THE SOUND ENGINEERING MAGAZINE OCTOBER 1982 51 95 41 : . .4.4.'" 1. 7 ,.. , 4»-': Hearing our full line is believing. international broadcast standards, the incomparable ATR- 1001/4" and 'h" mastering We've been helping the professional audio recorder, the rugged MM -1200 multi- track, world to sound better since 1948. Every one and the advanced ATR -124 multi -track of our products -from our low -cost portable analog recorder. For details about any to our top -of- the -line multi- exciting member of our profes- track recorder -deliver that sional audio family, call your special Ampex Sound local Ampex representative, people love. or contact Willie Scullion, When it comes to Ampex National Sales professional audio, Manager, Audio -Video we've got you covered. Systems Division, 401 Our audio family Broadway, Redwood includes: the cost - PEX City, CA 94063 efficient ATR -700, (415) 367 -2911. the worldly ATR -800 designed to meet AM PEX ... '. ... ... 111111.150. -- - - - - -- d - - -- WO 1111------_--- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - =MI - v Li - =eeeme Circle 25 on Reader Sen-ice Card Publisher Larry Zide Editor John M. Woram European Editor John Borwick Associate Editor Mark B. Waldstein Production & Layout David Kramer OCTOI3ER 1982 VOLUME 16. NO. 10 Advertising Coordinator Karen Cohn Classified Advertising Carol Vitelli Book Sales Lydia Calogrides Circulation Manager Eloise Beach DEPARTMENTS Art Director Bob Laurie LETTERS EDITORIAL CLASSIFIED Graphics 6 32 65 K &S Graphics Typography DIGITAL AUDIO Barry Blesser Spartan Phototype Co. 12 SOUND REINFORCEMENT John Eargle 20 sales offices Roy McDonald Associates, Inc. THEORY AND PRACTICE Ken Pohlmann Dallas, Texas 75207 26 First Continental Bank Bldg. WIH IMAGES Len Feldman 5801 Marvin D. Love Freeway SOUND Suite 303 30 941-4461 (214) NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Denver, Colorado Area Englewood, Colorado 80112 62 14 Inverness Dr. East PEOPLE, PLACES, HAPPENINGS Bldg. 1- Penthouse (303) 771-8181 67 Houston, Texas 77036 6901 Corporate Drive Suite 210 (713) 988 -5005 FEATURES Los Angeles Area Glendale, California 91204 AUDIO DISTORTION ON BOTH SIDES Murray Allen 424 West Colorado Street Suite 201 OF THE GLASS (213) 244 -8176 40 Portland Area DIGITAL AUDO PROCESSING Anthony Agnello Hillsboro, Oregon 97123 - 510 South First THE NEXT STEP and Mark Clayton P.O. Box 696 46 (503) 640-2011 NEW SOUND IN THE ROUND: THE GREATEST William Lobb San Francisco Area Emeryville, California 94608 SHOW ON EARTH GOES OMNI 265 Baybridge Office Plaza 52 5801 Christie Avenue (415) 653 -2122 RECORDING STUDIO RENTALS-OR -YOU Hamilton Brosious Sagamore Publishing Co. DONT HAVE TO OWN FLORIDA TO ENJOY IT New York 55 Plainview, NY 11803 M. 1120 Old Country Rd. SOUND SYSTEM DESIGN THE ALTEC WAY John Woram (516) 433 -6530 58 I his month's cover features Can -Am Recorders' Studio A, a 24-track room featuring a Quad -8 Coronado automated console, an Otari MTR 90 recorder, J BL db, the Sound Engineering Magazine ISSN 0011 -71451 is published monthly by Sagamore Publishing Company. Inc. Entire con- s bi- radial monitors, noise reduc- tents copyright 1.482 by Sagamore Publishing Co.. 11200íd Country Road. Plainsiew. Li.. N.Y. 11803. lelephone (516)433 6530. Dolby db is published for those individuals and firms in prolessional audio -recording, broadcast, audio-visual. sound reinforcement, con- tion and a full array of outboard gear. sultants, video recording. film sound. etc. Application should be made on the subscription form in the rear of each issue. Subscrip- The photo comes courtesy of Mark tions are 515.00 per ycar 1S2810 per year outside U.S. Possessions; 516.00 per year Canada) in U.S. funds. Single copies are $1 .95 each. Editorial. Publishing and Sala Offices: 1120 Old Country Road, Plainview. New York 11803. Controlled circulation postage Elkins. paid at Plainview, NY 11803 and an additional mailing office. N Index of Advertisers THE KEN POHLMANN Altec Lansing 27 FAN CLUB Ampex Cover II. 16 Auditronics 14 Crescendo 64 KEN POHLMANN, Crown I I MEET SUE BISHOP Emilar 28 Eventide 34 -35 To I Ill- EuI IOR: Garner 6 Mr. Pohlmann's -he dream of l Audio Goldline 63 Computer is a reality! Digital Music JBL 7 Systems markets a general- purpose Klark Teknik 43 audio computer as described in your Lexicon Cover Ill article "The Audioprocessor" in the Linear & Digital Systems 18 Theory and Practice column of the July Link House 29 1982 issue of db. Maxell 44 Our DMX -1010 Computer Sound MCl/ Sony 21 Processor is a general purpose audio Modular Audio Products 10 signal processor capable of replacing MRL 31 most tsr+ of the signal processing units found Nagra 22 in recording studios. including delay Orban 9 lines, phasers, Bangers, tape echo units. Otani' 25 Now you don't. reverb units. graphic and parametric Panasonic 15 equalizers, compressors and limiters. The Garner Audio Tape De- Polyfusion 62 The DMX -1010 includes a PDP- gaussers are truly the most Polyline 18 1 103-compatible computer as well as a Quad Eight 8 flexible and thorough audio DM X-1000 Signal Processing Com- QSC 49 tape erasers available. With them, puter. The 1 103 provides the user with R Columbia 10 you can erase cassettes, reels, the hardware necessary to run a wide Shure 13 range of business applications and cartridges in just four software. Sound Technology 23 seconds. And, we guarantee The DM X-1000 is an ultra -fast mini- S7L 46 computer designed that your erasure will meet the specifically for Studer 33 digital audio signal processing applica- most stringent recording Tektronix 63 tions and can be easily programmed in an Standards. It really is a case of 3M 41 intuitive way to perform almost any TOA 19. 38 -39 "Now you hear it... synthesis or processing function. Urei Cover IV Now you don't." We sincerely share Pohlmann's Mr. White 8 vision the future of of the recording Yamaha 44 industry and look forward to the time when an all digital studio will be the norm. SUE BISHOP arne Digital Music Systems, Inc. SUE BISHOP. GARNER INDUSTRIES, INC. MEET RICHARD FACTOR 4200 No. 48th St., Lincoln, Nebraska 68504 I O THE EDI IOR: Phone (402) 464-5911 Thank you for printing Ken Pohl - mann's article about our SP2016 digital signal processor. For some mysterious reason. however. he seems to have left There's more out the model number and photograph. Coming I o repair this omission, I am enclosing a to hear... photograph and a few words about the Next Just write Garner Industries for hardware realization of his scheme. Month more information: Seriously. his last paragraph ( "It's a great idea why hasn't someone mar- Next month will be our (always popu- NAME keted a general- purpose audio computer lar') nuts 'n bolts issue. Tom Hay of Vet ? ") is something of a slap at us and M(I Sony tackles the problems associ- TITLE /POSITION the other manufacturers who have ated with studio powering and ground- manufactured and marketed such devices ing, we'll take a look at what's new and COMPANY for quite sonic time. To be sure, the unusual on the product scene. and also complete generality that he wishes for feature important topics that are often ADDRESS isn't here yet, primarily due to the dif- overlooked. Of course, all our regular ficulty of software development, but departments and our roster of columnists CITY STATE ZIP we're damn close. will be on hand. All this coming in No- RICHARD FAC1oR vember's db -The Sound Engineering Vice President Magazine. Circle 43 on Redder Service Card Before you invest in Polar response comparison ofa tvpieal two - way coaxial studio monitor and .1111.'s new J430 RI-Radial studio monitor .from / kHz new studio monitors, to lb kHz. - consider all the '/i fica/ hon_:ou W JRI. J30 horizontal S ankles. 0 / a one has to tell you lum impor- tant flat frequency response is in a studio monitor. But if voti judge a monitors performance by its on -axis response curve, youre only getting part of the stor. Alost conventional numitors tend to o narrow their dispersion as frequency 7i'pwd/ ;'erNrd/ JR/. 1430 vertical increases. So while their on -axis response may be flat, their off -axis And the Bi- Radial horn's perfor- components provide exceptionally response can roll off dramatically liter- mance advantages aren't limited to just smooth response, high power capa- ally locking you into the on-axis-sweet baadwidth control. The horn's rapid city, extended bandwidth, and spot Even worse, drastic changes in flare rate. for instance, dramatically extremely lots distortion. the horn's directivity contribute signif- reduces second harmonic distortion icantly to horn col(;rations. and its shallow depth allows for opti- Judge For Yourself mal acoustic alignment of the drivers. Of cuursc, the ()illy trac to really lets Introducing the This alignment the monitors fall judge a studio monitor is to listen for well JBL Bi- Radial below the Blauert and Laws yourself. So before you invest in new criteria for minimum audible time monitors, ask your-local JBL profes- Studio Monitors. delay discrepancies. sional products dealer for a Bi- Radial At J13I., wcye been investigating But whde the Bi- Radial horn monitor demonstration. And consider the relationship between on and off offers outstanding performance, it's all the angles. axis frequency response for several only part of the total package.'hhe new monitors also incorporate JBI ;s James B. Lansing Sound. Inc. years. The result is a new generation of studio monitors that provide flat most advanced high and low fre- 850(1 Balboa Boulevard response over an exceptionally wide quency transducers and dividing Po.