Indiana Jones - Audio Media

AUDIO-FOR-VIDEO • BROADCAST • INTERNET AUDIO • LIVE SOUND • MULTIMEDIA • POST PRODUCTION • RECORDINGAUDIOMEDIATHE WORLD’S LEADING PROFESSIONAL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE124th AESAMSTERDAM REVIEWIndiana JonesFinal Cut SpecialNew MicrophonesA Product SamplerKoolworldJazz… And MoreBlue Planet Live!0 59 7 7 0 9 6 0 7 4 7 0 2 4WORLDWIDE EDITIONISSUE 211 •JUNE 2008 • UK £3.80An Orchestral EventMerging ADR Package • SSL Duende Range • Allen & Heath iDR • Novation ReMote 25SL Compact • EastWest Quantum Leap • Royer Labs: Live Ribbon Mics • Special Report: Videosonics – Closed To Business• A Good Challenge – From Stage To Screen With LipSync Post • Dane To Be Different: The DPA Future • The John Meyer Interview • What’s Up UK: The Great DAB Debate • GeoFocus: Australia • Video Guide: HDAcquisition • Recording News: Yamaha Updates; SSL Mynx; Updated KRK Rokit Series • Post News: Dolby Demystified – Scrub Up On Surround • AMSR News: Sound Tech Buys Harman Distribution • And More!

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contentsI S S U E 2 1 1 • j u n e 2 0 0 8ReGULARsWhat’s Up UK 14DAB is not dead yet, though dogged uncertaintyperseveres, as KEVIN HILTON peruses the hystericalalmost-obits of earlier this year.GeoFocus: Australia 16Fairlight is the digital pioneer of Melbourne; JIMEVANS reports from the other side of the world.For The RecorD 18The Ten Commandments of Sound, and thedilemmas of where to pin a mic on a leather jumpsuit are the issues facing the industry this month.Ne wsTalk :DPA New Microphones 24Morten Støve talks to Audio Media about what thefuture holds for DPA Microphones.Final Cut: Indiana Jones 32STROTHER BULLINS talks to Ben Burtt aboutrecreating the classic sound of 'Indy'.Video GUIDE 56We can already see how HD’s impacting on TV andfilm; but what of the machines behind the screen?KEVIN HILTON looks at HD cameras for pros.ReviewsMerging ADR Module 38PAUL MAC discovers a new string to Pyramix'sbow: an ADR/Foley system that can run recordingsessions to clockwork precision.SSL DuenDE 44Splash and rumble aren’t an issue; RICHARDWENTK finds the Duende does exactly what itsays on the tin.Produc t Sampler:MicrophonES 52Recording the hottest microphone picks of theAMSR AMSRAMSRFEATURESSpecial Repor t:VideosonICS 20PAUL MAC talks to a philosophical DennisWeinreich about the long road that led toVideosonics closing its doors.KoolworLD 42PAUL MAC finds out it's all about that Jazz, ashe talks to Dave Wooster from Koolworld aboutrunning his Luton-based studio.GooD 48Going from stage to screen gives a good ol’challenge to LipSync; KARL FOSTER talks to theteam behind Good’s development.Meyer SounD 62The future is bright for Meyer; HEATHER JOHNSONtalks to John Meyer about what's in store.THE Blue Planet Live! 64Life beneath the waves goes live; JONATHANMILLER talks to the team bringing The BluePlanet to an audience on a grander scale thanever before.RUSHESNOVATION SL COMPACT 26SIMON TILLBROOK maps out an easy path throughNovation's remote compact mapping system.Allen & Heath iDR-8 28A new mixer, or a pastie..? ALISTAIR McGHEE wantsto go back for seconds, as he likes what he tastesof the iDR8.EastWest QuantumLeap SD2 & GoliatH 30KARL FOSTER explores the shelves of EastWest’sepically proportioned sample libraries.ROyer Labs MicsR-121 & R-122 70Three weeks to make just one; Royer Labs’ newmics are the stuff of quality and SIMON ALLENAMSRAMSRCover StoriesAUDIOMEDIAAUDIO-FOR-VIDEO BROADCAST INTERNET AUDIO LIVE SOUND MULTIMEDIA POST PRODUCTION RECORDINGTHE WORLD’S LEADING PROFESSIONAL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE124th AESAMSTERDAM REVIEWIndiana JonesFinal Cut: Indiana Jones 32STROTHER BULLINS talks to Ben Burtt aboutrecreating the classic sound of 'Indy'.THE Blue Planet Live! 64JONATHAN MILLER talks to the team bringing TheBlue Planet to an audience on a grande scale.NewsFinal Cut SpecialNew MicrophonesA Product SamplerKoolworld9 7 7 0 9 6 0 7 4 7 0 2 4Jazz… And MoreWORLDWIDEDITIONRecordinG 6SSL offer a console of a Mynxing nature, whileKRK launches its second gen. Rokits, and BlueMicrophones expects a snow report.Post 8London’s Munro is Mumbai-bound, and Scrubgears up for Dolby Demystified.Broadcast 10An Olympian dream comes true for Euphonix,and Studer waves a fond farewell to two(un-Olympic) winners.0 5AES RevIEW 12It might have been smaller than in years past, butthat didn't mean any less new gear. Audio Mediarounds up the best of AES 2008.Blue Planet Live!An Orchestral Event AMSr 60Iron Maiden pilots their kit and crew to theskies, while Audio-Technica kicks off on their roadyear to date.finds them endlessly versatile.to success.4AUDIO MEDIA june 2008

leaderREvIEW44SSL DUEnDEFEATURE 48GooDBy the time you read this, the public voting phase for this year’sConch awards will be in full swing. Once again, the awards haveattracted an increased number of nominations, and the awardslook set to be as compelling, competitive, and enjoyable as ever.It’s undoubtedly important that the UK showcases its audio production talentto the world in this globalising economy, and given the short shrift that mostother media industry awards give to sound, it’s admirable that the UK ScreenAssociation and the Conch committee have made such a success of the event.I have to say that I admire the people involved in making this thing happen.Without exception, they are the kind of people who really shouldn’t have timeto be involved with something like this, but somehow find that time. Unlike ‘bad’committees made up with people who have (normally for good reason) toomuch time on their hands – though those people have, on the whole, migratedto Internet forums over the last few years.However, it’s now imperative that you get involved. Whether you are directlyinvolved, through nomination or sponsorship or any other route, you must vote.It shouldn’t be too difficult for audio professionals to prise themselves awayfrom the main business of the day and spend a few moments contributing tothe industry, and it has a disproportionately large impact. The more people whovote, the more representative the short lists will be – the judges can only choosefrom a shortlist created through this vote. The whole industry benefits from thepublicity, the accolades, and the Conch branding.So, before you do anything else, please go to the UK Screen Associationwebsite (ukscreenassociation.co.uk/conch), or directly to the Audio Media hostedvoting form (audiomedia.com/conch) and make your mark. Remember, if youmake one of those marks on the Unsung Hero award, you are still eligible towin a stack of gear from Steinberg, Focusrite, KRK, and SE Electronics. While I’mabsolutely certain that you don’t strictly need these kinds of blatant inducementsto click a few boxes, it might just tip the balance for those who could do with agear surge (who couldn’t?).Lastly, a note to manufacturers. While the August issue may seem a whileaway, it takes no effort at all to miss out on helping us (and you) with the annualAM Equipment Guide. Look to your e-mail inbox over the next couple of weeksas we try to make sense of the pro audio gear marketplace on behalf of the AMreadership – and take action sooner rather than later.Paul Mac, EditorRUSHES 28ALLEn & HEAtH IDr-8AUDIO MEDIA is a Sustaining Member of the Audio Engineering Society.AUDIO MEDIAwww.audiomedia.comAUDIo MEDIA (Europe), 1st Floor, 1 Cabot House, Compass Point business Park, St Ives, Cambs, UK.telephone: +44 (0)1480 461555 – Facsimile: +44 (0)1480 461550General E-mail: mail@audiomedia.com – Press release E-mail: pr@audiomedia.comManaging DirectorAngela Browna.brown@audiomedia.comAssociate Group PublisherNick Humbertn.humbert@audiomedia.comEditor In ChiefPaul Macp.mac@audiomedia.comNews/AMSR EditorJonathan Millerj.miller@audiomedia.comProduction EditorLanna Marshalll.marshall@audiomedia.comDesign & Production ManagerJohn-Paul Shirreffsjp.shirreffs@audiomedia.comRegional Sales ManagerBob Kennedybkennedy@imaspub.com+44 (0)1279 861264US Sales ManagerMatt Rubensteinmrubenstein@imaspub.com+1 914 524 5045Circulations Manager/AdministrationJo Perrissmail@audiomedia.comSubscriptionssubs@audiomedia.comUK £43European (airmail) £60International (airmail) £72Payable in Sterling through UK bankFEATURE 42KooLWorLDthe contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or in part, whether mechanical or electronic, isexpressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Great care is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication butneither IMAS Publishing (UK) Limited nor the Editor can be held responsible for its contents. the views expressed are those of the contributors and notnecessarily those of the Publishers or Editor. the Publishers accept no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or artwork.© 2008 IMAS Publishing (UK) Limited. All rights reserved.*Within broadcast & ProductionAUDIo MEDIA jUnE 20085

ecording newsstreaming news @ www.audiomedia.comPRODUCT UPDATEBrauner Phanthera,Phantom ClassicGermanmicrophonemaker Brauneris now offeringmore budgetfriendlyversionsof its cardioidonlyPhantheraand variablePhantom Classic.According to themanufacturer itself,“The basic versions of our popularFET microphones are equipped withan essential set of accessories – themicrophone and a sturdy mount,delivered in a robust box, [which] canbe extended at any time to matchthe standard versions by purchasingoptional accessories.”SEA Distribution & Consulting+49 5903 9388 0www.sea-distribution.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTAudio-Technica ATH-W5000Audio-Technica has unveiled its newATH-W5000 dynamic headphones(SRP: £699.95); featuring a stripedebony housing carved from a solidblock for acoustic matching, itslarge aperture (53mm) neodymiummagnet-based transducers producesan ultra-low (5Hz) to super-high(45kHz) frequency response, whilethe Wing Support Housing vibrationproofmechanism and patentedDouble Air Damping System ensurescomfort and accurate reproduction.Audio-Technica (UK)+44 (0)113 277 1441Audio-Technica US+1 330 686 2600www.audio-technica.comNEW PRODUCTSolid State Logic MynxOxfordshire-headquartered British analogue and digital consolemanufacturer Solid State Logic has introduced Mynx, effectively a costeffective(£250 RRP, excluding VAT) ‘mini’ version of the acclaimed X-Rackmodular rack system that allows users to slot in up to two modules fromthe company’s complete range of X-Rack modules – namely, the XR618Dynamics Module; XR621 Mic Amp Module; XR622 Master Bus Module;XR623 Four Channel Input Module; XR624 Eight Channel Module; XR625Channel EQ Module (direct copy of the XL 9000 K Equaliser, as used on theDuality and AWS900+ consoles); XR626 Stereo Bus Compressor Module(centre section module from the 1980s-vintage G-Series analogue console);and XR627 VHD Input Module (with the new Variable Harmonic Drivecircuit). Example applications include combining the XR618 and XR621 tocreate a front-end recording system for vocals, or pairing up an XR625 withan XR618 to achieve characteristic SSL channel strip processing.The Mynx itself features a rugged metal enclosure made from 4mm-thickextruded aluminium, measuring a desktop-friendly 106mm (W) x 192mm(H) x 186mm (D). Power supply to the mounted modules is via the Mynx’sexternal power supply while audio connections are made directly to the rearof the modules themselves.Solid State Logic (HQ)+44 (0)1865 842300Solid State Logic (Eastern Region)+1 212 315 1111Solid State Logic (Western Region)+1 323 549 9090www.solidstatelogic.comNEW PRODUCTSKRK Rokit 5, Rokit 6, Rokit 8Floridian powered recording monitor manufacturer KRK Systems haslaunched the second generation of its Rokit monitor, replacing the currentfive-, six-, and eight-inch models.Also available in five- (Rokit 5), six- (Rokit 6), and eight-inch (Rokit 8)variations, the new models incorporate several technologies from thecompany’s flagship VXT and ExposéE8B lines, including a curved frontbaffle, engineered to minimisediffraction of high frequencies,purportedly resulting in a sweetspot that is significantly largerthan products with square orrounded baffles.Stated Tony Rodrigues, Vice-President of Marketing for KRK Systems: “Evenin this day of ‘sweet’ sounding monitors that demo well in the store, but falldown in a mixing environment, KRK has stayed true to its commitment ofproviding accurate, honest tools for home, project, and professional studios.”Focusrite Audio Engineering+44 (0)1494 462246www.focusrite.comKRK Systems+1 954 316 1580www.krksys.comNEW PRODUCTRNDigital D1RNDigital has releasedD1, a graphicsdynamics processorbased on its DYNAM-IZER Zone Audio Leveltechnology, developed in orderto make the company’s dynamicscontrol technology more intuitive.www.rogernicholsdigital.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PRODUCT UPDATESonnox Oxford SuprEsserUK distributor Source is shippingSonnox’s Oxford SuprEsserprofessional de-esser and dynamicEQ native (RTAS, AU,VST) plug-in. Thosepurchasing the productbefore June 30 will savethemselves 10% off its standardprice (£180, plus VAT).www.sourcedistribution.co.uk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PRODUCT UPDATEzplane.development vieklangzplane.development’s vielklangaudio harmonisation instrument isnow available from UKdistributor Time+Space.vielklang allows usersto generate up tofour voices, edit theirharmonies and single pitches,control playback speed, andconvert audio to MIDI.www.timespace.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PRODUCT UPDATEEquator Audio Research Q8San Diegan studio referencemonitor manufacturer EquatorAudio Researchis shipping itstwo-way active Q8studio referencemonitor, featuring an eight-inchwoofer and one-inch compressionhorn driver.www.handinhand.uk.netwww.equatoraudio.com6AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

ecording newsstreaming news @ www.audiomedia.comNEW PRODUCTTerratec Electronics iQuaderDeveloped in collaboration withBraunder Microphones, theTerratec iQuader is purportedly theworld’s first USB stereo interfacialmicrophone, andfeatures a builtinmic pre-ampand fast-actinganalogue filterfor fast, simple recording.www.terratec.co.ukwww.terratec.net. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTDigidesignTransfuser PreviewDigidesign hasunveiled TransfuserPreview, a freethree-month pre-release versionof Transfuser, an upcoming RTASreal-time loop, phrase, and groovecreation virtual instrumentplug-in for Pro Tools.www.digidesign.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PRODUCT UPDATEVSL VIENNA ENSEMBLE 3Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) hasintroduced ViennaEnsemble 3, thefirst MIDI and audioLAN solution that enables users of itsVienna Instruments to set up a crossplatformnetwork of Macs and PCsusing an Ethernet cable.www.timespace.comwww.ilio.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTSoftube Acoustic Feedback DeluxeSoftube is shipping AcousticFeedback Deluxe, aTDM plug-in featuringharmonic and subharmonicselectors,adding a sub-harmonic growl andmore detailed control of timbres.www.softube.comPRODUCT UPDATESYamaha 01V96VCM, 02R96VCMYamaha Corporation of Americahas relaunched its 01V96V2 and02R96V2 Digital Mixing Consolesas the 01V96VCM and 02R96VCM;retail pricing remains unchanged,as does the powerful V2 features,but the new models comecomplete with a host of preinstalledVCM effects that werepreviously only available as ‘addon’effects packages. These effectsare based on Yamaha’s VirtualCircuitry Modelling technology,simulating the model’s original analogue circuitry – right down to thelast resistor and capacitor. Included are an array of 70 vintage-soundingclassic compression and EQ units, simulations of several analogue openreel recorders, plus a complete suite of REV-X reverb effects, a high-qualitysurround post-production package, and even a selection of vintagestomp boxes.Customers who purchased a 01V96V2or 02R96V2 from January 1, 2008,onwards are eligible to receive a freeupdate CD.Yamaha Music (UK)+44 (0)1908 366700Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems+1 714 522 9011www.yamahaproaudio.comNEW PRODUCTNEW PRODUCTS/UPDATEBlue Microphones SnowflakeCEDAR Declick for NOA, CEDARBlue Microphones has introduced Dehiss for NOA, CEDAR for SADiEthe Snowflake, effectively a portableversion of its popular SnowballProfessional USB Microphone,combining a USB bus-poweredCambridgeshire-based audiocapsulerestoration hardware and softwarewith a classcompliantaudio specialist NOA Audio Solutions,specialist CEDAR Audio, and archivedesign forhave announced availability of CEDARtrue plugand-playon Mac and PC computers. for NOA, respectively based uponDeclick for NOA and CEDAR DehissThe mic itself folds into a compact CEDAR’s Declickle and Auto Dehisscase that also houses a USB cable to algorithms. CEDAR Audio has alsoaid transportability; unfolded, the licensed Prism Sound to resume salecase itself serves as a desktop stand and support of CEDAR for SADiE.or a laptop clip – perfect forCEDAR Audiopodcasting, webcalling, or song +44 (0)1223 881771sketching on the go.CEDAR Audio USABlue Microphones+1 207 828 0024www.bluemic.comwww.cedaraudio.comPRODUCT UPDATEApple iMacApple has updated its all-in-oneiMac desktop computer line, withthe 24-inch flagship model’s buildto-orderoptions including a 3.06GHzIntel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GBof DDR2 SDRAM, NVIDIA GeForce8800 GS graphics card with 512MB ofvideo memory, and up to a 1TB SerialATA drive. Standard features includebuilt-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Finetworking; BlueTooth 2.1+EDR;Gigabit Ethernet; built-in iSight videocamera; five USB 2.0 ports; and singleFireWire 400 and 800 ports.Apple (UK)+44 (0)845 600 1683Apple+1 408 996 1010www.apple.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEW PRODUCTDangerous Music DAC-STEdmeston, New York-based DAWbasedrecording product designer/builder Dangerous Music, is shippingthe DAC-ST Additional SwitchingSystem, a mastering-quality, stereodigital-to-analogue converter optionfor its Monitor ST controller. All fourrear panel-sited digital inputs acceptAES or SPDIF formats, and have activeThru outputs for routing these inputsignals to other devices.Dangerous Music (EuropeanDivision)+49 2236 393731Dangerous Music+1 607 965 8011www.dangerousmusic.comAUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008 7

post newsstreaming news @ www.audiomedia.comLONDONDolby Demystified By DolbyAnd ScrubHHB Communications’ London-basedpost-production specialist division,Scrub, hasteamed upwith Dolby UKto host DolbyDemystified,a free eventbeing held(twice) on July2, at the cinema in West London’sKempinski Courthouse Hotel tohelp post-production and broadcastpersonnel with a good basicknowledge of surround audio post tosuccessfully deliver programmesusing Dolby E.Scrub – A division of HHB+44 (0)20 7025 6020www.hhb.co.uk/scrub. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PRODUCT UPDATEMerging Technologies Pyramix 6.0eMerging,MergingTechnologies’London-basedUK distributor,is celebratingthe launchof Version 6.0 of the latter’s PyramixNative DAW by offering a temporarilydiscounted price of £499 (includingVAT) until August 31, 2008.www.merginguk.comMUMBAIMunro Mixes For Shree LakshmiLondon-headquartered recording facility builder Munro Acoustics has designed andspecified a brand new 5.1 cinema mix room (Shree Balaji Studio) for Shree LakshmiStudios in Mumbai’s Andheri media district. The room is fitted with a 192-channelHarrison MPC4-D digital film console; Dynaudio M3FX screen – custom made forcinema mix rooms; ten Dynaudio BM15P for the surrounds; plus two JBL 4645Cs forthe LFE channel, all driven by MC2 2 amplification.According to studio owner R K Jain, Munro Acoustics was an obvious choice whenit came to completing the work: “I read the following paragraph in the Dolby Guide for5.1 rooms while planning the facility: ‘Whether designing a new facility or planning torefit an existing one, consulting a professional acoustician and architect familiar withbuilding critical audio monitoring environments is always recommended.’ I decided togo with an experienced acoustic design firm who have worked on world-renownedmix rooms, so briefed Andy Munro of Munro Acoustics to design a room with superiorsonic quality.”For his not inconsiderable part in the proceedings Munro stated, “The new roomhas been designed to meet the stringent requirements of a Dolby Premier Studio inpreparation for the new generation of high-definition digital projectors. The acousticdesign is modelled on a form of semi-diffusing module that has been developed overmany years’ experience with top London studios, such as Shepperton and Pinewood.”Munro Acoustics+44 (0)20 7403 3808www.munro.co.ukNEW PRODUCTUeberschall Score FXBilled as being the definitive plug-infor fast, quality film-scoring results,Ueberschall's ScoreFXCinematic Sound Designsoftware provides 7GBof accents, beds, andrhythms encoded foruse with the company'sLiquid Player VI engine co-developedwith Celemony Melodyne technology,so no additional sample player isneeded. 28 one-minute so-calledconstruction kits rich in textual designand contrast complete the usefulpackage.Time+Space Distribution+44 (0)1837 55200www.timespace.comBig Fish Audio+1 661 295 0761www.bigfishaudio.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .UKTekcare Tours FairlightTwo-time BAFTA-winning sounddesigner Cliff Jones is demonstratingFairlighttechnology at YorkUniversity MusicResearch Theatre(June 11), London’sBritish FilmInstitute (June 19), Birmingham’s TheAudio Suite (June 24), and Yorkshire TVin Leeds (June 25).www.tekcare.co.ukmedia production centrePureInspirationrecord • edit • mix • create8Audio Media mag '08.indd 1AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 20084/2/08 6:37:45 PM

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oadcast newsdiary datesJune 11-12ABTT Theatre ShowVincent Square, LondonJune 14-20Infocomm/NSCA ConferencesLas Vegas, USAJune 17-20BroadcastAsia 2008SingaporeJune 20-22NAMM Summer SessionNashville, USAJune 23-26Cinema Expo InternationalAmsterdam, NetherlandsJune 28-30AVL ThailandThailandJuly 8-10PALME AsiaSuntec, SingaporeJuly 17-20DevelopBrighton, UKAugust 21-23Palmm PhilippinesManila, PhilippinesAugust 24-25PAL Showcase 2008Toronto, CanadaAugust 28-30AES ConferenceJeju Island, KoreaSeptember 7-10PLASA 2008London, UKSeptember 11-16IBC 2008Amsterdam, NetherlandsSeptember 25The Conch AwardsLondon, UK10streaming news @ www.audiomedia.comSWITZERLANDWinning Studer Waves GoodbyeSwiss pro audio specialist Studer has discontinued productionof its OnAir 1000 and 2000 digital mixing consoles – largelybecause of electronic components being unavailable in RoHS(Restriction of Hazardous Substances) compliant versions –with the last OnAir 2000 leaving the Regensdorf factory morethan a decade after the first. Introduced in 2000,the OnAir 1000 delivered the same attributes asits bigger brother for small- to mid-sized radioinstallation, with almost 1,000 units being deliveredduring its production run.Meanwhile, Swedish state broadcaster Sveriges Television AB(SVT) has taken delivery of its fifth Studer Vista 8 Live Productionand Broadcast Console for installation in its flagship live-audienceStudio 1 in Stockholm, where it will be used on the country’smost popular entertainment shows.On another positive note, Studer’s Call Management System(CMS) recently received a Cool Stuff Award at this year’s NAB(National Association of Broadcasters) Show in Las Vegas fromAudio Media’s sister publication, Radio World.Studer UK+44 (0)1707 668097Studer USA+1 818 920 3206www.studer.chNEW PRODUCTiZotope ANR-BBoston, Massachusetts-basedresearch-driven audio signalprocessing company iZotopehas launched the ANR-BAdaptive Realtime Noise Reduction unit, bringing its renownedaudio algorithm for adaptive noise reduction to a dedicatedhardware unit for use in real-time broadcast applications where itcan intelligently identify and suppress environmental broadbandnoise, hum, phone line artifacts and more, dramatically increasingthe quality of audio broadcasts involving radio call-in programmesand on-location broadcasting.iZotopewww.izotope.comCHINAEuphonix Broadcasts From Olympian HeightsChinese broadcaster CCTV recently used aEuphonix System 5-B for a live broadcast ofthe Olympic torch’s ascent to the summitof Mount Everest. Here the crack climbingteam of five torchbearers passed the flameto team captain Nyima Cering, who was heardbreathlessly proclaiming the 2008 Olympic Games slogan:“One world, one dream.”Euphonix Europe+44 (0)20 8561 2566Euphonix (HQ)+1 650 855 0400www.euphonix.comAUDIO MEDIA june 2008

124th AES ReviewWhile its organisers admitted that this year’s AES Pro Audio Expo & Convention inIBC ReviewAmsterdam (May 17-20) “...was a bit smaller than in recent years,” attendance apparentlyalmost mirrored that of last year’s event in Vienna (6,200). Nevertheless, a number ofnotable products received their first European airings. And here they are...AEA Microphones launched anew and ‘re-imagined’ version ofthe RCA 44 ribbon microphone,claimed to have a 6dB lowernoise floor and more detail thanthe original.www.wesdooley.comAccording to Product ManagerThomas Stubics, AKG Acoustics’AES-launched C 214 “...wasdesigned as a budget-friendlyalternative to the leading-edgeC 414 family; because the C 214uses the same one-inch diaphragmas the C 414, the essence ofthat heralded C 414 has beencaptured in this newest model.”The C 214’s road-tough constructionis based around a dent-resistantmetal grille that ensures high RFimmunity without affecting itsacoustical performance, plus agold-plated XLR-type output.www.akg.comATD2 displayed and demonstratedthe XMG2.D, the largest (1.0mH x 0.82m W x 0.45m D) activeFAR-branded monitor built bythe Belgium-based manufacturerto date, boasting an impressive15Hz to 35kHz frequency responsefrom its two woofers (driven bytwo 800W Class D amplifiers),single mid-range driver (drivenby a 200W Class D amplifier), andtweeter (driven by another 200WClass D amp), all time-alignedvia onboard DSP to obtain a“...perfect impulse response.”www.atd2.comAudio test and measurementequipment specialist AudioPrecision unveiled two-channelmodels of its award-winningAPx500 Series audio analyser:the APx525 has two balanced andtwo unbalanced analogue inputsand outputs, plus 192kHz digitalI/O, while the APx520 drops thedigital I/O.www.ap.comCB Electronics showed its newP2-MMC2 USB MIDI-RS422Video timecode interface tohelp MIDI-based editing systemscommunicate with the video world.The unit can be used for eitherinwards or out-going video control,with track arming and so on.www.cbelectronics.co.ukCharterOak Acoustic Devicesexpanded its product line toinclude the SCL-1 Solid StateCompressor/Limiter, an all-discreetstereo compressor/limiter thatreceived its first airing alongside theEnfield, Connecticut-basedcompany’s new Small StudioCollection, comprising an SA538vacuum tube condenser, E700 solidstatecondenser, and a sequentiallynumberedmatched pair of M900small diaphragm condensers.www.charteroakacoustics.comDPA Microphones showcasedits acoustically pre-equalised4080 miniature cardioid lavaliermicrophone – designed to be bodymountedaround 20 to 25cm fromthe mouth, and featuring a 4dBpresence boost to improve speechintelligibility and definition, as wellas its new 4017, a short (210mmbody length) and exceptionallylightweight (71g) shotgunmicrophone offering a highlydirectional pickup pattern.www.dpamicrophones.comJZ Microphones launched a newaddition to its Black Hole series(though this time it’s dark green...)– a cardioid-only version with20dB pad. Also new was the ‘Popand Shock’ package (pop filterand shockmount for the BlackHole microphones).www.jzmic.comLawo launched its latest MC2console at AES – the MC2 56.The console offers a more compactapproach than previously, withsmaller 16 fader modules, feweruser-definable controls, and touchscreen implementationwww.lawo.deMerging showed its new V6.0Pyramix platform with MassCoretechnology (increased power usingdedicated host PC processing core)and the new ADR Package for fullADR and Foley session controland administration using both thePyramix and VCube products.www.merging.comMicrotech Gefell launched severalnew microphones at the show.First was the new ‘ART’ anniversaryseries, which takes the M930 andM990 microphones and puts a PVCmembrane into the capsule for avintage sound. Also new was theUM930, a version of the M930 withfive switchable patterns, and theM930 twin – a dual-diaphragm,dual output microphone.www.microtechgefell.deMinnetonka Audio Softwareannounced the latest version (v1.4)of AudioTools AWE, its automatedworkflow engine for editing, formatconversion, encoding, plug-inprocessing, and processing throughexternal I/O devices, adding .AUand W64 file support, intelligentfile handling on Folder Drop, plusoptimised parsing of MP3 filesfor playback.www.minnetonkaaudio.comNeumann celebrated its 80thanniversary with the launch of theTLM 67, based on the well-loved1960s-vintage U 67 – incorporatingthe same K 67 capsule, for example,but with newly-designed circuitrythat closely reproduces U 67characteristics without the useof tubes; switchable directionalcharacteristics (omni-directional,cardioid, and figure-of-eight),selectable 10dB pre-attenuation,and a high-pass filter allow detailedadjustments to be made accordingto recording applications.www.neumann.comNeyrinck Software announced itsnew V-Mon plug-in for Pro Tools – afully-featured surround monitoringsystem that can be controlled withdedicated TAC System hardware.It handles up to six 7.1 and eight12AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

IBC ReviewAccess Console when networkedstereo inputs, and has twodownmix facilities for monitoringand program.www.neyrinck.comPrism Sound announced anupgrade to its Orpheus FireWiremulti-channel audio interfacethat enables its audio outputs tobe converted to ADAT outputs,and vice-versa, thereby allowingit to be connected directly toa number of DAWs, includingDigidesign Pro Tools LE.www.prismsound.comRME showcased its brand newHDSPe MADIface, purportedlythe world’s first and only MADIinterface for laptops, based on anExpressCard capable of handling64 (I/O) audio channels at 192kHzwith a 250MB/s transfer rate inboth directions.www.rme-audio.comSchoeps demonstrated its new‘Microphone Show Room’ – a Flashbasedapplication at the Schoepswebsite that demonstrates andcompares various microphonetechniques and capsules,complete with audio. Also newwas a new suspension mountfor the CCM series, overcomingthe problem of low mass in themicrophone itself.www.schoeps.deStage Tec showcased its newTRIAGON multi-client-enabledaudio server, supporting up to128 inputs and 128 outputs, plus84 assignable buses, controllablefrom the operating console, an8x8 fader remote unit, or laptopcomputer via Ethernet or WLAN;the German company also showedthe AURUS Wireless Virtual FaderUnit – a software applicationrunning on a dedicated touchscreentablet PC that serves as aroving remote control, offeringeight additional fader controlchannels for the AURUS Direct-Access Console when networkedvia WLAN – and XCMC board,squeezing all the control andaudio processing hardware forthe AURATUS compact digitalconsole onto a single board thatslots into a standard NEXUS 3Ubase unit.www.stagetec.comIndependent UK broadcastsystems integrator TSL showedthe AMU1-3G, its new multistandard,multi-format rackmountaudio monitor offeringintuitive and compact meteringof Dolby E bit streams from HD/SDI video formats up to andincluding the latest HD standard1080p at 50Hz. TSL also showeda new line of cost-effectiverack-mount monitoring units– the MPA range. Starting ataround £300, the range includespassive and active monitoringunits with various metering andinput options.www.tsl.co.ukTubeTech showed a newmodular rack frame system foreight modules. Current modulesare the PM1A mic pre, the CM1Acompressor, and the EM1A EQ.www.tubetech.comCelebrating a decade sinceBill Putman Jnr. re-foundedUniversal Audio to reviveclassic products, the Californiancompany announced the 1176AE(Anniversary Edition) of thelegendary limiting amplifier, andalso announced the 710 TwinFinity Tube • Solid State • Tone-Blending pre-amp with dualsignal paths centred around aphase-aligned Tone-Blendingknob that is continually variablefrom 100% tube to 100% solidstate, offering easy access tomultiple pre-amp tones.www.uaudio.comAUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008 13

what’s upUKwhatsupuk@audiomedia.comDABbling In The World Of UK RadioPut down those pens and tuck away the fond clichés, DAB’s obituaries are not to be scribbled out just yet…Digital radio had a terrible start to the year.Three national DAB stations closed, apessimistic report stated that the industryhad not prepared the market for this new form oflistening, and a big radio group more or less turnedaway from the technology. But the situation hasimproved; the number of people listening to DABrose by ten percent during the first quarter of thisyear, and ownership of the right kind of receiver wasup 40 percent on last year.This suggests that although UK commercialbroadcasters, after following the lead of the BBC andbecoming part of the first wave of DAB in Europe,were succumbing to the jitters, the consumers hadat last come to love digital radio. A friend of minesent me a message back in March along the lines of,“What’s going on? Digital is the way ahead.”Certainly that has been the view of Ralph Bernard,who, while still Chief Executive of GCap Media, lastyear threatened to remove the group’s stations fromDAB multiplexes unless broadcasting regulatorOfcom made a firm decision on turning off analogueradio frequencies. Bernard is a staunch supporterof digital radio, shown by his now being Chairmanof multiplex operator Digital One, so manyconsidered the threat to be empty.His successor at GCap, the even more forthrightand verbally unrestrained Fru Hazlitt, was broughtin to not only shore up the business but fend off ahostile takeover bid from Global Radio, the companyformed by ex-ITV boss Charles Allen to buy ChrysalisRadio in August 2007. Hazlitt branded DAB ‘noteconomically viable’, identifying broadband and FMas the way ahead for GCap.The group had already shut down new musicchannel The Core in January, around the sametime Channel 4 and UBC Media closed Oneword.Less than a month later Hazlitt announced thedemise of The Jazz and Planet Rock, althoughthe latter is still on air while discussions progresswith a potential buyer. The group further distanceditself from DAB by arranging to sell its majoritystake in the national commercial multiplex, DigitalOne, to the minority shareholder, transmissionprovider Arqiva.Digital was not the sole casualty in GCap’soverhaul; the Xfm analogue licences in Scotland,South Wales, and Manchester were also to bedisposed of in an attempt to trim back the group’soperations and outlay. All radio companies sufferfrom the vagaries of the advertising market andhave had to pay out even more to sustain DABtransmission networks as well as FM and AM.This point was made in The Future of DigitalRadio, a report published during January by EndersAnalysis. It quoted figures of £15 million a year torun a digital station, compared to £8 million a yearfor analogue. The report’s author, Grant Goddard,observed that commercial DAB has been strugglingsince the late 1990s, and while the industrynow knows a problem exists, there was a lack ofconfidence in the business being able to sustain twonational DAB multiplexes.Uncertainty over when that second multiplex, tobe run by Channel 4 and various media partners asthe 4Digital Group, goes on air has done nothing toquell doubts. At least six channels were due to startbroadcasting by July but there is speculation that asolitary service, E4 Radio, will not appear until laterin the year. The building of new radio studios at C4’sheadquarters in Victoria, London, has been put onhold, although, apparently, interim facilities havebeen given the go ahead. C4 was contacted severaltimes for clarification but the requests remain invoicemail hell.The launch of new digital-only channels isclearly a positive move. Mandy Green, head ofcommunications at the Digital Radio DevelopmentBureau (DRDB), points out that, as with analogueradio, there has always been a turnover of stationsin the digital domain; some are around for a whileand may be successful, but ultimately many willdisappear to make way for new services.This is a valid point but although new localmultiplexes are opening, the recent closures,coupled with further rumours that 4Digtal mighttake vacated slots on Digital One before “Digital Two”is in place, just add to the not-quite-all-there imagethat has plagued UK DAB since its launch in 1995.Back then there were few services, mostly simulcastsfrom the BBC, and no receivers.The receiver problem, and a lack of new, originalprogramming, held back the general acceptanceof digital radio until the beginning of this century.Recent figures for digital radios show a markedincrease in ownership, up 40 percent on last year.The number of receivers sold has topped sevenmillion, with 17.8 percent of listeners tuning indigitally; DAB accounts for 10.8 percent of thattotal, the remainder made up by digital terrestrialtelevision and the internet.Mandy Green hopes these figures will counterthe ‘hysterical headlines’ of earlier in the year whenobituaries were being prepared for DAB. Radio is avolatile business anyway; Global has succeeded inits bid for GCap and Fru Hazlitt is back on the jobmarket. The deal was due to be completed by 6thJune and a Global spokeswoman said details werenot being given at this stage about Global’s plansfor digital. As the sale of GCap’s Digital One shareto Arqiva was put on hold until the Global deal wascompleted, the new owner will now have to decidewhat to do with the multiplex.All of which shows that while there have beenmore positive developments in digital radio inrecent months, the uncertainty that has dogged DABthroughout its existence just will not go away. ∫Introducing the new PortaGig.Glyph’s second generation PortaGig 800 can handle over 55tracks of 24bit/48k audio, with edits, running on FireWire buspower. Weighing less than 10 ounces, all this power is backedby Glyph’s Advance Replacement and Data Recovery Policies.Up to 250GB capacity(2) FireWire 800, (1) USB 2.0 port7,200 or 5,400 RPM SATA II drivesUniversal AC power supply includedStore in a cool place..Steyler Str. 121 D-41334 Nettetal+49 (0) 2157 870 22 32mrichert@glyphtech.comglyphtech.com14AUDIO MEDIA NOVEMBER 2005AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

www.solid-state-logic.comGive your studio a new heartControl your DAW• 16 +1 Fader Controller• Plug-in control• Ethernet DAW connection• Control up to 4 DAWs simultaneously• Programmable Soft-Keys• DAW automation control of MatrixIntegrate your outboard• Advanced 32 x 16 x 16 routing matrix• SuperAnalogue router to manage thesends and returns of sixteen outboardprocessor units• Save FX chains and set-ups• Full control via PC applicationAn SSL console at the heart of your studio. Focusing your creativity and streamlining workflow.Seamlessly integrating your outboard analogue equipment within a powerful routing matrix.Elegant control of up to four DAWs simultaneously. And a first-class SSL mix surface.The future of the project studio is Matrix. Find out more at www.solid-state-logic.com/matrixMatrix. This is SSL.Oxford +44 (0)1865 842300 New York +1 (1)212 315 1111 Los Angeles +1 (1)323 549 9090 Paris +33 (0)1 48 67 84 85 Milan +39 039 2328 094 Tokyo +81 (0)3 5474 1144

geo focus: AustraliaSydney Complex Embraces Latest TechnologyEntrepreneur Justin Hemmes hasopened the luxurious $150 millionSydney leisure complex, The Ivy – aflagship for the Merivale Group of hotels andbars, to which he is the heir.Located in the city centre, The Ivy had itssoft launch in December 2007 and in theSpring of 2008 moved into full operation,with a series of restaurants, bars, cocktaillounges, and live music.The complex features 14 bars, ninerestaurants, boutique hotel, swimmingpool (with a dance sound system), gardens,penthouses, nightclub, cafes, delicatessens,ballroom, office space, and retail outlets.It also houses a 1,000-capacity functionroom, and can cater for up to 3,000 peoplein total at any one time.Providing an audio network that wouldplace more than 40 zones on the samebackbone presented an exacting task forsystem integrators Avsound Productions Pty.Installation Contracts Manager, John Collyer,opted for Soundweb London DSP devicesfrom BSS Audio.Avsound’s approach was to design asystem with the best product for each partof the project; they also offered an in-househire option for the Ballroom with 24-hourback up.One of the decisions taken at an earlystage was to construct the audio transmissionaround BSS Audio architecture. “We use BSSin many of our installations and have alwaysreceived great support from both BSS andJands [the Australian distributor],” said Kline.“We are familiar with the BSS family, and asthis would be driving the entire system wedidn’t want to risk other products.”The site-wide project contains four controlrooms, with four 45RU racks in each. A totalof 19 Soundweb London digital processorshave been deployed; these comprise BLU-80configurable processors and BLU-32 input/output expansion devices in the first threeracks, with a combination of the newBLU-800 and BLU-160 devices later formingthe final rack.DPA For World’s RarestMEDIA MATTERSDPA Microphones’ Australian distributorAmber Technology has supplied aDPA 3506 stereo kit to the AustralianChamber Orchestra for use with a veryspecial instrument: one of the world’srarest violins.The Carrodus, created byGiuseppe Guarneri del Gesù in1743 and valued at AUD$10m(approx EUR€ 6m), is amongthe finest violins in existence,being one of only 100 del Gesùviolins in the world today. It hasbeen acquired by an anonymousAustralian private benefactorfor the use of the ACO’sArtistic Director RichardTognetti.“The ACO is proudto own a stereo pairof these exemplary4006-TL mics,” saysTognetti. “I havepersonally tried manydifferent set-ups and withoutdoubt these DPAs pick up the inherentwarmth and clarity of my del Gesù violin.”Klotz DigitalAppoints TAGKlotz Digital has appointed TechnicalAudio Group (TAG) as exclusive Australiandistributor for its Varizone range of products.“Klotz Digital put great effort in researchand development to adapt the technology tothe particular specifications and requirementsthis sector demands,” said Patrick Salloch,Klotz Digital Asia Pacific’s General Manager.“Appointing TAG in Australia is part of Varizone’sworldwide recognition that commercial audiois a specialist market with specialist demandsthat requires specialist products and specialistdistribution. The experts at TAG are the perfectdistribution partners for us in Australia becausethey know the commercial market, have strongtechnical support, and have firsthand experienceof high end digital systems.”“This is a very important day in TAG’s history,”commented TAG’s Sales Manager Ian Woodhouse.“We are extremely gratified to have a companyof Klotz Digital’s standing endorse TAG in thisway. The level of technology and expertise isremarkable and we feel it will offer consultantsand installation contractors alike unique solutionsto the complex challenges for audio in small,medium to large scale venues and buildings.”Australia’s media scene is creatively, technologically, and economically advanced. There is a tradition of public broadcasting, but privately-owned TV andradio enjoy the lion’s share of listening and viewing.Ownership of print and broadcast media is highly-concentrated. For example, four major media groups own 80% of Australia’s newspaper titles.The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) runs national and local public radio and TV stations as well as Australia Network, a TV service for the Asia-Pacific region. The other main public broadcaster is the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), whose radio and TV networks broadcast in many languages.National commercial TV is dominated by three large networks. Commercial broadcasters have to carry a minimum percentage of Australian-madeprogramming. Pay-TV services have gained a substantial foothold. Digital TV is available terrestrially, as well as via satellite and cable.Sport, news, game shows, imported and home-made dramas top the TV ratings in Australia. The industry has successfully exported some of itsproductions to English-speaking markets overseas. More than 70% of Australians use the Internet.The John Howard government changed the regulations governing media ownership. The rules, introduced in 2007, allow for greater cross-ownershipof press and TV outlets as well as higher levels of foreign ownership.Best Sound FromMusic & EffectsMelbourne’s Music andEffects scooped the awardfor Best Sound in theFeature Film category for Noise atthe latest AFI Awards. The AFIs areAustralia’s premier film and televisionawards, and these accolades followsimilar honours for Music and Effectsat the Australian Screen Sound GuildAwards and Inside Film Awards.The sound design, mix, andautomatic dialogue replacementwere brought together andcompleted by Music and Effects’team: Emma Bortignon (SoundDesigner), Doron Kipen (Mixer),and Philippe Decrausaz (SoundRecordist). The main mix for Noisewas done utilising their Fairlightdual Fame digital audio system.VITAL STATISTICSFULL NAME Commonwealth ofAustraliaPOPULATION 20.7 million (UN, 2007)CAPITAL CanberraLARGEST CITY SydneyAREA 7.7 million km²(2.9 million miles²)MAJOR LANGUAGE EnglishMONETARY UNIT 11 Australian dollar =100 centsMAIN EXPORTS Ores and metals; wool,food and live animals;fuels, transportmachinery andequipmentGNI PER CAPITA US $32,220 (World Bank,2006)INTERNET DOMAIN .auINTERNATIONAL +61DIALLING CODE16 AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

Presented bywww.munro.co.ukSoundwaves RefurbishesWith FairlightMelbourne post house is one of the first to invest in Xynergi. JIM EVANS reports.Sydney-based Fairlightcan fairly be billed asa digital pioneer withover thirty years in the field.It developed audio sampling,music sequencing, and otherkey technologies used in today’sindustry. Last year, 2007, theFairlight team unveiled – at IBC inAmsterdam and AES in New York– its latest invention: Xynergi,billed as ‘the world’s first unifiedmedia production centre’.As part of a majorrefurbishment, one ofMelbourne’s leading soundpost-production facilities,Soundwaves, is installing twoCC-1 powered Constellation filmmixing consoles and a XynergiMedia Production Centre.The latest Fairlight technology inthe hands of the accomplishedSoundwaves team is acombination that will resultin one of the most technicallycapable and creative sound postproductionfacilities in Australia.Fairlight is providingSoundwaves with a completelyintegrated workflow solutionthat will cater for the mostdemanding projects, supportingup to 230 channels of mixing inall formats – up to 7.1 for cinema,with full HD digital picture.The inclusion of a Xynergi MediaProduction Centre will furtherenhance Soundwaves abilityto deliver high quality audiofinishing in all mixing rooms.Soundwaves Director AndrewMcGrath comments, “We’ve longsearched for a truly effectiveand comprehensive systemthat complements our focus ondelivering sound mixes to thehighest creative and technicalstandards. The innovativeFairlight technology and itsvast user-friendly capabilitieswill significantly enhance ourability to provide great results forour clients.”Fairlight’s Sales & MarketingDirector Stuart DeMarais says,“This is a very exciting projectfor us to be involved in.Soundwaves is a multi awardwinningfacility with a focus onthe quality end of the market.We’ve worked closely with themto specify and deliver what willbe one of the most modern andsophisticated film sound facilitiesin Australia.”Soundwaves was establishedin Melbourne, in 1994 by Peterand Heather Walker, and is one ofAustralia’s most highly regardedsound post-production facilities.In 2005 Andrew McGrathrejoined Soundwaves as CEO andsignificant stakeholder, bringinga wealth of sound experience.McGrath continues, “With afocus on delivering sound mixesthat add significant value forclients by employing creativesound techniques to enhanceboth the story and visuals,the Soundwaves’ team alwaysaims to provide a positive andcollaborative clientexperience. Word ofmouth marketing alonehas made Soundwavesa favourite amongst filmmakers and televisionproducers – andresulted in solid growthof Soundwaves’ clientbase. The Soundwaves’team has also receivedsignificant recognitionfrom their industry peerswith multiple film andtelevision sound awards.With solid bookingsahead, including majorfeature film productions,the forthcomingrefurbishment that willincorporate the latestFairlight equipmentis an exciting timefor Soundwavesand their clients.Soundwaves is lookingforward to a big, bright,widescreen future.”The Xynergi technologyis now being embracedby a growing numberof facilities worldwide– including Sonacom, apost production specialistthat counts majorFrench broadcasters andadvertising agenciesamong its clients – which hasinstalled Xynergi desktop mediacreation systems in each of thefour 5.1 sound studios at itsfacility in Neuilly sur Seine.So, how will this newtechnology affect the way studioswork and who will benefit mostfrom it? “Right now Xynergi willbenefit Fairlight users in themain,” says Fairlight’s Andrew Bellwho has been closely involved inthe development of this project.“It gives them an improved userinterface, from which they canperform audio editing and mixingmore efficiently than previously.It’s more compact than Fairlight’sprevious controllers, yet providesmore functionality, and is easierto learn because of the selflabellingkeys and the built-inXplain system.” ∫ADDRESSING THE GREEN ISSUESFairlight recently publishedthe environmental benefitsdelivered from its Crystal Coretechnology platform (CC-1).The “Green” Whitepaper providessome background regardingFairlight’s ‘green’ computinginitiatives and explainswhy Fairlight’s Crystal Coretechnology is well positioned atthe forefront of this importantmovement, says the company.“By introducing the CC-1 platform, Fairlighthas taken a modern approach to deliver theacceleration required for power hungry mediaprocessing applications”, says John Lancken,Fairlight’s CEO. “By utilising newly availabletechnologies in the form of latest generationFPGAs, Fairlight has proven that there aremassive savings in terms of power consumption,heat generated, and component costs, all ofwhich provide a direct benefit in termsof carbon reduction.”“The world’s demand and appetite for higherperformance computing is on the increase.The environmental issues relating tothis increase must be addressed today.Many technologists believe the role ofapplication acceleration co-processors such asFairlight’s CC-1 may provide the answers we arelooking for. The future is in our hands.”ORDER YOUR FREECATALOGUE (352Bulk CablesConnectorsKID BROADCASTDistribution Systems– AMPLIFIERS –Active ComponentsPremade CablesHeadphonesModular SystemsOEM ManufacturingLive at Earls Court – London / GB7 – 10 Sept. 2008Visit us ! Booth M45Visit us ! Booth F73www.sommercable.comAUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008 SOMMER CABLE GmbH 19Audio Video Broadcast Media Technology HiFi info@sommercable.com

The Dilemma Of Personal MikingConsidering I’ve spent 25 years in broadcasting I’vegot surprisingly few really good celebrity stories.However, Sam Fox and the leather jump suit is oneof them. And if you have an hour to spend and theprice of a drink, I’ll gladly tell it to you. Suffice to say,it illustrates the dilemmas of attaching personal micswhere there is no visible – or indeed invisible – meansof support.Of course in theaters they’ve been getting roundthis for years by sticking mics to any decent bit of faceor forehead. And while the talent may turn up withoutbra or tie, they rarely appear without a head.I always thought it a little odd that in an effort toget mics out of shot in TV we would stick them onpresenters where you could see them in every shot,but there you are. The mics got smaller and the clipsgot neater, and now on a dark suit you will barely seea well-positioned mic.For The RecordHowever there’s still the problem of movement. mics are not delivering repeatable results. It’s anIf presenters aren’t looking left to right, then they’re under-the-ear fitting with enough flexibility to clampdropping their heads to read the script, and quite significantchanges in level are par for the course. And an ears becomes important all of a sudden. And the 892on to lobeless ears – funny how the shape of people’suntutored contributor can easily bang, scrape, and delivers consistently high quality sound.rustle their microphone all the way through an Having bought a couple of them for my localanimated interview. So what about a headworn microphone?What indeed.it is popularly styled. For the first ten minutes you feelchurch I found myself having to use ‘the Britney’ mic asIn radio we don’t really care what stuff looks like – awfully self-conscious. But after that, you forget thathence the lip mic – and so head and breast sets areit’s there – unless of course you find yourself in frontregularly deployed. I was so impressed with theof a full length mirror. In which case pout, pose,Audio Technica M50 headphones, I wondered ifand hit me baby one more time.their AT 892 headworn mic could be fused into aALISTAIR MCGHEE began audio life in Hi-Fi beforeflexible high quality solution. And the answerjoining the BBC as an audio engineer. After ten yearsis... yes and no. Presenters found the conceptin radio and TV, he moved to production. When BBCof separate headphones and mic unworkable – it’s Choice started, he pioneered personal digital production ina stupid idea really - but the mic itself is tops. In fact television. Alistair is now Assistant Editor, BBC Radio Wales,it’s a great solution to applications where personal but is allowed out occasionally.The Ten Commandments Of SoundI’ve been in an annoyingly reflectivemood of late: annoying for anyonewho’s had to listen to me rabbit onabout business plans and strategiesclose. The question has been quiteprofound. Am I a creative person, or abusiness person?It all came about over lunch, asacquaintance who pronounced, “It’sa good job you turn out good work,because you’re crap at the business sideof things.” He then proceeded to giveselves. Telling people you got thatnew studio kit for a knock downprice makes you look cheap.5. Share the communication withforward. I’ve not quite taken to these things often do. I was filling my me a two hour pep talk on running a customers. Everyone has towearing a pin striped suit but it’s come face courtesy of a friend and business better, fitter, more profitable company.So began a process of self analysis that’sanswer the phone or you look likea one man band.culminated in a new super-shiny Media 6. Don’t undervalue our work.Mill Business Plan 2008.Things all got a little deep until Irealised a few key things: that I like thehands on work that I do: playing withThere’s always someone who’ll doit for nothing, so sell on quality,not cost.7. Don’t turn down small jobs. Theysound, whether it’s recording on locationor mixing in the studio. That’s why Ibring in extra cash and may leadto greater things.get out of bed in the morning (that and8. Be diverse. We all have differenttaking the kids to school).skills, from editing sound to writingcopy. Make them pay.So to calm myself down a little (I’dbeen annoying everyone with my new,9. No fiddling or technical stuff afterthrusting, business demeanour) I sat4pm. Things break more easily thedown and created my very own Tencloser to home time. Leave thatCommandments that would draw a lineunder things:1. Quality in everything. You’re onlyas good as your last project.2. Never stop looking for new work.There has to be a project afterthis one.3. Look out of the business morethan in. Stop worrying about thatnew soundcard having the rightdrivers and think about how itmight earn some cash.4. Keep our blagging exploits to our-software update/shelf fitting untilthe morning.10. Enjoy it. If you’re not having funin sound, go be an accountant.Amen.JERRY IBBOTSON runs Media Mill, aYork-based audio production companystarted in 2000 that specialises in soundfor video games. Prior to this, Jerry was aBBC journalist for ten years, ending his spellwith the Beeb as a reporter and newsreaderat Radio One Newsbeat.SOMETHING TO SAY?If you are an audio professional and have something constructive to say about your field of expertise,or tips for your peers, contact us with your ideas at ftr@audiomedia.comAUDIO MEDIA NOVEMBER 200518 AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 200818

Special ReportVideosonics Closed To BusinessSome might say it marks the end of an era – others might say it’s a sign of the times. Both are probably true. What is certain though isthat after 24 years in the business of audio post production, the loss of Videosonics is a significant, sad, and iconic event.PAUL MAC talks to Dennis Weinreich about the circumstances surrounding the liquidation of this important facility.Videosonics grew fromobservations of theinadequacies of traditionalaudio-for-videoproduction at atime when themusic industry wasforging ahead withnew techniquesand technologies.Capitalising onhis experience inmusic, and a bit offortuitous timing(the governmentbackedindependentproduction quotas),Co-Founder DennisWeinreich (togetherwith his wife, Li)quickly built Videosonics into thego-to place for a booming productionindustry. Videosonics pioneeredthe use of non-linear technologywith the AudioFile system, andeventually moved into an amplespace in Delancey Street (CamdenTown, London). Videosonics hasspent 24 years growing to the size offour surround sound mixing rooms(including three THX film dubbingtheatres), nine all-digital editingrooms, a dedicated Foley studio, andnine editorial/production rooms.The product that has emerged fromthe facility is a canon of the best inBritish TV and film, the studio has along list of happy and loyal clients,and it boasts one of the most“It could continue– I’m not saying itwon’t – but as wesit here right now,the main concernis an orderly andhonourable endingof Videosonics. That’swhat’s important.”impressive staff retention rates inthe business. So why has thebusiness failed?I went to the facilityhalf expecting Dennisto open the doorshimself and guide methrough an emptystudio to a lonelyoffice. This turnedout to be far from thereality. At a cursoryglance, you wouldn’thave known anythingwas up – receptionstill busy, runners stillrunning, businessstill being done.In fact, a new company– APA Audio Post – isin-situ, though this is a productof the liquidation process.APA exists as a vehicle to seeongoing projects through tocompletion. “When everyproject is finished, so arewe,” explains Weinreich.“It could continue – I’mnot saying it won’t – butas we sit here right now,the main concern is anorderly and honourableending of Videosonics.That’s what’s important.”Weinreich’s concern overthe Videosonics legacy andand its ‘honarable’ departureis the mark of a man who hasDK_MSD100C_Audio Media Qtr:Layout been praised 1 6/2/08 many times16:26 Page 1over the years, not only for the successand the results, but his willingness toput back into the industry a little ofwhat he has gained, through industryassociations, events like the Conchawards, and a commitment to thenurture and training of staff.“With the best will in the world,people will not realise everythingthey would have hoped to in theirrelationship with Videosonics,”Weinreich continues. “But I wouldlike to think we will do it well – thatmy creditors, which are thankfullyfairly small, will all suffer theminimum – that my staff will sufferthe minimum.”Dennis Weinreich of Videosonics.The Golden RatioOn the reasons behind the financialfailure of the business, Weinreichwas happy to name the main players.His finger first points at the businessitself: “I think that if there was astrategic error that I made anywhere,it was that I should have maintaineda 50/50 mix of film and TV work,”explains Weinreich. “Somewhere backin 2003 or 2004, the film industry wasexploding, it was so busy, and peoplewere begging us to work in film... wewere seduced by that to some degree.You start to look at a TV job, and think‘well, I like that show, and it’s a goodshow and everything, but I can dothis movie and it’s more satisfying’...Sound is the junior partner in a TVrelationship... In a motion picture,that’s not the case – the importanceand the emphasis on sound as atool for helping you tell thestory has much more respectthan it does in TV.”Making Cuts InCreativitySo Videosonics’ workwas more and moredominated by film.Fast forward to 2006and the incomingbombshellofchanges to thetax rules that, upuntil then, hadfuelled the boomin the British film>“Solutions in Audio & Video”Features• Economical,dedicated loudness meter• AES3 & Stereo Analogue Inputs• Meets Loudness Standard ITU BS1770 & 1771• Software upgrade also available for MSD600m++including graphical display and PC interface.Email: info@dk-technologies.com • Web: www.dk-technologies.com • Tel: +45 4485 0255 • Fax: +45 4485 0250DK-Technologies A/S, Marielundvej 37D, Herlev DK-2730, Denmark.20AUDIO MEDIA NOVEMBER jUnE 20082005

NUENDO LIVE )the perfect mix......of form and functionThe new MC Control brings the unparalleled speed,resolution and DAW integration of Euphonix’high-end professional consoles to your studio in arevolutionary, slim-line design. The high-resolution,customizable touchscreen and ergonomic controlslet you effortlessly navigate and edit your projectswithout ever touching a mouse, and placeeverything from simple keystroke commands tocomplex custom macros at your fingertips to deliveran unmatched editing and mixing experience.1988euphonix.com©2008 EUPHONIX INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MC CONTROL, MC MIX, & EUCON ARE TRADEMARKS OF EUPHONIX INC. MAC AND MAC LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS OF APPLE COMPUTER INC., REGISTERED IN THE U.S. AND OTHER COUNTRIES. ALL OTHER TRADEMARKS ARE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

29-31 JULY 2008ONE COMMUNITY •ONE VOICE •ONE PLACEBe InspiredThe Develop Conference & Expo hasrapidly established itself as the leadingevent for games design and developmentprofessionals in Europe.Last year, over 1,200 developers from every level of thedevelopment community descended on Brighton tomeet, learn, share and network with their peers.With a comprehensive programme of over 60 sessions,shaped by some of the industry’s key figures, theconference touches all levels of the developmentcommunity from the largest companies to the smalleststudios; from development directors to programmers.The conference attracts an international cast of speakersand delegates from over 450 different companies and29 countries.Just some of this year’s confirmedspeakers include;Phil Spencer, MicrosoftJonathan Smith, Travellers TalesAndrew Eades, Relentless SoftwareTommy Francois, UbisoftRichard Lemarchand, Naughty DogCome and be inspired by these speakers and others fromstudios such as Media Molecule, Lionhead Studios, SonyComputer Entertainment Europe, Rare, Eutechnyx, SumoDigital, CCP Games, Midway, Ninja Theory, Geomerics,Jagex and Black Rock Studios.So make sure you’re at the heart of what’s going on withintoday’s games development industry and book your place forBrighton today.For the most up-to-date list of speakers, please visit our website,www.developconference.comDesign Production Coding Business Art &AnimationAudioWorldVisionEUROPE'S LEADING CONFERENCE FOR THE GAME DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITYInternational Media Sponsor Mobile Media Sponsor Member Discounts Media Sponsor Media SponsorMedia Sponsor Media Sponsor Media Sponsor Media Sponsor Organised by

Special Report>industry. “Section 42 and 48 of the tax rules, were coming to an end,”says Weinreich. “The government felt that the old tax rules werebeing applied in a fashion which was being used for tax avoidance,and that was unacceptable to them, but they still wanted to givesupport to the film industry... The new rules were announced onDec 5, 2006, in the autumn statement by the Chancellor, but theyhadn’t been approved by the EC. They had to be watered down,and the net result, cutting to the chase, is that a picture that in 2005that would have had a budget of maybe $10 million, has now gota budget of maybe $4 million.”Weinreich notes the story of a British Director who, at aroundthat time, had a $25 million film in waiting. That was soon curtailedto $8 million – and you can bet that the sound budget took a bighit. However, Videosonics still went ahead and did the movie, butwhere do you save? Weinreich: “How do you tell a guy who’s sittingin his room with his Pro Tools and his sound effects, ‘do less, be lesscreative, don’t do as good a job’. You can’t do that, it doesn’t work.We were never able to fundamentally reduce our costs down to thebudgets that our clients had. Eventually that was going to catch upto us. And it did.”The Agility Of An Oil TankerInterestingly, Weinreich believes that in the earlier days of the facility’sevolution, Videosonics had the agility that would have been requiredto cope with such a change in circumstances. Unfortunately, he alsorecognises that the agility had waned even before the film boomtime.“There came a moment, probably in 2000,” Weinreich relates.“In which I remember saying very, very clearly to Li, and a few ofthe other senior people around, that it felt like we’d lost that agility.Now everything we’d do was going to be like turningan oil tanker. You felt that people were becoming alittle bit compartmentalised – ‘this is what I do, I dothat well’. It was a little harder to say to someone, ‘I know yoursenior-self is this really, really creative sound effects creator andall that stuff, but I really want you to go and do this documentary’.There were more BAFTA nominations, there were more Emmys,there were more awards – there were more senses of self. I think Iknew at that moment that we were in trouble.“...None of the changes that were needed were a surprise.But somehow or other, the ability to create the change that wasneeded was too difficult. You come into work in the morning, andmaybe you’re on the bus and you’re thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to do this,this, and this...’, and then you come in and there’s a problem. So allof the stuff you’ve planned gets put aside... and you’re not takingcare of this other thing that’s lurking in the background.”Some might say that location had its hand in the eventual failureof Videosonics – that ‘not in Soho’ thing that accompanies raisedeyebrows at every discussion about a studio outside the hallowedstreets. However, Dennis Weinreich does not see it as a particularlysignificant contributor. While he acknowledges that Camden Townhas lost its thriving media community to a large extent, he also saysthat Soho has both enemies and devotees in the client pool.The Road To Closed DoorsThe failure of a business is hardly ever a simple thing, and thesethings only touch the surface of a complex road to the day thatVideosonics had to close its doors. Weinreich maintains that apiecemeal reduction of costs, with staff losses and short cuts thatmight have kept the ship afloat a while longer was unacceptableto him – better to bow out gracefully than hang on until aninevitably bitter end.There are still issues to resolve – the fate of the building is themost obvious, with Weinreich very aware that while a big buildingis a potential sweetener, a big building split into bespoke audiostudios is a more difficult matter. Weinreich’s future is certainly notgoing to be desperate, as even he acknowledges: “What’s clear isthat I’ve got lots of options. I didn’t realise how many options I reallyhad until the last couple of weeks... I will stay in the industry.”I’d like to thank Dennis Weinreich for his candor in discussingthe Videosonics liquidation and the circumstances surrounding it,so soon after the event. ∫AUDIO MEDIA june AUDIO 2008 MEDIA NOVEMBER 2005

NewstalkDane To Be DifferentDPA Founder, Morten Støve, talks to Audio Media about the Danish manufacturer’s plans to bring its message ofquality to the stage and to the (HD) screen.Since DPA’s beginnings it has builtits reputation on sheer quality– a range of microphones thathas broken new ground in quality,application, and innovation. Now, withexpanded production capability anda precision tool shop since mergingwith Muphone three years ago, thecompany is setting its sights on thefuture. Morten Støve is one of thearchitects of the company’s success,and he agreed to talk to Audio Mediaabout what that future holds.AM: We know that DPA has gotbig plans for the coming years– what’s the strategy? How has itcome about?Morten Støve: We made a market modeland bought reports from marketresearchers to find out where thingsare going, how big the world marketis for microphones, and how is it splitin broadcast, theatre, PA, private,other... We could see, which was nosurprise of course, that the studiobusiness is not really where the biggrowth is these days. But the PAmarket is growing, and the musicalinstrument market for good qualitymicrophones is growing.We want to give musicians anextension of their instrument – agood microphone. If people havea good instrument, they definitelyhave to look at the microphone asits extension.So, we have to make somethingthat would be stable onstage.Something that can handle goodsound pressure levels in front of amonitor – mics that would fit on stage– and something that would make iteasy for people to handle... somethingthat is rugged, something that youcan mount onto the instrument withone hand.We’ve stepped up to theplate and said, ‘we’re goingto do this big-time, we’regoing to put money into it,and make something that’sreally, really nice.’AM: Will it be a single mic,like the 4080, plus variedaccessories depending onthe instrument?MS: If we’re lucky, yes, butit might not be the case.Actually, what we do is takea mic, and find out whatneeds to be done to makeit perfect for an application.We might have one thathas a bass roll-off, whereanother one doesn’t; or onethat has a wider frequency“We want togive musiciansan extensionof theirinstrument– a goodmicrophone.”range than others. It has to fit theinstrument. The fewer the better –there’s nothing better than keepingcomponents down, or keeping thenumbers up – but we want to makeit dedicated to the instrument.We’re starting out with sax, trumpet,guitar, violin – string instruments.And then we’ll move on fromthere to drums.AM: So thestrategy with thatrange is to give musiciansthe opportunity totake responsibility forthe sound of their owninstrument – one they’vespent so much money onin the first place?MS: Spent so much moneyon... and made such abig effort in practising.When you use a DPA youpick up a lot of detail, soyou also want to makesure that you’re willing tohear those details.It reminds me of ademo I did many yearsThe Oxford SuprEsser plug-in from Sonnox .A new definition in de-essing.• Transparently controls aggressive frequencies• Linear Phase Dynamic EQ• Automatic Level Tracking• Graphic Display (FFT) for increased accuracy• Full spectrum operation• Easy to use & advanced mode for ultimate controlTime limited introductory price offer.OxfordPluginswww.sonnoxplugins.com24AUDIO MEDIA NOVEMBER june 20082005

ago at a festival where I met two violin players,and I had brought our new mic holder for violin.I put it on, and the first one played, and he said,‘Oh no, it picks up too much noise when I play’.Half an hour later, I met the other guy and put it on.He tried it and said, ‘I have to go home and improvemy technique’. Exactly the same thing, just twodifferent opinions.If you’re using a really good mic, then you canreally use it in the way you rehearse, and the wayyou practise – you can hear details that are good orbad; you can enjoy them; you can get inspired.AM: It’d be nice to think that musicianscould arrive to an orchestral session with theirown mics.MS: Yes. It will give them a sense of security as well.If you’ve been at live shows where they put upa cheap condenser for the violin section... thosepeople have been practising and practising, andthey’re playing a really expensive instruments...it’s not fair.We will start going out into rental houses,because they’re the ones out and about constantly,and they need something that’s fast to set upand works really well. Once they’re out, then themusicians will see them, and say ‘wow, that’s cool’.And another thing is that once you step up tothe plate, and say, ‘we’re going to do this seriouslyand we’ll mass produce this’, you can get a goodprice out of it. Of course everything is relative,but it’s going to be sold at around 400-450 Eurosfor each mic.AM: So not a big price to pay compared to theprices of the instruments?MS: Exactly.AM: When will we see instrument-specificproduct?MS: The PLASA show in September in London will bethe big launch. We’ll have musicians there playingwith these new mics, and we should have 1,000 instock by that time. That’s the goal.We will start out with four versions, and thenwe’ll expand that up to eight or nine different ones,but dedicated to the instruments.AM: We understand that another key market forDPA will be surround?MS: HDTV is going to be in a lot of big countriesnext year, and in some countries in 2011. The US isnext year... Japan is soon as well. There are so manyways of doing it, but if you want to do the big setups, it becomes complicated. People like somethingthat’s quick and easy – we’re talking about sportsapplications here. Of course, you can go in anduse it for recording, but that’s not the main target.It’s sports applications, where you go out and wantto have the feeling of being in the stadium, and thatis going to be big.AM: And can you give us any clue on what form.............................the actual product is going to take?INFORMATIONMS: Physically it’ll be made with five microphones,and it’ll probably be a 5.1 solution, so we will have six A DPA Microphones A/S, Gydevang 42-44, DK-3450discrete outputs. Physically, it will be about 30cm x Alleroed, Denmark30cm, and be able to withstand being outside, so you T +45 4814 2828don’t need anything to cover it.W www.dpamicrophones.comThe ‘engine’ of the capsules will be the same asother DPA mics, but we are tuning them a little… A DPA Microphones, Inc., 2432 North Main Street,we’re Side using By interference Side AM tubes 26|02|2008 on some, so it’ll 14:45 be Side Suite 1200,Longmont CO 80501, USAsomething that’s not been seen out there before. ∫ T +1 303 485 1025sound engineeringLYDKRAFTRM8 TUBE MODULESSIDE-BY-SIDEFRONT TO BACK- CM1A, EM1A, PM1A & RM8 now shipping...www.tube-tech.comAUDIO MEDIA NOVEMBER jUnE 2008200525

NOVATION REMOTE 25SLCOMPACTAUTOMATIC PLUG-IN MAPPINGSIMON TILLBROOK finds thateven with the smallest offootprints, Novation's Midicontroller doesn't lack directionin automatic mapping.THE REVIEWERSIMON TILLBROOK is the PrincipalMusic Tutor at Islington MusicWorkshop in London. The rest ofhis time is spent as a freelanceengineer, mainly in the USA.Although it is possible to control all aspects of ourDAW systems simply via the keyboard and mouse, formost of us some degree of external hardware controlover this virtual world is still very desirable. It comes in allmanner of conventional and very unconventionalconfigurations, usually targeted at a specific area of thesystem such as mixer or performance control.The massive increase in software instruments, withincreasing levels of sophisticated control available onthem, has had an impact on the types of controller wenow demand. We like to have a good intuitive deviceto input performance in particular, and with the powerto take our systems anywhere we like, portability hasbecome increasingly important.Novation has been at the forefront of performanceoriented controllers, and for some time it has producedcontrollers for all applications. The unit I have for reviewis the latest in their portable range, the Novation RemoteSL Compact.The Novation SL Compact is a 25-key Midi controller,the smallest in the range, and the smallest to featureNovation’s Automap Universal system.Automap UniversalFor those who have not come across Automap before, itis worth explanation before looking at the SL Compactin more detail.Automap Universal is a system that allows for automaticmapping/assignment of a variety of software applicationparameters to the controller’s hardware. This applies tosoftware applications such as soft synthesiSers, AU or VSTplug-ins, and DAW mixer interfaces. As well as templatesfor numerous examples of these software applications,Automap Universal also has the facility to quickly learnso you can add or customise the mapped parameters,as you like.For this to work you need to install the AutomapUniversal Server software that is supplied with thecontroller. This then runs in the background so, as youselect your application, parameters are mapped to yourcontroller device.Automap Universal is constantly being developed,and new applications are becoming supported all thetime, so you need to keep an eye on Novation’s website todownload the latest supported application wrappers.Controller SurfaceOn first inspection, the Novation SL Compact layoutappears reasonably logical, not something I can say of allcontrollers I have seen.The 25 keys of the main keyboard area are semiweightedvelocity-sensitive with aftertouch. Alongsideyour main keyboard you have both a sprung pitch bend,and a modulation wheel. Above this in the top rightcorner of the SL Compact are the eight assignable drumpads, nicely located for ease of access.Centrally located above the keyboard is a large LCDdisplay. This is a good sized display, as opposed to theusual wristwatch sized displays we often have to put upwith. Above the display are eight rotary encoders andeight buttons whose current assignment is displayedbelow them. Both the rotary encoders and the buttonscan be switched between four groups or banks usingbuttons below the display. This then gives us control ofup to 32 parameters.Five buttons to the right of the display help you tonavigate through various pages of parameters andswitch the display between the keyboard and drumpadassignments as needed.The five buttons to the left of the display let youselect either standard play mode, or one of the threeedit modes, as well as selecting your desired applicationtemplate and saving learnt data to memory.A set of transport buttons for use with your DAWsystem are located on the far left of the SL Compact,along with menu and octave transpose +/- buttons. Thefinal top panel control is a rotary encoder called SpeedDial. When in an application, you place your mouse over>26AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

a specific function/parameter and then modifyor change value using the Speed Dial.The rear of the Novation SL Compact has asocket for an external power supply and a USBsocket. The SL Compact can be powered by theUSB as well as this external supply, and there is aswitch to select the power source.Sustain and expression pedal jacks with asingle pair of Midi input and output socketscomplete the SL Compacts facilities.UseThe Novation SL Compact comes with a USBcable and a couple of discs. The resource DVDcontains the Automap Server and SL Compactinstallers for both Mac and PC, along with PDFuser guides and tutorial movies. The second disccontains bundled software with some samplesto get you going.I used a Macbook Pro with Pro Tools forthe duration of the test, and on this setup theinstallation of the software was as simple as youwould expect.There are 40 templates on the SL Compactand, scrolling through numbers 1-33, you can seetemplates for all the usual DAW and instrumentsuspects: Nuendo, Protools, Logic, Alberton, etc.Templates 35 and 36 are user storage locations.Automap uses 37-40 and 34. You really doneed to keep looking at the Novation websiteas refinements to the software used by the SLCompact come quite quickly.As soon as I fired up my main application Icould see the Automap server automaticallyProject1 launch. 30/5/08 The server 3:02 let me pm add Page applications 3 that Iwanted to use with Automap: one box on the leftwith the list of applications, and simply click toadd the chosen ones to a box on the right.So how does this Automap Universal work?The answer is pretty good overall. I launched anumber of plug-in processors and instrumentswith the SL Compact responding and mappingout the controls immediately. Clicking betweena few opened applications, the SL Compactfollowed my choices, displaying and controllingthe selected application.The one control I became very fond of was theSpeed Dial. I found this feature really useful forquickly changing values. It really does apply towhatever your mouse is hovering over. I tried iteverywhere and could not find anything that wasnot recognised, very useful indeed.As a controller for DAW mixing, the SL Compactwill split opinion. This really is all about how youprefer to work and, for some, rotary as opposedto linear level controls will feel a little odd. Usingthe Protools HUI all worked with no problems, itis simply about your workflow.I employed the help of a more capablekeyboard playing colleague to get some feedbackon the feel of the SL Compact keyboard. Novationhas always supplied good quality keyboards andthe SL Compact is no exception here.The Drumpads worked fine, but did not feelthat great. There is virtually no give in the pad,and the rubber covering the top of the sensoris very thin indeed. You have to keep in mindthat the SL Compact is built to a price point,but as a performance input device this is aconsideration.ConclusionThe Novation SL Compact packs in a great dealof control in a very small footprint. Layout of thecontrols is clear and straightforward, and thefeel of the performance controllers works well,particularly in the case of the main keys.Automap Universal is a great time saver, andthe Speed Dial is a simple and indispensibleaddition.The SL Compact is a great little controllerthat will satisfy those looking for a great rangeof control and feel in a cost-effective portableunit. ∫..................................£ GB£219.95 (inc.VAT)INFORMATIONA Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd./NovationDigital Music Systems Ltd., Lincoln Road, CressexBusiness Park, High Wycombe, HP12 3FXT +44 (0) 1494 462246F +44 (0) 1494 459920W www.focusrite.comwww.novationmusic.comE sales@focusrite.comsales@novationmusic.comThe Bricasti Design Model7Stereo Reverb ProcessorThe team:The Bricasti Design Model 7 provides the highest levelof musicality and ease of control imaginable in a processordedicated to the task of reverberation.A modern high resolution digital design, utilizing a stunningarray of the latest DSP processors, provides a platform for thelong overdue next step in reverb processing algorithms.A separate fully differential analogue section and dedicatedtransformer based linear power supply provide the finestanalogy specifications of any product of its kind.The new Bricasti Design Model 10 remote console isa dedicated hardware remote Controller for use with the M7stereo reverb processor, it can control up to 8 units.The people team behind Bricasti, Brian Zolner andCharles Dowdell, have been in the reverb business for a longtime, with many years experience working on the cutting edgeof reverb technology design.The design philosophy of the Model 7 is a carefully consideredstatement of Bricasti’s vision of what the evolution ofreverberation processing in its most classic form can be.SCV London, 40 Chigwell Lane, Oakwood Hill Industrial Estate, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3NY UK Tel: 020 8418 1470 www.scvlondon.co.uk

ALISTAIR McGHEE finds anew way to use this flexible,programmable DSP box, andtries to convince everyone tobuy one instead of a pastie.BBC Wales has just launched a newly fitted out multimediabus, so newly fitted in fact that it’s not actuallyfinished yet, but the Urdd (one of Europe’s largestyouth culture festivals) called, and the blue bus was rushedto the radio front line. At the heart of the new audioinstallation is Allen and Heath’s iDR-8 DSP-based mixer, thatprovides cue mixing and talkback. It was kind of an unusualchoice, as we would normally turn to Prospect or Glensoundfor our comms solutions for a vehicle mostly doing radio.However, I stupidly asked our senior OB engineers what theywanted in a talkback system, and of course it was a largesink usually found in kitchens. And the iDR-8 brings a lot tothe party. Designed as an installation mixer for clubs,churches, and conference centres it offers a high degree offlexibility, some really tidy control options, and a price thatdoesn’t break the bank. We ordered the optional input andoutput expanders which bring the system up to 16 in by 16out, and three PL-10 eight rotary control panels.how the system is going to cohere. My favourite mistakewas getting open talkback to all outputs on the nightbefore we went live – careful with those pager settingsis all I can say.On the first morning we went live I rang GwynforJones, the Senior Engineer, at about 7am to check it stillworked, but my fears were unfounded and having gotthe programming right, the system has delivered so farin spades. In some ways it suits broadcast better thanthe install market it was designed for. I love the fact that ithas XLRs and MIDI, so I can drag it out of the rack if I haveto and plug in industry standard controllers. I can’t waitto get a Kenton plugged into to it, to get 16 faders. I lovethe overkill in control interfaces and the fact I can plugthree 24 key switch boxes in. And there’s loads of thingsI haven’t tried yet like ambient noise compensators andautomatic mic mixers. Oh yes, and infrared control fromremotes and wall plates. I haven’t been as excited aboutALLEN & HEATH IDR-8AUDIO MIX PROCESSORTHE REVIEWERALISTAIR McGHEE began audiolife in Hi-Fi before joining the BBCas an audio engineer. After tenyears in radio and TV, he movedto production. When BBC Choicestarted, he pioneered personaldigital production in television.Alistair is now Assistant Editor,BBC Radio Wales, but is allowedout occasionally.For the Eisteddfod, we have nine inputs to thecue mixer including two discrete talkback positions,eight outputs, each with an individual cue mix, and eighttalkbacks including group outputs.Out of the box the iDR-8 provides a 10 in, 10 out matrixwith eight mic/line inputs, eight balanced outputs onXLR, and two balanced inputs and outputs on jacks.The mic inputs have a pad/phantom power and 50 dB ofgain. Each input has a full range of EQ, compression, delay,gating, and a host of grouping, ducking, and diving options.Well not really diving. The inputs can be fed into a gainor mute matrix to feed each of the outputs so you canmaintain up to 10 independant mixes. With the addedexpanders, it becomes a full 16x16 system with all i/o onXLRs, and 16 mic inputs.Programming the box is via a Windows interface andthe control options are tidy. Allen and Heath have theirown PL-Anet which is daisy chained over Cat 5 with thecontrollers drawing power from the iDR-8, or you canhave Midi, Sysnet, RS232, or a custom serial interface.You perm any two from start up and you can already seethe range of options available. We opted for PL-Anet andthe PL-10 box that has 16 keys, 24 LEDs, and eight softrotaries with LED display of rotary settings. For the Urdd,I configured one PL-10 with seven switches as talkbackto seven outputs, seven switches selecting the rotariesas individual mix controllers (that is the matrix gains ofeach output), one switch for input gains and one switchfor output gains.On the second PL-10 we had five individual talkbacks,one master talkback, and one group talkback, with twofour-input mixes on the rotaries to separate cue speakers.Like any kit capable of flexible operation, programmingis a matter of practice, and in the course of the set up Imade every possible mistake (or at least it felt like that)and I think some new mistakes that hadn’t been thoughtof before. The online documentation is a bit thin so youhave to be really on your toes when thinking througha product in ages; it’s very, very clever.Like all geniuses it has flaws. Better talkback control,boolean logic in the programming, preset manipulationfrom the key pads, and a really tidy mix controller wouldall be welcome. Better documentation would help keepnovices like me from bumbling into open talkback, andsometimes I find myself wondering if I hadn’t saved asetting or whether the iDR-8 had forgotten it. But don’tlet any of this put you off, the flexibility and power of thissystem is glorious. Did I tell you the input and outputexpanders can be up to 250 metres from the iDR-8 andrequire just a couple of cat 5s to function? Or that on thefront panel you get another 16 soft switches and 32 LEDs,or that the LEDs can be multi-colour gain meters, so youcan monitor all your input and output gains – plus usethe switches to solo them to the onboard headphoneamp? But please A&H, give the amp a bit more oomph.What I want for Christmas now is a PL controller witheight old-fashioned keys for talkback, a built in speaker,and the software to recognise multiple key presses so youcould emulate the talkback of my youth. But even betterwould be if you all went out and bought one, so theprice would come down, and I could have another one.And it’s made in Cornwall, surely this is a cause forcelebration and demands more attention than a pastie?..................................INFORMATION£ iDR-4 4+2 In/4+2 Out Digital Mix Processor GB£1,188.75(exc.VAT), iDR-8 8+2 In/8+2 Out Digital Mix ProcessorGB£2,354.04 (exc.VAT)A Allen & Heath Ltd., Kernick Industrial Estate, Penryn,Cornwall, TR10 9LUT +44 (0) 1865 842300T +44 (0) 01326 372070W www.allen-heath.com28AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

KARL FOSTER examinesEastWest/Quantum Leap’s64-bit, network-capable Playsample engine and assesses thequality of its two new samplelibraries: Goliath and SD2 – TheNext Generation.THE REVIEWERKARL FOSTER has been involvedin high-tech music productionsince the days of the Atari ST, andhas edited a number of musictechnology magazines along theway. Based in Staffordshire, hecurrently specialises in technologyjournalism and can be found onlineat www.karlfoster.com.There are numerous ROMpler engines on the market,each front-ending large sample libraries and offeringa degree of sound-sculpting. Soft samplers they arenot, in that you can’t drop in your own audio clips andperform extensive modification. Rather, the ROMpler relieson banks of audio files, often of a specific genre, and shapingtools by which to customise them.Quantum Leap, a division of Hollywood-basedEastWest, has until recently relied on Native Instruments’technology to present a diverse range of virtualinstruments to the user. Of late, however, QL has rolledout a new range of ROMplers driven by the Play AdvancedSample Engine, which is included free with its latestvirtual instruments. The first products to sport this newinterface technology are Fab Four, Gypsy, Pianos, Voicesof Passion, Ministry of Rock, and the two examined below:Goliath and SD2.OverviewPlay, while 32-bit compatible, offers 64-bit support,meaning it’ll happily make use of all the RAM on yoursystem. There’s also Network Control, which enablesyou to load instruments onto other machines on thenetwork and control them from the host workstation.The Play browser lists all of the instruments installed, soit’s a case of choosing a volume, previewing a patch, thenloading it. The interface automatically changes to matchthe package hosting the patch.The software runs standalone on Windows XP, Vista32 and 64-bit, and Mac OS X. Also supported is VST,ASIO, DirectSound, Audio Unit, and Core Audio, whilecertain libraries are being made available as RTAS –the SoundsOnline website can advise on availability.Incidentally, Mac users should note that, whilethe instruments are compatible with both PPC and Intel,QL suggests they perform better on the latter.That’s the underlying technology of Play. At thebusiness end, each supported QL instrument sports itsown interface design, complete with a moderate setof sound-tweaking tools, backed up by sound librariesranging from the huge to the truly titanic. SD2 – The NextGeneration is the successor to StormDrum, a collectionof percussion hits and loops ideal for filmscore work.Its 13GB library is supplied on two dual-layer DVDs, soyou’ll need an optical drive capable of reading such media.Even bigger is, as the name implies, Goliath, a pumped-upincarnation of its predecessor Colossus. Six single-layerDVDs host a 40GB install, which takes an age to load,but places more than 180 instruments and 600 patcheson your more-than-necessary dedicated media drive.Piracy protection is via iLok hardware dongle (notsupplied), so that’s another USB port gone, but it canaccommodate more than 100 cross-platform licenses.In UseFolk often talk about the ‘learning curve’ involved whenmastering a new piece of music-making gear. ‘Flatline’seems more appropriate to both SD2 and Goliath.Delving through and organising the huge number ofpatches is easy thanks to an elegant browser with botha Recent sub-menu and a Favourites section into whichyou can create folders of oft-used sounds. During testing,we loaded the core libraries onto a four-volume RAID 0,hooked up to a Mac via SATA, and so sound files fair-wellflew up the wire. It’s possible to load multiple patches intoone instance of either product, each assignable to up tonine stereo outs, although QL reckons you’ll get betterperformance by loading multiple instances when runningthe software as a plug-in.Goliath’s interface is uncluttered, with handy Delayand ADT modules on hand, as well as a preset-drivenReverb and a Filter section equipped with Resonanceand Frequency rotaries. Envelope is more generouslyendowed, featuring AHDSR rotaries, and all the aboveare modifiable via MIDI. If a master patch has multiplearticulations, activated by key switches outside of theinstrument’s range, they show up at bottom right inthe Articulations window and can be selectivelydeactivated, or unloaded. It’s an excellent way to presentthe possible articulations, saves an age looking them upEASTWEST/QUANTUMLEAP GOLIATH & SD2VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTSin the manual, and the switches are clearly tinted blueon the keyboard.SD2’s interface is even more Spartan, dispensingwith the Articulations window and much of the MIDIinformation you’d see when using melodic patches.In essence, then, it’s merely a case of picking yoursounds, loading them up, assigning MIDI inputs andaudio outputs, making FX tweaks, and bashing thekeyboard. The most important thing, however, isthe quality of sound.Quantum Leap does not disappoint. Both products’multi-sampled, velocity-switching samples are renderedin excellent detail and with not an artifact in earshot.From raunchy guitars, through sonorous flutes to thelush tone of the PMI Bosendorfer 290, Goliath offers anawesome sound palette. SD2’s wide-ranging percussivetimbres, meanwhile, have an excellent stage-ambienceappeal, even when untreated. And there’s more than 100score-orientated MIDI performance files on hand to makeprogramming sequences a cinch.ConclusionFor an easily manageable and comprehensive libraryof staple sounds, plus numerous esoteric excursions,Goliath is hard to beat. The samples are of top quality,and the sheer variety of timbres make it a great additionto the music-producer’s arsenal. And for those seekingadded percussive power, SD2 brings rock, world, andeven electro-glitch to the party. It seems clear that QLhas decided that content is king, concentrating on qualitysound and abjuring such bells and whistles as built-inEQ, compressors, and the like – all stuff that can be hivedoff to other devices. With the Play engine at the heartof the product line, flexibility and ease of use are alsoclearly high on the agenda. Make sure to take in theaudio demos at SoundsOnline’s website for an earful ofwhat this combo can do. ∫..................................INFORMATION£ Goliath RRP: €495 (ex VAT), SD2 RRP: €329 (ex VAT)A SoundsOnlineT +1-323-957-6969 (USA)W www.soundsonline.com30AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

STROTHER BULLINS talksto Sound Designer/Co-supervising Sound EditorBen Burtt about his role in thelatest adventures of Dr. HenryWalton ‘Indiana’ Jones, Jr.This month, the term ‘summer blockbuster’ is definedworldwide by the feature film trifecta of George Lucas,Steven Spielberg, and Harrison Ford. Yes, Indiana Jonesis back, and it’s a good bet that his film will be the mostnotable action/adventure of the 2008 movie season.In the 2008 installment of this lucrative, Ford-led series– Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – Dr.Henry Walton ‘Indiana’ Jones, Jr. stumbles into anotheradventure when, in 1957, he crosses paths with a convoyof Soviet soldiers infiltrating Area 51 in the state ofNevada. From there, it’s off to Peruvian jungles, rivers,waterfalls, and ancient temples – settings and scenes thatare all perfect accompaniments to the largest of movietheatre popcorn tubs… with butter, please.Getting StartedLast year, Burtt was allowed to read a script for CrystalSkull, which gave him a jumpstart on gathering andrecording sound design materials. “That way I could startto make my ‘shopping list,’” he explains. “I could writedown all the places they go, the weapons, the vehicles,environments, and, of course, the crystal skulls themselves.From the start, I could assume that there had tobe some special sound associated with the artifacts, asthey have a mystical role in the story. Once I analysed thescript, I did two things: record new, fresh sounds, and goto the library of things I’ve already made for Indiana Jones,revisiting places I thought there could be similar materialthat we covered in the past, as there could be ideas thereINDIANA JONESAND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULLRejoining the ‘Indy’ team, Sound Designer andCo-supervising Sound Editor Ben Burtt found his workfun and rewarding, yet no small task. “It’s very toughmaking sequels to films people love,” he begins.“Expectations run so high. I’ve really enjoyed workingon this film, as I love Indiana Jones as a genre. This filmdoesn’t reflect the advent of video games in any way; it’snot a hyperkinetic world of cameras that can go anywhere.It’s a traditional film with a belief that everything you seewas filmed with a camera that was really somewhere…likely on a tripod.”A Traditional FashionAccording to Burtt, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom ofthe Crystal Skull largely ignores the fast cutting trendof most modern action films. Instead, the film is essentiallya period piece, and through Spielberg’s careful directionand desires, it has been timeless since its inception.“As we know, the modern action film has become quitefast in terms of cutting pace – many angles, lots of cuts,”offers Burtt. “With that, every time there’s a cut in picture,there’s probably a change in sound; a new sound is added,an old sound is modified, or something. When shots areshorter, the real challenge is making things read in apleasing way other than coming straight at you. The nicething about Crystal Skull is that Steven Spielberg shot,edited, and directed the film in a very traditional fashion.Most action takes place in the frame without a lot of cutting;stunts are done physically – people fall and jump inone shot, not in five angles. It gives the sound person achance to design sounds that have a beginning, middle,and end, rather than being assaulting on the senses.”Thus, Burtt insists that Crystal Skull even seems to be“a lost film. It’s like, ‘wow, that must’ve been made 30 yearsago!’ It’s a very faithful recreation of the visual and movementfeel of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It doesn’t mean thatthe sound is any easier; it does mean that the sounds canbe, in a sense, showcased because they’ve been given aplace to live.”that I could develop new sounds from.”Burtt notes that there were approximately 700 newsounds created for the project, a significant amountfor an Indiana Jones film, he insists. “Usually there’s500 effects, 600 tops, made for each movie. Of course,those effects are sounds attached to everything fromstrange doors to environments, to vehicles, to the soundthe skulls make and where they are. Obviously wherethere’s an action or chase scene, you want to have whatI’d call the most exaggerated, ‘comic book’ style soundattached to things… face punches are like cannons, right?Everything is magnified. The sounds in an Indiana Jones filmare always magnified and that’s the way it’s been sincethe beginning.”Spotting With SpielbergAfter catching a clue via script, Burtt sat down with StevenSpielberg for a spotting session. “We run the film on theediting machine,” explains Burtt of the process. “He’ll stopand give his comments about what he wants to hear, whatthings are important, and what his vision is for any particularsequence. For Crystal Skull, quite often he would say,‘We’ve done something like this before, so you know whatto do,’ or ‘I love the old stuff!’ – that kind of thing.”For Burtt’s sound design work, ‘the old stuff’ came inquite handy for placing amongst newly recorded elements.“We had about 2,500 sound files that were partof the original film series, and where necessary, we’d goback and use some of that material. Plus, as I started torealise as I was going back through my old tapes, lots oftimes I would make many different versions of something.There would be unused outtakes in the same style ofsounds, and some of them were applicable to the newmovie, so I was fortunate there.”Having also worked on another notable blockbusteraction series, Star Wars, Burtt was used to carefully utilisinga particular aural vocabulary. “When Star Wars wasrevisited, I faced a little bit of the same issue: it too hasa unique library, a certain style, and obviously a set of>32A U D I O M E D I A J U N E 2 0 0 8

PRESENTED BY:The Sound of Entertainment www.dolby.com/professional>sounds in which I wanted to maintain continuity, not onlyby using some of the original material, but in making newsounds that I would connect in some things. I suppose itis a little bit like a composer, like [Crystal Skull Composer]John Williams, for instance. He revives his themes for StarWars and Indiana Jones. He adds ‘new’ where necessary,but you have that already well-established theme for thecharacter, and it’s how audiences already identify withthe character, so why not? In a similar way, this stays truewith sounds and sound effects. Audiences may not be quiteas aware of it [for sound design] as they are with music, butnonetheless, they identify with the types of sounds thatwere created for the original films.”lot of freedom to create new things that people have neverheard before because there’s nothing to compare it with.Indy exists in the real world, on Earth, in period locations.The trick for Indy is to create the sounds with the rightemotional colouration; they seem real, credible, andare made up of real things – not synthesised sounds, orsounds that are too abstract. In Indy, you’re not working inouter space, but with trucks, other vehicles, jungle birds,avalanches, and landslides.”Time-Tested StandardsBurtt will be the first to tell you that he’s not an audio gearhound. Matter of fact, he’s been using the same two microphonesfor decades. [And just think: how many soundshave we heard that were captured with these two specificdiaphragms!] Clearly, what works for Burtt truly works.“I’ve settled on one standard kit,” he humbly offers.“I’ve been using the same Sanken M-S stereo microphone(CMS-10MS) for years, probably just because it’s always justworked for me. Most everything I need is attainable withthat mic; I also go to an old Sennheiser MKH 816 shotgunmic. I record onto a Sound Devices [digital location recorder]using pretty much the same microphone all the time.Being in the field, it’s a matter of using the equipment andgetting the mic in the right place to get what I want.”Burtt continues on the subject of audio technology.“I’m not much of an engineer or an audiophile,” he saysplainly. “I try to make a connection between what the listeneris going to see and hear in the movie, and try to pickthe right sounds for the right moment that go with thepicture. It’s just based on my own intuition rather than anytechnology. So I didn’t really apply any fancy technology todo the sound recording in this film.”Sorting Through TapeIn culling appropriate audio for Crystal Skull from the Indyarchives, Burtt re-entered the world of analogue tape.“We went back to gather all the sounds that we evercreated for the Indy films, most of which only existed onquarter-inch tape,” he offers. “Luckily, those were stored forall these years and had notes and descriptions with them.One of my first tasks was digitising that entire library tobring the sounds into Pro Tools and have the searchabledatabase so we could find anything we want.”For the fight sequences in Crystal Skull, Burtt found plentyto work with from the old tapes. “And of course, we havea lot of fights in the film,” quips Burtt. “Fistfights, crashes,fires, and falls.”Then, the new locations – the Area 51 warehouse, thePeruvian temple where the crystal skulls reside, and allsorts of dangerous places in between – Burtt was able tostretch as far and as wide as he wanted in creating newsounds… but still, to a certain limit. “Sound design forIndy is a different trick as compared to Star Wars,” explainsBurtt. “The world of sounds in science fiction gives you aA U D I O M E D I A J U N E 2 0 0 8 33

Lying Alongside The MusicAs can be gathered by the title, The Kingdomof the Crystal Skull places great importance onthe skulls themselves. In the instances wherethe skulls appear together near the end of thefilm, tension, intrigue, and energy have music,effects, and dialogue, shoulder to shoulder.Making the skulls aurally meaningful is a carefulprocess, offers Burtt, as it’s a synergy betweeneffects and music. “Once you’re working withthe skulls, you edge yourself up against musicbecause you’re trying to attach a sound to anabstract concept. This is where John Williamsand I overlap a lot. You have to negotiate who’sgoing to do what, or how we’re going to worktogether. That’s always a big issue, as the filmshave a lot of important, wonderful music. But thesoundtrack can only have so many sounds goingon at once, otherwise the audience can’t sort itout. As we get the music and during the mix, Imake adjustments to everything that I created sothat they work best with the music. Sometimesthat requires dropping things, and in othercases, reinventing things so that they’re at adifferent pitch, or something that works betterwith the music.”Place And TimeAs in the past, Burtt once again found himselfworking on Indiana Jones sound design atSkywalker Sound in Marin County, California.“I did a lot of recording on the empty SkywalkerSound stage because I like to have a slight‘liveness’ to the sound, even if it’s the soundof pulling a sword from a scabbard,” he offers.“Stylistically, a lot of the classic sounds associatedwith action films go back to the 30s and40s, where they were recorded on an emptysound stage. That way, there’s a sense of place tothe sound.”The natural space and reverberation gleanedin recording effects in larger, natural-soundingspaces is a benefit when it comes time to puta bunch of unlike sounds together, says Burtt.“I think that many of the difficulties in trying toget sounds to orchestrate together come aboutwhen people record so many things digitally inthe dry environment, then try to jam them alltogether when nothing really exists in a certainplace. On the old Indiana Jones films, we didn’thave a recording studio. I used to record a lot ofthe sound effects outside on a quiet afternoon at>UK Sales01992 703058e-mail sales@shuredistribution.co.uk or visit www.shuredistribution.co.ukWorldwide Sales+1 (608) 524-0625e-mail sales@sounddevices.com or visit www.sounddevices.com34 AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

Taking audio to the next level.The LS-10 linear PCM Recorder from Olympus. Superb recording performance that captures everydetail and nuance of the original sound – music, voice and more. For the ultimate in live capture, it uses optimaldigital recording without compression, and a 24-bit/96 kHz sampling frequency ensures above and beyondCD quality. It also offers easy PC editing using CUBASE LE4 software and if you want to, you can simply upload tothe Internet for huge audiences to enjoy.Stereo Microphones & Amp CircuitryThe microphone amplifi er uses discrete left and right-channelamp circuits to suppress interference, making high-quality‘original sound’ recording possible.Manual Recording Level AdjustmentThe LS-10 allows you to fi ne-adjust the recording levelmanually with switchable limiter to obtain the optimumlevel by checking the level meter display on the LCD paneland the PEAK indicator. An automatic level control functionis also provided.Packed with featuresThe LS-10 also offers three microphone directivities(Normal, Wide, Zoom), four playback modes (EUPHONYMOBILE: Normal, Natural, Wide, Power) and fi ve reverbmodes (Normal, Studio, Club, Hall, Dome).For the ultimate in fl exibility, the LS-10 also features atripod connection and a broad range of accessories,including optional remote control* and AC adapter*.* Planned for release in spring 2008.Olympus LS-10 takes audio to the next level with: linear PCM recording speaker and large, backlit 1.8-inch LCD Panel Amplifi er Circuitry recording mode) production software and special Olympus-producedvideo tutorialOlympus LS-10Perform. Capture. Upload.

Skywalker Ranch in this little grove of apple trees.It had a nice exterior ‘studio’ feel to it and gavea little bit of soft reverberance from the trees,a certain sweetness.”From Skulls To NativesRegarding time and pacing of his work on thefilm, Burtt offers that he did everything he couldto work most efficiently. “You always use allthe time you’re given,” he says with wisdom.“Especially in my work, you’re required to beinventive on the spot and at every moment.You’re also ‘kind-of-never-done’ until the film isto be delivered. So, I take a rather methodicalapproach to it; I write down all the sounds thatI think I need to create, I see how many days orhours I have to work on it, and I’ll divide it up.I give myself a quota: ‘I need to do 20 soundstoday,’ for instance. Then I have to move on.Sometimes the 20 sounds I make today aren’tthe 20 I thought I was going to make. Quite oftenwhile you’re experimenting, you find somethingelse that you were looking for; I start out in themorning trying to make a sound for a crystalskull, and I realise that this sound is better forthe charging natives, or something. So I just takeadvantage of all the time I have and chart it out.”Finally, if time is short, it never hurtsbeing able to call on the talents of your bestpeers in the business. For Crystal Skull, this isexactly what Burtt was able to do. “Because I wassplitting my time between two movies, I couldn’tdo absolutely everything,” he says. “Some of thesounds were created by Christopher Scarabosio[Sound Re-recording Mixer and Additional SoundDesigner], who mixed sound effects on the film.I’ve worked with him a lot over the years, and hehas become a very successful sound designerand mixer – he was nominated last year for ThereWill Be Blood. We’re friends. I’d say, ‘Chris, I don’thave time to do these trucks,’ and he would workon those, for instance. Richard Hymns – whoI share the job Supervising Sound Editor with– has a specialty in vehicles; he loves recordingtrucks, motorcycles, and Jeeps. We neededa lot of Russian military vehicles in this film.He went to huge efforts to find the right vehicles,get them out in the desert, and record themthoroughly. So, in the end, it was divided up:Richard did the vehicles, Chris did some of thevehicles and crashes, and I was responsible forthe rest of it.”The ‘Indy’ LegacyBurtt intimately understands the Indiana Joneslegacy, as he has worked on all of its versions:three previous feature films and the YoungIndiana Jones television series. Thus, he insiststhat both desire and kinship led to his involvementin this, the long belated fourth installmentof the Indy story.“When it was discussed that they would comeback and do a new adventure, I had a job atPixar,” Burtt explains. “I really wanted to be apart of it; it was very important to me that therewas continuity in the sound design for the film.Back as far as the first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark,we tried very hard to establish a sound signaturefor the films in terms of the action/adventuresound vocabulary of the movie: the types ofexplosions, face punches, airplanes, and all of thetopics that make up the usual kinds of adventures.We had established a style for Indy, one ofthe first big modern action films done with a customisedsoundtrack. We developed new soundsfor old things; instead of pulling things out ofa library that we could’ve used in the first film,we made everything anew, but it was based onwhat we loved about the old classic movies thatIndiana Jones references.” ∫36 AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

To create a masterpiece,sometimes it only takes a simple tool.A reduced control surface with maximum performance from thesystem core – these advantages of the latest mixing consolefrom Lawo will really impress you. With the mc²56, not only doyou benefit from the well-known highlights of the mc² family– powerful HD core, absolute reliability and innovative features –you also benefit from the console’s intuitive user guidance system,which guarantees unprecedented ease of use. The worldwidesuccess of mc² quality, paired with groundbreaking functionality– just two of the features that make an mc²56 the perfect toolfor daily broadcasting. For further information visit www.lawo.demc²56 – Performance, pure and simple.Lawo AG | Rastatt/Germany

MERGING ADRPACKAGEPYRAMIX ADR/FOLEY SYSTEMADR and Foley sessions can be themost mind-bending affairs, withso much to keep track of, so manyto satisfy, and, usually, altogethertoo much paper, tracks, faders, andfingers. Merging believes it has thesolution – a system than can run yourrecording sessions like clockwork.PAUL MAC discovers the truth.THE REVIEWERPAUL MAC is the Editor of AudioMedia magazine.Merging’s Pyramix system is now well embeddedin pretty much every area of the industry– broadcast, post, music, and so on. So nowone question is, what can it offer those areas by way of‘specials’ – the things that make specific jobs easier, moreintuitive, or more productive? The new ADR packagefor Pyramix is one such special item, designed from theground up to make the dialogue replacement or Foleysession preparation and operation as easy as it can be,but as flexible as it needs to be.I spent a while at the Merging booth during this year’sEuropean AES, with Merging’s Alphie Larrieu, learning abit more about the ADR package, and what it might offeran often overly complicated process. It was obvious fromearly on that the key word was ‘automatic’.Merging has spent quite some time (two years,apparently) researching the practice of ADR around theworld and what sessions require in terms of switching,monitoring, video display, and even billing. The idea isthat the engineer has everything required to run a sessionhis way. That is, the ADR package should have to adapt tothe requirements of the job, not the other way around.To this end, there’s a basic set of hardware that comesalong with the additional software. The package is basedaround a partnership between Pyramix and VCube – thelatter being Merging’s own video playback system foraudio post production, capable of working with morethan 50 media file formats. With a single custom chassisfor both parts of the equation, you can add GPIO cardsfor operating studio infrastructure during the session.A new custom keyboard for ADR operation, and/or theIsis or Ramses controllers.By using the already proven technologies of Pyramixand VCube, Merging claims it’s a package you can rely on,right from the start: “VCube by itself is a very completevideo playback system, and Pyramix is a complete DAWthat is already operational,” says Larrieu. “So attachinga new module on top of these two machines actually >38AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

NEWNEW A4 Discrete Class A andTube 16:2 Summing AmpIce Cool Looks, DiscreteClass A ElectronicsPlus Tube Warmth.Ebony Series is a sleek looking range of discrete Class A processorsdesigned to heighten your audio experience.Featureing tube stages with variable drive in addition to the discreteClass A circuitry Ebony puts you in total control of how ‘warm’ or how‘cool’ you want the sound. And being designed by TL Audio and handassembled in England you get all the features one would expect fromthoroughly professional units: balanced I/O, multi input options, analogueVU metering, intuitive, precise controls optional S/P-DIF digital interfacesand more.Supreme quality, unrivalled sound and stylish aesthetics, Ebonysimply offers superior analogue processing to accompany yourdigital world.From £499 ex vat.PASSIONATE ABOUT TUBEStlaudio.co.ukA1 Discrete Class A andTube Dual Preamp / DIA2 Discrete Class A andTube Stereo ProcessorA3 Discrete Class A andTube Mono Channel Strip

MERGINGgives us a tried and tested solution, because weknow that Pyramix works, and we know thatVCube works.”In essence, says Larrieu, “It’s a loop basedautomated transport and monitor switchingsystem. When I saymonitor switchingsystem, I’m talking aboutoutputs to actual users,such as headphonesfor actors, headphones forengineers, and perhapsmain speakers for studios,or cabin booths, orwhatever other kind ofmonitoring output thatyou need to define – withautomatic switching.”This automatic aspect helps keep the engineer’shead away from the mundane – who wants to hearSpit SpotThe ADR Package’s usefulness starts right back atthe spotting stage. You can import well-formattedspotting sheets straight into Pyramix, if you’vegot a system that you prefer – it’ll import text orExcel-style spreadsheetdata. You can do thespotting in the ADRPackage itself, usingautomatic timecodenotation along withthe system’s transportcontrols. The all-powerfulloop list window is alsothe spotting sheet, withlots of standard columns– not only to help thesession along, but to help administration as well.The sheet can be exported as a PDF and printeddirectly from the session as updates occur, andeven sent directly to billing. And because it’s linkedto the session, it is updated along the way. For this,Orpheusrock122x173.qxd 28/05/2008or see what, and when – and firmly focused on what’s10:15 AM Page 1being recorded.prismsoundrecording“With each talent definition comesdefined physical inputs and outputs,all linked into the switching andmonitoring system. You can evenassociate buss switches with the talentor with takes...”Orpheus - the ultimate professionalFireWire audio interface by Prism SoundTHE ULTIMATE PERFORMERWith unbeatable sound quality, state-of-the-artclock technology, low-latency, flexible monitoringfor control room or foldback......Orpheus by Prism Sound is theprofessional’s choice.+44 1223 424988+1 973 983 9577Contact us now to arrange your demowww.prismsound.com/orpheusEmail: sales@prismsound.comas well as many other aspects of the system, thecustom keyboard comes into it’s own – with morethan a little help from the jog wheel: “We decidedthat for ADR, we don’t want to have to make peoplelearn Pyramix in a formal way,” commented Larrieu,“...just kind get them into ADR features, and ADRfunctions, very quickly. The keyboard has all thefeatures that you need to run ADR.”It’s also in and around this loop list that someother important aspects are defined. The actors,for example, could have their real names as well asthe characters in there, if that is more comfortablefor them. Each talent is also assigned a colour.Thus, all the countdowns, wipes, and text (loopname, actor name, take number, and so on) areshown in that colour. There is even a colouredbox on the loop list, and the colour is carried rightthrough to the track colour in Pyramix. There’s alsothe script text, the scene (associated video clip),in/out points, reel (or episode or part, etc), status(done or not), and more. You can sort the list bywhatever criteria you choose, so you could list inorder of actor, plus the lines that aren’t yet done,and in timecode order, for example.Inside Pyramix, each actor is designated a‘consolidated track’. All takes are virtual tracksthat contribute to the consolidated track –either wholly (in the case of that perfect take) orin part (if you combine take edits to create thefinal take). The in-session advantage here is thatthere is one fader, one track, per actor. No matterhow many scenes or takes there are, you alwaysknow where to find that actor’s fader and thatactor’s consolidated track.With each talent definition comes definedphysical inputs and outputs, all linked into theswitching and monitoring system. You can evenassociate buss switches with the talent or withtakes, so, for example, you could reduce crowdnoise with a plug-in for a specific line during record,and that will be switched in or out accordingly.When it comes to video, the VCube system isthe slave, and all the detail is still saved within asingle session in Pyramix, so you don’t need severaldifferent files for a single ADR session. If thereisn’t proper timecode with the video, Pyramix canadd that for you, and even deal with the requiredoffsets, etc.Session OnSo, when the time comes to do a take, Pyramixjumps to the next item in the loop list and switchesall required monitoring, inputs, colours, GPIOswitches, and so on to the correct positions – andthese could be different for rehearsal and actualtake. The video is cued, and any on-screen text iscoloured correctly. The actor sees the script line,the colour, and hears what he or she needs to.Through pre-roll, take, and post-roll, once againthe switching matrix can customise what theactors, the engineer, the director, and so on, hear.When the first take is recorded, the consolidatedtrack takes that as the chosen take and theengineer can opt to go again, edit, adjust in andout points, split the scene into more manageableparts for new, more focused takes etc, or jumpto the next scene. You only have to remember tocheck the ‘done’ box.The consolidated track shows the final take,only expanding to show all takes when required.“So this is what would be exported essentially,either as stems to another Pyramix session or this>40AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

session itself for mixing,“ says Larrieu. “Or maybeexported through AAF or OMF, to Pro Tools, orNuendo, or other machines in the workflow... or ifwe’ve been recording in BWF format, and not ourproprietary PMF, these takes could essentially beconsolidated as is, and sent to be recorded directlyto Pro Tools or Nuendo hard disk over network.“So there’s no copy time necessary, you canretain all of your sub clips, and if you exportedan AAF session, you’d have a very clean versionof your editing – all your offsets and all yourediting choices and any changes you’ve madeto clip names and things of that sort is retained.And you’ll also have the actual bin of every cliprecorded, pre-named in an intelligent ADR fashionin a way that we actually know exactly what wasrecorded, no matter what.”MERGINGThe Big PictureIn itself, the Merging ADR Package is a module ina much bigger picture, where Merging imaginesevery part of the post production chain taken careof by Pyramix in whatever guise it comes – thenew and powerful MassCore-based virtual studiopackage, or the native version for the ‘satellite’positions. VCube rounds off the system and will bewith you all the way up to 2K HD (and counting).However, it’s not an insignificant part – not justan extra plug-in to grapple with. It’s a full-on ADRsession manager with enough flexibility to satisfyeven the most complex sessions. Most importantlythough it does what you want it to – it doesn’task for any big shifts in working practice from thepeople it serves.In context with the rest of the Merging line up,you could say it’s a very nice fit. Larrieu sums up thebig picture: “Pyramix is a DAW, and it is a machinewith full automation. If you were in a workflow“Merging imagines every part of thepost production chain taken care of byPyramix in whatever guise it comes.”with Pyramix at the heart of your studio, youcould do all your editing, your library work, yourADR, your music reporting, pre-mixing, mixing,and mastering of any elements of any sort withinPyramix – handle any spotting, or importing ofspotting, printing the paper, ingesting with VCube,using VCube as a playback machine, and evencreating billing versions of your casting elements,or your finished product that was down-mixed inPyramix. Sound can be wrapped to the originalimage in just about any format, at any resolution,and given to someone either by digital deliveryor on a DVD for validation, and archive purposes.So it’s the entire chain in one machine, the onlything we don’t have is our own microphone andloudspeaker.” ∫....................................INFORMATION£ Pyramix ADR Package starts from €1,500A Merging Technologies S.A. Le Verney, Puidoux,CH-1070, SwitzerlandW www.merging.comT +41 (0)21 946 0444F +41 (0)21 946 0445 DPA 4017/4080 JP AudioMedia.indd 1 20/02/08 13:18:20AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008 41

Customers…Kool…and how to keep them coming...Yes, Jazz really can keep a studioin the black – if the conditionsare right. PAUL MAC talks toKoolworld’s Dave Wooster aboutrunning rooms and keeping busy.In the centre of Luton, there’s a big music studio. And asunlikely as this might sound to those who disparage thetown, Koolworld, owned by the half-and-half (live versusstudio) sought-after self of Dave Wooster, is rather nice. Itoccupies a reasonable chunk of The Hat Factory (a Lutonarts centre established by National Lottery funding), andmakes good use of that building’s infrastructure to providerecording and mixing services (though not exclusively) tothe world of Jazz...The WorkIn overall throughput, Koolworld divides its time betweenjazz, educational work, production/artist development,and major label projects – often tied in with live workthat Wooster has been involved with. Wooster puts thejazz content at around the 60 percent mark – built upthrough reputation and links with independent jazzlabels, such as 33 Jazz, which happens to be based in thesame building.He is keen though to develop the production workin the studio, especially the other permanent fixture inthe facility, Mat Collis, who errs more towards practicalmusical endeavors than engineering, and spends a goodproportion of his time working on the artist developmentside, as well as looking after studio clients while Woosteris out occupying his live-sound persona. He ended upworking with Wooster through a friend who was on aschool placement at Koolworld (“I wanted to be there,so I kept just turning up.”) The perseverance obviouslypaid off. “Matt’s a very talented musician,” says Wooster.“And, especially for the Jazz, he has a good appreciationof what they’re doing... At the moment he’s taken on moreof the sessions because when I get back I need some timeoff – he’s done the majority of the sessions in the last 12months, and we’ve had really great results.”On the production business, Wooster claims it’s asimportant as any other item: “I don’t believe that any studiocan survive without having some form of production workon the go, in search of the elusive deal... If it happens,then the studio’s got some support from the artists that it’shelped develop.”A Grand DecisionKoolworld’s main studio area consists of an ample controlroom, plus two live rooms – one big, one smaller. The biglive room has a Yamaha C6 grand as a permanent fixture.In addition, however, the studio has use of other spacesin The Hat Factory. Wooster: “Because the whole buildingwas originally wired with Cat 5 and fibre, I can record inany part of it... from The Venue through to the gallery,from the theatre studio, to the TV studio.”To enable all this, Koolworld uses an RSS By RolandDigital Snake system, as well as a Hear TechnologiesHear Back Cat 5 personal monitoring system for retuningheadphone mixes. Wooster: “We really have got the wholebuilding to play with.” So far, Koolworld has completedseveral big band projects using the purpose-built TV studioat The Hat Factory (up to around 35-piece ensembles), aswell as other projects, such as comedy nights, in the Venueand theatre workshop spaces.There are plans afoot to split the larger live room at thestudio into three, with booths for the piano and any otherinstrument that requires isolation. That way, says Wooster,they will be able to accommodate trios in a single room– an often asked-for facility.The piano, states Wooster, is one of the most importantpieces of equipment for a studio that relies so heavilyon Jazz work. Before purchasing that particular one,much market research was undertaken – questioningpiano players that came to the studio on the pianos theywould like to see in the studio. An enormous range wasoffered, and Wooster ended up with major job – examiningSteinway options in particular. “It all comes down to whichmodel, which year,” he explained. “I ended up buying abible of Steinways – the models and the years and thepeople that put the things together... It all makes such ahuge difference.”However, budget started to play a part, and Woosterreturned to his clients with ‘if you can’t have that, whatelse would you be happy with?’. Yamaha came in as theconsistent choice. “We ended up with a C6, because it’swhat we could afford, but the one we have has one of themost mellow high ends that I’ve ever heard. Any pianoplayer that’s come through the studio has commented onhow good the thing is, and it’s actually bedding in betterevery time it gets tuned, and through playing, it’s reallystarting to achieve its own sound.” Koolworld keeps a pairof DPAs and a Neumann U87 specifically for the piano.In the control room, adorned with a good array ofoutboard, plus Pro Tools, RADAR, and a little-used two-inch>42A U D I O M E D I A J U N E 2 0 0 8

KOOLWORLD>machine, sits another source of pride – the studio’sSoundtracs Jade console. This, though, is soon to bereplaced, as Wooster is looking around for the nextanalogue front end: “The desk that we’re likely togo for will be the new valve console that TL Audio isbringing out... I don’t want to replace the Jade withanything less to be honest, it’s been a great desk.”More generally, on the analogue front end,Wooster knows what he thinks: I personally believeit still helps with what we do – definitely for thelive things, it does create a good sound, and that,after all, is what matters. As long as I feel that we’rerecording at a sensible sample rate and resolutionon digital recorders, it benefits the project overall.We try not to do everything in the box – we tryto work a combination between automation andEQ’ing, bringing things back though the desk,and then recording again.”Live Vs. StudioWith Wooster’s extensive live experience (GaryMoore, Van Morrison, Leona Lewis, and more) Iwas keen to find whether he considered himselfmore ‘live or ‘studio’, and what influence one hadon the other. “I think my career to date is probablyquite 50/50 at the moment... It’s a great luxury toget a good balance between the two, and I thinkfor me, the two do go hand in hand.“Microphone technique and skills that you learnon the road apply in the studio, and techniquesthat you learn in the studio can apply on the road.It’s also given me quite an advantage with biggerartists that I work with when I go to do TV shows.I can walk into a TV broadcast studio and worktheir desks and understand the constraints thatthey have to work to, as well as trying to push theboundaries of what they do. They’re pretty muchstuck in a studio environment and don’t totallyappreciate what can be done from the live side ofthings – lessening a bit of compression some days,and leaving as much of the compression to whenthey run it through their mastering before they goto broadcast, as opposed to squashing the hell outof it at an earlier stage.“So, for me, it’s 50/50, but if there was an honestanswer, it would probably be that I was a liveengineer before I was a recording engineer, that’show I started.”Talking strictly Koolworld now, it’s alsointeresting that a single studio can become knownfor a particular genre, such as Jazz. Does it needparticular skills? Wooster: “You have to understandhow they want to capture it – you can’t just say,‘Oh this is how we’re going to record it’. We suggestthe best way to capture it, but at the end of the day,performance is absolutely everything, and key forwhat they try and do.“Some days it will involve everyone being in thesame room. We do normally try and separate thingsa little bit and use our camera systems so they caninter-react, but if they specifically want to be in thesame room, then you suck it up and take the spillwith the performance. With technique, screening,good mic placement, you achieve the best soundyou can achieve in rooms that you’ve got...That comes back to doing it old-school, where youwork with the overall sound as opposed to theindividual sound. It’s definitely an eye opener.“Before we got heavily involved in the Jazz,isolation was key to everything, and you kind ofget used to having clean sounds on every singlemic. But when you come back to doing it thisway, you then really learn to take a picture of theoverall sound.”The Bottom LineRemember, it’s not simply that Wooster has founda niche and is happy to work within it – the studiois a business, and it has to make money. “I don’tthink you can really limit yourself to one thing,”reasons Wooster.Paying customers at Koolworld range widely inrequirements and budget – even to those who wantto do a voice over for their Pop Idol audition – butthe studio doesn’t lower prices to fit everyone’sneeds: “We can’t do £5 an hour sessions,” explainsWooster. “It’s not what we do – there are otherstudios that facilitate that. In the politest way, youtell them that there are other studios that wouldsuit their current needs better. If they want to upthe level and up the standard of what they do inthat recording, then I’m sorry, you have to pay it.If you want a shock, you go to a London studio, andsee how much they charge.Luton is outside London (about 30 milesnorthwards), but it does have it’s own internationalairport, fast rail links to London, and sits squarelyon one of the most important motorways in thesouth – all advantages that many overlook whenconsidering the town. And Wooster maintains thatthe core customer for him is the musician. It is themusicians, among Koolworld’s client-base, who mostoften pick the studio; and it’s the musicians who areparticularly budget conscious – ‘inexpensive’ is acriteria that London struggles to accommodate, butthat Luton has been honing for some time.Long live the economically viable musicstudio... ∫....................................W www.koolworld.co.ukINFORMATIONAUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008 43

SSL DUENDEDSP POWERED PLUG-INSIt says SSL on the box, but it’snot the size of an airstrip –RICHARD WENTK pretends to beTrevor Horn in a half rack unit.THE REVIEWERR I C H A R D W E N T K i s t h eowner of Skydancer Media, adigital production companyproviding sound, image, designand consultancy services tovarious clients in London and theWest Country.SSL SL may be the name that launched a thousand hitsingles, tracked and mixed on desks the size of battleships, but modern markets need smaller products, andthe Duende range is an attempt to package the SSL magicinto a smaller and more affordable form factor. The core ofDuende is a board full of DSP chips. This is packaged in threedifferent formats – a 19-inch 1U rack-mounting box calledClassic, a half-rack sized Mini, and a PCI-E card which slotsinto a PC or Mac. Classic is the original version, for use instudios of all sizes. Connection with the host is by way of acouple of Firewire 400 connectors – it’s possible to chain anycombination of two Classics and/or Minis, as long as theFirewire link isn’t trying to do anything else at the same time.The PCI-E version uses the internal bus of your Mac or PC,and doesn’t offer or need any external connections.Visually the design is reassuringly solid throughout.There’s nothing unprofessional or cheapabout the finish, and a Classic willlook at home in a rack in anystudio or facility. The Mini hasa similar build quality, but issmall enough to be portable.Remote bus power is available.This will work with a desktop computer, moreor less, but might give a typical laptop batterya nervous breakdown.Both the Classic and PCI-E versions offer up to 32 VSTand RTAS DSP slots, while the Mini offers 16. Plug-insare available in both mono and stereo versions, and thestereo versions use two slots – so a Mini can process upto eight stereo mix channels. It’s possible to expand theMini to 32 slots with an unlock code bought from SSL.This might seem unusual – it’s like buying a console andfinding half the channels have been padlocked – but itmakes sense in the context of a semi-software product,and is simpler than trying to open the box to fit anothercircuit board. The upgrade process is smooth and simple –control click on the Duende logo, and copy in the upgradecode. Buyers have to register on the SSL site first – not apainful chore, but not something you’ll want to do in themiddle of a session.The Mini is supplied with just the Channel Strip plug-in, while the Classic and PCI-E versions add the BusCompressor. The other available plug-ins – X-EQ, X-Compand Drum Strip – are all optional. Ten hour trial versionsare included. The timer only runs while audio is beingprocessed, and after your ten hours you’ll have to visitthe SSL online store.Plugged InThe Channel Strip plug-in is a software version of SSL's XL9000K channel strip – or alternatively, it’s also a simplifiedversion of SSL’s SuperAnalogue and E-Signature hardwareprocessors. It includes switchable E and G series threeband EQ, lo-pass and hi-pass filters, a compressor, andgate/expander with a sidechain option. Old timers willfind the layout familiar, but newcomers may be confusedby some eccentric features, including a couple of knobswhich work back to front; if you’re not an existing SSL user,you may be wondering if usability has been sacrificedto tradition. More positively, this is a very powerfuland creative processor, perfect for removing splashand rumble from a mix, and also for tightening upthe sound. The sound has some of the traditional SSLcrunch and grain without exaggerating it for effect.So this isn’t so much an SSL-mix-in-a-box tool, as agood open-ended processor with some interestingcolouration. Newcomers will find that SSL’s online supportis very good, with tutorials, FAQs, and a guided tour.Everything should start to make sense after an houror two, but it may take longer to understand how tocombine all of the elements creatively.The Bus Compressor is a virtual copy of the XL9000 K-series output bus compressor, but multipleinstances can also be patched into individual channels(try that with a 9000 series). Even with the settings inneutral the Bus Compressor has a near-magical abilityto add life and interest to a mix. With only four and ahalf settings to work with it’s a less powerful tool thanthe X-Comp or channel strip compressors. But almost>44AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

VOTE NOW08The nominations have been counted andit’s now time to vote for your favouriteproject/person that you want to win aconch award this year. Your votes will thengo forward to an independent judgingpanel, which will finalise the winners of TheConch Awards 2008. These will then beannounced at a prestigious ceremony atThe Mayfair Hotel on Thursday 25thSeptember with the ever-popular after-partyto follow.The online voting system is now open so tovote please visit:www.ukscreenassociation.co.uk/conchVoting closes on 9th July 2008HEADLINE SPONSORMEDIA PARTNERS:SPONSORED BY:

Exact settings appear above the knobs as you move them – which is very nice.anything which hasn’t already been throughsignificant compression sounds more livelyand involving after a trip through the BusComp. You can also kill a mix by drivinga very heavy roller over the dynamics,but with more gentle settings it’s a verymusical effect.X-EQ is a deceptively simple-looking10-band EQ. Two shelving and eight peakingbands should be enough for anyone, but forextra sophistication each band can be setto one of five responses – Critical, Bessel,Gaussian, Chebychev, and Butterworth.Since most users won’t know the differencebetween Chebychev and Butterworthresponses – unless they have a degree infilter design theory – more musical labellingwould have been useful here. The manualtries hard to explain what’s going on, but it’sbest to spend time experimenting with thedifferent options until your ears can start totell them apart. An Analyse button brings upa useful FFT display, which makes it easierto see how your settings are altering theoverall EQ balance. The metering gets bonuspoints for showing peak, average, anddynamic range indications – exceptionallyuseful, and something it would be good tosee copied elsewhere.Squeeze And TwistX-Comp is a standard compressor with atwist – two bleed filters allow high and lowendbreakthrough. According to SSL mostreal compressors are frequency dependent,even when they’re supposed to be full-band,and the bleed settings can simulate this.Again the metering is very good, with a gainreduction history and a difference display,both of which give a clearer idea of whatthe compressor is doing than a line of LEDs.Sonically, X-Comp can sound smooth oraggressive. It’s more controllable than theChannel Strip dynamics and easier to workwith. But there’s no gating and no sidechain,so it’s not quite as creative or flexible.The sound has some of the SSL feel, butless than the Bus Compressor or theChannel Strip.Bringing up the rear is the DrumStrip.This adds transient processing, gating,compression, and high and low emphasis.It’s perfect for heavily processed effects, butalso gives plenty of play for acoustic drums.You can survive without it if drums andloops aren’t your critical focus, but you’ll findit very expressive and creative if they are.SSL DUENDENo product is perfect,and some features inDuende could be finetuned.The virtual buttonscould be clearer – Isometimes found myselfpeering at the screenor clicking on featuresto check they were on.DSP distribution couldalso be improved. If youload a mix of mono andstereo plug-ins, youcan find yourself with two spare slots ondifferent DSPs, and no room for one morestereo effect. To fix this, you have to saveyour project, restart the host and thenreload your project, and there really oughtto be an easier and quicker option.A more generous preset collection wouldbe useful, and user preset sharing would bemore useful still. More technically, these areall high latency plug-ins, and impossibleto use live. You won’t notice while you’remixing, but you won’t be able to use theseplug-ins with live softsynths or samplers,or for DJing.Otherwise this is an excellent productand an easy sell for anyone making music.The appeal is more emotional than technical– these are musical plug-ins which add alarger-than-life gloss to anything playedthrough them. Of the optional extras,X-Comp is the most useful, followed closelyby the Bus Compressor. The X-EQ is a fineaddition but not quite a must-have – youcan find similar EQ functionality elsewhere.DrumStrip is the most specialised of all.With no surround support, Duende isperhaps a harder sell for post. EQ worksfine as 5+1 mono instances, but the BusCompressor, X-Comp and Channel Stripare stereo only. If you can live with that,Duende is good and can add an impressivecinematic gloss to projects, and X-EQ is agood tool for both surgical and creativeEQ effects.ConclusionOverall the Duende range offers animpressive-sounding collection of plug-inswhich are an easy step or two up from thosesupplied with most DAWs. Some of themore expensive native plug-in collectionsshould consider being worried. If you wantto give your projects some extra soniccredibility and richness, Duende is wellworth investigating. ∫.............................INFORMATION£ Duende Classic £850, PCI-E £600, Mini £399(exc.VAT)A Solid State Logic (HQ), 25 Spring Hill Road,Begbroke, Oxford OX5 1RUT +44 (0) 1865 842300F +44 (0) 1865 842118W www.solid-state-logic.comE sales@solidstatelogic.comAUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

a goodchallengeSpringtime for Hitler and Germanygave playwright CP Taylor amplematerial for an arresting stageproduction. Bringing it to a cinemaaudience, however, posed agood few challenges for thepost team at LipSync.Report by KARL FOSTER.FROM STAGE TO SCREENTitling a movie ‘Good’ is just asking for it, bearingin mind film critics’ propensity for biting sarcasm.However, that didn’t stop Director Vicente Amorimfrom deploying the adjective when working up hisadaptation of Cecil Philip Taylor’s award-winning play forthe silver screen. Good is set in Germany during the 1930s,a time when a particularly unpleasant man called Adolf wasbusy rejuvenating the country and pondering the longevityof a third German Reich. Caught up in this is Aragorn, orViggo Mortensen to his friends. Sans stubble and Swordof Elendil (or Andúril to its enemies), Viggo plays johnHalder, a literary professor whose novel on compassionateeuthanasia is seized upon by the National Socialists tosupport government propaganda.Add a neurotic wife, demanding children,a mother with senile dementia, and a bestfriend who happens to be jewish to analready Nazi situation... You can imaginehow life becomes a tad tricky for Halder.Also challenging was Amorim’svision for the production’s soundtrack.He wanted clean. Fresh. Exciting.Something invoking the excitement ofa society being rejuvenated. Not selfconsciously‘period’, but historicallyaccurate. Quite a task, then, for LipSync’sSenior Sound Mixer Paul Cotterell.He wanted to make a modern film,although a period film at the same time.He didn’t want any synthetic soundsin there.“There’s a sense of regeneration inthat period in Germany. At the beginningof the film there’s lots of building work – there arereal, tangible improvements throughout all the cities.Everything is coming to life and it’s a jubilant time. So thatsense of construction and improvement is what we triedto capture.”LipSync Post, located on London’s Wardour Street, hasoutput some quality product of late, including visual effectswork on The Bourne Ultimatum and Stardust. Paul relied onthe facility’s 5.1 Dolby room, designed by White Mark Ltdand equipped with an AMS Neve Logic DFC, 128-input desk,TC Electronics’ Reverb 6000s, and the supreme capabilitiesof the Cedar DNS1000 for dynamic noise suppression.“We use a lot of the EQs and a gentle expander on the DFC,”reveals Paul. “But the Cedar can tighten up reverb – you cansubtly reduce unwanted reverberation. If you’ve a constantmask of a noise, it’ll generally sit on it really well and notattack the dialogue in any way, if used subtly. That was partof this ‘clean sound’ – we wanted to be able to get quietwith the film where we needed to.”Naturally, quality monitoring is critical when indulgingin a surround Dolby EX experience, hence Crownamplifiers driving jBL 3678 THX cabs for screen, 8340Asfor surround, and 4642A low-frequency emitters were atPaul’s command.Location sound was courtesy of johnTaylor, wielding a 24-bit Zaxcom Devamulti-track, two boom-ops, several radiomics, and a painstaking approach toauthenticity. Says Paul: “I would point outwhat a good job he did and how multitrackrecording, when done properly, canbe so useful. He miked lots of perspectivesfor us, and he shot some wonderfully wideshots of bigger scenes. There are severalparties and he really got some lovely widesounds in the big, grand places in whichthese parties were taking place.”Forward planning was key in realisingDirector Vicente’s vision, hence audio wasdiscussed in depth at a very early stage inthe production. “john called us and askedus how we worked,” says Paul. “We spokeabout the wildtrack material – he’d alreadyreconnoitred some of the places so heknew there may be trouble in terms of traffic in a couple ofthe locations, so we talked about wildtracking lines fromscenes, which was really useful, just getting the actors todo their lines again without the camera rolling. We hadoptions in that we could just cut the bits and pieces in.”With sound effects courtesy of Antonia Bates, puttingSteinberg’s Nuendo through its paces, and supremelyaccurate foley from recordist Robert Brazier, all trackswere kept live throughout the mix for maximum flexibility.Dialogue editor Sean Hannah, also of LipSync, usedTitan software to assemble location sound in Pro Tools. >Senior Re-recording Mixer Paul Cotterell:“Good was a play to begin with. It’s a veryhuman drama because Viggo’s best friend isJewish in the film – that’s the crux of themovie, this friendship.”48A u D I O M E D I A j u N E 2 0 0 8

good>Paul found the Foley a particularly interestingchallenge: “We recorded quite a wide foley trackthat matched into the production, then in specificscenes – internal or heightened-awareness scenes– we shot much tighter Foley as well. There’s ascene between Bouhler [Phillip Bouhler, a Nazi whoheaded up Hitler’s early euthanasia programme,[played by Mark Strong] and Halder in which they’resliding a document across a desk to one anotherand there’s creaking of chairs – it’s the Foley that’sworking. Very little else. But there’s this sense oftension. It’s a very nice sound and I’m very pleasedwith that side of it.”Another unique soundtrack componentwas Simon Lacey’s approach to the works ofGustav Mahler, recorded at Hear No Evil, Fulham.“At the most inopportune moments, one personin the room will turn round and start singingto [Halder],” says Paul. “And it’s always Mahler.You can’t help but draw comparisons with DennisPotter [famed for The Singing Detective].“There’s a third layer of music as well.Viggo’s wife in the film is a pianist and in nearly allof the domestic scenes, she’s practising the piano,so that provides a backdrop to his home life andhe’s often talking above the piano or around it.It’s always present in the room and when he comesto leave her, there’s a tense scene and a piano tunerhas been brought into the home. So, continuallythrough the scene, there’s a guy tuning thepiano in the background, which raises the tensionin the film.”Further to the success of Good’s soundtrack isdetailed additional-dialogue recording. Some actorsblanche, hide in cupboards, or claim to be ‘tired andemotional’ when the dreaded ADR is mentioned.No so Viggo. For the man who stormed the BlackGates of Mordor (Lord of the Rings) and faceddown mobster Carl Fogarty (A History Of Violence),post-dialogue must have been a walk in the park.At least, he impressed Paul Cotterell immensely.“Viggo watched the movie through at a screeningand then he came in and started to do his ADR, buthe offered a lot more. We noted technical lines, andthe Editor and Director put requests in for additionallines for performance reasons, but he brought a lotmore to the table. He worked his way through thefilm from top to finish. Where he wanted to workon a line or thought he could improve something,or critically for us, he gave us lots of breaths andslight reactions – very subtle nuances and additions.Once he’d seen the edit, he was able to enhanceparts of his performance.“Some actors enjoy ADR and some actorsreally don’t, but he’s probably the most giving inthat sense. I’ve never seen anyone offer so much.What was extraordinary was that while he wasrecording in one studio, they were combining thetakes, and I did a temp mix with the other ADR fordifferent scenes. We spent a morning with Viggoplaying back the ADR and just talked about the wayhe performed and the spaces that he left betweenthe lines – the gaps and nuances in his delivery.“He just made me very aware of his performanceand his timing. When we came to the mix ‘proper’,we would leave a lot of spaces, so he would delivera line and you were left to look at him and digestthe line. Rather than just filling up everything,there’s quite a lot of space in the mix for thatdialogue. Other actors respond slowly sometimes– sometimes it’s quick-fire dialogue – but Viggo’ssuch a busy actor. Facially he’s very busy and there’s>NX SeriesPrecision monitoring forrecording studios and edit suitesFull of the latest in speaker technology and designed from theground up for critical listening in recording facilities where aprecise, transparent, professional sound is essential, the NXSeries set new standards in sonic accuracy and packaging.Precision monitoring and audio performance of this calibre hasnever been so affordable.Main Features Dedicated 60W (LF) + 40W (HF) bi-amplifiers Hard dome tweeters with magnesium diaphragms to ensure a soundfree from harsh metallic characteristics LF drivers with HR (Hyper Radial) diaphragm ensuring a smooth, naturalsound with excellent mid/low frequency reproduction Time-aligned front baffle design and internal HP Sound reflectorsNX-6A20mm tweeter, 160mm woofer, 100 watt bi-ampNX-5A20mm tweeter, 130mm woofer, 100 watt bi-ampFostex Company, 3-2-35 Musashino, Akishima, Tokyo, Japan 196-0021Tel: +81 (0)42-546-4974 Fax: +81 (0)42-546-9222 Email: info_sales@fostex.jpa u d i o m e d i a j u n e 2 0 0 8 49

good> a lot of great close-ups where he’s delivered a line.Occasionally, we’d use a bit of Foley in those gapsjust to help it, but sometimes it’s the space that’simportant, and that’s what I learnt from him.”Paul stresses the need for a top-notchteam dynamic when working on a project as radicalas Good. “At the mixing stage, we didn’t havethat long to work, and everyone had to be doingtheir jobs properly and efficiently. We didn’t havetime to waste. We essentially spent a lot of timelooking at ADR and choosing it before we got to themixing stage, so there wasn’t too much to ponderat the mix.“We all attended the spotting sessions.Often, an Effects or Dialogue Editor, or SupervisingSound Editor, will sit with the Picture Editorand Director and work through the film, talkingspecifically about which sounds are needed and theintention of each scene. Fortunately, I was able to goalong to those sessions as well, so I was party to allof those conversations, so we were very cohesive inthat sense. I spent time with Antonia [Bates], lookingat what she’d done, and she talked about what sheintended. We cut down time in the theatre becausewe had a cohesive plan of action.”An important strategy indeed, because at theoutset: “We talked about the soundtrack before we’dseen any of the film, so it was really puzzling whenwe first heard that in one of the early incarnations,there wasn’t going to be a score – just the songs,sound effects, and atmospheres, which would havebeen a very bold move. Obviously, that changedover time. What we tried to do was to capturethe period through things like accurate soundsof clothing – the uniforms and suits of the time,the shoes in the hallways, and so forth. It was adifficult brief.”Producer Miriam Segal is cock-a-hoop with theresult, however. “I had a great experience producingGood with LipSync; having all departments underone roof made for a slick but flexible post-productionprocess. The company also has a ‘face’. You feel likeyou are being brought into the family and they willlook after you and your film, just as they do theiremployees. I didn’t even hesitate when decidingwhere to take my next film. I hope that LipSync willremain a great post-production partner for manyprojects to come.”Good is scheduled for theatrical release in2008, so if you just cannot live without Mahler,keep your eyes on the Internet Movie Database(www.imdb.com). ∫....................................INFORMATIONProject: GoodStudio: Hear No Evil, FulhamLipSync Theatre 1, Wardour St, LondonDirector – Vicente AmorimSupervising Sound Editor – Paul DaviesSound FX Editor – Antonia BatesDialogue Editor – Sean Hannah (LipSync)Re-recording Mixer – Paul Cotterell (LipSync)Assistant Mixer – Steve Shaw (LipSync)Original Music – Simon LaceyFoley Recording – Robert BrazierReport – Karl Foster50AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

Sarah and broadcaster Bob Jonescatch a moment with pianist andClassic FM presenter Myleene KlassFormer principal with the Royal BalletDarcey Bussell chats to the FlashMicGrabbing a few seconds withsinger and TV star Amy NuttallOn the red carpet with violinistNicola BenedettiThe great Plácido Domingo talks tothe FlashMicBackstage with mezzo-sopranoKatherine JenkinsCLASSIC FM AT THECLASSICAL BRIT AWARDSCovering the Classical BRIT Awards in London for Classic FM, journalist Sarah Kirkupused her HHB FlashMic Digital Recording Microphone to gather interviews for Classic FMMagazine, and for broadcast on air and via podcasts.“With no fiddly cables, the FlashMic was so easy to use” comments Sarah, who also picked up on the effectthat the FlashMic’s physical presence had on potential interview subjects. “Everyone on the red carpetseemed happy to stop and speak into the FlashMic and I’m not sure that that would have been the casewith other handheld recorders. The sound quality of the FlashMic is so good that I only had to listen to eachinterview once when transcribing for print, and locating and downloading the interviews for broadcast couldnot have been more straightforward.”Listen to Classic FM ‘Arts Daily’ podcasts at www.classicfm.comFlashMic combines a studio quality mic capsule with a broadcastquality Flash recorder and USB file transfer.Used by broadcastersand news organisationsworldwide, FlashMic is theone thing a seriousjournalist is never without.Classic FM journalist Sarah Kirkup interviews opera star Natasha Marsh with the HHB FlashMic at the Classical BRIT Awards in LondonSEND US YOURFLASHMIC CASE STUDYAnd you could win a great prize. Visit www.flashmic.info for detailsFLASHMIC RANGEDRM85 Omni-directional digital recording microphoneDRM85-C Cardioid digital recording microphoneDRM85LI Omni-directional digital recording microphone with line inputDRM85-CLI Cardioid digital recording microphone with line inputwww.flashmic.infoHHB Communications Ltd T: +44 (0)20 8962 5000 E: sales@hhb.co.ukIn the USA and Latin America: Sennheiser Electronic Corporation T: 860 434 9190 E: HHBSales@sennheiserusa.comIn Canada: HHB Communications Canada Ltd T: 416 867 9000 E: sales@hhbcanada.com

PRODUCT SAMPLERNEW MICROPHONESCables at the ready as Audio Media plugs in thelatest round of microphone releases.“Microphone: an instrument for converting sound waves into electrical energy variations which maybe reconverted into sound after transmission by wire or radio after recording.” So reads a typicaldictionary definition of a ‘long-ish’ word, long since established in modern-day English vernacular.History has seen many different sounding microphone designs come and go over the last century orso, yet new ones still keep popping up. It’s a hotly contested marketplace as attested by the followingmodels released within the last year.According to Product Manager ThomasStubics, AKG Acoustics’ C 214 “...was designedas a budget-friendly alternative to theleading-edge C 414 family; because the C 214uses the same one-inch diaphragm as the C414, the essence of that heralded C 414 hasbeen captured in this newestmodel.” The C 214 road-toughconstruction is based arounda dent-resistant metal grillethat ensures high RF immunitywithout affecting its acousticalperformance, plus a gold-platedXLR-type output.www.akg.comNew from AKG is the Perception Series,comprising the P 120, a 2/3-inch diaphragmequippedcondenser mic with a wide,extended frequency response for generalapplications; P 170, a 1/2-inch diaphragmequippedcondenser mic with a cardioid polarpattern for acoustics, drums, and percussion; P220 one-inch diaphragm-equipped condensermic with a switchable bass roll-off and preattenuationpad, ideal for high sound pressurelevels; and P 420multi-pattern, largediaphragm-equippedcondenser mic.www.akg.comAvailable as of March 2008, Audio-Technica’sAT2020 USB is billed as being an affordable(£99.95, inc.VAT) large-diaphragm studiocondenser mic featuring USB connectivityfor (Mac- or PC-based) computer-basedrecording. Featuring a custom-engineeredlow-mass diaphragm, low self noise, and anextended frequency response, the AT2020USB has a fixed cardioidpolar pattern while phantompower is drawn from the USBconnection itself. Ships witha tripod desk stand, standmount, and carry pouch.www.audio-technica.comCalifornian company Blue Microphones’Snowflake is effectively a portable versionof its popular Snowball Professional USBMicrophone, combining a USB bus-poweredcapsule with a class-compliant design for trueplug-and-play on Mac and PC computers. Themic itself folds into a compact case that alsohouses a USB cable to aid transportability;unfolded, the case itselfserves as a desktopstand or a laptop clip –perfect for podcasting,webcalling, or songsketching on the go.www.bluemic.comGerman microphone-maker Brauner’srecently-introduced Phanthera V, a version ofits cardioid-only Phanthera released last year,but with the same variable characteristicsapplied to its Phantom Classic to producethe Phantom V; as such, thePhanthera V is also capableof recording in omni orbi-directional modes via asimple switch. This makes itsuitable to form one part ofan MS or XY stereo pair, forexample.www.brauner-microphones.comCAD Professional Microphones’ Trion 8000is the flagship model in its relatively recentlyreleased new line of studio microphones. Amulti-pattern, externally biased, large dualdiaphragmstudio tube condenser design,the Trion 8000 incorporates a precisionmachined,hand-assembled capsule withlow-mass 1.12-inch gold-vapour-deposited,hand-dampened diaphragms. A threepositionpolar pattern switch providesomnidirectional, cardioid, or figure-ofeightselections, while discrete Class Aelectronics ensure transparent soundreproduction.www.cadmics.comCharterOak Acoustic Devices’M-900T is a new small diaphragmvacuum condenser microphone,employing the same cardioid,hyper-cardioid, and omnicapsules used in its popular M900transformerless small diaphragmcondenser, combined with avacuum tube head amplifierand US-made Cinemag outputtransformer. Other notable featuresinclude a two-step sensitivityswitch (0dB and -15dB), and 75Hzbass roll off.www.charteroakacoustics.comCrowley And Tripp’s Naked Eye Roswelliteribbon microphone features the company’ssame nanocomposite ribbon material(Roswellite) first introduced in its el DiabloMercenary Edition microphone, which sharingthe True Dual Voicingdesign and carefullycraftedtone of the NakedEye Classic. The Naked EyeRoswellite comes completewith a lifetime warranty,wooden storage box, andlow-diffraction rotaryMonocle Mount.www.soundwavesresearch.comAlso new from DPA Microphones isthe recently launched 4017, a shortand exceptionally lightweight shotgunmicrophone offering a highly directionalpickup pattern. The Danish company alsoworked hard to produce on the practicalities ofits design, weighing in at only 71g with a shortbody length of 210mm. “If you’ve ever triedholding a mic boom for more than 10 minutes,your arms will appreciatethe low weight of the4017,” stated Sales andMarketing Director PaulKoza.www.dpamicrophones.com52AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

NEW MICROPHONES PRODUCT SAMPLERDPA Microphones’ 4080 miniature cardioidlavalier mic has been developed to provideoptimum speech intelligibility for applicationsincluding broadcast, recording, and liveperformance. Designed to be body-mountedaround 20 to 25cm from the mouth, the DPA4080 is acoustically pre-equalised, offers a 4dBpresence boost to improvespeech intelligibility anddefinition, and comescomplete with a premountedpop filter in arobust holder with shockmount.www.dpamicrophones.comEarthworks Audio’s PM40 PianoMic Systemcomprises two Random Incidence HighDefinition Microphones especially designedto work inside a piano with its lid open, halfclosed,or fully closed, providing high gainbefore feedback with virtually no leakage ofsounds of other instruments from outsidethe piano – perfectfor churches,recording studios,touring sound, andperforming artscentres, according toits creator.www.earthworksaudio.comHolophone’s surround technology is apatented audio recording system designedto address audio challenges when recordingmulti-channel sound. The HD-3 is the newestaddition to its range,marketed as being the world’smost inexpensive professionalsurround sound microphone,featuring five multidirectional,full-bandwidthmicrophone elements, and adiscrete LFE microphone inone integrated capsule.www.holophone.comJosephson Engineering’s new C617represents their second-generation highvoltagemetal diaphragm omnidirectional mic.Operating from standard 48V phantom power,yet providing full 200V polarise potential fora lab-grade standard half-inch miccapsule, the C617 is supplied witha Microtech Gefell MK221 capsule.The Josephson cascode FET frontendcircuitry introduced in the C606has been further refined.JZ Microphones’ The Black Hole is ahandcrafted, multi-pattern (cardioid, omni,figure-of-eight), studio condenser designfeaturing a Class A discrete amplifier circuit,two opposing-positioned true electrostaticcapsules, custom-designed capsule withsingle-tap diaphragm andadjustable backplate, variablespluttered diaphragm, andintegrated capsule shockmount.Recently, it’s been joined by afixed-cardioid version (BH-2)and fixed-cardioid version witha pad switch (BH-3).M-Audio’s Pulsar II is a relatively new smallcapsulecondenser microphone featuring asix-micron Mylar evaporatedgolddiaphragm capsuledesign – ideal for studio andstage applications. Othernotable features includea solid brass backplate fornatural, transparent sound;low-distortion Class-A FETelectronics; and switchable10dB pad and 80Hz highpassfilter (Also available as amatched pair).www.josephson.comwww.jzmic.comadAT4050(audio media)186x129mm.qxd:Mise en page 1 9/06/08 16:18 Page 1www.m-audio.comAT4050: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 onthe creation of the AT4050, he was working to obtain the AT4050’s superb quality of soundreproduction.Not only did he succeed in his ambition, but today, the AT4050 is used all over the world in awide 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, emailinfo@audio-technica.co.uk or telephone +44 (0) 113 292 0463.*AT2020 suggested retail pricewww.audio-technica.comAUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008 53

NEW MICROPHONES PRODUCT SAMPLERAccording to Mercenary Audio, its KM-69“...is an entirely new microphone developedfrom our desire for a [Neumann] KM-84 forhi-hats.” As such, the KM-69 is the culminationof many years of working with manufacturers,the next logical step after its MercenaryEdition products, where an existing productis often given a total overhaul.The KM-69 purportedly soundsvery close to the KM-84, whileoffering better clarity and detailwithout sacrificing depth,making it ideal for acousticinstrument applications.www.mercenaryaudio.comMicrotech Geffell’s UM 930 is a studiocondenser microphone withswitchable characteristics,combining modernlarge-diaphragm capsuletechnology with the latestin semi-conductor circuittopology to suit universalmiking applications inbroadcast and soundstudios. It’s a side-addressmicrophone with the fiveswitchable patterns markedon its body.www.microtechgeffell.deMXL Microphones’ new V88 is a largediaphragm,pressure-gradient condensermicrophone with a fully balanced,transformerless output. Features include a32mm large capsule; gold-spluttered, sixmicrondiaphragm; low-noise FETpre-amp; 20Hz to20kHz frequencyresponse; and ClassA electronics (Comescomplete with a highisolationshockmountand aluminium flightcase).www.mxlmics.comNeumann recently celebrated its 80thanniversary with the launch of the TLM 67.In many ways the TLM 67 is based on thecompany’s 1960s-vintage U 67 – incorporatingthe same K 67 capsule, but with newlydesignedcircuitry that closely reproducesU 67 characteristics without the use oftubes. Switchable directional characteristics(omnidirectional, cardioid, andfigure-of-eight), selectable 10dBpre-attenuation, and a high-passfilter, allow detailed adjustmentsto be made according torecording applications.www.neumann.comBerlin-based microphone manufacturerNeumann’s TLM 103 D is a digital (AES 42)version of its well-established TLM 103 homeand project recording-orientated largediaphragmmicrophone, available in nickel andblack with an includedstand mount. Specsinclude 44.1, 48, 88.2,96, 176.4, and 192kHzsampling rates; 20Hzto 20kHz frequencyresponse; and a 127dBdynamic range.www.neumann.comRed Microphones’ Type A tube microphoneis based on a system of nine interchangeablecapsules called The Redheads. The Type Aincludes a custom-built flight case, a highdefinitiontube mic cable,shockmount, and theinnovative PowerStreampower supply, which notonly insures ultra-stableperformance, but alsofeatures a soft-start featurethat maximises tube life andminimises start-up time.www.redmic.comRØDE Microphones' all-new NTG-3 shotgunmicrophone is designed to withstandadverse environmental weather conditions,incorporating a technology known as RF-bias,rendering it almost completely resistant tomoisture. Technically, its true-condensersuper-cardioid capsule accepts standard48V phantompower to deliverhigh-sensitivityrecording with aquoted 40Hz to20kHz frequencyresponse.www.rodemic.comOther than differentiating different colouredlogos and thicker ribbon elements – withattendant lower transientresponses – to make them moredurable and better able to standup to the rigours of the road,there are no differences betweenRoyer Labs’ new Live Seriesmicrophones (R-121 Live ribbon,R-122 Live phantom-poweredribbon, and SF-24 Live stereophantom-powered ribbon) andtheir studio-bound counterparts(R-121, R-122, and SF-24).www.royerlabs.comThe CMIT 5U is the latest from longestablishedGerman microphonemanufacturer Schoeps, and, as such,represents its first foray into shotgunmicrophones. Three filters areprovided: high-frequency emphasisenhances speech intelligibility; asteep low-cut filter suppresses windand boom noise; and a gentle lowfrequencyroll-off compensates forproximity effect.www.schoeps.deThe sE Electronics Gemini II represents“ultimate design... a no-holds-barred pieceof microphone history”, according to themanufacturer. A dual-valve design with a12AX7 input valve coupled with a 12AU7 inputvalve on the output stagein place of a transformer,the all-new Gemini II nowhas a 10dB pad and basscut, a brand-new brushedaluminium PSD, and lowersignal-to-noise ratio.Sennheiser’s just-introduced MKH 800 TWINis a 50kHz frequency response-capable dualcapsulemicrophonethat provides twoseparate sound signalsat the microphoneoutput, allowing thepickup pattern to beremotely fine-tunedand corrected at themixing console.The Shure KSM27 is a side-address condensermicrophone with a cardioid polar pattern. Itfeatures an externally biased, one-inch (ultrathin,24 carat gold-layered, low-mass Mylar)diaphragm; low self-noise; Class A discretetransformerless preampfor transparency,fast transient response,and no crossoverdistortion, whileminimising harmonicand intermodulationdistortions.www.seelectronics.comwww.sennheiser.comwww.shure.com00 54AUDIO MEDIA JUNE MAY 1998 2008

NEW MICROPHONES PRODUCT SAMPLERDorset-based British microphone designer/developer Sontronics’ recently introducedSTC-6 condensermicrophone features aredesigned body withgrip-aiding grooves andvarious additional features,including a 0dB/-10dB padand linear 75kHz high-passfilter, and comes completewith a mic clip, all safelyhoused in an aluminiumflightcase.www.sontronics.comResulting from a five-year R&D programme,the SoundField DSF-2 Broadcast MicrophoneSystem represents the latest generation ofSoundField technology, comprising a fourcapsulemicrophone and the DSF-2 DigitalMicrophone Controller, which outputs stereo,M/S, and the four-channel B-Format thatcan be decoded into any current or futuresurround format using the hardware SP451or Surround Zone plug-in. All mic parameterscan be adjusted from thecontroller without havingto physically move the mic.www.soundfield.comSoundField’s new SPS200 A-Formatmicrophone is the first SoundField mic thatdoes not require an accompanying controlunit; as such, a short breakout cable outputsthe SoundField A-Format on four balancedXLRs. All processing takes place in the bundledsoftware plug-ins (available forDigidesign Pro Tools HD and allplatforms supporting multi-channelVST), while the relatively lightweight(220g) mic itself is powered bystandard 48V phantom power andincorporates four low-noise, studiogradecondenser capsules.www.soundfield.comTelefunken|USA’s Ela M 260 small-diaphragmcondenser features a ‘new old stock’Telefunken EF-732 tube and a custom-woundtransformer from AMI/TAB-Funkenwerk, andcomes complete with a set of interchangeablecardioid, hyper-cardioid, and omni-directionalcapsules, as well as an adaptor to allow theuse of most AKG CS series capsules, togetherwith other capsules made by Red/B.L.U.E.and JZ/Violet. Systems alsoinclude a wooden mic box,10-metre Gotham Audio cable,shockmount, mic clip, owner’smanual, and 10-year warranty. Violet Design’s recently-launched The Wedgeis a high-quality studio microphone that usesa large true electrostatic single diaphragm toprovide high output (130dB) and full soundspectrum (20Hz to 20kHz). Its transducercapsule is internally damped from vibrationand resonance while the doublemesh head helps deliver atransparent, natural sound. TheWedge ships with a stand holder,while three different optionalshock mounts provide additionalprotection from external subsonicinterference.Built to order as a so-called AEA Service Shop(Pasadena, California) Special at a list priceof $5,800, AEA’s new phantom-powered BigRibbon A440 purportedly has the greatestuseable dynamic range ofany ribbon microphonemanufactured today, and,according to companyf o u n d e r We s D o o l e y, i s “...the quietest ribbon microphonein existence.” The A440 has aflat frequency response and anaccurate figure-of-eight polarpattern down to 20Hz.www.telefunkenusa.comwww.violet-design.comwww.wesdooley.comPRO I/OPRICED TO GOAvailable in 8 and 16 channel versions, Lynx Aurora eclipses the performance of other audio converterscosting up to three times the price. And while some devices want to hog your whole rack, Aurora takesup just 1U. With interface cards now available for Pro Tools| HD® , FireWire ® and ADAT ® , Aurora canbring 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 channelanalogue I/O and 16 channel AES/EBU I/O • 24-bit/192kHz A/D and D/A conversion • LSlot expansion slot for ProTools| HD® , FireWire ® and ADAT ® interfaces • Extensive remote control capabilities • On-board digital mixer providesflexible I/O routing • Word Clock I/O with Lynx SynchroLock jitter reduction technology • 1U rack-mountableAll trademarks are recognised as the property of their respective owners.UK distribution by SourceFind a dealer at: www.sourcedistribution.co.uk/lynx • T: 020 8962 508000AUDIO MEDIA JUNE MAY 1998 2008 55

video guideA Sound Pro’s Guide To VideoHD AcquisitionDelving behind the silverscreen, KEVIN HILTON takes alook forward to what wecan expect of HD’s impacton the industry.SOUND PRO'S VIDEO GLOSSARYHelical scanningDuring the days of audio taperecording, sound quality couldbe improved by increasing thespeed at which tapes passedover the static record head.For a video device to copewith the huge amount of dataneeded to accurately capturethe picture (and sound), thetape would have to travel atimmense speeds if the recordhead did not move. That isclearly impractical so the helicalscanning drum was developedto keep tape speeds at a sensiblerate while still being able to passon all the necessary information.This has been used since thedays of earlier analogue videoformats, including Beta SP, andis still regarded as an effectivemethod in the digital age.The ½-inch wide HDCAM tapeis wrapped around the majorityof a 75cm (3-inch) drum, makingcontact at one edge and leavingat another. At no point doesthe tape come in contact withthe bottom centre of theoutside of the drum. Thisforms the shape of a helix,hence the name of the system.Because the HDCAM mechanismhas four heads the tape is alwaysin contact with two of them; asthe heads are turned on andoff information is recorded instrips at shallow angles on tothe tape.Cameras have developed over the past 20 years to givecinematographers and operators a broad range of toolsfor different aspects of film and television production.Although the gaps between camera technologies in thehigh, mid, and low end markets have contracted in recenttimes there is still a big demand for high quality camerasand acquisition formats that can rival film and the older styleof equipment.High definition is certainly providing that in television,both for live events, sport in particular, when workingin interlaced mode, and increasingly for documentariesand drama, which are shot using the progressive format.Due to adjacent lines of a picture being scanned in succession,progressive produces a frame-based look similar to film,which is why high end TV drama producers see it as a viablealternative to Super 16.For many, and not just traditionalists such as compiles andthe older generation of directors of photography, HD doesnot match the depth and warmth of film. The ideal would bean electronic means of capturing pictures that, like HD, couldbe connected to a digital intermediate (DI) post-productionsystem so the footage can be worked on and distributed asdata but which are more like film than video.This desire has resulted in what is regarded as the nextgeneration of filmmaking device, the digital cinema camera.Huge amounts of money have been spent on research toallow pictures to be recorded as data on tape or hard disk.Major productions are now in progress using this latesttechnology, but there are still doubts over performanceand reliability, giving, for the time being at least, HD ashort lead in the race to be the dominant acquisition formatof the future.During the late 1980s there were attempts to break themonopoly of film in commercials, music promo, and featureproduction using the then analogue high definition systems,one of which, somewhat confusingly given the recentdevelopment of the lower end digital format for DV tapes,was known as HDV. The two notable films madeat the time, Julia and Julia, and Crack In The Mirror,are now merely footnotes in the history of HD.The equipment used to make those filmswas cumbersome and involved connecting thecamera to video recorders in a truck by means oflengths of cable. What filmmakers wanted wasa video or other kind of media version of thefilm camera; self-contained and easy to move.HD camcorders certainly provide that, andwhile the camcorder may be mostly identifiedwith general TV production and newsgathering,the top-of-the-range models have beendesigned as modern equivalents of Arri andPanavision cameras.Sony staked its claim with the HDCAM format,with the higher end of the range branded asCineAlta. The first in the series was the HDW-F900,which is still the flagship today in the upgradedform for the F900R. The HDCAM recording system uses the8-bit DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) 3:1:1 method for arecorded video bit rate of 144Mbit/s.In HDCAM the picture data being recorded, eitherprogressively or interlaced, is stored on tape with each frameas a separate and individual entity. These are arranged in 12diagonal strips along the tape and are read using the Helicalscanning method (see glossary). To produce a filmic resultthe F900 operates at 24p (24 frames a second, progressive),and for greater mobility the R version has a smaller andlighter optical section and recording mechanism.The film and TV production business clearly saw theF900 as a serious alternative to film cameras, to the pointthat Panavision produced its own version for the featuremarket. The ‘Panavised’ F900, the HD900F, has a 4:1 zoomlens and follow focus capability, augmented by a numberof hardware additions that are far more familiar to directorsof photography who work primarily in film.Panavision added a viewfinder arranged in threesections that attach to the existing support rails.This bracket accommodates either the viewfinder itself oran extension unit for the housing. The lens mount is similarto Panavision’s usual film configuration, only marginallybigger to cope with the 11:1 zoom lens that was part of theoriginal re-design, used by George Lucas for the recentlymade first three instalments of the Star Wars saga.The Panavision lens was originally designed for 35mmfilm work, but in a video setting the frame size is two anda half times bigger than the imaging array of the F900.Consequently the lens for the HDCAM camcorder had togive a smaller image but be sharper to compensate for theamount of magnification required to project the finishedimages. A new lens mount and front plate were also neededto support the extra weight of this lens. Lenses produced byPanavision since the launch of the HD900F, now augmentedby the HD900R, have been configured for HD and offersimilar resolution.>56AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

video guide A Sound Pro’s Guide To VideoFilm And TV CinematographynewsFilmmakers today are looking forward to a time whennot only film but also videotape is removed from theproduction process. Panasonic is continuing its part ofthat campaign with new versionsof its VariCam camcorders using P2solid state media.The VariCam 3700 (modelAJ-HPX3700) and 2700 (AJ-HPX2700)are HD camcorders that delivermaster-quality, full-resolution10-bit 4:2:2 AVC-Intra 100 recording;variable frame rates in one-frameincrements; HD-SDI output of23.98PsF/24PsF; and a multigammafunction to match filmstock, which has been an importantselling point for the establishedVariCam cameras.The 2700 is a solid-state versionof Panasonic’s DVCPRO HD VariCamand features three 2/3-inch nativeHD resolution CCDs. It producescinema-quality, independent frame1080 and 720 images with 4:2:210-bit sampling in AVC-Intra 100. The camera recordsusing the more bandwidth efficient AVC-Intra 50compression as well as DVCPRO HD. The VariCam 2700is intended for sports, documentaries, independentfilms, and any project for which flexibility would bean advantage, and also delivers advanced gammasettings, variable frame rates (from 1fps to 60fps in720p mode) and two separate HD-SDI outputs.At the top of this new P2 range is the VariCam 3700,which is aimed at feature films, episodic televisionand commercials. It gives full native 1920x1080-pixelacquisition and independent frame recording with10-bit/4:2:2 sampling. The three HPX3700 2/3-inch 2.2megapixel CCD camera also gives a 4:4:4 RGB duallinklive output, seen as a benefit for productionsworking with visual effects. The VariCam 3700 recordsin full-raster 1920x1080 resolution in AVC-Intra 100,and records in AVC-Intra 50 and DVCPRO HD as well.Its variable frame rate function has a range from 1fpsto 30fps in one-frame increments, and is equippedwith three HD-SDI outputs (dual-link plus monitor).Both the VariCam 3700 and VariCam 2700 canbe switched between 59.94-Hz and 50-Hz recording.Five P2 card slots allow continuous recording, cardselection, hot swapping, loop rec, pre-rec, intervalrec, and one-shot recording. Five 32GB P2 cards allowrecording for up to 200 minutes in AVC-Intra 100 at1080/24p, 400 minutes in AVC-Intra 100 at 720/24p,320 minutes in other AVC-Intra 50 formats, and 160minutes in other AVC-Intra 100 or DVCPRO HD formats.These capacities will be doubled if operators use thenew 64GB P2 cards, which are due for release laterthis year.Among the image enhancing features on bothcamcorders are 14-bit A/D processing, ChromaticAberration Compensation (CAC) to maximise lensperformance, Dynamic Range Stretching (DRS) for widevariations in lighting, unique shutter angle settings,built-in scan reverse, and full control of matrix andcolour correction for precise image matching.The VariCam 3700 and VariCam 2700 both havea high sensitivity of F10 at 2,000 lx and feature48-kHz/16-bit, four-channel digital audio recording.Text memos and shot markerscan be added to the recordingsand an additional circuitboard, the AJ-YAX800G, makesproxy data recording possible.Other features include scene files,user buttons, user menu andfocus assist functions, and newlydesigned, two-wheel (ND and CC)optical filters.Panasonic expects theAJ-HPX3700 and AJ-HPX2700 to beon the market during this autumn.> Other hardware modifications include a differenthandle on top of the camera, a new base plate togive greater stability on a tripod, and a voltagedistributor with outputs for both 12 and 24 volts.This allows video and film accessories to beconnected and run in conjunction with thecamcorder. Inside the camera a filter was insertedbefore the two in-camera filter wheels. Used withPanavision lenses this makes the processing andrecording of red light more as it is dealt with by thehuman eye and film.This means the red amplifier, a necessarydevice in video cameras to electronicallyincrease sensitivity to this part of the colourspectrum, has been turned down in the HD900F.Another electronic difference is the absenceof definition enhancement. Traditionally videodevices have been fitted with a circuit boardto increase the sharpness of images, usually byelectronically hardening the hard edges in apicture, thereby producing a sharper effect.Panavision felt this was unnecessary due to itsPrimo Digital lenses, and so has turned off theimage enhancement electronics.Panasonic’s film-style HD camcorder has adefinite look of traditional cameras and is designedto operate at a number of frame rates in muchthe same way as celluloid. Because of this, theAJ-HDC27HE is also known at the VariCam but,like the more general production camcorders inPanasonic’s high definition range, it also operateson the DVCPRO HD, or DVCPRO 100, format.DVCPRO HD uses four parallel codecs and acoded video bit rate in the region of 100Mbit/s,with the actual rate depending on what format isselected. Pictures are encoded using 4:2:2 coloursampling. For 720p, images are pre-filtered to givea recording with a resolution size of 960x720, while1080i is processed to either 1280x1080 for 59.94i, or1440x1080 for 50i.The AJ-HDC27HD operates at frame rates fromfour to 60 frames a second and is able to recreatethe speeds found on a film camera, which can beused for different effects, such as slow-motionand time-lapse. The camera also offers gammaimage quality that is comparable to film,producing a picture with a full dynamic range thatcan be projected.While HD has helped create camcorders thatcinematographers have started to regard as closerto film than previous video formats there are stilldoubts over the resolution and the amount ofcompression involved. Because of this, Thomson(Grass Valley) took a different approach in designingits digital HD camera, the Viper, by using anuncompressed 4:4:4 signal. This has producedsomething much closer to film, which was also theaim of the developers of digital cinema cameras.Both will be discussed in the next Video Guide. ∫AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 200857

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TOURING • INSTALLATION • THEATRE • SYSTEMS INTEGRATION • PRODUCTIONAUDIO MEDIASound ReinforcementContentsAMSR News 60Technology, application, and installation news fromthe global sound reinforcement community.Meyer Sound Q&A 62HEATHER JOHNSON quizzes company main man JohnMeyer about line array design and technology.The Blue Planet Live! 64JONATHAN MILLER meets the team charged with taking TheBlue Planet’s stunning sights and sounds to the stage.Royer Labs R-121 & R-122 70SIMON ALLEN puts the road-readied live versions of Royer’sreputable ribbon mics through their onstage paces.AMSR is the regular AUDIO MEDIA Sound Reinforcement section, aimed squarely atSR professionals across Europe. Following the Audio Media ethos, the emphasiswill be on the product reviews and technical features written by workingindustry professionals that anybody in SR will find relevant and useful.

www.audiomedia.comKlein+Hummel has introducedthe KPA Series of audio poweramplifiers operating at levels ashigh as 6000Winto 2Ω (KPA 2400)down to modelsproviding 1100Winto 8Ω (KPA2220). The newamps can be daisychainedtogetherusing CAT5 forboth digital audiodistribution andremote control, and monitoringof all amplification functions,including load monitoring.w www.sennheiser.co.ukw www.sennheiserusa.comAll Change At Harman(Professional UK)Sound Technology acquires Harman ProfessionalUK's DistributionAudio-Technica kicked off its ‘RoadTo Success’ three-week, sevenlocationUK tour at Lingfield Parkracecourse on May 21 and 22,where the company’s new ATCS-60infrared conference systemmade an exclusive pre-launchappearance prior to its officialunveiling at InfoComm 08 in LasVegas on June 18 to 20.w www.audio-technica.co.ukKIND Audio has launched its newtwo-channel KDX and four-channelKQX series. Seven KDX modelsrange from 2x 300W to 2x 1500Winto 4Ω (allofferinghigherpower 2Ωcapability),while the KQXs range from 4x400W to 4x 700W into 4Ω. All arebased on Class D output circuitry,controlled by the company’spatented TeoTon technology toprovide low distortion and highefficiency.w www.cuk-audio.ukw www.kindaudio.comOver 40 participants from sevenEuropean countries attended themost recent DYNACORD Academyin Straubing (Germany). Runningfrom April 13 to 15, its centralseminar theme was Concert Sound,including workshops dealing withthe IRIS-Net integrated softwareplatform in conjunction withPower H amplifiers, plus variousloudspeaker systems (Cobra 4 and2, Xa2), and the multi-functionVariLine loudspeaker system.w www.beyerdynamic.co.ukw www.dynacord.comCalifornian-headquartered HarmanInternational Industries hasannounced that it has sold HarmanProfessional UK's distribution businessfor its Professional Group in the UKand Ireland to Letchworth-basedindependent UK distributor SoundTechnology. The agreement transfersa team of sales professionals andexclusive UK and Irish distributionrights for JBL Professional, Crown,Soundcraft, AKG, dbx, BSS Audio, andLexicon products.Stated Harman ProfessionalChief Executive Officer BlakeAugsburger: “Sound Technologyis a premier pro audio distributionbusiness in the UK and Ireland withstrong market knowledge and acommitment to selling systems acrossHarman’s served vertical markets.This direct-to-third-party shift providesLawo Buys Into InnovasonContinuing this month’s apparent theme of companybuyouts and buy-ins, German radio and TV broadcast mixingconsole and matrix systems developer/designer Lawo hasacquired a majority shareholding in French live digitalmixing console manufacturer Innovason, officially endingthe latter’s receivership period while providing a strongpartnership for the future.Innovason’s Sales & Marketing Director, Xavier Pion,views this development as being a perfect fit for bothcompanies, stating, “It’s no secret that we had beenlooking for a development partner forquite some time. We explored a numberof possibilities, but none seemed to bequite the match we were looking for untilPhilipp Lawo expressed an interest. As aleading manufacturer of high-end digitalbroadcast consoles, Lawo’s expertise inthe digital domain is beyond question. WeHarman [with] the entrepreneurialdrive necessary to support itsinternational go-to-market strategy.”For its part in the proceedings,Sound Technology’s Chairman,Robert Wilson, commented, “Weare thrilled to be representing thelegendary professional brands ofHarman International. The acquisitionof Harman Pro’s UK distribution, withits portfolio of advanced solutions,reinforces Sound Technology’sposition within the MI industry,whilst substantially expanding anddiversifying the company into thevertical markets of installation,broadcast, and touring sound.”Sound Technology+44 (0)1462 480000www.soundtech.co.ukHarman Pro UK+44 (0)1707 668181www.harmanprouk.com_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________have similar areas of competency geared to live market. Ibelieve that the opportunities created by the synergies ofsuch complementary technologies in two quite differentmarkets will be significant for both parties. I am delighted tohave concluded the agreement, and look forward to a richpartnership.”Lawo CEO Philipp Lawo concurred: “Our investment inInnovason adds a new dimension to our activities at Lawo.The opportunity to create new synergies will be to thebenefit of both companies. Innovason is a strong brandin the live sound market, and we arelooking forward to taking it to the nextlevel.”Lawo+49 7222 1002 0www.lawo.deInnovason+33 2 97 24 34 34www.innovason.com60AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

www.audiomedia.comMaiden’sFlying FadersDiGiCo’s D5 flies high with Iron MaidenIron Maiden have toured the as we possibly [could]. The schedule we put together due toworld many times over, but the this flexibility [was] very exciting, taking us to some places weSomewhere Back In Time World Tour [hadn’t] been in a long while, and some we [had] never been2008 – opening in Mumbai, India to. It’s a lot of flying, but well worth it.”on February 1, before continuing Joining the high-flying band on the 50,000 mile round tripthrough Australia, Japan, Los Angeles, and Mexico, followed that saw them performing to 400,000 fans in 21 cities in 10by the Legendary heavy metallers’ first ever concerts in countries was Monitor Engineer Steve ‘Gonzo’ Smith and hisCosta Rica and Columbia, then on to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, DiGiCo D5 console, who ran no fewer than 18 monitor mixesPuerto Rica, and New York, finallyfor the six-piece outfit. “Maiden arefinishing up in Toronto, Canada onvery ‘old school’,” he commented.March 16 – made use of a specially“The only band member on in-earsconverted Boeing 757 airliner tois guitarist Adrian Smith. The rest aretransport not only the band plusall on wedges, with sidefills and aits 50-strong crew, but also 12number of full mono mixes throughtonnes of production equipmentspeakers placed by the onstagesuitable for venues holding upramps, which the band [ran] aroundto 50,000 people. Notably, saidon. Bruce also [had] additional fillsairliner – nicknamed Ed Forceat the back of the stage, projectingOne in honour of the group’s monstrous ‘Eddie’ mascot – just a vocal mix forward. Of course, wedges are essential forwas piloted by none other than Maiden frontman Bruce the classic Maiden ‘foot on the monitors’ pose as well!”Dickenson, who commented, “I have been flying commercial DiGiCo UKpassenger jets for Astraeus Airlines for a few years now, and +44 (0)1372 845600we [commissioned] an Astraeus Boing 757.”www.digico.orgAdded guitarist Steve Harris: “Taking our own 757 really Group One[made] it a lot more flexible for us, and we [rammed] into +1 515 249 1399the specially constructed cargo holds as much of the show www.g1limited.com_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Martin Audio Launches W8VDQMartin Audio has introduced the W8VDQ, a compact, threewaysystem that combines line array differential dispersiontechnologies, purportedly providing an advance solutionfor users requiring even coverage over wide angles andthrow distances.To that end, the system has been designed to provide ashort-throw horizontal dispersion of 120°, narrowing to 100°as the throw increases. According to the High Wycombeheadquarteredlive performance system designer, thevertical differential directivity (VDQ) – hence, obviously,the new product’s name – creates progressively more HFoutput as the throw distance increases with the resultingdispersion pattern being ideally suited to covering audienceslocated on flat or gradually sloping surfaces.Designed for passive or bi-amped operation, andcombining a Hybrid quad eight-inchLF and MF configurations with aquad one-inch HF, the systemachieves a maximum SPL of 131dB(continuous)/137 dB (peak).Aimed at a wide range ofapplications – from live andtheatre sound to fixed installations,the W8VDQ is compatible with WMX, WS18X, andWS218X subwoofers.Martin Audio (HQ)+44 (0)1494 535312Martin Audio (USA)+1 519 747 5853www.martin-audio.comSheffield-sited audio mixer,amplifier, zoner, and specialistaudio distribution systemmanufacturer CloudElectronics haslaunched its newMPA Series of singlezone mixer-amplifiers, comprisingthe MPA60 (60W), MPA120(120W), and MPA240 (240W),each featuring six line inputs withsummed stereo to mono, plusfour microphone inputs into asingle zone.w www.cloud.co.ukCarvin’s new 17-model-strong LSxrange of loudspeakers comprisesseveral passive and active two-waydesigns featuring 10- to 15-inchwoofers – includingthe LSx1002,LSx1202, LSx1202A,LSx1202M,LSx1202MA,LSx1502, LSx1502A,LSx1502M, andLSx1502MA; 15-inchwoofer-based threewaydesigns – LSx1503, LSx1503A,LSx2153, LSx1523 and LSx1523A;plus various passive and active18-inch subs (LSx1801, LSx1801A,LSx1802).w www.carvin.comDanley Sound Labs has launchedthe SH-96, combining 11 drivers –four 15-inch woofers, six five-inchmids, plus a single 1.4-inch HFcompression driver – in a singleenclosure with a quoted handlingcapacity of 2800W (RMS) and 50Hzto 18kHz frequency response(±3dB). Developed in response to acustomer’s request for the ultimatetheatre experience, itsfirst installation will be in therenovated IMAX theatre on NavyPier in Chicago.w www.danleysoundlabs.comCalifornian musical instrumentand audio industry analogueand digital connectivity solutionsupplier Hosa Technology isshipping Da-CappoMicro Microphones’DA12 single-earmicrophone(featuring thecompany’sEuropean-designed 2.5mmdiameter capsule for full frequencyresponse), DA04 lavalier-stylemicrophone (employing that samecapsule), and DA11 ‘The Stick’microphone (again, featuring thatsame capsule, together with a longstem that can easily be bent to suittheatre applications).w www.hostech.comAUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008 61

06|08AMSRTheFuture MeyerisThe way forwardfor Meyer SoundHEATHER JOHNSON talks to John Meyer about what the future might hold for Meyer Sound Laboratories.John Meyer has remained an audio innovatorfor more than 30 years with his scientific,often unconventional approach to loudspeakerdesign. Since forming Meyer Sound Laboratorieswith wife Helen Meyer in 1979, the Berkeley,California-based company has broken newground in a number of ways, beginning in 1980with the UPA-1 loudspeaker, that features a patentedtrapezoidal enclosure that has becomean industry standard. Other firsts includethe Source Independent Measurement (SIM)system, acoustical prediction software, and, mostnotably, the self-powered professional soundreinforcement loudspeaker. We recentlysat down with John Meyer to discuss recentadvancements in loudspeaker design and whatcould be in store for the future.AM: In today’s market, line array systemsseem trending towards being smaller andlighter in certain markets. From a designstandpoint, how do you accommodate thatdemand, yet still deliver customers thehigh SPL and even coverage customers arelooking for?JM: The main advantage that we have today interms of designing and manufacturing smaller,lighter systems, is the variety of new materialsthat are available. Some examples are lightermaterials such as the use of Neodymium in drivers,some of the new plastics that are available,as well as the improvement of electronics inpower supplies have let us design smaller andlighter without compromising the acousticperformance of the systems.Other design aspects that we always takeinto consideration are, of course, the physicalsize of the line array. We understand that everyvenue has different structural requirements –some need lighter systems than others, sometimesit’s a space issue, so we always think aboutthe solution or solutions that we will need toaccommodate different situations.However, in terms of delivering customers thecoverage they need, it’s the self-powered designof our products and their ability to optimisethe amplifier/driver relationship that makes abig difference. Today, one can look at driversand amplifiers as a system – you don’t need toworry about amplifier racks anymore and it’s nolonger difficult to add equipment if you needit. Because everything is self-powered, it’s reallysimple to add whatever equipment you needwithout reconfiguring everything.AM: With a broader range of venues andengineers using line array systems, how areyou building ease-of-use into your line arraytechnology?JM: When it comes to our line arrays the ease-ofusebenefits of the products mainly result fromthe fact that they are self-powered. The ease ofuse of the products, combined with their power,is what’s contributing to the use of line arrays innot only a broader range of venues, but a broaderrange of applications as well. The linear systemsthat we’ve created are optimised for being plugand-play;they are very straightforward so all youreally need to do is plug in and go. In addition,we have the Galileo Loudspeaker ManagementSystem, which has been designed to make it veryeasy to ‘dial-up’ the size of the array and drive linearray system with audio.The evolution of digital audio technologieshas also had a tremendous impact on sounddesign; our MAPP Online Pro tool is an exampleof this. Because it’s an extremely accurateacoustical prediction program, it makes thingssignificantly easier for sound designers as it givesthem the ability to predict the performance of asound system before they step foot in the room.In addition, by using the Remote MonitoringSystem (RMS), extensive status and systemperformance data is directly deliveredto the operator from every installedspeaker, which makes it nearly effortlessto supervise a sound system.These tools, combined with theself-powered loudspeakers, enablea huge shift away from how thingsused to be, when everythinginvolved in putting a systemtogether was a balancingact. For example,it’s much easier toset systems correctlybecausetheidealspectrum hasbasically beenanalysed, makingit easy toidentify wherethere’snotenough powerand to makechanges veryquickly.AM: What are some of the more perplexingchallenges faced by your engineering teamthese days?JM: That’s a good question. I’d say some of ourmore recent challenges are things that we see inthe MM-4XP, a 4x4-inch miniature self-poweredloudspeaker. The fact that we were able to makethe MM-4 self-powered is pretty remarkable; wehad to incorporate an amplifier that was the sizeof the package, and while the finished productwas two inches deeper than the MM-4, it’s prettyincredible because it’s powered by 48 volts.AM: What technological developments areon the Meyer Sound horizon?JM: Creating self-powered systems has reallybeen a stepping stone for us to design andcreate more complex systems. Something we’reexploring right now is wave field synthesis,which will allow us to create more spatiallyinteresting acoustical environments.AM: Compare your experience designingthe Glyph loudspeaker system in the 1970sto designing loudspeaker systems today.My, how times have changed!JM: Well, the Glyph was really a scientificexperiment to test the viability of horns and howthey could work for PA. What’s the sametoday is that we always start with asimilar approach, because we knowthat if science serves as the baseof our research and developmentefforts, we will create products thatwill truly perform and function inthe way that they are designed andintended to perform. It’s not justabout making new loudspeakers; it’sabout making the bestloudspeakers. We also feelit’sextremelyimportant to addressthe needs of ourcustomers and thechallengestheyface; as a result wewill invest timeto create solutionsthat will addressmuchmorec o m p l e xproblemsorspecific issues. ∫62A U D I O M E D I A J U N E 2 0 0 8

Music isPerceptionClose your eyes and trust your ears: the newline of Perception microphones from AKGoffers a range of solutions for anything fromvocals to instrument miking and ensemblerecording. AKG's signature "up-front" soundquality brings out the best and lets you hearall the nuances in any voice or instrument.Now open your eyes: gorgeous, rock-solid,die-cast chassis with gold-plated XLR outputsready for heavy studio sessions or life on theroad. Get blown away with Perception'ssound and build quality and be astounded athow little they cost. For the price ofsomething ordinary, you can get an AKG.ADV 670/1/Ewww.akg.com

06|08AMSRtheblueplanetLIVESeveral years after The BluePlanet originally took televisionscreens in 140-plus countries bystorm, JONATHAN MILLER meetsthe team charged with takingits stunning sights and soundsto the stage (and a muchbigger screen) at Birmingham’sSymphony Hall on the final dateof The Blue Planet Live! tour.“In creating The Blue PlanetI wanted to take the viewerson a journey to a place that they had never beenbefore, and to be emotionally moved by it. I amdelighted that World Class Service has teamed up with BBCWorldwide to produce the live events in 2008, which capturethe original spirit of the BBC television series. From thecreatures of the deep to the awesome blue whale, The BluePlanet Live! puts the audience in a moving and dramaticworld at an immense scale.”So said Alistair Fothergill, Series Producer of the awardwinningBBC documentary The Blue Planet that successfullysought to film previously unseen areas of the world’s oceansusing cutting-edge technology and investigate life beneaththe waves, calling upon the superlative narrative talents ofacclaimed broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenboroughin order to do so. It’s often been said that a picture paints athousand words, yet even Attenborough’s carefully chosenscript could only convey so much when accompanyingthe eight 50-minute episodes of often stunning footageoriginally broadcast back in 2001, themselves five years inthe making. Silence can be golden, yet (instrumental) musicis arguably a universal language in itself, so who better tocall upon to provide a suitable seafaring soundtrack thanfive-times Academy Award nominee George Fenton, whotold a BBC interviewer at the time, “Three years ago, whenI was asked to write the music, I imagined footage whichwould be awesome, terrifying, and magnificent. It is allof these things, but my lasting impression – and, for me,the greatest achievement – is that the remarkable filmsthat Alastair Fothergill, Martha Holmes, and Andy Byatthave made actually manage to make the oceans feel asnatural a habitat as the land. They have achieved this by aspectacular mix of scientific knowledge and dramatic flair.The same is true of David Attenborough. His commentariesare distinguished by their understanding, love of the subject,and, luckily for me, their musicality.”It was certainly a winning combination, with Fenton’ssuitably emotional and epic score going on to win BAFTA,Emmy, and Ivor Novello awards... and rightly so – somuch so, in fact, that some bright spark had the idea oftaking the ‘show’ to the stage, as it were, with a full-blownorchestra (conducted by none other than Fenton himself)playing along to a series of synchronised sequences fromthe television documentary being replayed on a giganticoverhead screen to select four-figure audiences aroundthe country in 2006. This (potentially) risky business paiddividends with ‘Fenton & Co’ coming back for a second biteat the (performance) cherry two years later with a uniquetwo-hour edit of the countless inspiring scenes from themuch-loved programme being projected onto some ofthe largest screens ever used in the UK.Sounding The DeepUnusually, Manchester-based employer-driven initiativeWorld Class Service was credited with presenting The BluePlanet Live! latest outing, joined by Arup – a global firmof designers and consultants behind many of the world’smost innovative and sustainable buildings, transport,and civil engineering projects – as their title sponsor.“We are proud to be bringing this spectacular showback to the UK,” stated the former’s Managing Director,Howard Raynor. “Having already thrilled audiences inLos Angeles, Hong Kong, Montreal, and Copenhagen,it is returning to the UK on an even more breathtakingscale than before. Cutting-edge developments in imageand sound quality, combined with the awesome imagesand an unforgettable score, have allowed us to create anexciting new breed of event which we hope will moveand inspire audiences.”Living up to advance publicity hype is never easy, yetappointed freelance FOH Engineer Colin Pink – who hadpreviously mainly worked in theatre, undertaking all testingfor the Cadac Concert console along the way – took to itlike a duck to water. “I was at the National Theatre for tenyears,” he begins, by way of background. “Then I thought itwas time to move on, went freelance, and did a couple offilms; I did a bit of post-production on the remake of Alfie[2004] and Stage Beauty [2004], and then I was ten weeks onset for Mrs Henderson Presents [2005], which George Fentondid the music for – bit of a connection there. His musicaldirector/orchestrator was Simon Chamberlain, who playskeyboards on this show, so when this gig came up and Blitz,the suppliers, were looking for people to crew it, my namecame up, so that’s how I got the gig in the first place.”It’s a small (and funny old) world, and, accordingto Pink, “...a funny old gig, because there’s sort oftwo versions: the concert hall version, and thearena version.”On the face of it, one might have maybe assumedthat mixing a full orchestra in the likes of Birmingham’s>64A U D I O M E D I A J U N E 2 0 0 8

06|08AMSR>contemporary (1991-vintage, 2,262-seat) SymphonyHall – with world-class acoustics engineered byNew York-based performing arts facilities designer/planner Artec Consultants – would be an easierproposition than in, say, the comparatively vast(9,000-capacity) Manchester Central (formerlyGMEX), sited in a former railway station (CentralStation). Well, it ain’t necessarily so, says Pink:“What was very surprising for me is that in theconcert halls I thought I’d have a very easy life andhave to do very little, because the acoustics shouldtake care of it all, but because of the way it’s written– it’s film music – the orchestration is all about thedetail, and concert halls are all about blending anorchestra so that it sounds nice and cuddly. So thebig job in here is all about getting the detail out,which is great, because it’s that old thing of nottrying to fight the room, but rather using the goodbits of the room and just adding what you need toadd. But it’s a completely different mix to the arenas,where I’m having to put in all the dynamics of theorchestra artificially, and here it’s the opposite,because the room is putting in more dynamics,so I’m having to effectively flatten things off – andshout at brass players a lot!”Given that George Fenton and his supportingcast of musicians are effectively reproducing anorchestral soundtrack recording session liveonstage – albeit with no scope for repeat takes, it’s apotentially confusing mixing landscape – seascape,even. “With the arenas, it’s difficult, but, logistically,it’s straightforward,” posits Pink. “Everything’s goingto need to be mic’d, you’re going to need a big PAsystem, and you’re going to need to mix it, whereasI wasn’t quite sure what I’d have to do in the concerthalls, to be honest.“The arenas are a tricky mix; it’s high profile, andthe mix is very critical, obviously, because if youget it wrong then you’re getting it wrong througha very big PA! It’s more forgiving in the concerthalls, but, basically, I didn’t know what the acousticswere going to do to the sound of the show, so Icovered my arse and shoved everything out,expecting to use about half of it, and ended upactually using everything.”Changing tact, Pink adds, “If you hear this pieceacoustically, it doesn’t actually work, because allthe emotion gets ripped out of it – the emotionbeing the connection between what’s on the screenand what’s being played, and that’s all in the detail,which makes it very exciting to mix. And that’s theother main part of the job: getting the perspectiveright – making the orchestra as big as the screen,because the audience aren’t looking at the orchestra.There’s a very large screen, the images look fantastic,and the soundtrack has to match that. Basically, we’redoing a film mix live, which is quite interesting.”Orchestral ManoeuvresAlthough Pink mixed The Blue Planet Live! on its firstUK arena-only outing two years ago, sub-mixingthe strings on one of his beloved Cadacs, whileworking mainly from an unspecified “...big analogueYamaha,” this time round he was also involved inspecifying the kit: “This time, because of theschedule, it seemed obvious to go down the digitalroute, because there’s 118 audio channels, which is amonster, so we ended up with two [Yamaha] PM5Ds,with one of them basically being used to sub-mixthe strings. What’s nice about the digital approachis that you have everything at your fingertips;if you need to put a compressor or a gate onsomething then it’s very easy to do that withouthaving to cart lots of outboard racks around, andthat gives you more time to concentrate on gettingthe mix right.“You could argue that Cadacs sound nicer thanPM5Ds – in fact, they do, but, at the end of the day,you either go for instant quality or speed, and, onthis occasion, speed was more important.”So what’s at the stage end of those multipleaudio channels? Quite simply, microphones.Lots of them. Just like recording an orchestra in astudio. “There is a big crossover in that the mainthing that we wanted to be able to get hold of wasthe detail,” reiterates Pink. “Because it’s live, it’s onetake, and you need to have control – especially inthe bigger venues, which is primarily why thereare so many mics. Everything is close-mic’d; theviolins, violas, and cellos are all on clip-on DPA4060s with the miniature mics just clipped onto thebridge, so that’s as close as you can get. The addedadvantage of that is that it helps eliminate feedbackproblems, so that seemed the obvious choice – greatmicrophones that give you all the detail you need.The double basses are on [Sennheiser] MKH40s –>>00

06|08AMSR>again, just a great mic.“Everything else is more akin to theatre orchestramiking than recording: basically, the woodwinds areall on Schoeps CK4s; there’s four percussion players,which are mainly all on [Neumann] KM184s – great‘sling it on anything and it’ll do a great job’ mics; lotsof [Neumann] U87s on the timps; the French horns,trombones, and the trumpets are on [AKG] 414s; theharp is an MKH40 stuffed in a hole in old rock ‘n’ rollfashion, so we’ve got decades of level on that.“Interestingly, again, we needed control of thechoir, because of the proximity to the orchestra;normal overhead miking wouldn’t have given usthe level that we neededto get out of them, so theyare all on [Sennheiser]SM58s – one each. They’vealso got some wedgemonitors, simply becausethey’re so close to therest of the orchestra thatit’s very hard for them topitch properly, becausethey’re getting a lot ofFrench horn.”“The choir is usedas another voice in theorchestra – not likenormal choir singing byany standards, andthey work a lot with thekeyboard player.”Ah, yes, George Fenton’s right-hand man, thegig-getting Simon Chamberlain. “He’s doing aplethora of sounds,” states Pink. “We spent sometime adjusting his own monitoring levels so thatthe internal balance worked well, and I spreadhis sounds through the foldback on stage so thatblends better from the source, as it were. A lot of itis choir-ey pads and piano-ey stuff, and percussion –all sorts, in fact, but it’s quite sympathetic to the restof the orchestra, and it seems to work very well.”Synchronicity Of LifeWhile Fenton’s magnificent and atmosphericmusic is being brought to life by two equallymagnificent full-scale orchestras – with the BBCConcert Orchestra handling the London andCardiff dates, while the Manchester Cameratastepped in for Manchester; Nottingham, andBirmingham – whose contribution to the successof The Blue Planet Live! production – led, of course,by the aforesaid celebrated composer/conductor– cannot be understated, even if the audiencesare inevitably drawn to looking at those fantasticlookingonscreen images upon which everythingultimately hinges, as alluded to earlier by Pink:“There’s two video sources, one doing the mainscreen, which has four tracks of audio – basically, astereo music track, because there is some backingmusic, and then there’s the sound effects tracksfor the images that you’re seeing – lots and lots ofwaves, and fish and whales! It’s quite hard to blendthe two together – not from an audio point ofview, but more from an emotional one, like in a filmsoundtrack, where the music is sometimes featuredmore and sometimes the effects are, dependingon what’s happening emotionally, and it’s exactlythe same here.”“The effects were put together in isolation as aneffects track for this piece by a traditional recordingengineer who’s looking at it as a flat TV effectsmix that was then going to be sub-mixed when itcame to voiceovers and music, and so on, whichis what Colin’s having to do dynamically,” chipsin Technical Director Alan Cox, a battle-hardenedsystems designer specialising in video control,>

06|08AMSR>charged with overseeing those eye-popping videoprojections, and much more besides.Continues Cox: “There are a handful of bitsthat might be from a sound perspective, because,slightly unusually, the replay system is from avideo point of view, so we’re using the updatedbonzaiDRIVE from Rosendahl, which has got ADATembedded; there’s some tricks we’re playing withthat, because we’re running two sets of everythingin sync. The primary screen displays George’s clickand streamer, and that’s all doubled up. I’ve put inthe new MOTU 828mk3, because it’s got 16 channelsof ADAT, so we can seamlessly switch over on theADAT lightpipes between primary and backup,and we’re doing primary and backup clicks as well,because there are certain points in the show wherecertain members of the orchestra need to pickup a click to do the links for certain transitions.In terms of keeping this thing together, there’squite a lot going on that’s completely invisible tothe audience.”Professional Audio... PersonalizedSing Play Listen RecordPink: “I have three click sends, one of which goesto the orchestra, which I mute and un-mute whennecessary, and then there’s two sends to George,who has an IEM – basically, a constant click, and anintro-only click; he can switch between the two, soif he’s on constant click and wants to conduct freefor a while, he can just switch that off, and thenswitch it back on when he wants to get back into it.Obviously, he also has the timecode and streamersso that he knows where he is, and that’s kind of howthe show’s kept together.”Adds Cox: “Because the conductor is thecomposer, driving the orchestra from a conductingpoint of view, he drives them best from the pictures.Bearing in mind where the pictures are, relative tohis view scope, he has a separate source that displaystimecode, stings, and all that; nevertheless, it’s rightin his face for a piece that he knows intimately.He tends to drive the orchestra to picture, which iswhat he does for a living, but he’s doing it live.”George Fenton is evidently a brave as well asDuet is a two-channel FireWire audio interface for the Mac featuring the sound qualityand ease of use Apogee is famous for. With Duet’s portability and direct integration intoGarageBand, Logic Pro, and Soundtrack Pro, you can effortlessly make professional recordingsanywhere your music takes you.Introducing Logic StudioA suite of powerful, easy-to-use musiccreation and production tools, Logic Studiogives musicians everything they need towrite,record, edit, mix and perform.talented individual... a rare breed, indeed. Were itnot for Fenton, chances are The Blue Planet Live!would never have happened. Or if it had, it wouldhave probably sounded very different.Hearing Is BelievingReproducing such a detailed soundtrack-styleperformance live in unforgiving arenas alsodictated Pink’s choice of accompanying soundreinforcement: “Last time we did the show we usedd&b [audiotechnik] Q-Series and Q-SUBs, whichworked very well, but were just about running outof steam, so this year we opted for the d&b J-Series– lovely boxes, because they’re smooth sounding,and they throw forever, it seems – and J-SUBs,which we ran in hypercardioid mode, which workedincredibly well, because one of the big aspects ofthe show is that all the sound effects add a lotof impact, and when there is a lot of – for want of abetter word – film soundtrack effects, the sub-basshas to really thump. I was very impressed with theJ-SUBs for that application, because they throwthe sound for miles, and you still get a very bigimpact 17 metres back.”Coincidentally, both concert hall venuesalso feature in-house d&b audiotechnik soundsystems – C4-TOPs and C4-SUBs in BirminghamSymphony Hall, while Cardiff St David’s Hallhad taken a Q-Series route, which suited Pinkdown to the ground. “The problem with boxselection on a show like this is not so much inthe arenas, but in the concert halls, where it’sso dependent on the acoustic of the hall,” hereasons. “In some ways you’re better off usingthe equipment, provided they’ve done someresearch and had some boxes in for auditions,because if you bring your own boxes in, younever know exactly how they’re going to reactwith the room. So if someone else has done thathomework for you, it gives you that bit moretime to tweak it and get your head around it.If it was a box I’d never worked with before then,obviously, I might rethink that, but, in this case,everywhere we went – Cardiff and here – I’dused the boxes before. I know them well, so feltquite comfortable.“My big ethos is never try and fight the room,because the room will always win, so it’s just a caseof working out the best way of making the best ofwhat the room is offering you.”Wise words indeed, though easier said thandone in the hands of a lesser-skilled and lessexperiencedengineer than Pink.Great Gig In The SeaWhatever the sound system, one thing’s for sure:such gigs are few and far between – perhaps oncein a lifetime, even, in the case of The Blue PlanetLive! As Pink considerately concludes, “It’s thebest show I’ve ever done in my life, because as asound engineer you so rarely get an opportunityto work with a 78-piece orchestra and a choir ina live environment where you’re trying to matchthe scale of some beautiful film footage. For me,it’s the ultimate mix, because you’re doing a filmsoundtrack live to five- or six-thousand people,which never happens, really. It doesn’t comearound very often. It’s an utter joy – especiallyworking with George and his team, because themusic is so emotionally driven.” ∫68A U D I O M E D I A J U N E 2 0 0 8

06|08AMSRThree weeks in the making forendless opportunities, SIMONALLEN discovers Royer Labs’surprisingly versatile mics.THE REVIEWERSIMON ALLEN is Stage and StudioManager of High Barn.Firstly, I have to confess I wasn’t quite prepared for thesurprise when I set up these microphones for the firsttime. I was already expecting the clear and very naturalsound that ribbon microphones are known for delivering,but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite on this level, especiallyin a live situation. These microphones have created a fair bitof interest and I can see them becoming a standardexpectation on a lot of riders from here on in.Both microphones come in a very attractive woodencase along with a suitable mic holder. The case just gives ahint of how well these microphones are built. At first glanceit is apparent how much care Royer Labs takes to build eachmicrophone. According to Royer Labs, from start to finish,they take three weeks to build each one. As well as thequality factor they feel very robust for such a delicate pieceof technology, clearly making them ideal for stage use.Both the R-121 and the R-122 have the same capsule andoffer an amazingly high SPL of 135dB. They give one polarpattern that is a figure-of-eight. The Royer logo on the frontindicates the side with the highest SPL for those loudersound sources. The SPL on the back is 115dB due to theinternal dampening screen on the front edge being muchcloser to the ribbon element.OperationThese mics come with holders so you’re ready to mountthem and get underway, but they really need suspensioncradles as they are very sensitive down to about 50-30Hz.I used the R-121 first and was very impressed with itssensitivity, but the R-122 with its internal electronics wastruly amazing. The gain setting for the R-122 is about 13dBless, also keeping it in range for when the higher SPL isneeded as well as making it ideal for distance miking.The figure-of-eight polar pattern makes these micsan obvious choice for the classic Blumlein technique onan orchestra or any stereo ambient room sound you require.It’s also great for the Mid-Side technique which I really enjoyusing in the studio. On the stage I used the R-122 inside HighBarn’s acoustic grand piano, and the figure-of-eight allowednot just the sound from the hammers to come through, butalso the ambient sound from the lid.The uses of both these microphones are endless, morethan most ribbon microphones. Royer says you can use themin both the recording studio and for sound reinforcement forthe following: close and distance miking, electric guitar,acoustic guitar, vocals and voiceover, brass, drum overheads,bass drum, percussion, strings, acoustic piano, and harp!Obviously, as any good engineer knows, any decentmicrophone is only decent when located in the right place.With the R-series from Royer it is very important to considernot just for audible reasons, but to protect the ribbonsfrom being over stressed. With high SPL sound sources,Royer recommends placing the microphones off axis whenclose miking to prevent any damage as well as reducingany dampening. If the sound source is of a lower SPL,then by using the rear side, you achieve a slightly brighterresponse (at closer than three feet), making them evenmore versatile.In UseThe first task I put to the R-121 was an electric guitar ampthat was part of the back line on stage for a live gig. It wasa relatively good sounding amp comprising of two MesaBoogie cabs driven from a Class 2 amplifier, and a DigiTecheffects unit. When I first brought up the level from the micon the front of house it simply sounded like the guitaristhad turned up.The sound from these ribbon microphones isunbelievably transparent and very natural. Royer claimsthat the mics hear like your ears do, and they’re right.At first, they sound like they don’t add any colouration tothe sound source or add any characteristics. The EQ mostof the time was flat for all uses on the live sound side butin the studio particularly they needed a little mid taken outand some top end adding.After trying both microphones with the acoustic grandpiano and as drum overheads in both a live and studiosituation, it became apparent that what these microphonesdo offer is a slightly darker sound than other mics.They capture a lot of ‘air’ and atmosphere in a very realisticmanner, particularly the R-122 with its extra sensitivity.Interestingly on the stage they do offer a great deal ofseparation, and even with the figure of 8 polar pattern,they do not run into feedback as soon as you might expect.This separation and accurate live natural sound makesthese microphones ideal for live recording and broadcast,ROYER LABS R-121 & R-122LIVE RIBBON MICROPHONESas they capture what it’s really like, as opposed to othermicrophones that do add some character.My main criticism with both these microphones is theirfrequency response which only really goes up to 15kHz.For example, whilst using them in the studio as drumoverheads, it was apparent that they didn’t deliver thattop end sparkle. They are great to capture a clean andaccurate sound, and it is very re-assuring to hear themcope with high SPLs. However if you’re after the really hightop end then you might need to blend in another mic.Interestingly, Royer notes that these ribbons will ‘takeextreme amounts of EQ’, implying that a fair slab of highendboost might achieve a more ‘condenser’ sound.I have to mention that when I used the R-122 inside thegrand piano, half way between the strings and the lid alongwith a couple of other mics closer to the strings, I think Imanaged to get one of the best live piano sounds I everhave. The R-122 gave so much depth and clarity to the pianowhich is normally very hard to represent on a PA.ConclusionRoyer Labs has done a great job with these liveribbon microphones. They are not only ideal forsound reinforcement but are good all-rounders inmany situations including recording and broadcast.They have been beautifully made and with a lifetimeguarantee, I think Royer has got the price right as well.These microphones sound very natural, and the clarity ofthe R-122 in-particular is amazing. A brilliant developmentin ribbon microphone technology. ∫....................................INFORMATION£ R-121 US$1,395.00, R-122 US$1,895.00A Royer Labs, Inc. 2711 Empire Avenue, Burbank, CA 91504T +1 (818) 847 0121W www.royerlabs.com70AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

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*S E R V I C E S25 th – 3 0 th june 2008online liquidation auctionliquid spillers b.v.professional sound studioanalogue recording console ‘neve’ 88 rs large formatanalogue recording console, 60 channel frame fitted, y.o.c.2005/2006, with several digital effect and recording units.viewing day: Wednesday 25 th June from 10.00 till 14.00 hrs.address: Crooswijksesingel 50 (basement), 3034 cj Rotterdam,The Netherlands.Catalogue and further information on request or on our websitewww.bva-auctions.comADVERTISERS INDEXAKG 63Audio Precision 9Audio-Technica 53Audix 69Bricasti 27Charter Oak 13Conch 46Develop 2008 22DiGiCo 66, 67DK Technologies 20DPA 41Euphonix 21Fairlight 8Far 74Focal (Stirling SCV) 19Fostex 49Microtech Geffel 18Genelec 29Glyph 14HHB 51, 55Lawo 37McDSP 47Merging 23Millennia 45Neumann 43Olympus 35Plasa 71Prism 40Richmond 74RME 10, 11Sadie 75Solid State Logic 15Sommer Cable 17Sonic Distribution 2, 3, 36, 50, 68Sonnox 24Sound Devices 34Steinberg 76Tascam 31TLA 39TubeTech 25Zaxcom 6574AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008

LRX2 audio workstationlocation recorderRecord... Where you want,when you wantThe SADiE LRX2is the most flexiblelocation recorderavailable, meeting thedemands of the modernrecording environment.This feature-rich, compact unitprovides the ultimate solution forincreasing the productivity of thetime-conscious professional.• Up to 48 tracks of AES/line/phantom poweredmic inputs or 64 channels MADI I/O• Mirrored recording for secure back up• User intuitive software for instant multi track recording• Stereo mix creation during recording• Redbook CD burning on location• BWAV recording format for instant transfer into your system• Waveforms drawn whilst recording and no rendering• Edit whilst recording to ensure fast turnaround of productAPrism Sound CompanyContact us now to arrange your demo:Email: sales@sadie.comwww.sadie.com+44 (0)1223 424988 +1-973-983-9577