Resolution Jan Feb 06 V5.1.Indd

AUDIO FOR POST, BROADCAST, RECORDING AND MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTION

V5.1 JANUARY/FEBRUARYJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006

Hugh Padgham — chart topping and ‘that’ drum sound

Ken Scott — a true production and engineering great SuperMAC and HyperMAC explained How copyprotected CDs have screwed up PCs Meet your maker: Joe Bull — SADiE Ten pro audio trivia talking points

REVIEWS: Schoeps CMIT 5U • Waves Tune • Fostex DV824 • Mutec iClock • Joemeek OneQ • BonsaiDrive • Pro Tools HD7 • SSL X-Rack Dynamics ��

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�� January/February 2006 V5.1 ISSN 1477-4216

THE PRO END-USER AUDIO PRODUCTION MAGAZINE News & Analysis

4 Leader 16 Products New introductions and announcements. 4 News Sales, contracts, appointments, biz bites 66 Headroom and the bigger picture More marketing hype and more audio lookilikies.

Craft

14 Bohus Studio 50 Sweet Spot Gothenburg studio with history has plans, Taking low frequency modulation transfer professionalism and sound business sense. functions (MTFs) across the room to the ears of the listener. 38 Hugh Padgham Still chart topping, he talks excitement, 52 In the picture record companies and ‘that’ drum sound. Digital cinema — selling dreams? 42 Ken Scott 58 Steinberg Top Tips He worked at Abbey Road and Trident in Controlling surround in Nuendo 3.2 with the golden age and has engineered and MixerDelay produced some of our greatest and most enduring talent. 59 Ten Pro audio trivia talking points 46 Broadcast Rome’s Videotime has installed a Vista 8 in 60 Katz’s column its news studio to test its digitisation plans. Becky and Fred are back with their mix and this time it’s without bus 48 Meet your maker compression. Joe Bull — SADiE’s technology man on education and maintaining standards.

Business 54 Copyprotected CDs 64 Your business There’s a dark side to the disc Get a new job — Daley investigates and it can put all sorts of stuff on career alternatives for the technically your computer. gifted with time on their hands.

Technology 56 SuperMAC and HyperMAC 62 Slaying Dragons We explain the promise of low-latency, Watkinson bemoans the state of design highly-reliable audio interconnection on and identiﬁ es a lack of imagination and Cat-5 cable. too many bean counters.

Reviews 22 Fostex DV824 32 Digidesign Pro Tools HD7 24 Waves Tune and DeBreath 34 Mutec iClock 26 Rosendahl BonsaiDrive 35 Røde NT6 28 Schoeps CMIT 5U 36 SSL X-Rack Dynamics 30 Grace Design M906 37 Joemeek OneQ

EDITORIAL ADVERTISEMENT SALES PRODUCTION AND LAYOUT Editorial Director: Zenon Schoepe European Sales Dean Cook Tel: +44 1444 410675 Clare Sturzaker Dean Cook Productions Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 1342 717459 Tel: +44 1273 236681 Editorial ofﬁ ce: PO Box 531, Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Haywards Heath RH16 4WD, UK US Sales Contributors: Rob James, George Shilling, Jeff Turner Keith Spencer-Allen, Terry Nelson, Jon Thornton, Tel: +1 415 455 8301 Neil Hillman, Nigel Jopson, Andy Day, Email: [email protected] Kevin Hilton, Dan Daley, John Watkinson news

APRS 2006 sub and Appointments Maybe it’s the time of year Leader but you don’t have to look member changes C A D A C H A S far to see people struggling with the concept To make the process of becoming a appointed Bob Thomas of technology. Just recently I’ve listened to two member of the APRS trade association even as MD. Formerly MD of ladies of pensionable age discussing the relative simpler, the organisation has transformed TEAC (UK), Bob takes merits of ‘inevitably going digital’ with their its membership categories to attract smaller up the post as Clive TVs and witnessed an electrical goods salesman audio businesses. It has launched a fourth Green formally retires compare the difference in picture quality between membership category and developed a after more than 37 years at the helm. various large TV sets to car tyre quality — ‘My four-tier subscription matrix. The new ‘The prospect of leading one of the tyres cost £200 and last me two years but my categories, named A, B, C and D, were original great independent British desk friend’s cost three times that and he has to introduced in 2005 to the studio sector manufacturers was something I couldn’t change them every six months — so you don’t and will be extended to all other sectors refuse,’ he said. ‘The prospects for the always get what you pay for…’ Then there is the from 2006. future are excellent, and there is great enduring assault by a few PR companies who The APRS Board is now investigating potential for expansion across the new continue to deliver pictures in inappropriate fi le sizes — either so big that they ways to differentiate member categories digital line-up, as well as the traditional could be printed across the side of one of those ridiculous people carriers or fi les separately from ‘services provided’ so analogue products.’ that are of completely inadequate quality to begin with that are bumped up to that all members share a wider range of more impressive sizes by some form of digital picture witchcraft. services. There has also been a modest THE EUPHONIX The problem is that the people simply don’t understand the technology and increase to subscription rate (the first board of directors has most of the people who sell it to them don’t understand it either. Most tragically since 1999) and the association intends appointment Martin of all it’s becoming clear that those who design and build the stuff don’t fully to increase rates by 20% over the next two Kloiber chief executive understand what the consumer wants and don’t seem to appreciate the level of years to continue to maintain and develop offi cer of the Company. misinformation. It’s a disastrous scenario for the long-term because if ignorance member services. Kloiber has been with is so rife now — while there is still some strong simple residual legacy technology More details at www.aprs.co.uk Euphonix since 2000, most recently as to compare against — what hope is there when all these references are fi nally chief technology offi cer and takes over removed? CBS adds two the position from Jeff I want to believe that at the highest level within manufacturing organisations Chew. — at the very conception of a new technology product type — there the desire Constellation XTs Mike Franklin has to improve things for the user must be at the very core of any new idea. What CBS Television City has bought two been promoted to happens is this ‘purity of idea’ takes a knock as soon as it hits the rest of the Fairlight Dream Constellation XTs for its VP of Broadcast Sales organisation because it encounters levels of ignorance and confusion within Los Angeles facility where it produces at Euphonix for the the companies themselves. Is it really any wonder that by the time it hits the promos for the entire CBS TV network. Americas. consumer the vital marketing message is often so wide of the mark? The two Constellations will be networked In many ways I believe that our industry’s professional users are in a perfect with Fairlight MediaLink and run alongside STEFAN GUBI has position to understand why anyone would want to buy this TV, that entertainment Fairlight Pyxis picture systems. been appointed system, that format player or that mobile device, but unfortunately we are not ‘CBS has been a Fairlight systems user president at AKG. typical of the average consumer who, if he bought the cheaper TV set after that for many years,’ said Stuart DeMarais, His work experience car tyre analogy, needs to grasp more technological information than he is able Fairlight sales and marketing director, ‘so includes positions on or prepared to absorb. they are used to fast, reliable editors. In the executive committee I have an old friend who was among the very fi rst to get serious digital into addition to these core requirements, the of Austrian IT fi rm Kapsch Business Com his facility and I still smile when I remember how he felt about the whole process, new system had to deliver an HD-ready AG, MD of the Upper Austrian National how dangerous and unpredictable it all felt, the unmistakable pioneering spirit, platform with “real” mixing facilities and Publishing House and in senior management that fl ying by the seat of your pants. They should be handing out fl ying caps professional monitoring capabilities. positions with Ericcson Austria. and goggles to consumers in preparation for the moment when they look down Our Dream Constellation XT is the only and realise they are fl ying. solution that addresses all of these PRISM SOUND has Zenon Schoepe requirements.’ appointed Ian Crighton as CEO. He joins from Adobe completes National Instruments, Sanctuary Mobiles MBO where he was MD — business will trade under its original name on Macromedia UK and Ireland. of Fleetwood Mobiles, which was acquired Adobe has completed its acquisition of Prism Sound has by Dyckhoff and Summerhayes in 1993 Macromedia. The combination of Adobe appointed Juke Box as French distributor before being sold to the Sanctuary Group and Macromedia creates one of the for its range of studio products. in 1999. The duo remain onboard as MD world’s largest and most diverse software and operations director respectively. companies and brings together strong A M A N D A Fleetwood Mobiles retains all assets software brands and technologies for CHESTER has been of Sanctuary Mobiles as well as mobile creating, managing and delivering content appointed marketing recording team engineers Mike Silverston, across multiple operating systems, devices Cooper, Dyckhoff, Summerhayes. communications Dave O’Carroll and Ollie Nesham. Cooper, and media. The move also accelerates manager at Harman Sanctuary Mobiles has been acquired who assisted Dyckhoff and Summerhayes Adobe’s ‘strategic initiative’ to advance Pro UK. She joins from from Sanctuary Studios by a management with the buyout, has joined the new a powerful software platform, based on Digidesign, where she buyout team consisting of Ian Dyckhoff, company as finance and commercial PDF and Macromedia Flash technologies, was UK marketing and PR executive. Tim Summerhayes and Ian Cooper. The development director. that scales from mobile devices to high- end servers.

©2006 S2 Publications Ltd. All rights S2 Publications Ltd or the editor can S2 Publications Ltd. Printed by The Grange Press, Butts Rd, reserved. No part of this publication be held responsible for its contents. Registered in England and Wales. Southwick, West Sussex, BN42 4EJ. may be reproduced or transmitted in any The views expressed are those of the Company number: 4375084. form or by any means without the prior contributors and not necessarily those of SUBSCRIBE written consent of the Publishers. Great the Publishers. Registered ofﬁ ce: www.resolutionmag.com care is taken to ensure accuracy in the Equity House, 128-136 High Street, Annual Subscriptions: UK £37.00, preparation of this publication, but neither Edgware, Middlesex HA8 7TT. Europe £45.00, Rest of the World £53.00

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Thomson buys third Appointments stake in Canopus Ten 21 is right time for Audient Thomson has signed an agreement HELMUT WITTEK has to acquire 33 1/3% of the issued and joined Schoeps as a outstanding shares of Canopus, the desktop sales and development video editing software manufacturer, and engineer. He previously has disclosed that it will launch a public worked as a researcher tender offer for the remaining Canopus at the IRT in Munich. shares. This is said to be part of Thomson’s external initiatives for its Grass Valley CHARTEROAK ACOUSTIC Devices has Broadcast & Networks business. appointed Helios Recording & Broadcast Canopus products will strengthen Grass and Imporaudio as its dealers for the Valley’s position in several markets to the Netherlands and France respectively. tune of $1 billion, according to Thomson, with opportunities existing in professional video and professional A/V as markets that Thomson does not address currently. ‘Canopus brings important products and technologies that allow us to address multiple facets of our growth strategy A 36-channel Audient ASP8024 was fi rst choice for Sean Kenny to form the and accelerate key elements of our R&D centrepiece of Ten 21 studio, an example of a successful mid-sized UK studio. roadmap,’ said Marc Valentin, president of Based in Kent countryside, the studio was set up to offer recording techniques the Grass Valley business within Thomson. to suit virtually any style of music recording. ‘When I was looking for a console, I got to hear about a number of high profi le Retouch Tools US fi rst users with ASP8024s in their facilities, so I had to check it out,’ said Kenny. ‘I was DPA HAS appointed Prosound as its The first sale of Retouch for Pro Tools immediately impressed by the look and the sound of the console, so there was South African distributor. With its head in North America is to audio services no other choice. My favourite feature is the bus compressor; it just does exactly office in Johannesburg the company company Indian Hill Media, which has what you want a bus compressor to do.’ also has offi ces in Durban, Cape Town bought Retouch for installation at LA post In the US, New Jersey- and Dubai. facility Wild Woods to use alongside its based Sound Strike Studio DNS1000. upgraded its facility recently Indian Hill Media’s Terrance Dwyer with an ACS8024, which oversees the audio postproduction at combines the sound and UNITY AUDIO is distributing Great River Wild Woods on the prime time series’ feature set of the ASP8024 Electronics products in the UK. Fear Factor and Survivor and mixes both desk with a Control Section series. bay with Command 8 fi tted SSL HAS made several ‘Cedar Retouch has the magical ability for Pro Tools control. promotions in its US to reduce to a whisper screaming layers of ‘Each session I learn sales and service insects that would diminish — sometimes some new way that I can departments. George demolish — the intelligibility of a scene,’ patch things around. Having H o r t o n h a s b e e n said Dwyer. ‘A very important tool when the DAW built into the board makes it way more user-friendly,’ said owner and promoted to sales your projects are recorded in jungles around engineer Thomas Smead. ‘I actually have a dozen outboard preamps in my racks manager for the US, Western region, the world, its effectiveness is astounding including Neves, APIs and Millenniums, but I usually end up using the 8024’s Mexico and South America. He moves and, combined with the Cedar DNS1000, preamps because they sound great. The EQs are set up perfectly for audio; and over to sales after 16 years as a service it is the only must have, can’t-work-without who can complain about 14 aux sends?’ engineer and manager. In the Service sound tool that I’ve come across in 25 years Department, Phill Scholes moves from of mixing.’ SSL New York to LA to replace Horton London-based fi lm and TV facilities supplier precise specifi cation by sound supervisor as Los Angeles service manager. Bill Picture Canning Company employed Rob Ashard,’ said Picture Canning’s senior Brown has joined the SSL LA team as a Midas Verona console on Optomen sound engineer Mike Horn. ‘We required service engineer after 14 years with AMS Television’s The F- a mixing desk with Neve. Rob Penney, service engineer at Word series hosted lots of features but SSL UK, moves into the same role at SSL by celebrity chef a small footprint, as New York. Gordon Ramsey. The the audio facilities company also used for the show were ADRIAN RICHMOND DPA 4060 miniature squeezed into a very has joined the RTS omnis for all the small room above the Telex Intercom team lavalier mics. studio/restaurant. as sales engineer in ‘When we were fi rst The Verona fitted the UK. He previously approached to supply the bill perfectly worked for the BBC Shure’s top-end UHF-R system fitted the facilities for The and Ashard was and ITV and most with Beta 87A heads was used by all the F-Word, we were delighted with its recently as executive manager at the showbiz hopefuls on the recent UK TV asked to meet a very performance.’ Anglia studio complex. talent show The X Factor.

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January/February 2006 resolution 5 news

Appointments DPAs to travel world DPC-II remakes Quatermass for sound library

Texim’s Pierfranco Galeone. MIDAS HAS appointed Milan-based Project Harvest was dreamt up by Johnnie Texim srl as its Italian distributor. Burn and Warren Hamilton from Soho post facility Wave Recording and involves SHURE DISTRIBUTION UK has made two people travelling the world putting two appointments to its marketing together a sound library for use in TV, fi lm department. Uzo Onuora, formerly of and radio post. The fi nished product will international media monitoring agency, contain a comprehensive selection of stereo Romike, is now marketing manager of A Soundtracs DPC-II played its part in making BBC history, when the Corporation and surround sound ambient atmospheres Commercial and MI & Entertainment decided to produce its fi rst live-to-air drama for more than 20 years. Broadcast and sound effects. Divisions. Faye Chang is press and on BBC Four, the programme was a remake of the classic Nigel Kneale story The The sound team involved are Joss communications offi cer Quatermass Experiment (originally broadcast in 1953) and the DPC-II was used Gardner and Craig Loftus and they’re and joins from the book for the audio contribution. currently travelling around the UK with a publishing industry. Broadcast audio specialist Sound Moves took one of its 40-foot mobiles to a portable recording setup including two A n t h o n y S h o r t disused Ministry Of Defence/QinetiQ site in Chobham, Surrey and much of the DPA 4060 miniature omnis with MMA 6000 h a s j o i n e d S h u re shooting was done in an old tank testing area. As well as the sound for the live preamp, two 4028 compact wide cardioids, as commercial area production, the DPC-II fed a 96-track recording. ‘It was a heavy duty job,’ said a 4011 cardioid and a Windpac. m a n a g e r f o r t h e Sound Moves’ Steve Williams. ‘It was full-on for the desk and mobile. We ran the ‘The reason we chose the Windpac rather North of England. Jay fi bre optic MADI link to two locations, the furthest being a radio mic receiving than other wind-proofi ng systems was that Walpole is now MI and point some 300m from the truck. it is much more portable and versatile,’ said Entertainment area ‘We also had the atmospheres and sound effects guys in the mobile, using a Gardner (pictured). ‘It takes up much less sales manager for the new PC-based system. And on top of that we had a musician in there who was space and allows us to use it with a variety South West, South playing the incidental music live!’ he said. of different microphones. This is an issue Wales and the Western ‘Overall we had several hundred inputs,’ said Williams. ‘Because it was as two of us have to live and work out of Home Counties. broadcast live, we needed to be able to access a large range of those sources one van.’ at the same time, without scrolling through loads of menus. The DPC-II gave us all the advantages of the digital technology, coupled with the large operating surface which has allowed us to do that.’

API AUDIO has appointed KMR Audio as its exclusive distributor for the UK and TopVision’s HDTV ﬂ agship will be Aurus Ireland. KMR has also been appointed exclusive retailer for the Roll Music Folcrom passive summing mixer.

UK RETAILERS HHB and Media Sound Designer Thierry De Vries has Tools have been appointed exclusive bought a matched pair of 4051 compact retailers of Steinberg’s Nuendo ﬂ agship omnis plus a Windpac. De Vries runs his postproduction package. own Brussels-based A Sound post company and is using his new mics to record ambient sound and effects.

F i n n i s h broadcaster Y L E w i l l b r o a d c a s t f r o m t h e German outside broadcasting specialists convertors. All three monitoring stations in 2006 Winter TopVision is preparing for HDTV with an the audio and video control rooms are 7.1- Olympics in HDTV-enabled OB truck with 24 cameras ready and the audio control room link to the Turin with a 16+8+16-fader Lawo mc266, a A&H’s Bob Goleniowski with Sindo and Stagetec Aurus, which will become the intercom system is established via the new zirkonXL and a Nova73 HD Router provided Exports’ Koh. ﬂ agship of its ﬂ eet. integrated intercom interface of the Aurus by Lawo on a rental basis. The broadcasting ALLEN & HEATH has appointed Sindo The Aurus will have 7 DSP boards without requiring a separate system. will be based in the International Broadcast Exports as its distributor in Singapore and more than 200 audio channels In 2000, a Cantus/Nexus system was Centre in Turin where studios and control and Malaysia. accommodated in a space-saving installed in the audio control room of Ü4, rooms are being set up for the event in mainframe with 48 faders plus a very which was at that time TopVisions’s largest February. Radio and TV broadcasters will RIBBON MIC manufacturer Crowley large Nexus network — 16 Nexus base OB truck (pictured). The firm provides use these facilities for producing individual and Tripp has named Futureware in devices and a Nexus Star router provide Bundesliga, Champions League, and other programmes for their countries and for Denmark as its exclusive distributor in 1,776 x 1,732 I-Os. This includes 208 mic sporting event coverage to German private broadcasting the sports reports. Lawo Scandinavia. inputs all of which have 28-bit TrueMatch and public TV stations. cooperated with YLE in a similar manner for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

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Appointments Czech TV buys Vista 8 for BBC Sound 4 17 VCubes METROPOLIS MASTERING has expanded with the strengthening of its mastering team and facilities. The company has recruited mastering engineers in Noel Summerville, Mazen Murad and Frank Arkwright. Summerville joins from Transfermation to create ‘Transfermation at Metropolis’ and has been working with John Goldstraw and Crispin Murray at Metropolis to build a new room to house his desk and lathe. Czech National TV has bought 17 Merging Murad and Arkwright join from Whitfi eld Technologies VCube hard disk video player/ Street Studios. recorders for its post department. The machines, supplied by dealer Interlab, are KLAUS HEITZENRÖDER connected using a 1Gb Ethernet network has been appointed sales to a central multi-terabyte central storage manager (Europe, Africa via two RAID servers. and the Middle East) A 52-fader Studer Vista 8 has been installed into BBC Radio & Music’s new fl agship The facility currently uses 12 Fairlights and for Electro-Voice and 14m-long OB vehicle, Sound 4, which houses a central main control room, an has a Dolby equipped dubbing theatre with Blue microphones at EVI apparatus room at one end and a 5-person sound-proofed studio at the other. custom-built ADR systems for dubbing that Audio. The truck was designed to meet very tight acoustic specifi cations, and the use the VCubes. ‘Everything is running fi ne, Vista 8 is capable of sliding forwards or backwards by some 600mm enabling our engineering staff were surprised at how TANNOY IS now supporting and producers and engineers working in different programming genres to improve quickly end users got used to the VCube, servicing all dealers in Germany that their listening position by adjusting the console’s distance from the monitors. VTRs are forgotten for ever and a return back were previously supplied by TEAC Dubai TV has bought a Studer 928 analogue console for on-air broadcast in a to them would probably not be accepted,’ Europe GmbH, Tascam Division. new purpose-built facility dedicated to said Czech TV engineer Peukert Otakar. news and sports. Dubai TV is operated ALCONS AUDIO by the UAE’s Department of Information Portico for location has announced the and was the fi rst station in the region a p p o i n t m e n t o f to broadcast via satellite to Europe and Anders Uggelberg to North America. head cinema market ‘We have a large number of desks development for the here, both analogue and digital,’ said Alcons cinema product senior broadcast engineer Mahmoud range. He was previously director Ibrahim. ‘For this particular studio set-up, we agreed on the 928 as we all felt cinema products Europe for Digital comfortable with an analogue console. We are all familiar with the architecture Theatre Systems (DTS) and before that and it is a reliable board with fantastic power supplies. No further customisation he co-founded A&T Ljudproduktion in was required, and our engineers were fully operational after just a single 30- Stockholm. minute tutorial.’

ANGEL STUDIOS in London has appointed Dual function studio takes ‘Console in a Rack’ Alex Watson as chief E n g i n e e r m o n d a y technical engineer. M i c h a e l through friday A g r a d u a t e o f Helpern has during regular University of Surrey o p e n e d a b u s i n e s s Tonmeister course studio within hours; but at US Location recording enthusiast Chris he worked at Cadac for a year before the office all other times, Jones has acquired a Rupert Neve Designs joining Angel. b l o c k o f it’s Dirty Kicks. Portico 5012 Duo Mic Pre as part of his Voxonic in ‘At night, transportable collection of high-end mics, M a n h a t t a n we’re making convertors and hard disk recorders. — a fi rm that rock records,’ On the road, Jones typically records uses patent- he said. ‘And through the Portico 5012 to a Mytek Digital p e n d i n g that’s the 192 A-DC and a Sound Devices 722 2- software to n a t u r e o f channel hard disk recorder using DPA 4011, replicate any successful 4015 and 4022 mics. Closer to home, local human voice studios these New York shows are generally captured i n t o a n y days: finding through the Portico preamps to an Apple Helpern and Finkel. language. situations that laptop using Metric Halo Mobile I-O. ‘We had been doing a lot of voiceover work work for everyone involved. For the most ‘Typically, I record artists with liberal STRONGROOM STUDIOS in London at Right Track Studios,’ said Halpern. ‘I told my part, we’re always working around the clock taping policies that allow audience has appointed Matt Ward to the position boss — who also happens to own the building on something.’ members to capture their performances,’ of technical manager and Linda Dixon to we’re in, a 100,000 square-foot space on East The control room has an API DSM 48 explained Jones. ‘I’ve been recording the the post of studio booker/receptionist. 33rd Street — “Look, I have equipment, and ‘Console in a Rack’, which offers workstation Dave Matthews Band since 2000. That Ward began his career as a service you have an offi ce building. Why don’t you flexibility, a superb summing bus, and no got me started. The Dave Matthews Band engineer at HHB Communications and build me a recording studio, I’ll bring my mixing in the box, according to Halpern. ‘I community led me to other renowned acts then spent fi ve years with the Metropolis equipment, you use it during the day, and I’ll had to take the studio to the next level and with similar attitudes toward audience Group as a technical support engineer. use it at night. It will be mutually benefi cial.” fi nd the right engineer,’ Helpern continued, recording, and I’ve been fortunate to Dixon joins from Sarm West Studios We broke ground almost a year ago.’ ‘and we were lucky enough to get Jason Finkel record others such as David Gray, John where she held a similar position. The 700 square-foot studio is Vox Studios from Right Track to join us.’ Mayer, Trey Anastasio, Howie Day, and Jason Mraz.’

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The big picture Belgium anthem Quested in Deep Blue beneﬁ ts from ADA-8s

BIZ BITES — According to UK telecom regulator Ofcom, 66% of UK households now have digital TV, writes Nigel Jopson. The King of Belgium, Albert II, has The total number of households viewing expressed his appreciation of a new digitally grew 5.9% in the July-September version of his country’s national anthem, 2005 period to almost 16.5 million. There which was recorded by Belgium producer were more than 1 million sales of Freeview Lorenzo Schoovaerts using Prism ADA-8 set-top boxes and TVs with integrated convertors. DTT tuners over the same period, a 55% ‘I now own three Prism Sound ADA- year-on-year increase. Meanwhile, Toshiba 8 convertors and I use them to connect delayed the launch of its next generation software synths and effects from my Pro HD DVD players as the AACS Licensing Tools system to my SSL analogue console,” Authority — co-founded by Toshiba — said Schoovaerts (pictured), who owns and failed to meet its goal for version 1.0 of Deep Blue Studios in Plymouth UK handles recording and mixing of music, runs Grooveyard Studios near Antwerp. the Advanced Access Content System voiceovers and TV soundtracks and recently installed Quested VS3208 monitors. ‘They were certainly part of the equation (AACS) copy-protection technology. ‘The VS3208s were the perfect size for the control room and they sounded fl atter when I recorded a new version of our Toshiba had hoped to introduce HD DVD than all the other makes we tried,’ said Deep Blue’s Matt Bernard. ‘Working with national song, The Brabançonne, and I players by the end of 2005, ahead of Blu- them over long periods of time is less fatiguing than with other monitors I’ve think they made a signifi cant contribution ray disc players. Blu-ray manufacturers used and they had by far the best off-axis sound. When you moved out of the to the overall quality of the sound. have little opportunity for glee as they sweet spot with all the others, the sound was gone.’ ‘These convertors may not be the also rely on AACS. The studio features a Neve Series 51 desk, Pro Tools HD2 and Logic Pro 7 cheapest on the market but I think they are Increasingly sophisticated handsets suites and has clients that include local bands and Little Britain’s Matt Lucas and well worth the extra investment because are making mobile telephones the hot David Walliams. they sound much better than any other new media-delivery device. In the US In London, Townhouse studios engineer Max Dingel and producer Alan product I’ve tried and they help me work Sprint launched a US$6.95 per month Moulder have both bought Quested S8 monitors. ‘Alan was looking for some much faster,’ he said. service in conjunction with Mspot giving new nearfi eld monitors and I had the task of sourcing some different models to • SSL has taken delivery of its 11th subscribers access to 5-minute movie try out,’ said Max Dingel. ‘I’ve found that a lot of manufacturers tend to under Prism dScope Series III audio test and ‘chapters’, in seven different genres. spec the power amps in active monitors, but when I saw an advert for the S8s measurement system, which will be used Rival Verizon partnered CBS to offer in one of the trade magazines the power amp specifi cation seemed to be just to test X-Rack Dynamics and XLogic E video news segments from CBS News, what we were looking for.’ Signature Channels. Entertainment Tonight, CSI and the Letterman show. The global mobile Gilmore travels games market doubled in 2005 to over FX supplies Tools for new album US$2 billion, and will be worth $8.3 with Tracktion 2 billion by 2010, according to market research firm Screen Digest. Europe and in particular the US have seen rapid growth — now accounting for 52% of mobile games revenues.

Guitarist and composer David Gilmore has spent much of this year on tour with Grammy-nominated singer Joss Stone. ‘I’ve got my laptop, a little preamp and Mackie’s Pribble with Islam. Tracktion 2 software,’ Gilmore explained. ‘I love working with Tracktion because it’s Napster has launched its digital The FX Group has sold a Pro Tools rig to they’re very experienced when it comes to quick, it’s easy to use, and it really does music subscription service in Germany, Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as selling Pro Tools systems,’ said engineer everything I need. There’s no messing offering a library of 1.5 million songs, Cat Stevens, who is using it to record his ﬁ rst and studio manager Kelly Pribble. ‘The around with an arrangement window here, including 20,000 German albums and commercial album in almost three decades. fact that they’re open 24/7 was also very a mixer window there, different EQ and 135,000 local artists, for Euro 9.95 per The Pro Tools HD 2 Accel complete with important, as it goes beyond just buying a processor windows — it’s all laid out, and month. Individual songs are Euro 0.99 192 I-O, 192 AD and DA expansion cards, rig from a dealer.’ nothing’s more than a couple of clicks away. and unlimited Janus/DRM downloads Sync I-O, DigiSnake cables plus a G5 Apple • FX has also supplied equipment for Tracktion’s got a nice, intuitive workﬂ ow, to portable players cost Euro 14.95 per Mac has been installed into London Studio a two-month hire at Forum Music Village and I can spend my time and energy month. Napster has partnerships with Y, which Islam co-owns with producer Martin in Rome, where Morrissey is currently making music rather than clicking through German electronics retailer MarkoMart, Terefe who is assisting on the album. working on his new album with producer menus.’ TV broadcaster SAT1 and MP3 player ‘I’ve built up a strong relationship with Tony Visconti and long-term writing partner Gilmore has recorded and performed with maker Trekstor to promote the service. them [FX Rentals] over the years, and I know Alan White. artists like Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, Don Byron and Cassandra Wilson.

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The Big Picture 5.1 ATC at Phoenix NOTHING ADDED. In the UK, the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) and songwriters represented by the Musicians Alliance are at loggerheads NOTHING TAKEN AWAY. over royalty rates, both sides have ﬁ led claims with the UK Copyright Tribunal. In Resolution V3.4 Whitfield Street studios was proﬁ led after Robin Millar saved the ex-Sony/CBS facility from

US producer/engineer Michael Wagener, at his Wireworld Studio with two Enhanced Audio M600s universal mounts and a Soundelux 251. ‘Sometimes it’s the small things that make a big difference in audio recording. The M600 is one of Phoenix Sound completed its first orchestral recording sessions just three those, I have tried it with my trusty Elux months after moving into an empty sound stage on the Pinewood fi lm and TV 251 on vocals, percussion and violin and production plot that it has transformed into a high-end multitrack recording and with a Schoeps on acoustic guitar and mixing facility. I hear a definite improvement in the closure. Eighteen months on, the last The 40sqm control room is now fi tted with 5.1 monitors from ATC with Recording clarity of the sound,’ he said. (Photo: large orchestral recording space in Architecture’s Roger D’Arcy acting as design consultant for the new room. John Jennings) central London shut its doors for the ‘Recording Architecture is accustomed to building around ATC monitors, and, fi nal time. Illustrating the editor’s point like us, have heard the ATC system proven in many different control rooms,’ VornDick converts in his last leader about the broadening explained Phoenix MD Pete Fielder (pictured). ‘Most of the engineers that are of the production community, 200 going to use the studios like and prefer to use ATC, and we know that the system to C&T ribbons bidders at the studio and 300 online is popular with fi lm people as well.’ bidders cleared the decks of 550 lots SCM200ASL Pro 3-way actives are installed as the main LCR with powered of equipment in a single day. Digital SCM20ASL Pro units for the rear channels. Two SCM 0.1/15 Pro subs built into dreams predictably became digital plinths extend the LF down to below 20Hz. The control room is equipped with doorstops (Sony 3348 - £500), but the a 72-channel Neve VR working to Pro Tools HD, Radar and Sony 3348. The prices for audio classics (8 Neve 1081s studio can accommodate 30 musicians and with the involvement of David Ward £6,000+) indicated many enthusiasts (formerly of Gateway Studios) in the Phoenix enterprise, the studios will also host were bidding on their own account. The professional development courses for, among others, the fi lm industry. studio’s vast array of microphones sold Studio Vocalist, Soundstage Image, and for reassuringly classic prices. Proscenium ribbon transducers mics Broadcast is primary work from Crowley and Tripp have earned a • SKY WILL launch a mobile TV spot in recording engineer Bil VornDick’s service on Vodafone’s 3G network with impressive microphone locker. ‘If you can With more than 20,000 Totally uncoloured and gifted with a breathtaking dynamic range, HV-3D-8 Stereo Mic Preamp HV-3 channels in use customers able to receive a 19-channel make a musician happy, that’s half the around the world, over half the remarkable HV-3 microphone preamplifier circuit fronts an TV package that will include Sky News, battle,’ said VornDick. This philosophy has of Hollywood movie scores are now recorded using CNN and Bloomberg among others. greatly infl uenced his choices in equipment, Millennia microphone extraordinary range of outboard processors from Millennia. preamplifiers. For clarity BskyB COO, Richard Freudenstein, especially in the microphones he uses for and dynamic range, no said the deal with Vodafone would his acoustic instrument-based releases. other mic preamp comes Developed with a singular passion by the visionary US recording run exclusively until March when the ‘Any new mic intrigues me, but especially close. broadcaster would look at expanding one that is built extremely well, where the engineer John La Grou, devices including the TD-1 Half Rack the service onto other networks. ‘This sonic curves and frequency responses well An ultra-transparent, two TCL-2 Dual Compressor/Limiter channel Twin Topology® opto- Recording System (pictured above) empower the user with just highlights where the world is going,’ match the instruments I record a lot,’ he said. compressor/limiter offering switchable 100% Class-A he said. ‘Customers want flexibility, After getting them back to his Nashville private biased solid-state operation or unprecedented signal processing control, with features including convenience and choice to consume Mountainside Recording Studio and inside his 100% Class-A biased all triode vacuum tube operation. Twin Topology® selectable vacuum tube or fully discrete solid-state media wherever they are.’ frequent Music City studio digs, such as Quad, The most versatile and Ocean Way, and Masterlink, VornDick became musically rich dynamics processor in the business. input amplifiers, variable input impedances, fully parametric EQ, • STEVEN SPIELBERG is to make three hooked. ‘Their warmth impressed me,’ he original video games with Electronics The Wroxham School in Potters Bar, UK is out to the playground. Further help from explained. ‘They were nice, fat, and warm and dual REAMP® outputs and Speaker Soak® technology. A complete Twin Topology® Arts as part of a long-term agreement a thriving primary school with an ethos that Soundcraft in the form of a BSS Soundweb sounded good on acoustic instruments as well STT-1 Origin Recording Channel single channel music with the world’s biggest video games states that ‘everyone should have a voice’ will enable it to route broadcasts around as amplifi ed instruments. I’ve used them on recording system offering a selection of vacuum tube or For the ultimate in high-end audio processing, talk to HHB publisher. and with the aid of Soundcraft it has set up different areas of the school selectively. vocals, saxophones, trombones, horns, as well solid-state Class-A circuits a broadcast facility for the benefi t of its 4 ‘The school is run as a democracy in which as Marshall and Fender cabinets, and even at virtually every function, including mic pre, about Millennia. SHOWTIME to 11-aged pupils. we try to give our children exciting learning overheads for drums. The Soundstage Image compressor/limiter and The development was stimulated by opportunities,’ explained head-teacher Alison was used as a single overhead drum image on parametric EQ. CabSat, Dubai ...... 7-9 March a government initiative to promote Peacock. ‘When the government sent out their a psychedelic rock album I’m working on. Prolight + Sound, Frankfurt ..... 29 March-1 April communication opportunities in primary information packs our deputy head Simon ‘If I EQ anything, I use a high-pass NAB, Las Vegas ...... 22-27 April Surgical accuracy from two schools. Soundcraft supplied an E8 Series Putnam suggested we promote speaking and fi lter,’ he said. ‘That’s pretty much it. And NSEQ-2 Stereo Parametric EQ channels of 4-band AES, Paris ...... 20-23 May mixer and amplification and the school listening via a full broadcast facility. depending on what key the song is in, parametric EQ with Twin Topology®, offering Class-A Broadcast Asia, Singapore ...... 20-23 June contributed £500 for loudspeakers and ‘We have gone from strength to strength, if there’s any overlapping in what I call operation or all triode IBC, Amsterdam ...... 8-12 September CD players. ‘Radio Wroxham’ is based with the result that we have won the Herts “resident dominant frequencies” between vacuum tubes, selectable at the touch of a button. PLASA, London ...... 10-13 September in the school library and broadcasts in ICT Award for radio and have now attracted acoustic instruments, I’d rather duck Just one active stage in the school during Breakfast Club, lunchtimes interest from Capital Radio. We are also frequencies than increase them. For this, signal path ensures AES, San Francisco ...... 6-9 October absolute sonic integrity and SATIS, Paris ...... 7-9 October at the Wroxham Café and after school at working with Simon Balle School in Hertford, the microphones I use are important, and heightened musical realism. SBES, Birmingham ...... 15-16 November Kids’ Club. It is also hoping to get some making jingles and rap — and we even have the differences offered by each Crowley Interbee, Tokyo ...... 15-17 November outdoor speakers to enable it to broadcast our own little rock band,’ she said. and Tripp microphone allow you to really be creative in their application.’ GET MORE INFO • 020 8962 5000 • www.hhb.co.uk

12 resolution January/February 2006        

NOTHING ADDED. NOTHING TAKEN AWAY.

With more than 20,000 Totally uncoloured and gifted with a breathtaking dynamic range, HV-3D-8 Stereo Mic Preamp HV-3 channels in use around the world, over half of Hollywood movie scores the remarkable HV-3 microphone preamplifier circuit fronts an are now recorded using Millennia microphone extraordinary range of outboard processors from Millennia. preamplifiers. For clarity and dynamic range, no other mic preamp comes Developed with a singular passion by the visionary US recording close. engineer John La Grou, devices including the TD-1 Half Rack An ultra-transparent, two TCL-2 Dual Compressor/Limiter channel Twin Topology® opto- Recording System (pictured above) empower the user with compressor/limiter offering switchable 100% Class-A biased solid-state operation or unprecedented signal processing control, with features including 100% Class-A biased all triode vacuum tube operation. Twin Topology® selectable vacuum tube or fully discrete solid-state The most versatile and musically rich dynamics processor in the business. input amplifiers, variable input impedances, fully parametric EQ, dual REAMP® outputs and Speaker Soak® technology. A complete Twin Topology® STT-1 Origin Recording Channel single channel music recording system offering a selection of vacuum tube or For the ultimate in high-end audio processing, talk to HHB solid-state Class-A circuits at virtually every function, including mic pre, about Millennia. compressor/limiter and parametric EQ.

Surgical accuracy from two NSEQ-2 Stereo Parametric EQ channels of 4-band parametric EQ with Twin Topology®, offering Class-A operation or all triode vacuum tubes, selectable at the touch of a button. Just one active stage in the signal path ensures absolute sonic integrity and heightened musical realism.

GET MORE INFO • 020 8962 5000 • www.hhb.co.uk ‘I’d been to this studio to record as a musician in 1986,’ explains Dragan. ‘I had built a smaller studio Bohus Sound Studio in the centre of Gothenburg and I called the owner of this building and asked if the studio was available to With a history that is intrinsically linked to the recording industry of Sweden, this Gothenburg hire. He’d only just rented it out as a warehouse but he took my number and one and a half years later studio has endured many changes of ownership and fortune in its 30 years. However, bricks and he phoned me up. That was 1993 and in the first mortar endure as do dreams, professionalism and sound business sense. ZENON SCHOEPE instance I rented the building and bought it in 1998.’ Dragan started with an MCI 600 and accompanying 2-inch, but he raised the bar with the purchase of a 64- UILT IN 1976 for Streaplers — Sweden’s ProDigi and DASH behemoths and outboard racks channel SSL 4k in 1996. He started renting rooms at biggest country dance band at the time — that are crammed with the highly desirable and the the back of the building often fitted with the equipment BBohus Studio has a rightful claim to the title rare and wonderful. that was left over from upgrade process, which was of ‘the first studio in Sweden to be built correctly,’ But things have not always been so stable with relentless. Dragan admits to having gone through a according to owner Dragan Tanaskovic. Built by Tom the last 30 years seeing many changes of fortune crisis of confidence towards the end of 2000. Hidley as a large control room and studio area for and ownership. The Streaplers connection ended ‘I was asking myself “Why is it that I don’t enjoy proper band recording, it’s a very special place with a in 1980 and the studio changed hands regularly doing this anymore, why isn’t it fun?”’ he says. ‘I lot of character and charm. throughout the 1980s until it ended up being used as realised that this race for buying stuff, trying to have The Gothenburg studio’s history does, of course, a warehouse. the best things, was driving me mad. I decided to include ABBA, who recorded here in the late 1970s before opening their own Polar studios complex in Stockholm, but it also takes in many other high profile Swedish acts and the occasional international act, such as Status Quo who recorded Rocking All Over the World here. Much of the original 1970’s Hidley design is still apparent in the 150sqm studio and 50sqm control room which smacks of retro vibe with a distinct ‘disco’ feel to some of the areas. Isolation is superb and the place is over-engineered with versatile alcoves and acoustic ‘zones’ plus the booths, which take in individual iso booths on the studio floor and the partitions afforded by the sliding glass doors between adjoining areas. The room sound is extremely natural and it’s interesting to note that editing sessions are often performed in the live area because the space is so comfortable to live and work in. It’s also an equipment goldmine with a selection of analogue 16 and 24 track machines, 2-tracks and

14 resolution January/February 2006 facility pay off all my debts so I could own everything that compensate so much for a bad mix now -– it was I had and that’s what I did. I sold the SSL and some supposed to be a fi nal touch! There is now such a big other stuff and paid off my bank and everything apart difference between the fi nal master and the fi nal mix from the mortgage on the building. Then everything and it was not supposed to be like that. Ten years ago began to be more fun again! I had ended up doing everyone had a good engineer, producer, professional gigs that I didn’t want to do just to pay off the bank studio and of course the albums sounded better and that was frustrating for me.’ He ended up with a because there were professional people involved. Euphonix CS3000 which he ran with Pro Tools and all Today the producer is mixing the album he is the machines he had. Part of the streamlining released producing and recording — he’s more into the musical cash for him to build a mastering room in 2002 and thing but he has to take care of the other bits because this is what Dragan concentrates on now. he can’t afford to go to a studio and hire an engineer. Yet in 2005 he replaced the Euphonix with a Neve The only thing he doesn’t want to do is master it VXS. Rather than signalling another round of Dragan’s himself even if he does have the plug-ins!’ spending, it marked the arrival of Tobias Lindell, an Tobias is now doing progressively more rock work engineer/mixer with a DJ background, and together facility highly attractive to foreign business. in line with Sweden’s high quotient of rock bands and they’ve launched the Bohus Entertainment production Dragan says that once you set a price you have to Gothenburg’s position at the centre of its Heavy Metal company. The Euphonix is being housed in a new stick to it, and that means it must be realistic to begin universe. Dragan says their skill sets are extremely lower priced studio built in what was previously the with. He says it’s better business to build another room complementary and he now has a very level-headed studio's large and grand reception area. The pair have that can work for a lower rate if you can, than drop attitude to studio ownership and what makes a good a plan and a lot of energy. the rate of your best room. Reducing debt, owning and successful business. ‘It’s not about the gear but ‘Business has changed lately and the requests for a the building and being established as a high-standard certain elements of it tell the client that you are serious,’ cheaper room have proved strong,’ explains Dragan. facility means they can. ‘I remember fi ve years ago he says. ‘Then it’s all about the result and once you’ve ‘We noticed that we lost some gigs to other studios everyone was telling me I should have this studio achieved that you don’t actually have to do any more and to be competitive with those types of job we won’t in the centre of Gothenburg where everything is than that. If you show that you know your stuff and drop the price in the Neve room but we will be able to happening,’ he says. ‘Yes, perhaps I should have but it give them good results then they will come back accommodate them in the new Euphonix room.’ was expensive and, today, look who is still here!’ whether you buy another ten boxes or not.’ These lower price jobs do lead to repeat business The mastering also fi ts in with this plan and serves ‘We’re very keen on getting people to buy the and Dragan says it’s better to get those clients on the as the biggest source of income for the facility. ‘Many of package here — recording, mixing and mastering all Bohus Studios ladder rather than somebody else’s. ‘It the record producers are not 100% certain if their mixes here,’ says Tobias. ‘It’s a way to control the production means they can mix the two single in the Neve room are ready for radio or CD and they need an extra pair and its quality and to get the best result,’ adds Dragan. and the rest on the Euphonix rather than the whole of ears,’ comments Tobias. ‘And they also don’t want ‘We want people who come here to feel very comfortable lot at some other studio.’ to have the fi nal responsibility — they can blame it on and safe about what they’re buying.’ ■ The cheaper production room will be able to someone else if it’s not good!’ adds Dragan. accommodate the in-house productions as well and ‘To me, you’re not an engineer just because you’ve Contact keep the big room fl exible to still accept bookings. bought a sound card, but a lot of people today think Prices are remarkable at £350 a day for the Neve they are,’ he observes. ‘They buy a small Pro Tools, BOHUS SOUND, SWEDEN: Website: www.bohussound.com room and £250 for the Euphonix — also making the Logic, they mix their own stuff. Mastering has to

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Products Platform news: Digidesign Digidesign is now offering two versions of Pro Tools|HD by Equipment introductions and announcements. continuing to provide the existing PCI version and releasing a PCI Express (PCIe) version too. Digidesign has qualifi ed Pro Tools|HD systems for PCIe with the new range of Apple Power Waves Z-Noise Mac G5 computers. Windows-based computers equipped with multiple PCIe expansion slots are not yet commonly available. Digidesign is planning to test and qualify its PCIe systems with Windows-based computers once machines with at least three usable PCIe slots as standard are introduced to the market. Since the new Power Mac G5 computers have only three usable PCIe expansion slots, initial Digidesign support for PCIe-based Pro Tools|HD systems is limited to a maximum configuration of three cards. If you plan to use the new PCIe-based Power Mac G5 computers and want to build an Z-Noise from Waves is different to noise reduction methods expanded confi guration (beyond three cards), you that require a section of pure noise to deliver optimal results. will need to use the PCI version of the Pro Tools|HD cards in Z-Noise has an ‘exclusive’ Extract mode that can create a conjunction with the newly introduced Digidesign Expansion|HD expansion chassis. noise profi le from sources that contain signal, as well as More information on hardware exchange and crossgrades is available on the website. a fl exible Adaptive mode. This dynamic noise profi ling is Digidesign has announced iLok support that enables Pro Tools system users to purchase and download Web said to deliver unparalleled results when reducing noise licenses (or authorisations) from the Digistore in real time. Plug-ins and other software options can be licensed that changes over time. at the point of sale, and can then be securely and immediately transferred directly to any inserted iLok USB Z-Noise claims to employ a new ‘more musical’ algorithm Smart Key or deposited into a user’s iLok.com account. that delivers better low-frequency resolution and improved Digidesign has also made Web licenses available for plug-in rentals using the same DigiStore purchase, time sensitivity. Combined with its advanced adjustable download, and licensing model. Rental periods are fl exible, allowing the user to choose between 2-day, 14-day transient enhancement, Z-Noise is said to let you remove and 31-day periods. Once the rental expires, it can be renewed using any iLok. Full purchase and rental licensing noise while retaining the power and punch of your source are also completely embedded into the Pro Tools workfl ow. Users of plug-in demos can now purchase or rent recordings. a plug-in directly from the plug-in’s user interface within Pro Tools. Described as a true broadband processor it uses a familiar www.digidesign.com 5-band EQ interface and real-time operation means you can fi ne tune parameters and hear your changes as you make them. You can monitor the entire output or just the noise Transformer Culture Vulture being removed and Z-Noise allows you to choose between increased frequency resolution or improved time resolution, or a combination of the two. Waves has also added its IR-L Convolution Reverb plug-in to six of its bundles: Native Power Pack; Thermionic Culture has met demand from mastering Renaissance Maxx; Gold Bundle; Platinum Bundle; engineers and studios by producing a transformer-balanced Diamond Bundle; and Broadcast & Production. Waves’ version of the Culture Vulture stereo valve distortion device. GTR (Guitar Tool Rack) package now supports Pro Tools 7 The MV has the same front panel controls and operation for Mac and Windows. as the standard Vulture, but features bypassable Sowter www.waves.com transformer-balanced I-Os on stereo jacks. The unit also has large indented input drive controls and indented output controls. parameters like fader, mute and solo sent via MIDI. This has AKG Perceptions www.unityaudio.co.uk been achieved by creating a new GeneralPurposeChannel (GPC) and up to 256 channels of these are available in the mc266 and the mapping of individual parameters can SoundField for Sound Devices be adapted to other systems. The GPC can be assigned freely to the console like a ‘real’ channel, working with automation, snapshot, audio-follow-video, labelling and all other channel functions. GPCs are also used to remote control and store camera microphone preamps settings for use in TV OB vans. All camera parameters are controlled directly at the console and are stored in a snapshot. The mc266 has also been Sound Devices and SoundField have announced the extended to integrate 19-inch third-party talkback and immediate availability of SoundField B-format surround matrix panels. decoding on Sound Devices’ 744T 4-track production www.lawo.de audio recorder. 744T fi rmware revision 1.57 (and greater) now offers B-format-to-stereo decoding without additional hardware. Rosetta 800 is 192 www.sounddevices.com Apogee has standardised its Rosetta 800 line at 192kHz AKG has launched a large diaphragm cardioid condenser, sample rate. Previously, Apogee had two versions of the the Perception, for the budget studio market. Available as 2 Rosetta 800, the standard being at 96k with an optional the Perception 100 and Perception 200, the 100 includes Lawo mc 66 Release 1.3 192k upgrade. a stand adapter while the 200 includes a full-sized studio Lawo’s release of 1.3 software for its mc266 console The Rosetta 800 offers SoftLimit, UV22HR, and suspension cradle, a hard-shell road case and adds a 10dB introduces dynamic automation designed specially for use Intelliclock together with optional FireWire and Pro Tools pad and 300Hz 12dB/octave bass roll–off fi lter. in production studios and mobile control rooms. Remote- connectivity. www.harmanprouk.com control of workstations is now possible with channel www.apogeedigital.com

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Fabrik R and C have MINT Soundcraft BB100 for broadcast In a consolidation of Harman Mixer Group products, Soundcraft has released the BB100 console (formerly available from Amek) as one of its analogue Broadcast consoles as part of the restructuring of the Broadcast offerings from Soundcraft and Studer. The confi gurable desk is available in four frame sizes, and can be built with or without up to eight subgroups. Each model has a choice of mono and stereo inputs, with eight aux buses and up to fi ve stereo returns (depending on module confi guration). sub mixer for returns from video machines. It has up to four Cleanfeed Outputs with talkback that can Other features include ‘soft’ Mute circuits, fader starts as be changed (using internal jumpers) to an output matrix standard, external mute control, stereo input channels with fed from the groups and main output. The Control Room M-S (sum and difference) switches, direct outputs on all Monitor section has external inputs and outputs for Main mono input channels and conductive plastic faders. and Nearfi eld speakers and one of the sources has a 4-input www.soundcraft.com

Two new PowerCore plug-ins, Fabrik R and Fabrik C, feature a different user interface called MINT, Meta Intuitive Navigation Technology, which allows the user to respond easily, quickly, and intuitively to any audio material at hand. Underneath the interface, hundreds of high resolution parameters are adjusted leaving the user with a few simple controls. Fabrik R is a reverb tool with four TC reverbs and Fabrik C is a high-resolution channel EQ, de-esser, and 3-band/full-band compressor. PowerCore 2.0 software includes several improvements to the graphic interface and demo versions of plug-in licenses. The new interface design provides an overview of CPU power and RAM, as well as the status of plug-in licenses and all PowerCore devices running on the system. PowerCore 2.0 enables a fully functional 20-hour trial version of a number of optional TC plug-ins. These plug-ins will be included with the installer in all future versions and simplify the download procedure when buying optional PowerCore plug-ins. All PowerCore users are automatically eligible for a free upgrade to PowerCore from the website. PowerCore Unplugged is the same piece of hardware as PowerCore PCI mkII but without the plug-ins. www.tcelectronic.com

Single speaker stereo iPod Embracing Sound E x p e r i e n c e h a s licensed its single s p e a k e r s t e r e o technology to sound company Geneva Lab for use in the consumer market with a single compact l o u d s p e a k e r t h a t allows direct docking of an iPod. Only one power cord is required and the player can be controlled using a remote. The Geneva Sound Systems modules also include CD and radio and can be connected to external audio sources. The sound modules are available in two sizes and in a variety of colours. www.embracingsound.com

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AMS Neve post desks a knob per function assignable channel, both have touch- Tools conﬁ gured patchbay sensitive controllers. AMS Neve has added two consoles to its MMC range. The Surround mixing is said to be central to MMC’s design MMC 300 and the MMC 400 both feature a new central with a powerful monitoring section, intelligent panning to panel giving engineers control over monitoring, source surround buses and simple routing of multiple surround and surround mixing as well as eight assignable faders sources and destinations including simultaneous mixing in that can be used as group, stem, aux or master faders, or multiple formats. Encore Plus automation integrates control Switchcraft has extended its Easy Norm range of patchbays additional input channel faders. The MMC 400 is ﬁ tted of Pro Tools, Nuendo and Pyramix workstations. by adding a version to work with Pro Tools 192 I-O system with conventional channel strips while the MMC 300 uses www.ams-neve.com interfaces and similar products. StudioPatch 6425 has 64 TT/bantam Easy Norm jacks that allow the normals to be set from the front panel. It is internally wired using 110ohm cable to eight 25-way D-sub connectors on the rear — four inputs and four outputs. The grounds are bussed to enable the passing of phantom power. www.switchcraft.com

KT Square One

Klark Teknik’s Square One range of processors consists of the Square One graphic equaliser and the Square One dynamics, an 8-channel, 3U conﬁ gurable dynamics processor. Square One units address a new price point for the company.

The Graphic has 45mm faders with integral dust guards; signal present and clip LEDs; fully balanced I-Os; relay activated bypass; Proportional Q ﬁ lters; high pass and low pass filters; universal power supply and a 3U steel chassis. The Dynamics allows users to select the required mode of operation, allowing the multi-mode dynamics processor to function as a default compressor (RMS sensing type); vintage compressor (peak sensing type); broadband frequency-conscious compressor; Hi-Q frequency-conscious compressor (de-esser); limiter; expander or gate. Square One Dynamics also provide i-TS (intelligent threshold shift) in conjunction with the gate hold function to reduce chattering within the gate; stereo and multichannel operation, solo bus operation; 6–segment, 3-colour input meter, and a 10-segment attenuation depth meter. www.klarkteknik.com

Audionics LAN-enabled Audionics’ new family of LAN-enabled products can be used to develop audio systems that can be controlled without the need for hardware control panels. They can be integrated into broadcast playout systems under direct control of the playout software, or in audio visual system applications controlled centrally from Crestron or AMX control systems. Audio systems can now be controlled from your desktop at any location. The ﬁ rst three products in the family are the eMM88 an 8 x 8 audio combiner, eWM88 8 channel audio mixer and the eMX88 8 x 8 audio router. All the units have a LAN interface with an embedded web server. The simple client/server control protocol enables users to develop their own control systems, or use the supplied Windows-based GUI. The web server also has an embedded Java Applet enabling control from standard web browsers. www.audionics.co.uk

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Switchable-tone mic pres Portable wireless receiver patent-pending process of combining digital audio with an analogue FM wireless link and is said to eliminate the Lectrosonics’ UCR401 Digital Hybrid Wireless compact artefacts of a typical compandor design. diversity UHF receiver is targeted at film production, www.lectrosonics.com documentary filmmaking, ENG and videography applications. Compatible with the range of Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless and analogue transmitters, as well as some analogue transmitters from other manufacturers, the UCR401 A Designs Audio has introduced a series of switchable-tone receiver incorporates features that MPA mic pres, which includes the MP-1A all-tube mono mic claim ‘best-in-class’ RF reception pre and the MP-2A mono/stereo version. across 256 user-selectable UHF They are said to be the ﬁ rst mic pres designed with tone frequencies. switches enabling the units to sound like totally different Digital Hybrid Wireless overcomes preamps. Each unit has two-tone switches per channel channel noise by involving the and when used in combination this results in four different sounds. Additional features include a Jensen input transformer coupled with a custom-wound output transformer. They also have 60dB gain, -20dB pad, balanced XLR I-O, a vintage VU meter, phantom switch, phase switch and a front panel DI. www.adesignsaudio.com

Rycote bits Rycote has five new accessories. The Hot Shoe Extension allows camcorder users to fit multiple hot shoe attachments to their equipment while the Hot Shoe 3/8-inch Adaptor attaches any ﬁ tting with a 3/8-inch thread to a camera hot shoe. Multimount v2 is available in three sizes and allows the user to ﬁ t the Softie mount to either a camcorder hot shoe or to a boom pole with 3/8-inch Whitworth tip. The Softie Mount CCA camcorder clamp adaptor attaches shotgun microphones to camcorders fitted with a microphone clamp (25-27mm diameter). The Softie mount provides isolation against lens motor and general handling noise. www.rycote.co.uk

AEQ’s smaller pro portable A E Q ’s PA W 1 2 0 w i l l replace its DR 100 portable recorder this year. The PAW (Palm Audio Workstation) is the ‘ultimate’ portable recorder for journalists. It replaces some of the more consumer-type features of the old model with a more professional feel but remains hand-held. It has a built-in speaker, aluminium case, OLED dual- colour display and uses two AA dry cells or rechargeable batteries. It appears as a USB removable external device on Mac and PC and records and edits linear PCM and MPEG audio, supports BWF, and has 512Mb of Flash memory. It has a built-in mic with connection for mono or stereo external mics with phantom power, a mechanical switch to activate AGC, and voice- activated recording. www.aeq.es

January/February 2006 resolution 19 reviewgear

Canford on-line and in colour Saffi re V2.0 Fostex rack monitor Canford has more V2.0 software for than 800 new Focusrite’s Saffire products available includes enhanced o n l i n e . T h e 192kHz and FireWire Fostex’s digital input RM-2 is a rackmounted powered company took the operation, improved stereo monitoring system with stereo analogue balanced decision to launch graphics contrast, +4dB inputs with combo connectors (XLR and 1/4-inch) the new products rollover help for and AES-EBU digital input on XLR working from 44.1kHz through its website SaffireControl in the to 96kHz. immediately in form of Tool tips, The control panel includes a 26-dot stereo LED meter, advance of the Bug removal, and biaxial stereo gain control, phone jack, channel select publication of its improved interface switch and input select switch. catalogue. The clarity — Mute, Solo Dim and Hardware control buttons The MR-8HD 8-track 2006 edition marks Canford’s 30th anniversary and is the (within the output mix sections) use a new, bright colour hard disk recorder fi rst to be printed in colour throughout. scheme. succeeds the www.canford.co.uk www.focusrite.com VF-80EX and w o r k s t o a 40Gb drive and is capable of recording 4 tracks simultaneously. Built-in digital effects include mic and amp simulations and fi les can be transferred via USB to/from Mac or PC. www.fostexinternational.com

CB USB-422 interface CB Electronics’ USB-422 is a dual RS-422 USB interface suitable for use with most DAWs including Pro Tools, Avid, Final Cut Pro, Pyramix, and Sadie. Built in a rugged extruded aluminium box with compatible drivers for Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP, MAC OS-X, and Linux, the two RS422 ports are provided using 9-pin D connectors wired to standard Sony RS-422 pin-out. Port A may be confi gured as a Controller (O/ P) or Device (I/P) using internal links, Port B is confi gured as a Controller (O/P). Tx and Rx LEDs are fi tted to both ports for diagnostics. Slew Rate Limited RS422 drivers are used to minimise EMI and reduce refl ections. An optional video sync reference input is available. www.colinbroad.com

Audix MicroBoom

The Audix MicroBoom is a 50-inch carbon ﬁ bre boom arm that attaches to any microphone stand. Designed as an accessory for the company’s The Micros series of miniature condensers, the MicroBoom has a diameter of less than 7.4mm and weighs only 78g. The MicroBoom can be used with any of the Micros series. The M1290 is 90mm long with a claimed response of 40Hz–20kHz and is available in cardioid, hypercardioid, omnidirectional, and supercardioid (shotgun) patterns. The M1245 is 45mm long with a frequency response of 80Hz–20kHz and is available in cardioid, hypercarioid and omni patterns. www.audixusa.com

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A&H upgrades WZ20S Crest HP-W Abbey Road limiter Allen & Heath has upgraded its stereo Sharing the same London’s Abbey Road Studios and US WZ20S MixWizard console to WZ3 frame sizes as the manufacturer Chandler Limited have status, joining the WZ316:2, WZ312:2 company’s HP-Eight released the EMI TG 12413 Limiter and WZ314:4:2. Series, the Crest Audio plug-in. It is based on the original The new WZ320S beneﬁ ts from HP-W features two additional sets of alternative stereo outputs, compressor/limiter module built in several design improvements, including a dynamics section that can be used for recording the 1960s as a component module of including a new mic preamp, advanced purposes. Other features include an ambient mic input and a the TG 12345 mix desk. The 24 mic, grounding scheme, more responsive 4-band EQ, and the dedicated stereo input module with four mono and four stereo 8-track mixing console was used to record a host of classic addition of a dedicated mono output fader for use as a mono inputs. All mono inputs feature line inputs via an additional jack albums of that era including The Beatles Abbey Road and sum of LR, or as the aux 6 master. The dual stereo channels to the XLR mic input. Another new module features 8-channel Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. now have a sub-panel switch, which allows the TRS A inputs automix which can be disabled. All input modules feature a BNC Key features include the option to conﬁ gure from mono to route direct to the LR bus, plus, the B inputs have been connector for adding a light while auxiliary outputs are XLR. Other to 7.1 surround and the plug-in is available in RTAS and upgraded to XLR. provisions include eight assignable scene mutes or snapshots and TDM versions, for PC and Mac. VST and AU versions will Designed for mixing multiple stereo sources, the WZ320S frame options are 28, 36 or 44 channels. follow soon. retains 4 mono mic/line channels, 8 dual stereo input www.crestaudio.comRes_Smart AV_07.05 29/6/05 10:40 am Pagewww.abbeyroad.com 1 channels and two stereo return inputs for a total of 44 connections and 22 sources to the mix. www.allen-heath.com

Super.fi earphones The Super.fi earplugs range from Ultimate ”The most exciting Ears has been developed to address the interest in high quality, universal fit earphones for pro audio and for the iPod/ new product in years.” mobile listening market. The super.fi studio 3 are single armature, full-range earphones, the super.fi 5 Pro is a dual armature driver earpiece, while the super.fi 5EB is more of a specialist earphone ‘with loads of low end headroom’. The 5EB is a dual-driver hybrid earpiece with a conventional transducer for the low end and an armature driver for mids and highs. All three products are available in black or white. www.handheldaudio.co.uk

Sony shotgun In an industry where Sony’s ECM-674 electret condenser shotgun mic new product launches come thicker and faster each year, reactions claims a wide frequency response with like the one above are extremely hard to low inherent noise and has internal come by, yet this is the most frequent comment we’ve battery and external power heard from seasoned professionals and hardened critics options. It weighs 220g, is 20cms long and alike on first seeing the revolutionary new Smart AV Console. has a diameter of 26mm. Designed for use with today's most popular DAWs including Apple Logic, New products in Sony’s UWP Series UHF Digidesign Pro Tools and Merging Technologies Pyramix, the Smart Console represents synthesised wireless microphone system a quantum leap forward in ergonomics and is radically different from any other console range include the UTX-P1 UHF Plug-On on the market today. Operation via patented ARC technology is so intuitive that the learning Transmitter, the UWP-C3 UHF Wireless curve is measured in minutes rather than days, and project completion times are slashed. A bold claim, but when you find out more about the design, it’s easy to see why: Microphone Kit and the F-112 Dynamic Interview Microphone. THE ARC www.sonybiz.net The Console’s patented touch-sensitive ARC allows instant The touch-sensitive aux send knobs are also motorized, as are one-touch selection of any channel or group of channels the pan knobs with their handy LED surround pan displays from those currently in use on the DAW - custom sets of and a central motorized touch-sensitive surround panner is channels can be called up onto the faders in a second or available to all channels. Behringer sub and amp two. What’s more, the ARC also allows instant muting, soloing (or any other custom function) of any channel, even MODULARITY The Truth B2092A active 360W studio if it’s not currently active on the console. The entire Console is highly modular, and in additon to the EQ FAN DISPLAY components already described, also comes as standard with subwoofer claims 32Hz performance with DISPLAYS support for 3rd party surround monitoring controllers and two long-excursion 8-inch loudspeakers. It In addition to the stunning metering on the ARC itself, remote mic pre-amps, a 48, 72 or 96 channel ARC, one or channels marked on the ARC in your own handwriting appear two optional ‘floating’ subsidiary ARCs, and an optional Edit has dedicated LCR I-Os, a band-pass ﬁ lter in the super high-visibility electro-fluorescent display above Panel with high quality jog wheel, 40 custom function enclosure design, an active crossovers at each fader bank - this can also optionally display your DAW buttons and built-in 12" hi-definition LCD screen. track names, or both. Meanwhile in the EQ department, dual- 80Hz, overload-protection circuitry, and Phase concentric touch-sensitive EQ pots show the current gain and SOUND INVESTMENT and Room Compensation controls. frequency information on hi-res LED fan displays, whilst Most of all though, the Smart Console makes good commercial detailed plug-in control is available on the central LCD sense - other than the undeniable client ‘wow’ factor, tests have The Reference Amplifier A500 CHANNEL DISPLAY touchscreen with its own dual-concentric touch-sensitive pots. shown that productivity is massively increased versus any other offers 2 x 230W into 4ohms and existing console design, and operator stress levels significantly MOTORIZATION reduced - how much could this be worth to your business? 500W into 8ohms in bridged mono The Console can be specified with either industry standard and features a servo-controlled design, convection-cooling ALPS touch-sensitive motorized faders, or optionally deluxe Call today to find out more about the Console and flexible for noise-free operation, and precise level meter and clip ultra-fast Penny & Giles models when only the best will do. finance arrangements, or to book your personal demonstration. indicators. Input connections are on XLR, 1/4-inch TRS and phono, speaker outputs on ‘touchproof’ binding posts and +44 (0) 20 7692 6611 1/4-inch TS connectors and independent thermal overload EDIT PANEL www.smartav.net protection with LED indication on each channel. [email protected] www.behringer.com

January/February 2006 resolution 21 review Fostex DV824

By luck or by design, the number 8 is big in the world of audio post and has been adopted as a means of carrying track data between production stages. How you choose to carry it is another matter but digital tape has now fi nally been laid to rest in the wake of the arrival of this latest advance from Fostex. NEIL HILLMAN fi nds himself largely satisfi ed on pretty much all counts.

ACK IN 2003, after Fostex had introduced its work-fl ow’ certainly help our long, winter evenings to DAT 15 years ago, introducing timecode capable DV40 4-track DVD Master Recorder, the hugely fl y by. Oh yes, I know we’re a crazy, zany, mad-cap location versions too. The successor to these fondly- Bcomplimentary Resolution review (V2.1) carried bunch in audio post, but there is a more serious point remembered location PD2 and PD4 models — the this rider: it’s great, it’s a huge step forward over DAT, to this: for a client, where time is money spent on PD6 — introduced the DVD format to feature fi lm but when can we have 8 channels to enable us to postproduction, unless you’re very careful in pricing location recording, and quickly established itself as replace our obligatory DA-78/88/98s, please? This a job, their expectation is for these sizeable transfer a digital, versatile, disc-based platform: sales have logical progression from 4 to 8 tracks seemed to be times to be absorbed at your own cost. Which is already exceeded the magic 500 number. an obvious development for the DV40, given the why, for me, the Fostex DV824 (UK£2199 + VAT) Fostex has been robust in championing the DVD- need from the audio post community for continuing is the most signifi cant audio postproduction product RAM format as the natural successor to DAT, and its the long established procedure of supplying 8-tracks of 2005. It’s almost taken care of everything on my reasoning is sound enough: DVD-RAM has a proven of audio with any syndicated television programme wish-list. durability — 100,000 rewrites are assured; the on a DA-88 tape; or the similarly well-established I say almost, because of two teeny-weeny yet cartridge-held disc offers better protection from the procedure of supplying 8-track tapes containing 5.1 fundamental shortcomings. First, due to the linear bumps and grinds that could cause external damage stems for fi lm and DVD production. process of DVD as opposed to the random nature of to the disc itself; it offers good editing facilities and TV work generally breaks programme components hard-disk, the time-saving ability to ftp the Broadcast built-in error correction capabilities; and with the real- down to a so-called ‘DA-88 mix’; a typical layout Wave .WAV fi les off supplied fi eld recording disks and time, error-free recording afforded by Fostex’s Verify/ looking something like Tracks 1&2: Main Stereo mix into a DAW, works only in one direction — from the Write technology, the Film industry has taken to it. (or the main Dolby Surround LtRt mix), Tracks 3&4: 824; and in this lazy, IT-based world we now exist in, Now, with the introduction of the DV824, television Clean Stereo Effects; Tracks 5&6: Clean mono Sync I would really, really like the option to just drop-and- studios and postproduction houses will also be taking (on 5), Clean Commentary (on 6); Tracks 7&8: Clean drag fi nished mixes the other way, straight back on note, while location drama recordists will welcome the Music. In a 5.1 environment this DA-88 process to the DV824. Second, you can’t overdub. In fairness, extra capacity and fl exibility afforded by the device. can archive the 6 stem tracks, with a ‘guide’ Dolby the fi rst you can’t do with tape either — but with an It’s a sophisticated beast, yet not complicated. The Surround LtRt mix parked on the fi rst 2 tracks. optional hard disk fi tted to the Fostex you can at least DV824 can record up to 8 channels of simultaneous So while this is all pretty effi cient as a storage or write in multiple media recording modes including audio, in a plethora of permutations: as well as mono delivery medium, at the other end of the remixing CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW, copying to the and stereo track modes, the device offers 4, 5, 6, and process, the linear importing of this stuff is frustratingly DV824 via that internal hard disk; but with the second 8 track modes, with the capability to handle 8-track time-consuming; real-time is not really an acceptably- gripe, of course with tape, you can easily overdub. simultaneous recordings at 24-bit/48kHz, and 4- effi cient transfer speed now. In fact, from time to time With the introduction of the DV824, Fostex would track simultaneous recording at 24-bit/96kHz. This — when we fi nd ourselves playing buzzword-bingo seem to have now completed its DVD-based audio new Fostex continues to use Type-2, one sided discs, with our client’s production managers — their use of production chain family and let’s face it, it is no offering a capacity of 4.7Gb (typically 96 minutes of phrases like ‘reversioning pipe-line’ and ‘re-editing stranger to digital audio. It invented the timecode 8-track at 48kHz/16-bit, or 64 minutes of 8-track at

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48kHz/24-bit). As with all Fostex DVD products, the discs are formatted in accordance with the Universal Disc Format (UDF), and data on the DV824 is stored in uncompressed Broadcast Wave (.WAV) format interleaved fi les. This means that the discs may be read by any of the main computer operating systems, including Windows, Mac and Linux; making for easy transfer to external editing systems. That optional 40Gb or 80Gb hard disk enables dual-disk recording, as well as offering an auto backup facility. Further options can also be found on the timecode/Sync card, which allows for internal and external timecode to be generated and integrated into the recording process, and includes a biphase input for synchronising the DV824 to a fi lm projector. The slim 2U device externally breaks-down into two major sections: front and rear. All connectivity is accessed through the rear panel: its eight +4dBu, balanced XLR-3 analogue inputs sit in a row above the eight analogue output XLR connectors, and its digital I-O is via a D-sub 25-pin with pin connections cycles through Absolute, TC In, Generator and LTC. others. These buttons work in conjunction with the conforming to those found on Yamaha kit. This Like many of the front panel buttons, it has a shifted Skip/Cursor left/right keys on the bottom right hand connector handles AES-EBU and SPDIF. The unit and un-shifted function. A column of small indicator of the front panel, the Shift key, and the Menu dial/ may be controlled remotely through a mini-DIN 8-pin lamps on the right hand side of the display panel Enter:Yes dual function turn-to-select, push-to-accept connector, or through a conventional video-controller show which mode is selected, including Drop-Frame. knob. RS-422. A second ‘through’ 9-pin echoes the signals A USB keyboard port is useful for quickly naming The DV824 neatly completes the Fostex suite received at the master 9-pin connector, enabling fi les and there’s also a Phones section with a 1/4- of DVD-RAM products, and justifi ably sits at the multiple units to be controlled. inch headphone socket, volume pot and switchable top of its family tree. Anyone familiar with the A 100ohm slider switches terminates the 9-pin matrix combination allowing a variety of sources to ubiquitous DA-88 will quickly feel at home using the connector, while a second, similar switch terminates be selected, including mono mix, stereo mix, stereo DV824, and barring my petty gripes about the small the Word In signal. Two BNC connectors carry the tracks and soloed tracks. infl exibility inherent with using DVD rather than tape, Word clock I-Os while an RJ45 socket is used for the Sandwiched between the edge of the disk tray I am sure that the DV824 will soon become a familiar Ethernet port. This enables the DV824 to be connected and the level meters are two indicators related to fi xture in postproduction studios. ■ to an Ether network conforming to 100/10 base-T. disk access, indicating the condition of the currently Accordingly, two lights illuminate the port’s status: selected drive. With the optional hard disk installed the Link lights when recognising the network, and the and selected, the HD light is lit; when the DVD drive PROS Almost everything you could want ‘TX/RX’ lights when receiving or sending data. Power is selected, the DVD light is lit. These tri-state lamps from an audio postproduction master is supplied to the unit from an AC adaptor. show green when a drive is selected, orange when recorder is here. The front panel is an altogether busier place, as reading data and red when writing. a whistle-stop tour will confi rm. The fi rst three eye- Below the level meters, time display and display CONS Readily reads ‘family’ discs from the catching features are the disk loading-drawer on the panel are the familiar fi ve transport buttons. DV40 and PD-6, but not DEVA II; special software is needed to play DEVA IV left hand side above the power On/Off switch, this A three-by-four layout of buttons on the right hand and V. disk tray is operated by a key adjacent to the tray; the side of the central display area takes care of various eight 18-bar level meters, showing the recording or direct data entry/’shifted’ functions. These cover playback levels of tracks; and a 132 x 64 dot-matrix functions such as alphanumeric entry, File Select, Contact LCD. The large, 7-segment time-display is located Drive Partition, Pre Record Slate Tone, List Play, Edit FOSTEX, JAPAN: below this LCD, with the time displayed selected EDL, Chase, Time Select, Contrast, All Input, Safe: Website: www.fostexdvd.net UK, SCV London: +44 208 418 1470 through the use of a Time Select/Contrast key, which Ready, Mark:Cue, Locate, Edit Time and Clear, among

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MKH800-RESOLUTION.indd 1 22/12/05 4:46:32 pm January/February 2006 resolution 23 review

and loop points can be entered on here to control playback from the DAW after the scan is complete. The Waves Tune and De Breath main bulk of the plug-in display is given over to the edit window, and here you can see similarities to both Waves’ latest bundle of plug-ins is more than simply a re-packaging of existing offerings. AutoTune’s and Melodyne’s interfaces. Along the left hand side is a ‘piano roll’, indicating Yes, the Vocal Bundle does include some old favourites such as Doubler, Renaissance specifi c pitches. The range and scale of this can be Channel and Renaissance DeEsser, but it is also the showcase for two brand new plugs changed, of course, to suit the audio in question. In addition, a pop-up menu allows you to choose from geared specifi cally towards vocal postproduction. JON THORNTON a myriad of scales, tunings and keys, which will then highlight ‘illegal’ notes on this display — in other words notes that do not belong in that key or scale. OTH TUNE AND DEBREATH Tune sits somewhere in the By clicking on the piano keys, you can set rules for are at one level pretty self- middle of these approaches — it pitch correction in terms of whether an input note Bexplanatory in their action. can be inserted as a plug-in across falling on an illegal note is corrected to the nearest What is perhaps slightly harder any track in your DAW of choice, legal note, or correction forced to the nearest legal to understand, particularly in the but before it starts work the audio note either above or below the input note. It can also case of Tune, is why Waves has in question needs to be scanned and be set to bypass — in other words input notes will not waited quite so long to fi ll such an analysed. This initial pitch detection have correction applied to them if they are not part of obvious gap in its processing line forms the basis of the pitch correction the defi ned scale. up. Tuning correction of vocals and curve that the plug-in will apply to As the audio track is scanned by Tune, it is other monophonic sources is hardly the chosen track, which the user ‘segmented’ into notes that appear on the main edit a new idea, and in some genres can fi ne-tune and tweak in real time. window in a fashion similar to a MIDI note editor. and production styles it’s become as This approach means that Tune is Orange blocks defi ne the position of notes, which commonplace as compression. Such best used when the vocal track in are overlaid by a constantly varying orange line, has been the domination of Antares’ question is pretty much ‘locked’ indicating the detected pitch of the input audio, and product in this area that the product with most comping, etc. fi nalised, as a green line that indicates the corrected pitch. The name, AutoTune, has almost become subsequent drop-ins or editing of the parameters by which audio is both segmented and a generic term for the technique. More original track will mean that altered corrected can be set before the initial scan, but also recently, Celemony’s Melodyne has also appeared on sections will need to be rescanned by the plug-in. Up altered afterwards either globally, or on individually the scene, and has quickly garnered an enthusiastic to ten minutes of audio can be scanned and analysed selected notes. user base that appreciates its rather elegant and in one pass, and if necessary this ten-minute stretch Segmentation into notes is controlled by the intuitive user interface. can be offset to any point within a longer session. chosen scale and the segmentation tolerance setting. What Waves has come up with is a product that Subsequent tweaking and tuning of the track Higher tolerance settings mean that short glitches has clearly looked hard at these two competitors, and happens entirely within the plug-in window, and as this in input notes or marginal detunes will not be split seems to merge together some of the best features inevitably means a certain degree of navigation around into individual notes, but will remain as one note of both. While AutoTune functions as a plug-in in a the audio to audition, loop, start and stop playback segment. Exact values for this are best found by conventional sense, Melodyne has always been a etc., all of these functions are available from within the experimentation, and are very dependant on the standalone application. Miniature plug-ins are available plug-in itself, which synchronises itself with the host source material and singing style. Natural vibrato has to work with most DAWs, but these simply act as a DAW’s timeline using Propellerheads’ ReWire protocol. always been a problem for this type of processing — bridge to stream audio into Melodyne for processing As the audio is scanned, the top of the plug-in window as it can lead to a note with vibrato being segmented and then back into the DAW for playback. displays a waveform view of the audio, and markers into two or three rapidly changing notes. Although increasing the tolerance parameter helps here, Waves has also implemented a vibrato detection function. Once enabled, it will look for natural vibrato occurring in the whole section or a selected area, and will segment notes based on the average pitch. Pitch correction has three main parameters. Speed sets the speed of correction within a note in milliseconds. Low values have the effect of pretty much fl attening any pitch variation, higher settings allow some natural variation in pitch. Note Transition defi nes the speed at which correction is applied from note to note in the scale — short values sound a little jumpy and artifi cial, longer values allow more ‘glide’ in the corrected pitch. Finally, Ratio defi nes how much of the pitch correction curve is applied to the original audio, ranging from no correction to 100% correction. Again, these settings can be applied globally or on individual notes or selections of notes. Editing in this window is made very easy by a selection of tools. Notes can be simply picked up and moved to a different scale pitch, with the correction curve being redrawn instantly based on the parameters outlined above. Notes can be joined together or split apart — again, very straightforward and familiar to anybody who’s ever used a MIDI sequencing package. The correction curve can even be redrawn directly on the screen, either with a pencil tool or a breakpoint style tool. Where this is done, the audio is re-segmented into new notes based on the segmentation settings, allowing for example, a vocal glissando to be produced where none existed previously.

24 resolution January/February 2006 review

All in all it’s a very straightforward and easy user interface once you’ve spent a little time with it — and its strength is in the way you can go from general correction to fi ne-tuning notes in surgical detail and back again almost instantly. The ability to navigate through the audio from within the plug-in is also a huge bonus, as is the ability to hear the audio and edit it while listening to it in context with the rest of the mix –- although I have to say that this did require me to upgrade my Pro Tools software in order to get the ReWire functionality working on an HD system, and I couldn’t get it to work at all with an older Mix3 system using PT 6.1. Sonically, Tune performs very well. A choice of formant correction or straight shifting is available, and above are met, the breath sound is faded out of the while most users will never stray far from the formant voice path and into the breath path. The timing of corrected option for vocals, it does give additional this fade is user-defi ned, as is the reverse — i.e. when fl exibility when working with non-vocal sources. The the signal is faded from the breath path and back into default correction parameters applied on the initial the voice path. Similarly, the amount of movement scan can sometimes sound a little heavy-handed on of the signal is also variable, so that some breath fi rst listen, but these are easily adjusted, and I found noise remains in the voice path, but is attenuated by myself very quickly doing some fairly advanced a certain level. editing on individual sections to tweak odd pitch While the output of the plug-in can only be problems while leaving the broad correction curve at either one path or the other, it’s a trivial matter to lower ratio settings. Used in this manner Tune can have the plug assigned to two tracks, each with very quickly produce natural sounding results. an identical vocal line, and have one monitoring Finally, there are a couple of other features worth breath and the other voice — enabling rebalancing pointing out. In addition to detecting natural vibrato of these components or different treatments, for for the purposes of note segmentation, Tune can example a slightly darker EQ on the breath track. also either modify natural vibrato in a note, or add If it is being used simply for breath removal, there synthetic vibrato where none exists. Once fi nal is an option to have DeBreath automatically insert correction is achieved, Tune will also export the data low-level white noise as a kind of room tone when as a MIDI fi le, which can then be used to double up breaths are removed, in order to compensate for any the vocal part with MIDI instruments in a sequencer unnatural sounding silences in the track. It sounds or DAW. quite involved, but in actuality it’s a breeze to set up I had to laugh when I read the website blurb that and use, and it works wonderfully well, almost fully accompanies DeBreath, which opens with ‘Breathing automating what can be a very long-winded editing is something singers seem to insist on doing, even process if performed manually. when it spoils a perfectly good take…’ Whether you Of the two new offerings, Tune is clearly the big gun agree with this sentiment or not, DeBreath is a very here but I think that Waves has chosen its moment powerful little plug-in. Although in essence it is similar well, and has produced something that takes the best to a noise gate in functionality, the way in which of what’s currently available and put it together into it detects breath noises is more sophisticated than a powerful, but intuitive package. Add DeBreath and simply a function of level. the somewhat older favourites, and the Vocal Bundle Incoming audio is monitored and compared against is an extremely powerful proposition. ■ a database of breath type ‘signatures’. The plug-in displays a rolling window that graphs the similarity PROS Elegant, easy to use but powerful of the incoming audio to a breath noise, ranging from interface for Tune; high quality pitch 0 to 100%. Immediately below this is another rolling correction; can be as general or as window that indicates overall signal energy. On the surgical as you like; DeBreath powerful basis that a breath sound is likely to have a high and simple. similarity level coupled with a low energy level, the CONS Tune doesn’t have the multitrack or time- detection of breath sounds can be very accurate. Two stretching functionality of Melodyne; threshold levels, one for similarity and the other for ReWire implementation problematic on energy, can be set by the user, and the plug-in only older Pro Tools systems. acts when breath similarity exceeds the threshold and energy stays below the threshold. Contact The plug-in effectively has two audio paths as WAVES, ISRAEL outputs –- one for breath noises and the other for Website: www.waves.com voice signals. When the detection conditions outlined UK, Sonic Distribution: +44 1582 470260

January/February 2006 resolution review

retainer the front panel simply unclips to become a small and neat remote control. Rosendahl BonsaiDrive However, it takes a great deal more than good mechanics and cosmetics to defi ne truly professional One of the main objectives of working to picture is to a have a reliable and high quality kit. To ‘play nice’ in a complex environment requires meticulous attention to detail. For example, colour picture source to work to. Random access picture has been around for a while but it’s now phase adjustment can be essential. This unit does not become truly affordable, compact and standalone with the arrival of this video recorder/ disappoint providing phase adjustment in 1.8 degree steps via a menu. When composite video signals are player. ROB JAMES goes bonsai. destined to be mixed they must be locked to the full PAL 8 fi eld sequence. For this reason, BonsaiDrive offers the choice of 2 or 8 fi eld sync lock modes. If set to 8 Field the composite outputs will be phase correct to house sync without the use of an external timebase corrector. Rosendahl already has a considerable reputation for clock generation so it should be no surprise to discover that the BonsaiDrive’s internal clock is of extremely high quality. In fact, good enough to run your entire studio. There is no cooling fan so the only extraneous noise is generated by the hard drive. If quiet operation is important for the application, careful choice of drive will pay dividends. The review unit was supplied with a 160Gb Samsung to prove the point. Drives up to 800Gb are supported but it is worth bearing in mind that the larger sizes run much noisier and hotter. IDEO PLAYBACK HAS long been a source versions are available. It records and plays back PAL In use the BonsaiDrive performs fl awlessly. of angst in sound for picture post. In a TV or NTSC video sources along with up to ten 48kHz, Recording is straightforward enough but it is when Venvironment the choice is between using 24-bit audio channels on standard ATA-133 IDE playing back under 9-pin control that it really shines. the transmission format tape or nonlinear, or an off- drives and only consumes 40Gb per hour in full Subjective picture quality is excellent from stop to 64 line transfer, again either tape or nonlinear. These 4:2:2 thanks to the use of a lossless 2:1 compression times speed. alternatives all have advantages and disadvantages huffman codec. A synchroniser is integral with LTC/ In the current ‘plain vanilla’ form I can see one or trading off cost against convenience. In fi lm mixing, MTC chase, Sony 9-pin (P2) protocol control, Word two snags. First, it would be a lot more convenient in the same applies. Picture quality is often compromised clock and gen lock. many facility house applications if clips could be up and/or the advantages of nonlinear instant access Professional is an oft-misused word but in this case and downloaded over a network connection or from are lost due to the use of a tape-based playback seems entirely appropriate. In fact the case is a good external drives. Rosendahl is planning to implement machine. Sync accuracy and ease of setting offsets place to begin. Heavy gauge pressed steel is used a special FAT32 partition together with a BonsaiDrive are frequent issues. for the body and hard disk carrier. The front panel QuickTime codec. After which it will be possible to The UK£1395 (+VAT) Rosendahl BonsaiDrve is an alloy casting while the ten positive, internally add IEE1392, E-SATA, USBII or Gigabit Ethernet is described as a professional portable video and illuminated, transport control buttons would not interfaces. audio multitrack recorder. Mains or 12V DC powered disgrace a high-end console. After screwing in a single The other issue is that this is strictly a standard defi nition machine. With high-defi nition rapidly growing in importance in broadcast and fi lm this may make some potential purchasers pause. However, Connections and other good stuff Rosendahl is planning an extra interface box with HD-SDI I-O and two SD-SDI I-Os. An array of two internally linked SD BonsaiDrives will be able to record and playback uncompressed HD-SDI. These observations slightly miss the point — the BonsaiDrive you can buy today is inexpensive and small. It is just as practical to carry one from place to place as an external hard drive and interfacing it is a whole lot easier than the familiar niggly problems of SCSI, FireWire and incompatible versions of software. BonsaiDrive is a stunning achievement at this price point. A truly professional piece of kit capable Removing the front panel reveals two D-Sub sockets, a 9-pin remote connection and a 15-pin GPIO interface. of much more than video ‘for’ audio playback The panel itself has three 9-pin connections, a male and female mirror and a Sony P2 remote socket. Before duties. It will also fi nd applications in video assist, anybody asks, you cannot use the BonsaiDrive panel as a remote control for other P2 machines. The RS422 serial location playback and, thanks to its looping and 10 control supports cable lengths up to 100m, ideal for remoting to machine rooms of even the largest dubbing track audio capabilities, point of sale displays and theatres. multimedia for theme parks and museums. I can also Around the back, two Toslink optical sockets provide 8-channel digital audio I-O in ADAT format. Four envisage its use as a broadcast playout device. With phonos cater for the 2-channel analogue audio I-O. Two more phonos connect timecode I-O and there are two the projected enhancements it will become even more Dins for MIDI I-O. Analogue video is taken care of by three BNCs each for in and out. The precise function of desirable. ■ these is confi gured in the menu system. Composite and Y/C (S-Video) can be used together, with the option of Component or RGB instead. An option slot accepts either a bi-directional SDI board, supporting 270Mbit I-O with up to 8 embedded audio channels, or (soon) a variety of other connection boards. PROS Professionalism; price; form factor. Recordings are organised as unique clips. Up to 255 clips can exist simultaneously. In BonsaiDrive, timecode is No High Defi nition — yet; no editing; no not recorded on a separate track, but is regenerated (calculated) from a fi xed offset. The timecode value required CONS networking — yet. at any position can be set at any time. For example, 10:00:00:00 on fi rst frame of video, then 10:10:00:00 on fi rst frame and so on when producing multiple audio versions of a single video clip. This is generally simpler than offsetting everything else in the system to suit a fi xed video offset. Contact Timecode, clip number and audio bargraphs can be burnt in to the outputs. ROSENDAHL, GERMANY: Website: www.rosendahl-studiotechnik.de

26 resolution January/February 2006

review

over frequency of 80Hz, and designed to minimise any handling or wind noise. The bottom switch is Schoeps CMIT 5U a gentler 6dB/octave roll-off fi lter, operating below 300Hz. This is primarily designed to compensate Depending on how you look at the issue, the fi rst shotgun from Schoeps is either the for the proximity bass tip-up typically associated with shotgun microphones — the some time bane mic that everyone has been waiting for or a dive into a crowded market full of long-lived of a dubbing mixer faced with close-miked voice- ‘industry standards’. NEIL HILLMAN believes that this changes everything. overs from a location recordist desperately striving to eliminate surrounding extraneous noise from the recording. The fi lter settings are remembered when the life-giving +48V phantom power is removed, and the LEDs are easily viewed in daylight once the windshield end-cap is removed. The CMIT 5U is marketed to be of use in the studio, for music and voice, as well as outdoors; but its design philosophy would seem to indicate that Schoeps has the location recordist very much in mind. The mic’s directional pattern is consistent in both the horizontal and vertical planes, unlike some other leading manufacturers’ models; it enjoys low off-axis colouration due to the low and high frequency pickup Y WIFE HAS A new car, you diaphragm capsules. angles being closely matched; there is extra ‘suck’ may be pleased to hear. A Ford Focus Given this background then, the fi rst from the CMIT’s unusual degree of directivity built-in MGhia, top-of-the-range, now you ask. Schoeps shotgun should be a very to its mid-frequency response, while its HF pickup With only one previous lady owner, it had the right interesting microphone. pattern is looser than other shotgun microphones. In mileage, the right service history and it sold at And it is. From the moment short then, it has all the attributes a production mixer the right price. Apparently, squire, it’s never been its polished-wood case is opened, is looking for in a microphone that will be mounted raced or rallied. She’s delighted; ipso-facto, I am it looks very special indeed. Glance and worked in the free space at the end of a boom too: and my inheritance of our old faithful — a down its anodised, electric blue body pole, and especially when a boom operator is working 1996, 126,000-miles-and-still-counting, Turbo and your eyes arrive at three fi lter- hard to keep actors on-mic during busy dialogue diesel estate –- made us a two-car couple. I could select pushbuttons, mounted within scenes. These frequency design details should more now venture off my preferred 2-wheels for the subtly machined oval recesses, with enable a boom operator to gently drift off artistes as warmth and security of four, which made my daily six tiny associated LEDs, two per fi lter. their individual lines come to an end, but be bang-on commute sheer luxury as the fi rst fl akes of winter Accessible and discreet — the legends axis for the start of each actor’s successive line. It’s an snow fell. on the microphone body are engraved old trick, but it works. I should have been pleased by this inherently in white. This microphone exudes The CMIT 5U (UK£1151 + VAT) is uniquely, more stable mode of transport, given that the quality at rest; if the CMIT 5U had reassuringly, expensively, Schoeps: clear, light, icy mornings were now upon us; and I was, for a voice of its own it would whisper: neutral, airy, transparent, spacious, accurate — what a whole week; in fact right up to the point that ‘Plug me into the Phantom’. And adjectives can I draw on without delving into the I drove Mrs Hillman’s new purchase for the fi rst while heavy with expectations, at ephemeral lexicon of a home hifi reviewer? Perhaps time. But then I experienced the sensation of using 89g, it is feather-light. the highest compliment I can give it is that it disappears two similarly-purposed products separated by 10 The three pushbuttons control two as an interface between what you want to record, years of development. The response was smoother, the roll-off fi lters and an emphasis fi lter, with either a red and what you want to record to. It certainly heralds handling was lighter, it was less noisy and my sense LED showing the ‘off’ state, or a green LED showing in a new generation of shotgun microphones, and of security was heightened; overall, the performance that the appropriate fi lter is in-circuit. The top switch was simply superior. I was experiencing the benefi ts provides a high-frequency emphasis of +5dB at 10kHz, of a new generation. I had been happy with the old which is designed to enhance speech intelligibility and car, but now all I can focus on are its inadequacies. To compensate for any HF loss due to the use of the compound my misery, at the same time I made the optional but obligatory Rycote Windjammer. The mistake of placing my old, faithful, trusted, middle switch is a steep low-cut fi lter, workhorse shotgun microphone, side-by- providing an 18dB/octave slope side with the pretender to what I thought, with a roll- pretty much, was an occupied throne. Unlike its modular Collette range — this one is not interchangeable — the Schoeps CMIT 5U (Condenser Microphone, Interference Tube) signifi cantly raises the bar. The response is smooth is a new departure for the German manufacturer; with its weighted frequency design; its touch is light, it has never before made a shotgun microphone, it’s quiet; and with a robust attitude to RF interference, even though it has been consistently pestered by it inspires total confi dence. My old faithful four-one… recordists keen to supplement their supercardioid oh, you know which one, suddenly feels very high Schoeps CMC 641s. This is an eagerly-awaited mileage now. ■ product; and all the more so for originating from the pen, pad and PC of Schoeps’ technical director Joerg Wuttke. As a former student of PROS The quality and passion is in the detail; Professor Günther Kurtze — the inventor of the imagine it as the equivalent of driving to Interference Tube shotgun microphone, no less the location in a Ferrari 360. — he should start with more than half an idea as to what constitutes the ultimate shotgun. CONS ‘Once listened, forever smittened’. OK, I’ve invented a poor slogan — but you Joerg is also a champion of small capsule will be. Prepare to cough-up some cash. microphones, explaining that the smaller the diaphragm, the faster the transient response can be; and arguing that given Contact their smaller mass, they are also not prone SCHOEPS, GERMANY: to the phase non-linearity suffered by large Website: www.schoeps.de

28 resolution January/February 2006 VYC Resolution 11-10-04 10/11/04 2:19 PM Page 1

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VTC 32 channel model review

as 300ohms. All resistors in the analogue signal path are 0.5% tolerance surface-mount thin-fi lm. The only Grace Design M906 signal coupling capacitors (polymer fi lm) are used to eliminate any DC offset at the attenuator inputs. While most attempts at monitoring controllers have concentrated on ‘high value’ attributes, Digital to analogue convertors are of the preferred multibit variety — Burr-Brown PCM1730s to be just as in everything else an upper elite category has also materialised. ROB JAMES takes exact. The separate power supply employs a shielded pipe, slippers and tired-but-comfortable cardigan and attempts to go audiophile. EMI fi lter before the torroidal transformer, followed by separate regulated supplies for the digital and analogue circuitry. Additionally, each circuit section has its own regulation, 24 in total. All good audiophile stuff (Pause to tap out pipe. Ed). Brushed, non-magnetic, stainless steel, blue alpha LEDs and the round, pretty and functional, internally illuminated buttons all conspire to give the units a classy feel, somewhat reminiscent of esoteric hifi . The surface is laid out logically with input selection in the top two rows on the left and the individual speaker channels Solo/Mute plus function toggle below. Separate bright blue LED alpha displays show the current headphone and main output levels. On the right, the System LCD is at the top with Select, Monitor+Cue and Cal buttons in the top row, Mono, Dim and Mute above the main volume and Speaker set toggle, and Talkback send alongside. All switching is done with relays and level control comes courtesy of digitally controlled attenuators. As a result of this, all the I-Os can be trimmed in 0.5dB increments while N THE PAST, dedicated monitor controllers balanced stereos. Digital input options are 5.1 AES- maintaining a claimed 0.05dB tracking accuracy. were generally only found in fi lm and broadcast EBU, 5.1 ADAT, stereo AES x 2, stereo SPDIF and In operation, the M906 swiftly becomes entirely Iinstallations. In the fi lm world monitoring is, or stereo ADAT. natural. All the buttons you will use when monitoring was, inextricably linked with record and machine Convertors can be clocked to any of the digital act silently but positively and the rotary controls are control. Broadcast often has requirements unique to the inputs or a high stability, low jitter internal clock. The nicely detented. Calibration takes a bit more thought specifi c installation. For the most part, monitor control M906 also features a PLL reclocking feature dubbed at fi rst, but the comprehensive options available more in production and postproduction environments was s-lock. This is claimed to be able to deal with less than than compensate. Performance is subjectively in line more than adequately taken care of by the mixing perfect external sync sources and provide a stable, with the paper specifi cations and Grace Design’s console. Now, the mixing console is an endangered low jitter clock to the D-ACs. Connections are well reputation. In terms of transparency and accuracy the species in many applications, its crown usurped by thought out — Tascam DA-88 format 25-pin D-Subs M906 is a black belt contender in a tiny, elite group. the workstation. Once you accept that there is no need for each of the 5.1 outputs with parallel wired left and Lengthy comparison tests with its few real rivals will for a conventional console, the requirement for some right XLRs for the two speaker sets. be the only way to separate them sonically. The M906 sort of monitor controller, at the minimum a precision There are two common approaches to the problem will be completely at home in mastering suites and volume control, becomes clear. Grace Design’s concept posed by monitor control of analogue and digital plush listening rooms where money is no object. ■ for the M906 began with exactly this premise although sources. Digital sources can be converted to analogue there is a great deal more to the UK£4,300 (+ VAT) when they arrive at the unit or analogue signals can be M906 than simple volume control. converted to digital with digital to analogue conversion PROS One manufacturer’s take on the purist approach to monitor control; distinctive Based in Colorado, Grace Design’s core products are as the fi nal stage on the way to the speakers. It might appearance; construction. mic preamps, designed with an audiophile approach. appear that there are advantages to the latter approach Attention to detail is meticulous, possibly even when the majority of sources are digital, as is often CONS Appearance may be too distinctive for obsessive, with the ambition of producing products the case in a workstation environment. However, any some; main unit runs surprisingly warm; demonstrating impeccable specifi cation fi gures and change in level means that the signal requires dithering audiophile price. real-world performance to satisfy the most golden- before conversion. Chances are that any digital signal EXTRAS There is an AES loop-thru option eared practitioners. The new monitor controllers and you are listening to has already been dithered and available for the M906 — factory fi t headphone amplifi er are a logical extension of the multiple dithering is not a recipe for pristine audio. UK£285 (+ VAT) or subsequent upgrade same design philosophies. The digital approach does however bring control UK£325 (+ VAT). The M906 is a three-box design. The linear convenience, especially in broadcast situations. power supply is a separate unit feeding the main 2U As might be expected from a company with a rackmount processor. The control surface is relatively reputation built on audiophile mic pres, Grace follows compact and connects via a 15-pin D-Sub. The M906 the ‘convert to analogue on input’ approach. Circuit can handle a variety of digital and analogue inputs in topology uses balanced ‘transimpedance’ (current stereo and 5.1 and offers two alternative sets of 5.1 feedback) input amplifi ers. The gain control elements Two stereo versions, the UK£2,150 (+ speaker outputs plus headphones, cue and a ‘fi xed’ are digitally controlled attenuators. All audio switching VAT) M904 with front panel controls 5.1 output for recording. Analogue inputs come is made with sealed gold contact relays and the output and the UK£2,795 (+ VAT) M904b with a in 5.1 balanced and unbalanced fl avours plus two amplifi ers can drive long lines at impedances as low similar remote control to the M906, are also available. Optional remote for m904 is UK£1,075. The M902 Headphone amplifi er (UK£1,215 + VAT) is also noteworthy not only as a reference headphone monitor but also as an excellent stereo D-AC.

Contact GRACE DESIGN, US Website: www.gracedesign.com UK, Aspen Media: +44 01296 681313

30 resolution January/February 2006 ��

��

Harman Pro Ad (4.7).indd 1 23/9/05 12:00:28 pm review

running LE. RTAS plug-ins can now be inserted on Aux Inputs and Master Faders, which is useful. DigiDesign Pro Tools HD 7 There are now a possible 10 sends per channel and these can now be copied or moved using drag and While it hasn’t enjoyed quite as much fanfare as some of the earlier revisions, PT7 still drop, similarly to inserts. I still wish they could be instantiated on-the-fl y (they cannot), and there are delivers some signifi cant progress in a number of key areas. GEORGE SHILLING says it’s still only fi ve possible inserts per channel, which is all important stuff even though someone’s rearranged his CD collection. not disastrous but certainly inferior to some competing DAWs. Automation data can thankfully now be cut, copied and pasted using the additional Special menu functions. All the additional features have led to the inevitable change in the session save format — remarkably this is the fi rst change since version 5.1. Saving to older formats is easily achieved using the ‘Save Copy In…’ dialogue, even all the way back to version 3.2. Pro Tools is possibly the closest DAW to an industry standard for music production and is popular with the post fraternity. This major re-tweak mostly leaves the familiar stuff we know and love well alone. The most obvious improvements are the MIDI and compositional features to lure away Logic users, while new tool tips make the interface even friendlier for new users. But for music and post, mixing and editing is also signifi cantly improved. The new Separate At Transients (or on Grid) feature is fantastic, and will certainly save time. But although you can automatically create fades, I’d still love Logic’s snap to waveforms’ zero crossing feature for editing seamlessly, or why not even improve on that and apply the principle to punch-ins? Other improvements include claimed additional software optimisations for faster and more powerful operation — this is more diffi cult to assess without HIS UPGRADE REPRESENTS an ‘evolutionary customers, even without all the bundled instruments. having identical ‘before and after’ systems side- leap’ according to Digidesign, which perhaps The cumbersome method of instantiating virtual by-side, but most program functions seem pretty Tmeans that it should work pretty much the instruments on audio channels then creating a snappy. So although visually things haven’t changed same, only better... Well, following the new splash controlling MIDI track is no longer necessary with immensely, it seems that under the bonnet this screen and logo icons, things certainly look entirely the introduction of Instrument tracks, much like those is a bigger change than the update from 5 to 6, familiar to 6.x users. The screen layout and shortcuts found in Logic. These add an additional display section even though that went from OS9 to OSX. And remain unchanged. But like when your partner takes on the channel for the necessary extra parameters, that is probably why, irritatingly, HTDM has been it upon themselves to tidy your messy pile of CDs, and this is certainly a more elegant working method, abolished, and Logic 7.1.1’s ESB/DAE operation does Digidesign has undertaken a radical revamp of the although it doesn’t preclude the old-fashioned way of not presently work with PTHD7 installed. But on top-screen menu structures, leading to a far more doing things. Apart from the menu changes, there is balance, it’s all very impressive. And at the end of the logical grouping of items with sub-menus where little to stop 6.x users from immediately using PT7 in list of improvements comes news that the software appropriate. And just like the partner scenario, this a familiar way. now supports the traditional Chinese language — now is a big source of irritation for users familiar with the For general editing a fairly major new feature is there’s a sign of the times. ■ original menu item positions, which hadn’t previously Region Grouping, this can be done across tracks to moved for a long time. For example, Delete Tracks include MIDI and audio regions. Groups can even be PROS Essentially familiar operation; upgrade was previously on the File menu, but now resides nested, and Multitrack Region Groups create nested price nominal; vastly improved under the new Track heading. Strip Silence moves groups by track before grouping across tracks, this MIDI/Compositional functions; more to the Edit menu, while Beat Detective moves to the is useful when working with edited drum tracks. effi cient native processing; LE and M- Event menu. So it’s exactly like those CDs that were Another use for Region Groups is when you’ve Powered users also get most of the lying around — you knew where each was, roughly, created a pattern on Tick-based tracks with, say, short improvements. even though they were untidy. And if you were percussion samples –- grouping allows overall editing CONS Mousers will initially curse the re-jigged going to tidy them up, you’d have catalogued them and processing of the parts. menus; HTDM plug-ins obsolete; some alphabetically by ARTIST! You’ll fi nd them again of REX and ACID formats now claim support, but other plug-ins need updating; Logic ESB/ course, with a bit of rooting around… (Glad you’re importing REX fi les had me puzzled at fi rst as using DAE incompatible. taking it so very well. Ed). the Import commands simply converted them to the Perhaps mirroring Logic 7’s much improved audio session’s fi le format. Dragging a mono Recycle fi le EXTRAS MIDI improvements: Instrument Tracks; editing, PT7’s greatest improvement is arguably from the desktop had the desired effect, changing real-time MIDI processing; mirrored in the MIDI editing department, albeit mostly to the loop’s length to match the session tempo, and cover functions found on dedicated MIDI sequencing creating a Region Group of the individual fi les. Even software for decades. All MIDI editing dialogues the TC/E tool worked to change the duration of the MIDI editing mode; Remove Duplicate seem to have been enhanced with extra parameters, loop — fab! However, although MIDI and audio fi les Notes; sample-based MIDI tracks; randomise functions, and so on. Furthermore, can also now be dragged in, I couldn’t seem to drag enhanced Groove Quantization features; playback parameters can now be specifi ed for stereo Recycle fi les. Zoom Toggle between two user-defi ned Quantize, Duration, Delay, Velocity and Transpose For mixing, things are improved in a number of settings; enhanced functions for Select/ for MIDI Regions or Tracks, with the option to make areas. RTAS plug-ins can make full and proper use Split Notes, Change Duration and these permanent by writing them to the original. of dual-processor Macs, with even more effi cient Transpose windows. Sure, all these things are mostly the stuff you used to processing possibilities for plug-in developers who code do on Atari Cubase or Notator (Some people still do. for the new RTAS environment. However, Digidesign Contact Ed), but it is certainly possible the enhan00ced MIDI admits that some plug-ins presently perform worse DIGIDESIGN, US: operation will lure away one or two prospective Logic with single processor Macs and Windows machines Website: www.digidesign.com

32 resolution January/February 2006

review Mutec iClock

In any discussion of infrastructure, there is the risk of tedium. In general we are all happy to ignore the rather boring but vital underpinnings until something goes wrong whereupon they suddenly assume the centre stage spot. ROB JAMES assumes centre stage with a clock for all applications.

N THIS DIGITAL AGE clocks are everywhere. re-lock to it. SoftReLock comes into play whenever a Usually unseen and disregarded, clocks are the reference changes or resynchronisation is required, to Ibedrock on which all else is built. From a talking ensure a gradual and interruption free transition of the Christmas card to a big broadcast facility, there is a iClock’s output signals to the new base reference. clock at the heart of the machine. It is not simply iClock covers all the bases for audio with input and catastrophic failure that causes problems. Incorrect output Word clock rates from 8kHz to 24.576MHz rate matching, incorrect phase relationships and just including all the standard sampling rates and the plain lack of accuracy are responsible for a host of DSD and DXD frequencies. The standard fi lm and more or less egregious problems in audio and video. video frame and fi eld rates are also provided to Even when clocks are accurate and jitter free, the accommodate Pilotone resolvers, fi lm projectors, etc. sheer variety of different rates in common use is a Stability and jitter performance is fi rst class and Mutec daily nightmare for many, especially people dealing has included niceties such as different output levels with transatlantic projects involving NTSC video to suit a variety of interfaces and conditions. You and 24Frame fi lm. Anything that could help to can even add a DC offset to the SPDIF outputs for make life easier by dealing with at least some of this REFERENCE SOURCES: PAL/SECAM + NTSC devices that don’t like ‘blank frame’ on their inputs. intelligently, and without operator intervention, would video; Word clock; Word clock x 256 (Super Clock); The only omission is tri-level sync as used by some be very welcome. Enter the UK£1100 (+ VAT) Mutec DSD64, DSD128 + DXD (384); AES-EBU3+11; AES- high defi nition video equipment. Mutec tells me it is iClock. EBUid3+11; SPDIF; GPS; Telecom; DCF77 (German working on it and something will arrive in 2006. The iClock premise is this: unlike conventional clock atomic clock); MSF (UK atomic clock — on request); Currently available options include: a second power synthesisers and video sync generators, the operator internal oscillator; further formats via option cards. supply module for redundancy in mission critical can defi ne a number of required output clock rates OUTPUT CLOCK SIGNALS: PAL + NTSC Black+Burst applications; an extra video sync generator module for and formats. These can include simultaneous pull- or composite video sync; Word clock; Word clock x simultaneous PAL and NTSC outputs and conversion up, pull-down and varispeed. Once set, these output 256 (Super Clock); DSD64, DSD128 + DXD (384); fi lm from PAL reference to NTSC output or vice-versa; and rates are then maintained regardless of changes to and video frame and fi eld rates; AES-EBU11; SPDIF; iC-Alarm which adds relay-coupled alarm signalling incoming reference signals. For example, if you begin further formats through option cards. outputs. For the option slot, Word clock or AES- with a 44.1kHz input that then changes to 48kHz, EBU modules are available. Each adds a further four the defi ned output rates will remain the same. factors, +0.1%, -0.1%, +4.16% and –4.0%. Less outputs in the relevant format. The rear of this 1U box is populated by a prodigious common pulls can be accommodated by the varispeed iClock is the most comprehensive solution I’ve number of connectors. Two BNCs and an XLR for the function within a +/-20% range in 0.0001% steps. All seen to the clocking needs of an entire installation. three external inputs, two pairs of BNCs for video out, this regardless of whether the reference is internal or If you need even more outputs, you can always add four pairs of BNCs for Word clock out, two pairs of external. distribution amplifi ers, much to be preferred over XLRs for AES-EBU out and two phonos for SPDIF Mutec has included a number of features aimed at daisy chaining. In the real world we operate in, the out. Each pair of Word clock and AES-EBU outputs maintaining stable output in the face of loss or change multiple simultaneous output formats and versatile can be independently set, as can each SPDIF output. of the reference. iClock enables tolerance ranges to rates are the clincher. Even in a complex installation The RJ45 socket is for an RS485 connection to a PC. be set for external references and the time interval this may well be the only clocking device you will A bright, back-lit, LCD is the operator’s window before it will attempt to lock to the next reference and need. The redundant PSU and alarm options make it into the world of iClock. All settings are made with the time it will spend updating its clock source to the equally suitable for broadcast use. At this price, the four cursor keys. Three blue LEDs show the lock new rate. iClock can be set to Hold i.e. fl ywheel at the iClock is a steal. ■ status of the currently active clock source and fi ve rate last received from the chosen input, or attempt red LEDs indicate the status of various iClock system to lock to the three external inputs and the internal PROS Versatile; accurate; convenient. parameters. generator in turn. This can either be done once For such a versatile device the menu system (Sequence Synchronisation) or recursively (Cycle CONS With this number of adjustable is commendably simple and logical starting with Synchronisation). When Cycle Synchronisation is parameters preset memories would be useful; nothing I can think of. reference sources followed by the various outputs active, if an external source is lost from, say, Input 1 and concluding with global options. Apart from the then iClock will (after the relevant time intervals) lock comprehensive range of standard input and output to the next available source. However, once this has Contact rates, the iClock can apply pull-ups and pull-downs taken place it will then periodically interrogate Input 1 MUTEC, GERMANY: to the Word clock outputs at the commonly used until it fi nds a good signal. When and if it does, it will Website: www.mutec-net.de

34 resolution January/February 2006 review Røde NT6 Røde has been quietly carving out a niche for itself in some specialist areas over the last couple of years, most notably in broadcast and theatre applications. JON THORNTON reports on a compact capacitor.

increases. Compared against an AKG SE300 with cardioid capsule, the NT6 stands up well. Mid range detail is good, and there seemed to be a little more transient detail than the SE300 when used at the bridge end of an acoustic guitar. Low frequency response is smooth and progressive here — although I couldn’t compare them directly — this seems fuller than the NT5 in this regard. Used close in, proximity effect comes in rather suddenly and in a very HE NT6 SHOULDN’T come as pronounced fashion, but is countered much of a surprise for those who have nicely by the high-pass fi lter if desired. Tbeen watching Røde’s progress as it Given the likely application of this further expands its range to include a small microphone in situations where space is diaphragm, true capacitor microphone in as at a premium and/or discretion is the order compact a package as possible. Designed of the day, I also tried the NT6 set at the for use in situations where placement bottom of a snare drum. Positioning the possibilities are limited, or where visual mic was easy, and the pad seemed to keep impact needs to be minimal, the NT6 the electronics out of clipping in all but the follows an established design philosophy of most extremely close positions. It certainly separating the capsule and the associated wouldn’t be my fi rst choice of microphone electronics, and connecting the two with a in this application though, but it’s perhaps dedicated, lightweight cable. an unfair test to simply restrict its use to Internally, the business end of the NT6 the studio. With this in mind, its fi nal features the same 1/2-inch capsule found test was in a very confi ned pit band as a in the Røde NT5, giving a cardioid pickup. vibraphone overhead. While having a pair acoustic measurement software This connects to the amplifi er with a would have been useful here, the NT6 supplied 3-metre Kevlar reinforced cable, worked very well in terms of the sound it terminated at both ends with a miniature delivered from the vibraphone, and indeed 3-pin connector. The preamp body has a in terms of the relative smoothness of its –10dB pad, and a switchable high-pass off-axis pickup, which meant that the fi lter (80Hz, 12dB/octave), something inevitable bleed from the brass section that is actually lacking from the NT5, so wasn’t at all problematic front-of-house. it’s nice to see here. There is mention in the manual of Also supplied in the kit is a standard some interchangeable capsules for the mic clip for holding the preamp, a foam NT6, offering a range of pick-up patterns windshield, and a rather elegant clip for the although I couldn’t fi nd any details about capsule. This is of solid metal construction, these on the company’s website. Certainly, which the capsule screws fi rmly into, and if this were a potential future offering it incorporates a swivel joint to allow accurate would add to the versatility of the NT6 ACCURACY THROUGH PRECISION positioning even in fairly tight spots. (UK£229 inc VAT). Quoted specs put equivalent noise at As a microphone that would spend the } Tannoy Dual Concentric™ point source drive unit 19dB SPL (A weighted), reasonably typical majority of its life in a studio situation, I of a small diaphragm design, but certainly wasn’t really won over by the NT6. But } WideBand™ SuperTweeter™ extends frequency noisier than the NT5 which shares the as a fl exible solution in broadcast, theatre response to over 50kHz same capsule. How much of this is down or live sound applications it offers a good to differences in the electronics, and how balance of price and performance. ■ } Digital amplification with analogue and digital inputs much to the additional cable between } Automated Activ-Assist™ software driven digital calibration capsule and preamp is diffi cult to say. In use, though, the microphone does not PROS Tidy and unobtrusive seem unduly noisy, even with gobs of package; useful and well gain on very quiet sources. designed clip; not too The sound of the microphone is noisy; good value. ACTIVE STUDIO MONITORS broadly similar, as you’d expect, to the CONS HF response and noise NT5, although perhaps a little brighter may limit its use in some Tannoy United Kingdom T: +44 (0) 1236 420199 F: +44 (0) 1236 428230 E: [email protected] sounding in some applications. The NT5 applications; no alternative Tannoy North America T: (519) 745 1158 F: (519) 745 2364 E: [email protected] always seemed to roll off its HF response capsules at present. Tannoy Deutschland T: 0180 1111 88 1 F: 0180 1111 88 2 E: [email protected] quite early to my ears, and the NT6 is similar in this respect, making reasonably Contact closely miked stringed instruments sound RØDE, AUSTRALIA: fairly smooth in the upper registers but Website: www.rode.com.au performing less well as distance to source UK, HHB: +44 208 962 5000

January/February 2006 resolution 35 review

small amounts of compression, providing a great way to slightly boost a signal when mixing, without SSL X-Rack Dynamics having to fi ddle with the automation. With the advent of the 9000 series desks, the Following on from the successful XLogic outboard range, the X-Rack Dynamics unit marks Gate/Expander gained a Hold knob, and the whole act was cleaned up with the brighter, classier SSL’s fi rst foray into the familiar lunchbox-style modular rack format popularised by and less crunchy sound from the improved signal manufacturers such as API. GEORGE SHILLING compresses and expands. path. So, of course, it is the cleanest possible SuperAnalogue incarnation we have here. There is also the ‘Pk’ button to switch from RMS sensing to Peak sensing for a different character — the SSL squash remains, but a harder knee is most evident. A Link button on each channel connects the gain reduction control voltages — this works even if the linked source channel is bypassed, which is great for ducking effects, although it will also mute the signal if the other channel’s gate is closed, so proper linking of gates is achieved using the Key XLR. The Gates’ Expand mode is excellent for click-free noise reduction, while the Fast Attack setting will snap open superbly on transients. Similarly, the Compressor’s fast attack mode will squash transients before their full weight pounces. They sound great, and I love the little LED meters because they tell all you need to know. The rack’s Total Recall functions are very similar to those found on SSL’s full-sized consoles. Basic saving and loading of setups couldn’t be simpler using the URING THE 1980S the SSL 4000 Series desks sheet — the excellent manual is correct). There are 32 numbered internal memory locations. Twiddling introduced a number of revolutionary features a pair of D-type connectors for Total Recall functions the knob (D-Pot) scrolls through the numbered Dand two of the main ones are represented here when chaining multiple units, or even connecting an memories, and a push on the knob recalls settings, in this box — Total Recall and channel dynamics. AWS 900 console. Further, there are MIDI I-Os for while pressing the Save button stores instantly into The eight mono dynamics modules each feature Sysex dumping of the internal stores, or updating empty memories (indicated by the Empty LED). Two a Compressor and a Gate/Expander similar to that the software. The rear of the Dynamics modules pushes are required when over-writing. found on the XL-K Series console. The vertical control have XLRs for input, output and Key input, plus a Upon recalling, the modules’ SEL buttons’ LEDs arrangement certainly makes operation simpler and pushbutton for +4/-10dB switching. illuminate, fl ashing until settings are matched, when immediately comfortable for anyone used to using While the layout is simple and the labelling they become solidly lit. Using these buttons it is an SSL desk. perfectly clear, numbering the module slots on the possible to copy or swap settings between modules. The X-Rack is 4U high, but comes with chunky front and the rear would have been helpful. On the Matching knob settings is done using the tiny LED rubber feet attached, and an Allen key for removal front panel, a large area in front of the PSU simply indicators above each knob — red indicates anti- of the feet or the rack ears to suit the installation. bears branding legending. Alongside this is the Total clockwise and green indicates clockwise movement. A smaller Allen key is also supplied for the removal Recall section with LED display, a knob and three When perfectly matched, the LED goes off. The of the eight modules, for servicing or replacement related pushbuttons, and below this is the large buttons’ accompanying LEDs light up until their with (at the time of writing) as yet unannounced main power button. This is unusual and impressive, status is matched, whether latched up or down. alternative modules, or blanking panels if you can’t although disappointingly the vertical slit didn’t light The simplicity of the Recall section belies the afford, or don’t need, the full complement. A mere up blue as it appears to in the publicity photos — the hidden functions accessed by pressing and holding 8-inches deep, the unit is surprisingly light, yet feels review model’s remained dark. the Setup/MIDI button. This accesses a whole Setup beautifully constructed, as neat and elegant as a full- I have always enjoyed using the 4000 Series’ submenu that is scrolled with the D-Pot, then pushing sized XL-K Series console. channel dynamics. In the days of analogue tape, the D-Pot takes you another level down for the The rear of the rack is equipped with an IEC the expander mode provided useful noise reduction, settings associated with that particular submenu. inlet for power with a useful retaining clip, and and the compressors would make drums and, well, Pressing the D-Pot again saves the setting and returns the PSU is happy to accept any voltage without anything sound punchy and present. The auto make- you to normal operation. This slightly mysterious adjustment (despite the contradictory information up gain always added a tiny bit of extra gain with world means keeping the manual handy to decode the obscure hieroglyphics that appear on the two- character seven-segment display. Entering this mode PROS Familiar, characterful SSL dynamics; convenient vertical layout; terrifi c build; comprehensive recall. is required for MIDI Sysex dumping, but achieving this is actually very straightforward using a MIDI CONS Module numbering front and rear would help; recalling is time consuming and fi ddly; original Pull- sequencer on a computer. function knobs were better than extra buttons; Expensive. The Recall operations are elegant and simple, EXTRAS The XLogic E Signature Channel delivers the classic sound of the original early 1980s E Series console but in this modern computer age, the act of having with the choice of selectable transformer driven or Variable Harmonic Drive (VHD) mic amps and the to actually turn the knobs and push the buttons ‘Listen Mic’ Compressor. to achieve recall seems a little archaic. But these dynamics modules are certainly of terrifi c quality, and reassuringly familiar to the legion of SSL users. With the number of large commercial music studios seemingly in decline, the home/producer Pro Tools studio is an ideal market for this type of product, and The dynamics section is identical to the circuit of the Class A VCA chip used in the early consoles. The although expensive (UK£4620 + VAT fully loaded), I compressor contains additional switching options to defeat the over-easy curve in favour of a linear would love to own one of these. ■ release. The result is a compressor with three distinct voicings.

The EQ section defaults to the original ‘Brown Knob’ circuit that was standard on all early production E Contact Series but also reproduces the Black Knob EQ that was developed in conjunction with George Martin SOLID STATE LOGIC, UK: for the ﬁ rst SSL installed at AIR Studios. Website: www.solid-state-logic.com

36 resolution January/February 2006 review

than ‘tone’ control and in use it’s certainly more fl exible than the original while still being kind and fl attering. Joemeek OneQ Enhancers have not been a weapon of choice for me since the 1980s and it’s curious to see one here The most famous range of green outboard has undergone a facelift and retweak that but Joemeeks have sported a few over the years. This one offers a pot for determining the frequency has resulted in new permutations of old favourites. ZENON SCHOEPE explores a mono above which enhancement is to occur, a Q pot to dial recording channel with lots of everything and, of course, that compressor. in a resonant peak at the aforementioned frequency, and a control to adjust the amount of the effect. It’s convenient to have this sort of processing on a box like this as it can be useful to add a bit to a vocal but it might have been better in a stereo confi guration, which this box isn’t. It all depends on whether you will use it. More genuinely useful to me is the inclusion of a really rather good de-esser with pots that allows you to tune in on the offending frequency — while listening to the sidechain on a dedicated switch — and set the threshold for the gain reduction which is signalled by a LED. We’re then down to an output fader pot, some LEDs for Peak and external clock lock indication, and the individual bypass switches for the EQ, de-esser, enhancer and the compressor. Only the compressor gets a bright blue On LED, all the others are green and in my opinion not distinct enough from the yellow of some of the other function buttons to be clear. HE NEW RANGE of Joemeek products is esser together with a large meter that is switchable I really like this unit because it sounds great and a completely different proposition to the last to monitor output, input or gain reduction. The rear it is stacked full of features. The preamp is superb Tgeneration of products. The beauty and the panel includes a digital output section with optical, offering super-quiet delivery and a fast fat sound on appeal of the original Joemeeks was without doubt the SPDIF phono and AES-EBU XLR ports to 96kHz plus mics with plenty of capacity for delicacy. The Iron sound and the fact that at the time of their introduction Word clock I-O. This section effectively outputs the button’s a nice touch. The whole channel is of course they were coming from a decidedly different direction culmination of the OneQ signal path but the other available to line level signals and the DI is useful. All than most other outboard products of their type. I think leg of the stereo can be inserted via a rear panel jack, in, a great tracking tool that’ll give quality results with it would be safe to say that Joemeeks were standard which means you can add an additional channel into a quality signature. bearers for a completely different take on the outboard the conversion stream should you wish. A bit on the I’m not surprised that I’ve enjoyed the OneQ as theme. While most other boxes at the time were largely marginal side of handy but it ticks the quirky box. much as I have but I am surprised by the build quality anonymous and slick in their delivery, Joemeeks Analogue rear panel connectors take in XLR and presentation, which is very much higher than presented character as an essential element, a retro mic and balanced output, balanced jack line input anything I’ve ever associated with the brand. There are feel combined with a quirkiness that was as curious as and -10/+4 jack output plus an insert socket that no scratchy pots, wonky bits and no not-quite-fi nished it was charming. The problem was that other brands is immediately after the preamp. There’s also a feel. It’s testament to the appeal of the old units that seized on these popular attributes and ended up doing compressor Link socket with Master/Slave selector they were forgiven so much. The OneQ is smooth, the it all a bit better than Joemeek did whose gear started switch that does what you’d think it might when switches are a delight, the meter is great and the colour to look a little saggy while the range was widened and two OneQs are coupled for stereo. The front panel and simple sculpturing of the front panel is lovely. Best taken uncomfortably down market. gets an XLR mic input and instrument jack input plus of all I can read the legending at arm’s length, which is This reincarnation of the Joemeek brand, which switches for phantom, pad, phase reverse, mic/line-DI more than can be said of the old black on green. includes the OneQ (UK£323 + VAT) being looked at switch selection, high pass fi lter and peak LED to run If the intention was to take all that was good about here, aims to redress that balance and I have to say with the Gain pot. There’s also an Iron switch to select the old Joemeeks and bring it up-to-date and to make that it has managed to retain the bits that those who transformer coupling for mic input. improvements where improvements were possible then loved them loved about them. There’s still an element The opto compressor comes next although it is I have to concede that this has been achieved. of quirkiness and character and they still deliver high possible to switch the EQ ahead of it. We get pots Traditionally around this point I should be going off value in terms of the versatility and power. Best of all, for Compress (threshold), Slope (ratio), Attack (1- on one about the fact that the unit is only mono and this box demonstrates that the brand has shunned 100ms), Release (0.1-3s) and 20dB of Gain Makeup. that if only it were stereo then I could mark it the full some of the quality issues that had begun to dog the You can rest assured that the compressor has retained ten. Strangely I’m not inclined to pursue this line as old Joemeek units and puts the brand right back up the essential interactive and adaptive nature of the the channel is so comprehensive and powerful that I there with the contenders, where it always should original boxes in the way that the response ‘slides’ don’t think I’d enjoy the prospect of a stereo box with have been. and ‘tilts’ depending upon the pot settings and the this amount of functionality on it. The OneQ is quite Designer Allan Bradford has done a fantastic job intensity of the source. However, there’s something clearly up there with the very best front-ends that of breathing a little magic on the circuits (he was the altogether more polished about this circuit -– you can you are likely to encounter. I’m not saying that there man behind the design of the superb CLM Dynamics hammer into it really hard with superbly satisfying aren’t boxes that are classier in certain respects but Expounder and DB 8000s outboard) and the whole results and then go to 11 and like it even more. It has nothing quite delivers the features, performance and package smacks of quality — the new Joemeek green the ability to do more subtle/transparent stuff at more unique character combination of the OneQ. ■ is more Aston Martin BRG metallic than that old delicate settings and it’s more fl exible and certainly sudden shade favoured by BMC. And there is a lot on more refi ned than the original. I was pleased that it this unit, which despite appearances is actually only still sounds like no other compressor — there would PROS Sound; character; that compressor; a single recording channel. The TwinQ offers stereo be no point to it if it didn’t. the package; build quality. compression and Meequalization in a 2U but drops The Meequalizer is 4-band with two-frequency the enhancer and de-esser of the OneQ so it’s not switchable LF and HF bands (80/120Hz and 7/14kHz CONS Stereo digital output on a mono immediately comparable. respectively) and sweepable mids covering 200Hz- unit novel; On LEDs could all have So let’s whizz through the front panel and I’ll try 2kHz and 1-6kHz with +/-15dB across each band. been blue. to refrain from continually crossreferencing to the Now, I liked the original Meequalizer although I know original units to highlight differences because those many who found it less than useful or spectacular. This Contact that know the old units will be able to work those new incarnation is substantially removed in having JOEMEEK, US: out for themselves. You’re getting a preamp section, more bands and the ranges of the two mids are nicely Website: www.joemeek.com optical compressor, Meequalizer, enhancer and de- restrained. So, on paper at least, it’s more proper EQ UK, PMI Audio: +44 1803 215111

January/February 2006 resolution 37 Hugh Padgham

Still chart topping after a good few years at the studio tiller, Hugh Padgham talks to GEORGE SHILLING about clicks, excitement, record companies and ‘that’ drum sound.

INCE THE LATE 1970s Hugh Padgham How do you remain current? working where you’re using the new technology but has been one of the giants of British record I think if you just stay where you are, eventually it encompassing the old stuff as well. Sproduction. In his youth he was rather taken by comes around. I’ve been doing this last McFly record, a photo of a recording studio, which he spotted in the which I suppose is current, but I was asked to do it Is there anything you miss from the pre-Pro back of Beat Instrumental magazine, so despite careers because the A&R wanted someone to record the band Tools days? advice to join the BBC and become a newsreader, he ‘old-style’. Four guys standing in a room playing I miss the excitement of recording everything on applied for studio jobs and served apprenticeships at together. I don’t know what is current and what isn’t. analogue because from a producer point of view now Advision and Lansdowne. Establishing a successful If you’re talking about making synthetic albums in a you don’t have to make your mind up at any time, engineering career — most notably at the Townhouse bedroom with drum machines and synthesisers, I’ve because if you’ve got a decent Pro Tools setup you — he also started producing when he realised that never really done that anyway, and I wouldn’t know never run out of tracks. In the old days, you’d have he had the ability in that area. He has built up an how to do that. It’s not what I like doing, so to me to make your mind up, because there were only 24 incredible CV that includes Sting, The Police, Genesis, it’s just doing things how I’ve always done them, but tracks or latterly 48 tracks. And I still try, even though XTC, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, The Bee Gees, encompassing new technology. we’ve got Pro Tools, never to have more than 48 and famously Phil Collins, for whom he invented the The whole thing of the editing and so forth in Pro tracks when I sit down and mix. trademark 1980s ‘gated’ drum sound. Proving that Tools is absolutely amazing. But to me, things still The other thing I miss — although I’d never go he is still very much a current producer, he produced, sound better on analogue. So I try and amalgamate back — is mixing without computers, very much a engineered and mixed McFly’s latest number one the two technologies. I have a 24-track analogue full-on experience where you’d have everyone and album. Recently he acquired the main studio at West tape recorder here. If I’m working with a band I mike their dog helping you mix. Now it’s like, ‘Well we London’s Stanley House, renaming it Sofa Sound the band up, record it all to 24-track, depending on can always come back and do it again’, and there’s (‘State Of the eFﬁng Art!’) and equipping it with an whether we want to edit there and then, we copy always that in the back of your mind. There would be SSL G+ console. He now regularly works there with the analogue into the digital, and now we’re running more excitement in the music too. Everybody’s used his Pro Tools operator, assistant and collaborator Jay at 96kHz the resolution is much better than what metronome clicks for a long time, and of course a lot Reynolds. (Pictures by www.recordproduction.com) it used to be. We think we’ve found a good way of of dance music relies on that. But with the pop or rock

38 resolution January/February 2006 craft music that I do, it’s really nice if you’re working with One other thing that annoys, is that I have not great musicians, which, generally I am, to not have heard the words — nobody actually seems to care to rely on that. In some ways, when we do stuff with whether records sound good or not – ‘have you a click it’s great, because you can take a bit of vocal heard that record, it sounds wicked’. In the old days and move it, cut and pasting. The last few sessions record companies had quality control departments. I’ve done with Jay without click, and we’ve wanted to When you mastered a record you got sent a TP, a test move something, Jay’s managed to do it by stretching pressing, and you would see how it sounded, and the it or doing whatever. So I’m trying to go back to producer had control on whether that was released doing it more old-school — it’s nice if it speeds up a or not. bit perhaps. Do you use desk automation despite What’s your miking philosophy? Pro Tools? If you are experimenting you might want to stick a mic Yes, I try and use Pro Tools like a tape machine. up the singer’s armpit, or whatever, to get a different Sometimes there are moves that you really feel are sound, but otherwise, I was taught when I worked at so tight that with the resolution of these faders, then Advision and Lansdowne when I was young, there maybe we’ll make the odd move in Pro Tools, but are fairly set ways of miking things like orchestras or that comes down to the ‘why does a dog lick its a ﬂ ute or a clarinet — they are what they are, because balls’ syndrome — because it can. The fernickitiness time has told you that’s the best way to mike that instrument up. I’m always trying different mics, one experiments as much as one can. Another great thing about having one’s own studio here is that you’re not necessarily under the same time constraints. In the last few years, if you’re at a commercial studio that’s costing a lot of money per day — and we all know that budgets have gone down — you don’t have time to experiment the same. I remember working with Peter Gabriel in the early eighties and to spend a day or two miking up an electric kettle or something, you’d think nothing of spending two days, whereas now, ﬁ ve minutes would be your limit!

What are your attitudes about someone else mixing your stuff? It doesn’t happen massively often. Saying that, just yesterday we sent a Pro Tools ﬁ le to America for someone to mix a McFly track, and if they think that having X’s name on it will sell more records then that’s ﬁ ne. I’m old enough not to throw my toys out of the pram, because I know that I can mix as well as anybody. There is something to be said for someone else looking at it objectively, although historically I’ve tended to mix my own stuff and had a reasonable amount of success. If everything I did was taken away to be mixed by someone else I’d probably get a bit shirty!

What do you get shirty about? Record companies. Otherwise, I think through doing it for so long you get laid back about it, able to handle diffi cult situations better. When I started producing I found it diffi cult to handle the engineering side of it as well, because I’ve always been a stickler for tape levels, line-up, etc. because I think if you’re careful of every aspect along the line, there’s less chance of things going wrong. But going back to the question, as many records are being sold as ever, and the budgets are smaller, and therefore it doesn’t take the Brain of Britain to work out that some people are making more money, and the people who provide the content, which is the bands and us who make it, seem to be losing out, and that’s unfair. Most of the record companies are big corporations having to satisfy their shareholders, and their quarterly reports are more important than the music. When I started, bands would get signed because the A&R guy liked the music, they wouldn’t talk about singles necessarily or anything like that. You’d go in the studio and make a record, and when it was fi nished they’d go, ‘Oh, that track might be good as a single’. Whereas now it’s just so commercially driven. I don’t want to sound like an old fogey, but I don’t think music is any better now than it was 30 years ago, from technology or whatever.

January/February 2006 resolution 39 craft

that we now do because we can, you just wouldn’t have bothered with. I don’t think our brains had that amount of ﬁ ne-tuning 20 years ago. Records these days are more ﬁ nely tuned, and even with a singer who can sing, the likelihood is that it will have been lightly dusted with Autotune, I imagine.

Do you write down all the settings for the Total Recall? You have to really, it’s the assistant’s worst nightmare job. Even though you can see tons of outboard, I don’t tend to use an awful lot. Anything that hasn’t got numbers for input settings I’ll try and have exactly at 12 o’clock or something to make it easy. Pro Tools people say you don’t have to do all that, but when they had the auction after Whitﬁ eld Street [London studio] closed down, everybody wanted 1176s and Neve compressors, that old stuff — whoever thought a dbx 160 would have been that valuable? People do like these things. I can’t tell if you put a compressor on Pro Tools between an 1176 copy and an LA-2A copy, whereas analoguely I can. I don’t know whether it’s a psychological thing. Saying that, SSL did a copy of the Listen Mic compressor, we A/Bed the original one to this, and it’s pretty good really.

Why are you good? A lot of it is getting on with people. Half of it is your ability to communicate, to understand what they’re on about and make them feel at ease and at home in a studio, which can be a threatening environment. Most musicians didn’t become musicians to work in a studio, they became musicians to stand on a stage and have thousands of people adulating them. Knowing the technical things is important, but a lot of the job is how you get on with people, and I think I’m quite easy going. And you want to have a good time as well. ■

That drum sound and the SSL Is the famous Phil Collins’ drum sound an irritation to you? No, it’s great to be known for something. The only thing is, it doesn’t work on everything. In the mid-80s people wanted me to get that drum sound on anything, and it didn’t always work. Now, I like big drum sounds, dry drum sounds, it just depends what you’re doing. The gated thing came through the famous SSL Listen Mic on the console. It’s so hard to look back and realise what a huge leap forward the SSL console was, because no console before had a compressor, a limiter and a noise gate on every channel. You were lucky if you had four noise gates, Kepexes in those days, obviously you had compressors, but if you had a 32-track console, you certainly didn’t have 32 noise gates or compressors around. Everything before was so pre-meditated, you had to ask the tape-op to patch one in, and the drum sound came through the listen mic button because no console had had that before. If you wanted to listen to the studio before, you had to plug a mic in and bring it up a channel on the console, so that was a great idea, and SSL had put this massive compressor on it, because the idea was to hang one mic in the middle of the studio and hear somebody talking the other side. And it just happened that one day we turned it on when Phil was playing his drums, and we thought that was good, and I had the idea of feeding that back into the console, and putting the noise gate on so that when he stopped playing it sucked the big sound of the room into nothing. That was the gate on the channel, and it was so easy to switch it in. We loved the SSL console immediately. At the Townhouse, we were the ﬁ rst commercial studio to get one of those, and it quite soon morphed from the B Series into the E Series.

And essentially, 25 years later, you’ve just bought one which is almost identical…! It’s kind of, how could they improve on it? I’ve had a long afﬁ liation with SSL and Colin [Sanders] became a good friend, I helped develop the automation system, and a lot of the maintenance guys at the Townhouse ended up working at SSL. The other day I was mixing 5.1 on another well-known manufacturer’s console, and it has about 14,000 more knobs on it, and I can’t work out if it does anything more than this. This is a classic design, almost like certain things like the internal combustion engine, that they can’t really improve on. Ergonomically these consoles are brilliant because they can do virtually anything, and if you look at some consoles there are so many buttons that you can make mistakes, because you can’t see them, because they’re hidden by another knob. I like the sound of them, it’s a subjective thing, some people hate SSLs — I remember Gus Dudgeon saying you couldn’t make a hit on an SSL!

40 resolution January/February 2006

d’Hérouville in France — the ‘Honky Château’. It took a little work in France to start with, one of the things Ken Scott we had to deal with was trying to match up to the Trident piano sound. That Trident piano was amazing, There’ll be records he was involved with in your collection yet he’s surprisingly low key for a it was so harsh. Classical musicians would absolutely abhor it, but for rock ’n’ roll it was perfect, it had man of his skill and experience. Ken Scott worked at Abbey Road and Trident in the golden age, all of the cut. Hey Jude was probably the first song engineering and producing some of our greatest and most enduring talent. NIGEL JOPSON it became famous for, and that carried on through Supertramp, Queen, Carly Simon ... the piano in France wasn’t quite as good, Gus had a big box made EN SCOTT’S VERY first session was as After recording The Beatles, what persuaded that went over the top of the piano with holes for mics an assistant at Abbey Road, recording The you to leave Abbey Road for Trident? so we could have some separation. KBeatles’ A Hard Day’s Night LP. He went on I had problems with a new manager who’d been a to engineer Magical Mystery Tour and the legendary classically trained musician and didn’t like the pop Bowie’s Hunky Dory was the first album you White album. Later he worked at Trident studios, stuff. As far as he was concerned, an engineer should produced, how did that opportunity arise? recording the likes of Harry Nilsson, Elton John, Van do only what was technically correct, not what the I had recorded the Space Oddity album, then The Der Graaf Generator and Procul Harem. His first job producer or artist wanted. I recorded a reggae record Man Who Sold The World. There was an amazing as a producer was with David Bowie on Hunky Dory, produced by Gus Dudgeon, and reggae has lots and atmosphere at Trident, musicians just came round and with whom he went on to produce the groundbreaking lots of low end, so that’s what we did. When this hung out in the reception area. You could walk out of Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups LPs, and manager heard it he said ‘Why did you put this much the studio and you never knew who would be sitting record and mix Lou Reed’s legendary Transformer bass on it?’ — because that’s what the producer there. David came in to do a single with a friend of album. In 1974 Ken produced Supertramp’s smash wanted — ‘You don’t do what the producer wants, his, I was starting to get fed up with engineering and hit Crime Of The Century, and in the 1980s he you do what is right!’ He did all he could to get rid wanted more artistic say, he told me on a tea break continued to produce albums at the cutting edge with of me, I won that battle but I knew I’d never win the he was about to start a new project — he was going Devo, Level 42, The Tubes and Missing Persons. war so it was time to move on. Gus did a lot of work to do it himself — would I like to co-produce it? What More recently he delivered Pop Trash from Duran at Trident and said ‘I’ll get them to call you.’ was I going to say? Duran, and remixed the epic Ziggy Stardust for 5.1 surround. Ken is now based in Los Angeles, and met You then engineered several Elton John What was EMI’s reaction to Ziggy Stardust, with Resolution during a brief visit to his old alma albums with Gus didn’t you? quite a radical concept at the time? mater in St John’s Wood. (Pictures at Abbey Road by I did three albums with Elton, the two that I did all When I was working with David, there was 99.9% www.recordproduction.com) were recorded at Strawberry studios and Château lack of input from the record company, which was

42 resolution January/February 2006 craft good. We just did what we did and they happened to like it. When I produced Supertramp there was a little involvement at one point — and it terriﬁ ed us! We were about two weeks into the project and going very slowly — I obviously had something in my mind at the time about a particular drum sound, so it took like a day and a half just to get a snare sound — insane!

It is quite a nice snare sound... Thank you! I would change it, most deﬁ nitely, these days ... but that was what we were after at the time. We had got almost nothing done, and a guy from A&M records said that Jerry Moss [the M of A&M] was going to be in town and wanted to come to Trident and hear our progress! We nearly shit our pants... he came in, we played him what we’d got, it was my ﬁ rst time dealing with the boss of a record company ... he stood up and said ‘very nice, thank you’ and left. We thought that was it, tomorrow all studio time was going to be cancelled. But we got the word back next day that Jerry had loved what he heard, we had all the time in the world and anything we wanted, and he was behind it 100%!

How do you feel when you hear recordings you made 30 years ago — like when you remixed All Things Must Pass with George Harrison for the double CD boxed set in 2000? First of all we were astounded, all those years later, to be working on exactly the same stuff. Back then the life of an album was 6 months, if it lasted more than that we were amazed. If people were still talking about the ﬁ rst album by the time the second album came out,ADC1 you Half knew Resolyou’d made16-12-05 it. 12/16/05 6:38 AM Page 1

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January/February 2006 resolution 43 craft

What was your initial reaction when you you could become an engineer, you had to go upstairs pushed up the faders on My Sweet Lord? and do some mastering. How could you be expected It sounded over the top! We actually accepted all to put the right stuff on tape if you didn’t know what this? It was unbelievable ... we were quite shocked, I would work on vinyl? The sense behind that — know I hadn’t listened to it for some time and I don’t which a lot of other studios missed — was amazing. think George had either. When we sat down with it, Upstairs, the fi rst time you had an EQ controller in we wished we could take off all the reverb and de- front of you it was: ‘it needs some high end — so I’ll Spectorise it, as they did with Let It Be. We knew at turn that one all the way up ... now it needs some low this point in time we couldn’t do that, what people end — wuuum.’ Next week you realised the error of wanted was the original, but in the best quality we your ways, I feel sorry for the people who got those could give, which is what we attempted to do. particular playback acetates! But when you came to sit in front of the board you really knew that one click Are major labels committed to re-releasing was probably enough. classic albums in new formats? I don’t know if they believe in it 100%. And when Do you believe the recording equipment side surround versions are brought out, I don’t know how is overemphasised now? much promotion is put behind them. I’ve seen very I think it all has its place, the problem is, as human little for Ziggy, I think many people don’t know it’s beings, we always have to overdo everything. Go been done in 5.1. When quadraphonic fi rst came out, back to the wha-wha: it was used on one record, a that was much the same: I got a phone call about month later it seemed to be on every single that came doing Crime Of The Century in quad. I was asked out. It was the same with synth sounds: ‘I like that how long it would take, and estimated no more than sound — I’ll use it on my record’ ... then it’s on every a couple of weeks. They said: ‘Are you kidding, we’ve album. got a guy who says he can do it in an afternoon!’ That’s the principle labels often work on, if they save So when you mixed You Shook Me on Jeff $100 they’ve made that much more profi t. Beck’s Truth album, drums to the left and bass on the right, had pan-pots recently been When you mixed Ziggy Stardust for 5.1, how discovered, were you seeing how much you did you handle the fi lm-orientated components could use them? of the format, like the centre channel? I guess I was! I remember that whole thing of having a My thought process was more surround — as in repeat or delay from the guitar panned to the opposite four speakers — but the hard part for me was the that the more you bring in and combine, the harsher side, that was very new then. Actually, there’s some subwoofer. We never had loudspeakers like that it becomes. I was mixing it in Studio 3 upstairs with of the best vocals Rod Stewart has ever sung on before, and trying to get the sub to actually do Paul Hicks — who is great with Pro Tools. that album. I was just engineering on Truth, later I anything I had to add some really low stuff, I wasn’t produced an album called There And Back (1976) for used to hearing the record with all that low end. It felt Nowadays the second engineer sitting next Jeff, he’d started with Jan Hammer producing but then kind of weird for me. to you is likely to have a degree in recording they fell out. I’d worked with Jeff on and off for years, technology, and has maybe paid over I produced some Stanley Clarke albums and there’d What were you mixing on? $10,000 per annum in tuition fees to get it. always be a track that Jeff guested on. I was using the SSL, David had the original multitracks What’s your reaction to that? copied to Pro Tools for me to mix. I was matching up When I started no one even knew what a recording You produced three albums for Stanley, four for to the original as much as I could, I’d pull up a track, engineer was. Now it’s: ‘We’ll become producers, Billy Cobham and you engineered the seminal do some EQ — the frequencies I work at have never record a hit and make a fortune!’ ... and there are Mahavishnu Orchestra Birds of Fire album and really changed — so that made it relatively simple. I corporations who play to that idea. Nobody quite produced Visions of the Emerald Beyond. Do got each track so I thought it sounded similar to the realises what’s really involved: it’s a lot of hard work, you think there was more of a demand from original, but by the time I had put up all the tracks a lot of luck, and a lot of being in the right place at the audiences for virtuoso playing in the 1970s, and there was a harshness there that wasn’t on the right time. I went through the greatest training you were labels more indulgent of that? original. If you listen to a couple of tracks it sounds could possibly have here [at Abbey Road]. Starting It’s that guitar hero thing, it isn’t there in the market fi ne, it’s something about the particular digital format right at the bottom assisting on sessions, then, before anymore. We started Birds of Fire at Trident in London

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ALMS1.9(reso)_311005 1 31/10/05, 20:49 44 resolution January/February 2006 craft49067-001_PLS_110x250_Resolu_MS 08.12.2005 11:44 Uhr Seite 1 and ﬁ nished it in New York. The only record company involvement was the union representative engineer CBS had to use in NY, he’d come along at the beginning of the session every day to ﬁ nd out what time he had supposedly stopped working the night before, apart from that we never saw him! For the kind of music it was, it did very, very well sales-wise. I feel that type of music doesn’t really exist anymore, the jazz that is being done now is so watered down that the majority of it is like elevator music.

Do you think this has to do with the blandness and lack of original programming on US radio? All DJs are just told what to play by central programmers now — there’s nobody like John Peel — why not allow the DJs to play what they want to play? The public can hear it and make their decision to buy it or not. Then DJs would rise or fall on the merits of what they played — don’t leave it up to a promotions department to decide what we want to hear. We need people who are prepared to go on the line and play a Bohemian Rhapsody — which everyone said could never be a hit because it was 7 minutes long! Or someone who would play A Walk On The Wild Side — it ‘could never be a hit’ because of the lyrics — but one person played it and it took off from there. That’s what we need, and it’s not there.

What’s next for you? DU: 7.12.2005 GB I have spoken at a couple of universities in the States, and although I’m always terrifi ed going in front of an audience to start with, I fi nish up really enjoying it. I’m putting a lecture together at the moment about my work with David Bowie, I’ve got a 5.1 system set up so I can play the surround mixes I did. There’s one major point I want to get across: in the US music is so segmented by genre, if people listen to rap day and night, they will never get any other infl uences. I want to get over how things cross and you develop a personal mixture of infl uences. 29 – 31. 3. 2006 When David and I were growing up there were only three radio stations you (formerly CAVIS) • cd: 1.12.2005 could listen to during the day: the BBC Home Service, the Light Programme and Congress the Third Programme. If you didn’t like a song there was nothing you could do! Theme: Multipurpose halls and arenas Eventually you’d get to like it or you’d really know you hated it, but it would always be implanted somewhere in your brain as an unusual infl uence for a riff. CD-Rom Led Zeppelin: all of the stuff that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones played on when they were session musicians — the most inane music — infl uenced them. David has always said he’s a melting pot, he’s taken everything he ever had and put it together. I’m going to play them some parts of the awful songs Rolf Harris did with the stylophone — guess what — David must have heard that, or whatever, and then he used a stylophone on Space Oddity. Clive Dunn’s soppy 1971 hit Grandad — Herbie Flowers wrote it and played tuba on it — then he came up with the bass line on Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side. Talk about strange mixtures! It limits you if all you ever do is listen to and play one sort of music — all this music can be pulled in and made part of your own sound. Give people freedom, don’t do it

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January/February 2006 resolution 45 facility

beautiful cities in the world before he can contemplate it. Nothing reinforces this state of extremes quite so well as the existence of a news TV studio within a stone’s throw of the Coliseum of all places — that defi nitive Roman ruin that now serves as the core of a large and predictably manic roundabout. The Mediaset media empire runs its TV news operation here in Palatino. Mediaset is Italy’s most important privately-owned communications and broadcasting group and was created in 1993 following the restructuring of Fininvest´s television operations. Fininvest is one of Italy’s largest companies and is 96% controlled by the family of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Mediaset’s shares have been traded on the Italian Stock Exchange since 1996 and it broadcasts three terrestrial channels in Italy: Canale 5, Italia 1 and Rete 4. Canale 5 is a general entertainment channel with news programmes, fi ction, light entertainment and sport and began operations in 1978 as local TV station Telemilano. It changed its name and went national in 1980. Italia 1 was acquired by Fininvest in 1982 and is a general entertainment channel with fi ction, fi lms, light entertainment, sport and cartoons and is targeted at younger audiences. Retequattro was bought by Fininvest in 1984 and targets an older audience and is particularly popular among older women. It shows news, fi lms, fi ction, light entertainment and arts programmes. RTI is the group company that holds the broadcast licenses for the channels and heads up the Italian Commercial Television Division and manages the three channels through its subsidiaries Videotime, Elettronica Industriale, and Mediatrade. Videotime Videotime is the television production arm of the group with television centres in Milan and in Rome The Berlusconi Mediaset media empire has installed a Studer Vista 8 console into one of and regional studios. Elettronica Industriale owns and manages the broadcast signal infrastructure for the its news studios to serve as a benchmark study of its planned audio digitisation process. three channels while Mediatrade is responsible for ZENON SCHOEPE visits Rome to get a feel for the progress. international rights trading for fi lms, television series, cartoons, documentaries and sport, as well as the production and coproduction of television fi ction. HEN IN ROME, it is very important to people on their way to somewhere else in a hurry. Mediaset’s interests extend into many other areas remind yourself that in among the fantastic A national movement to condemn fast food and to but it the Videotime TV news broadcasting operation Warchitecture, monuments, ruins and history reinstate slow food and the traditional extended lunch at Palatino that we are looking at here. a very busy capital city is trying to get on with its may lodge in the mind of outsiders as an attractive Some two years ago the company decided to business. Hindered as it is by the continual stream idea; but the average Roman still has to get to the transform the Palatino site into a news centre. Prior of infuriating tourists, the capital is crammed full of other side of what happens to be one of the most to that it had been used for entertainment productions and these have been moved to another part of Rome where there are number of studios running analogue Studer desks. The Palatino plot historically is one of the oldest fi lm production sites in Rome and this is evidenced by the ‘stage’ nature of the building with its incredibly high outside doors, by the presence of many large windows and a very high percentage of natural light inside the building. From a technical standpoint, what is notable is that it houses the fi rst digital Studer Vista in the organisation. There are two studios: the fi rst taking care of regular news bulletins through an analogue Studer and the second employing a Vista 8 in a room created to handle live to air production duties on the recently launched Matrix news chat show. Both have their own dedicated studio areas and vision rooms. The organisation adopted Studer as its analogue standard desk as it wanted to have the freedom to be able to move engineers and technicians around throughout the company without equipment familiarisation problems. The choice of the Vista was arrived at by a protracted process of appraisal and selection that started a year earlier but was suddenly forced to a rapid conclusion when the management decided that it wanted to go to air with the Matrix programme

46 resolution January/February 2006 facility without delay and needed studios and equipment installed to produce it with. The studio went live towards the end of last year. Much is often made of the impact of the digitisation process on a broadcaster’s infrastructure but technical engineer Alberto Cotronei says the process had been better than he’d expected. ‘From a technical point of view the experience has been extremely positive,’ he says. ‘Engineers often are not keen to change from what they are familiar with but the migration to the Vista has been without problems. ‘Much of this has to do with the application. For news we have very few microphone feeds whereas live entertainment programming can have 60 channels and a live orchestra coming in from a separate mixer and that way of working is completely different — changing that is far more diffi cult than it is in a news application.’ The desk was ‘budget compatible’, to use a higher management term, the decision to go digital had been made, and the application was an easy benchmark to judge against. The Palatino install is clearly being regarded as the trial digital install for the organisation and its progress will be watched carefully as it is likely to have a bearing on developments elsewhere in the group. One of the interesting points about the Vista room is the presence of a Yamaha 02R as a backup to the Studer despite its built-in redundancy. This requirement for a physical back up is apparently standard practise within the organisation and is a process that is seen throughout all audio and video operations. There are some 150 journalists and around 50 technicians working in what is a very big news complex built in perhaps one of the most expensive bits of real estate in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Land costs are undoubtedly high but the positioning of the news complex is remarkably central and, by defi nition, extremely close to all the government offi ces. This convenience means that politicians and public fi gures are able to drop in for interviews and it also means that when something happens and the ENG troops are launched they can get there quickly. A squadron of mopeds, motorbikes and scooters are parked outside the newsroom building; many showing battle scars. But then it is Rome and you’ve got to be in a hurry… ■

January/February 2006 resolution 47 meet your maker

Plus, we understand how important customer support is to the professional user.

How do you optimise a DAW for a particular application? By carefully analysing the workﬂ ow and honing the machine’s capabilities to maximise the operator’s efﬁ ciency. This is the same for any form of ergonomic tool design whether it’s designing a cockpit for an aircraft or a grip for a golf club. Far too many people make the assumption that a cheaper tool is better, ignoring the fact that they are spending much longer creating a worse sounding product than they would if they were using the appropriate tool. It’s a question of analysing the real cost of a product and its operator over the lifetime of the equipment and working out whether a lower capital expenditure is really going to save money in the long term.

What are your opinions on the Mac versus PC issue? It’s only an issue for tiny minds. For professional applications where operators are using a tool to enhance their productivity you’ve got to be particularly anally-retentive to care. From my perspective, it’s a bit like worrying over whether one should have a cheese or ham sandwich for lunch. Get a life! There are so many more important issues in the world than what host computer is used on the core tool of your trade. Once you have booted the system (and they all take time to load the operating system and all the popular operating systems are buggy if they are not Joe Bull maintained correctly) and loaded the program that you use to perform your job, then you are using a tool. That tool is either as useful to you as a chisel to a Founding director of SADiE and the guiding man behind the DAW manufacturer’s carpenter or a trowel to a gardener or it isn’t. If it isn’t technology talks about maintaining standards, the need for education, going native, and as effi cient as it can be then it’s probably not the right tool. Who cares if the handle is colour coordinated? creative software. ZENON SCHOEPE I think that the recent excitement/trepidation caused by Apple’s announcement that it will be moving over infringed some core patents of its Paintbox product to Intel-based processing is a similar distraction. If and after a lengthy high court battle the company was you waste your time worrying about the colour of forced to close. A subsequent battle with Adobe over the furry dice in your car then you maybe ought the same patents saw Quantel lose all the claims. to consider riding by bus. For anyone serious about Using the experience gained from developing audio (and by that I mean earning their living from high-tech solutions for the video graphics arena, it), the platform should be utterly irrelevant. fi ve members of the Spaceward team formed Studio Audio and Video Ltd in 1991. After trying to establish Do you believe that the future is native? a business as an OEM supplier of digital audio cards I haven’t donned a grass skirt as yet but who knows, to a nascent digital audio industry, Joe decided the they may come into fashion again. Until they do, I’ll best route was to develop a simple editing application probably continue to wear trousers — though cross to show off the power of the hardware. The Studio dressing has a certain appeal… On the other hand, Audio Disc Editor (where the acronym SADiE comes as host processors continue to become more powerful from) gained rapid acceptance within broadcasters it is inevitable that general audio software with and was followed by good markets in post and wide consumer appeal will move towards the native mastering as well. environment. OE BULL BEGAN his association with pro As a founding director and MD Joe Bull continues However, in more specialised application areas, audio in the late 1970s as a recording engineer to have a high level of input into the company’s wide such as professional audio where the marketplace Jat Spaceward Studios in Cambridge. Spaceward range of digital products. cannot be measured in millions of units, it is debatable was a leading independent recording studio initially whether our industry is large enough to be able specialising in punk and new wave and worked What’s special about Sadie products? to afford to compensate developers for converting with artists as varied as Stiff Little Fingers, Gary SADiE products are and always have been designed existing products to native applications. If it cannot, Numan, The Stranglers, Scritti Politti, Dave Stewart by people who understand the professional audio then it has to decide whether to accept amateur tools and Barbara Gaskin and the Higsons. industry. We’re not a bunch of frustrated musicians that may be cheaper to purchase by a factor of 100, As the role of independent recording labels who want to change the world with our latest gizmo but be far less productive or instead to invest in more diminished in the UK, the studio diversifi ed into audio — we have all grown up in the pro-audio industry specialised solutions that can generate its developers visual and audio for video work and this eventually making our living from ‘professional’ audio. This suffi cient profi ts to concentrate on the small specialised led to the formation of Spaceward Microsystems, gives us a unique insight into the way that machines market that is professional audio. which developed Broadcast Computer Graphics need to be designed when they are to be operated by To give an example, it is unlikely that a product equipment. This subsidiary grew from an initial staff engineers and producers who also have to make their with a retail price of £100 (and I’ve seen some of three with a tiny turnover to a multi-million dollar living from professional audio. This is rather different native products bundled for under £10) will properly enterprise with a staff of around 100 in just over 5 from products that have migrated across from a Music cope with, say, the more esoteric frame rates that years. However, things were too good to be true and Industry application because their designers think that our customers encounter. The choice may therefore a competitor, Quantel, claimed that Spaceward had ‘there can’t be that much difference in pro-audio’. be audio that drifts out of sync or takes the operator

48 resolution January/February 2006 meet your maker twice as long to conform, or a more expensive than contributing to the malaise of poor quality the processing power just didn’t exist — now it’s dedicated product that does the job properly and sound. The fear is that as we enable our customers relatively straightforward in comparison because the leaves the operator more time to polish his programme to do the tedious parts of their job (such as providing techniques that were researched during previous material. I know what I’d prefer to listen to when I multiple stems in multiple formats to the next people decades are now well known. What is much more get home from work, but it may be that I’m in the in the postproduction process), their budgets get yet diffi cult is to combat the ‘louder is better’ culture that minority now. more squeezed and they still are not able to improve we are currently inhabiting and see ways of allowing the quality of their output. people to experience the power of dynamics in audio Where are the current inadequacies or again. This is an issue whether you are watching TV, limitations in computer-based DAWs and Do new processors and chips lead to new listening to music on the radio or on your iPod or in how are they popularly concealed from the creative software or is software creativity a your living room. end user? state of mind? We need to establish real education for the masses Talent, creativity and adequate training of the user It’s often a bit of both. New hardware can spark ideas to be able to experience the wonder of really dynamic seem to be the most signifi cant limitations. In the in an equipment designer’s mind. Sometimes you audio and evoke the emotional responses that same way that poets are not necessarily the best are just looking for more grunt processing power for listening to such material can bring. TV sound has public speakers, composers and musicians do not example. There are also designers who will study become more and more compressed to cope with the necessarily make the best audio engineers and the way that their customers work and devise new horrendous volume of the adverts and to keep the producers. The democratisation of audio production methods of making their lives easier or shortcutting attention of the ‘average’ American viewer (and I’m and delivery allied with the penny-pinching attitudes tedious parts of their job to allow them more time not being xenophobic at all here). Meanwhile, the towards audio for video and fi lm is dragging down for creativity. It’s these workfl ow improvements that typical music listener relies on the melody and rhythm the quality of recorded audio faster than anyone are often most sadly lacking in the cheap and alone to keep their attention rather than expanding could have imagined ten years ago. I am all in favour cheerful products that are really designed as toys their horizons with dynamic music that truly adds of the girl who, having recently fallen out with her for the domestic market, but are increasingly co- another aural dimension. boyfriend, decides to use Windows XP to write a opted into professional environments on capital cost Because we at SADiE have always been part of the song about her experience as the adverts suggest grounds alone. At SADiE, we obviously will use new professional audio industry, these matters come as she should, but let’s not pretend that it’s art. The processors when we can see a specifi c advantage second nature to us. I feel this is something that the same goes for Apple. It’s all about big companies for our customers but we are not slaves to new colleges such as SAE could actively promote to keep marketing their blunt-instrument products into an technology. It’s much more effective to analyse what the audio industry alive and healthy — it’s their future ever decreasing professional market. The net losers our customers are trying to achieve and give them as well, after all. are the professionals trying to make a living out of methods that will help them in that aim. creating quality audio for an increasingly disinterested Windows — help or hindrance? population. Providing it’s loud and the meters don’t Sadie has recently released hardware control They make it easier to see while indoors. I can also move off the end stops it must be good. based systems, many end-users have been look out of my offi ce and see trees and grass and I fear that we’ll look back in a decade or so and crying out for the return of hardware control sky. Windows are typically more translucent than realise what we have collectively allowed to happen. for ages — why has it taken the industry so fruit, and too much fruit can play havoc with ones I sincerely hope that before we completely degrade long to come around? digestion. You’d have to be very cynical to think and eventually lose the skill sets that have been We have been selling the SADiE hardware control that windows were anything other than a boon to painstakingly built up over the last century, we will panels for our standard products for 12 years. The humanity. Surely you’re not suggesting a return to the call a halt to the downward spiral that seems to have BB2-J was developed after consulting a number of dark ages before windows, are you? overtaken our industry, but I don’t think it’ll happen our broadcast customers who wanted the speed of Microsoft Windows has been a huge help to SADiE. next year. operation that a professional workstation provides Every professional has to use a variety of tools and combined with a physical interface to reduce the risk our customers typically need to multitask on MS From a technical standpoint in what you do, of repetitive strain injury caused by constant editing Word, Excel, Outlook email, etc. From a commercial what will be the next big thing? with a computer mouse. We have recently developed perspective therefore it has been vital to allow our Talking cornfl ake packets — soon everything will a new control surface for the H64 and we have the customers to use these tools without having two sound that good! Seriously, in such a competitive LRX which is a truly innovative product combining computers on their desk. From a technical perspective, market where the major corporations are now fi ghting a portable workstation with an integrated control it is much more of a mixed blessing. There are certain it out for the mass market, the best place for the surface. I fully expect more products of this type from software primitives we can use, especially on the professional industry is in niche markets that are the SADiE camp in future. user interface side, that we therefore don’t have to hopefully too small for these corporations to be Why it has taken the rest of the industry so long write from scratch. However, there are also numerous interested in. From this perspective, it becomes very is anybody’s guess. Maybe they don’t listen to their assumptions in Windows that are based on less than important to play one’s cards close to one’s chest so customers carefully enough, or assume that providing professional methods of dealing with audio, which we that ideas we may be developing are not instantly hooks into an also-ran control surface will suffi ce. have to work around to produce reliable high quality taken up by competitors. sound and over time we have become very adept at We have been developing more products for mobile Why do end-users tend to take audio quality dealing with these issues. On balance, I’m glad that recording and post — trying to take the back-breaking for granted with DAWs? we opted for developing on the Windows platform 15 and tedious tasks out of the professional’s working Because it’s no longer the big issue that it used to years ago. ■ day to allow them more time to exercise their creative be. Being able to process audio sympathetically talents. This is the most productive way that we can and accurately used to be a diffi cult task in the help our customers to achieve their potential rather days when every single DSP cycle counted because

January/February 2006 resolution 49 sweet spot Room compensation and monitoring quality

In Resolution V4.3 (Measuring low frequency response accuracy) PHILIP NEWELL introduced the concept of low frequency modulation transfer functions (MTFs) as a means of assessing the overall response accuracy (time and frequency) of loudspeakers. The article ended by saying that the next stage in the research would be to take the MTF concept across the room, to the ears of the listeners. Since then, two papers have been presented at the Reproduced Sound 21, international conference of the UK’s Institute of Acoustics [1,2] and this article is a short summary of their ﬁ ndings.

N ANECHOIC CHAMBER, by its very nature, neutral acoustic character. Figure 2 shows the results, phase components of the response are given rise to by cannot modify the response of a loudspeaker, and it can be seen how the MTF drop (information anything that affects the response in a more or less A and the next best thing — a highly damped loss) from 1 metre to 4 metres is clearly apparent. instantaneous way — such as the extra loading on the control room — was used as a reference point in these Figure 3 shows the results of moving the tests into a diaphragm when a loudspeaker is placed in a corner tests. Figure 1 shows the comparison of results from granite-walled live room, using the same loudspeaker and the consequent bass boost. Excess phase effects a high resolution, full range, fl ush-mounted monitor and microphone as for Figure 2. It is plainly apparent result from time-shifted events, such as group delays in system, at distances of one metre and four metres. To that even at a distance of only one metre, the response crossover outputs (where the high frequency and low recap from Resolution V4.3, the MTF measures the has already been signifi cantly degraded with respect to frequency outputs of the fi lters suffer different signal accuracy of response, frequency by frequency, in terms the one metre measurements in the more neutral room. delays) or refl ections that interfere with a loudspeaker of its fi delity to the input waveform — ‘1’ being perfect In fact it is rather alarming to see just how rapidly and response after returning from a distant surface. and ‘0’ representing no similarity between input and how much the information is degraded in a live room. In the case of any minimum-phase response output. It is evident from Figure 1 that the control room A number of companies are now offering monitor modification, the amplitude equalisation will is not giving rise to any signifi cant loss of information systems that purport to deal with room problems automatically tend to correct the phase errors, and content as the sound waves cross the room. [And no; by means of active or adaptive equalisation. The hence the time response (transient response) will despite the oft heard criticisms about absorbent rooms implication from the publicity often seems to be that also be improved. On the other hand, an excess- being oppressive, the room is not oppressive to be in room acoustic problems can now be dealt with by phase response will often not have its phase response because there is plenty of refl ective surface area sited signal processing, and also that the highest standards improved as the amplitude response is fl attened, and so where the loudspeakers cannot ‘see’ it, but where it of monitoring clarity can be achieved is less than well- its transient response may even be made worse, due can add adequate life to the speech and movements designed rooms. to time smearing, as the amplitude component of the within the room.] In general, the phase response of a room/loudspeaker frequency response is fl attened. The tests were then repeated using a pair of small system can be separated into minimum-phase (-shift) Figure 4 shows the MTFs, for the wide-range, high loudspeakers in a studio room having a relatively and excess-phase (-shift) components. The minimum- resolution monitor in the highly-damped control room

Figure 1. MTFs of a high resolution, full range, fl ush-mounted monitor system in a Figure 4. MTFs of a high resolution, full range, fl ush-mounted monitor system in highly-damped control room at distances of 1m (left) and 4m (right). a highly-damped control room at distances of 1m (left) and 4m (right) after room equalisation using a ‘perfect’ fi lter.

Figure 2. MTFs of a small loudspeaker in a studio room having a relatively neutral Figure 5. MTFs of a small loudspeaker in a studio room having a relatively neutral acoustic character at distances of 1m (left) and 4m (right). acoustic character at distances of 1m (left) and 4m (right) after room equalisation using a ‘perfect’ ﬁ lter.

Figure 3. MTFs of a small loudspeaker in a highly-reverberant stone room at Figure 6. MTFs of a small loudspeaker in a highly-reverberant stone room at distances distances of 1m (left) and 4m (right). of 1m (left) and 4m (right) after room equalisation using a ‘perfect’ ﬁ lter.

50 resolution January/February 2006 sweet spot

(as shown in Figure 1). In this case, its response has MTF regions at low frequencies, experience has shown digitally equalised monitor systems using causal fi lters been fl attened in a computer by the application of a it can become more diffi cult to balance percussive (i.e. real-time, without modelling delays) can improve ‘perfect’ real-time fi lter, which also employed a 12dB/ and more continuous sounds, such as bass guitar to the monitoring conditions in relatively untreated octave fi lter below 20Hz to prevent wild, out-of-band bass drum balances. A good MTF and a fast transient rooms, but they cannot achieve the standards set by correction responses. In terms of the MTF, little has response at low frequencies therefore remain essential high resolution monitor systems in acoustically well- changed between Figures 1 and 4, either at one metre features of a good mixing environment. designed control rooms, and they especially cannot or at four metres. The average MTF has not changed. A further point should also be raised about mid- match the spacial evenness of the latter approach. The In the case of Figure 5, however, which shows the priced loudspeaker systems that incorporate digital second paper mentioned in the opening paragraph of result of ‘perfect’ real-time equalisation to the smaller equalisation. The quality of the D-A convertors should this article dealt with the room response criteria that loudspeaker in the well-controlled studio room, (as be considered when thinking about using them. A good were considered to be the minimum necessary to shown previously in Figure 2) the MTF response at quality pair of D-A convertors for monitoring a recording provide neutral, blameless, acoustic conditions in which one metre has been signifi cantly improved by the made via good quality A-D convertors cost around good loudspeakers could be used to their best effect. equalisation, but the response at four metres distance US$1000 or more. Clearly, on a loudspeaker costing It is always necessary to remember that any weak has hardly been improved at all. The results for the US$1000, the convertors used in the equalisation will link in a monitor chain may compromise the perception same loudspeaker in the stone room, after equalisation probably cost nearer to tens of dollars. When auditioning of the quality assessment of any other link in the entire to fl atness, are shown in Figure 6, where it can be seen different convertors using these loudspeakers, this recording chain. Truly transparent, high resolution that the MTF response has also been improved at one situation could (and in fact does) lead to conclusions monitoring systems are still not cheap items to buy, metre, but the response at four metres has barely been such as: ‘When we made comparisons, the mid-price and, as can be seen from Figures 2 and 3, even at affected. A-D convertors sounded just as good as the super- only one metre distance a less than optimally designed These results suggest that the new breed of room- expensive ones’. Such conclusions could easily be room can begin to make its presence noticeable. In a equalised loudspeaker systems can work well at short drawn when monitoring via mid-price monitor systems less than optimal room, even if monitor equalisation distances, but that the far-fi eld response in the room that use digital equalisation systems and low-cost D-A can improve the fl atness of the amplitude (magnitude) will not benefi t in terms of the resolution of detailed convertors in acoustically untreated or inadequately of the frequency response, it cannot restore the loss information content. In other words, such equalisation treated rooms. of detail given rise to by the excess phase part of the may improve the sound for the person at the mixing John Watkinson raised this matter in a previous issue response resulting from the refl ection delays. In fact, as console, but on the sofa a few metres away the MTF of Resolution where he suggested that the resolution of with acausal, adaptive signal processing fi lters, benefi ts response may remain as bad as ever, or worse! It a loudspeaker system could be tested by reducing the bit in the close-fi eld which result from the equalisation would appear that only well-designed room acoustics rate of a digital signal until the loss became noticeable. may be paid for by a deterioration in the response can provide and maintain a large, fl at, high-resolution The loudspeakers making audible the smallest bit-rate elsewhere in the room. Therefore, if very high quality listening area. reductions being the ones with the greatest resolution monitoring is required, good acoustic conditions and All rooms, unless highly absorbent, affect the of fi ne detail. Although some holes can be picked in well-engineered loudspeaker systems remain just as transmission of information from a loudspeaker to this argument, the basic concept does seem to hold necessary as ever before. There is still no cheap way a listener, and even at low frequencies the loss of water. In practice, the problem this highlights is that around it! information content (detail) can be signifi cant. In well- if the limitations of the D-A conversion of the monitor Once again, as has been pointed out by numerous designed control rooms of low decay time (which, system or poor MTFs due to bad room acoustics lead authors of articles in Resolution magazine, the amplitude once again, need not be oppressive to be in if refl ective to bad decisions about the choice of A-D convertors, fl atness of a monitor system is not the be-all and end-all surfaces are strategically placed) the loss of information the defi ciency will be forever locked into the recording. of its performance. So much of the detail in the sound content is minimal. However, the overall responses in Conversely, excellent A-D conversion, even if not lies in the accuracy of the phase and time responses, less well treated rooms can be improved considerably by revealing itself on all reproduction systems, will be fully and, of course, low intermodulation distortion. These modern equalisation processes, but only, it would seem, enjoyable by those who do listen to the recordings via are things that tend to require rather expensive, well- at relatively short distances from the loudspeakers. high quality reproduction chains [3,4]. engineered products, and are not things that readily Room equalisation does not, in general, reduce the So, we therefore seem to have a situation where lend themselves to digital correction. ■ loss of low-frequency signal information at greater distances. What the evidence presented here is highlighting is 1. Keith Holland, Philip Newell, Sergio Castro, Bruno Fazenda, ‘Excess Phase that the fl attening of the ‘frequency response’ is not References Effects and Modulation Transfer Function Degradation in Relation to Loudspeakers necessarily restoring low level detail and low frequency and Rooms Intended for the Quality Control Monitoring of Music’. Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics, Vol. information accuracy. In fact, as the frequency response 27, Part 8, Reproduced Sound 21, 2005. is being fl attened in amplitude, its phase response may 2. Bruno Fazenda, Keith Holland, Philip Newell, Sergio Castro, ‘The Time Domain Performance of Standard be suffering degradation. This may make it easier to Listening Rooms: An Assessment of Current Rooms and Recommendations for Achieving Improved Compatibility’. achieve a correct musical balance for a mix, but it may Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics, Vol. 27, Part 8, Reproduced Sound 21, 2005. not do anything to improve the assessment of things 3. John Watkinson, ‘The Jitter Bug’. Resolution V1.4, p63, 2002. such as the fi ne structural detail or the transparency of 4. John Watkinson. ‘Why We Should be Worried about Compression Algorithms’. Resolution V3.4, 2004. the room sounds. However, once we get into the lower Staggering Performance at an Unrivalled Price • Up to 240 Channels in a large format surround sound mixing system • Integrated 96Trk Disk Recording, Non Linear Video and Server Based Networking • Fully configurable mono to 5.1 Bus Structures with Bus to Bus Mixing • Ready now with Tri-Level Sync support for a full HD production environment • User specified surface options including In Line Panel with OLED display technology • Total Dynamic and Clip based automation with full Plug-in support including VSTs • Unmatched price/performance ratio with unparalleled system capabilities Defining the Essence of Surround Mixing www.fairlightau.com

January/February 2006 resolution 51 in the picture

Arguments about relative picture quality are ultimately pointless since even a 2k projector can fool Digital cinema most experts into thinking they are watching fi lm and 4k projection technology is still in its infancy. Digital Digital Cinema is one of those ‘buzz-phrases’ that we all use but means very different sound is already the norm and will translate directly into digital cinema with the promise of better things things to different people. So, before embarking on any discussion, it would seem prudent to come. The signifi cant considerations are cost, to defi ne the turf. ROB JAMES looks at the exhibition end of the chain with particular standards and security. Cost presents a formidable barrier to general emphasis on developments in the UK. exhibitor acceptance. Digital production routes offer big cost savings to the studios and so does N MANY PEOPLE’S MINDS fi lm is vested pixels) or even a 4k (4096 x 2160 pixels) digital digital distribution. Prospects are far less rosy for with almost magical properties as a delivery and video projected image. The caveats are the important the exhibitor, especially the independents. While a Iprojection medium. Much of this is sheer romantic part of this statement. In the real world of fi lm decent 35mm fi lm projection system is by no means nonsense, inevitable I suppose in an industry founded distribution fi lm prints are expensive to produce, not a trivial investment, it is a relatively long-term one. on selling dreams. The truth is more prosaic. In ideal always of the highest possible quality and in any case Given proper maintenance and updating of peripheral circumstances a fi lm-projected image can arguably quickly deteriorate when exposed to the rigours of the systems, a fi lm projector can easily last for half still be demonstrably superior to a 2k (2048 X 1080 cinema circuit. a century. A fi lm projector is both playout device and projector. In digital cinema these functions are usually separated. Video projectors are expensive to purchase and maintain and have hitherto become obsolete at an obscene rate. Then there are the ingest, security and playout systems to consider. At today’s rates, equipping a screen for digital will cost a minimum of UK£60,000, out of the question for many independents. There is also a fear that independents could be further squeezed if the majors control the digital distribution system. Recognising this, the UK Film Council, the government-backed strategic agency for fi lm in the UK, is using UK£13m of National Lottery funding to establish a Digital Screen Network in return for a commitment to ‘specialised programming’. Announcing this two years ago, Peter Buckingham, Head of the Distribution and Exhibition Fund in charge of implementing the programme said, ‘For years the problem in growing the specialised sector has been haunted and governed by the 35mm paradigm. Making prints or copies of fi lms is very expensive, creating a chicken and egg situation. The supply of fi lms to cinemas and audiences is limited because there is no proven demand and demand is restricted because there is restricted supply of fi lms. In this new landscape, specialised cinema can now react fully to the market and have the fl exibility to grow a market alongside 35mm.’ In practice this means a contract placed with think ��. Arts Alliance Digital Cinema (AADC) worth nearly ��

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D_Command_Resolution.indd 1 31/10/05 3:40:52 pm 52 resolution January/February 2006 in the picture

UK£12m, to install and run the world’s fi rst large-scale One disappointment is that the industry, especially in particular. Just as we have seen the democratisation digital screen network. The competitive application in Europe, seems to be converging on an interim of the means of production for broadcast TV, the same process is complete and the fi rst installations are solution because there are a number of MPEG servers thing is now happening in fi lm production with the about to go live. When complete there will be around already out there with an interoperable MPEG fi le advent of affordable high-defi nition camcorders and 240 digital screens in 200 cinemas, representing that can be used across them. It will take a while, editing/effects workstations. The same craft skills will approximately a quarter of the total. maybe 12-18 months, for the industry to move to be required, but many of the cost barriers are falling. On the standards and security front the studios the interoperable JPEG2000 format that DCI suggests. In fi lm this applies not only to the means of production are represented by Digital Cinema Initiatives, set up Interoperability is important now because there are a but also to the distribution and exhibition processes. No in March 2002 by a consortium of fi lm companies lot of different servers and distributors are unwilling to doubt this liberation will result in a lot of dross, but plus including Disney, Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony Pictures release material in several different formats. It’s also ca change. I can already see glints of real gold. ■ Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros Studios. disappointing that the UK is a bit “out on a limb” at In late July 2005 Walt Ordway, DCI’s Chief the moment.’ Links Technology Offi cer announced; ‘We now have a The UK Digital Screen Network is a brave venture. unifi ed specifi cation that will allow manufacturers Although AADC is committed to supporting international Digital Cinema Initiatives Specifi cation: www.dcimovies.com/DCI_Digital_Cinema_System_Spec_v1.pdf to create products that will be employable at movie standards as they are ratifi ed, there will inevitably be a UK Film Council: theatres throughout the country and, it is hoped, price to pay for early adoption. This must be balanced www.ukfi lmcouncil.org.uk/funding/distributionandexhibition/dsn/ throughout the world.’ against the extremely positive benefi ts for the industry Dolby Digital Cinema: All this sterling work is, in effect, a ‘wants list’. in general and for aspiring and niche market fi lmmakers www.dolby.com/consumer/motion_picture/ddcinema_demo.html Unsurprisingly, the DCI specifi cation is most detailed in the area of security, but even here there are cloudy areas, watermarking for instance. I asked Dolby’s Jason Power about the Digital Cinema Initiatives spec. ‘There is a tremendous misconception within the industry that the DCI document means that manufacturers will be able to produce products that can be bought next week. It just isn’t like that,’ he says. ‘The DCI document is an expression of the Hollywood studios' shared requirements for digital cinema systems. It adds weight to the deliberations of the established standards committees and puts some constraints in place. A lot of effort is going into getting the standards set but there are areas where there is almost research level work to do. It is quite challenging to design products that will satisfy the security requirements. This doesn’t simply mean technical design, but process design with physically secure manufacturing sections and multiple sign-off signatures and so on. This is all because you are dealing with master quality material in each cinema. ‘We’re on a track, but we’re nearer the beginning than the end,’ he continues. ‘I was reading something by one of my fi lm colleagues the other day and he was saying it took the better part of 20 years to really nail down the 35mm fi lm standards. It’s important to view digital cinema in the light of all that experience. Things evolve. A lot of the time standards defi ne a practice rather than establish a practice. It will take time to fi nd exactly the right way of doing things.

January/February 2006 resolution 53 business

at a more convenient time.’ In 2004, Velvet Revolver’s Contraband album became the fi rst TPM CD to top the The dark side of the disc Billboard charts. This and other chart successes were touted as proof consumers somehow approved of TPM. We know that piracy is an issue and we know that energy is being invested in closing it ‘We’re thrilled with the results we’ve seen and the apparent consumer acceptance,’ said Jordan Katz, then down. However, while this is going on our only digital classic has been corrupted, reveals an EVP in BMG’s distribution arm. NIGEL JOPSON. The double platinum Contraband album was protected in the US with Sunncomm MediaMax CD- 3. The ‘protection’ comes from software in the data section of the CD, which can in fact be prevented from installing either by switching off Windows CD autorun or pressing the Shift key while inserting a disc. If MediaMax is installed, it only allows compressed WMA fi les to be played or copied to hard disc. These WMAs can be burnt to CD-R up to three times, but many users found it diffi cult transferring the Microsoft format to their iPods. In Europe, the Velvet Revolver disc used Macrovision CDS-200 protection, a system that installs hidden drivers and bypasses Window Media to use an integrated player. By 2005, the two majors most gung-ho about TPM had merged, and both Sony-BMG and EMI announced that CDs for their major markets would in future be copy protected. In February, Sony-BMG stepped up the rollout with protected discs from The Chieftains and Kasabian. ‘What matters the most to us is the consumer experience,’ Sony-BMG Sales Enterprise Co-President Jordan Katz said. ‘Both technologies used (MediaMax and First4Internet’s XCP) offer playability across all standard players ... Our research shows that the consumer thinks that’s fair.’ Perhaps a little more HE MOST DAMAGING music piracy is still licensed to Macrovision as KeyAudio — which bears research should have been done into the Oxfordshire- physical, with the IFPI (International Federation more than a passing similarity to the Sony Key2Audio based company supplying XCP. BMG might have Tof Phonographic Industries) announcing that technology responsible for the fi rst bit of mainstream discovered that sod’s law of the English Yellow Pages 1 in 3 CDs sold is an illegal copy, valued by them at ‘bad press’ received by TPMs (Technical Protection dictates that any company whose name begins with US$4.5 billion. The key word is ‘sold’ — a physical sale Measures). the words First, 123, or incorporates a noun joined is a quantifi able loss of revenue. Several independent Epic/Sony’s 2002 release of Celine Dion’s A New to it by the number 4, should in fact be the very last studies, including those from respected Jupiter Research Day Has Come resulted in the headlines ‘Celine Dion company to call for anything from plumbing toilets to in 2002, and recently from The Leading Question, ate my iMac’. This crude TPM involved an enhanced websites. The sh1t was heading 4 the fan. found illegal digital music sharers spend over four CD with bogus computer data in the pre-gap of track Mark Russinovich is a specialist in the internal times as much on digital music! But a physical disc zero. The dud data session locked the computer, and workings of operating systems. He is chief software counterfeit is a lost sale. Last year plant capacity with no CD eject button on iMacs, removal required an architect for a systems company, and he writes books equivalent to the combined French and German CD expensive trip to the Apple service centre. Millions of and tutorials for Microsoft. He develops utility programs, markets was put out of action, mainly in South East discs were sold with slight variations on these tricks, including a rootkit detection product: rootkits are Asia. Over 56 million counterfeit CDs were seized and, which proved no more diffi cult to circumvent than powerful tools that subvert the kernel of an operating more crucially, counterfeit glass master seizures rose it had been for exotically named companies to sell system, undetected. Together with Bryce Cogswell he six-fold to 12,000. their so-called technology to major labels. Judicious writes the Sysinternals.com site and he has a blog Very laudable, and just the sort of protective action application of felt-tip pen to the data section rendered popular with Windows techies. our labels should be funding. But there is also a this TPM useless. Mark was surprised to discover at the end of dark side to the disc: do you listen to CDs on your Philips threatened that discs that meddled with its October that his own system had a rootkit installed. PC? Open the Start menu, select Run, type: ‘cmd Red Book standard could no longer carry a CD logo, the Through debugging, he determined he was detecting /k sc query sbcphid’ and click OK. If the response is New Scientist magazine revealed details of Midbar’s something intercepting kernel-mode APIs (Application ‘State: 4 Running’ then you have a driver installed patent, but were forced to apologise after Barry Fox Programming Interface calls) by patching the kernel’s that is actively restricting access to music. It’s part of claimed Midbar Cactus ‘could end up trashing your system service table. He traced it to a device driver SunnComm’s new Mediamax copy protection scheme, hi-fi ’, and a rash of websites sprang up with lists of by the name of Aries.sys, whose cloaking code hides which puts 12Mb of fi les on your disc even if you doctored CDs. ‘Those are silver discs with music data any fi le, directory, registry key or process whose name decline the license. Around 20 million CDs have that resemble CDs, but they aren’t,’ Philips spokesman begins with ‘$sys$’. Snuck in by an über-hacker been sold with Mediamax on. The sad truth is that Klaus Petri told the Financial Times, and in a Reuters targeting his work? No, it was installed there by an our long lived digital classic the CD (as celebrated interview General Manager Gerry Wirtz said Philips audio CD, Get Right with the Man by Van Zant, which by John Watkinson in Resolution V4.8) has become would build hardware burners that could copy the he bought from Amazon. Sony licensed this TPM progressively polluted over the last fi ve years. aberrant discs ... which it did. from First4Internet Ltd. This rootkit may be lethal to I fi rst started monitoring developments when TTR After California resident Karen DeLise sued a computer because any process could use it to hide Technologies began meddling with the actual audio SunnComm over a Charley Pride CD, labels switched from the operating system, or from typical antivirus for its MusicGuard product. This technique relied on their attention to testing anti-copy technologies in tools. The First4Internet code scans executables the poor error handling of early computer CD drives Europe. In the US, ‘Fair Use’ of purchased media by the corresponding to running processes every two seconds, — by inserting un-correctable E32 errors into the consumer — the ability to make personal compilations querying information about fi les in use — this means PCM data stream! This deliberate CU creation later or time shift recordings — has more legal backing there’s a CPU slowdown penalty even when music surfaced as a product called SafeAudio, licensed to than in other countries. In the UK there’s no general isn’t playing. ‘Not only had Sony put software on Macrovision. A company called Midbar Technologies right of private copying, although section 70 of the my system that uses techniques commonly used by came up with some permutations on the theme of TOC 1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act does allow malware to mask its presence,’ wrote Russinovich in corruption, messing with the lead-out address (ignored ‘The making in domestic premises for private and his blog, ‘the software is poorly written and provides no by hi-fi players) to further confuse PC copiers. Midbar domestic use of a recording of a broadcast solely for means for un-install. Worse, most users that stumble developed this as Cactus Data Shield 100/200 — also the purpose of enabling it to be viewed or listened to across the cloaked fi les with a RKR scan will cripple

54 resolution January/February 2006 business their computer if they attempt the obvious step of ‘I think they’ve set the whole DRM thing back at least a maybe we can even get some clauses bolted-on to deleting the cloaked fi les.’ year or two,’ said Todd Chanka, entertainment industry artist’s contracts. Sue Whitehouse, manager of The The installation was not accurately described in analyst with Jupiter Research. The only hardware Darkness: ‘I really argued that you hear terrible things the EULA (End User License Agreement), the Sony- copy-management that ever truly stands a chance of about [copy protected] CDs not working and messing BMG software ‘phones home’ with data from the working effectively is on a device that depends for up computers, but the record company talked me into PC, and three viruses have already been identifi ed its function on a network connection — such as a it, saying that there was new technology that had that conceal themselves using the rootkit. A torrent subscription music service/portable music player. CDs proved to be problem-free. And, of course, the album of criticism from computer experts ensued, with were not designed for and never can be effectively came out and we were fl ooded with complaints about antivirus makers Computer Associates, F-Secure and copy-blocked. it not working!’ ■ the Microsoft Windows Defender Team (Antispyware) Todd’s UK-based colleague Mark Mulligan revealed: labelling the Sony discs a malware/trojan risk and ‘In a survey of leading European music executives we Contact releasing scanning signatures and cleaners. Stewart are fi elding at the moment at Jupiter, approximately a • www.sysinternals.com/Blog/ Baker, the US Department of Homeland Security’s quarter of respondents so far believe consumers will • cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/ assistant secretary of policy, admonished the major not buy CDs with copy protection.’ The incident has • cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/titles.html labels, reminding them that: ‘It’s very important to alerted millions of consumers to the potential misuse • www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4989260 remember that it’s your intellectual property — it’s of TPMs as well as to the need for consumer protection • www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=1266 not your computer. And in the pursuit of protection from such systems. We can all do our part by talking • 164.195.100.11/netahtml/srchnum.htm (enter patent number 6,208,598) of intellectual property, it’s important not to defeat or to industry colleagues at labels and, post-Sony fi asco, undermine the security measures that people need to adopt in these days.’ Criminal action was threatened in Italy, a class action suit was fi led in California, and the Texas Attorney General fi led suit against Sony-BMG, asserting XCP violates the state’s anti-spyware and consumer protection laws, and seeking civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation (each CD sold). Sony-BMG recalled 4.7 million CDs. To me, the most saddening part is the behaviour of the men at the top of Sony-BMG. Men who would never dream of signing off a new accounting system, or acquiring another corporation without doing due diligence and commissioning consultant’s reports, thought nothing of destroying their own artist’s work, their product, with sloppy programming from an outfi t nobody had evaluated. Worse: corporate Sony-BMG had been discretely and privately alerted to the problem by security vendor F-Secure at least three weeks before Mark Russinovich went public. The IFPI counterfeit fi gures I quoted are often cited by label execs as justifi cation for installing TPMs — can it be that the top guys confuse personal and commercial copying? There’s quite a difference between a shop-sold shrink- wrapped counterfeit and a scrawled on CD-R given away to a mate. Commercial pirates in China simply re-master an album in their pressing plants, the XCP TPM only threatens the consumer. In an interview on US NPR Thomas Hesse, President of Sony-BMG’s Global Digital Business, scoffed ‘Most people, I think, don’t even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?’ So speaks a man who summons minions if his PC fails, and told a public broadcaster: ‘No information ever gets gathered about the user’s behaviour. No information ever gets communicated back ...’. In fact, as Mark Russinovich pointed out: ‘... their servers could record each time a copy-protected CD is played and the IP address of the computer playing it.’ The impact on the 50 Sony-BMG artists concerned was immediate: Van Zant’s album fell overnight from top 40 to 1,392 in Amazon’s sales rankings, and as the rootkit news made global headlines it plummeted to 25,802. Van Zant manager Ross Schilling urged the label to recall CDs. ‘Sony should be in the artist business, promoting and selling records. This type of issue sheds a negative light on their ability to do that.’ Tim Foreman, guitarist for Switchfoot, whose Nothing Is Sound album was XCP-ed, wrote in a post on a fan site: ‘We were horrifi ed when we fi rst heard about the new copy-protection policy. It is heartbreaking to see our blood, sweat, and tears over the past two years blurred by the confusion and frustration surrounding new technology.’ The distinction between hardware TPM and DRM (Digital Rights Management) has also been blurred and confused in the minds of commentators and the public.

January/February 2006 resolution 55 technology Explaining SuperMAC and HyperMAC

Low-latency, highly-reliable audio interconnection on Cat-5 cable: that’s the promise of AES50-2005, an open technical standard recently published by the AES Standards Committee. Sony Pro Audio Lab’s MICHAEL PAGE brings us up to speed on SuperMAC and HyperMac.

E’RE ALL FAMILIAR with the ubiquitous sample clock using a high- computer communications offered by performance electrical WEthernet. But despite the rise of multimedia interface technology applications on the Internet, it is also fairly well- called Low Voltage understood that conventional IT networking technology Differential Signalling is often inadequate for high-performance pro audio (LVDS). The data carried applications, where latency and reliability matter. on the physical layer link AES50 addresses this, by specifying a pro audio is scrambled, so regardless interconnection system that can take advantage of of the audio data content, ubiquitous Cat-5 cabling and the huge body of it always ‘looks’ random engineering undertaken by the data communications on the link. This avoids industry to provide cheap, reliable and very high- problems of unwanted speed data communication over this type of cable. electrical pickup The resulting technology has some interesting (crosstalk) between the characteristics. cable pairs causing audio A single Cat-5 (or better) cable can convey fully data-related jitter on the bidirectional audio, sample clock and non-audio control sample clock, a problem data up to 100m. It can deliver up to 48 channels of that can manifest itself in audio in both directions at once at 44.1kHz or 48kHz distortion at the digital- sample rates. A limited-bandwidth ‘bridge’ for generic to-analogue convertor, Ethernet traffi c allows any Ethernet-based control and which plagued AES3 protocols to operate over the link alongside audio. implementations for some There’s support for a wide range of audio formats and years. sample rates, including new high-defi nition formats Apart from the audio such as 384kHz PCM or DSD. It offers audio latency of and error-correction about 68 microseconds or 62.5 microseconds (exactly data, there is about 3 sample periods, at 44.1kHz or 48kHz) and it also 5Mbit/s of spare data has error correction and a detection system. capacity on AES50. This Conventional Ethernet may be considered as is reserved for carrying Figure 1: Schematic example of AES50/HyperMAC Interconnected system two separate, but related, pieces of technology: a generic Ethernet traffi c, means of getting data bits from point A to point B for applications such as remote control and status to any number of output channels on any links, and along a single span of cable, quickly, cheaply and monitoring. Apart from the bandwidth limitation, any number of audio channel routes may be changed reliably (the physical layer); and a means of getting there are no specifi cations or restrictions on how this simultaneously. There are no architectural limits on the messages between pieces of software, across an bandwidth may be used. The bandwidth is controlled size of the router: channel counts of several thousand arbitrary collection of interconnected cable spans using standard fl ow-control mechanisms, and is are readily achievable with current silicon technology. (the network). The Ethernet network technology is separate from the audio data, so (unlike conventional If a number of AES50 links are connected to optimised for the job of connecting together software audio-over-Ethernet) the audio is never affected or such an audio router, the non-audio data on each processes in computers (such as PCs and servers) interrupted by a fl ood of non-audio data. link may be routed in parallel, using a conventional and characteristics that make it excellent at this Most new large-scale digital audio systems use Ethernet switch chip. The control system on every mean it is extremely sub-optimal for many pro audio Ethernet for control and communication between AES50-connected device may then communicate on interconnection applications. But the physical layer different system components, generally using a common Ethernet network (shown in red in Figure technology is very useful: it is a robust, proven, proprietary protocols. AES50 allows these control 1). A regular Ethernet port may also be brought out to highly-engineered mechanism to transmit data across protocols to be conveyed along the same cable as the link the control systems on all the AES50-connected cheap Cat-5 cable with ultra-low latency. audio. devices to a conventional Ethernet network (the laptop AES50 specifi es a way to pack audio sample data AES50 is a point-to-point connection — in this in Figure 1). This combination of packet-switched onto the 100Mbit/s Ethernet physical layer link to respect it has similarities to AES10 (MADI), but is Ethernet for control, and channel-by-channel routing create a reliable and low-latency audio connection. more convenient and on Cat-5 cable. An audio router of audio, creates a powerful and effective technology The numbers and types of audio channels it can may easily be implemented (Figure 1), connecting for building digital audio systems. convey are shown in Table 1. It also specifi es how a number of AES50 links together with unlimited AES50 standardisation and ‘Super Multichannel audio sample clock is transferred. Cat-5 cable contains routing of individual channels between different links. Audio Connection’ (SuperMAC) — The technology four twisted-pair signal conductors, and the physical The latency of the router itself is negligible, and now known as AES50 was developed by Sony Pro- layer data communication only uses two of them. is absorbed into the 3 sample-period (44.1kHz or Audio Lab at Oxford, UK, based on earlier work on The remaining two pairs are used to signal the audio 48kHz) link latency. Any input channel may be routed interconnection systems for prototype Direct Stream Digital (DSD) recording equipment. The technology was launched in 2004 known as Super Multichannel Audio Connection, or SuperMAC, with FPGA-based implementations available to license. At about the same time, the protocol specifi cation was also submitted to the Audio Engineering Society Standards Committee, as a proposed open standard. The standardisation project proceeded smoothly and culminated in the publication of standard AES50-2005 in July 2005. Sony Pro-Audio Lab sells commercial implementations of AES50 transceivers as conventional silicon chips and licensed designs for programmable FPGA chips, Table 1: Audio channel counts for AES50 and HyperMAC and current licensees include pro audio heavyweights

56 resolution January/February 2006 technology such as Midas, Euphonix and Merging likely to constrain the channel count than Technologies. Sony also has some intellectual the interconnection. Full synchronisation and property rights relevant to the implementation automation is possible using the 100Mbit/s of AES50 transceivers. In accordance with Ethernet capacity of the HyperMAC link. the AES Standards Committee’s Patent Policy, For smaller systems, or for lower-cost Sony has declared that those rights will be project studio products, AES50 may be used made available under license on fair and non- instead, delivering similar capabilities with discriminatory terms. reduced channel count at a much reduced The 48-channel capacity of AES50 is cost. suffi cient for many applications, such as Broadcast studio system (Figure 3) connecting A-DC/D-AC units to workstations. — AES50 and HyperMAC together form a But there are other applications, such as I- powerful audio infrastructure for multi-studio O systems for large-scale mixing consoles, broadcast complexes. Each studio features that require much greater channel counts a HyperMAC/AES50 router for connecting — especially at high sample rates. devices within the studio. A router featuring A complementary technology to AES50 only HyperMAC ports is located in the central is being developed to address this: High equipment room and interconnects all the Performance Multichannel Audio Connection, studio routers via optical fi bre HyperMAC. or HyperMAC. This provides a very similar The central router clearly has a very high type of connection to AES50, but with eight channel count: for example, 16 HyperMAC times the audio channel count (see Table ports comprise 6144 channels of 44.1 or 1) and 100Mbit/s of generic Ethernet traffi c 48kHz audio. HyperMAC interconnection Figure 2: Console and audio workstation system for control applications. This is achieved technology makes this simple and cost- using Gigabit Ethernet physical layer, which effective to implement. All studios may access fundamentally provides ten times the data audio from any other studio with no routing capacity of 100Mbit/s Ethernet physical layer restrictions other than the channel count used in AES50. The HyperMAC protocol is of the HyperMAC link to each studio, and structured such that a link may simultaneously restrictions imposed by control software (for carry audio at different sample rates, even example, security policies). if the sampling clocks are asynchronous Live digital mixing console system — assuming the equipment at each end of the (Figure 4) — Live digital mixing consoles wire can support it, of course. may have a similar topology to the studio Gigabit Ethernet physical layer (and hence console system described above: a number HyperMAC) may operate over Cat-5e or of units for DSP, I-O and one or more Cat-6 cable, much like AES50. But unlike control surfaces. A mutually-redundant pair the 100Mbit/s Ethernet physical layer of of HyperMAC connections, with automatic AES50, it requires all four signal pairs in the fail-over, connects routers at front-of-house cable for data communication -– leaving no and stage with 384 channels of audio and pairs available for the sample clock signal. 100Mbit/s Ethernet. This replaces the heavy HyperMAC therefore embeds the audio sample and vulnerable traditional multicore snake clock in the data packets for recovery at the Figure 3: Broadcast studio system with a redundant pair of Cat-5 connections (or receiver using a combination of analogue and optical for spans greater than 100m). digital PLL technology. The silicon technology The routers feature a number of HyperMAC is more complex than for the AES50 clock and AES50 connections, to which all devices transmission, but no less effective. The lack on the stage or at front-of-house directly of electrically-separate clock signals also connect, creating a form of star topology. allows optical fi bre links to be used instead Redundancy may be implemented in just the of copper cable. HyperMAC ports may be front-of-house to stage links, or in redundant designed to use standardised ‘Small Format routers, or in a completely redundant set of Pluggable’ (SFP) interchangeable optical hardware for the whole system. Latency for transceiver modules, allowing end-users to every link is three sample periods (assuming decide whether to operate a HyperMAC link 44.1kHz or 48kHz sample rate) and sample over 100m of Cat-5e/6 cable, or up to 500m clock phase is consistent throughout the of multimode fi bre, or even up to 40km of system: so latency over any signal path is single-mode fi bre. predictable and guaranteed. HyperMAC is being developed at Sony Pro- The technology behind AES50 was Audio Lab by the same team that developed originally developed for high-end, high- SuperMAC/AES50. The fi rst products using it resolution studio applications. The same will be launched sometime in 2006 and the characteristics that made it suitable for these protocol specifi cation will be submitted to the applications also made it very attractive for AES Standards Committee in much the same high-end live sound and broadcast, where low Figure 4: Live digital mixing console system way as AES50. and deterministic latency and high reliability The combination of AES50, HyperMAC and Router Ethernet control to (potentially) any other element. are of the utmost importance. technologies presents equipment manufacturers and This can easily be achieved by connecting each Although the scenarios described above are end-users with a wide range of powerful and convenient element to a central router, via HyperMAC or AES50 necessarily generic, they are not idle pipe-dreams. options for system interconnection. I have outlined as appropriate. Products and systems featuring these technologies below just three of the many possible scenarios in An audio workstation can easily be integrated into a are under development now as the fi rst companies which these technologies could substantially improve system like this: all that is required is an interface such to realise the benefi ts move closer to product launch. the performance and usability of pro audio systems. as a HyperMAC PCI card. A single piece of Cat-5 cable With the standardisation project for HyperMAC on Console and audio workstation system (Figure becomes the real-time connection between the audio the horizon, many of the largest and most powerful 2) — A large-scale digital mixing console for studio workstation’s recording and editing environment, the names in pro audio technology are closely examining applications typically comprises DSP units, analogue mixing console, and the audio I-O system. With 384 how the standardised interconnection could improve and digital I-O units, and one or more control surfaces. channels available simultaneously in both directions the capability and usability of their next-generation Each element needs to communicate audio and on the link, the power of the workstation is more products. ■

January/February 2006 resolution 57 steinberg top tips

When mixing in very small rooms where the surround Controlling surround in speakers are at a ‘nearfi eld’ distance to the listener, experience has proven that Nuendo 3.2 with MixerDelay lowering the level of the surround speakers by 2dB Nuendo includes a wide palette of features tailored to surround functionality. However, better represents a properly aligned typical home theatre there’s one really useful and powerful plug-in among them for surround mixing that most environment. This level Nuendo users may never have even opened: the MixerDelay plug-in. Steinberg’s adjustment should only be used in mixing environments MARTIN STAHL explains the thinking. and not in general listening rooms. SPEAKER DELAYS — Pretty often you might SPEAKER LEVEL — If a rear speaker is further fi nd that your room will not allow you to set up the away from your listening position than a front speaker speakers correctly as in the table. If, for instance, the it stands to reason that the sound pressure from the centre speaker is on the same line as the L and R rear will be less. For every doubling of the distance the speakers you will have to adjust the centre speaker level will be reduced by approximately 6dB. Although with an additional delay, to correct the signal running this rule is correct for open space and does not work time. In 1 second the sound the same way in closed rooms, there is still a need for travels 343.421m. In 6ms the adjustment because of a loss of sound pressure. sound travels a distance of The MixerDelay can adjust this with the level fader 2.06m. very easily, and because the MixerDelay plug-in is The Mixer Delay Plug- used in the Monitor channel of the control room, in makes this easy for you. Nuendo allows independent confi guration of delays You just have to type in the for different speaker set ups within the same room. additional distance that the Rounding off the feature set of the plug-in are two centre speaker is supposed to further capabilities: Re-routing and Phase switching. HE MIXERDELAY CAN be invaluable in have in the delay fi eld for the Re-routing is a handy resolving issues that can pop up if you are plug-in. way to re-map the channel Tmixing in surround. This is especially true with SPEAKER SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL — Let’s of a 5.1 input to any other the Nuendo 3.2 Control Room section, which offers look at some issues surrounding speaker sound confi guration. The great thing confi guration and control of multiple speaker systems. pressure in general. The SPMTE standards call for here is that you don’t have to While the plug-in is simply called MixerDelay, this setting each channel so that pink noise at reference change your ASIO output routing and can fl ip between belies its usefulness in surround mixing applications. level reproduces at 85dB SPL, C-weighted, slow. presets. You can even do this on a 5.1 audio track First of all let’s have a look at some general This value was defi ned mainly for the fi lm industry, where the channels of the audio fi le do not match with information about surround sound speaker positioning and the following setups are based on this model. your mixer confi guration. Here’s an example: and levelling. The table shows how speakers should be For Nuendo projects that contain sound for later fi lm set up for a 5.1 environment for music mixing. Speaker mixing, you should set the levels to 85. When mixing positioning in fi lm mixing environments may vary. music, set the 0dB reference levels at the same SPL in each channel. Speaker level can be checked by using Pink Noise from the Nuendo Test Tone Generator and a standard handheld digital SPL meter. Some engineers like to mix more loudly than While phase switches are also available others, but the important part is that all speakers have for each individual Nuendo mixer channel, the same SPL at the listening position. The Nuendo it can be very handy to be able to access 3.2 Reverence Level function in the control room these switches in the MixerDelay window section is a great way to recall the reference level at while you’re making speaker delay the push of a button. adjustments. ■

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58 resolution January/February 2006 ten Pro audio trivia talking points

With the prospect of nights in front of ﬁ res still about us it’s time to pose ten tiny questions that might spring to mind or challenge the unprepared in the early hours. KEITH SPENCER-ALLEN gets all sort of philosophical.

IMPRESSED? M E M O R I A L S LOUD — There’s the well — Microphones — Walk around known studio saying that translate low any UK town ‘anything sounds good if level airborne and you’ll come played loud enough’. As vibrations into across circular blue soon as you start to feel music rather than just hear it, electrical signals plaques mounted a different mode of judgement kicks in (Yes, it’s called so there is going on buildings to survival instinct. Ed). A playback of a fi nished mix to be a degree of commemorate some to the record company or ad agency would be hiked delicacy about historical connection with that site. In recent years in level to reduce any dissent. With suitably muscular them. While we there has been an awareness of more contemporary monitors in less use, what are the new techniques should be warned candidates. Jimi Hendrix’s London fl at and Joe Meek’s for infl uencing the wavering listener, or are all your about ribbon mics Holloway Road studio were ‘plaqued’ a couple of mixes perfect? that destruct if coughed over, there has always years ago but there is nothing to commemorate the been a macho culture of robustness that goes far Gramophone Company studio, London’s fi rst in 1898, WAR — It is said that nothing beyond reasonable expectations. The late Al Khan, at 31 Maiden Lane, near the Strand; nor any later accelerates technological growth founder of Electro-Voice, would demonstrate that centres of recording. With the demise of many fi ne like a ‘good war’. And being in a the E-V 664 mic could be used to hammer nails into studios, isn’t now the time to visibly acknowledge the relatively small, technology hungry timber without affecting its performance (hence it’s creative contribution that they made? business that hangs on the coattails of far, far larger nickname Buchanan Hammer)! Part of the B&K 4000 industries, with vastly different interests, how do we Series mic demo was to stir a glass of Pepsi with it, GENERICALLY YOURS feel about that? shake and use! Shure had Roger Daltrey hurl a Beta — Working in publishing, range mic at the fl oor, retrieve it and demo it! Are we you’re periodically in receipt TECHNICALITIES — Aside impressed that mics can be abused and still function? of stroppy letters reminding from the common electrical Well, yes, but why? you that a certain word used units, most readers are familiar is a trade mark/registered with two technical concepts BIGGER IS BETTER name and cannot be used named after people — Haas — Having been generically. Defending a and Fletcher-Munson. Fletcher pinned to a wall by commercial name from and Munson were Bell Labs an independently- generic usage is part of researchers in the 1930s who set about plotting the minded MM1200, ensuring those rights continue. An editor soon learns sensitivities of the human ear expressed in a set of and struggled on that Tannoy can only be used in relation to their curves showing our hearing to be far less effi cient at stairs with a 3324, speakers, and that it is safer to use ‘glass fi bre’ high and low frequencies, and increasingly so at lower one developed rather than ‘Fibreglass’ unless you are sure that it is. sound levels. This effect had been long known about a respect for the However, stopping everyday usage is diffi cult if it’s but Fletcher and Munson were the fi rst to quantify it. muscular recording a useful shorthand for a complex process. I used to Although their fi ndings are commonly quoted there formats of the 1970s hear ‘AudioFile’ and ‘Total Recall’ used generically but were short comings — such as their choice of subjects and 80s. Likewise, you wanted a large mixing console recently we’ve had a proper name ‘verbifi ed’ — to Pro and use of pure tones (sine) whose perception varies to match. Unkind people likened that to the supposed Tool, as in ‘let’s Pro Tool that’. How long before the considerably from natural sound. Others refi ned their inverse connection between men’s genitals and fast letters start arriving? work — Churcher & King; Robinson & Dadson; cars. If there was a subconscious truth there, with Pollack to name but a few, with far better real-world the current attraction for compact digital consoles and ANALOGUE’S results. But somehow it’s Fletcher & Munson — who recording formats that can fi t in a pocket, have we CONTRIBUTION didn’t discover it or fully refi ne the idea — who are now overcome that supposed connection and become — While it was remembered. Maybe we could learn something from confi dent with what nature has provided? frequently a problem their marketing? at the time, we’re S U R R O U N D missing the sporadic — Multichannel ‘contribution’ that sound for picture is analogue technology made to the creative process logical. The picture — normally highly unwelcome but just occasionally... dictates where it was perfect. The sheen that could appear on www.yellowarch.com your attention multiple vocal tracks bounced down on 24-track is held and the tape; the musically-diffi cult 2-inch tape edit that only NAMES — Assigning a name rather than a letter/ sound fi eld has a worked due to a less than perfect tape join causing a number combination to a product has a logic to it front, sides and fl anging effect on passing the heads; or the way that — it’s easy to remember and can be used to create a a rear. Recorded the inadequacy of a certain console caused mixes to product image — but how that fi ts within a cultural sound without a ‘gel’ rather than remain a balance of their individual framework can be a challenge. Eventide’s Orville may picture only works parts. And there was the report that the Rolling Stones be a Wright Brother in the US but in the UK we think if we accept the Jumping Jack Flash tape master was accidentally of a green baby bird ventriloquist’s dummy. Amek convention that the front of the sound fi eld is stretched hence that very effective slur during the used a host of names, most of whose original owners used to recreate, to some degree, the idea of a solo — impossible without analogue shortcomings. showed genius but ended their days unpleasantly musical performance with performers on some ‘stage’, Digital technology makes life more consistent, and — Hendrix (suffocated on vomit); Mozart (poisoned); however abstract. With so much contemporary music there are processors to reintroduce some analogue Rembrandt (poverty and illness); Galileo (tortured to having broken with that assumption, are we trying to sonic failings, but it is the unexpected that is missed. recant his ideas). Einstein was perhaps an exception... constrain creative possibilities to fi t a model that is no Anyone interested in a processor that throws up but just who was Angela? (I know this but will defer longer relevant? random processing for your consideration? to any reader who was there. Ed) ■

January/February 2006 resolution 59 katz’s column Becky and Fred get back on the bus (sort of)

Bob Spade (AKA BOB KATZ) here, private ear. Fred walked into the mastering session with a new rock mix and a chip on his shoulder because it took him 7 hours to remix a tune without a bus compressor when he had previously needed only 3 hours (Resolution V4.8). Becky, in contrast, had a hopeful expression on her face — I love that girl.

qualities, but don’t give up hope, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Nevertheless, you’ve given me a real challenge, not because your mix is bad, but on the contrary, because it’s real hard to put any processing in line with a mix this good without taking the sound downhill.’ The fi rst thing I did without telling them, was to patch in the identical compressor model that’s built into their mixing console, with the same settings that Fred had used. Fred immediately complained: ‘That sucks worse than the bus compressor I had the fi rst time!’ ‘Well, it probably sucks about the same, because you’ve correctly identifi ed your own compressor, that you spent a grand total of fi ve minutes adjusting. I just did that to make a point! Anyway, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t see what “too far” sounds like. Furthermore, if I can’t make it sound better than your mix, then I suggest we call it a day and release the single with no processing other than the best 16-bit dither l can fi nd.’ ‘It’s a deal,’ said Becky, though Fred just nodded, which usually means trouble. K GUYS,’ I said, cheerfully, ‘let’s see what than what you’ve currently got. I’m sure with more ‘Let me work a while,’ I said. ‘Until I have a smile your new mix sounds like on the mastering experience you could get more of that punch in your on my face, please wait patiently before making any ‘Osystem… Now that’s more like it. The current mix without sacrifi cing any of the other more comments.’ I got rid of their console compressor, snare drum sounds real and impacting, the vocals breathe. When the chorus comes in, it sings out louder and even more exciting than the verse. A lot Start mixing with the climax of a song. You’ll have to ride the soft intros of mix engineers can’t get that right, but you have to A mixer’s hint and the early parts manually; don’t rely on the compressors, or you will fi nd capture the live feel of the band. The slap of the bass their thresholds are too severe for the climax. If you feel you need more compression for the verses consider using is driving the song, grooving along with the drumset, automation or multiple channel strips so you can return to the higher thresholds you need for the climax. without sacrifi cing either one. And the fi nale really builds, it’s not a plateau with a limit. Great job!’ ‘Thanks,’ replied Fred, ‘but I still miss the power I had with the bus compressor.’ ‘Remember that I showed you both how most of that “power” was an illusion of loudness without quality, but I do agree the sound was punchier

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60 resolution January/February 2006 katz’s column then patched in about a dozen audio processors, some losing life. Since I had already made the song a bit analogue, some digital, most of which I was sure I louder with the previous dynamics processors, I was would not need. But with a mix this good, I wanted able to make it ‘competitively loud’ without using Readers Quiz to make sure that I had tried all the possible tools that more than 1-2dB of peak limiting, nor sacrifi cing Why is it that sound levels can jump might help even a little bit and not hurt. I had to earn the sound. Even at only 2dB of limiting, the limiter all over the place in raw mixes? my keep, sweat and listen, over and over. Fortunately, did change the sound slightly, but I felt that the Why do we need compressors at high resolution mastering monitors, coupled with ears compromise was minor. all if bands can perform without trained to hear the artefacts of processors, immediately ‘Now let’s take a listen, compare it to the original them live? Tell Bob what you think distinguish overkill from good sound, and help me to mix and to your previous bus compressor,’ I said. [email protected] and he’ll give you his answers. zero in on what works best. ‘How did you do that?’ they both asked. ‘It’s Starting with the climax of the song, I tried in positively magical,’ said my toughest customer. Information succession, an analogue optical compressor that’s It’s the 90/10 Rule. ‘You know, I spent an hour, often good for mastering, an excellent 40-bit digital but it only took me 10 minutes to get the basic sound, Resolution recommends Bob Katz’s compressor that costs more than some consoles, and 50 minutes to go the rest of the way. Unless you book Mastering Audio — The Art and and some esoteric units from my collection. I settled want to count the last 35 years of experience,’ and the Science as an essential source of information for every pro audio enthusiast on an interesting combination. The fi rst piece was we all laughed. The song debuted on the charts. I’d LRX_advert_resol.qxd 23/08/2005 10:56 AM Page 1 who cares about sound. You can buy it on the optical compressor to fi ll in the holes and help like to think that I had contributed a little bit to its line at www.digido.com glue everything together. Its very slow attack time success. ■ and gentle release let the transients through and retained the basic liveliness. It also helped that I was not using more than 2dB of gain reduction on the loudest passage of the piece and between 0.5 and ....introducing the 1dB throughout. The second piece was an upward expander in the digital box. It may seem counterproductive to put SADiE LRX an expander and a compressor together, but for this single the two made beautiful music together. I used Flexible Location Recorder the upward expander to get a bit of edge in the sound, enhance the build into the fi nal chorus and retain the liveliness, it also was tempering the molasses of the The remarkable new SADiE LRX has been designed to fulfil optical compressor. While I was adjusting each of the the needs of an ever more complex recording environment. dynamics processors I was also making minor tweaks It is as effective in capturing original soundtracks for film in equalisation because dynamics processing affects and television production as it is for producing location audio recordings for release on distributed media such as CD the tonal response and EQ must be done in context. or DVD. I then moved to the soft introduction to the song, and I tried another processor, a digital multiband parallel compressor. Normally I’m not a fan of The flexibility of the LRX hinges on its ability to utilise a standard laptop running Windows XP® via USB2 as the host multiband processors except to help fi x bad mixes, computer together with combinations of the same high quality but I intended to use the parallel compressor as a i/o cards as the SADiE H64 multitrack workstation. A tactile dynamic equaliser, giving subtle presence to the low hardware control surface is employed, incorporating a small level passages without making the higher passages assignable mixer and full editorial interface, plus dedicated transport keys. strident. I saw a subtle smile creep into Fred’s visage, so I knew I was making progress, but I kept a straight face, because I had only just begun! I then spent 15 minutes tweaking the interaction between the equalisation and the three dynamics processors. Sometimes the sound jumped out unpleasantly as I tested some extreme settings of the expander, but it was all part of the experimentation to optimise the processing for this song. When the song started to take on a new life that felt considerably better to me than Fred’s already excellent mix, I knew I had something going. Now it was time to put the icing on the cake. I changed the parallel compressor into M/S mode and enhanced the S channel with a touch more parallel This powerful combination is compression, which subtly brought up the ambience supplied with a tailored multichannel version of the SADiE on-screen graphical user channel at low levels and gave the song a deeper, interface. Timecode and professional genlock facilities are richer character. At each stage I A/B-compared what incorporated and a video stream may be simultaneously I was doing to the mix to make sure that I was not captured for playback or on-set ADR. The system supports a changing the intent but rather helping to take it in wide range of industry file interchange formats, plus a second external drive may be simply attached via USB2 or Firewire to the direction that I felt Fred was going in the fi rst mirror recordings and provide simultaneous safety copies. place. The next processor I tried was one of my own invention, that brings out the inner detail and depth of Contact your nearest SADiE dealer or main office and visit our the music, but I decided that we already had enough website for further details and a brochure. ear-candy, so I rejected my own processor. However, when I listened to the reduction to 16-bit, I restored a www.sadie.com little bit of my ambience processor to help reduce the pain of reduction. United Kingdom: SADiE UK The last step was to see if I could further increase The Old School, Stretham Ely, Cambs. CB6 3LD. UK Tel: +44 (0)1353 648 888 Fax: +44 (0)1353 648 867 the recording’s absolute loudness without taking the USA: SADiE Inc 475 Craighead Street, Nashville TN 37204 USA Tel: +1 615 327 1140 Fax: +1 615 327 1699 sound downhill. This involved a high-end digital Europe: SADiE GmbH limiter and experienced ears to make sure that the Villa Leinen, Kollwitz Strasse 16, 73728 Esslingen. 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January/February 2006 resolution 61 slaying dragons

Our educational system does not teach how to design. Most of education is about analysis, taking Design things apart if you will, whereas design is synthesis. Good design requires familiarity with a whole range Like many other skills, design is in short supply in these commoditised days. of subjects and an ability to balance strengths in one area against weaknesses elsewhere. There is no JOHN WATKINSON argues that declining design is inevitable in the main but scientiﬁ c explanation for how that is done well by a need not be universal. few and badly by most, so I would contend that it is an art, hence the use of the term in my book titles. These subjects include not just the technology of j the device and how it is manufactured, but also topics o such as ergonomics, psychology and aesthetics. A

h technological education generally excludes aesthetics and human factors, whereas a classical or social science n education excludes technology. Several things follow from this fundamental mistake. We get inarticulate

w scientists and engineers, aesthetically challenged products and politicians and accountants who are ill-equipped to take decisions in a technologically a based society. It is almost the hallmark of a politician t that there is no ability to take scientiﬁ c advice or to k interpret statistics. It is almost the hallmark of an

i accountant to hold that research is pointless because n it doesn’t show a profi t. Modern education is increasingly specialist. Not s surprisingly one fi nds highly successful designers o with little or no academic background. There are a few fundamentals that it is unwise to n transgress. The existence of a professional marketing process is of incalculable value. Proper marketing is bi-directional and it is just as important that the designers are told what the customer wants as it is to tell the customers what they can have. A good designer listens very carefully to what customers say they want, without forgetting why they are saying it, and then fi gures out what they need. There are a number of reasons to embark on a new design. Staying ahead of the competition is a common driver. However, as was remarked in the last article, after a technology matures all that can be done is to make it cheaper. Regrettably an increasingly common driver for new design is the doubtful pursuit of novelty. For some reason the consumer is supposed to equate ‘new’ with ‘better’. Maybe when technology was evolving rapidly that equation held. Today with depressingly regularity ‘new’ means untested. When a new technology comes along, the consumer is again supposed to equate ‘technology’ with ‘desirable’. It cannot be suffi ciently stressed that people don’t want technology; they want results. We can make refrigerators that work on the ammonia cycle powered by burning gas, using a mechanically driven compressor or using the Peltier effect. These are technologies. What the consumer wants is a cold beer. He doesn’t give a primate’s how the temperature was maintained. The same can be said for audio amplifi ers. ‘Although the audio industry isn’t a mass market, a lot of Competently designed and kept out of clipping, I don’t care if the things use vacuum tubes, FETs or manufacturers are acting as if it is. The problem with this transistors, they will all sound the same. Naturally this is anathema to the hifi industry, but then design has been all but eliminated from that sphere as is made commoditisation is that it ends up as an economic battle to see clear by the fact that we don’t see any progress. While all good amplifi ers sound the same, not all are equally effi cient. The Class A amplifi er is analogous who can make it cheapest. Design always suffers in these battles.’ to driving with a brick on the throttle and controlling the speed with the brakes. Clearly the future of audio amplifi cation lies with switching devices. New technologies put special demands on marketing N MY LAST ARTICLE the concept of classic I fi nd that the principles actually change very little skills. If the technology is really new, the customer designs was examined. I have a great interest in the from industry to industry and little over time. Sydney can’t be expected to understand it and so asking Iprocess of design and, rightly or wrongly, I choose Camm, the designer of the Hurricane and the Hunter for his views may not be fruitful. The technology to refi ne my own design process by studying how aircraft, said you produced your best work as part of has to be explained fi rst. Ultimately the level of earlier good designs came into being. Interestingly, a small team under pressure. understanding may be so low that proponents of new

62 resolution January/February 2006 slaying dragons designs pull their hair out. The Wright brothers failed they don’t understand and he will start his own small a technological standpoint is totally conventional. It to interest the US military in aircraft until they fl our- company and take business from those who declined is also enormous in comparison and just resembles bombed a naval vessel from the air. Charles Parsons him, hastening their end. an old Mini from a distance. The new VW beetle is in failed to interest the Royal Navy in steam turbines I recall that when workstations started to be built, the same category. This isn’t design; it’s somewhere until he ran rings round a fl eet review with a ship using disk drives for audio and video editing, there between pastiche and kitsch. that nothing in the navy could catch. Frank Whittle’s were two companies that had the resources to make Commoditised products are all the same. The turbojet engine met a wall of apathy. The apathy is these effortlessly. Ampex actually made hard disk control panels are smaller than they should be and not just from authority, but is also commonly found drives at one time, and Sony invented the 3 1/2-inch the number of controls is reduced by using multi- within large companies. fl oppy. Neither of them saw the way that audio and layer menus that are an ergonomic nightmare. A The quality of design is infl uenced by many video production was going and it was left to DAR, feature of commoditised design that drives me nuts factors. When a new technology is invented, the Lightworks and Avid, all new companies, to reap the is the use of symbols. Once upon a time a control inventors will be deeply interested in development benefi ts. was labelled in plain English, or the language of the and will ensure that design rules are followed. The In my view a lot of professional audio equipment country where it was sold. Now there is a symbol wall of apathy will mean that often the only way to has gone down the road of making things cheaper. that is equally incomprehensible in many countries. get moving is to start a new company, thus forming Although the audio industry isn’t a mass market, a In audio equipment, it’s frustrating. In other fi elds it the small team under pressure. lot of manufacturers are acting as if it is. The problem can be dangerous. When a symbol lights up on a car The fi rst products are successful and the company with this commoditisation is that it ends up as an dashboard, it takes longer to interpret the symbol than grows. This is where the danger lies, because as economic battle to see who can make it cheapest. it does to read the plain English legend. successful companies grow rapidly, the recruiting Design always suffers in these battles. Ultimately it We also fi nd politically correct legends nowadays. process is never very good and the company starts to may not be possible to recover because the margins My coffee machine has a control marked ‘strong’ take on people who will ultimately stultify it. are so low that there is insuffi cient funding for at one end of the scale, but ‘light’ at the other end, As the company grows further it becomes too research. probably because some oaf argued that putting the valuable to take risks and its actions become Another indication of design bankruptcy is the word ‘weak’ on a product would imply inadequacy. increasingly conservative. At this point the creative retro look. Products are made to look like older However, I discovered that the legend was not founders have become bored and leave (Usually products that had achieved some kind of status. resistant to de-scaler. Because it’s a poor design, the with handsome pay-offs. Ed). The company is The old Mini was hardly a triumph of design. The legend soon dissolved. now run by accountants who have no knowledge distributor cap was right behind the grille so it couldn’t In many cases the best designs came from people of the technology. The only thing they understand be driven in the rain, the subframe rusted alarmingly who couldn’t buy what they needed and had to make is how to make it cheaper. That is the start of the and in an impact the passenger compartment folded their own. Being your own customer is a powerful decline, because making things cheaper isn’t design; up, but it did at least have good primary safety on design tool as if it’s not right it gets changed. Today it’s production. And if a young inventor approaches account of its innovative suspension (Up until the the gulf between designers and users has never been them with an idea, they will turn it down because subframe collapsed that is. Ed). The new Mini from wider. ■

showcase

January/February 2006 resolution 63 your business Get a (new) job

You might have noticed that, as the technology gets more and more powerful, more and more people are calling themselves producers and mixers of music. They are also doing so at a time when the conventional music industry itself is in a steady decline. In other words, more and more people are vying for a piece of a business that’s getting smaller and smaller. DAN DALEY

d HE VERY CONCEPT of the producer is in West owns a one-man forensic audio operation danger of becoming as commoditised as the in the small town of Auburn, Maine. Nearly two music itself has. In a long-overdue article in decades ago, he was a regular client of Dallas Sound a T the New York Times last November that exposed the Labs in Texas, where he worked on ﬁ lms like Titanic

n ‘beats’ that form the core of hip-hop for the mindless and with artists like U2. A few career upheavals and machine-driven drivel that the vast majority of them a chance meeting with a barrister trying to parse (and the songs they spawn) are, noted producer a bad cassette tape changed all that. Compared to

d Dallas Austin commented, ‘[The market] has become the £250 or so a day that most in-the-trenches so overﬂ ooded [sic] with producers, they say, “Just engineers earn for a day’s labour (and they’re the listen to my tracks and if you hear a beat you want, lucky ones), West’s card rate for work such as audio a pick it.” They do the beats hoping artists will say, enhancement and track cleaning is £100 per hour, “That one sounds like me.”’ with a minimum £300 retainer required just to l

e Although producers, such as the Neptunes, walk in the door. He gets £500 a day for in-court can command six ﬁ gures for a beat, the vast testimony, plus expenses, and can charge £30 for a

y preponderance of them are virtually given away by a CD-R copy of any work he does -– the same CD-R surfeit of young novice producers desperate to get a most engineers give away at the end of a session. cut. P Diddy has reportedly assembled a crew of beat What’s perhaps more astounding is that he rarely makers in a sort of well-padded sweatshop, churning gets any dickering on costs — ‘Attorneys just want out hundreds of beats that he will choose from for to get the job done, and they’re used to paying pretty his next album. steep fees for expert work and testimony,’ says West I bring this up partly as a churlish reminder that — and that he considers his rates on the low side of as diffi cult as the music business has become in what similar service providers get, noting that his the last fi ve years or so, it has the potential to get relatively remote location won’t allow him to charge signifi cantly crappier. But it’s also an opportunity to what someone in, say, New York might get. talk about other equally interesting and rewarding West has a relatively Spartan equipment things that those same production talents can complement; most of his work is done in Sound be applied to in fi elds that may not get you laid Forge v.6, running on three homemade computers. regularly but will keep you well-fed. In addition to an array of Direct X plug-ins for EQ ‘I bring this up partly as a Forensic Audio — Forensic audio is the stuff and de-essing, he’ll occasionally employ a Focusrite churlish reminder that as diffi cult TV docudramas are made of, extracting critical Platinum Voicemaster Pro for outboard processing. information out of a sea of sonic noise and artefacts. Low overhead, high payback, and a CSI-level of as the music business has Listen to forensic specialist Arlo West recall a not- glamour. That’s a lot of buck for relatively little untypical case and compare it to one spent doing bang. become in the last fi ve years 100 takes of the same line of a vocal. Audio Archiving — The British Museum, the or so, it has the potential to ‘A police department in Texas sent me a tape Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress. of a lady who dialled police emergency 911 when Massive repositories of audio on everything from get signifi cantly crappier.’ someone broke into her house, and she stayed on the old Edison cylinders to the music of the spheres — line while the intruder was in her house. She never celestial creakings recorded for the still-ongoing SETI hung up the phone. Not even when he killed her.’ (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) project. And

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64 resolution January/February 2006 your business spoken words — oral histories recorded to document the Vietnam project, and since then has moved over Guzzone, a producer by ambition (he’s coproduced not just the specifi cs of a life but its emotions, as to the same position for the university’s Southwest a Bacon Brothers record) and an engineer by well. Historians estimate there are literally tens Collections archive, which chronicles the region’s necessity, sought to augment his income about 15 of millions of hours of such oral histories stashed history. Using a Cube-Tec Quadriga system, which years ago by going to work for a corporate event at governmental, organisational and academic digitises audio into BWF as well as automatically production company. He learnt the trade and gave it institutions globally, and most are on analogue tape, logging metadata and audio artefacts for later his own spin a dozen years ago, doing productions and many of them are deteriorating faster than they cleaning, Peoples now digitises oral histories by the for new auto introductions and Time magazine’s can be saved. Projects such as the Ellis Island Oral dozens. It’s all been a serendipitous convergence 75th anniversary party at Radio City Music Hall. ‘I History Project and the EU-sponsored Echo Project of personal passions and skills. But he’s already got into it at a good time,’ he says. ‘I hit my stride are challenges to audio archivists globally. It may looking to the future, realising that what’s going on as corporate events were getting bigger and more not be as fl ashy as forensic audio, but it is just in academia now is the tip of the iceberg in terms of elaborate.’ as emotionally and professionally demanding and the oceans of analogue information that will have to It’s not a piece of cake -– he can count on perhaps rewarding. be digitally archived. ‘The commercial potential for a couple of major events a year. But the rewards Curtis Peoples once spent years scavenging this is enormous,’ he says. ‘It’s going to be nothing can be good — as much as £25,000 to £40,000 for assistant engineering jobs until he decided he but a growth area. It’s a very good start-up type of per major event, plus between £2,000 and £3,500 needed to secure his future and went back to college business, since it doesn’t require a lot of capital. But per demo. But that includes sometimes seemingly to get a degree in another area of personal interest: it does require some very specifi c skills.’ endless meetings with clients and other media history. At Texas Tech University in Lubbock, he The Corporate Reel World — With globalisation producers on the event, and often as many rewrites, volunteered to work on the university’s Vietnam the buzzword in the corporate world, corporate plus the time spent waiting for approvals of lyrics Archives project, which was collecting and sound is perhaps truly the most international of and melodies, less the cost of additional musicians organising artefacts from the war. As it turned audio avenues. on tracks, and time spent on site before and during out, these would eventually include thousands of Paul Guzzone, producer and owner of Triple Z and event. And not every bid will get accepted hours of oral histories recorded on analogue tape, Music in Brooklyn, found that out when he fl ew — there is competition out there. ‘It can be a good much of which was decaying. Peoples applied to Japan for IBM to create the music for the global living, but you will have to work for it and at it,’ his knowledge of audio and researched ‘sticky- computer maker’s sponsorship efforts for the 1998 says Guzzone. shed’ syndrome — the breakdown of the binding Winter Olympics there. He worked with the Japanese Everyone here started out with a desire to produce emulsion that holds the tape formulation to the band Kotoza to create a theme track for IBM based records. But when the odds of success at that tape backing. ‘I discovered that tape emulsion around the traditional Japanese instrument the koto. — which are long to start with — didn’t pan out, formulations had changed in the 1970s and 1980s, ‘We wanted to take koto music and create a song all of them found alternative paths for their audio mainly due to more intense demands by the music using it in a western pop music form,’ Guzzone talents and passion. And instead of waiting for industry to increase tape’s technical characteristics,’ explains. ‘Ultimately, I took a track of a solo koto SonyBMGWarnerEMIUniversal to pay that long- he explains. But what was good for music at the played by the woman in the band — the koto is overdue invoice for one track a couple of years from time wasn’t necessarily good for legacy. ‘The traditionally played by women — and brought it now, you might instead be forensically checking newer tape formulations were more prone to collect back to my studio on a DAT and built a new track voice mails in a lawsuit, or recording an oral history ambient moisture, especially if they weren’t stored around it. Then I sent the track back to Japan where of someone in prison, or doing the production on in climate-controlled conditions.’ she played the solo part again but to the new Shawn Fanning’s Napster II roll-out extravaganza. Peoples eventually became the chief archivist for backing track.’ All in a day’s work. ■         

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January/February 2006 resolution 65 headroom

and made many radio programmes about the subject LETTER TO TIM SUMMERHAYES in Holland as well as in Germany. Please could you Dear Tim, forward this e-mail to him. Advertisers Index We read with interest your recent profi le in Resolution Thanks in advance and also thanks for your wonderful magazine (V3.6). Did we laugh or cry? You guessed magazine. API ...... 27 it...we laughed. Jos Janssen, Sonology, Arnhem, Netherlands We’re interested to know why a person of your Audio Technica ...... 20 apparent professional standing should feel the need to put down fellow professionals in this way. MORE MARKETING HYPE Calrec ...... 58 We too heard the start of Live 8 because we were Bravo on another great issue. I also appreciated the Digico ...... 09 there mixing it. Nigel Godrich and Steve Lillywhite E-Trap article and will be investigating it myself at were also in the truck and they liked the mix and some stage and I think I’m in agreement with you on DigiDesign ...... 52 approved it. Within the hour, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely the importance of marketing (Headroom V4.8). But Hearts Club Band by Paul McCartney and U2 was we’re lucky in this business because I think most of us DPA ...... 11 available for download, went instantly to number 1 know what the marketing is trying to sell us but have and stayed in the download top ten all summer. That, you seen the advertisements plastered all over Dixons Enhanced Audio ...... Classifi ed 63 in our humble opinion, is a result. It’s a mystery why and the other high street electrical suppliers on the the BBC’s Live Music Team were asked by the Live 8 run up to Christmas? I can’t imagine what ordinary ESE ...... 64 organisation to handle such a complex and important people are supposed to make of it, I know it means event, given that, in your opinion, our ‘absolutely absolutely nothing to my old mum. They’re selling Fairlight ...... 51 appalling’ approach to live music recording makes gadgets — pretty girls or handsome men holding small Genelec ...... Inside Front Cover every band ‘sound the same’, ‘as though they’re a jazz shiney gadgets of indeterminate purpose or function. group’. A possible explanation is that we confused People are buying into the lifestyle without knowing Harman Pro ...... 31 Live 8 with a jazz festival. That could also explain why what it does or really caring. It’s a terrible waste when notable jazz groups like Coldplay, Radiohead, Super so many genuinely good audio ideas have not caught HE Studio Technik ...... Classifi ed 63 Furry Animals, Faithless and the Foo Fighters insist on with consumers because they were never marketed that one of us do the sound when being recorded for right to them or explained properly. Euphonix ...... Outside Back Cover BBC Radio and televised festivals. Ken Pripps, Sheffi eld, UK We have the added burden of trying to make the HHB Lynx ...... 65 fi rst number of a live set sound as good as we possibly can. It can only be put down to the misguided notion HHB Millennia ...... 13 on the part of radio producers and TV directors that a Loud/Mackie ...... 07 band walking on stage and starting with one of their big hits is somehow exciting and important to capture. Lydkraft ...... 19 Your solution is so elegant. Mess it up so they can’t use it for broadcast. This mantra, the ‘Summerhayes Merging Technologies ...... 41 Method’ will from now on be an important chapter in all BBC training and attitude manuals. MJQ ...... Classifi ed 63 Oh, and your thoughts on synchronisation. Don’t worry. We don’t understand it either. NAB ...... 33 Don’t take this personally, Tim. After all, we are all Pro Light and Sound ...... 45 professionals. Miti Adhikari, Simon Askew, Mike Walter, Paul Long Sadie ...... 61

GAMELAN RESULT Schoeps ...... 17 In the November/December (V4.8) issue of your SCV London/Benchmark ...... 43 magazine I read the Headroom letter from Giovanni Sciarrino. I am interested in giving him some advice on Readers who wondered about Ken Scott’s comments SCV London/Fostex ...... 47 recording Gamelan music. about the Trident Studios piano in this issue might be Since 30 years I am a location sound engineer, interested to know that they can buy a rather nice t-shirt SCV London/Universal Audio ...... 15 composer of electronic music as well as a gamelan from the post outﬁ t that now occupies the space where Sennheiser ...... 23 musician. I have recorded many gamelan performances the studios were. www.tridentsoundstudios.co.uk Smart AV ...... 21 Sonic Distribution/Apogee ...... 25 AUDIOAUDIO lookilikies Sonic Distribution/SE Mics ...... 55 Sonic Distribution/Waves ...... 53 Sony Plug-ins ...... 39 Tannoy ...... 35 Tascam ...... 18 TESI ...... 44 TL Audio ...... 29 Steve Martin, Dave Neal, John F. Kennedy, Andy Day, Actor Soundcraft/Studer UK former US president Resolution contributor TL Commerce ...... Classiﬁ ed 63

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