z August 1987 £1.50 o US-400 o .11 co o SOUND AND BROADCAST ENGINEERING www.americanradiohistory.com This is the mixing console that will cause a revolution in 24 track studios. The world's first Dual Mode mixing console. With the advanced features and performance of a desk you'd expect to cost a great deal more than it actually does, it's a remarkable achievement. Take Dual Mode. When you record with the T512, its in -line monitoring means you create a control room mix on ALL THE FEATURES the main faders. YOU'D EXPECT In mixdown this becomes the basis for your IN A £30,000 CONSOLE, EXCEPT ONE. master mix. Saving time and helping you keep a train of thought as to how the final mix will sound. THE PRICE. Unlike other in -line desks, though, the T512 also allows true stereo subgrouping on long -throw group faders. In this mode the routing matrix offers either six stereo groups or four extra auxiliary sends - totalling ten sends - plus four stereo groups. No other console in the world provides such versatility. The T512 is an open -ended investment, with op- tional disc -based SMPTE automation for faders, mutes, EQ in/out and auxiliary on /off. Again, at the price it's unique. And fittingly, ,audio performance is superb. Recent Soundcraft advances in summing amp technology, and in grounding and decoupling systems, make the T512 one of the cleanest and quietest consoles ever. The mic amplifiers, a critical factor in console quality, create less than 0.01% distortion at 10kHz at 70dB of gain. (Easily exceeding 16 -bit digital specifications.) Standard features are impressive, to say the least. Six auxiliary sends, seven stereo line inputs or effects returns, a 'musician friendly' headphone mix, an extensive 19" metal frame patchbay - and the option to create a massive total of 102 inputs. Quite a line -up. Attention to detail is equally stringent with modular PCBs, no dual concentrics and a clear, logical layout that belies the sophistication inside. But the most remarkable feature of the new TS12 is without doubt the price. We suggest you call us today to find out just how Soundcraft remarkable. ® MAX 102 INPUTS WITH 36.CH FRAME SUMMING AMP NOISE -125dB4 EIN MIC AMP -128413v EIN (2005) 0 MIC AMP DISTORTION <0 0146 THD at 10h11: AT 70dB GAIN M -BSdBv AUX SEND KILL AT ALL FREQUENCIES I CROSSTALK TYPICALLY -70dB AT 10kH: ( -85(1B 1 kHz) I MAXIMUM 26dBv OUTPUT SOUNDCRAFT ELECTRONICS LTD..UNIT 2, BOREHAMW000INDUSTRIAL PARK, ROWLEV LANE,BOREHAMWOOD,HERTS WD6 SPZ,ENGLAND.TEL'. 01.207 5050,TLX:21198 SCRAFT G. FAX. 01 -207 0194.50UNDCRAFT USA, TEL'. (81B) 893 4351.SOUNDCRAFT CANADA, TEL. (514) 685 1610 SOUNDCRAFT IAPAN,TEL:(03) 341 6201. www.americanradiohistory.com AND BROADCAST ENGINEERING CONTENTS 5 Editorial: Keith Spencer -Allen reviews trends in studio design General news: Windmill Munro Design...Bandive sale complete ...Carlton acquires 10 Simmons...Forthcoming events...In brief...People...Change of address...Agencies...Stolen equipment ... Record bids . .. Literature received ...Contracts Product news: Crest Audio 8001 amplifier...Kahler Human Clock...Applied Creative 16 Technology DB8 DI box...Atlas microphone stand...BGW model GTA amplifier ...API 3124/3124m mic preamp /mixer...Trident series 80 update...0taritech TC -50 timecode/FM processor ...Sony K -1149 delay board...In brief Sound Valley (see page 28) Sam Toyoshima: Keith Spencer -Allen 24 talks to one of Japan's top studio designers, while Carl Snape visits the Toyoshima -designed Sound Valley studio in Tokyo Helmuth Kolbe: Acoustician Helmuth 32 Kolbe is featured here in a discussion with Terry Nelson, along with two Swiss studios, Ebony and Studio 60, that have taken advantage of Kolbe's expertise Rhett Davies: Producer Davies talks to 4 Ralph Denyer about life with Roxy Music, Eno and Fripp Smokehouse -an in-house approach: Jim Betteridge discovers from Jeff Ward that 52 hard work and sound marketing are still the keys to making a success out of a newly formed studio 5Q Designing a practical monitor: Sean Davis gives some inside information on his monitor Q design principles Business: Barry Fox writes on a `one -copy' copycode and Dolby v Thomas Dolby settlement, and 62 reviews some light reading 64 Perspective: US correspondent Martin Polon reviews the first half of 1987 70 Master Rock: Janet Angus visits a London studio built in an old cinema Ebony (see page 34) Studio 60 (see page 34) 3 www.americanradiohistory.com ThE ADVANTAGES OF A STUDIO CONDENSER WIThOUT A ÇUJ1D OF ITS OWN For all of its virtues, the typical five of its pickup patterns are equally ments and ambient environments. studio condenser imparts a definite uniform, identically transparent. We Accuracy And Versatility Without character to any recording. These impo- feel your prior experience with large di- Compromise. Uniform ( <2 dB: from sitions are often considered inevitable aphragm condensers will confirm this as actual machine specs, not just published technical imperfections: accepted, ig- a unique achievement. specs) frequency response curves for all nored or tolerated by audio engineers. An Atypical Approach To Con- five polar patterns may seem a remark- Characteristic anomalies of condenser denser Sound. Beyer has never relief able breakthrough. To Beyer, this is performance such as exaggerated high on conventional technical solutions. A simply a design criterion for the micro- end response or distortion have even manifestation of this kind of thinking. phone. Similarly, there is no contradic- been rationalized as compensation for the MC 740 eliminates the icy. stride -it tion in the fact that the 740 is exception- the high frequency losses inherent in quality typical of most condensers to ally sensitive, yet also withstands typical analog formats. Nowadays, how- reproduce voices and instruments wi:h extreme SPLs (up to 144 dB with the 10 ever, they are increasingly viewed as un- warmth and intimacy. It's no coinci- dB attenuator in circuit). necessary intrusions in critical analog dence that these are characteristics often Hear What You Could Be Missing. and digital recording situations. ascribed to our ribbon microphones. The MC 740's unconventional design offers a A Condenser For The Digital Era: The MC 740's freedom from exagger- clear alternative. The best way to evaluate The Difference is Nothing. The in- ated sibilance or graininess and its the difference the MC 740 can make is to creased dynamic range of digital record- greatly reduced distortion are immedi- work with it in your studio. To arrange a ing is perfectly complemented by the ately apparent to critical !isteners. Es:ro- hands -on audition of this remarkable new self-effacing nature of the MC 740. The pean and American engineers have audio instrument, contact your Beyer dealer microphone is virtually inaudible. No already commented on the startling ac- or write to us: Beyer Dynamic (GB) Ltd., Unit coloration, no self-noise - no sonic curacy of the 740, and the way it reveals 14, Cliffe Industrial Estate, Lewes, East footprint, not even a fingerprint. All the subtle differences between instru- Sussex BN8 6IL. ACCURACY IN AUDIO beyerdynamicE Canada: ELNOVA 4190 rue Sere, St. Laurent, Quebec H4T 1A6 Great Britain: òeyerdynamic Ltd., Unit 14, Cliffe Industrial Estate Tel. (514) 3 41 69 33 Telex: 5824086 Lewes, Sussex BN8 6JL Tel: 0273 -479411 USA: beyerdynamic U.S., 5 -05 Burns Avenue Germany: Eugen Beyer Elektrotechnische Fabrik GmbH & Co., Theresienstrasse 8, Hicksville, NY 11801 Tel: (516) 935-8000 Postfach 13 20, D -7100 Heilbronn Tel: (07131) 617 -0 Telex: 728771 www.americanradiohistory.com EDITORIAL This month we focus on studio design. A couple of years ago we were experiencing some major new AND BROADCAST ENGINEERING innovations in design approach. Syn -Aud -Con's LEDE concept was controversial although the August 1987 first certified rooms were proving popular with those who were prepared to live with any limitations Volume 29 Number 8 that the early designs had. We saw the appearance of spin -off technology from Manfred Schroeder's ISSN 0144 -5944 work that was realised through companies like RPG Designs with their diffusors and more recently their Abfusors. We have seen the approach taken by Tom Hidley in recent designs where the monitor EDITORIAL wall contains a mountain of concrete to increase rigidity. There has been a move towards acoustic Editor: Keith Spencer -Allen control techniques that try to avoid the use of large trapping areas: ASC's absorbing tubes; the Deputy Editor: Carl Anthony Snape membrane absorbers of Sam Toyoshima and the use of resonators by other designers. We have seen Staff Writer: Jonathan Kaye designers borrowing from methods that were not allied to their own specific line of design and there has Production Editor: Ann Horan generally been a mellowing of the lines between design philosophies. Production Assistant: Carrie Love This issue sees the start of a short series of articles on studio designers. It is intended to look at some US Commentator: Martin Polon Secretary: Cecilia Farrelly who may not have had a great deal of coverage so far and take a fairly in -depth look at their ideas. We kick off this month with Sam Toyoshima of the JVC Acoustic Design Center who has been quietly ADVERTISEMENTS making a name in the UK and more naturally in the Far East. Sales Manager: Mark Walsh There is a tendency to think that all the interesting new facilities are being built in the main Display Sales: Andrew Knox recording locations of the world: London, New York and Los Angeles. Over the next few months we Production Manager: Jacky Pearce hope to prove that this is not the case at all. I recently had the chance to visit Nashville and in this relatively small city of just over Y4 million people there are facilities within a few blocks of each other Japan and Far East Agent: Media Sales that are as adventurous as you will find in any of the major centres.