Resolution V6.4 May/June 2007 by Resolution

AUDIO FOR POST, BROADCAST, RECORDING AND MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTION

MaY/JUne 2007 V6.4

What Irish broadcaster RTE is doing with a Midas XL8 Bob Clearmountain — the man who wrote the book on mixing Giles Martin on Love, production and his dad Why IPTV means television just got smarter Cutting a cool jazz niche in Bergamo with Cavò Ten reasons why the singer’s not performing REVIEWS: Korg MR-1000 + MR-1 • Apogee Rosetta 800 + Symphony Altiverb 6X L • Beyer M160 • Edirol R-09 • Euphonix Hybrid • Syncheck II

Designed to Adapt Nature has come up with clever ways to let some animals adapt quickly to their environments. At Genelec our new 8200 / 7200 DSP Series also have the ability to adapt to their environment, by design. AutoCal™, Genelec’s optimisation software takes into account level, distance and 8-band equalization to adapt each monitor loudspeaker to its immediate environment. What’s more it does it as a system with network control of up to 30 adaptable loudspeakers, including subwoofers.

For Mac and PC

On screen, GLM software uses its Interactive Response Editor to give visual indication, loudspeaker-by-loudspeaker, of exactly what the response of each loudspeaker is.

In 1978 Genelec brought active monitoring to the professional audio world. An essential part of our active design is the room response controls. They are included in every Genelec analogue model to help integrate them to the listening environment. To further this, Genelec Product Specialists travel the world providing system calibration services to ensure optimum monitoring performance for our large system customers. The Genelec DSP Series now brings this commitment, along with our acoustical knowledge and experience, directly to every customer. AutoCal™, cleverly designed to give you the room to adapt.

www.g enelec.com

May/June 2007 V6.4 ISSn 1477-4216 AUDIO FOR POST, BROADCAST, RECORDING AND MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTION

News & Analysis 4

Leader

News Sales, contracts, appointments and biz bites.

Craft 14

Lindberg Lyd Norwegian facility for remote recording with studio based editing and mastering specialises in classical and surround.

Bob Clearmountain The man who wrote the book on mixing talks technique and how Bruce listens in New Jersey while he mixes in LA.

62 69

Products New introductions and announcements. Headroom

Word clock voltage, Quad Bells and ﬁ sh-themed bands.

Sweet spot We take a room with some nagging minor evolutionary acoustic issues and address them through clever monitoring.

Giles Martin The son of the father of modern production on why there can be too much emphasis on studios, producers and engineers.

Broadcast

Irish broadcaster RTE married sound ﬁ nancial and engineering judgement to buy a Midas XL8 for its The Late, Late Show.

Cavò Studio Italian studio captures cool jazz sounds from around the world in beautiful Bergamo.

Ten

Reasons why the singer isn’t performing.

Business 66

Television just got smarter with IPTV

A new breed of TV service enables us to choose what, when and on which appliance you watch.

Technology 64

Your business Postproduction basks in success while music struggles, but digital has a way of evening it all out in the end.

60 years of AKG We look at some of its technological

achievements and contributions.

Reviews

Slaying Dragons

John argues that the environmental issue affects all of us and we can all do something about it.

Korg MR-1000 + MR-1

Pharoah Syncheck II

Euphonix Hybrid

TL Audio M1

DTS-HD Master Audio Suite

Audio Ease Altiverb 6XL

Apogee Rosetta 800 + Symphony

Beyer M160

Edirol R-09

eDItorIaL editorial Director: Zenon Schoepe tel: +44 1444 410675 email: zen@resolutionmag.com editorial ofﬁce: Po Box 531, Haywards Heath rH16 4WD, UK Contributors: rob James, George Shilling, Jon thornton, Keith Spencer-allen, neil Hillman, nigel Jopson, andy Day, Philip newell, Bob Katz, Dan Daley, John Watkinson

aDVertISeMent SaLeS european Sales, Clare Sturzaker, tel: +44 1342 717459 email: clare@resolutionmag.com US Sales, Jeff turner, tel: +1 415 455 8301 email: jeff@resolutionmag.com

ProDUCtIon anD LaYoUt Dean Cook, Dean Cook Productions, tel: +44 1273 467579 email: dean@resolutionmag.com

news appointments

Webster, Gordon, Doyle. DIGICo (UK) Ltd’s former MD Bob Doyle has become chief executive, while senior sales director James Gordon has assumed the role of MD. The remainder of the management team comprises marketing director David Webster and technical director John Stadius. Webster will additionally guide the company’s manufacturing and technical operations while Stadius will have increased responsibility for the expansion of DiGiCo connectivity, including SDI and HDI I-O rack modules, which is planned for launch this year. ‘I’ve enjoyed my time as MD,’ said Bob, ‘but now I want to get back to what I like best and what I’m best at, which is spending more time with distributors and customers. I’ll continue to assist with the company’s strategic thinking going forward.’ aKG aCoUStICS has appointed Ralf Ts c h a n u n a s v i c e president of sales. Heading up the entire global sales team, he will be based in AKG’s Vienna ofﬁ ce and will report directly to president Stefan Gubi. Tschanun has previously worked for IBM and Cisco. UWe SeYfert has b e e n a p p o i n t e d sales manager for CEDAR Deutschland. A qualified sound e n g i n e e r f r o m Düsseldorf University, Seyfert has worked with CEDAR since 1993, ﬁ rst at Mediacom, and then for eight years as head of sales at CEDAR’s former distributor, For-Tune. C r o W L e Y a n D Tr i p p , U S manufacturers of ribbon microphones, has appointed Digital Audio Service in Hamburg as its distributor in Germany. aPI aUDIo has appointed Mix Wave as its distributor in Japan.

©2007 S2 Publications Ltd. all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Great care is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication, but neither

Leader

the concept of return on investment sits a little uncomfortably in the faster, cheaper and supposedly smarter technological climate in which we live. Yet it’s one of the surest measures of quality that we still have and to acknowledge it is to fly in the face of much that is presented as new and therefore better. If we are honest about it, then a lack of appreciation of return on investment owes more to modern accountancy practices than it does to attitudes towards audio quality but a number of crucial factors have to be in place for it to be realisable. Products need to have back up and on-going support and, by extrapolation, longer than now average product life cycles. the product technology also has to be mature enough and open enough — not always something you will find together — to be supportable, which in turn invokes further accountantunfriendly on-going expense. the product must also be pivotal enough in a facility’s workflow for these sorts of parameters to be valid and appropriate. You also have to have a qualifying degree of economic muscle to even contemplate such a longer-term investment and the unanimous enthusiasm of operational staff to persuade the bean counters that they should be thinking in these terms. this often also means that the money being spent is someone else’s — and a lot of it. all of us aim to spend money wisely, yet too often this translates into buying what is construed as the best value for money at the time of purchase rather than the best we can afford with an eye on longer-term return. that requires a particular type of mindset when we’re talking about buying audio tools for our work and efficiency. every new PC comes with a free low-quality Qwerty keyboard but why should anyone who uses a keyboard all day, every day want to use one when a better quality item would make operation more pleasurable, more accurate and will ultimately last longer? Saying that you can just throw the old one away and get another purely proves my point. It’s a waste of money at the most rudimentary of levels and betrays an attitude that probably permeates all the way up the sound chain. It probably means that you wouldn’t even contemplate a worksurface that could replace the keyboard altogether for the common tasks. Such an attitude does nothing for your return on investment and ultimately, through market forces, will play its part in reducing the options you will be able to choose from longer term. We are at a crucial technological point where quality professional audio tools still exist that have a clear, quantifiable return on investment and a direct bearing on productivity and efficiency. the decisions we all make now on appreciating, acknowledging and buying these types of product will have a massive influence on where our industry goes. think bigger. Zenon Schoepe

MC2 Audio and XTA merge MC Audio and XTA Electronics have merged to create a new UK-based group, which also includes Quested Monitoring Systems. Ian McCarthy, one of the founders of MC2 Audio, will head-up the group as MD with Terry Clarke, co-founder of MC2 Audio, and John Austin, co-founder of XTA, acting as technical directors, each with responsibility for their own field of expertise. Roger Quested will continue as technical director for Quested. Andrew Grayland, co-founder of XTA, is to pursue other interests. ‘Of course Andrew will be missed and we wish him all 2

S2 Publications Ltd or the editor can be held responsible for its contents. the views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Publishers. Printed by the Grange Press, Butts rd, Southwick, West Sussex, Bn42 4eJ.

the best for the future,’ said Ian McCarthy, ‘but we are also hoping that he will keep in contact with the new group and act for us on a consultancy basis from time to time. ‘The possibility of merging MC2 Audio and XTA had been mooted among the Directors of the individual companies from time to time over the past couple of years,’ said McCarthy, ‘so it is with great pleasure that we are able to make this announcement. I feel that each one of the companies will benefit greatly from this move and now look forward to the challenge of taking the group forward.’

S2 Publications Ltd. registered in england and Wales. Company number: 4375084. registered ofﬁce: equity House, 128-136 High Street, edgware, Middlesex Ha8 7tt.

resolution

IABM partners in India Expo The IABM has announced an agreement with Infocast Systems Pvt Ltd and the Indian Media Group (IMG) to launch an international conference and exhibition event. The first International Broadcast Expo (IBE) will be staged at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon (E), Mumbai from 25-27 October and annually thereafter. The move follows research that shows that the Indian market for professional broadcast and media technology products is worth more than US$200 million and is growing at more than 10% per annum.

Linear Acoustics joins Telos Group

Carroll (left) and Foti. Linear Acoustic has become a member of the Telos Group where it joins Axia, Omnia and Telos. Linear Acoustic provides solutions for distributing and processing multichannel TV sound. Terms of the merger were not disclosed. ‘We have spent five years developing successful digital audio processors and infrastructure products for the international television community,’ said Linear Acoustics president Tim Carroll. ‘There are clear and exciting synergies with what we are doing and their capabilities.’ ‘Tim and I have known each for a number of years, and we respect his company’s work,’ said Frank Foti, Omnia president. ‘We look forward with eager anticipation to the opportunities offered by our new partnership.’

Air Management formed

Air Studios (Lyndhurst) Ltd has launched of a new division called Air Management to represent engineers currently employed by Air Studios. ‘This is a creative move so that the interests of the engineers at Air can be developed in a managed way cultivating their individual skills while providing a career path for the developing assistants,’ explained MD Richard Boote.

SUBSCrIBe www.resolutionmag.com annual Subscriptions: UK £37.00, europe £46.00, rest of the World £53.00

May/June 2007

news

orf’s SK3 is live in multichannel The National Association of Broadcasters’ attendance figures for NAB2007 show 108,232 total attendees compared to 105,046 in 2006. There were 26,824 inter national attendees this year compared to 25,537 in 2005.

Otte and Sonifex MD Marcus Brooke. SonIfeX IS now distributed in Germany exclusively through Orange Tec, a new company founded by Ulrich Otte. With a history of sales in pro audio and audio broadcast spanning more than 20 years, Otte has worked for Audio Export, MTM Marko and SADiE GmbH, before setting up his own company.

Ableton and Cycling ’74 partner Ableton and Cycling ’74 have entered into a strategic partnership and will join forces to create new software products. ‘We are excited to team up with our friends at Cycling ’74,’ said Ableton CEO and cofounder Gerhard Behles. ‘David Zicarelli has founded an innovative company that develops exceptional audio and video tools. We feel they share our understanding of and vision for the creative technology market.’ ‘Ableton has a strong sense of usercentred design that has truly inspired all of us,’ said Cycling ’74 founder and CEO David Zicarelli. ‘We look forward to collaborating with them to develop a new generation of media tools.’

Sony Oxford plug-ins rebrands as Sonnox Sony Oxford Plugins is now trading under the name of Sonnox. In addition to continuing to support and promote the existing range of Oxford Plug-ins, the new company will also expand the product line. ‘The Sony Oxford Plugins reputation for quality and performance reﬂ ects the pedigree of our products,’ said Sonnox MD, Rod Densham. ‘As an independent company with global recognition, we are dedicated to improving and expanding these tools. We are confident Sonnox can look forward to a future of continued growth, starting with the launch of our Native versions for Audio Units and VST.’ Sonnox sales and marketing manager Nathan Eames added that an expansion of the sales and marketing team is planned. ‘We are in a great position to continue in our quest in making Oxford Plugins the name in high quality audio processing,’ he said. ‘Our engineering, management and marketing teams represent a unique combination of product knowledge, industry awareness and decades of professional audio experience.’

appointments

orf postproduction studio SK 3 is the third in a series of total refurbishments of studios at the national public broadcaster of austria. all three feature room acoustic design by the Viennese specialist tonarchitektur Willensdorfer. Whereas studios SK 1 and SK 2 centre around Lawo mc282 consoles, SK 3 boasts an mc266. non-linear workstations are Pro tools HD2 and nuendo. the control room has 5.1 monitoring using ﬁve Studer a5s (now distributed under the PSI audio brand) and two Mackie HrS 120 subwoofers. the secret weapon in SK 3 is the trinnov optimizer DSP-based loudspeaker and room response correction tool. Lighting for the daylight room is provided by rGB luminescent tubes, which can provide a variety of different colour moods. Participants at the aeS Convention at the austria Centre in Vienna (May 5-8) will be able to visit the orf tV Centre and listen to demo examples in all three surround studios that underline orf’s role as a leader in surround sound broadcasting in europe.

Harman hits the road Harman Pro UK, British distributor for the Harman group of manufacturers, has announced venues for its 2007 product roadshows, which are taking place at Temple Bar Music Centre Dublin on 14 May, Stanley Theatre Liverpool University on 16 May, and at the Academy of Contemporary Music Guildford on 18 May. The roadshows give dealers and endusers the opportunity to check out the latest products from AKG, Crown, dbx, BSS, JBL, Soundcraft, and Lexicon. Harman will have product specialists on hand to give presentations and to engage in question and answer sessions. All interested parties are welcome to attend free of charge and to register at www.harmanprouk.com/roadshow/

SoUnD DeVICeS has added Yelena A k h r a m k o v, B r i a n Flinn, and Tim Goihl to its staff. Yelena comes from Shure where she was principal engineer — software development. She has more than 15 years experience in software development. Brian is an audio engineer and DSP p ro g r a m m e r w i t h nearly 30 years of experience in the a u d i o i n d u s t r y. H e h a s w o r k e d f o r S h u re , K n i g h t Audio, Innovative Electronics Designs, Electro-Voice, Intersonics, and Crown International. Tim comes to Sound Devices from Hi-Techniques where he was system architect, designing data acquisition products. He has more than 20 years experience in digital hardware and fi rmware development, as well as DSP algorithm development. BrIan PeterS has joined Metric Halo a s t h e c o m p a n y ’s fi rst fi eld application engineer. Peters is a classically trained musician and an audio engineer with credits on more than 500 recordings.

Subscribe now online at www.resolutionmag.com UK £37 • Europe £46 • Rest of the World £53

May/June 2007

resolution

news appointments SCV IS distributing Millennia Music and Media Systems products in the UK.

Largest aMS-neve for fox

LaWo nortH America and Dale Pro Audio have announced a partnership to provide additional sales and service facilities for the Lawo range in the US. Herbert Lemcke, president of Lawo North America, said the longer term plan is to develop the distribution of Lawo in key areas of the US and to establish a service support network for its increasing customer base. BeYerDYnaMIC HaS seen turnover g r o w m o r e t h a n 17% in 2006 with e x p e c t a t i o n s b e i n g e x c e e d e d for the fourth year running with growth in all areas, including investments and new product development. The Heilbronn headquarters has taken on more than 40 employees in production, development and sales. ‘The long term future is looking bright, with the prospect of a doubleﬁ gure increase in turnover once again in 2007,’ said Beyerdynamic GmbH MD Wolfgang Luckhardt (pictured).

Davidson and founding director Tim Summerhayes. fLeetWooD MoBILeS in the UK has appointed Ian Davidson as commercial director. He takes over from Ian Dyckhoff who left the company in February to pursue new opportunities within the industry. Davidson has managed Townhouse, Olympic Studios and Manor Mobiles. He was also operations director at Abbey Road Studios and more recently De Lane Lea Studios. StanLeY ProDUCtIonS in London has been appointed sole distributor of MAM-A products for the UK and Europe. MAM-A is a manufacturer of recordable CDs and DVDs. tHoMaS MarCHer has been appointed s a l e s d i r e c t o r o f Klotz Digital Asia. He joins from DIS Thailand where he was the area sales manager and prior to this he worked for TC Electronics and helped set up its China ofﬁ ce.

Back row (l-r): Jay Palmer, Fox; Jeremy Stappard, Audio Agent; Stacey Robinson, Fox; Andy Nelsen, Fox; Francisco Paredes, Neve. Front row (l-r): Denis St Amand, Fox; John Hart, Audio Agent. 20th Century fox has installed the world’s largest aMS-neve analogue console, a custom 96-input 88rS, in its newman Scoring Stage. the decision to buy the 88rS was made after input from leading recording and mix engineers, including Shawn Murphy, armin Steiner, Dennis Sands, Bobby fernandez, Bruce Botnick, Danny Wallin and alan Meyerson. ‘the realness of what you hear in the control room versus on stage is incredible,’ said scoring mixer armin Steiner, who was among the first to mix on the console. ‘the clarity of this console brings out an apparent loudness in level, and I haven’t heard bottom end like this since I started scoring here 30 years ago. the imaging integrity of the mix bus is perhaps this console’s greatest attribute, along with its operational flexibility.’ ‘It’s essentially two consoles for the price of one, since we can assign the first 48 tracks to the main recording system and still have 36 scoring stem buses,’ said Denis Saint-amand, scoring project engineer at fox. ‘and we now have the ability to mix in a highly automated environment, further adding to the flexibility of the stage.’

Genelec scores Eurovision winner Genelec is to provide all the monitoring systems at the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be broadcast live by the Finnish national broadcaster YLE from Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena on May 12. YLE has already had a long collaboration with Genelec, having employed Genelec monitoring systems for more than 25 years in its studios. Genelec 8200 and 7200 DSP Series Monitors with GLM (Genelec Loudspeaker Management) and AutoCal have been requested by YLE for all ‘mission critical’ areas. The monitors are ideal for temporary set ups as they automatically measure, analyse and calibrate to compensate for less-than-perfect room acoustics. ‘The first time I heard Genelec 8000series speakers, I instantly knew that these were a hit product,’ said Eurovision Song Contest 2007 audio designer, Pasi Vatunen. ‘The improvement they offered, especially in high-mid and high frequencies

was remarkable. When the DSP series with Genelec’s Loudspeaker Management (GLM) and AutoCal software came out, I knew this was the way to go. The troubles with room acoustics in low and low-mid frequencies are dealt with very efﬁ ciently with GLM’s Auto Calibration. ‘We will building a temporary Music Mixing Control Room for the Helsinki Arena for the Eurovision Song Contest final and the DSP models are a perfect solution to achieve proper monitoring in these conditions. We will use a Genelec 8250A series and a 7271A subwoofer for 5.1 music mixing and the same set up in the Viewing Room, where artists will hear their rehearsals played back.’ The speaker set–ups are: Master Control Room 8240A/7270A 5.1 system; VIP Area 1034B/BC, 1038B and 7073A 5.1 system; Green Room four pairs of 8250A; Media Centre 1035Bs, EuroClub at Vanha Yo-talo 8250A /7271A 5.1 system.

resolution

Buzzy’s leads LA post with three CC-1s Buzzy’s Recording in Los Angeles recently purchased three Fairlight Dream II SatelliteAV systems with CC-1 to replace MFX3+ products that have served the facility for more than eight years. Since its beginnings in 1976, Buzzy’s has earned a reputation as a top voiceover studio with talent ranging from James Earl Jones to Orson Welles to Mel Blanc. ‘We have clients from around the world, many of whom are other recording studios,’ said chief engineer Andy Morris. ‘They’re working with various types of system and various formats, which requires us to be flexible from client to client. Fairlight enables us to deliver solutions that are specific to each individual project, an approach that has been a cornerstone of our success over the past 31 years. ‘The stability of a system enables us to facilitate the performances of the talent,’ Morris said. ‘Technology is intended to simplify the process, to allow the artists and engineers to think and work in the moment. We make a point of keeping distractions to a minimum, in terms of the physical environment and the technology. Fairlight has developed products that are not only fast and versatile, they’re also practical.’

NOB Studios renamed nobeo GmbH NOB Studios GmbH, Hürth has been renamed as nobeo GmbH to coincide with its massive investment in modern highdefi nition TV production technology. The service provider for TV productions, which belonged to the Dutch UBF Media Group since 2004, has completed its separation from the former parent company NOB, Hilversum (Netherlands). The renaming of NOB Studios GmbH became essential when French company Technicolor, a member of the Thomson group, took over Dutch NOB including all rights to the name, and Technicolor considered the idea of entering the German market under the name of NOB. The company’s new name was announced at the opening ceremony in March of its new high-definition control centre in nobeo’s Studio 6 as well as the Lofthaus, a new facility of nobeo GmbH combining offi ces and storerooms. The new control centre Regie 6 is the first permanent production centre for HDTV in Germany and Studio 6 also houses the world’s fi rst Lawo mc290 console. ‘With nobeo we have found a name w h i c h a l l o w s u s t o c o n t i n u e o u r outstanding previous development without interruption,’ said Christoph von Borries, manager of nobeo GmbH. ‘It continues to build on this success while opening up new possibilities. For example, we are planning to extend our outside production activities in the near future under our new name.’

May/June 2007

%>P@FK>QBA P@FBKQFPQP PFK@B

%>P@FK>QBP PLRKA BKDFKBBOP QLA>V

-L @LJMOLJFPBP 6EBK MBOCB@QFLK FP QEB DL>I QEBOB FP LKIV LKB @LKSFK@FKD >KPTBO QEB J@ COLJ +>TL !B@>RPB QEB J@ DR>O>KQBBP QEB ?BPQ MLPPF?IB OBPRIQ FK QEB JLPQ @E>IIBKDFKD MOLAR@QFLK PFQR>QFLKP KA ?B@>RPB QEFP KBT QLM LC QEB O>KDB @LKPLIB PBQP KBT PQ>KA>OAP c QE>KHP QL FQP J>UFJRJ CIBUF?FIFQV ALR?IB OBARKA>K@V RM QL MEVPF@>I C>ABOP >KA FQP FKQRFQFSB RPBO @LKQOLI FKQBOC>@B

6BI@LJB QL QEB KBUQ DBKBO>QFLK LC >RAFL QB@EKLILDV 6BI@LJB QL +>TL

$2 5FBKK> QE QE ,>V '>II 7 !LLQE -L

+>TL & e 1>PQ>QQ &BOJ>KV e e T T T I>TL A B

news Sky high with Jamiroquai

appointments

(l-r) Peter Cochrane and Ken Kyle o f M a d i s o n Te c h n o l o g i e s a n d Jim Hallington and Rod Geary of Clockaudio. BrItISH MICroPHone manufacturer Clockaudio has appointed three new international distribution partners. Madison Technologies, Audiotonas and Ten Integrated Systems take on responsibility for sales and marketing in Australia, Lithuania and Thailand respectively. StUDer HaS appointed a new distributor for its products in Sweden. Norwegian importer and sales agency LydRommet is to open a new company based in Stockholm — LydRommet Sverige — to take over responsibility for all service and support. ‘Although Norway is a small country, LydRommet has created one of Studer’s most successful markets here,’ said LydRommet’s president Christian Wille. ‘We have sold 15 Vista Series consoles into the broadcast and theatre sectors here, as well as many other largeformat digital and analogue Studer desks. Drawing on our main technical resource in Oslo, we feel that we can bring our expertise and experience to be of beneﬁ t to the professional audio community in Sweden.’ KeItH HUtCHInSon has joined theatre s o u n d s p e c i a l i s t Orbital as project m a n a g e r. H e h a s worked for Darlington Civic Theatre and on numerous musical productions in the UK and across the world, including Fosse, Miss Saigon, Jerry Springer, Blue Man Group, Mamma Mia, Phantom of the Opera and more than 10,000 pantomimes.

Speaking at the recent studioexpresso Making Music for Success seminar held for musicians in Santa Monica are (l-r) producer and engineer Eddie Kramer; founder and president of studioexpresso, Claris Sayadian-Dodge; Brad Lunde, president TransAudio Group and LasVegasProAudio.

Jamiroquai broke several world records when they performed a gig on a plane to Greece. Sound engineer Rick Pope chose a Focusrite Saffire PRO to record the performance before a selected audience of mostly competition-winning Jamiroquai fans. Apparently it was the highest gig in the world, the longest distance travelled during a gig and the fastest gig in the world. Mediaset’s Alberto Cotronei and Mauro Bucchia from A&DT. In rome, Italian private tV network operator Mediaset has chosen a 42-fader Studer Vista 8 for its newly-built premier audio production studio, and has said that all its new studios will be similarly equipped. Mediaset is already using a Vista 8 for news programming on Canale 5 and the installation of a second Vista 8 in a new block on the Cinecitta lot is the ﬁrst time the console has been used for production.

Variety is spice of life for RTE

Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE is using a Calrec Alpha Bluefin to broadcast the world’s longest running chat show The Late Late Show (see p58). Installed in Studio 4 in Dublin, the 80-fader console provides audio for the weekly live show and is also the base for RTE’s election coverage and any big one-off event programming. The Alpha is RTE’s fourth Calrec digital desk as it also operates 32-fader Sigmas in Studios 3, 6 and 8. ‘Having used three Sigma consoles over the last four years, we knew how well Calrec desks worked on current affairs, news and sports programming,’ said RTE’s senior sound supervisor Ian Pike. ‘The desk setup, mix-minus and GPIO interfaces have all proved particularly useful in day-to-day operation. ‘The purchase of our first Alpha with Blueﬁ n last August was our ﬁ rst opportunity

to go digital on variety programmes,’ he said. ‘The sound of the console, as you would except from Calrec, is excellent. But the free confi gurability of the Bluefi n channel inputs makes life much simpler in that there are just so many. Features like the memory setups, VCA grouping and having the TFT screens confi gured to see every single input and output has made our jobs so much easier.’ • Birmingham-based OB specialists 021 Television has bought Alpha with Bluefi n and Sigma with Bluefi n consoles for two brand new HD units. Launched in January, Unit 8 is a double expander and features a 60-fader Alpha with Bluefi n desk. A 60fader Sigma with Bluefi n will feature in Unit 7, a brand new single expander unit. Both trucks complement 021’s current roster of fi ve scanners, four of which contain Calrec S2 analogue consoles.

resolution

‘We had a full band, six musicians and three backing singers,’ explained Pope. ‘They only took out two rows or three rows of seats for us. It was basically where you come in through the main door and we had a 10.5ft by 9.5ft square to set up in! ‘I needed to record the gig and needed something standalone and FireWire because it was all done on batteries as obviously there was no mains in the plane. So I needed something that would power off FireWire from my computer and the Safﬁ re PRO 26i/o was the ﬁ rst thing that came to mind. ‘It was simple once it was up and running: standalone, just hit record, go and that was it. It did everything I wanted it to do and was ideal for the gig because everything had to be scaled down. I had a really tiny desk that you could rest on your lap, a laptop and this little 1U bit of kit which was compact, small and sonically sounded great.’

Marantz captures Moroccan memories A p r o j e c t t o r e c o r d t h e h i s t o r y o f B r i t a i n ’s M o r o c c a n c o m m u n i t y is underway, thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Project organiser the Migrant and Refugee Communities’ Forum (MRCF) has chosen to use a ﬂ eet of Marantz PMD660 portable solid state recorders for all acquisition. Seventeen field-workers will conduct interviews with three generations of Moroccan migrants across the UK, which will ultimately be stored in the National Sound Archive at the British Library.

May/June 2007

news Biz Bites

tHe StaPLe topics of biz bites and topics of biz bites and business articles since Resolution V1.5 suddenly became hot items for discussion in the mainstream press this April, writes Nigel Jopson. The UK’s Financial Times led with: ‘Brussels targets Apple’s iTunes site — Music Service breaks antitrust rules, says regulator.’ The Mail reported on the threat of a £330m fine from the European regulator and the Express dug deep for a jaunty headline ‘Apple out of tune on UK prices.’ It seems someone in the EC antitrust ofﬁ ce had, after a few espressos too many at a Grote Maarkt café, actually removed a calculator from their drawer and discovered that €0.99 = £0.67, not £0.79 — which is what iTunes charges per download in the UK. Now it’s not only the Norwegian legislators who are angry with Steve Jobs, as the competition commissioner’s spokesman complained that Apple was ‘violating the treaty’s rules prohibiting restrictive business practices,’ but pointedly observed the allegations related to price differences, and was nothing to do with interoperability between players. Apple maintains it always wanted to operate a pan-European store, but was advised by music publishers there were legal limits to the rights they could grant.

Steve Jobs visited the UK for a press conference of a different nature: the Apple boss posed with EMI Chairman Eric Nicoli as he announced the UK label was removing DRM (Digital Rights Management) constraints from its downloads, and Apple was going to sell them at a 20p premium. EMI’s CEO said: ‘We believe that offering consumers the opportunity to buy higher quality tracks and listen to them on the device or platform of their choice will boost sales of digital music.’ The premium digital format for this new strategy? Good old MP3! I should be jumping up and down with joy, having been recommending this approach since 2002. But I think Eric Nicoli, still nicknamed ‘the biscuit man’ by some media analysts who doubted his ability to run a record company (EMI’s share price sank 3%

Justin gets his own Icon

former Darkness front man Justin Hawkins has bought a Pro tools/Icon system from HHB. Comprising a 32-fader D-Control console, Pro tools HD3, extensive storage and a suite of plug-ins, the system forms the heart of his recording facility in north West London. Justin initially approached Greg Wheeler at HHB to help specify the larger system. ‘the HHB team has been great to deal with right from the start,’ said Hawkins. ‘Greg was able to advise me on exactly what I needed and the installation went very smoothly. the after sales service is every bit as good with Dean Wilmarsh on hand at a moment’s notice to ﬁx the few inevitable teething problems we’ve had.’ • In austria, broadcaster orf has purchased more than 70 HHB flashMics, including eight of the new DrM85-C cardioid models. other broadcasters buying into the technology include the BBC, BSkyB and Capital radio in the UK; nHK tokyo and SBS South Korea in asia; al Jazeera in the Middle Andrea Maiwald from ORF Radio. east; aftrS Sydney radio and aaP in australia; and Danish Broadcasting, nrK norway and radio france in europe.

Pyramix in Library of Congress The Washingtonbased Library of Congress recently acquired several P y r a m i x D A W s , each built around a Merging Mykerinos MB5 card with an AES-EBU digital output daughterboard. The DAWs are being installed in the Library’s new facilities at the National Audio Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia, where staff will be using them to digitise the Library’s audio collections and creating high-quality preservation fi les. • New York postproduction facility Sound One has bought a VCube video playback system. ‘We use Digidesign Pro Tools systems for our postproduction dubbing and rerecording, but we couldn’t load highdefinition digital video files onto those systems without purchasing extra hardware,’ commented Sound One’s chief engineer Avi Laniado. ‘More and more, our clients work in a non-linear editing environment with high-resolution materials, and output high-defi nition QuickTime fi les for us to work from. We wanted a digital video playback system that could deal with the widest possible range of existing standarddefi nition formats, and the ability to handle all the incoming high-defi nition ones too.’

Yamaha AD8HR for revamped ITV Wales newsroom

Vi6 in OB van ﬁrst

DIGI TV Mobiltelevision in Germany has become the ﬁ rst company in the world to install Soundcraft’s new Vi6 console into an OB vehicle. The 16-camera OB3 is regularly used for sporting event coverage and contains separate production rooms for audio control, video production, video control and an editing/VTR studio. ‘This van has been booked for broadcasting a lot of skiing events (Nordische Kombination,

Skispringen) for the two major TV networks in Germany (ARD and ZDF) during the winter months,’ said audio engineer Michael Lindermeir. ‘Working daily with the console, there were two aspects of operation that I found most convincing. First, the reliability and stable performance of the system during our on-air productions; secondly, the ﬂ exible, quick and easy handling made possible by the Vistonics II concept.’

resolution

The news studio at the ITV Wales headquarters in Cardiff has been upgraded as the latest stage in ITV’s ongoing £40m refurbishment of its regional news services. The studio is responsible for broadcasting ITV Wales ﬂ agship evening news programme Wales Tonight, along with regional bulletins inserted into main ITV news programmes and the 3.5-hour GMTV breakfast programme. Yamaha AD8HR preamps for the studio microphones were selected for being remote controllable preamps with AD convertors. The control rooms for the new facility were incorporated into the newsroom itself, 150m away from the studio from which the bulletins are broadcast. ‘The studio uses a digital Calrec Zeta as its main console and Calrec also makes a remote interface that we could have used,’ said system engineer Phil Cooper of installer TSL. ‘However, the studio also has a backup console and they wanted to be able to manually patch the mics into that, if necessary.’

May/June 2007

news Biz Bites on the appointment of the former boss of McVitie’s snack group United Biscuits), has made a cynical business move designed for short-term gain. Troubled EMI is currently a take-over target for Warners, this publicity could raise the price tag, and WMG would be put in a position of deciding whether to continue with DRM-free music or face negative publicity by reinstituting an all-DRM policy, as it did discretely when it acquired the Ryko catalogue last year. Apple stands to gain most — now not even the EC competition commission can accuse it of running a closed system. And the prices . . . D a m o n Albarn’s The Good, The Bad & The Queen: £7.99 on iTunes, £6.49 as a CD from Tesco. As my American grandmother says: go ﬁ gure! Meanwhile the BBC has announced the launch of a year-long test of 3G mobile, TV and radio services with Orange, Vodafone and 3. The test w i l l a l l o w s u b s c r i b e r s a c c e s s t o s t r e a m e d v e r s i o n s o f BBC One and BBC Three, as well as Radio 1, Radio 2 and 6 Music. The UK collection agency MCPS-PRS alliance has reported record 2006 revenues, up 7% to over £335m, from public performance and broadcast of music. And in the US a group of music publishers are suing XM Satellite Radio over the XM+MP3 service, which allows listeners to timeshift shows by recording them. Universal Music has said it is prepared to drop Rondor Music from its catalogue to secure EC approval for its purchase of BMG Music Publishing.

SHoWtIMe AES Europe, Vienna .............. 5-8 May Musikmesse/Pro Light & Sound Russia, St Petersburg ........ 14-17 June BroadcastAsia, Singapore ..19-22 June BIRTV, Beijing ................ 22-25 August IBC, Amsterdam ........7-11 September PLASA, London ..........9-12 September AES US, New York ........... 5-8 October SATIS, Paris .................. 23-25 October Sounddesign, VDT Symposium, Ludwigsburg .. 31 October-2 November SBES, Birmingham ... 14-15 November Interbee, Tokyo ........ 20-22 November

Over 25,000 channels in use.

HV-3R Eight Channel Remote-Control Microphone Preamplifier

HV-3D 8 Eight Channel Microphone Preamplifier

Francis Rossi, co-founder of Status Quo, collector of Koi Carp, Clay pigeon shooter extraordinaire and English pasta-eating record holder, recently purchased PMC IB2s and XB1 subwoofer monitoring powered by Bryston amplification for his personal 24-track home studio. He’s also added a pair of TB2S+ for nearfield duties. Rossi’s co-writer Andrew Bown has also invested in a pair of TB2S-A active nearfields for his own writing studio.

Yellow Sound Lab chooses ACS control

HV-3D 4 Four Channel Microphone Preamplifier

HV-3C Stereo Microphone Preamplifier

M-2B Transformerless Class A Vacuum Tube Stereo Microphone Preamplifier

NSEQ-2 Twin Toplogy Stereo Parametric Equalizer

ORIGIN STT-1 Twin Topology Recording Channel

Producer/engineer Michael Croiter has opened his Yellow Sound Lab studio in a former hairdressing salon in New York’s East Village based around an Audient ACS8024 console. ‘From the second I thought about expanding my business into a full commercial studio, engineers and sales associates alike were telling me about Audient,’ said Croiter. ‘I knew I wanted to have an analogue console in my Pro Tools environment, and after hearing

the desk, I was very happy with it.’ The ACS8024 expands on control of the ASP8024 console by bringing in the integrated workstation control of a Digidesign Command 8 or Mackie Control Universal control surface into any of the console’s bays. ‘I like the amount of possibilities it offers, the clean signal path and the great stereo compressor. It’s just so well thought out in its design,’ he said.

Ealing Mobile opens post room Ealing Mobile Recording, the full service classical music recording specialist in Chicago, has opened a new postproduction room. In celebration of its Grammy 2007 win in Best Classical Vocal category (they produced and engineered) the new room is to be called ‘Atelier HudSonic’. Centrepiece is a SADiE Series 5 PCM H8M with 1000Gb

of storage and is HudSonic’s third SADiE. It is set up to mix and master stereo and multitrack programmes in digital or analogue with HudSonic’s Neve consoles. Monitoring is from Klein+Hummel while SoundField SurroundZone software, MP4 encoders and evaluation systems from the Frauenhofer Institut assist workﬂ ow.

resolution

TLC-2 TWIN COM Twin Topology Stereo Compressor / Limiter

TD-1 Twin Topology Por table Recording Channel

Call 020 8418 1470 for a 7-day free trial*

Exclusively distributed in the UK by SCV London. Tel: 020 8418 1470 www.scvlondon.co.uk * Terms & Conditions apply. See online for details.

facility

Morten (l) and Hans Peter.

Lindberg Lyd Continuing the theme of reporting on innovative facilities that serve niche markets, Zenon SCHoePe visits oslo and discovers a classical specialist that is big in surround.

tUDIo faCILItIeS GroW from the enthusiasm of those involved, the identification of a market sector that they can compete in and an ability to bring something different to the experience. It’s also handy if you can have a lucky break and be sharp enough to spot the opportunity. In the case of Oslo’s Lindberg Lyd studio, the break was a commission to capture Grieg’s piano and chamber music works for release through a Book Club with a new recording every 14 days. Recording to DAT through two B&K 130V 4003s in a museum at night and editing up the results on Sonic Solutions during the day it was a baptism of fire. Founder Morten Lindberg was at a recording academy at the time and he got the commission because he was one of the few students who understood classical music and could read a score — most of his classmates were more interested in getting into pop studios. Within a year of leaving he had made 45 recordings and achieved a ‘sharp start’ but gained a lot of experience very quickly, met a lot of musicians and got a lot of good references. The series of 24 Grieg records won an award at Midem. They were on their way. Lindberg Lyd is Morten as the business manager of the company, main editor and producer of classical and folk music Jørn Simenstad, and head of engineering Hans Peter L’Orange. All are actively involved in the 14

company’s activities of venue recording, editing, mixing and mastering. They have a studio at their offices and a full-blown self-contained remote recording rig that they take out on a regular basis. There’s also a successful record label — 2L — associated with the output. That initial commission paid for the equipment they needed and allowed them to move on which they did with more 130V 4003 mics and a Genex GX8000. ‘We always tried to think terms of stereo pairs from the onset and all our balancing was done with the understanding that if you hadn’t placed your mic right you couldn’t fix that in the balancing later. In about 1998 we started to also think in terms of individual tracks,’ says Morten adding that this gave them the opportunity to fine balance in the studio rather than on site. More tracks meant a different editor in a Sadie Artemis and it was around this time that they first started experimenting with surround. They moved up to two Genex GX8500s but in March last year they took a computer to a venue to record for the first time. They now employ Merging’s Pyramix on site and in their studio. ‘We wanted the ﬂexibility of having a multitrack system as we’re not always just doing classical recordings and there were times where it would be convenient to add tracks at a later stage,’ says Hans Peter. ‘At the same time we wanted to get into the DSD market and work with DXD.’ resolution

‘The Pyramix was the first system we thought was reliable enough to dare to bring out for a location recording,’ adds Morten. ‘It doesn’t crash and when you put it into Record it stays in Record.’ They remain exclusive ‘power’ users of DPA microphones and advocates of the performance benefits of its 130V system, which they run with Millennia Media preamps. ‘For the record, we pay full price for our DPA mics; we are not sponsored,’ states Morten. ‘The reason we’ve ended up just with DPAs is that along the way we have tested and tried other brands and I don’t like them. There is something about the colour of a DPA mic that I find very open and warm. One reason that might be is that 49 out of 50 productions we use omnis as the main mics. That’s quite different especially to the British tradition, for example, where they are very fond of cardioids. I find omnis a daring kind of mic to use but very rewarding if you take your chance.’ And when they don’t use an omni they use a DPA wide cardioid, some of which were specially made for them in 1998 as prototypes following Morten’s request for something a little more focused for organ recording. ‘We have a very close connection with the musicians at a very early stage so it is seldom for someone to call us and tell us we need to be at such a venue next week and do this type of recording,’ explains Morten. ‘That sort of work might bring up productions with more cardioids but we’re in the position where we can talk to the musicians and say “right, this is the repertoire you want to do, let’s try and find the perfect venue for it and the instrumentation.” Choice of the venue is 60% of the quality of the sound. ‘We are blessed with a lot of really nice churches in Norway particularly in the countryside where it is May/June 2007

facility

very quiet. The core quality of our audio productions is done by choosing the venue for the repertoire and through mixing by where we place the microphones; so our microphones are our most important tools,’ he says. They travel all over Norway for the right cathedral or chapel and there are six good churches within 30 minutes drive of the centre of Oslo. However, it is the team’s attitude to surround, which they started working seriously in in 2000, that puts them in a completely different league to most multichannel classical recordists. They’re not scared to experiment and to put the listener in the thick of the music rather than in a seat at one end of the hall. They’ve made recordings with the orchestra in front and the choir behind and the results are remarkable. Morten will tell you that planning and discussion with the musicians can create trust and a sense of occasion and excitement that translates onto the recordings. ‘The tools we have even with a good surround set up is not a perfect way to bring an audience to the concert hall; we still have to work the illusions,’

says Morten. ‘This is one of the ways to do that -– to bring the listener into the music and in among the musicians and be a part of it.’ That’s not to say that they won’t record in a more traditional surround format but they allow the venue, repertoire and the musicians to suggest a configuration to them. It’s a healthy attitude towards multichannel that doesn’t hide behind the usual excuses of worrying about the integrity of the listener’s loudspeaker layout. They’re recording surround for those who want to listen in surround and the stereo version is there for those who don’t. ‘We really love surround and the way it communicates back to the listener,’ says Hans Peter. ‘We tend not to think of the rear channels in the traditional way of being an ambient room pair. There is a very strong relationship between the phase and the distance between the five microphones in the main set up. We use five dedicated mics and when there are big setups with an orchestra you’ll need some additional support mics, but the basic set up is

always the five main mics. ‘With the Pyramix we can finalise things for any format we like but the reason we like SACD is that we have a better idea of what people will be listening back to at home — there are not as many parameters to mess around with as there are on a DVD,’ he says. The 2L label has released 42 classical and folk titles since 2001 and is best described as a premium brand with very high production and packaging values. ‘We are in a very fortunate position in Norway because we have cultural grants from the government to help preserve our Norwegian heritage and that means Norwegian repertoire in a historic or contemporary perspective,’ explains Morten. ‘The other is to motivate and enable Norwegian musicians and production companies to develop this further. So, if we come with Norwegian musicians as a Norwegian label and production company and we say we want to do Strauss violin sonatas, then we might get funding for that kind of project because they want a living record industry in Norway. These grants aren’t, however, fully financing so we still have to find other sources of financing and some sales figures to make everything run.’ Morten adds that getting repeat grant support means you have to continually prove that you are producing quality productions of worth. So it is by no means an easy touch. He also praises the standard of musicianship in Norway and while he concedes that it might not eclipse that of other better known classical centres, he suspects the work ethic would be refreshingly productive to outsiders. Ten years ago 100% of Lindberg Lyd’s work was for other labels, four years ago it was 50%, now 70% of their work is for their own label but these figures reﬂect the fact that they have now cornered the market in Norway in their genre. ‘We are into music production; not into being a label,’ states Morten, ‘but if getting to that situation and the productions running means that we have to run a label also, then so be it. ‘Our strength is in where we live, where we have grown up and where we have our local knowledge,’ he says. ‘We also have a choice of venues that other countries do not have. We want to invite international record companies to come to us and make their recordings in Norway and take that result and publish it worldwide.’ ■

Contact LInDBerG LYD, oSLo, norWaY: Website: www.lindberg.no

May/June 2007

resolution

gear

Products equipment introductions and announcements.

Merging ramses

Merging Technologies has formed a strategic alliance with Smart AV to take advantage of Merging’s new 256-channel MassCore console mix engine that has been integrated with Pyramix into a range of small, medium and large control surfaces that will be manufactured by Smart AV exclusively for Merging and will carry the Merging brand. The MassCore engine is a networkable digital console/ record/editing/mix solution for postproduction and multitrack recording. Ramses MSC was shown for the fi rst time at NAB. ‘We took the decision to develop the next version, V6.0 Pyramix, on a new generation “real-time” engine that did not rely on the Windows or Mac operating systems,’ said Ken Barnsley, Merging’s head of marketing. ‘This then avoids the inherent latencies and processing restrictions caused by using these platforms, and allows us to take the I-O channel/track count — and, importantly, the internal bus structure — to a new level. ‘I am not allowed to say how we have achieved this until all the patents are fi led, but I can say that MassCore is scalable from just 16 channels to 256 channels with up to 256 buses. It also offers the world’s fi rst fully integrated 48-channel DSD/DXD system, and retains all Pyramix’s realtime editing, making it far more capable than anything else on the market today. ‘A new operational functionality for the console surface has also been developed jointly between Merging and Smart’s engineers that takes full advantage of Pyramix’s automation, mixing and editing capabilities. I should explain that the 256-channel/track capability is per Pyramix system running the MassCore engine and we can control up to fi ve workstations simultaneously from the console surface,’ he said. The MassCore engine still uses Merging’s Mykerinos and I-O hardware and will also be available for Pyramix as a standalone workstation and as an upgrade to existing Pyramix users. Pricing starts at around 25,000 Euros. www.merging.com

Plug-ins for DiGiCo consoles ADK has put together a package that offers plug-in capability and simultaneous 56-track recording for DiGiCo consoles, or 112track recording if plug-ins are not required. The machine is housed in a 4U rackmount with 640Gb of audio storage and two removable drive bays. ADK has produced nearly 400 machines for the live environment with MADI connections for recording and/or plug-ins. The Pick ‘n Mix solution allows users to specify plug-in cards for their favourite effects, such as UAD, Waves and

Platform news: Digidesign Digidesign has announced the reference Monitor Series (rMS) family of bi-amplified studio monitors that it has developed jointly with PMC. available as a 5.5-inch woofer two-way (rM1) and a 6.7-inch woofer two-way (rM2), the rMS monitors employ PMC’s advanced transmission Line (atL) technology that claims to deliver improved audio resolution with a higher sound pressure level, reduced distortion, flat frequency response, and deeper, more defined bass frequencies than other speaker designs of a similar size. PMC and Digidesign engineers developed a Bass Port emulation feature that allows the monitors to emulate the tonal characteristics associated with ported bass reflex speakers. Both monitors have a 48bit, fixed-point digital signal processing (DSP) engine that manages the frequency crossover, speaker positioning eQ settings, trim level, and Bass Port emulation. each driver is powered by an independent, analogue-controlled, Class D amplifier with 80W Lf and 50W Hf in the rM1 and 100W Lf and 50W Hf in the rM2. they feature a balanced analogue input, aeS 3 digital input (accepts 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96kHz), aeS digital input and thru on rJ45. Both models are available in May at UK£750 for each rM1 and £1050 for each rM2. www.digidesign.com

TC PowerCore. Recordings are made in BWAV. Connection to the console is via two MADI cables for plug-ins, record and playback. All channels of playback are instant with one press of a button on the console. www.digiconsoles.com

Soundfield a-format mic SoundField has shown its most affordable mic to date, the lightweight, compact SPS200, which will ship later in the year. The SPS200 keeps costs down by being the first SoundField not to ship with an associated hardware decoder. The decoding stages are handled by software plug-ins. The A-Format to B-Format conversion is handled by the Conversion Lounge plug-in, while Surround Zone software determines the precise nature of the ﬁ nal audio output, offering users six different types of surround sound (three 5.1 presets, 6.1, 7.1, and an 8-channel output) with variable front and rear width, and control over precise pickup patterns in stereo and surround. Both plugins are available in Pro Tools HD or VST formats, for use with PC and Mac-compatible recording software packages. www.soundfield.com

markers, a more conﬁ gurable spectrogram display and the ability to mark and process complex shapes. V4 is immediately available and is fully compatible with all existing CEDAR C a m b r i d g e hardware. DNS2000 V3 is a Universal Binary that makes the DNS2000 Dialogue Noise Suppressor compatible with the latest versions o f P r o To o l s , a l l s i n g l e - a n d d u a l - p ro c e s s o r

CeDar Cambridge V4 After a complete rewrite of its ﬁ le processing capabilities, CEDAR Cambridge V4 now offers off-line processing, with the three most frequently requested audio restoration modules immediately available: Manual Declick, the dedicated Dethump process for eliminating low-frequency problems, and a completely new version of Retouch, now upgraded to Retouch 4. Retouch 4 offers unlimited ﬁ le lengths, greatly improved transport capabilities, time

resolution

Motorola G4 and G5 (PPC) based Macs and the latest Intel-based Macintosh Pros. It also improves integration with Digidesign control surfaces. www.cedaraudio.com

May/June 2007

gear 42-fader Vista 5

Studer has released a 42-fader version of the Vista 5. An additional bay of 10 input faders permits an operator to control 42 input channels simultaneously and allows twoman operation. The input bay is situated to the right of the output/master section, and can be ‘isolated’ from any global adjustments made on the left side of the desk using the Lock mode. The right hand fader section has its own control panel. B a s e d o n t h e SCore Live DSP core and D21m I-O system, the Route 6000 can accommodate up to 1728 x 1728 inputs and outputs. The DSP Core is equipped with an internal D21m I-O system with up to 192 I-Os in 6U of rack space, while multiple cores are interconnected using CAT5. Route 6000 is integrated with all Studer DNET products and supports networking, I-O sharing, unique resource handling, codec management, central Log Screen, remote conﬁ guration, and 2-wire/4-wire routing.

Liquid Mix V2.0

Ua ships V4.6

Liquid Mix V2.0 features an EQ side-chain on the compressor, providing an additional oneband EQ to be fed into the sidechain of any classic compressor emulation. Combined with the existing ‘Listen’ feature, this provides a solution for high quality de-essing and more creative compression. V2.0 also ensures that the Hardware follows the Software GUI functionality and delivers improved stability on PC and Mac. Liquid Mix V2.0 offers variable buffer size as well as supporting large DAW buffer sizes, helping to ensure lower latency operation across all sequencers, and provides compatibility with software packages such as Wavelab, SoundForge and Audition. www.focusrite.com

Universal Audio has web-released V4.6 software for the UAD family of DSP cards and Powered Plug-Ins, which includes a 14-day fully functional demo of the new Helios Type 69 Equaliser. Registered UAD-1 customers can purchase full authorisations for US$199 at my.uaudio.com. The Helios Type 69 EQ is modelled on an original Basing Street, London desk and has 3-band EQ with phase reverse and level adjust, high shelf, parametric mid and bass peak/shelf. www.uaudio.com

When enthusiasm leads to passion ...

Software Version 2.2 for the OnAir 3000 Series adds optional functions and modules for handling 5.1 signals, which allow control of a 5.1 input signal from a single fader. Stereo downmixing functions are included along with surround control and monitoring through the Touch’n’Action interface. The D21m I-O system for the OnAir 3000 also supports the recently launched SDI card and Dolby E card. The software supports the connection of the SCore Live DSP system and a facility for Tie Lines between Cores. www.studer.ch

Brauner Phanthera Brauner’s Phanthera is manufactured in Germany using only the highest quality components, according to the company. The cardioid pattern FET pressure gradient transducer is claimed to have equivalent noise of 11dBA (IEC651), signal to noise of 83dB (1Pa/1kHz), and sensitivity of 33mV/Pa. Frequency range is said to be 20Hz-22kHz and maximum SPL 142dB. It is phantom-powered and comes with a suspension, aluminium case, and Vovox cable. www.braunermicrophones.com

May/June 2007

SCHOEPS Mikrofone Spitalstr. 20 76227 Karlsruhe - Germany +49 721 943 200

Diana Mayer-Blaimschein and Martin Mayer are:

www.schoeps.de

www.mistermaster.at

resolution

gear SPL modular rack and new atmos

SPL‘s RackPack system allows for free conﬁ guration of a 3U analogue rack loaded with the company‘s modules, such as Transient Designer, SPL De-Esser or DynaMaxx compressor. All these modules come with updated features against their single product siblings. Two new preamp modules cover two categories: the Prefrence is a straightforward, transformerless IC preamp, the Premium module offers a triple stage solid state design with Lundahl input transformer Projekt1 18/02/07 12:55 Side 1 and discrete transistor circuitry. SPL‘s Atmos is a system-independent surround miking

sound engineering

system including the ASM5 microphone based on VM1 capsules from Brauner. Ten years of experience in surround miking with the predecessor stimulated the development of the new Atmos system. The new Controller incorporates the 5-channel, remotely controllable preamplifier section, an LFE channel composer with level control and a headphone monitor. The Controller‘s concept now focuses on the basic miking features and can be complemented with further modules to meet individual demands, such as a remote control to adjust the ASM5 pattern characteristics. www.soundperformancelab.com

RM8 TUBE MODULES

tC CL 1B plug for PoCo

TC’s Tube-Tech CL 1B plug-in for PowerCore has up to 30dB of gain and a continuously variable threshold ranging from 2.1 to 10.1. It features innovative Attack/Release controls, with three different settings, enabling the CL 1B to be used as an insert or bus compressor. The Sidechain/Link button in the stereo instance of the CL 1B plug-in emulates the dynamic master/slave relationship between the left and right channels, a feature usually found when having two units interconnected via the Sidechain Bus found on the hardware version of CL 1B. An ability unique to the CL 1B plug-in is its advanced metering, capable of displaying the left channel, the right channel or both channels.

TC’s Konnekt Live is an audio interface for live performers and has extensive output routing, built-in DSP and an analogue output section. It comes bundled with Ableton Live Lite 6 TC Electronic Edition and two DSP effects: Fabrik R live and Fabrik C Live. Konnekt Live also features a 3-band master compressor. Fitting under a laptop, its heavy rubber frame has a solid grip on tilted or slippery surfaces and it comes with a turntable cable and an onboard RIAA plug-in.

The C400XL is a dual gate/compressor that uses multiband dynamics technology. Like TC’s C300, it features a ‘Mix’ knob allowing parallel compression without complicated routing schemes. It has a high resolution input, gain reduction metering and threshold LED indication. You can choose between true dual-mono, stereo or serial operation. C400XL also features brickwall limiting. www.tcelectronic.com

euphonix S5 fusion

RACK 'EM UP! - introducing 3 blue building blocks... Meet us at Frankfurt ProLight+Sound - Hall 5.1, B88

LYDKRAFT 18

www.tube-tech.com resolution

Euphonix’s S5 Fusion is based on the System 5 and ‘fuses’ its new digital signal processing S u p e r C o r e e n g i n e with EuCon Hybrid, a derivative of Euphonix’s universal control protocol. The combination enables the console to simultaneously control its own DSP channels as well as channels from multiple external DAWs over high-speed Ethernet. It manages a high number of tracks and has machine control, a router and ﬁ lm-style surround monitoring features. The SuperCore powers the S5 Fusion’s signal processing and routing, providing multiformat channels with EQ, ﬁ lters and dynamics together with mix, aux and group buses with bus processing. EuCon Hybrid brings Mac and PC DAW tracks onto the console surface for mixing. www.euphonix.com

May/June 2007

gear neutrik weatherproof Cat6 Neutrik’s EtherCon CAT6 series offers a rugged metal housing for RJ45 cable connectors that protects the connector against mechanical load with a patented Neutrik chuck type strain relief and separate locking that isn’t found on any other RJ45 connector. To meet rises in data volume and rates Neutrik has developed the first weatherproof (IP54), rugged and stage-fit CAT6 version of the RJ45 Ethernet connector. The D-size housing of the CAT6 EtherCon chassis connector is made of metal as is the cable connector carrier whose chuck type strain relief holds the cable securely and its push-pull locking avoids accidental unplugging. Neutrik’s latest hinged cover seals D-size chassis connectors from water, dust and dirt in unmated condition. When the cover is closed the connector is protected according to IP54. T h e s e a l e d N e u t r i c o n multipin has been upgraded to a waterproof IP54 rating. This robust all-metal circular connector offers easy and screwless assembly, fl exible part combination and a proven push-pull locking mechanism. The redesigned NYS-SPP-L patchbay offers a ruggedised metal housing a n d a n e w a p p e a r a n c e d u e t o t h e flush metal jack noses. An improved contact design minimises wear during mating cycles. A grounding feature has been added that offers several individual grounding options for each channel separately. The confi guration can be changed by simply fl ipping individual PCB boards. www.neutrik.com

MXL.008 USB The MXL.008 USB large diaphragm cardioid condenser mic is shipping. It has support for USB 1.1 and 2.0 and includes gain adjustment settings via a built-in threeposition attenuation switch. It comes with a travel case, desktop microphone stand, 10-ft USB cable, and windscreen. www.mxlmics.com

PureSound software/ﬁrmware extension NTI has a new version of its RT-Speaker software package for automated transducer and loudspeaker production testing with its RT-2M audio analyser. The new release V2.90 also CR500 142x194 Resolution 13-3 3/13/07 supports extended test project handling with conditional branches into other projects based on measurement results,

as well as control of input and output switchers. Also available in conjunction with new instrument firmware are simultaneous highspeed traditional distortion measurements. A key element in RTSpeaker is the PureSound defect testing technology, enabling the system to conduct a unique and reliable Rub and Buzz defects analysis with a 100% correlation to the human ear. The concise user interface simpliﬁ es the operation for every level of operator. The complete system setup and conﬁ guration for a new transducer may be completed in less than 30 minutes by factory production personnel, while administrative software control may still be regulated to 9:25 AM Page 1 match different corporate needs. www.nti-audio.com

CD Mastering

Stage Playback

CR500

Broadcast Playback

Event Playback

antelope atomic clocking device

CD-R/RW Master Recorder with 24bit /96kHz BWF Recording. Not only will the new Fostex CR500 professionally master stereo recordings to CD-R/RW, it also offers the world’s first direct Broadcast WAV recording to a UDF formatted disc at up to 24bit/96kHz resolution.

Antelope Audio’s Isochrone 10M ‘affordable’ atomic master clock device employs Rubidium to produce a clock that is 100,000 times more stable than crystal oscillators. Antelope’s device is designed to interface seamlessly and enhance the performance of its OCX and OCX-V sync generators. With stability of 0.03 parts per billion the Isochrone 10M has practically immeasurable jitter. Isochrone clocks are compatible with any convertor that can lock to an external clock source using Word clock BNC, SPDIF or AES connections. The OCX-V locks to PAL, NTSC, and 20 HDTV standards. International pull ups and pull downs are also supported and format conversion is simpliﬁ ed with a built-in video sync generator and a video gear-boxing Mode. www.antelopeaudio.com

May/June 2007

This means, among other things, easy transport to Pro Tools® and other computer-based professional editing environments without audio ripping.*

K BROADCAST WAV FORMAT

And as a ‘pro’ mastering machine you get balanced XLR connections, easy track naming via a USB keyboard, LED meters. Plus instant play, fader start, 100 cue point / program play memories per disc and more. CD-mastering, live recording, BWF file creation, stage, event and broadcast playback. - The new Fostex CR500.

*CD recorded in BWF (UDF1.02) can be recognized only on Windows XP, not on Mac OS (as of May 2006)

Fostex Company, 3-2-35 Musashino, Akishima, Tokyo, Japan 196-0021 Tel: +81 (0)42-546-4974 Fax: +81(0)42-546-9222 www.fostex.jp Fostex America, 13701 Cimarron Ave., Gardena, CA90249, USA Tel:+1 310-329-2960 Fax: +1 310-329-1230 www.fostex.com

resolution

gear plug-ins. Each Mixpander PCI card provides 64 channels of I-O and four cards can be used in a PC. Each Alpha-Link rack I-O unit offers 24 channels of analogue A-D input and D-A output, and up to 64 channels of digital I-O. Two Alpha Link I-Os can be connected to a Mixpander. www.solid-state-logic.com

XLogic VHD pre

The XLogic Alpha VHD Pre is based on the VHD circuit from SSL’s Duality and offers four mic preamps with 75dB of gain, independently switched phantom, 20dB pad, Hi Z inputs, and input, output and VHD controls for each section. SSL’s C100 HD with new Version 4.0 software delivers an enhanced feature set and a boost in processing power and has been joined by the C100 HD-S, a smaller form factor console. With a narrower fader pitch, it can pack 64 faders into less than a 92-inch width. The C100 HD range is enhanced by the addition of a new smaller Centuri HD-S front-loading processor option. The C100 HD and HD-S have identical feature sets but

aeS 42 mic pres in different formats. Both can be used with the newly expanded Centuri HD processor or the Centuri HD-S processor option. Mixpander is a 64-channel PCI audio interface for PCs designed to be used in conjunction with the recently launched XLogic Alpha-Link audio convertor range. Mixpander ships with a standalone software-based mixer that works with host PC-powered VST or DSP powered

ATI’s Model DMI-8 is described as the world’s ﬁ rst 8-channel AES 42 digital microphone interface and can stream its audio signals via CobraNet or EtherSound over CAT5 cable. The system is bi-directional, permitting remote control of gain, pattern, transient limiting, and roll-off, along with phantom powering and tally lights for each mic. The DMI-8 also provides individual AES3 outputs for each AES 42 input and includes an ADAT Lightpipe port containing all eight mic signals. It comes with ATI Digital Mic Management software permitting real-time control of all performance aspects of eight digital microphones from a remote laptop PC. Multiple DMI-8 units can be networked to support more than 128 channels using Ethernet. The DMI-8 is available in three models: the DMI-8C provides transport via CobraNet; the DMI-8E provides transport via EtherSound; the DMI-8N provides AES 42 conversion to AES3 and ADAT Lightpipe output with Ethernet control. The Model ADAC-2 A-D, D-A and Sample Rate Convertor supports two channels at up to 24-bit, 192kHz. Three independent audio paths through the unit allow users to convert one stereo programme from analogue to digital, a second stereo programme from digital to analogue and a third digital audio programme from one sample rate to another, all simultaneously and without interaction. An ADAC Mode button switches the front panel controls and displays between A-D, D-A and SRC modes, allowing users to easily set up each function. The setup is saved when switching to the next mode.

The ADAC-2 includes selectable balanced and unbalanced analogue inputs, transformer isolated AES3 I-Os, SPDIF digital audio inputs and outputs, optical inputs and outputs and Word clock outputs for D-AC and SRC sync. The precision, ultra-low jitter internal clock can be configured to use Word, Bit, Master or Double-Master clock references. www.atiaudio.com

Shure 40th anniversary SM58 Recognising the 40th anniversary of the SM58, Shure is offering a limited edition of the industry standard vocal mic featuring an engraved anniversary logo. This special model will be available at selected dealers in late spring. The extension of Shure’s M i c r o f l e x m i c r o p h o n e family includes new wireless m o d e l s b a s e d o n t h e S L X wireless platform. Certain models offer interchangeable capsules and a choice of polar patterns. All models are equipped with a switchable low cut ﬁ lter. www.shure.com

resolution

May/June 2007

gear Smart apollo for Logic Pro

Smart’s Apollo console features a small footprint, eight channel strips, a monitor section, and an integrated Mac keyboard and mouse. It is designed for controlling Logic Pro and Logic, AU, third party or Pro Tools plug-ins when using DAE channels. Each Smart Console channel strip has dedicated controls for EQ from plug-ins. Apollo allows control of audio instruments using the active screen and its controls. A monitor section integrates with an easily importable Logic environment to give dedicated buttons to control a 12-source, 5.1 wide, 3-speaker set monitoring system. This environment also includes control room Dim (with adjustable level knob), Reference Level button and multidestination Talkback controls. Apollo consoles also feature a built-in talkback microphone that delivers balanced line level audio to an XLR connector on the back of the console, ready to be connected to any input of your Logic system. Apollo displays all of Logic’s automation modes over all the MonARC displayed channels as well as on the currently selected channels. MonARC is a new implementation of ARC technology and consists of two elements. First, a hardware strip with two touch sensors runs along the back of the console and lines up with your Mac display(s). Second, your Mac monitor(s) displays a small screen overlay of ARC parameters for each channel such as level metering, channel name, fader position, solo, mute and automation indicators. These on-screen elements align with the physical MonARC strip on the back of the console and allow channel display and update in the same way as the physical ARC on other Smart AV consoles. Reach out and touch the MonARC strip to select channels, mute channels, copy parameters, and update automation states. www.smartav.net

rackmount monitors M a r s h a l l E l e c t ro n i c s ’ A R - D M Series rackmount audio monitors are available in fi ve confi gurable models including two 1Us and three 2Us. All fi ve support 16 audio channels and provide four slots for interchangeable input modules that include SDI/HDSDI with re-clocked loop through (eight stereo de-embedded channels), quad unbalanced BNC AESEBU with loop through, and quad balanced AES/XLR to DB-25 with loop through. They feature Class D amplifi cation, digital processing, and selectable stereo downmix modes. All models provide Dolby Digital/Dolby E decoding capability (with the optional Dolby E module), and a ¼-inch headphone jack with Level control. Single U devices provide twin loudspeakers while 2U models have larger, high

performance transducers plus a subwoofer. For visual monitoring of signal presence and system status, the 1U AR-DM1 and AR-DM2 have tri-colour LEDs. The 2U AR-DM1-B and AR-DM2-B provide 10- and 20-segment tri-colour bargraphs respectively. VU and peak metering are supported. The flagship ARDM2-L has dual high-resolution 4-inch LCD monitors capable of displaying a wealth of information, including a high contrast, tri-colour 16-bargraph display in one window while showing critical metadata or channel status information on the other. www.mars-cam.com

The S3 possesses quite astonishing amounts of headroom, and will quite happily put out peaks approaching +30dBu all day long without sounding the least bit flustered. Jon Thornton, Resolution Magazine

I used the S3 on a drum subgroup and it allowed me to shape the drum space with an amazing amount of control in a way that I never would have been able to do with EQ or full bandwidth compression. Thom Monahan (Engineer), Tape Op Magazine

ambient QX poles Ambient Recording has introduced a new range of ENG boom poles. The QX range uses a carbon ﬁ bre tube that is stronger and has a different surface ﬁ nish. This produces a 5-section pole with equal rigidity to the original QP 4 section range that is lighter length for length. In addition the locking ring has a new grip design and includes an Oring to seal the thread from the ingress of dirt. www.ambientaudio.com

BBe active DI rack

The new Signature Series S3 from The DI-400 active DI rack is a 4-channel active DI box with a built-in Sonic Maximizer processor on each channel. With rear outputs and front inputs other features include phase reverse, ground lift, XLR balanced mic level output and –15dB input pad. www.bbesound.com

May/June 2007

D r a w m e r L t d . • t : + 4 4 ( 0 ) 1 9 2 4 3 7 8 6 6 9 • w w w. d r a w m e r. c o m

resolution

review

Korg Mr-1 + Mr-1000 Korg is expanding its portable recorder range, aiming at the location recordist — these two can even record in 1-bit if you want them to. roB JaMeS takes them away...

LtHoUGH It Won’t happen tomorrow or even in the next few months, there is an interesting battle brewing that could develop into yet another format war — and these two new products from Korg may well come to be seen as the Trojan horse of one faction. I am of course referring to PCM multi-bit versus one-bit recording. You might be under the impression that this contest has already been decided, since SACD has singularly failed to make a serious impression on the mass market. However, there is more to 1-bit than just SACD. The notion behind 1-bit signal processing first appeared in the 1940s. In the mid 1970s, Dr Yoshio Yamasaki proposed practical applications for audio. First developed in the late 1980s at Waseda University in Japan, the 1-bit process was patented in 1992. The technology was later licensed to Sony/ Philips with the first SACD machines appearing in 1999. Mainly due to marketing stupidity and an obsession with copy protection SACD has not succeeded in setting the world on fire and replacing CD. (It could also have something to do with the fact that in real-world conditions the majority of people cannot tell the difference and care more about the convenience of MP3 than they do about quality, although independent record labels are still pushing SACD, so there is some life in the old dog yet.) Sonic Studio is now responsible for future development of DSD and SACD having bought the entire portfolio of products and services from Philips subsidiary, ProTECH. Ignoring SACD for a moment, 1-bit techniques are far from dead. However, one barrier to widening the debate has been the cost of suitable origination recorders. Korg has changed all that at a stroke with the release of two new portable stereo machines. The £424.68 MR-1 and the £765.11 MR-1000 (both + VAT) bring 1-bit origination and mastering within the grasp of anyone who is likely to be interested. To help introduce the idea to a wider audience, Korg has published a document rather optimistically titled Future Proof Recording Explained, which sets out the case for 1-bit in some detail. 1-bit is supposed to overcome many of the limitations imposed by multibit. For example, if the sample rate is sufficiently high (5.6448MHz: twice the rate used in SACD), noise problems can be mitigated and there is no longer the need for steep filters. D-A conversion can be carried out with a simple low-pass analogue filter. The upshot is that Korg is able to demonstrate some very impressive square wave results. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the document does not explore the downsides of 1-bit, such as the problems of increased distortion. Nonetheless, it is a good read. Despite all the hype, 1-bit has a load of technical problems to overcome, as does multi-bit. I do not pretend to understand the maths involved in any of this and I am certainly not going to get into it here. Whatever the truth of the claims and counterclaims 1-bit is certainly one possible technique for making very high-quality audio recordings. The question is how to mix and manipulate them. It is possible to edit 1-bit recordings in their native format, but that is the limit. Any mixing or change in level, EQ or dynamics results in more than one bit and requires dithering. 22

Therefore processing must currently be done in either the analogue or multi-bit domains. For SACD, Sony and Philips acknowledged a new recording and editing format suitable for the purpose called Digital eXtreme Definition or DXD. This is defined as a 24-bit signal sampled at 352.8kHz. However, only a few workstations can use DXD. Korg’s solution is the inclusion of a free piece of software for PC and Mac named AudioGate. The software can only be run if you have an MR-series recorder which acts as a giant dongle, at least on the first occasion the software is run. AudioGate allows 1-bit files from Korg recorders to be auditioned and/or converted to WAV, BWF or AIFF formats at sample rates up to 192kHz at bit depths of 16, 24 or 32-bit (ﬂoat). It will also convert in the opposite direction to either 2.8MHz (64fs) or 5.6MHz(128fs) 1-bit. The software installs without problems and is easy to use. The only caveat is that it requires a fairly powerful processor to play back 1-bit recordings in real time. (A 1.8GHz P4 couldn’t hack it, although this does not affect the non-real-time transcoding process.) The recorders have a lot in common, as you might expect. The monochrome backlit displays are identical. The backlight isn’t especially bright but due to the contrast the display remains visible in bright sunlight. Both recorders use the BurrBrown PCM4202 for A-D conversion, and the Cirrus Logic CS4398 for D-A conversion. As something of a 1-bit sceptic, I was rather unenthusiastic before I got my hands on these machines, but found them much more impressive in use. The only significant omission is the absence of any digital I-O, but given their intended purpose as location recorders, with the idea being that you transfer the files to a DAW for postproduction, this is not a showstopper. If you work in multi-bit the AudioGate software will convert back to 1-bit or if you want to mix in analogue the final mix can be recorded back onto the Korg. Of the two, I actually prefer the baby, the MR1; it could finally be a suitable replacement for the legendary recording Sony Walkman. Partnered with a couple of decent mics (probably costing double the price of the MR-1) and an inline powering and bass-cut module, I think you would have a very serious stereo recording set-up indeed. resolution

Mr-1

The most obvious application I can see for this one is high-quality bootlegs! Seriously though, looking like a fat iPod and with similar construction it is light and portable and will be ideally suited to wildlife recording or indeed anything that needs a light and compact high-quality recording package. Strangely there is no belt clip on the smart leather case. The mic included isn’t wonderful, but I’ve heard a lot worse. It uses the ‘plug-in power’ standard and there is a small slide switch on top of the MR-1 to turn this on. Predictably, it is badly affected by wind (Aren’t we all. Ed), highlighting the absence of bass cut on either mic or recorder, and it also sounds a little harsh. The supplied mic stand adapter is reminiscent of an RSJ (Rolled Steel Joist that is!) and seems much too butch for the tiny mic. Although there is no limiter available in manual mode, there is an AGC/automatic record level mode if you select it. This has useful independent settings for threshold and slope of both gain increase and decrease. This is a vast improvement over the usual ‘one size fits all’ AGC switch. In manual mode, the gain range is vast: -95.5dB to +31.5dB. There are three DSD filter options for the on-board D-A convertors. All adjustments and menu navigation are made using the so-called P-dial, a combined encoder wheel and switch. Annoyingly, there is no way to link the left and right gain when making manual adjustments. Transport controls below the LCD screen are small but positive. Power for the MR-1 comes from a built-in LiPol battery pack or from the in-line mains adapter. You get between two and two and a half

May/June 2007

$)')$%3)'. )#/.

Â&#x2013; $ 2WUWRSaWU\ 2WUWRSaWU\ 71=< O\R >`] B]]Zaj62 /QQSZ O`S bÒRS[O`Ya ]` `SUWabS`SR bÒRS[O`Ya ]T /dWR BSQV\]Z]Ug 7\Q ]` Wba acPaWRWO`WSa ]` RWdWaW]\a /ZZ ]bVS` bÒRS[O`Ya O`S bVS ^`]^S`bg ]T bVSW` `Sa^SQbWdS V]ZRSà

).4%'2!4%$ #/.3/,% ).4%'2!4%$ #/.3/,%

;]\U`SZ ;caWQ EWZbaVW`S C\WbSR 9W\UR][ EWbV O ab`]\U O\OZ]UcS POQYU`]c\R BQVOR 0ZOYS [ORS bVS aeWbQV b] RWUWbOZ [WfW\U ]\ bVS ]\Zg RSaY VS T]c\R c^ b] bVS X]P bVS 2WUWRSaWU\ 71=< 2 1]\b`]ZÂ&#x2014; /a Wb Q][PW\SR bVS TO[WZWO` TSSZ ]T O ^`]TSaaW]\OZ [WfW\U Q]\a]ZS eWbV bVS ^]eS` O\R TZSfWPWZWbg ]T bVS W\Rcab`gÂ¸a ZSORW\U e]`YabObW]\ >`] B]]Zaj62Â&#x2022;

Âµ7 eO\bSR b] [Wf W\ bVS P]f Pcb eOa\Â¸b `SORg b] ZSb U] ]T [g Y\]Pa BVO\Ya b] 71=< 7 QO\ ]e\ [g ]e\ abcRW] O\R caS >`] B]]Za W\ bVS PSab ^]aaWPZS eOg Â¶ BQVOR 0ZOYS j 5`O[[g /eO`R EW\\W\U ;Wf 3\UW\SS` AVS`gZ 1`]e B][ EOWba >SbS` 5OP`WSZ 3ZdWa 1]abSZZ] AcaO\\S DSUO

DWaWb eee RWUWRSaWU\ Q][ WQ]\ b] ZSO`\ []`S OP]cb bVS 71=< W\bSU`ObSR Q]\a]ZS 4]` 71=< S\_cW`WSa S[OWZ 71=<cY.RWUWRSaWU\ Q][

=eZa^OQS :]\R]\ C\WbSR 9W\UR][

AVWP]g] 8O^O\

;Sb`]^]ZWa :]\R]\ C\WbSR 9W\UR][

4cZZg []RcZO` abObS ]T bVS O`b Q]\a]ZS Q]\b`]Z Â&#x2019; >`] B]]Zaj62 /QQSZ 2A> O\R 7 = `Sa]c`QSa Â&#x2019; ' Y6h aO[^ZS `ObS ac^^]`b 7\Rcab`gÂ¸a TW\Sab ^ZcU W\ ]^bW]\a Â&#x2019; /cb][ObWQ 2SZOg 1][^S\aObW]\ Â&#x2019; 7\bSU`ObSR dWRS] O\R RSZWdS`g Â&#x2019; B]bOZ aSaaW]\ `SQOZZ

review

hours’ depending on the record format. Power-saving features, such as adjustable timed auto-shutdown, backlight off and record LED off are available in the System menu. If battery life is a real concern it shouldn’t be too difficult to sort out external battery packs. Markers can be added during recording or playback by simply pressing the record button. The power switch is a sliding button that must be held for two seconds or so to initiate shutdown. Sliding the switch in the opposite direction to Hold locks out the various buttons and the P-dial to prevent inadvertent changes. The recording medium is a 20Gb hard drive; at 44.1kHz, you get 90 minutes per gigabyte, and at the other extreme, the 1-bit 64fs formats provide 22 minutes’ recording time per Gb. The maximum file size for a single recording is 4Gb. Audio connections are on 3.5mm jacks, balanced in the case of the inputs, with a mic-line switch, and the USB 2.0 socket is the common mini version. The machine appears as a conventional USB massstorage device. Despite its diminutive size the MR-1 packs a lot of power and features, many of which you’ll probably never use. For example, a number of play modes available would seem better suited to an MP3 player and include playlists and a Shufﬂe mode. However, the menu system is intuitive, and I was able to make my first recordings without recourse to the comprehensive manual. Niggles aside, this is a surprisingly good little device. On a purely subjective level the analogue circuitry and the convertors are a lot better than the price implies. With a decent microphone this is far from a toy. Thanks to its WAV recording options, the MR-1 is still well worthy of consideration as a highquality pocket digital recorder, even if you have no interest in 1-bit recording.

ProS

Low price for what it offers; easy to use; the results.

ConS

fixed rechargeable battery; no L-r gain linking and no limiter in manual mode; the mic supplied isn’t great.

Mr-1000

As the more grown-up sibling, the MR-1000 is much larger although still reasonably compact. This time the carrying case is nylon and well thought-out with Velcro ﬂaps in all the right places and a capacious pocket for all your odds and ends. A shoulder strap is supplied. Most of the menu entries and navigation are exactly the same as the MR-1. The main casing is a smart alloy extrusion with end mouldings that look like alloy but are actually plastic. More to the point, the battery compartment cover is also plastic and rather ﬂimsy, especially the catch. This seems to be a disappointing common factor among reasonably priced recorders and while the MR-1000 isn’t the worst offender by any means this really should be improved for the few pence it would cost. Eight AA-sized batteries are required. Alkaline, the new Oxyride (Oxy-Nickel-Hydroxide) or NiMh. Assuming you use high-capacity versions, any of these should be good for around four hours’ operation, depending on the chosen record format. Incidentally, the MR-1000 has three extra record modes, the 128fs 5.6MHz 1-bit variant and multibit at 176.4kHz and 192kHz. Inputs are Combi XLR/jacks and there are switches for high/low gain, phantom power and limiter. Both XLR and phono analogue outputs are provided, and the USB connector is a full-size B type. Record gain is on a pair of concentric pots with the phones level just below. Although the gain range is not quite as extensive as that of the MR-1 it is still more than adequate and wider than many others. However, the headphone output level could be more generous. Record level control is manual-only, as befits a more professionally oriented machine, and there is a switched limiter, although the parameters are fixed and it can be a bit brutal. The front-panel transport controls and P-dial are all sensibly sized and very positive in operation. 1-bit 5.6Mhz chews through hard disk space at a rate of 1Gb every 11 minutes so it is just as well that the MR-1000 hard drive is double the size of the MR-1 at 40Gb. Like its little brother, the MR-1000 is a pleasant resolution

surprise. As a stereo acquisition recorder, whether in 1-bit or PCM modes, it has a lot going for it. It feels fairly substantial and, with the exception of the battery compartment cover, it’s well up to careful professional use. In operation, it is commendably simple and while it may have a lot of options you’ll never use, they don’t get in the way. If you’re shopping for a no-frills stereo recorder and like the idea of 1-bit recording as a bonus, check it out. ■

ProS

Low price; good performance; 1-bit if you need or want it.

ConS

no limiter adjustments; battery compartment lid ﬂimsy; headphone output a bit weedy.

Contact KorG, JaPan: Website: www.korg.com

formats

Both recorders can record in PCM as well as 1-bit. the supported formats are as follows: MULtIBIt: 16 or 24-bit WaV (BWf) at 44.1 or 48kHz; 24-bit WaV (BWf) at 88.2 or 96kHz; 24-bit WaV (BWf) at 176.4 or 192kHz (Mr-1000 only). 1-BIt: 2.8MHz (64fs) (Mr-1); 2.8MHz (64fs) or 5.6MHz (128fs) (Mr-1000); DSDIff (Direct Stream Digital Interchange file format). the original DSD production format widely used for SaCD production. DSf (DSD StreaM fILe): a Direct Stream Digital, DSD ﬁle format supported by some Sony VaIo PCs (models with the Sound reality engine). this format is supported by software such as SonicStage Mastering Studio and DSD Direct. WSD (WIDeBanD SInGLe-BIt Data): a 1-bit audio ﬁle format created by the 1-bit audio Consortium. It can accommodate all formats of 1-bit audio data without a limit on the number of channels or sample rate. Sharp, Pioneer and Waseda University established the 1-bit audio Consortium in 2001. It currently lists more than 60 members.

May/June 2007

Studio Legends. Refined over 35 years. AKG® C 414 B-XLII | C 414 B-XLS | Since 1971, the C 414 has been recognised as one of the premier studio condenser microphones. That’s why you’ll hear it on literally hundreds of classic recordings. These latest incarnations represent the pinnacle of this classic design. The stunning clarity and beautifully detailed sound are joined by enhanced features including a choice of five polar patterns and 3 switchable bass filters. The B-XLS delivers superb quality recordings across a wide range of acoustic sources, while for solo vocals and instruments the B-XLII has been specifically designed to capture every detail of the performance. When it’s time for a new microphone, choose a legend.

www.akg.com

Distributed in the UK and Eire by: Harman Pro UK T: 01707 668181 E: info@harmanprouk.com W: www.harmanprouk.com

review

euphonix Hybrid PC option Wouldn’t it be nice if all of our control surfaces and DaWs could play together in harmony, sharing the same control protocols? roB JaMeS thinks so; and so, it seems, does euphonix.

H at e V e r t H e t e C H n o L o G Y, successful and economic postproduction is all about workﬂow. Twenty-five years ago postproduction was a world of certainties. Of course, there were lots of technical and artistic problems but these were in the main quantifiable and controllable, given the will and suitable discipline. In the world I grew up in it was relatively easy to define a production route. It was a fair bet that location sound would be recorded on a Pilot-tone Nagra. Sound rushes were transferred to magnetic film, manually synchronised with the picture and ‘rubbernumbered’; that is, sync reference marks were printed on the edge of the sound and picture film. Editing was a physical process for sound and picture and the only way of speeding things up was to throw more people at the problem, although this was always subject to the law of diminishing returns as the organisational complexity increased. It was also a given that sound tracks, or units, would be played in for premixing from an array of sound ‘followers’ and the premixes and eventual final mixes would be recorded onto magnetic film. In short, there was one physical form factor for picture and sound from ingest to delivery. Then along came digital. At first, the non-linear picture and sound editing machines were slotted into the existing workﬂows with picture presented for mixing on Umatic or Betacam tape and the sound 26

either transferred to mag film or sometimes played in from the editing machine. Then television post began to replace the entire postproduction chain with digital. In the relatively controlled environment of big broadcast organisations this was difficult but achievable and the way in which it was achieved was to single-source the console and editor/recorders. This was fine for big broadcasters but much less satisfactory in the world of film, where freelancers predominate and the sheer scale of the exercise is so much larger. Early approaches continued to use substantially the same model as analogue film. A (very) large and expensive console at the eye of the storm, fed by and recording to ‘digital dubbers’: 8track hard disk or optical disk recorders. It was at this point that a lot of noise was made about file and EDL compatibility in the hope that some of the virtues of non-linear editing could be retained at the mix even though the playout machine was a different make to the editor. With hindsight you have to ask, ‘Why not simply plug the editor into the console and mix from that?’ There are two principle reasons. The first was cost; non-linear editors, DAWs, were very expensive, especially if you needed a lot of real-time track outputs. Even more to the point, they didn’t ‘play nicely’ with other equipment in terms of synchronisation and transport control. To this day some DAWs are lamentably bad in this respect with resolution

slow lock-up times and no reverse play. However, the principle is now largely established that the most obvious way to work is to play material in from the DAW it was edited on (and now often pre-mixed as well) and to record the output to another DAW. As budgets decline and schedules shorten, the temp mix is getting ever closer to becoming the final version. These changes in workﬂow mean that consoles need to adapt. Where once it was accepted that dedicated console DSP was the only way to go, the DAW has gained in power and respect. One thing hasn’t changed though. By common consent the conventional mixer control surface is still viewed as the best human interface we’ve found to date for the final mixing process. The arguments for retaining dedicated signal processing in the console are still highly persuasive. To name just some of them: optimised algorithms with fewer constrictions due to lack of horsepower, powerful routing and monitoring and automation with no worries about running out of processing. However, it is arguable that it no longer makes sense for the console control surface to just act as a remote control for its own proprietary DSP. Premixing is increasingly taking place in smaller rooms using the DAW with, or sometimes without, a conventional control surface. When the results arrive on the mixing stage it would be highly desirable to be able to make amendments to premix decisions from the main console work surface. On the face of it this should be a simple proposition. Knobs, buttons and faders all generate data whether this data is used to control proprietary DSP or the studio lights. In practice of course it is anything but simple. DAW manufacturers use a variety of control protocols and some are very proprietorial about them, which is understandable May/June 2007

review

since they would quite like to sell their own control surfaces. There are issues concerning resolution and speed, not forgetting simultaneity. For example, 128 steps is not sufficient to avoid zipper noise on a fader, control must be near-instantaneous and moving a dozen controls at the same time should not cause a fit of the sulks. The solution is a control protocol or family of protocols. Mackie was one of the first in this game and the protocols it established, HUI and the extended version, Mackie Control, remain the most widespread. However, there is a strong case for faster, more robust and more comprehensive protocols. The problem is this: a protocol must be supported by the control surface and the workstation. The more far-sighted manufacturers have realised this and one or two have invested the time and effort in creating and/or supporting suitable protocols. Euphonix is well to the fore with EuCon. This is a high-speed Ethernet protocol developed to enable a hardware control surface to communicate directly with a software application (a DAW). EuCon offers the possibility of high-resolution (12-bit) fader and rotary encoder control, transports trackball/mouse and keyboard commands over Ethernet and supports the HUI and Mackie Control protocols. As you would expect, this is all bi-directional; changes made in the workstation are reﬂected on the System 5 surface, for example on its metering. Crucially, EuCon can control multiple DAWs and applications simultaneously. Currently, Steinberg’s Nuendo and Apple’s Logic Pro are the only applications to be fully ‘EuConized’. Merging Technologies’ Pyramix provides a comprehensive level of support for EuCon via its own Oasis protocol, while Pro Tools users have to make do with what is possible via HUI or Mackie Control. The first physical manifestations of EuCon came in the shape of the Euphonix MC and System 5 MC controllers. The logical extension of the idea to the full-on System 5 console has now arrived in the shape of the Hybrid PC option. For around UK£15,000 plus the price of the console it is now possible to have the benefits of EuCon control combined with the DSP power of a System 5. The fader buckets in a System 5 and a System 5 MC are identical in hardware terms. The fundamental difference lies in the programming. In an MC the bucket does some of the work normally undertaken by the Studio Computer in a System 5. This currently means there are a few EuCon limitations in the Hybrid version. Since I last looked at a System 5 in 2000 the console has matured considerably and, with the addition of optional Touch Knobs since last year, is now a much more desirable device. It is worth a reminder about the System 5 structure. In essence, a System 5 is a bunch of networked computers. Each block of eight physical strips and the centre section can be considered as standalone units. The only connections to each block are a mains plug and an RJ45 100BaseT 28

network connector. The desk-frame of whatever size is merely furniture, no motherboard or backplane is necessary. The Studio Computer, which handles the housekeeping and automation, connects in the same way. The Hybrid option adds a EuCon Hybrid 2U Pilot PC and an Ethernet switch. The Hybrid PC connects to the System 5 Ethernet switch and via the extra switch to external DAWs. The Hybrid can also control a DVI switch if required to switch a screen or screens between workstations. At first glance the System 5 control surface is a two-layer design that could, of course, be used in in-line fashion. The Swap key reinforces the impression. In fact there is a lot more to it than this. Any processing channel, including group masters, can be called to a strip using a pop-up menu and attached to either layer. Complete sets of these assignments are made and saved as layouts, which are simply a means of storing which strips control which channels on the console. Layouts can be recalled virtually instantly from the layouts page in the centre section Panel Viewer. For example, one layout could bring up channels 1-24 to Strips 1-24; another could group together a set of similar channels such as all Foley effects or all dialogue channels. In effect this means you can have as many layers as you like. In the context of the EuCon Hybrid this becomes an extremely powerful feature, meaning that it is possible to have strips controlling Pyramix tracks adjacent to strips controlling Pro Tools tracks, System 5 DSP channels, Logic Pro tracks, and so on, in any order you wish. A single button-press brings up a page of DAW-specific keys onto the surface — several pages in some cases. In a perfect world the control strips and centre section would function in exactly the same way whether you are controlling DAW channels or native System 5 DSP channels. Unfortunately life just isn’t like that. With the fully ‘EuConized’ DAWs the majority of strip functions do work in the same way, so hitting the EQ button brings up EQ controls onto the strip and so on. But with other DAWs, EQ and dynamics processing are seen as plug-ins, and you have to hit the plug-in key, locate the relevant plug-in and then control it. Pro Tools uses four ‘channels’ of HUI to control 32 Pro Tools tracks, resolution

although this ‘window’ can be moved across however many tracks you have, one strip or a bank (eight channels) at a time. At present, due to the architecture of the System 5, the centre section can only control Euphonix DSP channels. Transport control can be achieved in several ways. The DAW’s transport controls can appear on System 5 buttons with Record on the strips, or you can use RS422 control from the surface transport buttons and paddles, via a CB Electronics box to control several DAWs simultaneously if you wish. The Euphonix automation only applies to native System 5 DSP channels; DAW channels rely on the host application’s automation capabilities. The Hybrid concept is thoroughly sound and is applicable to System 5-P, System 5-F, System 5-BP or System 5-M consoles. With a fully ‘EuConized’ DAW the effect is highly impressive. You can, to all intents and purposes, forget where the channels are coming from or what you are actually controlling and get on with the business of mixing. So, the idea is right and fits in perfectly with current workﬂow practice. The catch is that a comprehensive implementation depends on close co-operation between the DAW manufacturer and Euphonix; unless the DAW implements the EuCon protocol properly, results will be less than optimal. The user must also exercise a little discipline to extract the maximum benefit, although this simply means following practices like keeping plug-ins in a suitable order. When you’re working with a ‘EuConized’ DAW, Euphonix gets you most of the way there. I’m sure that if the market demands it, a way will be found to map the centre section controls and joysticks to the appropriate DAW functions. It would also be good to extend control to more than four workstations, although of course you can have several more in timecode ‘chase’ and switch between them for direct control. However, the crucial issue is third-party support. With the Hybrid concept you are at the mercy of at least two manufacturers. Personally, I would want to be very sure that either my chosen DAW is fully ‘EuConized’ by its maker or that it will be before parting with the cash. Meanwhile, even with other DAWs, the Hybrid shows the way. Just be sure it gives you adequate control for your needs. ■

ProS

a contemporary solution; impressive with the right DaW; an acknowledgement of reality.

ConS

not cheap even in the context of a ‘big gun’ console; still some work to do; could be taken a lot further.

Contact eUPHonIX, US: Website: www.euphonix.com

May/June 2007

Character of sound. Clarity of purpose. Black Series redefines the art of creating a classic signal path. The exceptional transparency of David Dearden's audio path design has been married to unique transformer coupled, discrete Class A technology, to provide the ultimate tool for creating and controlling classic character and complexity.

Black Series < The Dark Art > Distributed in the UK by Stirling.Tel. 020 8963 4790 Email info@stirlingtrading.com

www.stirlingtrading.com www.audient.co.uk

Totally Flexible. Sonically Superior. Modular Audio Processing System Five wart hogs gossips, and tickets incinerated two partly schizophrenic Macintoshes. Afghanistan comfortably tickled aardvarks, even though umpteen dwarves ran away. One quite irascible ticket very drunkenly bought the pawnbrokers. Umpteen speedy tickets comfortably tastes two obese subways, however five pawnbrokers annoyingly telephoned the almost speedy elephant. Two mats quite drunkenly auctioned off the sheep.

review

DtS-HD Master audio Suite not ones to fall behind the competition, DtS is now offering HD-capable audio encoding and editing tools. neIL WILKeS gets high on the deﬁnition with a suite that will be invaluable to anyone producing audio content for any of the new HD formats.

tS HaS Been associated with high-quality multichannel audio since it burst onto the cinema scene in 1992 with Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. Since then, the company has entered the world of music with DTS-CD and also that of DVD-Audio via its DTS Entertainments label. This, the latest in the line of software encoders from DTS, adds support for the new HD formats, as well as a Stream Player and some useful tools for editing and quality control. The £1031 (+VAT) DTS-HD Master Audio Suite

is actually three tools in one. It consists of the main DTS-HD encoder, where you will spend most of your time, DTS-HD StreamTools utilities for editing the streams, and a DTS-HD StreamPlayer Pro Tools plugin. The suite is designed to enable you to create DTSHD, DTS Digital Surround and DTS-HD LBR-encoded files using the Encoder module for Blu Ray, HD-DVD and DVD media. There’s currently no DTS-CD variant; it is to be added in a future update, along with the standalone StreamPlayer.

resolution

Installation is very straightforward under Windows XP, requiring the Java Runtime 1.5 environment to be set up before the main installation. After this the installer takes over, setting up the Pace iLok drivers as well. Following a quick reboot, you plug in the special iLok key, wait for the drivers to initialise it, and then you’re good to go. The installer adds two icons to your desktop, one for the Encoder module and another for the stream tools. On launching the main encoder module, you will immediately notice the layout is designed for a ‘top to bottom, left to right’ workﬂow, and is accompanied by plenty of visual aids, making it very straightforward to get up and running, whatever media type you are encoding for. I particularly welcomed the addition of the batch encode function in this revision; this was noticeably absent in the 1.0 release and is proof of DTS’s commitment to updating the suite. The encoding process itself also seems to have been refined. With a DVD media setting and a 24-bit, 96kHz 5.1 encode, the resulting files are of audibly better quality when compared to those produced by DTS-PSE, the predecessor to this suite; the highs are much more detailed, and there is generally more of an ‘open’ feel to the sound. It is in the creation of streams for the new highdefinition formats that this encoder really steps up to the mark, especially given that DTS has managed to get ‘mandatory’ status for both Blu Ray and HD-DVD. The graphical elements of the module are of real assistance here, as every choice you make automatically presents not only the relevant options for the stream type, but also the highest possible quality by default. For example, selecting HD-DVD means that the stream type defaults to DTS-HD Master Audio (the fully lossless implementation), and the core stream that accompanies it will be set to the highest quality at the same time. DTS has built its system on a 24-bit, 48kHz core stream, with extensions that contain additional channel information and/or the extended frequency response, depending on the stream type — so consumers will always get the highest-quality audio output their systems are capable of delivering without needing to set anything up! By way of example, imagine using HD-DVD media and a DTS-HD Master Audio stream with a channel count of 7.1 and a sampling rate of 96kHz. The encoder will place the 24-bit, 48kHz mono-to-5.1 core in a constant bit rate stream of 192 to 1509kbps (in a 5.1 configuration, the available bit rates are from 768 to 1509kbps), and add the additional frequency response, the additional channels

May/June 2007

review and the increased resolution in the extensions to the core stream. So no matter what the destination media or stream type, all current and legacy DTS decoders will be able to decode at least the core stream, and you only need to encode one stream for all the possible options. As long as sufficient care is taken during the encode process, this single stream will play back on all DTSenabled players or amplifiers. It is hard to explain the workﬂow benefits to this approach without actually creating a stream. In contrast, the Dolby Media Producer creates two separate streams to ensure legacy playback: a Dolby Digital and a Dolby True HD stream. With the DTSHD system, you only have the single stream to sync up and cater for, which makes the authoring a lot simpler, and because the module automatically assigns the highest quality options by default every step of the way, it’s easy to use. You also have the ability to create custom downmix coefficients. A 7.1 stream can contain metadata to downmix to 5.1, 2.0 or both at the same time, and yet again, only those options that actually make sense for the stream type are selectable. The DTS-HD StreamTools module is one of those things you never knew you needed until you use it. It’s a collection comprising join, append, trim, split, re-stripe, file info and verification tools, all wrapped up in a single module. The user guide erroneously states that they can be accessed from a non-existent stream tools menu item, but they may be independently launched from the icon on the desktop; they are then completely independent of the tools option in the main encoder module, which runs a peak bit rate analysis on the encoded stream only. All except the file info and verify tools may alter either the selected stream or create an entirely new stream based on the selections made. The Join tool enables users to join DTS-HD encoded streams in situations where audio-to-timecode sync is mandatory, and using it is straightforward. Handily, join operations can have overlapping audio regions for bit-exact edits. Given the amount of re-encoding that is done in the business, it is almost impossible to overstate the usefulness of this tool; it also allows previously encoded files to be joined into a single new file with its own reference timecode. The Append tool is almost a lite version of the Join tool; it allows you to join together two streams with no regard for audio-to-timecode sync. However, using it results in the loss of all such sync, so handle with care. The Trim tool does exactly what it says, allowing you to adjust the start and end times of a stream by dropping frames outside the defined areas. The Split tool divides a single stream into two new ones, while the Re-stripe tool simply re-labels the start time and frame rate of the selected file, although as with the Append tool, all audio-to-timecode sync is lost in the process. The File Info tool is wonderful for those occasions when you’re working with files supplied or encoded by a third party and when the log files have been lost or are not included for whatever reason. It simply reads the header and extracts all information contained in the stream, thereby enabling lost information to be recovered. Finally, the Verify tool performs a full decode of the stream, stopping short of generating audio data. The process checks that all the components are in the proper place, and various parameters are displayed: header information, the core substream, extension substream, presentation data (channel count, bit depth, sample rate, and so on), stream size, navigation data, and any sync words that are relevant. There are a few niggles. As yet, the StreamPlayer May/June 2007

is a Pro Tools-only plug-in. This was no use to me on my Nuendo system, although a quick email to DTS resulted in a command-line decoder for verification to an actual set of audio files. There’s also no Blu Ray Secondary Audio support, although these shortcomings are supposedly being addressed as you read this, and will apparently be made available in free-of-charge updates. In summary, this suite will be an invaluable help to anyone producing audio content for any of the new HD formats given DTS mandatory status in both Blu Ray and HD-DVD. Thanks to its clever use of core and extension substreams, one stream should meet everybody’s needs, and the Batch tool only makes life even easier. For those not working in HD formats there is the more affordable (£548.27 + VAT) SAS, or Surround Audio System, that uses a similar interface, but only enables DVD encoding. Naturally, there is an

available upgrade path if your requirements should change later. ■

ProS

an extremely simple interface, with straightforward workﬂow and a comprehensive set of tools to verify and append streams; reasonably priced compared to the Dolby Media Producer; cut down version available for those not yet working in HD.

ConS

StreamPlayer plug-in currently only available for Pro tools; DtS-CD still missing; no Blu ray secondary audio support at present.

Contact DtS, US: Website: www.dts.com

MA> G>P LM:G=:K=

: g^p lmZg]Zk] bg eh\Zmbhg k^\hk]bg` : g^p lmZg]Zk] aZl [^^g Z]]^] mh ma^ -))/ _Zfber' Ma^ -))/&ME h__^kl ^qm^g]^] [Zll k^lihgl^ Zg] ab`a^k l^glbmbobmr' Ma^ ik^\bl^ k^& ikh]n\mbhg% mhmZe mkZgliZk^g\r% ab`a k^lhenmbhg Zg] gZmnkZe lhng]bg` \eZkbmr h_ ma^l^ fb\khiahg^l \hgmbgn^ mh fZd^ ma^ -))/ _Zfber ma^ [^lm fb\khiahg^l bg ma^bk \eZll' Ni`kZ]^ rhnk -))/ mh -))/&ME li^\bÖ\Zmbhg -))/ fb\khiahg^l \Zg [^ ni`kZ]^] mh -))/&ME li^\bÖ\Zmbhg' Ng]^k& mZd^g Zm ma^ =I: _Z\mhkr% ma^ ni`kZ]^ \hglblml h_ Z g^p ik^ZfiebÖ^k% Z <ehl^&fbdbg` `kb]% Z \Zeb[kZmbhg \aZkm Zg] Z g^p fb\ \Zl^' Oblbm ppp' ]iZfb\khiahg^l'\hf _hk _nee ]^mZbel'

=I: Fb\khiahg^l :(L% @r]^oZg` -+&--% =D&,-.) :ee^kh^]% =^gfZkd% M^e'3 $-. -1*- +1+1% >fZbe3 bg_h9]iZfb\khiahg^l'\hf

DPA4006-TL Resolution JP.indd 1

resolution

=I: -))/&ME

F^^m nl Zm :>L +))0 bg Ob^ggZ% .' È 1' FZr% LmZg] gh' *,*.

p p p'] i Z f b \ kh i a h g ^ l '\h f

10/04/07 14:21:50

review

apogee rosetta 800 + Symphony It’s been long awaited and promises a very high density of I-o in Core audio. Jon tHornton checks out apogee’s latest a-D and D-a convertor, and hears a Symphony...

PoGee’S roSetta 800 (UK£1725 +VAT) is a multichannel A-D and D-A convertor. Building on the technologies first introduced with the acclaimed AD8000, it offers eight channels of analogue to digital and digital to analogue conversion, supporting a variety of digital formats. Although it’s been around for some time, what is relatively new is the ability to use it in conjunction with Apogee’s Symphony system, allowing direct connection to any Core Audio application running on a Mac. Before looking at Symphony, it’s worth giving the features of the Rosetta 800 as a standalone unit the once over. The rear panel offers eight balanced analogue inputs and eight balanced outputs on the familiar DB25 connector. Operating level is nominally +4dBu equalling -16dBFS in both directions, although this can be changed independently for the A-D and DA processes by altering jumpers inside the unit. A further DB25 connector gives eight channels of AES-EBU I-O, and four Toslink optical connectors allow up to eight channels of ADAT I-O (at a maximum sample rate of 48kHz), or eight channels of SMUX I-O. TTL wordclock input and output on BNCs complete the line-up. The Rosetta 800 is capable of working at sample rates of up to 192kHz, using either its own internal clock, or external clock from the TTL input or any of the digital inputs. SMUX interfacing is, of course, limited to 96kHz operation, but the AES inputs can work in either single-wire or dual-wire mode up to the 192kHz maximum. A front panel switch engages Apogee’s Soft Limit circuitry on all analogue inputs, which rounds off transients to gain digital headroom. I confess that I’m not a fan of this approach, but I guess it’s a useful safety net in some applications. When working at sample rates of 44.1 or 48kHz, the digital output can also be dithered down from 24 to 16-bit using Apogee’s UV22 process. However, this is an all-ornothing selection — when engaged it is applied to all digital outputs. The thing that sets the Rosetta 800 apart from many other convertors is the ﬂexibility of its internal signal routing. At a basic level, this allows the selection of a source to feed all of the digital outputs, and a source to feed the analogue outputs. Toggling the digital output source allows you to select all eight channels of any of the digital inputs or the analogue inputs to feed all digital outputs, or to pick and mix 32

pairs of analogue sources with pairs from one of the digital sources. Conversely, the analogue outputs can be set to carry all eight channels of any digital source, or a combination of analogue inputs (after AD conversion) and one of the digital inputs. This does give you a lot of ﬂexibility in using the unit to convert from one digital format to another, and a number of options for monitoring purposes. It’s relatively easy to set up, although there is no permanent indication of status when sources are split between analogue and digital — you have to press and hold the routing switches to show this as a matrix on the Signal Present and Over LEDs. Sonically, the Rosetta 800 is extremely impressive. Running at 48kHz and connecting it via AES to a Digidesign 192, it was possible to do a direct comparison of both the A-D and DA stages. With Soft Limit firmly disengaged, a 12-string acoustic guitar was recorded using a pair of DPA4006 microphones to four tracks of Pro Tools simultaneously, two tracks using the Apogee and two using the 192. Comparing the recordings using the respective D-A stages, there wasn’t a great deal of difference in the high mids and high frequencies. The Rosetta, though, seemed to have a much greater sense of depth and perspective to the low mids, making them sound solid and warm, but that little bit tighter than the 192. The story was the same when auditioning previously recorded material through both D-A stages: better depth and perspective in the low mids with the Rosetta. Both the 192 and the Rosetta seemed to perform well in terms of imaging and perspective in the high frequencies, though, with the Rosetta sounding ever so slightly softer in this area. The ace in the hole for the Rosetta is the ability to fit option cards in the back. These options allow a further range of digital interfacing, which appear as routing sources on the front panel. An option card allowing the Rosetta to hang off a Pro Tools HD system has been around for while now, but Apogee has recently introduced a card that allows the Rosetta to communicate with its own PCI DSP card, called Symphony (UK£475 +VAT). Available in either PCIe or PCI-X ﬂavours, a single Symphony card can have up to four Apogee interfaces resolution

daisy-chained to it. So a single Symphony card and four Symphony-enabled Rosetta 800s gives you 32 channels of I-O which can be directly addressed by any Core Audio application — meaning pretty much any Mac-based sequencer or DAW except for Pro Tools. Installation of the Symphony expansion card in the interface is straightforward enough if a bit fiddly, involving removing the top of the unit and plugging the expansion board onto the main PCB. The Symphony PCI card installs in an appropriate slot of the Mac, although you do need to watch out with older G5s that you choose the 133MHz slot if you’re using the PCI-X card rather than the newer PCIe version. The Symphony Core Audio driver is a straightforward install as long as you’re running Mac OS 10.4.x — the installer just won’t run on anything older. Once installed, the system is very easy to configure and set up. If you are a Logic Pro user, once you’ve told Logic to use the Symphony card you can access all of the available I-Os directly from Logic. More functions are available from the included Maestro software, which allows you to assign physical I-O to virtual tracks in the DAW via a matrix, and also offers a digital mixer capability for latency-free mixing of hardware inputs and a DAW return signal, just like Apogee’s Ensemble (Resolution V6.3). A feature unique to Symphony is the ability to create virtual buses (VBus) within the architecture. Up to 32 buses can be created per Symphony card, and these allow the transport of audio between Core Audio applications, or even within applications. For example, it’s possible to define a pair of VBuses as the destination for tracks in Logic, and then to select those VBuses as the inputs to another pair of tracks — something that hasn’t been possible within the Logic environment before. With up to 32 channels of I-O per card, filling up a G5 or Mac Pro with Symphony cards means that it’s perfectly possible to have 96 channels of extremely high-quality I-O without the need for an expansion chassis — as long as you use Core Audio. So while Pro Tools users might look wistfully on, Logic users definitely have something to smile about. ■

ProS

Great-sounding convertor; ﬂexible mixing and routing of analogue and digital sources in hardware; Symphony option gives highest I-o density currently available without expansion chassis; VBus improves functionality of Logic Pro.

ConS

only available for PCI-X and PCIe (old G5 and G4 owners look elsewhere); routing setup on rosetta hard to see at a glance; application of dither to digital outputs is all or nothing.

Contact aPoGee, US: Website: www.apogeedigital.com UK, Sonic Distribution: +44 1582 470260

May/June 2007

review

Pharoah Syncheck II even inexperienced eyes are now noticing the disparity in timing between the picture and sound on tV. If you’re worried about your audio and video being out of sync you should take a look at the Syncheck II. anDY DaY pays lip service.

or SoMe tIMe it’s been possible to import video into DAWs, but the accuracy of sync between audio and video is sometimes dubious. AV sync is a tricky thing to quantify anyway, mostly due to the subjective nature of lip sync. You only need to watch Sky TV for a few minutes to see just how loose sync can be. The Syncheck II is a relatively low-cost measurement tool that allows very accurate measurement and calibration of audio and video. It even measures SPLs, which is useful for setting up multichannel monitoring systems. With more and more facilities using plasma or LCD screens for laying back audio to video masters, there’s an amazing range of possible delays, especially when AES signals are being routed over long distances, say to another part of the building. Also, working on laptop-based systems for video and audio editing is more popular than ever now, due to the success of programs such as Final Cut Studio. But some formats are renowned for sync drift, especially long digitised clips. The Syncheck II is the first product I’ve come across that allows accurate audio and video sync measurement, so that sync problems can be solved in a more scientific way, rather than just using the human eye. Syncheck II is a basic-looking piece of equipment: a plastic case with LEDs and a couple of toggle switches. It’s certainly not going to win any design awards, and looks more like a Maplin self-assembly kit than a professional measurement tool. But its basic appearance is reﬂected in its affordable price (US$325) not its functionality. There are various LEDs for measurement and signal verification, plus two toggle switches and a power switch. Audio and video measurement is handled by the built-in microphone (or line input for noisy environments) and a light sensor respectively. Audio-visual sync reference material is supplied on CD and DVD, which you need to import into your DAW before you use the device. SPL measurement with Syncheck II is easy. You select SPL with the toggle switch, and look at the 16-LED column display. There is a range from 75dB

to 90dB and extra ‘getting close’ LEDs for when you have set a reference level. Once you’ve done this, setting up a basic 5.1 system is really easy, as you can measure the pink noise SPL from one speaker and push a switch, and this will become the reference level. The pink noise can then be cycled around the other channels and you set the individual levels to match this, using just four Matching LEDs. Then, with your eye on the LED display, you can set the actual SPL level by adjusting a ganged master level control that controls the L, C, R, Ls, Rs, and LFE channels simultaneously. It’s quick and easy. But how does this box measure audio-visual sync? By making use of the supplied video and audio test material. First you need to import your choice of source file into your DAW. A wide range of formats is supplied: PAL, NTSC, DV, QuickTime, MXF, and so on, at standard frame rates such as 25, 29.97, 24, and 23.98. The content of all these formats, however, is the same: a series of one-frame ﬂashes and audio pips. Once the file is imported you just play it back, resolution

turn up the monitoring, point the light sensor at your display, and the Syncheck II will measure the delay between the audio pips and video ﬂashes. It really is that simple. Then you just need to move the audio until the Syncheck II indicates that everything is in sync. This will be the fixed offset you need to apply, which will usually mean delaying audio to compensate for delays in the video. The reasons for this may be either in the host computer, the video codec or the display. Delays in the host computer may be fixable, but codec and display-related delays will require audio to be delayed. I used Syncheck to measure audio-visual sync on a number of systems, so I thought it might be useful to share the results of some common setups. First up was a plasma display. I checked our 42-inch Panasonic display to see if the offset we use for the monitoring was correct. The first stage was to output the PAL DV file to Digibeta to minimise the signal paths for the measurements. Then the Digibeta was played out to the plasma, and the audio played out via AES to the monitors. It would appear that our semi-scientific sync measurements were almost spot on; the delay measured just 5ms more. Next up was my personal favourite: HD-CAM decks. Anyone who has had the ‘pleasure’ of laying back to one of these will have spent many a happy hour chasing up the source of mysterious delays and suspected sync problems, especially in machines with older firmware. I can now confirm that there is definitely a four-frame difference when laying back using 9-pin control, compared to when chasing timecode. We already knew this, but it’s nice to get confirmation! Finally, I thought it might be interesting to check out the common combination of Pro Tools with a Mojo interface. This is the new way to combine video with Pro Tools, and compared to the awful AV option of the old days, it’s much simpler to use. But is it accurate? I was using a PC-based Pro Tools system with the video fed directly to a CRT, as the Intel-based Mac Pro is not yet certified with the Mojo. The results with the MXF source file were very impressive; there was a delay of about a tenth of a frame in the video. But trying PAL QuickTime was a different story; at first it seemed as though it was two frames ‘off’, but then it seemed to drift. There are many possible explanations as to why this is happening, and I’m still trying to find a definitive answer; the latest theory is that QuickTime is poorly supported for PC (for obvious reasons...) The sooner Digidesign hurries up and certifies the Mac Pro, the better. At just $325, the Syncheck II is a bargain, especially for UK customers at the current pounddollar exchange rate. However, I suspect that some facilities will need to spend quite a bit more once they discover the truth about the accuracy of their sync — or the lack of it! ■

ProS

easy to use; inexpensive; SPL measurement a bonus.

ConS

a bit odd-looking; there’s no UK dealer, for example, so Syncheck II is only available direct.

Contact PHaroaH eDItorIaL, US: Website: www.cyncheck.com

May/June 2007

AT4050:

created by one, used by everyone. Before a product becomes so legendary that it is used by everyone, someone has to create it. When Akino-san, an employee of Audio-Technica for many years, spent hundreds of hours on the creation of the AT4050, he was working to obtain the AT4050’s superb quality of sound reproduction. Not only did he succeed in his ambition, but today, the AT4050 is used all over the world in a wide variety of applications, from recording studios to live sound to broadcast. And when he’s not creating legends, Akino-san loves the serenity of fishing. Audio-Technica’s range of studio microphones start from just £100*. To find out more, email info@audio-technica.co.uk or telephone +44 (0) 113 292 0461. *AT2020 suggested retail price

www.audio-technica.com

review

tL audio M1 GeorGe SHILLInG knocks another few inches off the polar ice caps by plugging in tL audio’s entry level valve board, and discovers a thoroughly benevolent kind of global warming.

L aUDIo’S VtC (Valve Technology Console) has been around for some years and is now established as a successful mid-range/project studio console, but the company has toyed with a few different lower-order models over time. The M1 Tubetracker delivers a conventional 8 or 12 into 2 mixer, but unlike earlier budget TL Audio desks this one is semi-modular, with separate channel strips, although some circuitry is still bolted to the case. EQ is a simple 3-band design, and master section features are limited, but the trademark valve-featured circuitry remains. The 8-channel version sells at a price (UK£2199 +VAT) that you might expect to pay for four channels of boutique mic preamp — and those included here are really very good. Furthermore, digital interfacing options are available as modules to plumb into the rear — at a price. The 12-channel unit received for review was quite a weighty affair, with some degree of strength required to move it. This is probably mostly due to the attractive oak panels on three sides. These add an air of quality rarely seen with mid-budget gear, and upon checking the label I was pleasantly surprised to find that the M1 is put together in the UK. All analogue connections are on the top of the rear part of the unit, which can lead to messy cabling, but re-configuring is easier, and connectivity is good. All the multitudinous jack connections are balanced, and microphone inputs and main outputs are on XLRs. Each channel also includes a separate switchable Line input and a direct output (post-EQ but pre-fader), which usefully allows you to create a monitor mix separate from recording levels. There is also a proper separate balanced Insert Send and Insert Return, a welcome feature when you often have to put up with unbalanced TRS combined insert jacks at this level. The input section includes separate phantom power for each channel, and a 30dB pad. This seems a bit drastic, but the preamps certainly have plenty of gain, even though their maximum range is labelled 60dB. A useful Polarity switch sits next to a handy 90Hz high-pass filter button. The 3-band EQ is very simple, but includes an On button, and is adequate in most situations for a bit of shaping. HF and LF are fixed, while the Mid sweeps from about 150Hz to about 7kHz. It sounds sweet enough with small boosts, especially when just adding a bit of top or bottom. There are two Aux Sends: one is switchable to Pre but the other is always Post, which is a nuisance if you wanted to provide a stereo foldback. Above the faders are centre-detented panpots, PFL and Mute buttons with associated LEDs, and Peak and Drive LEDs for controlled colouration. While all the knobs feel oily to turn, the long faders are rather light to the touch. The master section is laid out spaciously, and this section includes useful Alt Speaker connections and selection button, a stereo return and two external 36

selectable 2-track monitor inputs, a PFL Balance knob, separate headphone level control, and a wonderfully huge Volume knob. A couple of illuminated circular VUs stylishly indicate mix level. The M1 is made a more attractive prospect to DAW users with the optional digital boards. The DO-8 provides access to the Direct Outs and Line Ins of the first eight channels with ADAT optical connections, with Word clock I-O on BNCs. A small switch selects 48kHz or 96kHz but it seems 44.1 and 88.2 are only available when clocked externally. I got better results from the mic pres using the analogue outputs going into a high-quality external convertor, using the digital interface I noticed some slight hum from the channels, but this may have been an earthing issue, as several interfaces and Word clock cables were involved. Additionally, the master section was fitted with a DO-2, this with a simple Word clock input and SPDIF phono output, and a similar sample rate switch. This is a handy solution for plumbing the mix back into the digital world. The M1 is undoubtedly aimed towards DAW users, and as such makes a fantastic recording setup for bands. The mic preamps and EQ sound solid for the price, and true to the clichéd expectations, the valve circuitry indeed seems to add some warmth, depth and hugeness compared to budget solid state rivals. When tracking, you can use the mix bus or even the Auxes to create submixes, say to combine multimic setups to mono or stereo tracks on the recorder. In a non-TDM setup you could alternatively (or additionally) use the Auxes and/or the main bus for zero-latency monitoring. With a mainly in-DAW mix, I ran some subgroups through the M1 in order to use it as a summing mixer, and again, a size and depth was achieved that was certainly a marked improvement over the results of an entirely in-the-box approach. This was achieved without driving the M1 hard, but even with the needles just touching zero, the noise ﬂoor is commendably low. Lighting up the Drive LEDs with gain adds some pleasant colouration in some circumstances. Of course, when trying to use the M1 as centrepiece in a recording situation, you start to notice the missing features: no talkback whatsoever, mono-only foldback, but no Mono monitor button. And a fair amount of heat is generated, despite the separate PSU box. The M1 is solidly built and has a very professional feel to it. It sounds as chunky as it looks, with a big warm sound, and facilities that are generally adequate. For the DAW-based studio, a desk like this makes an awful lot of sense, especially with the digital interfacing options. In short, the M1 remains true to TL Audio’s established reputation for competitively priced, good-sounding valve gear. ■

ProS

Warm valve-tinged mic preamps and output stages; great for tracking or summing; digital I-o; modular.

ConS

no digital I-o for channels 9 to 12; mono pre aux; no talkback; hefty; Do-8 is expensive; no 44.1/88.2kHz internal clocking.

Contact tL aUDIo, UK: Website: www.tlaudio.co.uk

resolution

May/June 2007

Time is ticking on the transition to HD

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re planning for Multicast 5.1 and stereo broadcast, and need SDI and Dolby E audio distribution, investing in a Studer Vista Digital Audio Console means youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be ready for HDTV now. With the acclaimed Vistonics user interface making operation simple and fast, Vista consoles represent the fastest route to the future.

www.studer.ch

review

audio ease altiverb 6XL audio ease has gone back to basics, re-coding altiverb for Intel Macs, Windows, and tDM following the demise of the altivec engine that gave the plug-in its name. GeorGe SHILLInG is impressed.

He LonGeSt-eStaBLISHeD PLUG-In convolution reverb has gone up another version number and splits into two price points. Generously, the ﬂying Dutchmen make the basic version 6 (normally 499 Euros +VAT) a free upgrade for version 5 owners. However, in the basic version, the Dutch have capped sample rates at 96kHz and done away with surround reverb. If you need rates up to 384kHz, surround, or the new TDM version (with a few caveats explained below), 6XL must be paid for, and starting from scratch this version is significantly more expensive (849 Euros + VAT). The Dutch have doubled their efforts to recode for new versions and processors. Altiverb was named after the Altivec engine of the Macintosh’s Power PC processor. Altiverb made specific use of this processor to provide a process for a few hundred pounds that had previously required hardware costing thousands. But with the latest version, the Dutch have courageously tackled Intel processors, Windows compatibility and TDM processing. Now,

all major plug-in formats are covered, including VST and Audio Units. The software comes on two CDs stuffed into a DVD case, along with that rare beast, a printed manual. Inside the front cover is a serial number, which you can enter on the Audio Ease website to initiate an iLok licence deposit. Following straightforward installation, you’re up and running. Included on the discs are all the impulse responses (IRs) that are also provided on the Audio Ease website. This has grown into an incredible library, and new responses are still posted every few weeks. There is a menu item to check for updates, but it’s not clear whether this is for software version or IRs. The plug-in window seems ever larger, and will easily occupy more than a third of the screen on most systems. But going from version 5 to 6, the most immediately noticeable change is the new IR Browser located in the main window. (Waterfall and Waveform are still available via tabs.) This replaces the previous drop-down list, and includes features that Microsoft and Apple could learn from. Split into two windows, the category folders in the left side open with one click to reveal locations. The really clever feature is simply that the list auto-scrolls to allow all contained folders to be visible without having to click or drag scroll bars. Previous folders are also auto-closed, unless you’re holding down a modifier for comparison of more than one response. You can even toggle the text between two sizes. A click on a location reveals the multiple individual impulse responses (using different mic positions, for example) in the right window, and a click on one of these loads it; a new option lets you load IRs with or without changing global settings such as Reverb Time. This also loads some information and a picture

into the Info panel on the right of the window, but hovering the mouse over other impulses reveals their info and picture. The system is intuitive, elegant and straightforward. To maximise power from a TDM system, a series of versions of the plug-in is provided, using different amounts of TDM chips with corresponding maximum reverb time and channel configurations. It is obviously a struggle to make this work, as Altiverb can only use the four chips with extra memory on an HD Accel card. Using all four chips provides just one mono to stereo Altiverb with a maximum reverb setting of 8.5 seconds at 44.1kHz. There is promise of V6.1 with support for Process (non-Accel) cards, but it was not available at the time of writing, and may tax these older cards even more heavily. If you’re using a powerful Mac with just one or two HD Accel cards, the provision of TDM processing is of limited use, as Altiverb pummels the TDM cards rather heavily, to say the least. It is, however, handy to have this option if you’re running lots of RTAS or ReWire instruments. Most controls and features, apart from the new browser, remain unchanged from V5, but there are a few improvements that tidy things up, such as sensibly moving the test buttons to near the level controls, and new options for triggering the test sounds via the Qwerty keyboard. The snapshot memories, or Automation Presets, have expanded from 10 to 40 slots. In V5, automating these via Pro Tools was the only way of automating some of the settings, but now almost all controls appear in the automation menu. Or at least, they are supposed to; at the time of writing there was a bug in V6.0.6 that obliterated many of these parameters from the automation menu when using a control surface, and had me temporarily mystified. There were also a couple of extra test versions in the plug-in list that repeatedly caused Pro Tools to ‘unexpectedly’ quit, although of course I soon grew to expect it! Hopefully these bugs will have been ironed out by the time you read this. Any convolution reverb (and there are plenty around now) is only as good as its library. Audio Ease knows this, and its development team obviously has great enthusiasm for capturing new and interesting responses. Since we last looked, many more postproduction ambiences have been added, with lots of great small spaces. Furthermore, the Gear folder has now expanded to include a comprehensive selection from the Lexicon 480L and the AMS RMX-16. The real hardware is still better, but these are very good in the context of most mixes. There are a couple of extra sports stadia, and all the excellent concert halls, churches and cathedrals remain. Apart from improved compatibility, the killer feature is the new browser, which makes IR selection far easier. Altiverb is undoubtedly still the king of convolution plugs. Going Dutch has never seemed so appealing... ■

ProS

Still the class leader; excellent new Ir browser; support for Windows, tDM, and Intel Mac; lower native processor overhead in Mac rtaS.

ConS

Difﬁcult to keep up with all the latest convolution releases; big window; heavy processor load, especially if using tDM; a few bugs and instabilities in V6.0.6.

Contact aUDIo eaSe, tHe netHerLanDS: Website: www.audioease.com

resolution

May/June 2007

Audio

perfection

The current state of technology in the recording and reproduction of sound is at a very high level today thanks to tireless efforts of a handful of pioneers. This relatively small group of researchers and innovators, all of whom were continually striving for sonic perfection included Horst Klein and Walter Hummel. In 1945 they courageously founded a company that is still to this day, exclusively dedicated to the perfect reproduction of sound. www.klein-hummel.co.uk

review

Beyer M160 ribbon mics are enjoying a renaissance for good reason. Jon tHornton returns to a design classic, and falls in love with it all over again.

HILe rIBBon MICroPHoneS have undergone something of a renaissance lately with new manufacturers making inroads into the market, it’s worth remembering that a couple of more established brands have been quietly producing ribbon designs for quite some time now. A good example is Beyerdynamic, whose M160 ribbon microphone (UK£341 + VAT) reaches its 50th anniversary this year. The company is manufacturing a special limited-edition run of 200 microphones with the original nickel finish to celebrate the fact, which gave us a good opportunity to revisit the mic. Not wishing to soil a limited-edition pair, the good folk at Beyer shipped over a pair of standard-issue (black) M160s (Are we on underwear or mics? Ed). If you’re not familiar with the microphone, the first thing that strikes you is that it seems somehow out of proportion, with a small spherical housing sitting 40

atop a fairly chunky body that tapers slightly at the top as it meets the housing. This housing contains the guts of the microphone, a dual aluminium ribbon element. Unlike most other ribbon designs, the M160 uses two aluminium ribbons spaced 0.5mm apart — an attempt to reduce the mass of each element and thereby improve its transient response, while maximising surface area and therefore signalto-noise ratio. The orientation is indicated by two red dots on the housing. These become important when positioning the mic because unusually for a ribbon design, the M160 features a hypercardioid polar pattern rather than a fig-8. This directionality means that the M160 is a great tool in applications where a conventional fig-8 ribbon would pick up too much to the rear. Add to this a pronounced proximity bump, and a slightly wider high-frequency pickup in the horizontal plane compared to the vertical, and you have a microphone for which position is everything. Many people new to ribbons try close-miking a guitar cab first, so this seemed a sensible way to start. To respect its internals, a single M160 was placed slightly off-centre from the middle of the speaker cone and about 6inches distant, fitted with the obligatory pop shield in case of unexpected air movements. The result was pretty much an out-of-thebox ‘classic’ sound, with plenty of body and weight; the harder edges were nicely rounded off without sounding dull or lacking in clarity. In comparison, an SM57 (albeit slightly closer in) pulled out more attack to the sound, but at the expense of a lack of weight and a slightly irritating mid-range honk. This was no real surprise, but I was impressed by the effortless way in which the M160 seemed to add body to the sound without ever sounding lumpy. Switching to acoustic guitar, the story changes somewhat. There’s still that great sense of weight and smoothness, but a distinct lack of detail to the edge of the sound and high harmonics, particularly with picked playing styles. You also notice just how low the M160’s sensitivity is in this application — the spec sheet quotes around 1mV per Pascal, and you’ll need a nice quiet preamp with plenty of usable gain when working with quieter sources. Reaching for a large-diaphragm capacitor is, for most of us, an instinctive choice for most types of vocal recording. However, for spoken word, announcing and voiceover applications, the M160 could very well change your mind. It’s here that the ‘tuneability’ of the microphone really shines through. Straight on, about six inches away from a male spoken vocal, the microphone delivers a really rich textured sound. There’s plenty of definition and a slight tendency to sound a little ‘splatty’ on occasions, but the sound has nothing of the harshness in the high mids that you so often have to gently EQ out with some voices. Moving closer onto the mic gives a much more hyped sound — there’s a fairly vicious proximity lift that kicks in from about 1kHz downwards — and very close positions can start to sound comparatively boomy as a result on some voices. Having said that, careful experimenting with a source’s distance and resolution

relative height to the microphone reveals a huge tonal palette — much more so than with a typical large-diaphragm capacitor. With these characteristics in mind, it was time to move on to a real challenge for a ribbon — a drum kit. With a good (read careful) drummer, and a welltuned kit, the M160s are really very powerful and ﬂexible tools. When used as close mics on toms, the mic delivers an astonishingly deep and rich sound due to its proximity effect, giving the sort of clarity and harmonic richness that you might expect from a capacitor mic, but with a lot more focus and less annoying crosstalk. Certainly, the relatively tight pickup pattern and strong rejection from the rear and sides helps here, but it’s a completely different and much more organic sound than, say, an MD421 in a similar position. Where the M160s really stand out though, is as a kit pair. While a ribbon design isn’t going to deliver the same transient detail and extended high-frequency response as a capacitor, in this application they give a sound that can only be described as chunky and smooth, and one that really helps a kit sit in the mix. Their low sensitivity means that treating them as a kit pair rather than overheads helps — lowering their positions so that one is peeking over the ﬂoor tom and the other is about 70cm directly above the snare gives a very tightly focused sound, and one that delivers far more of the kit than the room. Having tried other ribbon microphones in similar positions, I’ve often found that the pickup to the rear compromises the sound to some extent, and that’s not the case here. In comparison to other, more recent offerings, such as the SE R1 and the Royer 121 and 122, the diminutive M160s are slightly darkersounding, and don’t have anything like the same sensitivity of the active R122. Yet they score highly because of their versatility and ability to command a wonderfully lush sound from such a variety of sources. Little wonder, then, that the design and manufacturing process has changed so little in 50 years. If it ain’t broke... ■

ProS

Succeeds in adding great warmth and depth to most sources; very ‘tuneable’ response via careful positioning; hypercardioid response a bonus in some applications.

ConS

needs a good quiet preamp to extract its best performance.

eXtraS

to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the M160 beyerdynamic is releasing 200 limited special edition M160s in their original chromeplated housing and a further 50 will be offered together with an M130 as M/S stereo sets.

Contact BeYerDYnaMIC, GerManY: Website: www.beyerdynamic.co.uk

May/June 2007

YOU ASKED FOR AN ALTERNATIVE We Delivered... The 21st Century Media Platform 4(% "2%!+4(2/5'( 9/5 6% "%%. 7!)4).' &/2 7HAT CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH JUST /.% 0#)E ## CARD s 3UPER (I 2ESOLUTION !UDIO #HANNELS s FULLY PARAMETRIC BANDS OF %1 ON %6%29 CHANNEL

$2%!- )) POWERED BY ## 'O ON PUT YOUR HEAD ABOVE THE CROWD )F YOU ARE FED UP WITH CONTINUOUSLY UPGRADING YOUR SYSTEM TO ACHIEVE THE RESULTS YOU NEED THEN MOVE OVER TO &AIRLIGHT BECAUSE WE VE INVENTED AND DELIVERED THE ALTERNATIVE ## DELIVERS THE STEP CHANGE IN AUDIO PERFORMANCE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR 7ITH MORE CHANNELS LOWER LATENCY AND GUARANTEED PROCESSING ON EVERY CHANNEL ## OUT PERFORMS AN ENTIRE STACK OF $30 CARDS /NE ## CARD DELIVERS MORE POWER THAN EIGHT ($ !CCELÂ© CARDS 5TILIZING ST #ENTURY &0'! TECHNOLOGY ## PUTS THE POWER BACK IN YOUR HANDS FREEING YOU FROM THE LIMITING FACTORS OF hTHOSEv UBIQUITOUS $30 AND UNINSPIRED HOST BASED SYSTEMS "E BETTER AND BE MORE THAN READY FOR EMERGING STANDARDS INCLUDING THREE DIMENSIONAL AUDIO $8$ AUDIO FORMATS AND MORE )N SHORT ## HAS ARRIVED IN THE WORLD OF MULTI MEDIA CREATION DELIVERING MORE POWER AND MORE PERFORMANCE n AND THERE S NO GOING BACK

s 3TAGES OF $YNAMICS ON %6%29 CHANNEL s ,ESS THAN M3 LATENCY WITH FULL PROCESSING s ,IGHTNING FAST TACTILE RESPONSE s 5SER DElNABLE MIX BUSSES FROM -ONO TO s CHANNEL AUDIO BRIDGE FOR RD 0ARTY PLUG INS s 5P TO PHYSICAL ) /S PER ## CARD !NALOG $IGITAL OR -!$) s )NTEGRATED TRACK DISC RECORDER s )NTEGRATED 6IDEO TRACK IN 3$ OR ($ FORMAT

www.fairlightau.com

review

edirol r-09 It may look like a Dalek/Cyberman hybrid (a cyrillic Doberman? Ed), but it’s edirol’s latest digital SD card recorder. roB JaMeS battles the latest invader in a gallant attempt to change its batteries.

n MY earLY teens I bought a small reel-to-reel recorder that took two half-inch spools of quarterinch tape and ran at whatever speed it felt like (although it was supposedly 1 7/8ips). It was built like a tank with a metal case and chassis and looked very smart in military green crackle paint. Erase came courtesy of a permanent magnet, the mic supplied was a crystal, and there was a built-in speaker. However, the record quality was execrable, with wow that must have approached 50% and I only attempted to use it a few times. The moral of this sorry tale is simple: just because something is well built and looks the part doesn’t mean it will deliver the goods. But can the converse be equally true? Roland’s Edirol division has a lot of experience with recorders; in recent years we’ve seen products that move well beyond the multitrackers and out onto the road. The R-1 and R-4 are good examples, and the most recent R-4 Pro shows just what they can do when they’re trying; it’s functionally excellent and conservative in appearance with only a few minor defects. So, just when I’m feeling well disposed towards Edirol, the R-09 drops (literally) though my letterbox. First impressions are unpromising, with no sign of that conservative design; the R09 (UK£254.47 + VAT) looks too flash and feels too light. The mics, screen and cursor controls conspire to make it resemble a demented mini-alien, like a Cyberman crossed with a Dalek. And fitting the AA cells so I can fire it up doesn’t improve matters. The cover to the compartment housing the SD card, USB socket and batteries is fiddly, flimsy and annoying. First you have to slide it a bit, then move a minuscule catch while sliding it further, and finally fold it up out of the way. There’s a real danger of snapping it off as you do this; even the manual cautions you to take care. Why on earth design something that is going to be in such frequent use with all the robust qualities of a Kinder surprise? The control labels on the sides are all but illegible, being cleverly composed of black letters embossed on black plastic. I eventually managed to find the tiny Power button, causing the screen to spring to life, although I needed my wife’s more powerful glasses to read some parts of the display. After finding a suitable pair of phones I pressed the Rec button to put the machine into record standby. The flashing red LED surrounding the button only served to reinforce the idea of a chatty Cyberman. It was time to explore a little more seriously. Sensibly sized transport controls double as cursor keys and are laid out accordingly around the Record/ 42

Select/Enter key. Above these, three small buttons invoke Menu, Reverb and Repeat functions. A small Peak LED sits below the tiny screen. On top, between the Cyberman’s ears (built-in mics), two 3.5mm jack sockets cater for mono or stereo mic and line inputs. On the right-hand side there is a Hold switch, monitor volume +/- buttons and a dual analogue headphone output/mini optical digital output. On resolution

the left we have the recessed power button, input level +/- buttons and, under a rubber ﬂap, the DC in jack. The back has four slide switches: automatic gain control on/off, external mic type mono/stereo select, low cut on/off and low/high mic gain. There are also four little rubber dots: a nice touch to stop the machine sliding off a table. The R-09 can record WAV files in 16 or 24-bit resolution at 44.1kHz or 48kHz. It can also record MP3 at rates from 64kbps to 320kbps. I question the sense of fitting a reverb effect and several of the play options, but nobody is compelling you to use them. Things now take a turn for the better. Despite its science-fiction appearance, the R-09 actually makes a decent fist of recording using the internal mics. Although the R-09 is somewhat subject to wind buffeting, handling noise is well suppressed and the high-pass filter, despite being a mite vicious, does a good job of diminishing wind noise. The mic is a tad harsh but not unpleasant, the Gain switch offers a wide range of adjustment, and the headphone level is fine, at least with the ones I used. The automatic gain control is unobtrusive, although it does reduce the level somewhat in the interests of playing it safe. Navigating the menus is easy and logical and operating the R-09 quickly becomes instinctive, so reading the legends is soon irrelevant and the important bits of the screen are in larger print anyway. You should get around four hours’ use from a pair of decent AAs and, of course, the use of AAs is sensible because they are the most common cells around. With the exception of the bottom ﬂap the unit is a lot more robust than it looks, and well up to any treatment it should receive. There’s no hard disk to damage when you drop the unit, since everything is recorded to SD cards, which are so cheap that a few 2Gb ones won’t break the bank; you’ll get 110 minutes of 24-bit 48kHz stereo per card. By contrast, my review R-09 was only supplied with a measly 64Mb card, although as I was writing this review, UK customers were being offered a free 1Gb card as a ‘launch offer’ if they bought their R-09s from the Edirol web store. The analogue circuitry seems reasonably quiet and you can use it with external mics if you want or as a back-up recorder for something with line outs. But the R-09’s real strength is as a standalone recorder. Although you can plug in external mics or even connect it to a mixer, you then lose its primary virtue. In terms of quality, this is a halfway-decent recording set-up in its own right. All you have to worry about is batteries and memory cards. ■

ProS

a good, simple, affordable WaV recorder, with better built-in mics than the price implies.

ConS

the badly designed battery compartment cover; the faintly risible appearance.

Contact eDIroL eUroPe, UK: Website: www.edirol.co.uk

May/June 2007

Bob Clearmountain The man who wrote the book on mixing talks to NIGEL JOPSON about his techniques, and how Bruce Springsteen can listen from New Jersey while he mixes in LA.

f George Martin modelled the role of record producer, then Bob Clearmountain defined the concept of specialist record mixer, the objective ears-for-hire who could draw all the threads from a multitrack production into a cohesive and commercially successful whole. After playing bass guitar in a band, Bob started engineering at Media Sound studios in New York, cutting his teeth with jingles, racing through ten songs a day for Sesame Street and recording bands like Kool & The Gang. In 1977 he became chief engineer at the Power Station studio, working with acts at the epicentre of the New York scene such as The Ramones, Tom Verlaine, Talking Heads, and mixing Springsteen’s The River album. After being impressed with an early SSL console he used in Burbank while on a session with dancemegastars Chic, Clearmountain specified the first US SSL E series for the Power Station, starting a long and fruitful association with the UK mixer manufacturer. Bob’s prominence with Chic brought him specialist mixing work for the Stones (Miss You, Still Life, Tattoo You), David Bowie (Lets Dance), Roxy Music (Avalon), Huey Lewis (Sports) and production work on Bryan Adams’ You Want It, You Got It. By the time I first worked in the US in 1984, the Clearmountain effect was inescapable: he produced Adams’ multiplatinum seller Reckless, Hall & Oates’ Big Bam Boom, 44

and mixed Springsteen’s epoch-defining Born In The USA. It was near impossible to start a mix session without your producer sliding a CD of one of Bob’s hit mixes into the player — Clearmountain’s powerful, uncluttered and radio-friendly sound had raised the bar for a whole generation of journeyman engineers. His surname practically became a brand name, and in that decade it seemed every international rock hit had passed through Bob’s faders: Simple Minds, Tina Turner, Daryl Hall, Journey, The Pretenders, Robbie Robertson, INXS, Carly Simon, Crowded House, Tears For Fears. In 1994 Clearmountain built a studio in his LA home and installed a modified SSL 4000G+, equipped with his favoured E Series EQs. Unlike many production heroes of the ’80s, the pace never let up for Bob as he continued with acts like Shawn Colvin, Five For Fighting, Bon Jovi, Shelby Lynne, Ricky Martin, Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, Robbie Williams and Barenaked Ladies. Several artists have become career-long mainstays, he has produced four albums and mixed practically every song Bryan Adams ever sung, and has mixed at least 12 albums since The River for Bruce Springsteen. When Resolution interviewed Bob he was finishing a project for another long-standing client, The Rolling Stones, and holding a panel from his recently purchased vintage Neve, which he’d brought to the UK for Rupert to sign. resolution

What prompted the purchase of a Neve? Is it a new project you’re involved with? Betty [Mrs Clearmountain] owns and runs Apogee, who have bought a beautiful building in Santa Monica. It’s a dual bow-truss property with 5,000sqft on each side. Apogee is on one side and the back half of the other side is their warehouse. I sort of got down on my knees and asked the wife if I could build a tracking room in the spare front half of the building. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do — and now we’ve done it I’m not really sure why because I haven’t even had a chance to use it yet! I’ve been so busy with Springsteen and the Stones and the new Bryan Adams album. The Neve console is an 8068, it’s actually the first console we had at the Power Station, installed there in 1977. All the Chic records were done on it, I mixed Roxy Music’s Flesh And Blood on it, Bruce Springsteen’s The River was recorded on it and I mixed Hungry Heart on it. I recorded the first Bryan Adams album on it, Sister Sledge We Are Family ... all that stuff. What are you working on with the Stones? There are several projects. There’s a theatrical release movie which Martin Scorsese is directing, recorded at the Beacon theatre in New York; they’re still working on editing that. Then there’s a boxed set of three DVDs, one is the Rio de Janeiro show where there were 1.2 million people on the beach, another is a show from Austin Texas, and the third is a mix of shows such as Japan, Shanghai and Buenos Aires. Then there’s some older stuff, plus duets with various other artists, it ended up being around a hundred songs — a lot of mixing — and 40 of them I had to do last week. It’s always needed yesterday! May/June 2007

Recent console installations include:Andrew Lynwood • Thames Valley Uni Bandwagon Studios • Leeds Metropolitan Uni Alaska Studios • Millfield School Platform One - 2x consoles! The Parlour Studio • Millenium Phonographic Centro is a Master Section designed to give DAW users all of the intuitive control of a large format console. Switching, routing, cue mixing and talkback all happens Centro-lly. Listen to any of 6 digital and 6 analogue stereo sources. Audition multiple analogue sources simultaneously, even throw in a digital source if you like. At the same time, you can route any digital source to the dedicated digital output which means no more replugging or respective patching.

Retain your software’s automation and plug-ins, whilst adding the sound of the best large format console technology. Summing in the analogue domain ensures no reduction in resolution – making your bass fuller, cleaner and more coherent.

The ASP008 is a compact, 1U rack mount unit featuring eight ultra high quality mic preamplifiers developed from the renowned mic-pre design used in the acclaimed ASP8024 recording console. The design uses an 8 transistor discrete Class A front end.

The ASP510 integrates easily and seamlessly with any console or DAW based surround set-up to provide comprehensive control of the monitoring and record functions for multiple surround sound formats including: 5.1, LCRS, Dolby Surround, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DTS and SACD.

craft Do you make any rules about how many session tracks you will mix, does your assistant prepare songs by comping tracks? Between the two of us we work out how tracks should be subgrouped and then I’ll do little balances within them. Sometimes I will receive set balances of backing vocals or percussion which is great, they’ve already decided on it and I can just go in and tweak it a little. The only ‘rule’ is that my desk is a 72-input G+, 16 channels are used for returns (I also have another static analogue mixer for returns), so the limit is really 56 channels. If I’m not using some of the delays I can get up to 60 something, or we can subgroup in Pro Tools. It’s true, people no longer have to think about how many tracks they’re using, then we have to deal with it later. I did something the other day ... a Rob Thomas mix, there were about 156 tracks from two Pro Tools rigs running in sync with each other ... Matt Serletic’s usual kinda thing! Your mixes are always ﬂattering to the vocal — how do you set up a song, do you have a system? I do base it more around the vocals. I start with a rough mix, I push all the faders up and just quickly go through them. I have a lot of experience of mixing live shows — not front of house — but big satellite shows like Live Aid and Concert For Nelson Mandela, where you’ve got to put together a mix really fast. So I just start with a quick rough mix, then basically listen to the vocal, to see what that’s about. I usually work on the vocal first, then I’ll go to guitars. I jump around a lot, I don’t have any specific system ... I don’t start with the bass drum or whatever. I just think: what do I hear that sounds a bit out of place? Snare drum needs a bit of work ... this guitar over here is a bit dull — there’s no sense to it really, it’s chaos mixing! Do you do any processing within Pro Tools? Not very much, I call it ‘The Chopper’, because it’s what we use to edit songs, I think of it more like a tape machine. If I need to automate an equalisation, for example if there’s a vocal comp which is inconsistent in sound, I’ll put some McDSP or something like that on there. I use some of the Waves plug-ins to clean things up once in a while, my assistant uses the Z-Noise to clean tracks if necessary. I don’t use any Auto-Tune or anything like that. There’s this plug-in that comes with Pro Tools called the DPP-1 Pitch Processor, I just automate any little changes needed, doing it all by ear. I’ve always done it by ear, I used to use the Eventide Harmonizer, so I’m doing it basically the same way, just in Pro Tools it’s a little easier. Which equipment can’t you do without? What did you take with you when you went to mix Barenaked Ladies at Bryan Adam’s Warehouse Studios in Vancouver? I took a couple of racks. I took all my Apogee convertors, because they only had standard Pro Tools rigs and I just don’t like the sound of Digidesign convertors. I have a travel rack that has some delays, the Ursa Major Space Station, some LA3As, some old MXR ﬂanger phasers, three Pultec EQP1A3s ... nothing really exotic. I’ve often thought you probably used Pultecs for the big guitar sound on Bryan’s records… It was always through a Pultec. In the old days I always put guitars through a Neve compressor and a Pultec. All the lead guitars we always did that way. The Pultec was great because you could always brighten things up and it never sounded harsh. 46

Have you ever turned a mix down, for reasons other than scheduling? I have ... sometimes I just didn’t think I was the right guy for the music, there might be other mixers who would be able to do a better job than I could. Your mix sound has assumed brand status, do you ever think ‘I wish I didn’t have to be Bob Clearmountain – I’d like to make this mix all mushy!’? I quite often want to be a lot more radical than the people I’m working with would like. I might want to totally filter the drums, for example, or do something to give a song more dynamics than the way it has been recorded. Sometimes it’s tough to get people to go along with that, and I always default to what the artist and producer want: I won’t ever argue with them if they say ‘that’s too much for us.’ It’s their record, not mine, and I’m certainly not the artist, I’m the technical guy. resolution

Do you send mixes for approval, or do you like clients in the room with you? I prefer them to be there, then I can get a vibe from them, I try to get more into their heads, to understand their thinking. To me what I do should be a reﬂection of what they want — or hopefully better — if possible! Nowadays I often find myself streaming audio around the world or sending MP3s. Bryan Adams lives in the UK, so I’m always streaming mixes to him, he listens in England and types messages to me on iChat. I use a little $40 software package from Rogue Amoeba called Nicecast. I try to stream at 192k, but sometimes I have to lower it to 128k which doesn’t sound so good. I have a T1 line [1.544Mbit/s] at my place, but sometimes Brian will be in a hotel. We just did something recently while Brian was in a hotel in Uruguay ... it just wouldn’t work there! Springsteen has an ISDN box at his house, and I have a couple of ISDN lines at my place, that’s the May/June 2007

      



 

 

PRO I/O PRICED TO GO

Available in 8 and 16 channel versions, Lynx Aurora eclipses the performance of other audio interfaces costing up to three times the price. And while some devices want to hog your whole rack, Aurora takes up just 1U. With interface cards now available for Pro Tools | HD®, FireWire® and ADAT®, Aurora can bring a ray of sunshine into the life of every DAW user. So isn’t it time you saw the light? • Aurora 8: simultaneous 8 channel analogue I/O and 8 channel AES/EBU I/O • Aurora 16: simultaneous 16 channel analogue I/O and 16 channel AES/EBU I/O • 24-bit/192kHz A/D and D/A conversion • LSlot™ expansion slot for Pro Tools | HD®, FireWire® and ADAT® interfaces • Extensive remote control capabilities • On-board digital mixer provides flexible I/O routing • Word Clock I/O with Lynx SynchroLock™ jitter reduction technology • 1U rack-mountable All trademarks are recognised as the property of their respective owners.

UK distribution by Source

Find a dealer at: www.sourcedistribution.co.uk/lynx • T: 020 8962 5080

May/June 2007

resolution

craft best way to do it, although it’s the most expensive by far. It’s bi-directional, Bruce has a talkback channel so he can communicate with me. While I was mixing his latest video [a DVD of the Seeger sessions tour], he had the video director and editor at his house with a high-def version. They were checking the colour correction while I was mixing. They sent timecode from the video tape down one of the channels of the ISDN to me, which synced my Pro Tools rig, then I could send them back the mix locked to picture. We had to compensate for the delay. I figured out what the delay was by sending a little click over the line, then offset my Pro Tools session by that amount. It worked quite well, I had already mixed the whole thing, so it was just recalls with some touch-ups here and there. ISDN works great, the Internet streaming is a little trickier because there is an 8-10 second delay.

You mixed Springsteen’s ‘Born To Run 30th Anniversary Edition’ DVD in 5.1. Is there a future for surround sound now the novelty has worn off? I wish there was, because I do surround mixes along with the stereo mixes of everything I do. The stereo mixes are the important thing, then I’ll assign channels for the surround ... I’ve worked out a way to do it on my desk so that I can do it at the same time, I don’t spend that much extra time on it. But when I switch to surround I always think: ‘Oh – I wish everyone could hear it like that!’ It just sounds clearer and more interesting to listen to. Surround hasn’t caught on because there were far too many formats: SACD, DVD-Audio, Dolby Digital, DTS –- it took me forever to figure out what the real differences were between all these formats; the consumer was clueless.

resolution

You go to the ‘Surround Rack’ in a store and have to look really carefully just to figure out what gear you need just to play it. It was all too much to think about [for the consumer], and nobody wanted to deal with it. Record companies could have jumped on it because you really have to buy the physical item if you want surround. If labels had really pushed it ...

Has the recording and production process become commoditised today? Can future generations of engineers hope for the same level of respect and reward you attained with your work? I think so. What seems to happen is a lot of people think –- ‘Oh, we can do this ourselves, we have our Pro Tools or Logic rig, we can do it at home’ — they think just because they can afford it, they can work it. Maybe they can record tracks, but when it comes to mixing, I really think there is a certain art to mixing. It gets more difficult if you’ve actually recorded the music yourself, I’ve found that with my own projects. I’ve produced around 30 albums and it’s always really difficult when you come to the mix because you know every note that’s on the record. It’s sort of the forestfor-the-trees problem. I talk to a lot of producers who have tried to mix records, they’ve just given up and brought it to me, then they’ll say: ‘That was so easy — why didn’t I do that in the first place!’ But I haven’t heard the music before so I have a completely objective perspective on it. I don’t think that will ever change, although it is a lot harder nowadays breaking into the business. Those recording schools are churning them out. The kids are so hopeful and think they can simply go out and immediately start making records –- it just doesn’t work like that! It’s like any art form: I hate to say this, but just because it’s what you want to do, doesn’t mean you have an innate ability to do it. I really wanted to be a bass player, but I learned early on that it wasn’t going to happen. I wanted to be in a rock band, but I discovered I wasn’t good enough. I wanted to be a producer, and I’ve actually produced a lot of records, then I finally realised I’m a much better mixer than I am a producer. As I’m not that great a producer, I thought maybe I’ll just do what I’m good at. ■

May/June 2007

The UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most comprehensive range of sound treatment for improving room acoustics and controlling reverberation.

A massive range of cables, connectors, leads, snakes and cable drums.

A complete range of equipment now priced to compete head on with anyone, anywhere.

Easily the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finest and most cost effective range of studio monitors and PA speakers.

The single source supplier for everything

PRO-AUDIO

964 North Circular Road, Staples Corner, London, NW2 7JR tel: 08456 441020; fax: 0800 731 3767

craft

Giles Martin the son of the father of modern production tells GeorGe SHILLInG why there can be too much emphasis put on studios, producers and engineers.

ILeS MartIn IS the son of Beatles producer Sir George Martin. In his youth he learned the French horn but on his parents’ advice he declined a scholarship to Berklee and instead gained a degree in Literature and Politics at Manchester University. He was working in PR when he discovered My Life Story at a Marquee Club gig, and offered to produce them, sneaking into AIR Lyndhurst at night time to do the sessions. (Your humble interviewer was in the producer’s seat for the band’s next outing!) Martin Jr went on to produce Monorail at RAK Studios, but concedes he ‘didn’t do a very good job of it, the album sounded too compressed.’ But he made a success of writing TV and ad jingle music, signed Kula Shaker to Gut Records, then gained some exposure as a leading member of indie-rock band Velvet Jones, 50

before working as an A&R Producer alongside Rob Dickens at Sony Music, learning much about the music industry along the way. He left Sony to concentrate on music directing the Party At The Palace concert for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee then moved into crossover-classical production, working with Hayley Westenra and Willard White, and a project with Paco Peña. He then embarked on the three-year project turning some of The Beatles catalogue into the Love album, a collaboration with his father that brought new life to those most famous of recordings in 5.1 and stereo remixes. Since then he has been working with established Nashville singer-songwriter Kim Richey, and it was during this project that Resolution tempted him out of his attic room at AIR Lyndhurst for a chat. Photos www.recordproduction.com resolution

We have both worked with My Life Story… They were the first band that I worked with. We did three tracks, ‘Girl A, Girl B, Boy C’ was made single of the week in both NME and Melody Maker, and my Dad phoned me up and said, ‘What have you been up to?’ Because actually, no-one knew I was doing this band at night, because I was at work in the day. It was good fun! I did these things, and they never asked me to work with them again! And where are they now?! They’ve just re-formed! But you’ve had some interesting opportunities since then… It’s a funny world, production at the moment. I think I’m lucky in the respect that I’m the son of George Martin, so people give me more of a chance. And, a bit like my Dad, I’ve had the opportunity to work on loads of different things. I’ve worked on hardcore classical editing, I’ve written for strings, and I’ve also played in an indie band, toilets around Coventry. And music is just a bunch of notes connected to rhythm. It shouldn’t have a bias or bigotry attached. Do you think you’ve got it in the blood? I think so, from my Dad. I’ve inherited an ability to be pragmatic, which a producer needs to be. And also an May/June 2007

craft open ear. I like experimenting with stuff, doing new things, and he’s always been very good at that. I’ve just inherited a passion for it. I couldn’t do pop music. I’m next door to the guys who are doing music for Fame Academy; I don’t think I could do that. Not because of any snobbery at all, I just would get bored very quickly. I like learning stuff, I like working in a situation where you can bounce ideas off people. You sit in awe — I’ve worked with Joni Mitchell, she sat in front and played the guitar, and you think, it’s unnatural what she could do, it’s something that’s God-given. You don’t experience that aiming for the charts all the time.

So you have a room here at AIR… I’ve always been connected with AIR, I was a runner at AIR in 1988 in Oxford Circus, this is more of a home to me than anywhere else. Even though I had

my room at Abbey Road doing the Beatles thing, I still rented a room here, which I let everyone else use; I came back here in January and it was a complete disaster. I was still on OS9, and it had everyone’s junk in the room. David Arnold has a room here as well, and we’re good mates. It’s just nice to sit in the canteen and talk about stuff, and bounce ideas off people.

I gather the offers ﬂooded in after Love. Why Kim Richey? She’s a singer-songwriter from Nashville. She’s done lots of albums with people like Bill Bottrell and Hugh Padgham, but I’ve never really taken to what she’s done in the past, and she’s in her forties now. I wanted to do something that got me back into working with people who were – present! So we went down to Eastcote, because it’s much cheaper, it’s run

resolution

May/June 2007

craft by Philip Bagenal who’s a great engineer, and we did three tracks in ten days. Old style recording, no click, and I’ve been overdubbing stuff upstairs, we’ve done vocals, and I’m mixing it with Paul Hicks at the moment. So the whole thing’s cost about nine grand.

Do you still play at all? Yeah, I was playing keyboards for Kim, which is the first time I’ve ever played keyboards in a band. I always thought it was the most boring job. Down at Eastcote, we stole a Wurlitzer from down the road, and I got a Rhodes in, so nice proper keyboards, not emulations, and it was fun. I don’t come from the engineering side; I learnt how to engineer because of Pro Tools. Because I was George Martin’s son, people thought I knew it anyway, but I didn’t. I’m not bad, but there’s probably someone who’s having to make a cup of tea who’s better at miking up a drum kit than

I am, I’ve never really had to do it. I’m good at simple things; I know how to record an acoustic guitar well.

How do you record an acoustic guitar well? I think listening to the guitar and how it performs, how it works, and not being afraid to adjust stuff. And making sure that you don’t start EQing too early, before the person’s settled down. Everything’s variable, you can have the same guitarist, the same mic, the same compressor, and it’s not going to sound the same. I think when it comes to anything like that it’s your taste starts rocking in line with other people’s. You start going, ‘Well that’s how the guitar should sound’, it just happens that you may be right. You can get things completely wrong in a studio and think you’re a genius, so I don’t know if there’s any rules as far as anything goes, apart from being able to listen. It’s funny, with the tools we have, sound

X-48

Monitor and keyboard not supplied as standard

48 Track Hybrid Digital Workstation

The clear mixer screen shows 24 channels at once, each with aux level meters, pan knob

NEW

Call Gary Maguire to arrange a demo on 01923 438845

Rear panel inc optional 2 x 24 chan analogue IF-AN24X cards

and faders and allows quick access to dynamics, EQ and other settings.

-48 is TASCAM’S first standalone 48-track

editing functions and DVD+RW backup drive

Hybrid Hard Disk Workstation which integrates

transform it into a complete integrated workstation.

the best of both worlds: the stability and ease-of-use

Its file compatibility and synchronization surpass even

of a purpose-built hard disk recorder, with the GUI

the TEC Award-winning MX-2424, with Broadcast

and editing features of a computer-based digital audio

Wave and A AF compatibility with workstations like

workstation.

Pro Tools.

It boasts 96kHz/24-bit recording across all 48 tracks

Support for FireWire hard drives and Gigabit

and 192kHz across 24 tracks. Yet the X-48 goes beyond

Ethernet allows simple transfer between systems, mak-

mere standalone recorders–its built-in, automated

ing it the ultimate multitrack solution for high-quality

48-channel digital mixer, VGA display output,powerful

music, post and live recording applications.

TEAC UK LTD Units 19 & 20 , The Courtyards, Hatters Lane, The Croxley Centre, Watford, Herts, WD18 8TE Tel. 01923 438880 e mail ..info@tascam.co.uk www.tascam.co.uk

May/June 2007

X48 junior resolution final.indd1 1

resolution

18/04/2007 16:35:49

craft replacers and that sort of stuff, ridiculous compressors, people tend to want to morph sound more and more, and I know with the Beatles stuff I was having to morph stuff, that was my job. But that’s because I wasn’t going to re-record the band, let’s face it. In those days, if they wanted a song to sound different, they wouldn’t start putting in plug-ins, they’d go and re-record it. They’d just go and, ‘This’ll take, what, a couple of hours? Let’s just go and play it’. I think nowadays people spend too much time recording things ﬂat, and then thinking how it should sound.

How do you relate to your engineers? Generally the way we work is I’ll record stuff, if I work with Philip Bagenal I’ll either play in the band, or be part of the music side. He’ll just do the engineering, a couple of days before, I’ll discuss how I think it should sound, and the line-up. I’ll take as much live stuff away

as possible, and edit it in huge chunks if necessary, but I’ve never used Beat Detective or anything like that — what’s the point in the drummer? And then I’ll record vocals on my own, guitars, acoustic guitars or anything like that, I’ll just do on my own. And then get someone like Paul Hicks to come in and mix. I’m not precious about anything, because you can always be right or wrong. So I’ll leave him, go off and do some writing or something else. And this is the great thing about doing stuff on Pro Tools, we often mix within Pro Tools, even though we’re working on a big desk here or at Abbey Road, he’ll mix, and I’ll go in in the morning and spend two hours changing the mix to how I think it should be. Then he’ll come in and I’ll play it to him, and he’ll say, ‘Actually, this sounds good.’ I may not even tell him what I’ve done. And we have a mutual respect for each other, that’s the point of working this way. He’s very good at being an engineer, and making good creative decisions, but making everything sound great, and what I’m really good at is the whole picture, and whether the voice is sitting right because the drums are too loud, or whatever; simple production things.

Are there any plans to remaster or remix the Beatles existing catalogue? I don’t know, I think they will remaster the stereos — and the monos. The Love album certainly sounds markedly better than the existing CDs… Well thanks, it’s difficult to make it sound bad, and we had a lot of time to make it sound good, a lot of exposure to the music. I didn’t really listen to any of the originals, as someone might do who’s more diligent. It was only when we got to the very end and we had to do the stereos –- we did the 5.1 first — that we decided we’d better listen to them. We compared them, and I compared everything. Because no-one has ever said the Beatles material sounded bad, nobody said the mixes needed work — to Beatles stuff, it’s heresy to do it. On the Love album, the toughest thing was doing the stuff that I hadn’t mucked about with — I went round and round with A Day In The Life, trying to get his voice right. I’m happy now, but on and off I tweaked that for ages. Just because it’s so important. It’s funny, now the Love album has come out, and it’s been well received, before it had come out, you can imagine, I’m the son of George Martin, really, what right do I have to be doing this? I’m going to get mauled! I’m sure people who haven’t heard it change their minds when they hear it… That’s what tends to happen, I was delighted. I did a playback in Vegas of the Pro Tools mixes for The Sunday Times, and the guy started crying, I was thinking, what’s that about? And he said, ‘It’s just fantastic.’ And I think it’s because you’re hearing stuff you haven’t heard before, and they sound more ‘live’, more present, and that’s an emotional thing. The thing to get over, is the fact that you can’t be scared. And that’s true of music in general. I think there’s too much ‘carefulness’. That’s what I love about something like Sly And The Family Stone stuff, there’s things that are too loud, too quiet. Paul McCartney is quoted as saying that it’s great to hear the stuff cleaned up, whereas you have said that it all sounded great, with little cleaning required… The tapes aren’t that hissy. I think what it is, is that the originals are designed for mono. People get distorted in their memories of things, but if you think 54

resolution

May/June 2007

craft

about the speakers we have now, and the speakers they had then… My Dad, Geoff Emerick, Ken Scott and all those brilliant engineers were making songs to sell to the radio. So they’re compressed and direct. We can afford to be less like that nowadays.

Do you think people work alone too often? This last record I’ve done, because I’ve been working quickly and to a tight budget, I’ve recorded a band quickly, given it to a mate of mine, he’s dubbed bits

May/June 2007

of mandolin on. I’m happy with the record, but some of the parts weren’t as good because we weren’t in the same room together. And I suddenly realised that I’m part of this whole thing. You couldn’t do a 5.1 mashup of a band like U2, because you’d have everything in isolation, and you’d lose that sound that’s created by everyone playing together. The thing about the Beatles, Led Zeppelin or The Doors is you have that unison, the noise the band makes together. EtherCon CAT6 ¨ 216x125mm D+E.psd If people don’t play together, apart from touring the

resolution

record, as opposed to recording the tour, as it were, I think it makes for less interesting sounds. Kula Shaker never really wrote brilliant songs, but rehearsing with them in Acton, any of the four of them weren’t necessarily great players, but they made such a great sound together. You listen to any of those really great records, it’s humans’ imagination, not technology. I know I’m saying this in the wrong place, but I think too much emphasis is put on studios, producers and engineers! ■

sweet spot

reworking a surround room the organic growth of typical working rooms means what they were set up to do doesn’t always correspond with what they end up doing. Jon tHornton takes a room with some nagging minor evolutionary acoustic issues and addresses them.

S IS often the case in audio installations, things tend to evolve over time, often to the point that a step back is needed to evaluate whether things are actually working properly, or whether evolution has led to some degree of compromise. A good example is our surround sound control room, which has now been through two consoles and three different monitoring systems in its 11-year life. During all this time, the basic layout and treatment of the room has remained unchanged from the original Harris Grant Associates design, implemented by Derek Buckingham (now of White Mark). Back then, surround sound mostly meant fourchannel matrix encoding. And as a result, pushing the rears right to the back of the room with little angle between them was seen as a positive step in helping separate the recovered surround signal from the fronts, and in creating a very diffuse surround field. The band limit on the rears from Dolby Surround monitoring also meant that it didn’t really matter that the rears were soffit-mounted while the LCR speakers were on stands, or that the rears were actually radically different units from the fronts (Quested H108 fronts, Soundcraft Absolute 2 rears). Times and standards change and as discrete 5.1 became more dominant, the sweet sounding yet ever so temperamental Soundcraft DC2020 console (with Magtrax manufactured panners and LCRS monitoring) was retired in favour of a Yamaha DM2000. At the same time, monitoring was upgraded to Genelec 1030s for each of the five main channels,

far rears and araM.

mated to a 7070A subwoofer. Time and budgetary considerations meant that the loudspeaker positioning was left unchanged, and surround monitoring calibration and bass management duties assigned to the DM2000’s built in surround monitor system. The result was a perfectly respectable system, which had the advantage of identical speakers for each of the five main channels. The positions of the rears though, while fine for film and TV mixing in terms of generating a diffuse field, was not really acceptable for music 5.1 mixes. Being so far from the ITU defined angles and distances meant that generating phantom centre images between pairs of channels involving the rears was not really accurate. Coupled with this, while the DM2000’s matrix was quite capable of compensating for the additional distance in terms of attenuation and delay settings, the soffit-mounted rears proved difficult to match tonally with the front speakers, even given the quite comprehensive HF and LF tilt settings on the 1030s. Then there was the sub — and a fine sub it is too, with plenty of weight and power. But even given the room’s almost complete symmetry, non-parallel surfaces and plenty of RPG diffusers in the back and side walls, it was always difficult to generate a smooth bottom octave response in the room, and despite much experimentation in placement it never felt completely tied to the rear channels. All of which paints a picture of a completely awful room, which it wasn’t — just a series of niggles that get more annoying over time. The niggles weren’t confined to the monitors either. The DM2000 in its initial firmware incarnation was missing some fairly crucial functionality in its surround monitor system, such as the ability to mix multiple stems directly into the matrix, and the inability to use the monitor matrix to provide bass management when working in stereo. Fortunately both of these issues were successfully addressed in firmware version 2.0 but this still didn’t solve the other big issue — the dearth of analogue outputs on the board. Being an assignable console, the surround matrix outputs need to be assigned to a physical analogue output, of which there are 8 as standard. So while you can comfortably feed 6 or even 8 speaker channels in this way, that pretty much ties up your analogue interfacing capability. It’s problematic if you need to patch in a 4:2:4 matrix for monitoring purposes as well. Yes, you can buy additional cards to give more analogue outputs, but in a largely digital studio environment this means compromising on your digital connectivity. So, to summarise — a perfectly adequate room but one that was looking for a solution to tame the low end, have better monitor placement for 5.1 music work while still being able to provide a more diffuse surround field for film and TV work, and to somehow not eat up all of the analogue connectivity of the console. Hmmm… All of which started a journey that led to the door of German monitor manufacturer Klein and Hummel. The company manufactures a range of active and passive studio monitors and, crucially, there are three aspects to the range that seemed to make them resolution

a solution to the identified problems. First, it was clear that we needed to install another pair of rear speakers in addition to the established pair so that we could have the best of both worlds so to speak. The problem here is space, in that being able to position seven identically large speakers around the room would be impractical particularly given that the new rear pair would have to be wall-mounted. So, running contrary to accepted wisdom, we were searching for a range of loudspeakers that were tonally very close between larger three-way designs and smaller twoway designs. Secondly, the monitors in question were available with built in digital inputs, with onboard 24bit D-ACs to feed the amplifiers –- an instant, and on the face of it, easy solution to the connectivity issue. Finally, and most intriguingly, was the availability of a subwoofer that can be paired with what Klein and Hummel term an Active Room Absorption Module or ARAM. Effectively the ARAM is an identical subwoofer to the standard issue, but with the addition of circuitry to introduce delay and phase compensation to the signal it generates. By positioning the main subwoofer along the front wall of the room, and the ARAM along the back wall, careful adjustment of these parameters enables the effect of room modes to be substantially reduced. At least that’s the theory. So on with the install. O300D units were selected for the LCR. These are 3-way active units, and not insubstantial in terms of size and weight. To achieve the required angles for the rears as defined by ITU 5.1 reproduction, it was immediately clear that they would have to be wall-mounted and elevated at the maximum permissible angle of 15 degrees. O110D units were chosen for these positions, and also for installation in the existing rear soffits, whose smaller size meant that the wall-mounted pair weren’t quite such a head bashing hazard. Remembering that at least part of the decision to go with the Klein and Hummel system was to take advantage of its digital interfacing, some additional cable pulling was necessary. Each logical pair of speakers is fed with an AES3 balanced signal on XLR to one side of the pair. This signal is then passively split in the loudspeaker and appears on a BNC connector, which acts as either a digital signal input or output depending on its termination load. So for each pair of speakers you have a single AES input on XLR to one speaker, and a length of coax running from one speaker to the other in the pair that carries the same AES data across. A small rotary switch at the rear of the speaker determines which channel of the AES pair that particular speaker is responding to. Sounds simple in theory but unfortunately not quite so simple in practice. Having pulled the necessary DST and coax cable through, including running new cable routes through the walls for the new rear pair, we hooked up and prepared to be amazed. Except we weren’t — nothing from any channel except for centre (the only speaker without a BNC pass-through, as the subwoofer is strictly analogue in). This seemed to suggest something, and fair enough, we hadn’t read the manual thoroughly enough with regard to termination requirements on the coax link, so three T-pieces and 75Ohm terminators later we tried again. This time the front pair and the new rear pair sprang into life, but still nothing from the soffit-mounted rear pair. What followed was one of those hair-pulling sessions as you try every permutation of signal, cable and speaker to try and establish the problem. It was clear that the AES signal was getting there fine –- removing the coax link brought the speaker that was receiving it back to life. What also became clear was that all four O110Ds were working fine, May/June 2007

sweet spot

near and far right.

but they would only work as a linked pair when fed from a particular speaker. More investigation was needed, and so another inspection of the manual revealed that the AES3 input was expecting to receive a signal of 5 Volts peak-to-peak, as defined in the standard. This would then translate to an output of 1 Volt peak-to-peak on the BNC connector for the link. The problem was two-fold. First, nothing (and I mean nothing!) in the studio actually generated 5 Volts p2p on its output. Measured with a Neutrik A2D, the highest score came from a TC Fireworx effects unit (4.2 V), the typical level was around 3.6 V. The other issue was that one of the O110Ds was giving an output of around 0.7 Volts on its BNC for an AES input of 3.6 Volts (proportionally about right), but all of the others were only delivering about 0.2 Volts for the same AES input. This was clearly right on the edge of tolerance, particularly given the cable losses incurred over a coaxial run over several meters. Eventually, the problem was solved by replacing the coaxial cable run with one made from the lowest loss, lowest impedance cable we could find and reducing losses just enough to get above that tolerance level. So, with all seven channels finally working, and the sub and ARAM module positioned against the front and back wall respectively (driver front at 1/3 of wall length, firing inwards in the direction of the wall in both cases), we sat back and waited for Andrew Goldberg from Klein and Hummel to tune and align the system. Unfortunately, Andrew’s laptop which runs his fancy test and measurement software had thrown its hand in the day before, so we spent a day doing things the old fashioned way, using an SPL meter, test-signals and, most importantly, our ears. A very enjoyable and useful day, and Andrew immediately got on to the factory about our issues with the digital links — hopefully they’ll get to the bottom of it soon. And in the final analysis? Given the problems encountered in the install (we still haven’t re-tucked the wall fabric or fitted the soffit panels until we’re absolutely sure everything is totally sorted), the system would have to be pretty darned special to redeem itself. And it is, in spades. The first thing that strikes you is just how uncannily accurate the imaging of these monitors is, in any configuration. In stereo, centre panned material seems to be so defined you could almost touch it, and anywhere in the sound-field this accuracy is consistent across an extremely wide bandwidth. The system even manages the same trick between a front and rear speaker pair -– impressive given the differences in size and design, and testament to just how much you don’t notice much in the way of tonal difference between the two types of speaker. And the ARAM? Well, without Andrew’s measurement set-up, it’s hard to be empirical (although I’m hoping he will be back with it in the near future). Subjectively, it does sound more controlled and less lumpy. More importantly, the sub now ties together with both the rear speakers and the fronts perfectly. There is no longer the sense that the sub is heavily localised to the front of the room, it just appears to be completely diffuse and even through the room. I can honestly say that I haven’t been as impressed with the detail and accuracy of a monitoring system for a very long time to the extent that I keep finding excuses to go and listen to stuff in there. Now we just need to get that fabric back in place… ■ May/June 2007

resolution

broadcast

VISIT US

AES 122nd

#2535

Mick Woods

from road to broadcast studio It’s comforting to know that in these budget-conscious times Irish broadcaster rte was far-sighted enough to marry the concepts of sound ﬁnancial and engineering judgement in its decision to buy a Midas XL8 for its the Late, Late Show. neIL HILLMan travels West to discover how and why.

S roaDS Go, historically the A5 has a lot to commend it; but if you’re a motorcyclist, you’ll particularly enjoy the last 106 miles between Shrewsbury and Anglesey. With fast, sweeping bends and a gradient that never exceeds 5%, being favoured by dry conditions and a Honda VFR 800 with warm tyres are two of life’s most precious blessings. The London to Holyhead trunk road was the first major state-funded road building project in Britain since Roman times, and it proved to be money well spent; it was started in 1815 by master civil engineer Thomas Telford following the Act of Union of 1800, which unified Great Britain and Ireland. Two centuries ago, Telford’s A5 highway was designed to create a link from England to Dublin; and those trade links exist to this day. His work has stood the test of time; and the weekend before travelling to Dublin for this article I found myself on Thomas Telford’s road, riding across the Menai Suspension Bridge that he built, and at the Dublin departure port of Holyhead. A few months earlier, one of Midas’ first digital XL8 mixing desks had left its Midlands factory and waited here en-route to Dublin and its new owner, Irish state-broadcaster Radio Telefis Eireann. Purchased to support RTE’s studio sound department on The Late, Late Show — the world’s longest-

resolution

running TV talk show — the Broadcaster’s seemingly courageous big-figure investment in a new Midas XL8 digital PA desk was committed only after careful deliberation between accounting and operational staff. Both sides had different reasons for concluding why it is that the XL8’s sizeable price-tag comes with a pedigree others find hard to match: RTE’s engineers knew that their existing Midas desk — an analogue XL3 — had been totally faultless during 14 years of continual use in providing PA and foldback for the weekly, live, two-hour programme. Meanwhile, the bean counters knew that because it’s a Midas, and possibly uniquely in such cases of capital expenditure, the old XL3 desk’s residual value was at least equal to its original purchase price. For RTE, the ROI label on its Midas XL8 ﬂight case signifies ‘Return on Investment’ as much as Republic of Ireland. Initially, the Sound Department was thinking about replacing Studio 4’s ﬂoor-desk Midas XL3 with another analogue desk — a Midas XL4 — as part of the refurbishment; but with its first digital broadcast desk successfully installed in the sound control room — a Calrec Alpha Bluefin — the possibility of Midas delivering its new digital model in time for the re-fit provided another enticing option: to go digital, both upstairs and downstairs. Ian Pike, RTE’s Senior Sound supervisor, was May/June 2007

broadcast keen to continue along the digital route, given the variety of material he and his colleagues are called on to mix, often live, and given the advantages that their digital Calrec had already brought. ‘The free configurability of the digital desk makes life much simpler, and features like the memory set-ups, VCA grouping and having TFT screens configured to see every single input and output has made our jobs so much easier,’ he says. Which is why it made sense to Ian to make available to his colleagues the same assignable benefits he enjoys when they were mixing for The Late, Late Show’s studio ﬂoor, providing the foldback and PA mixes for a 200-strong studio audience that often participates in the debate topics, and for a multitude of musical artists and styles; all usually achieved in the best tradition of broadcast television, with the minimum amount of set-up and rehearsal time for the sound department. Commendable though it is — deciding to install the very best tool for the job — wasn’t the decision to acquire a whole lotta-grand-Stirling’s worth of Rock and Roll road desk just a teeny bit on the extravagant side? After all, surely it’s only for a band to hear themselves — a bit of artist foldback, or in-ear monitoring and some PA to an audience of a couple of hundred –- it’s not like that bit’s being broadcast, is it? Wasn’t it possible to get away with some cheaper digital derivative, one that was, well, sort of ‘good enough’? A look at a typical Late, Late Show’s guest list helps to explain why it is that RTE’s Sound Department takes all aspects of its duties on the programme very seriously indeed. The programme — now a National institution, but originally a schedule-filler back in 1962 — is used by many musical artists as the starting point for Irish, UK, European or even World tours. Recent guests, with several on the same bill, and in no particular order, have included Elton John, U2, Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart, Ocean Colour Scene, Madeline Pyroux, The Saw Doctors, Ben Taylor, Take That, Avril Lavigne, James Morrison, Cerys Matthews, Kenny Rogers, Al Stewart, Westlife, Enya, Josh Groban, The Magic Numbers and Sandi Thom; each one of them respected artists, whose performances have been enhanced by their monitoring not being an apologetic afterthought. Most Late, Late Show’s have at least four musical acts, plus two or three guest interviewees, all of whom need to hear themselves, and also be heard by the studio audience. Put simply, the show is probably about as busy to mix as you would ever want it to be on live television. So how do you justify the expense of a Midas XL8? RTE’s Ian Pike consulted with Alan Murphy, one of Ireland’s foremost live event suppliers; for two decades, he’s been a Midas aficionado, and now his Company Sound Communications is the marque’s Irish distributor. Alan reckons: ‘This is the simplest control surface of any type of console I’ve ever seen — even though the technology at work under the bonnet is off the radar. The XL8 has a rock solid operating system, incredible usability and an intuitive control surface.’ Midas live performance mixing consoles have a reputation for being used by the world’s most demanding engineers, performers and rental companies for over three decades; and the capability of the 96-channel XL8 is rather like harnessing the equivalent of two 48-channel XL4 analogue desks and a colossal rack of outboard gear — including 384 input compressors, 255 output compressors and a 48-channel graphic EQ — maybe a UK£400,000 package in total. The digital XL8 was beginning to sound exactly like the right tool for the job to RTE’s May/June 2007

160407_C400_musicmart_UK

16/04/07

14:20

Side 1

Studio Quality, Road Worthy

World Famous Compression For the Road C400XL puts some of the world’s best studio compression and gating into the hands of the professional sound engineer. The source-based multiband compression and ultra fast gating of C400XL brings out the qualities of your source material, yet secures a firm and consistent level at all times. C400XL adapts to any source – analog or digital – and allows you to decide on gate, compression or a combination of both. C400XL’s super-intuitive user interface makes for a fast, professional unit. Its unique ‘Mix’ knob allows for parallel compression without complicated routing schemes and is guaranteed to lift hidden details in every vocal or drum kit track in no time. C400 XL – compression without compromise! Features • Balanced analog XLR • Balanced digital (AES/EBU) • Source-based multiband compression • ‘Mix’ knob for direct parallel compression • Precision gating - ultra fast and click free • De-essing • Dual engine compressor or gate • High resolution input and gain reduction metering • Threshold LED indication • True dual mono, stereo or serial operation • Brickwall limiting for peak stop and hot levels • Dual band expansion for non-percussive source

� +45 8742 7000 � 0800 917 8926 • TCUK@TCELECTRONIC.COM

TC ELECTRONIC A/S DENMARK • TC ELECTRONIC UK •

W W W. T C E L E C T R O N I C . C O M

resolution

broadcast technical decision-maker and senior sound supervisor, Ian Pike: ‘With The Late, Late Show and our other music format shows, we strive to deliver the highest possible experience for the artist, the studio audience and ultimately, the television audience. When we can get the best performance from an artist and reaction from a studio audience — that connection between the two — great television is made. Through the excellent sound quality of the XL8, together with its accurate and total-recall capabilities and a creative control surface for our engineers to work on, this new system will ensure we can maintain and develop our TV output with our core value of high-quality TV central to all productions.’ Ian’s fellow RTE engineers, Christian Kinder and Paul McKeon: ‘Our analogue XL3 always gave us credibility when visiting artists and their engineers

came to perform in our studio –- it was immediately familiar as a desk that they’d use themselves on tour, or at festivals or in theatres.’ A point further developed by other sound crew members Brendan Fitzgerald and Mick Woods: ‘The fact that we now have an XL8 gives a performer confidence that even though their soundcheck has to be completed quickly, thanks to the desk’s recall function, their individual settings will be repeatable “on the night” and not get confused or compromised in our rush to re-set between numbers.’ For The Late, Late Show’s sound crew it’s a fairly straightforward rig, but there’s plenty of it. Studio 4’s Sound control room houses the Calrec Alpha Bluefin and is configured for 72 faders across two layers, with every channel offering 4-band EQ and full dynamics, 8 groups, 48 track sends and 20 auxiliary outputs.

resolution

The Outboard gear includes two TC 4000s, two TC M3000s and two Lexicon PCM 91s. Downstairs, the Midas XL8 Monitor/ FOH desk has 96 inputs and 56 outputs, configured as 32 aux sends, 16 matrix outputs and 16 aux returns and uses 16 on-board FX engines, with 32 graphic equalisers programmable via the Klark Teknik Rapide hardware interface. There are also Yamaha Rev 5, SPX 1000, Lexicon, and MPX 1 patchable reverbs available, if required. The RTE microphone store is bursting with Shure, Sennheiser, AKG and Neumann mics plus a 6-pack of Shure U4 radios with a choice of SM58 or 87 heads. In-ear monitoring systems include Shure’s PSM 600 and Sennheiser’s G2. The XL8 desk has three independent preamps for every input, designated A, B and C, with 4 modules of 24 making-up its 96 inputs, and its matching analogue outputs are located next to each of the inputs. A and B inputs have separate gain controls, while C is a broadcaster’s splitter-feed — transformer isolated, with the further security of fixed gain; although the RTE Sound department is still using a separate box to send microphone feeds between the studio ﬂoor and the gallery, rather than the built-in facility on the XL8. The desk ultimately feeds EV CP 3000S bi-amped amplifiers, which in turn drive L’Acoustics 115XT Hi Q, Radian, RMW 1122 bi-amped monitors. PA feeds are delivered through EV SX 300 FOH speakers, driven by more EV CP 3000S bi-amped amplifiers. High-level feeds from the Sound Control room, such as VTs and viewers telephone calls, are also fed to the ﬂoor from the gallery, and then in turn, to the studio audience. The XL8’s control surface is based on a one knob per function philosophy, with the most frequently needed

May/June 2007

broadcast controls arranged in a series of fast-access ‘zones’. Its 12 VCA Groups (Variable Control Association, in this case) with dedicated faders and 8 POP (Population) Groups — without faders — are easily colour-coded, named and used to provide 20 separate groups; a real logistical bonus on such a busy show. The real joy of the desk though, sonic purity to one side for a moment, is its ease in use: operate an analogue Midas desk, and remarkably quickly, you’ll be at home on this digital version. It’s designed to feel like an analogue desk and for this alone it has already won great favour with the RTE engineers on The Late, Late Show. The comfort factor of the XL8 in a live environment extends to running two power supplies, just in case one fails; the desk’s nine DSP processor units are supported by a redundant tenth one; and a self-monitoring diagnostic system that runs quietly in the background as the desk operates. The very essence of this desk is that it is actually a networked audio system rather than simply a console, with no single-point of failure, high redundancy, running a highly stable, open-source Linux Operating System. The Midas XL8 is a product that has been carefully crafted, designed and built; supported by a manufacturer dedicated to guaranteeing a long and reliable operating life. It’s comforting to think that even in these budget-conscious, investment-shy days of broadcasting, for RTE it wasn’t simply a case of it accepting ‘good enough’: it chose carefully, it chose the best; looking at its precise needs and drawing on a philosophy that recognizes the need for excellence in its staff and the equipment they are asked to perform with. Along the way, RTE married the concepts of sound financial and engineering judgement. That’s what good management does, and it’s inspirational to see. ■

May/June 2007

52 voc 6, SM58, Camille 53 acoustic gtr Shure Beta 87 54 steel gtr Shure Beta 87 55 sby line SM58

(l-r) Ian Pike, Mick Woods, Brendan fitzgerald, Paul McKeon, Christian Kinder.

XL8 Pa desk conﬁguration sheet for the Late, Late Show, rte, 13/04/2007. Madeline Peyroux 5 kick Shure Beta 52 6 snare SM57 7 rack tom C 451 8 ﬂ oor tom SM98 9 o/head cl C 414 10 o/head cr C 414 11 bass gtr mic Senn 421 12 bass gtr DI, d1 13 Leslie l SM57 14 Leslie r SM57 15 Leslie bottom Senn 421 16 elec gtr Senn e606 17 acoustic gtr xlr 18 ukulele DI 19 voc 1 Madeline KMS 105 — artist supplies 20 voc 2 5 x dummy b/v mics — all on x arms Shane McGowan 49 voc 3 Shure Beta 87, Leslie Dowdall 50 voc 4 Shure Beta 87, Mike Hanrahan 51 voc 5 Shure Beta 87, Shane

resolution

Presenters and guests 25 Pat Kenny, Senn sk 5012, on comp a talkback 26 radio 2m Senn sk 5012, Vanessa pt1 & Bill O’Reilly pt 4 27 radio 3, Senn sk 5012, Alan Ambsy pt 1 28 radio 4, Senn sk 5012, Victoria pt 2 29 radio 5, Senn sk 5012, Shane pt 2 30 radio 6, Senn sk 5012, guest 31 radio 7, Senn sk 5012, guest 32 radio 8, Senn sk 5012, guest 33 radio 9, Senn sk 5012, general s / by 34 sby pat, Senn me 36 35 sby panel 1, Senn me 36 36 sby panel 2, Senn me 36 37 sby panel 3, Senn me 36 38 sby panel 4, Senn me 36 Warm up stick, Shure 87, red 39 audience ﬁ sh pole cl, Senn 416 40 audience ﬁ sh pole cr, Senn 416 Pa tie lines 1 b tracks l 2 b tracks r 3 s/by tracks l 4 s/by tracks r 5 high levels l, vt/ stings 6 high levels r, vt/ stings 7 phones Crew Head Chef, Ian; PA, Christian; VT, Dergal; Music minister, Mick; Asst minister, Derek; Radios, Brian; Cl pole, Pat; Cr pole, Carol

facility

Cavò Studio It’s an unassuming place for an international recording centre. Zenon SCHoePe travels to Bergamo to ﬁnd out why jazz musicians are ﬂocking to one studio to cut their tracks.

He oUtSIDe of a studio rarely lives up to its reputation but as former refrigeration warehouses go the one that Cavò Studio is contained in is actually quite presentable. But it is located in Bergamo and benefits from an impressive backdrop even though it can’t compete with the spectacular architecture that bombards you as you pass by the ancient city. The studio has amassed an incredibly reputation as an international hot spot for specialist jazz recording and has captured some

spectacular performances from many name players that its website lists with pride and accuracy. Founded by producer/engineer Paolo Filippi together with Matteo Marchese the two share a passion for frontline jazz that started when guitarist Paolo and drummer Matteo played together in a band. The studio demonstrates that a recording facility can still thrive and succeed in this age if it identifies and a serves a niche market with a level of expertise and commitment and makes its equipment choices

resolution

carefully and appropriately. Jazz is a way of life for these two and it has resulted in the creation of a record label specialising in innovative jazz productions. Paolo’s started engineering 15 years ago, freelancing as much in live sound as in the studio. He always wanted to run a studio of his own and built a small control room with a small iso booth, something others would avoid as a potential nightmare. ‘But it’s my nightmare because it’s my studio!’ laughs Paolo. ‘It’s expensive, you don’t make much money but you have a passion. That’s not just a passion for music, which you have to have, but I love to direct and arrange music and I love the equipment. To me it’s a trip; it doesn’t have to be a nightmare.’ He opened Cavò studio at its present location in 2001 and started a programme of improvement. ‘When you work around in other studios you end up seeing a lot of different situations — bad

May/June 2007

facility

control room/good live room, good preamp with a bad microphone — they are all important parts of the chain to me. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to afford all the most expensive equipment then much of the work is done for you. But if you can’t, like I can’t, then you have to create a balanced chain and that’s what I’ve done here. When we built this place we spent a lot of money on the acoustics and then with what we had left, step by step, we were able to build up the equipment. Originally we started without a console — for six months we worked with a lot of preamps into a Pro Tools rig. I don’t like Pro Tools because it doesn’t sound good to me. I work with Nuendo and I started with that when we got the first console in here, which was a Soundtracs Quartz.’ This ran until 2005 when he traded up to a 48channel Audient ASP with external patchbay. ‘The Soundtracs had had some little problems — it was 12 years old and the signal to noise ratio wasn’t that great. If you worked with tape it would be fine but we were working with digital. We were looking for a monitoring system from the console, good preamps, good dynamic range and the Audient is unbelievable. If you think about a single channel preamp of this sort of quality it would be too expensive to have this many of them as outboard. ‘We say that there are three ways we can mix here,’ he continues. ‘The cheap way is in the box, everything is done in Nuendo. The medium way is everything is in Nuendo and we use the Audient like a summing box. But the best way is to do it all in the analogue way mixing through the Audient. That’s the most fun for me but it’s also the most expensive for the client. One of the first things I tell the client is that they have to decide when the job is done and it’s time to print the master because we don’t have a lot of automation here. If you work in the box then you can reopen the project much later and raise the level of just the guitar but that becomes a never ending story and many musicians today don’t have much idea about what they want to put out in their music. ‘For many people of my age, after working on a project for a month they don’t want to hear it ever again, they want to think about a new album and the next project and that is the right way,’ he says. ‘We love to work with acoustic music and jazz in particular — 80% of our studio time is on jazz. To me it is one of the last ways to make music for a time and place; it’s about right now. You stamp your idea and that to me is music.’ The control room is large and well appointed with Genelec 1038B main monitoring and a selection of nearfields including Paolo’s favourite Audix N5s. The 75sqm live area, complete with a Yamaha C6 piano, May/June 2007

is superbly comfortable and airy with variable acoustic panelling and is served by an interesting selection of mics by Audix, Shure, AKG, Rode and Neumann. Paolo augments his Audient with extra preamps from API and Mindprint and has an uncompromising approach to recording. ‘I don’t like to make any sound changes during recording — I record ﬂat. If there’s a bass or boom problem then I change the mic position or the mic. If you’re going to be giving the tracks to another studio then ﬂat is better. ‘When you make a jazz recording the recording quality is a fundamental because if a sax player or drummer has worked 20 years creating his sound and you don’t capture it then it’s a disaster and you should go home,’ he says. ‘Key to the studio is the room and ours sounds great. Any equipment you have is used to capture that sound. Now I don’t have a lot of money to buy the equipment that I’d like to have but I don’t know if I need it. My idea about engineering is not to use the equipment to make the sound, it’s about using your ears. I spend time in the room with the musicians listening to their sounds and what they are hearing and then I’ll go and choose mics and their positions.’ Matteo concentrates on the Double Stoke Records label but this accounts for only 5% of the studio’s work, the remainder being outside work for musicians who travel to Bergamo from throughout Europe and regularly from the US. ‘The first thing we need to get out of the way is that it’s not to make money because you cannot make money on a jazz label,’ explains Paolo. ‘The label’s not there to change to way the studio works. In Italy there are a lot of very good jazz musicians and the power of our label is that we have a studio that does a lot of jazz and we have a good name for it. We‘ll only be doing four or five CDs a year with good musicians.’ ‘We’re interested in musicians who are pointing to the future, that are offering something new because there are too many who are just interested in playing in the old jazz styles,’ explains Matteo adding that live performance culture is alive and well among jazz players who remain unique in making most of their money from live work and not from their recordings. He says it’s one of the last bastions of everything that was once great and good about the recording process: real musicians who give a damn playing with others in a room recorded by real engineers who give a damn for a target audience that gives a damn and for whom the quality is part of the performance. ‘And you make a jazz record in three days,’ adds Paolo who says he likes the constant challenge of different instrument types and combinations. He says that some of the performances he’s recorded have been exceptional. ‘Most people have to buy a ticket to go and hear this quality of work but unbelievably they pay me and I’ve got the best seat in the house!’ ‘You can’t find a purer form of art,’ says Matteo. ‘A jazz player comes into the studio to record his sound. A pop musician comes into a studio and he wants a particular drum sound because that drum sound could help to sell his record. We don’t want to talk about pizza, we want to talk about art and the best type of music for us to do in Italy is jazz.’ You have to believe that Cavò represents the model for a successful music recording studio in these times; the cautious assembly of equipment in a great acoustic space serving a niche market run by enthusiastic professionals. What a great idea. But you’ve got to have the knowledge, the skill, the contacts and the passion. Cavò has it all is spades. ■

Contact CaVÒ StUDIo, BerGaMo, ItaLY: Website: www.cavostudio.com

resolution

“With Liquid Mix, I’ve got the variety I need without compromising audio quality. From sumptuous vintage crushers to the more clinical modern classics, they’re all inside the computer, ready and waiting.” Andy Bradfield – Producer / Mixer

technology

60 years at aKG austrian mic company aKG celebrates its 60th anniversary this year and as the aeS show hits the company’s home town of Vienna, we look back on some of its technological achievements and contributions.

He BrItISH aUtHor Douglas Adams once defined technology as manufactured equipment that doesn’t work properly, reasoning that people only notice technology when they’re frustrated with it because it’s clunky or imperfect. His argument continued that as soon as something that advances the quality of people’s lives begins to work seamlessly, everyone adopts it and ceases to notice anything remarkable about it. He had a point; the telephone and television were both developments that required tremendous technical advances before they could work properly, and yet now they are taken completely for granted, and it looks as though the Internet could be heading the same way. If you subscribe to Douglas’s definition, you could argue that AKG Acoustics, the Austrian microphone and headphone manufacturer that is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, isn’t actually a technology company at all. AKG certainly doesn’t have a lengthy record of technological innovations that didn’t do what they were supposed to, and in many cases throughout its history, the company’s products addressed a need in their target market so effectively that that they were instantly widely adopted, whether in the European film industry in the company’s early days, or latterly in the studio and live recording and broadcast markets worldwide. When the British Post Office issued a commemorative 3p stamp to celebrate 50 years of the BBC that depicted a variety of the corporation’s most commonly used recording and broadcast microphones, the non-BBC designs were all AKG products. But just as the British tend to take their broadcasting corporation for granted, companies 64

that become such an accepted part of history in a particular sphere of endeavour run the risk of being overlooked, their innovations notwithstanding — and so it is with AKG. Nowadays, AKG’s name is associated exclusively with microphones and headphones, but in the early resolution

days of the company, it was impossible to foresee in which areas the fledgeling enterprise would make its fortune, as its original name, Akustische und KinoGeräte GMBH (Acoustic and Cinema Equipment Ltd), bears witness. Although one of the company’s two founders, Dr Rudolf Goerike, had worked for an Austrian company making microphones in the 1930s, when he and engineer and salesman Ernst Pless formed AKG in 1947, they at first made their living from selling cinema projection and amplification equipment to the new theatres that were springing up in post-war Vienna. And although the young company did begin making microphones to Goerike’s designs in its first year of operations and its first headphones within two years, these were just two ranges in an early product portfolio that included film exposure meters, car horns, telephone receiver capsules and underwater loudspeakers. However, in the early 1950s, Goerike’s efforts focused on the microphone design that first made AKG’s name worldwide. The D12, which was introduced in 1953 and remained in production well into the 1980s, was the world’s first cardioid dynamic microphone, and employed the good Doctor’s then-revolutionary moving-coil transducer and mass-loaded diaphragm designs, creating a robust, full-frequency response mic that found favour among recording, broadcast and film-sound engineers everywhere. (The D12’s excellent low-frequency response made it a popular choice as a dedicated kick drum and bass cab mic, a use reflected in the modern equivalent, the D112 dedicated kick drum mic, the design and shape of which was clearly influenced by the original D12.) In the UK, BBC engineers were very impressed by the mic, its directivity and its extended bass response, and it became a standard fixture in the corporation’s recording and broadcast studios, beginning a long and close commercial relationship. The D12’s cardioid pattern also gave rise to the famous AKG logo, replacing the three overlapping circles that had signified the company’s strong connection to the film industry in its early years with three overlapping cardioid patterns — a brand that still forms the basis May/June 2007

technology of the AKG logo today. The following year, 1954, AKG launched the C12 multipattern capacitor mic, which was designed for the engineers at Austria’s national radio station. Unsurprisingly, the broadcast engineers at the BBC also liked it, and large-scale orders were shipped to Broadcasting House and to the rest of the world. It’s a mark of the strength of the design that the C12 is still on sale today, in an only slightly revised form reﬂecting the improvements in mic technology in the last half a century. From the commercial breakthrough afforded by the D12 and C12, AKG expanded its range of designs, producing smaller, more robust dynamic directional mics in the D-series for broadcast and recording applications, and a stereo version of the C12, the C24. Proper R&D facilities were constructed in new offices, and the company also began establishing an international sales network. A branch opened in Germany, and distribution agreements were signed for other territories around the world, bringing its products to Latin and South America for the first time. In addition, the company’s location in Austria, which was a neutral country following the ending of Allied occupation in 1955, meant that it was well-placed to make sales to the Eastern Bloc countries as well as Western Europe; sales were strong there from the late 1950s onwards. 1959 saw AKG’s first commercial breakthrough in the field of headphone manufacture with the K50 (K for Kopfhörer, the German for headphones). The K50s were open-back over-ear headphones, but lightweight by the standards of the day, and once again, they were a big success with the broadcast and recording engineers that were steadily becoming the company’s core business. That same year, AKG was hard at work on improving the valve technology that lay at the heart of contemporary condenser microphones. This work bore fruit in 1960 with the release of the C60 smalldiaphragm condenser, and in 1962 with the C12A, both of which used a new compact RCA valve, the Nuvistor. AKG continued to improve its condenser designs for the rest of the decade, culminating with the switch from valve to transistor-based designs, which began in the late 1960s with the release of the FET-based C451. Meanwhile, moving-coil technology was also progressing — 1968’s D1000 dynamic was offered as a slender, elegant on-stage alternative to the large, boxy mics used for live vocals at the time. After producing an early solid-state version of the C12A (the C412) in 1970, AKG’s engineers refined the design in 1971, producing a worthy transistor-based successor to the C12, the renowned C414, the design of which has been refined and altered several times since, producing transformerless versions with more modern components for quieter performance. Despite the changes beneath the casing, though, the multipattern C414 is probably still AKG’s best-known and most instantly identifiable mic, and has seen use on stage and in broadcast and recording studios worldwide, on instruments from pianos to drums and lead vocals. Its reputation for producing high-quality results on such a range of sources has made it a popular choice among home recordists and studio owners on a restricted budget, who can’t afford an extensive mic collection. By the mid-1960s, it had become clear that AKG’s core market was products for May/June 2007

recorded sound, and all the company’s activities in its original cinema sound market were brought to an end in 1965. Having focused in this way, however, new efforts were put in to deepening the existing core market, and the company diversified into record player cartridges, binaural recording (dummy head) microphones, wireless technology, and sound processing units throughout the 1970s. Following several years of research into the reverberant properties of springs, the BX20 mechanical (springbased) reverb unit came to market in 1971. Although it seems very old-school today, the cylindrical BX20 was a huge improvement on the immobile, heavy plate reverb units commonly in use at the time, and more mobile than an echo chamber. By the late 70s and early 80s, these experiments were producing digital processing devices, some of which, like 1981’s BX25 ED, sensibly combined natural-sounding mechanical reverberation with still-developing digital processing techniques. Diversifying within its core market was very successful for a time — by 1977, when original co-founder Ernst Pless left the company, AKG had 800 employees, and was producing 20 thousand microphones a week. In 1984, AKG ﬂoated and became a publicly quoted company, passing out of the control of Dr Goerike for the first time. The company pursued an aggressive strategy under its new controlling interests for the next few years, founding a US office to go head-tohead with its American competitors and taking over many European audio companies, some of whom, such as dbx and BSS Audio, remain connected to AKG within the Harman International Group today. Harman became involved in 1993 after AKG made its first ever loss following the worldwide recession of the early 1990s, and became the sole owner in 1994, the same year Dr Goerike passed away. Throughout this period, the company remained innovative, producing the first MicroMic range of clip-on miniature instrument and vocal mics in 1988, and introducing the first WMS on-stage microphone systems in 1991, forerunners of the latest multichannel systems like 2007’s WMS450. Under Harman’s leadership, the difficulties of the early 1990s were soon history, despite continued pressure from low-cost manufacturers in the Far East. Late in the decade, AKG responded to this trend by introducing the Emotion line of budget microphones, and this tradition continues today with the entry-level Perception series. With the arrival of its 60th anniversary, AKG is still visibly committed to product innovation and highquality manufacturing — at the time of writing, the company has registered well over 1500 patents, and 95% of its R&D and manufacturing is still carried out by its 50strong in-house engineering staff at its bespoke facilities in Vienna. According to current company president Stefan Gubi, the plan for the next few years is to continue innovative R&D while pursuing greater market share through closer cooperation with the company’s partners in the Harman Group. In this respect, the two products that perhaps best sum up the company today are the new limited-edition C414, which is being produced in 2007 only to celebrate the company’s past achievements, and the new IVM4 wireless in-ear monitoring system, which includes on-board processing from Harman sister company dbx. ■ resolution

“ I love being able to pick and choose from all the classic EQs I used to turn to in the past, and then build my own seven-band super EQ. It’s because of this that Liquid Mix is now my first choice EQ for every project. It’s my EQ - I built it..well, kind of. Dave Bascombe – Producer

business

television just got smarter with IPtV the ﬁnal curtain for conventional tV programming may be closer than we imagine, as a new breed of tV service enables us to choose what, when –- and even on which appliance –- to watch. nIGeL JoPSon discovers that IPtV means television just got smarter.

He teenaGerS of today will find themselves, in 20 years time, trying to explain to their own incredulous children the TV of their youth. ‘... our home had a sort of metal dish pointed at the Sky ... the picture bounced off a satellite and came to a box connected to the screen. We had to wait for programmes to come on at a certain time and we paid extra to watch them in another room ... no, really ...’ The words ‘on demand entertainment’ have been so misused we almost haven’t noticed the nails hammering the door shut on fixed broadcast schedules. The switch from manually setting timeshifted programme recording to browsing an archive of catch-up episodes may not seem such a giant leap, but watching in the street, in a café, or on public transport will completely change the style of productions. In the UK, it’s a concept that the BBC, BT, Sky and Channel 4 have already begun to employ 66

with their respective services iPlayer, BT Vision, Sky Anytime on PC (formerly Sky by Broadband), and 4oD. It’s called IPTV. Internet Protocol Television is content delivered to the viewer using the network infrastructure and transmission protocols used for computers. Video content is typically compressed using an MPEG-2 or an MPEG-4 codec and then sent in a transport stream delivered via IP Multicast, in the case of live TV, or via IP Unicast in case of VOD (Video On Demand). IP Multicast is a method by which information can be sent to multiple computers at the same time. The newly released (MPEG4) H.264 codec is increasingly used to replace the older MPEG2. Confusingly, IPTV is now generally understood to mean a closed offering. In other words, it is sold by a network operator, typically as a bundled package. Home broadband access, VoIP (Internet telephony), and VOD is known resolution

as a ‘triple play’ bundle. The BT Vision package from former public telco British Telecom is an example of this approach. Its Philips-manufactured V-box STB (Set Top Box) supports Freeview (free-to-air UK digital TV) reception via an aerial, with a 14-day electronic programme guide, and a hard disk capable of storing up to 80 hours of viewing. The broadband connection allows subscribers to watch a selection of TV shows from the last seven days — this is widely known as ‘catch-up TV’. The STB is free to BT Total Broadband subscribers, there are monthly subscription packs for kid’s shows and music videos, and the VOD entertainment costs from UK£1.99 for films, £0.79 for TV programmes and £0.29 for music videos. The Icelandic telecom provider Siminn claims to be the first operator in the world to have deployed IPTV on a countrywide basis, and boasts that more than half of its ADSL customers subscribe. ‘We managed to May/June 2007

business grow our market share from 5% to 32% over a period of just 15 months,’ says David Gunnarsson, Siminn’s manager of TV development. Siminn secured exclusive rights to broadcast English premiership football in September 2004 and has since built its service offering into an 80-channel package with a VOD library of more than 1,000 titles. ‘Content is a key driver of the business,’ says Gunnarsson, ‘TV is allowing us to keep a high margin on broadband service, and avoid getting into a price war on bandwidth.’ In contrast to IPTV, streaming content to viewers regardless of their ISP (Internet Service Provider) is generally known as Internet Television. There are between 15 and 20 significant broadcasters of varying quality, including Move Networks (from Fox), MediaZone, Joiningthedots.tv (documentaries from Mercury Media), JumpTV (Canadian, mainly ethnic), Joost (P2P TV developed by entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis of Skype and Kazaa fame), and the BBC’s iPlayer service, currently on public trial. The average BBC trialist watched an hour of TV a week, 6% of an normal household’s BBC viewing. Ofcom (the independent regulator for UK communications industries) estimates the BBC iPlayer will account for 4 billion viewing hours by 2011. The curiously named BBC iMP (Interactive Media Player) is a PC application that makes BBC TV and radio programmes available for download for 30 days after they have been broadcast. The iMP uses P2P (peer to peer) technology. This means that viewers download small pieces of the file, initially from the BBC’s own servers, but mainly from each other. Once the whole file containing the broadcast programme has been downloaded, the iMP then fetches a licence from the BBC servers which unlocks the programme or radio show. This restricts viewing of the programme to the Resolution Half Page 7/12/06 17:13 Page computer that performed the download and requires

Yorkshireman (2037): ‘You were lucky. We used to watch in 740x480 on beige PC w’t howling fan. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean PC registry, de-frag ’ard disk, boot Windows Media Edition, search on YouTube for videos-no-longeravailable-due-to-copyright-claims, go to work down t’mill t’earn money to rent Ugly Betty video from 4oD, 99p for a measly 48 hours, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us wi’ his belt for crashing t’internet router.’ (With apologies to John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Tim BrookeTaylor, and Marty Feldman.) the programme be watched within seven days of the original broadcast. This is slightly controversial, in view of the BBC’s public service remit and license fee, but restrictive content control is a downside common to most services currently available. 2 Due to DRM (Digital Rights Management)

constraints, all TV show downloads are generally offered as Windows Media files compatible only with Media Player 10 or 11, and XP Media Center 2005 and above. That’s fine for viewers who’ve made the leap to having a media PC in the living room, but, unlike the DivX and Xvid codecs, there are very few DVD players that can spin DRM-protected WMV video files. Which is where the handful of network mediastreamers such as Xbox 360 or D-Link DSM320/520 (£175/$225) or the Apple iTV (for iTunes DRM content, £199/$299) come in. These enable the downloaded computer-stored content to be streamed across a home network to a screen in the living room. For non-computer users, the UK-based 4oD and the BBC’s VOD services are also available via Virgin Media and Tiscali TV. Like it’s Internet equivalent, the cable-delivered Channel 4 back catalogue costs from £0.99, Virgin Media has recently signed an exclusive deal to offer the hit show Lost from all three series, also of course available from the commissioning broadcaster Sky on its broadband-delivered Anytime, free to existing satellite subscribers. There is a darker side to Sky Anytime: like the BBC service it is based on a P2P back-end application called Kontiki, this reduces the load on Sky’s servers and means viewers’ PCs are put to work distributing parcels of content to each other. Sky has been criticised for not making it clear in their T&C that the P2P link continues running in the background, even after the main application has been shut down, eating up bandwidth by allowing other users to download files from the PC. For viewers not shy about installing P2P applications, the guys who wrote the book on this subject have something coming this summer. Joost is the brainchild of Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who built the (illegal) P2P file sharing service Kazaa and the popular

Sound gives pictures an emotional dimension that movement alone can’t convey. The increasing use of surround sound adds even greater impact to the viewing experience. But it calls for much greater console capacity.

THANKS TO US, PULSES RACE TOO

At Calrec we’ve been meeting the changing needs of broadcasters for over thirty years. And as you’d expect from a company dedicated exclusively to live production and on-air broadcast audio mixing, we’ve developed an innovative surround sound solution that’s as economical as it is practical. New Bluefin technology provides twice the signal processing capacity in a fraction of the space of conventional systems and with 100% redundancy. Sounds exciting? Find out more at calrec.com

calrec.com

May/June 2007

Putting Sound in the Picture

resolution

business

(legal) P2P Internet phone service Skype, which attracted millions of users and for which the pair trousered £1.3bn when they sold Skype to eBay. The two founders say that when it is up and running, Joost will have thousands of programmes to choose from on up to 100,000 channels. A Beta test is in progress at the moment, with 400 streams of mainly mediocre telly programming, heavy on material from MTV and Much Music, available to around 14,000 testers. When the service goes live — rumoured for the end of June — it will be free with no subscription. The biggest selling point to me is the technical competence of the system the Estonian software whizzes have put together. Too often the muchtouted VOD from commercial services has, in practice, meant video-after-a-significant-wait as the 370Mb 50-minute show downloads. Nudge your mouse and select a channel from the Joost pop-up menu, and you can start watching with only a 5-10-second delay. The application is based on Mozilla’s XULRunner engine, which means it’s cross-platform, installation is simple, the full-screen interface is a doddle to navigate, and I measured a 40% CPU hit on a 2.6GHz 2Gb RAM desktop. A vital feature is Joost’s support for plug-ins: there are programme-specific channel chat boxes, news-feed overlays, support for IM (Instant Messaging) and user show ratings. Many more widgets are planned for the launch. Joost will make its money by creating what amounts to an individualised mass market for advertisers with three minutes of commercials per hour. This will seem fine to US users, accustomed to prime-time TV with up to 15 minutes per hour. UK viewers normally see between seven and eight minutes an hour on commercial terrestrial and nine minutes on satellite. Music to the ears of advertisers is a system that targets ads to each user, who have to create a profile and log on to view programmes. If there’s anything we’ve learnt from Internet advertising, it’s that relevance is key. Jeff Heynen, analyst for broadband and IPTV at Infonetics Research, sees lots of innovation coming via IPTV: ‘Broadcast advertising will be targeted to individual multicast groups and, ultimately, to individual set-top boxes,’ he says. ‘For example, if my user profile is set as a 35-year old male, married with two kids, I might get a version of an ad for the Bahamas that stresses family activities available there. Meanwhile, my neighbour, a retiree, would see a commercial for the Bahamas emphasising golf and walks on the beach with his wife. The advertiser pays for the time slot, but submits multiple ads targeted to different users. Intelligent ad insertion platforms in the network determine which ad individual users see.’ What excites me most about Internet television is resolution

the prospect of an ‘indie label’ culture developing in the visual arts. Until now, the gatekeepers of overthe-air broadcast networks have held all the keys, and if creatives couldn’t or wouldn’t play by their rules they were condemned to the beret-wearing art house. We’ve seen a ﬂicker of this potential already, for example with YouTube and the contrived personality of Lonelygirl15. A construction from small-time scriptwriter Mesh Flinders and wannabe director Miles Beckett, with acting school graduate Jessica Rose playing the role of charismatic teen Bree, whom a million YouTube users thought was posting self-filmed clips. Within 48 hours of posting a video entitled ‘My Parents Suck ...’, the trio had clocked half a million views. To be considered a success, a show on cable needs 300-500,000 viewers ... so it can be done ... and GooTubers still watch even though the deceit has been revealed. ‘The Web isn’t just a support mechanism for hit TV shows,’ says Beckett, ‘it’s a new medium. It requires new storytelling techniques. The way the networks look at the Internet now is like the early days of TV, when announcers would just read radio scripts to camera.’ Data capacity has traditionally been seen as a barrier to IPTV, but many national networks now run at very fast speeds, for example the 50-100Mbps of Korea’s BcN and the 100Mbps of Canada’s Vidéotron ltée. France Telecom and Telefonica are using ADSL2+ and Deutsche Telekom will deploy television services exclusively on VDSL, using the 50Mbps fibre/copper network being built by its fixed network infrastructure division, T-Com. T-Com expects VDSL in 40 cities by the end of 2007, putting 11 million homes within reach of the planned IPTV service. Even the UK’s creaking copper network is being improved to ADSL2 as BT upgrades with its 21CN programme, and LLU (local loop unbundling) is a reality in some UK districts, with Be Unlimited offering up to 24 meg downloads. If the people building the new Internet TV content management infrastructures are looking at Sky, HBO and Sony, that’s like playing catch-up to an offering your competitor already does better. A different archetype is an open platform that drives right into everyone’s TV, and is open to anyone who wants to produce content. It doesn’t have to be HBO or Hi-Def. They’re going to watch what they want, and someone is going to take a cut. What made Japan’s NTT DoCoMo successful wasn’t mobile phone calls. Others already offered that in Japan. What they came up with was iMode, where the Japanese played games on the underground or in the park on their cell phones. NTT got a cut of 1 yen or 2 yen per game download, and created billions of dollars of income. That’s the exemplar and approach that will create differentiation. ■ May/June 2007

ten

reasons why the singer isn’t performing You know the singer can deliver a good performance — you’ve heard them — but now it’s your turn to record them it just isn’t happening. KeItH SPenCer-aLLen focuses on the singer in front of the mic and looks for reasons that explain those stunted strains.

HearInG LoSS — Whether permanent or temporary, this is a difficult issue that goes beyond just a shaky performance. If the singer has come from a gig in the last 12 hours or so, temporarily impaired hearing is a possibility particularly if the on-stage levels were very high. The only solution to continue working is an increase in headphone levels but this brings with it the risk of contributing to possible permanent hearing loss so the wise, with an awareness of possible legal action, would call it a day. A singer with permanent hearing loss already can be helped by the use of specialist (deaf) headphones that clamp hard to the head and have a tailored response to overcome insensitivity in the mid frequencies. If you haven’t a set of these around, and using a speaker isn’t an option, there’s little else to be done. Can PHoBIC — It isn’t so common among younger singers because they will have grown up using headphones of different types with Walkman/iPods but older singers, particularly those specialising in big ballad performances or those that are classically trained, may not be able to work with cans at all, even with the usual headphone tricks. If you’re not recording them with the musicians live, there are some options. A single speaker behind the mic works well with a tight cardioid patterned mic providing its rear pickup isn’t unduly coloured. Or a pair of small speakers mounted on stands can be positioned close to the left and right of the singer at ear height. This requires some experimentation as to whether a mono mix is preferable to stereo, and then if the speakers should be driven with the same polarity or not, but it is surprising how low level foldback can be used. If this doesn’t work, get a musician to play live to the recorded track and let the singer perform to the musician’s performance. It can work but beware of the obvious problems. May/June 2007

ProBLeMS WItH StUDIo WorKInG — The difference between live performance and studio recording is vast for the inexperienced singer. Standing alone in the studio is a million miles from being on stage with the vibe of performing in front of an audience and feeding off their reaction, yet a good studio performance requires that excitement or emotion to be present and may even be exaggerated to carry across onto the recording. Try creating an atmosphere with lights, smells (The smell of fear? Ed), a wooden riser rather than the solid studio ﬂoor, or even importing a small ‘audience’. Some singers prefer to be in complete darkness and unobserved from the control room so they can completely focus on the recording in their own way, while others want to record in the control room, hearing the full effect of the track. You need the right mic and care with levels but it can work extraordinarily well. DrInK/DrUGS — If the performance is already suffering due to an excess of what has been imbibed then it is really too late and best not to waste any more time that day. However, I’ve long stopped prejudging a singer’s capacity to perform based upon their consumption having seen well-known names pick themselves off the studio ﬂoor (or rather be helped to the mic), deliver an astounding take at first go, and then collapse. For some a bottle and half of tequila is just warming up while for others a single glass of wine is a disaster. Photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net

ILLneSS/tIreDneSS — Recording sessions sometimes have to fit around a heavy work schedule, possibly in a break in a tour. Some singers thrive on exhaustion, diverting the tiredness into emotion but most don’t. Even if they can work it is unlikely that you’ll achieve a consistent performance across repeated takes or line by line recording. Stimulants can help if the singer’s style is to deliver a complete performance in just one or two takes, otherwise it just isn’t worth the effort.

MISSInG tHe HanDHeLD MIC — This is a common problem with good singers that are inexperienced in studio work. The move from stage, where the mic is part of the performance and can be moved as part of vocal technique, to the studio, where there is a static mic and the singer has to move themselves, can be difficult to master. The answer is to use a handheld mic and a static main mic. Many of the popular handheld mics can sound very effective in a studio situation particularly the stage Shures when correctly loaded. Equally common is the need to sing on top of a mic rather than at the engineer’s preferred distance. Again the handheld mic on a stand is a great distraction from getting too close to the main mic — but record both just in case. resolution

WronG MonItor MIX — While most singers are content with a good balance of the track and a little of themselves, what actually appears in the headphones can have a serious effect on how a studio vocalist performs. How the stereo image is arranged; how much own voice there should be, and where; and are there instruments present that are throwing the vocals psychologically. While there are engineer/producer tricks with the headphone mix to modify singer performance, an excess of voice foldback causes most to sing ﬂat, while too little results in sharpness, but the exact levels that cause this to happen are individual. If you want to judge a foldback mix accurately try a pair of headphones on the same feed as the musicians via the same amplification — not on the foldback bus of the console because they aren’t always totally the same. MonItor MIX SPeCIaLS — Some singers need a lot more vocal treatment on their voice to perform in style. Ballad singers appreciate some reverb on their voice to help judge their performance, but too much and the pitching goes. If there is to be a slap echo, add a little just to give a ﬂavour but not enough of any effect to irreparably alter the performance. The one thing that most don’t want to hear is compression/limiting because that counteracts their performance, and try not to return an EQ foldback unless they request it. LIne BY LIne — Singers tend to come in two types — those that are happy to comp a performance line by line, and those that aren’t. You need to know what type you have if it isn’t working out. A lack of continuity can destroy a more ‘natural performer’ while the security of technology works with the perfectionist. MIX It tHeMSeLVeS — While a self-mixing headphone system works wonderfully for the experienced studio rat, in the wrong hands it is a something to go wrong. It also robs the singer of someone to blame and so save face — that’s what engineers are there for! It also robs the engineer of his best retaliation — placing a Harmonizer on the voice foldback. ■ 69

slaying dragons

the way we live few of us will not be aware of the debate about the effects of human activity on the environment. although we often try to hide away in heavily isolated control rooms, there really is no escape. JoHn WatKInSon argues that the issue affects all of us and we can all do something about it. reducing human environmental impact would be bad news for those who have grown fat, dumb and happy delivering environmentally damaging products. Another reason for the apparent debate is the fact that the vast majority of today’s politicians are classically educated and wouldn’t know a kiloWatt from a hole in the ground. We live in a technological society that requires good technological decision making, yet our so-called leaders don’t have any qualifications to do that. Instead politicians tend to come from the fat, He faCtS are now indisputable: the earth is dumb and happy background and choose policies that getting warmer and it will have an effect on the allow their dubious industries to ﬂourish, while giving way we live. The earth has got warmer and colder the electorate other, superficially plausible, reasons for in the past, of course, long before human activity either their decisions. existed or became significant, and some of today’s Thus we can set aside anything politicians have warming could well be down to that. However, not all to say about the environment, and concentrate on of it is. Human activity is responsible for at least some the fact that the present approach to the supply and of the effect. Even if human activity didn’t contribute use of energy is simply not sustainable. While it is to global warming, there are other compelling reasons impossible for an individual to alter our disreputable to re-think, not least the fact that oil reserves are finite political structures, it is perfectly possible for the and that their exploitation leads to warfare. individual to choose different energy sources and more In many respects the debate about the effects of efficient ways of using energy. If enough people do human activity has been over for years. However, that, politicians will change their views to align with there is a difference between what is known and what that new electorate. Today’s politicians are not leaders; is accepted, and a difference between acceptance and they are followers and will propose policies that align action. One of the reasons for the apparent debate has with what people think rather than what they need, been the simple fact that many of the consequences of in much the same way that journalists write stuff that aligns with the prejudices of their readership. There are two complementary approaches to the energy problem. The first is to reduce the amount of energy used and the second is to change the way it is produced. Reducing the amount of energy used is possible for all of us by either cutting back on activities that use a lot of energy or by making those activities more efficient. Essentially, waste is the enemy. Waste can take the form of machines that consume excessive energy for the task they perform, or it can result from cheap goods that last only a short time and have to be discarded, as well as from packaging. When considering energy efficiency, a lot of people get up in arms because they think that they have to live miserable lives, having given up everything they are accustomed to. This is far from the case. I live a fairly THE ART OF MICROPHONES energy efficient lifestyle, and www. brauner-microphones. com I don’t suffer at all; in fact I get pleasure from it. Reducing Global Distribution: S.E.A. Distribution & Consulting, Germany · www.sea-distribution.com waste, choosing long-lived products and energy efficient

You‘ve found it ...

resolution

products can save money in the long run. For example, changing the packaging that surrounds a product doesn’t alter our enjoyment of that product in the slightest, yet it can cut waste. Plastic bags given away robotically by shop assistants are a scandal. They get used once and are thrown away. In Ireland they put a huge tax on them and the amount of waste plastic to be dealt with dropped like a stone. I simply refuse them. In some shops they put the goods in a plastic bag without even looking to see that I have brought my own bag. I just take the goods out of the plastic bags again and politely explain why. Dealing with waste doesn’t cause me to suffer. It’s just something I do. Obviously I can’t eliminate all waste by careful purchasing, but the only things that go in the bin are things that can’t be recycled, can’t go on the compost heap and can’t be eaten by the cat. My dustbin goes out one week in four. If more people did that, fewer refuse trucks and dumps would be needed and taxes might go down. Again an energy efficient refrigerator doesn’t reduce my quality of life at all. Cheap refrigerators have lousy insulation, so the motor has to pump more heat out, because it gets back in quicker. The efficient fridge costs less to run and stays cool longer in a power cut, which is a benefit. Incandescent light bulbs are a scandalous waste of energy. They should be called heat bulbs, because that’s what they produce. Low energy bulbs use a fraction of the power for the same light, last longer and don’t ruin the décor. While early low energy bulbs had rather odd spectra, took a while to warm up and wouldn’t fit in a lot of lamps, this is no longer the case and the only remaining excuse for not having them is tradition. The solar panels on my garage roof don’t damage the quality of my life at all. They effortlessly produce my hot water for about eight months of the year and pre-heat the water the rest of the time, so my hot water requires about 15% of the oil I previously burned to heat it and 5% of the fossil fuel needed to power an immersion heater. The production of electricity has been supplanted by a number of alternatives recently. The consumer can now choose the source of his electricity. I buy sustainable electricity; in other words electricity that is provided without depleting a resource. While for a long time electricity was touted as clean energy, the truth is quite different. While electrically powered devices may appear clean, this is an illusion because the dirt and waste of a conventional power station take place far away. The conventional power station is bad news because it burns fossil fuel that cannot be replaced, it generates carbon dioxide and the constituents of acid rain and yet has a thermal efficiency limited by the laws of thermodynamics to about 30%. In other words, 70% of the heat developed is thrown away in the cooling towers. A one kilowatt electric fire is what the consumer sees. What he doesn’t see is two kilowatts going to waste at the power station. In the future this will have to be addressed. One solution is to make the station marginally less efficient by raising the temperature of the condensate so that it can be used to provide heating for nearby properties. Nuclear energy has a lot in common with electronics and acoustics. Because you can’t see it, people feel free to write total gonads about it. The simple fact is that all the waste in the entire history of nuclear power is negligible compared to the damage done by coal mining. The number of fatalities due to nuclear power is negligible compared to the toll of misery in coal mining. Nuclear power stations only emit carbon dioxide during construction. Transport is a good candidate for energy efficiency. The rolling friction of trains is the least of all the May/June 2007

slaying dragons land transport technologies and so they are the most efficient way of moving people and stuff. Airline travel is becoming a growing disaster. It is emerging that emissions from airliners are more effective at ozone layer damage than land-based emissions, and the amount of fossil fuel per passenger mile is astonishing. Fortunately the airlines are doing everything they can to discourage air travel. Airports are becoming more stressful and travellers are deemed to be terrorists until it can be proved otherwise (Although you’re treated as if you were thinking about it anyway. Ed). I find the whole airport security business degrading and humiliating. Once through that you get to eat guano with plastic cutlery. I once told the hostess I couldn’t eat with pink cutlery and she offered me yellow as an

alternative. At the other end you find your luggage demolished. I am on my fourth suitcase now. I bought the first one and airlines have provided the remainder as replacements. Today I simply don’t ﬂy unless there is no alternative. For most European and Scandinavian destinations, I find travel by car and ferry to be most agreeable. It costs very little more for two people and the fossil fuel used is considerably less. Instead of trying to save time, I make the journey part of the experience. And before some sharp-witted reader asks what I am doing banging on about the environment when I drive an XJ-S, let it be known that it is the subject of an ongoing efficiency makeover and recently averaged 37mpg between Stockholm and Esbjerg. Today’s cars are

commoditised to death and low first cost is king. That means efficiency goes out of the window. Given the gross neglect, it’s surprisingly easy to put right. ■

Don’t

refuse plastic bags in shops Get some low-energy light bulbs openly deride SUV drivers recycle as much as possible Buy sustainable electricity Buy goods with ornate packaging Make unnecessary journeys Drive if you can walk travel by air if you can go by train

showcase

advertisement business stationery brochure magazine creation, production and print

Visit: www.magazineproduction.co.uk Proud to be working with Resolution Magazine t: +44 (0)1273 467579 w: www.deancookproductions.co.uk e: info@deancookproductions.co.uk May/June 2007

resolution

your business

WARM - THE NEW COOL Guy Berryman, member of one of the hottest British bands to emerge for some time, is passionate about what he refers to as ‘real music’. As bass player and co-writer with

Post modern the postproduction people bask in their oscars and Benz’s while music struggles, but digital has a way of evening it all out in the end says Dan DaLeY.

Coldplay, his innovative and creative musical talents have seriously contributed to the band’s mega success over recent years. “Recording onto ProTools I wanted something that would give a warmer analogue sound” Check out:

www.tlaudio.co.uk/guy

‘W

Guy Berryman Coldplay TELEPHONE +44 (0)1462 492090 // EMAIL info@tlaudio.co.uk //

enn ICH “KULtUr” höre, entsichere ich meinen Browning.’ (‘When I hear the word “culture”, I release the safety catch of my Browning.’) Replace the word ‘culture’ with ‘digital’ and the usually misguided German playwright and poet Hans Johst might become almost relevant. And nowhere is the digital divide more apparent — and perhaps less fair — than in how it delineates music recording and audio postproduction. The two market sectors have always been a bit of the hare and the tortoise, a contrast exaggerated by digital. In the end, music recording rather burned itself out after a four-decade-long night of partying, while post remained its usual pragmatic and competent self, diligently knocking out audio for picture (and just as diligently ignoring sync issues) and cashing the pay cheque every week. Digital was kinder to post because post embraced digital as a workﬂow enhancer, not a suspicious cult, like some in music did. Digital technology certainly expanded the artistic palette of postproduction –it actually gave audio some sense of parity with picture, undermining the lament that sound was the stepchild in any picture-oriented medium. But it was mainly music people voicing that last complaint; post appreciated its enhanced expressionism, but the bottom line was, it lets us get it done faster, deliver the goods on time in a business that prizes deadlines, and earns us that pay cheque. (It’s worth noting that virtually the only unionised audio engineers in the US are those that work in broadcast production and postproduction. There hasn’t been a union musiconly engineer in these parts since RCA Studios closed shop on Sixth Avenue 20 years ago.) Music recording, on the other hand, rejected digital more often than not. Certainly, when the technology began to make music recording accessible to the masses in the early 1990s, it was demonised by conventional commercial studios that

saw the ‘project studio’ mutate from a speck to a spectre. In Los Angeles the studios actually formed an organisation that used passive-aggressive tactics like calling the municipal codes departments when they heard of a studio in someone’s home. Kind of like ringing the doorbell and running away. In the end, studio rates went down while home values soared. Res ipsa loquitur. To this day, amid a landscape covered in the rubble of music recording’s past, when the Cadillac console marques of yore are now vended next to guitars and drums in the high street shops, there are still those declaiming how digital will never replace analogue as the first choice of anyone with ears. Meanwhile, the post folks are adding another Terabyte to the server. And cashing that damn pay cheque. I don’t intend this as an indictment of the music recording sector. I’m not overly fond of the democratisation of audio, either. And at the end of the day I’d rather have my sound fuelled by passion than a pay cheque, by someone who understands basic acoustics and signal path. But music recording and the citizens who populate it could still do well to emulate the practicality of post. The relentless decline of major-label music sales isn’t so much a eulogy as it is a wake-up call. In fact, music sales aren’t as dismal as one might be led to believe. While SoundScan purports to be the ultimate metric of unit sales, the reality is that they miss the vast majority of indie CD sales, despite having a programme — poorly publicised — that lets independents report their gig and online sales. Personally, I don’t miss Tower Records stores, the last of which closed last year; the only music I’ve bought for a while now has been at live shows or downloaded on recommendations from the people I rely on to filter the ocean of music engendered by the democratisation of music recording. How many of these sales go unrecorded?

PASSIONATE ABOUT TUBES

resolution

May/June 2007

your business On the other hand, audio postproduction might take a long hard look at how things have gone for music in recent years. While digital has been a boon to workflow, the bedroom coup d’etat that was the project studio has become the desktop revolution for post. Box office sales for films are down, DVD sales are flat and unit pricing is sliding, and the proliferation of cable and satellite channels has diffused video. Does this sound a bit familiar? Of course it does –- it’s the sound of post’s status quo breaking apart like a globally warmed iceberg. YouTube and MySpace may have seemed cute at first, and then annoying, but when former Disney mogul Michael Eisner puts his millions on operations like Veoh.com –- where the audio and video post is done with Final Cut Pro and Garageband on MacBook Pro laptops by the same people scripting, producing and acting these professional-looking seven-minute epics — you know that the floors at Paramount, Sony and Universal are starting to shake. Will digital do to post what it did to music recording? You betcha. Will the posties be sharp enough to figure that out before they’re toast? That remains to be seen. Certainly, the post business is going to contract; we’ve already seen considerable consolidation in that sector, most notably by Ascent Media buying up independent post houses, like Todd-AO, over the last few years, building up a Marks & Spencer collection of facilities on both sides of the Atlantic. The question is, will that devolve into a chain of Tescos? Will digital make a Wal-Mart out of the post business? Or will post go the way of music recording, becoming a guerrilla craft practised by a new generation of editors? I made a point years ago of saying that I never thought conventional recording studios as a sector would disappear. There will always be a need for a large acoustically valid room with a top-flight console, properly tuned monitors and a trained staff. Just not a need for nearly as many of them. As the markets for postproduction migrate inexorably to the Internet, as did music, I predict the same thing will happen. Since the consolidation in the conventional post sector began taking place before the train left the station -- unlike in music studios, where economically enforced cohabitation between once-proud facilities amounts to little more than debt consolidation (I mention no names) — the traditional post facility will hang on longer and more profitably than its music-oriented counterparts did. But a service sector is only as strong as the clients and industry it serves; as video entertainment moves to the Internet

and as Hollywood loses ground to Bollywood and other distant cultures that want to make their own culturally correct versions of Baywatch (CSI: Dubai — has a nice ring to it), conventional postproduction will experience the same dynamic as music: we need big post houses — just not as many of them. So when music and post finally do find themselves in the same boat, what can they learn from each other? For starters, anyone who wants to make music other than his or her own records are going to need to wise up, financially speaking. Revel in your ‘Classic Tracks’ but no one’s going to make records like that anymore. Instead, parse out what the part of the market that decides it doesn’t want to be its own engineers — and there are plenty of them — wants. In other words, research the market, a process that has been heretofore rare in the studio business. Balance the passion with pragmatism. I want to hear your record, but I can’t if you had to take a day job with the Postal Service. Audio posters already have some innate sense that the world does not stand still. (Have you ever seen a department called ‘Classic Post’? Whom would you interview -- the sound effects guy for Benny Hill?) Nonetheless, the shift will be substantial and there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth, not to mention sharing of files. More post than is realised is already being done on a remote basis — voice-overs are phoned in; sound design went largely freelance a while ago, with the work being done in personal facilities; we’re now seeing more of that for music editing and sound effects. Post is a communal proposition by nature; increased connectivity by building on existing networks can keep that in place. But post will be defined by how its client market changes. At some point, the gaffer moonlighting as a cinematic auteur on Veoh.com is going to become more successful. He or she will find the interior décor at the post house less important than the attitude encountered there. The same goes for music. Recording studios that once defined themselves by their gear are going to have to change their sense of self, as well. In both cases, there will be an increased emphasis on the people and less on the facility or the equipment, since in most cases the clients will have plenty of access to the same software on their own. Idealising the past is all well and good, so long as it does not entail resisting the future. Convergence is more than a buzzword — it’s a well-documented trend that is at the heart of digital: once you move into the digital realm, all media are convergent. So, converge! ■

Missed an issue? need to build up your collection? You can buy resolution back issues and complete volumes on CD-rom. Everything you need to know to keep ahead

www.resolutionmag.com May/June 2007

resolution

headroom WorD CLoCK VoLtaGe I am sure I am not the first person to find that there is no international standard for Word clock voltage level. This has manifested itself when we tried to use a perfectly respectable Word clock generator to drive an industry-standard recorder. The generator was only putting out 2.7 volts, whereas the recorder needed a volt or two more. How come, in a world where standards are essential (i.e. the audio digital world) this seems to have slipped through the net? Dominic Field, dubbing mixer Yes, it is true that up to now there is no industry standard for Word clock output voltages. Normally the output voltages vary between 3V and up to 4.5V between the different clock generators. That depends on the internal termination of the output, which should be standard at 75ohms. But due to the fact that most of the clock generator manufacturers are working with ‘normal’ TTL 5V chips to drive their outputs, it is not possible to output 3-4.5V @ truly 75ohms. So the manufacturers reduce normally the output impedance to around 40, 30 or 20ohms. The lower the impedance, the higher the output voltage. But this can cause a problem with e.g. broadcast houses or television stations which generally are awaiting a 75ohms output termination. For example, we at Mutec offer in our iClock and iD products two available output impedances which can be switched by the user between 2.6V with true 75ohms termination and 3.5V with 22ohms termination. Due to your situation it seems to me that you’ve got a clock generator which maybe supplies a true 75ohms termination even if the resulting output voltage is not enough for your application. The only possibility for you is to adapt the output termination by changing the resistor on the mainboard in front of the corresponding output. Or you maybe can use an additional clock distribution amp with a higher output voltage. I hope this helps to clear up the subject in general. If you have further questions, please let me know. Christian Peters, Manager, Mutec, Berlin, Germany

BeLLS In QUaD I was reading John Watkinson’s article in Resolution V6.2 and was reminded of so many times when clients have phoned me about problems but have used the most illogical reasoning when suggesting to me what they thought might be wrong. Typically

the monitors don’t sound right one day, yet they have worked perfectly for some years so they ask what type of equaliser I would suggest in order to make the sound ‘right’ again. On pages 14/15 were photographs of Red Pipe Sound Design, showing a piece of furniture as a worksurface, but with a closed back. On many occasions when I have been called to a studio where the monitors have ‘gone wrong’ it has been exactly because they have installed such a ‘quality’ piece of furniture in place of the skeletal stands which I had insisted upon some years before. I don’t know any audiophiles who put their sideboards or chest of drawers between themselves and their loudspeakers, so why Red Pipe have put this abomination between themselves and their loudspeakers I don’t know. Large closed back worksurfaces (or consoles with large, flat rear surfaces) are simply asking for monitoring problems. It is absolutely essential to keep any furniture in the control room as open as possible. Obstructions cannot under any circumstances fail to degrade the monitoring. The users usually insist that the furniture impresses the clients but this is only pandering to the ignorance of the clients when professional studios should be trying to educate them — at least in my opinion. May I suggest to Red Pipe that they remove the back from the furniture and enjoy much improved monitoring. Who knows, the client might even be impressed by this as well. Also in the same issue, Mike Oldfield appeared to deny the existence of a quadraphonic version of Tubular Bells. I mixed it in quad at The Manor in 1975 ably assisted by Mick Glossop and Alan Perkins. It was first used in Boxed, a four album set, and almost immediately replaced the pseudoquad version which Mike mentions was done at Abbey Road, which was then withdrawn. I believe that the ‘new’ version was later used for a special edition ‘picture disc’ and in 2001 it re-appeared as one of the very first SACDs. In the latter case, despite all the cover notes, many SACDs were returned to the shops because they were ‘faulty’ — nothing came out of the centre front loudspeaker (it was a four-channel mix!). This version is still in the shops over 30 years after it was mixed, so there definitely was/is a quadraphonic version of the original Tubular Bells. Philip Newell, Spain

resolution

FISH-TAINTED BANDS PDPhoto.org

Frank Snapper Deep Turtle Small Plaices Marlin Gaye Whitebait Jefferson Starfish Bream Shark Almond 23 Squidoo Crustacean Dub Foundation Back Street Trawler Blenny Crabitz

advertiser Index Al.So ..................................71 Apogee/Sonic Distribution ..68 Audient..............................29 Audio Technica ..................35 Calrec ................................67 Cedar Audio ......................76 Charter Oak ......................57 Dean Cook Productions ....71 Digico ................................03 Digidesign .........................23 DPA ...................................31 Drawmer/Soundfield .........21 Enhanced Audio ................71 Euphonix ...........................33 Fairlight .............................41 Focusrite ...........................63 Focusrite ...........................65 Fostex................................19 Genelec .............................02 Ghost/Sonic Distribution ...60 Golden Age Music ............61 Harman ..............................25 HHB Lynx ..........................47 IBC .....................................75 Interfacio ...........................74 KMR Audio .......................71 Lawo ..................................07 Lydcraft .............................18 Merging Technology .........09

Midas / Klark Teknik..........27 Millennia Music .................13 Neue Heimat .....................71 Neutrik ..............................55 Prism..................................54 Radial .................................51 RSS ....................................20 SBES ..................................73 Schoeps .............................17 SCV London ......................12 SE/Sonic Distribution ........52 SEA Vertrieb Brauner ........70 Sennheiser K+H ................39 Sonifex ..............................62 Sonnox ..............................47 Stagetech Mediatechnik ...11 Stirling Audio ....................45 Studer ...............................37 Studio Spares ....................49 Tascam ...............................53 TC Electronic .....................59 TL Audio ............................72 TL Commerce ....................71 Violet .................................58 Wave Distribution .............43 Waves/Sonic Distribution ... 48

May/June 2007

State-of-the-Art ...always IBC2007 the world of content creation management delivery See state-of-the-art technology from 1,000 exhibitors. Network with more than 44,000 key players from 130 countries. Take part in the world's best opinion forming conference. Take advantage of IBC's free visitor attractions including The Big Screen Experience highlighting Digital Cinema plus the IPTV, Mobile and Training Zones.

Conference 6 - 10 September Exhibition 7 - 11 September RAI Amsterdam

www.ibc.org IBC Aldwych House 81 Aldwych London WC2B 4EL United Kingdom Tel: +44 20 7611 7500 Fax: +44 20 7611 7530 Email: show@ibc.org