br />

Zaxcom’s ZFR100 is a miniature timecode-<br />

four visual analogue timecode line inputs, slate all in one The Maxx’s built-in RF 24-bit/192kHz with a dynamic Maxx can also record MP3<br />

referenced audio recorder. The ZFR100 can be<br />

and small eight package. digital inputs.<br />

transmitter is designed to be range of 137dB.<br />

transcription files with a linear<br />

used in a sound bag, worn on the body as a<br />

A 16-channel, The Maxx 24-bus has four full size used as a wireless camera<br />

timecode track.<br />

belt pack, or applied to any other application<br />

digital XLR mixer analogue is built mic/line into level link. This eliminates the<br />

Fusion – 10 track solid state audio recorder.<br />

that requires a timecode-referenced audio<br />

the inputs unit, providing with 48 V EQ, Phantom power possibility of level mismatch<br />

recording. The ZFR100 can record up to 12<br />

notch that fi lter, incorporate compressor,<br />

recorded in Zaxcom’s proven MARF fi le system,<br />

the Nomad’s and audio distortion<br />

hours of audio directly to a removable 2GB<br />

and<br />

microphone<br />

delay functions<br />

pre-amps<br />

on each<br />

with<br />

channel.<br />

which safeguards audio recordings even in the<br />

common to unbalanced<br />

MiniSD Flash media card. With Zaxcom’s<br />

event of power loss.<br />

NeverClip clip-protection. connections between<br />

trademark fault-tolerant recording, no audio is<br />

Fusion<br />

With an intuitive touch screen interface,<br />

The four input channels can separate mixer and RF<br />

lost even in the case of an ejected memory card<br />

Zaxcom’s Fusion provides a revolutionary Fusion allows users to enter metadata directly,<br />

be mixed to a range of outputs, transmitter combinations.<br />

or accidental power-down.<br />

approach to on-location, multi-track sound keeping the system light and portable.<br />

running at all broadcast sample<br />

The ZFR100’s full-featured timecode reader/<br />

mixing and recording. As a completely<br />

Fusion supports infi nite mixing of any input to<br />

generator ensures perfect synchronisation with<br />

portable, solid-state solution, Fusion blends any recorded track or output – pre-fader,<br />

recorded audio, with an accuracy of one frame<br />

the performance characteristics of hard-disk post-fader, or phase inverted. This feature,<br />

every 12 hours (.7716 PPM). The recorder can<br />

recorders 2001 with brought the mobility the Zaxcom of sound Digital bag Wireless along with eight output mix busses, allows the<br />

generate broadcast .WAV fi les or MP3 fi les at<br />

systems. to the market. The result It was is a the best-of-both-worlds<br />

fi rst time digital system In 2004, to support the next newer generation cameras of that Deva feature was<br />

48kHz/24-bits. Ultra-compact for use in virtually<br />

product modulation ideally was suited used for on over-the-shoulder<br />

a professional<br />

four released or more – the recording Deva IV channels. and Deva V. They boast<br />

any application, the ZFR100 weighs about four<br />

recording bodypack and wireless mixing system. for reality television, an intuitive colour touch screen, an optional<br />

ounces, and can be powered for up to 24 hours<br />

electronic At the newsgathering 75th Annual Academy (ENG), and Awards other in Fusion internal Features: DVD-RAM drive, and can record up<br />

on just two AA batteries or indefi nitely via an<br />

mobile March video 2003, productions. The Academy of Motion Picture • to Operation 10 tracks at of up audio. to 192kHz, Stereo which ENG wireless is necessary<br />

optional 8- to 16-V DC power input. The ZFR100<br />

Arts Fusion and Sciences provides presented reliable performance a Scientifi c and by was for also sound released. effects recording For the fi rst time you could<br />

uses a single mic-level unbalanced input for use<br />

eliminating Engineering hard-disk Award Academy recording Plaque and other to Glenn • transmit A 16 input two mixer channels with of 16 audio output using busses one<br />

with lavalier microphones.<br />

moving Sanders parts. and Howard This, paired Stark with of Zaxcom minimal for power • transmitter The capacity and to one mix receiver, all 16 analogue making the and perfect<br />

consumption, the concept, design, ensures and that engineering Fusion gives of off the bag digital to camera inputs at link. the same time<br />

almost portable no Deva heat, Digital for fl awless <strong>Audio</strong> operation Disk Recorder. in even • Output In 2006, soft Zaxcom knee compressors released the and Deva output Mixthe<br />

most The plaque demanding reads: settings. “This innovative Fusion’s design solid- 12, buss a mixing on every panel recorded for the track Deva (with IV or the V and effects its<br />

state employs recording advanced also hard means disk the recording system is far second package) generation of wireless, the TRX series,<br />

more technology tolerant and to digital motion audio and high techniques G force. for • featuring Eight XLR recording inputs, a wireless key feature microphones. that allows<br />

use Fusion’s in both world-class production microphone and post-production preamps<br />

recording ensure applications.” robust sound, low noise, and low<br />

distortion. That summer Fusion records Zaxcom to moved two CompactFlash<br />

from<br />

cards Midland simultaneously, Park, New Jersey, providing to its full current redundancy<br />

and facility fl exibility in Pompton in the Plains. case of The a media space failure. grew to<br />

The accommodate system can the even company’s copy fi les to growing the backup staff<br />

memory and production card at the line, same which time was as expanding it records to<br />

new meet material demand to for the Zaxcom’s primary card. products. All fi les are<br />

user The to company’s quickly move current an input product from range one spans<br />

wireless channel transmitters to another. receivers, recorder/mixers,<br />

• miniature Camera return recorders, and and camera control monitor surfaces facilities, that<br />

integrate including with two other return Zaxcom inputs that machiners. are monitored<br />

in Zaxcom mono mode. has grown from one man’s desire<br />

• to Software-confi do things better gurable in video metering editing of to the become camera<br />

a send, respected ensuring and it admired will never staple be obsolete. of the fi lm and<br />

broadcast sound industry.<br />

CONTACT DETAILS<br />

Zaxcom<br />

Zaxcom, Inc.<br />

230<br />

230<br />

West<br />

West<br />

Parkway,<br />

Parkway,<br />

Unit<br />

Unit<br />

9 Pompton Plains,<br />

NJ<br />

Pompton<br />

07444,<br />

Plains,<br />

USA<br />

NJ 07444<br />

t<br />

USA<br />

+1 973 835 5000<br />

w<br />

t +1<br />

www.zaxcom.com<br />

973 835 5000<br />

e<br />

f<br />

info@zaxcom.com<br />

+1 973 835 6633<br />

w www.zaxcom.com<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDERS BUYER’S GUIDE 21<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDERS BUYER’S GUIDE 21

---

Recorder Manufacturers Directory<br />

AATON<br />

Based in Grenoble, France,<br />

Aaton is the manufacturer<br />

of a range of audio-visual<br />

equipment. Founded by Jean-<br />

Pierre Beauviala, the company<br />

has produced a range of quiet,<br />

portable hardware for location<br />

recording.<br />

Aaton’s fi rst product<br />

targeted at sound engineers<br />

was the OriginC+, a timemarking<br />

system for location<br />

recorders. More recently,<br />

the company has produced<br />

Cantar, an over-the-shoulder<br />

8-track mixer and recorder.<br />

www.aaton.com<br />

AETA<br />

AETA <strong>Audio</strong> Systems is<br />

a leading international<br />

developer of portable sound<br />

recording units, mixers and<br />

advanced audio codecs. It<br />

produces the Mixy, 4Minx, and<br />

Scoopy+.<br />

www.aeta-audio.com<br />

AEQ<br />

AEQ has been developing,<br />

manufacturing, and marketing<br />

equipment for radio, television,<br />

and multimedia for over 25<br />

years. The company has<br />

recently developed the PAW<br />

120, a portable AEQ recorder<br />

with voice activated recording<br />

and XLR adapter for the use of<br />

external microphones.<br />

www.aeqbroadcast.com<br />

ALLEN & HEATH<br />

The ICE-16 is the new multitrack<br />

recorder from Allen &<br />

Heath, a company that has<br />

made its name in producing<br />

quality mixers for the past<br />

40 years. Designed in the UK,<br />

A&H products can be found<br />

in a wide range of locations<br />

around the world, including<br />

touring, theatre, and houses<br />

of worship.<br />

www.allen-heath.com<br />

FOSTEX<br />

Founded in 1973 as a speaker<br />

component retailer, Fostex<br />

has adapted to changing<br />

technologies. Although<br />

the company still produces<br />

speaker components, Fostex<br />

made a successful transition<br />

to digital in 1995. Recent<br />

recording products include the<br />

UR-2, a 1U rack size stereo<br />

audio recorder with SD and<br />

USB storage. Its professional<br />

portable range includes the<br />

PD606 and PD204 location<br />

recorders, and the FR fi eld<br />

recorders.<br />

www.fostex.com<br />

IZ TECHNOLOGY CORP.<br />

iZ Technology was originally<br />

formed as a fl edgling<br />

company of Creation<br />

Technologies, and consisted<br />

of Barry Henderson and the<br />

team responsible for the<br />

RADAR I and RADAR II hard<br />

disk recorders. In more recent<br />

years, iZ Technology has<br />

expanded its RADAR line to<br />

include the Adrenaline Plusdriven<br />

RADAR V line. There are<br />

now 2500+ RADAR units being<br />

operated in recording studios<br />

around the world.<br />

www.izcorp.com<br />

JOECO LTD.<br />

JoeCo has been founded by<br />

Joe Bull, formerly Managing<br />

Director of Studio <strong>Audio</strong> &<br />

Video Limited, the creators<br />

of the SADiE Workstation<br />

range. Prior to SADiE, he<br />

worked as an <strong>Audio</strong> Engineer<br />

both in the studio, and<br />

mixing live concerts and<br />

festivals. This legacy brings<br />

a wealth of experience built<br />

up over 30 years of recording<br />

and capturing the best<br />

performance possible.<br />

www.joeco.co.uk<br />

KLARK TEKNIK<br />

In 1974, brothers Phil and<br />

Terry Clarke founded Klark<br />

Teknik Research Ltd. It was<br />

their concepts for graphic EQ<br />

devices that really made a<br />

name for the company, with<br />

the production of the DN370<br />

and DN360.<br />

Klark Teknik continues<br />

to innovate in both the<br />

analogue and digital realm of<br />

audio signal processing. The<br />

DN9696 is the company’s<br />

high-resolution audio recorder.<br />

It offers 96 tracks of 96kHz<br />

audio at 24-bit, with nine<br />

hours of internal storage.<br />

www.klarkteknik.com<br />

KORG CORPORATION<br />

Korg Corporation is a Japanese<br />

manufacturer of audio tools.<br />

Founded in 1962 as Keio<br />

Electronic Laboratories, the<br />

company originally produced<br />

rhythm machines before<br />

its fi rst major success with<br />

a series of programmable<br />

organs and synthesisers. It<br />

went on to become one of the<br />

world’s premier manufacturers<br />

in synth, sampling, and<br />

electronic music products.<br />

www.korg.com<br />

22 RECORDER MANUFACTURERS DIRECTORY<br />

MARANTZ PROFESSIONAL<br />

Marantz Professional is part of<br />

D&M Holdings Inc. Marantz<br />

focuses on high-end audio<br />

products, recently producing<br />

the PMD661; a professional<br />

handheld PCM/MP3 recorder.<br />

Superseding the PMD660, this<br />

product offers an improved<br />

form factor, superior feature<br />

set, and the use of SD Flash<br />

media. It also features an<br />

integrated stereo condenser<br />

microphone-array for point<br />

and shoot recording, and<br />

balanced mic and line<br />

XLR inputs.<br />

www.marantz.com<br />

M-AUDIO<br />

M-<strong>Audio</strong> is a provider<br />

of creative tools for computercentric<br />

musicians and audio<br />

professionals. The company<br />

has independent offi ces in the<br />

US, Canada, UK, Germany,<br />

France, and Japan.<br />

M-<strong>Audio</strong> aims to empower<br />

musicians to create, perform,<br />

and record with complete<br />

mobile hardware/software<br />

solutions that change when,<br />

where, and how music is<br />

made. Recent recording<br />

products include the<br />

MicroTrack II; a handheld<br />

location recorder.<br />

www.m-audio.com<br />

MAYAH<br />

In 1997 Mayah produced its<br />

fi rst audio codec, and since<br />

then has expanded its range<br />

to include the most recent new<br />

fi rmware generation 4.0 for<br />

C11, SPORTY, and FLASHMAN<br />

II with extended features<br />

www.mayah.com<br />

MAYCOM AUDIO SYSTEMS<br />

Maycom grew its reputation<br />

with custom-made radio<br />

automation systems for<br />

broadcasting stations. Since<br />

then, it has released a series of<br />

location recording equipment.<br />

Most recently, Maycom has<br />

produced the N>Trans, a<br />

Compact Flash-sized audio<br />

card that allows laptops and<br />

PDAs to be used as location<br />

recorders.<br />

www.maycom.nl<br />

NAGRA<br />

Nagra <strong>Audio</strong> has developed a<br />

complete range of analogue<br />

and digital recorders.<br />

Equipment such as the Nagra<br />

4.2 and the Nagra IV-S Time<br />

Code are benchmarks in sound<br />

recording for fi lm.<br />

In 2008, Nagra introduced<br />

the Nagra VI multi-channel<br />

digital location recorder; a<br />

continuation in the tradition<br />

of robust units for on-location<br />

recording.<br />

www.nagraaudio.com<br />

OLYMPUS<br />

Olympus is undoubtedly<br />

best known as a camera<br />

manufacturer. However, the<br />

company has also produced<br />

a signifi cant range of<br />

analogue and digital handheld<br />

recorders. A recent addition to<br />

this range comes in the form<br />

of the DS-71. This linear PCM<br />

professional dictation device<br />

records with a 44.1kHz/16-bit<br />

sampling rate, and offers 4GB<br />

of internal memory – equating<br />

to the potential for over 1,060<br />

hours of recording.<br />

www.olympus.com

---

ROLAND SYSTEMS GROUP<br />

Roland was established in the<br />

1970s, and today produces<br />

professional products for the<br />

audio and visual industries.<br />

1972 saw the fi rst<br />

branded goods released, with<br />

the TR-33/55/77 rhythm<br />

machines. Their range has<br />

since expanded to include the<br />

current Sonar REAC recording<br />

system and V-Studio 700.<br />

www.rolandsg.co.uk<br />

ROSENDAHL<br />

STUDIOTECHNIK<br />

German audio-visual<br />

technology manufacturer<br />

Rosendahl Studiotechnik<br />

produces a range of<br />

equipment for recording pros.<br />

In addition to a selection<br />

of time code boxes, the<br />

company is responsible for<br />

the bonsaiDRIVE hard disk<br />

recorder, a portable video<br />

and multi-track audio hard<br />

disk recorder. It functions<br />

as a stand-alone hard disk<br />

recorder and portable media<br />

storage device, eliminating<br />

the added size and weight of a<br />

removable hard disk.<br />

www.rosendahl-studiotechnik.de<br />

recorders 2013<br />

SADIE<br />

Based just north of<br />

Cambridge, SADiE shares its<br />

main production and R&D<br />

facilities with Prism Sound.<br />

SADiE aims to provide its<br />

customers with the best tools<br />

for the task, whilst ensuring<br />

the sonic integrity of the<br />

program material.<br />

Recent recording products<br />

from SADiE include the LRX2,<br />

a location audio workstation<br />

for the production of location<br />

multi-track audio recordings<br />

to be released on distributed<br />

media.<br />

www.sadie.com<br />

SONY PROFESSIONAL<br />

Sony Professional is a long<br />

standing leader in the<br />

manufacturing of electronic<br />

equipment for media,<br />

broadcast, and installation<br />

markets with a diverse<br />

product portfolio that<br />

includes cameras, displays,<br />

microphones, wireless systems,<br />

and much more. Its recorder<br />

products include the PCM-D1<br />

and PCM-D50 handheld<br />

devices.<br />

www.sonybiz.net<br />

SOUND DEVICES<br />

Sound Devices, LLC, was<br />

founded in 1998 as a<br />

manufacturer of fi eldproduction<br />

audio products.<br />

Sound Devices’ growing<br />

family of audio mixers,<br />

digital recorders, pre-amps,<br />

and computer interfaces<br />

are now used by production<br />

professionals worldwide.<br />

The company produces digital<br />

recorders such as the 744T<br />

and 788T, for documentary<br />

and feature fi lm production,<br />

sound effects gathering,<br />

and live music multi-channel<br />

recordings.<br />

www.sounddevices.com<br />

TASCAM/TEAC<br />

PROFESSIONAL<br />

TASCAM is one of four<br />

divisions of TEAC Corporation,<br />

a $1.2 billion manufacturing<br />

company headquartered<br />

in Japan.<br />

During TASCAM’s formative<br />

years in the early 1970s,<br />

the music scene was<br />

fl ourishing, but musicians<br />

were restricted by the expense<br />

of professional recording.<br />

It was the company’s goal<br />

to manufacture affordable<br />

recording equipment that<br />

offered the quality of<br />

professional studio equipment.<br />

Recent recording products<br />

include the award winning DV-<br />

RA1000HD; and the DR-1 and<br />

GT-R1 portable recorders, plus<br />

new launches at NAMM 2009.<br />

www.tascam.com<br />

VB AUDIO<br />

VB <strong>Audio</strong> has been producing<br />

audio tools for the industry<br />

since 1999. It produces<br />

the M128 software-based<br />

recorder, designed from<br />

the ground-up to be robust,<br />

fl exible, and top-quality.<br />

www.vb-audio.com<br />

YAMAHA<br />

Over the past 100 years,<br />

Yamaha has grown from the<br />

manufacturer of Japanese<br />

reed organs to a multinational<br />

corporation with<br />

a huge range of products.<br />

<strong>Audio</strong> products from this<br />

company include the AW1600<br />

and AW2400 digital audio<br />

workstations. The AW2400<br />

is the fl agship of the AW line<br />

with 24 simultaneous tracks<br />

of playback, and motorised<br />

100mm faders. New from<br />

Yamaha is the Pocketrak 2G, a<br />

handheld digital recorder with<br />

internal stereo microphone.<br />

www.yamaha.com<br />

YELLOWTEC<br />

Yellowtec is a brand of the<br />

German-based Thum + Mahr<br />

GmbH, one of Europe’s<br />

leading system integrators for<br />

broadcast faciities.<br />

Yellowtec’s slogan is ‘simple<br />

and smart’, with the defi ning<br />

principle of keeping its<br />

products simple to use. All of<br />

its products, including the iXm<br />

recording microphone, refl ect<br />

this design notion.<br />

www.yellowtec.com<br />

YOU/COM<br />

You/Com started out as a<br />

trading company, supplying<br />

data-and telecoms solutions<br />

to the corporate industry.<br />

Today, the company is also a<br />

manufacturer of hi-fi audiocommunication<br />

equipment.<br />

The ReporterMate is a<br />

PCMCIA Flash-card recorder<br />

with FTP audio transfer and<br />

non-destructive editing. It also<br />

features a mixer with gain,<br />

compression, limiter, and a<br />

voice-over mixing function.<br />

www.youcom.nl<br />

ZAXCOM<br />

Zaxcom was founded in 1986<br />

by Glenn Sanders, a postproduction<br />

professional who<br />

saw a need for equipment<br />

to create a more effi cient<br />

workfl ow. Zaxcom designs and<br />

manufactures professional<br />

audio equipment such as Deva<br />

hard disk recorders, for the<br />

television and fi lm industries.<br />

It claims the fi rst digital<br />

wireless microphone and<br />

the fi rst wireless microphone<br />

to feature integrated audio<br />

recording.<br />

www.zaxcom.com<br />

ZOOM<br />

Zoom is a Japanese audio<br />

company that produces<br />

equipment for both the<br />

consumer and professional<br />

markets. Its product inventory<br />

includes effects pedals for<br />

guitars and basses, location<br />

recorders, drum machines, and<br />

microchip processors. Recent<br />

recording products from Zoom<br />

include the H2 and the H4<br />

Handy Recorder; a handheld<br />

digital audio recorder,<br />

featuring built-in condenser<br />

microphones in an X-Y stereo<br />

pattern.<br />

www.zoom.co.jp<br />

THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDERS BUYER’S GUIDE 23

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PERFORMANCE<br />

16ch mULTITRACK recorder + USB / FireWire interface<br />

www.allen-heath.com allenheathofficial<br />

allen_heath<br />

CAPTURED<br />

Record direct to USB drive digital multitrack from AN analogue desk 16 x16 interface<br />

16 analogue inputs (1/4” TRS jacks)<br />

16 analogue outputs (RCA connectors)<br />

Front USB socket for quick capturing to USB mass storage devices<br />

Hybrid FireWire (IEEE1394) / USB2.0 16x16 audio interface<br />

Industry standard, broadcast WAV file format<br />

Up to 6 hours of 16 channel audio on a 32GB USB stick<br />

Signal present and peak LED metering on each channel<br />

ICE-16 makes multitrack recording easy. Forget all that fiddling<br />

around at the back of clunky HD recorders or messing about with<br />

soundcard drivers. ICE-16 lets you capture a high quality 16 track<br />

digital recording straight to a USB drive.<br />

ICE-16 is also a powerful 16x16 audio interface capable of studio<br />

quality recording over high-speed USB or FireWire, so you can<br />

record and play back multichannel audio with or without your<br />

computer.<br />

Whether it’s a live band, a studio session, a conference or a<br />

rehearsal, ICE-16 captures the performance.<br />

ALLEN&HEATH