Resolution 3.

7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:09 PM Page 1

OCTOBER 2004 V3.7 THE NEXT GENERATION AUDIO PRODUCTION MAGAZINE

Youth
Getting it right

Dan Swift on recording live bands with mics

Post: Leslie Shatz talks technique
Broadcast: Radio and TV output from the V Festival
Alchemy creates rooms with views
Bob Katz’s common audio dilemma
Meet your maker: Martin Kloiber — Euphonix

REVIEWS
• Mackie digitalXbus • SE Electronics
SE1a, SE2a, SE3
• Dolby 585
• Sony Vegas +DVD • Toft Audio Designs ATC-2

• PSP Prozilla • Sony Oxford Dynamics/EQ

• Manifold Labs Plugzilla • AKG WMS 40 Microtools
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:09 PM Page 2
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:10 PM Page 3

October 2004 V3.7 ISSN 1477-4216

THE NEXT GENERATION AUDIO PRODUCTION MAGAZINE

News & Analysis

4 Leader 65 Headroom
4 News Opinions on a ‘good room’; SACD replies.
Sales, contracts, appointments and the
bigger picture
16 Products 57 Win SE Electronics mics
New introductions and announcements plus Your chance to win a superb pack of
Digidesign, Steinberg and Logic platform news. three studio condensers.

Craft
14 Alchemy 54 Broadcast
London combined mastering and The annual V Festival now combines
postproduction aims high and creates radio and TV output as part of its remit.
rooms with views. Our man is in the thick of it.
38 Youth 56 Katz’s column
Bass player turned remixer, writer and Mastering engineer Bob Katz introduces
producer talks about the mystery of getting us to Becky and Fred who have a
it right and his new studio in Spain.
common audio dilemma.
42 Dan Swift 58 Power
Recording live bands with mics is back
in; we talk to a man who can and does. You have the power but is it clean and
reliable? We look at solutions.
46 Sweet Spot
A room at a price. After the building comes 59 Ten
the finishing: speakers, garnish and trim. Most influential albums.

52 Post 60 Meet your maker

From dialogue editing to the final mix, Martin Kloiber — Euphonix executive VP
Leslie Shatz has done it all and shares of technology talks interfaces, back-ends
insights and working methods. and relationships.

Business
50 Indies 64 Your business
Independent labels look increasingly Daley says that there are people out
like a fig leaf for the majors’ A&R there who want to organise you.
inadequacies. So let them.

Technology
48 The matter of Metadata 62 Slaying Dragons
The business of moving data around Don’t abandon your own standards,
between disciplines has technological and get some test and measurement
economic implications for all involved. equipment instead.

Reviews
22 Mackie digitalXbus 30 Toft Audio Designs ATC-2
24 Dolby Model 585
32 Sony Oxford Dynamics and R3 EQ
26 SE Electronics SE1a. SE2a, SE3
28 Manifold Labs Plugzilla 34 AKG WMS 40 Microtools
29 PSP Prozilla 36 Sony Vegas +DVD

EDITORIAL ADVERTISEMENT SALES PRODUCTION AND LAYOUT

Editorial Director: Zenon Schoepe European Sales Dean Cook
Tel: +44 1444 410675 Clare Sturzaker Dean Cook Productions
Email: zen@resolutionmag.com Tel: +44 1342 717459 Tel: +44 1273 236681
Editorial office: PO Box 531, Email: clare_s@tiscali.co.uk Email: dean@deancookproductions.co.uk
Haywards Heath RH16 4WD, UK

Contributors: Rob James, George Shilling, US Sales

Keith Spencer-Allen, Terry Nelson, Jon Thornton, Jeff Turner
Neil Hillman, Nigel Jopson, Andy Day, Tel: +1 415 455 8301
Kevin Hilton, Dan Daley, John Watkinson Email: turnermarketing@comcast.net
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04
APPOINTMENTS
Smart AV has
appointed Patrick
Woolcocks as
European sales
manager respon-
sible for Europe,
Middle East and
Africa. He has many years’ experience
in sales and business management in
the broadcast market, recently with
Clear-Com Communications Systems
where he was responsible for Europe,
Middle East and Africa and previously
as Regional Sales Manager with Leitch.
DK-Technologies
has appointed
Dorte Ibsen as
personal assistant
to CEO Karsten
Hansen. She joins
from a Danish
telecommunications company where
she held a similar position. She has
extensive management and market-
ing skills and a background as an
export engineer.
DK-Technologies
has boosted its
international sales
team with the
appointment of
Lars Beyer as sales
manager for
Europe and Asia. He has nearly 20
years’ experience in the audio and
broadcast industries having previously
held senior sales and project man-
agement positions at NTP Elektronik
and AEQ.
Frank Rocco has joined Wohler
Technologies as director of market-
ing. His initial projects include mar-
keting initiatives to promote wider
recognition of Wohler Technologies.
He previously managed a full-service
marketing agency in New York, which
had many clients in the broadcasting
and production industry. He replaces
Cian de Buitléir who is leaving Wohler
to concentrate on his new Web
Hosting business HOSTING.io.
DPA Microphones has promoted one
of its German dealers, Mega Audio, to
the status of sole importer and exclu-
sive distributor for the country.
©2004 S2 Publications Ltd. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means without the prior written
consent of the Publishers. Great care is
taken to ensure accuracy in the
preparation of this publication, but neither
4 resolution
10:18 PM Page 4
news
Jose and Steve win
Leader Jose Rosillo (pictured) from
Madrid is already enjoying
As an industry we have come a long way. I recently had the TL Audio 5060 com-
the pleasure of listening to what I regard as a couple of pressor he won in the
stonking old albums in an absolutely superb control room Resolution magazine com-
on absolutely superb monitors. The experience was petition a few issues ago.
enlightening. While the immediacy of the albums was not We can also announce
lost, nor their appeal, I have to concede that they were the winner of our Audix SCX25 competition.
lacking in a number of areas. The performance caught the The lucky recipient is Steve Nelson
band in question at their naive freshest and it was well recorded and mixed to the from Ellington, UK. Our thanks go to Audix
good standards of the late 1960s (I won’t embarrass myself by naming them) and distributor Sterling Audio for making
but it lacked the low end, the spacial info, top end and clarity that the room this happen.
could clearly reproduce. Still sounded good mind, just not stonking. It was as if You have a chance to win a fabulous set of
I was listening through a ‘window’. SE Electronics mics in this issue on page 57.
I recently also had the opportunity to compare a variety of popular compression
algorithms directly against originals and quite frankly the results were frightening.
I would encourage anyone with the remotest interest in high-quality audio to
Management buy
engineer the opportunity to do the same and to witness precisely what the out of Netia
compact, convenient and compressed generation is making do with. The amount The management team and employees
of information that they are missing out on beggars belief. have bought out Netia from its existing
One thing about the great old days that you cannot dispute is that progress shareholder EVS Broadcast Equipment. The
was driven by a concern to make things sound better. Sure there were ‘business’ move has the support of investors I-Source
forces at work, but engineers in all disciplines were aware of, and were frustrated Gestion (France) and Mangrove Capital
by, the limitations that they had to work with. They used their skill and craft to Partners (Luxembourg).
squeeze the absolute best out of what they had. We arrive at the present day with ‘The years 1990 to 2000 were marked in the
a selection of high quality, wider and faster formats driven by very powerful audiovisual sector by the passage from
equipment, which is generally used well within its absolute capabilities, only to analogue to digital. We are now experiencing
deliver product that is then distributed over the air waves or the web in a form a new revolution in this sector by the
that is only a pale shadow of what hit the 1/2-inch, CD-R, or the output bus. overwhelming arrival of IT (IP technologies).
The biggest danger we face as a production industry is that we will become Our wish is to make Netia a major international
irrelevant and that our best efforts at output will no longer be appropriate. I player in this field,’ said Christophe Carniel
can’t help thinking that if the energy and boundless technical experience that and Pierre Keiflin the founders and Directors
has gone into trying to establish new high-end formats and broadcasting methods of Netia. In parallel to the MBO, a European
had been applied to improving the quality of popular current delivery methods project with several partners including RTL in
perhaps we could all be concentrating on getting the best out of what we have. Belgium is in the process of being registered.
Zenon Schoepe ANVAR (National council for the promotion
of research in industry) has already confirmed
that it will finance the project.
DK-Technologies relaunches brand • French software company Manreo has
joined the Netia group. The new entity will
Karsten Hansen, founder and CEO of Danish be able to offer simple, innovative and
audio and video manufacturer DK- competitive solutions to major players in
Technologies, has unveiled the company’s the IP Media market.
new name and logo, a re-branding exercise
that marks its transition from DK-Audio to
DK-Technologies (abbreviated to DK for
general use).
‘We have changed our name and image to
reflect the direction in which DK is moving
and to remove any uncertainty over our
product range,’ Hansen explained. ‘Having
both DK-Audio and PTV branding was
confusing for our customers. Our aim is to (L-R) Lundgaard’s Dave Hyatt, Sayer,
consolidate all our products — whether they Heyworth and Lundgaard’s Ebbe Ravn.
are destined for audio or video application industry towards products that can handle Following Resolution’s report on Danish
— under a simple DK tag. This will allow us both audio and video,’ Hansen added. ‘We Lundgaard studios, Leo Sayer has since
to concentrate on providing conceptual have the technology to create these taken his DVD project to Simon Heyworth’s
solutions, not just product, which we believe products and we aim to position ourselves Super Audio Mastering facility in Devon,
is what the industry wants. as a modern, progressive company that can UK for some stereo mastering to ATR Aria-
‘There is a general move within the adapt to the demands of it customers.’ Ampeg 1/2-inch.
S2 Publications Ltd or the editor can be S2 Publications Ltd. Printed by The Grange Press, Butts Rd,
held responsible for its contents. The Registered in England and Wales. Southwick, West Sussex, BN42 4EJ.
views expressed are those of the Company number: 4375084.
contributors and not necessarily those of
the Publishers. Registered office:
Equity House, 128-136 High Street,
Edgware, Middlesex HA8 7TT.
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:18 PM Page 5

news

A&H hits 35 APPOINTMENTS

(l-r) Debbie Maxted, Bob Goleniowski, Andrew
Sterling, Ivor Taylor and Glenn Rogers.
Allen & Heath hosted a party during the
PLASA exhibition on London’s Tower Bridge
to celebrate its 35th anniversary. ‘For anyone
in the manufacturing industry to survive 35
years and to still be continually expanding
is a phenomenal success,’ said Allen &
Heath MD Glenn Rogers. ‘Allen & Heath
has an extraordinarily innovative past and we
are heading towards a bright and exciting
future. Here’s to the next 35 years!’
Guests from the company’s network of
distributors attended a dinner with special
guest speakers from the original management
team — Andrew Sterling and Ivor Taylor —
who joined the company in 1969.
Daking console
takes Manhattan
Meta installs first Dutch Icon Industry veteran
Joe Desmond has
formed Joe
Desmond and
Associates (JDA)
to specialise in
the distribution,
as well as Northern CA representa-
tion, of professional audio, home the-
atre, sound contracting and AV
integration products. He is already
handling US distribution for Apex,
Equi=Tech Corporation, Kling and
Freitag Sound Systems, Powercom
USA and Pragmatic Communications
Systems. Joe previously held the posi-
tion of VP of sales and marketing with
Furman Sound.
Ross McFarlane has joined the sales
team of Audient Group as product
specialist for Audient and LA Audio.
He recently graduated from LIPA in
the UK, just two years after UK sales
manager Nick Pemberton.
Meta Sound studios in Amsterdam has installed a 32 fader DigiDesign Icon. The Anne Liversidge
largest film mix theatre in Holland is the only one with high-speed film projection, has rejoined the
JBL 3-way monitoring and Dolby DMU mastering. Meta is now an all-Pro Tools Audient marketing
facility as it employs the system at all stages of production. team to handle
• London’s first Icon D-Control console has been installed at Scrub, HHB’s press and distrib-
specialist postproduction division based in Soho. The console will be used for utor communica-
private demonstrations and training at Scrub’s Berwick Street demo suite with tions on a part
sessions conducted by the UK’s only Icon certified specialist — Scrub product time basis for Audient and LA Audio.
specialist Niels Stevens.

Rupert Neve trades as Rupert Neve Designs

Engineer and musician Jack McKeever has
installed a Daking 1112 Custom Console at
his project facility in Manhattan. The desk is
configured with 32 inputs, 8 buses, and
Daking’s multitrack monitor mixer, which
returns 24 tracks into the desk.
‘I think what drew me to this console was
that in this group there was so little to
choose from,’ said McKeever. ‘The nice
thing was that the audio dealer told me
about Geoff Daking. I had no idea who he
was. I called Geoff and out of the blue he
sent me a couple of mic pres and said, “Try
them for a while and see what you think”.’
Daking’s 1112 combines classic audio
designs with modern manufacturing
methods to recreate the sound quality and
performance of vintage consoles without
the maintenance headaches.
Rupert Neve has announced the expansion of
his company ARN Consultants LLC — the cor-
porate operating company — and is now trad-
ing as Rupert Neve Designs. Drake Williams
has joined the technical design team of Kevin
Burgin and Michael Glass and Sandra Kuhns
has joined the management team. This follows
the ending of a 15-year relationship between
Rupert Neve and Amek, which saw the launch
of a number of Super Analogue consoles and
several ranges of outboard gear in collaboration
with Amek co-founder Graham Langley.
R&D designs, now in production by Taylor
Guitars, have encouraged Rupert to go into
new areas. After three years of R&D in close
collaboration with Billy Stull of Masterpiece
Mastering, a product focused on mastering,
The Masterpiece, will be unveiled at AES
San Francisco.
The company has acquired new premises in
Flite Acres, Wimberley, Texas and plans to
(L-R) Kevin Burgin, Drake Williams, Michael
Glass and Rupert Neve.
expand the facility shortly to handle predicted
increasing demand. Rupert Neve Designs will
also be announcing three new ranges of
outboard equipment manufactured in
Wimberley.
Valter, Oestergaard and Munch.
TC Electronic in Denmark has added
two new staff and promoted anoth-
er. Michael Munch and Thomas Valter
are new product managers and
Valter’s former position as interna-
tional PR manager has been suc-
ceeded by Troels Oestergaard.
Thomas will concentrate on the
PowerCore platform while Michael
will concentrate on PA and installa-
tion products.
Beyerdynamic has been appointed
distributor in the UK & Eire for
German company ProdyTel, a
developer of ISDN audio streaming
solutions.

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October 2004 resolution 5

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:19 PM Page 6

news

APPOINTMENTS BBC R&M adopts

Dynaudio standard
Tascam has Dynaudio Acoustics AIR Series and BM
appointed Marsh Series have been selected as the preferred
Gooch to the monitor choice for BBC Radio & Music
position of nation- though TC Electronic and HHB.
al marketing man- The speakers had to pass technical
ager in the US. He evaluations, extensive blind listening tests,
has been involved and factory inspections. During 2005, much
in marketing at Mackie Designs, Spirit of BBC Radio & Music will move to a new
by Soundcraft, Line 6, SWR Sound facility as part of the redevelopment of
Corporation and, most recently, The Broadcasting House. New studios and
ESP Guitar Company. production areas are being built that will
Tascam is distributing Nomad Factory include multichannel working.
plug-ins in the US and has also taken
on the distribution of Kamesan loca- Brauner for PRS
tion mixers in the US.
FAR has finished the design and installation of the acoustics in Alfacam’s OB 17 sound van.
The acoustic specifications were designed by Jean-Philippe Ovaert who wanted to achieve
recording studio quality in the small space of the OB van as well as incorporating 5.1
capability. FAR achieved this by reducing the first reflections from the speakers down to
150Hz, diffusing all rear reflections above 150Hz and absorbing frequencies below and
reducing furniture effects. FAR MD Pierre Thomas said that the project was a success and that
the company has now added the acoustic design of OB vans to its list of skills.

A-T at the Olympics

Pure Distribution, a division of Stirling
Audio, has been appointed UK dis-
tributor for Ashly’s range of power
amplifiers, equalisers and crossovers.
DTS has hired
Rodney Orpheus as
business develop-
ment manager,
DTS Entertainment,
Europe, which is an
entertainment label
that licenses, pro-
duces and markets
DVD-Audio and 5.1 music discs featur-
ing DTS sound. He is responsible for sign-
ing new artists, releasing surround music
titles, and managing promotion and sales
of the catalogue. Most recently, he served
as technology evangelist for Steinberg
Digital Audio in Germany and prior to
that he was manager of the Original
Artists record label.
DTS has appointed consumer elec-
tronics industry veteran Ronald Stone to
its board of directors. A top executive
at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. for 28
years, his appointment as an indepen-
dent director brings the company’s
board of directors to eight members.
Pharos Communications has appointed
Tony Bellamy as
international sales
manager. He joins
from Quantel
where he was glob-
al product manager
– graphics.
Audio-Technica microphones were once
again used by the host broadcast organi-
sation at a major international sporting event
— the Olympic Games in Athens.
Following similar support at the Atlanta
and Sydney Olympics and the Manchester
Commonwealth Games, Athens Olympic
Broadcasting (AOB) used Audio-Technica
microphones and wireless microphones
throughout the 41 venues over the entire
duration of the event, including the opening
and closing ceremonies.
More than 5000 A-T mics and wireless mics
in 25 different models were used to provide
the audio soundtrack. ‘Microphone selection
and placement is a key to the quality of the
broadcast,’ said Dennis Baxter, sound designer
for AOB. ‘You need to hear the athletes
running, the bat cracking the ball. You should
be able to close your eyes and know what
sport is on TV, whether it is gymnastics, track
and field, badminton, whatever.
‘Coming from a studio background I
believe in using a lot of mics, aggressively
when necessary. The quality of their
Guitar builder Paul Reed Smith of PRS fame
has bought a Brauner VM1 mic for his
Riverhouse recording studio. ‘It’s the best
all-round mic I’ve ever heard — period,’ he
said. ‘You can use it on anything and it will
sound musical. Our constant question about
a track is how musical does it sound? The
Brauner sounds musical on just about any-
thing that you put it on, and it needs very lit-
tle EQ. It’s exceptionally versatile with
extraordinary performance on acoustic gui-
tars, drum overheads, hi-hats, electric gui-
tars and vocals. It’s just a ridiculously good
microphone.’ Smith has also bought a
Soundelux 195.
diaphragm technology has been critical in
designing very successful shotgun models,
which has helped me tremendously in my
job,’ he said.
• RTS/Telex
Zeus matrices
were used for the
communications
systems of
broadcasters from Finnish National Broadcaster YLE co-oper-
Denmark (DRDK), ated with Lawo for its Olympic Games cov-
Korea (NBC), erage in hiring diamond consoles for the
Japan (TV Asahi event to use in a production capacity. All
and Japan events of the Olympic Games that took
Consortium) and place in the Olympic Stadium — the open-
the USA (NBC). ing and closing ceremony as well as the
The Athens Olympic Broadcasting was using athletics contests — were produced by pro-
two 256 x 256 ADAM matrices — one to liaise duction company Alfacam. Five OB vans
with the various competition venues, the other with Lawo technology were used for the
providing communication in CD quality with large Olympic Stadium with four vehicles
the International Broadcasting Centre, which producing a programme for the individual
was relaying the images to networks all over the sports and one central OB van generating
world. NBC also used ADAM-based systems the Olympic Stadium programme via a
comprising three 136-port matrices and a five- Lawo mc282. The distribution between the
frame matrix with 600 x 600 connections. units was performed via Lawo Nova73 HD
routing systems.

6 resolution October 2004

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:19 PM Page 7
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04
APPOINTMENTS
APT has prom-
oted Kevin
Campbell to
hardware sales
engineer with
particular respon-
sibility for the
postproduction and broadcast sec-
tors in Southern and Eastern Europe
and the Broadcast Sector in the US.
He joined APT in 2003 as customer
support engineer.
APT has appointed Broadcast
Services Australia Limited as its new
distributor in Australia.
The FX Group
has restructured
its technical
department fol-
lowing the
Pope and Rogerson. departure of
technical director Frank Oglethorpe,
who has relocated to the US. Adam
Pope, who has worked in a techni-
cal capacity for FX, has been pro-
moted to technical manager. He
previously worked as an audio engi-
neer in Prague and in Soundcraft’s
R&D department. Graeme Rogerson,
previously a freelancer at FX’s repairs
and service arm Cimple Solutions,
has been recruited to assist Pope in
maintenance of FX’s own equipment.
Nick Burkingyoung has been pro-
moted to manager of the Pro Tools
department.
US based Jimmy
Kawalek has
been hired as
worldwide busi-
ness develop-
ment manager
for the licensing
program of Digigram’s patented
EtherSound technology. He joins
from Peak Audio where he was in
charge of business development for
Peak’s CobraNet technology and has
also worked for Group One, dbx,
Allen & Heath, Crest Audio, QSC
Audio, EAW, and Renkus-Heinz.
Steve Jordan and Christian Kraska,
director SDS Music Factory Pro Audio
Division. Also pictured SDS Music
Factory Ltd’s Stefano Pagani.
Mission Professional has appointed
SDS Music Factory Ltd in Switzerland
to distribute its Pro Audio products.
8 resolution
10:19 PM Page 8
news
AC/DC in 5.1 Aria
Mackie celebrates 15 years When asked to
mix the 5.1 sur-
Loud held a ‘Loud A Palooza’ gathering round sound-
at its Woodinville HQ over a weekend in track for DVD
September to celebrate Mackie’s 15th release of
anniversary and to gather international AC/DC’s 1991
distributors for hands-on training on concert film, Live
new products and to give a taster of at Donington,
where the Loud companies are heading. engineer Mike
Aside from the launch of new Fraser expressed
products, the event saw the return to his preference
the fold of Greg Mackie. Taking a break for mixing to analogue and used a Studer
from the day-to-day operations of the A827 transport equipped with Aria
business, Greg Mackie stepped down as Mackie’s CEO Reference Series Electronics and a custom
in 2000. Since then he has been focused on product 2-inch 8-track headblock from ATR Services.
development although the company says that he has ‘I was totally blown away,’ said Fraser of
never stopped being a guiding hand for the product the first mix playbacks. ‘It had very nice
development team at Mackie. It was announced that definition, with crisp, clear highs, while the
Greg will once again take an active role in the product bottom end didn’t get murky as it
development group at Loud Technologies and we were told to expect news on sometimes does.’
a new line of products, unlike anything ever before offered by the Mackie brand, The project was mixed at New York’s Quad
in the coming months. Studios and mastered by Darcy Proper at
A lot has changed since Mackie arrived on the scene with its individual take on Sony Studios, also in New York. The same
high quality and affordable analogue mixers, and the brand’s progress has mapped Aria electronics and headblock used for the
the industry’s shift over 15 years. The flip to digital, the purchase and launch of mix at Quad were also used for mastering.
other brands, some business difficulties followed by outside investment, major
restructuring, and a shift to manufacturing of the mass market lines to the Far East
has resulted in a group of brands operating under the Loud umbrella that is now Four Constellations
in increasingly good shape. There is a strong sense of optimism at Woodinville that Four Fairlight Constellation consoles have
it is building on the brand’s core strengths and market position while also setting been installed in facilities in France and
standards with trailblazing products like the digitalXbus. The sense of fun that has Belgium. One Constellation has just been
always been synonymous with the Mackie brand has also been retained. As senior installed and another is on its way to France
VP marketing Ken Berger said: ‘We’re back to what Mackie has always done 3 TV in Orleans while Francais Des Images,
best, which is creating new markets and changing expectations through technical which produces TV shows and long form
innovation. It’s not just about price, it’s about innovation.’ ZS programming, has upgraded from an MFX
to a Constellation. In Belgium, Option
Studios, which works in advertising and DVD
mastering, has also gone from MFX Plus to
Forty years of firsts from Calrec Constellation and will be adding Pyxis.
UK console Calrec was
manufacturer acquired by
Calrec Audio is AMS Industries
celebrating its in 1986 and its
40th anniver- d i g i t a l
sary. Formed in development
an attic in programme was
Hebden Bridge merged with
in 1956 by Ken AMS, eventually
Farrar, Clem launched as the
Beaumont, Ken (l-r) Engineering director George Waddington, finan- AMS Logic 1.
Ellis, Howard cial director Graham Warren, Steve Jagger, sales Three years
Smith and Percy director John Gluck, technical director Patrick later, following a
Hopwood to Warrington. management
develop hi-fi amps, by the 1960s they had buy out by several original Calrec staff
progressed to cardioid mic design as the members, Calrec moved back to Hebden London facility Strongroom Studios has
Calder Valley Sound Recording Group (later Bridge. Ken Farrar became chairman with adopted Pyramix in conjunction with DCS
shortened to Calrec). It became a limited Stephen Jagger as MD, George convertors as a DSD mastering device —
company in 1964 building mics for Fi-Cord Waddington as technical director and the final masters are printed to the system
and servicing them for Beyer, before Graham Warren as finance director. Ken (at the mastering stage), and then any final
launching a range of Calrec mics sold remained chief design engineer until his level adjustments and fades are performed.
alongside Beyer. death in 2002. QC points are then established to produce
By 1970 Calrec was making broadcast- Concentrating exclusively on broadcast, an Edit Master that is sent for authoring
specific mixing consoles for the BBC and Calrec focused on analogue design and manufacture. ‘We use Pyramix pre-
ITV with the first-ever stereo broadcast until the launch of the Alpha 100 in 1999 dominantly for Super Audio CD produc-
console in 1977. It launched the Soundfield and the company has 100 digital tion,’ explained Strongroom postproduction
mic in 1978 and was developing digitally TVconsoles on air across the world. The manager Rob Kelly. ‘As one of Europe’s
assignable consoles by the turn of the Alpha was followed by the medium leading centres for 5.1 mixing, we have
decade — the VCS — and had started work format Sigma 100 in 2002 and the Zeta produced several Super Audio titles using
on an all-digital product. 100 a year later. Pyramix for artists such as Ronan Keating,
Groove Armada, Snow Patrol and Kinobe.’
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:19 PM Page 9

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Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:19 PM Page 10

news

THE BIG PICTURE Lake EQ crosses over

• Compression technology specialists
Coding Technologies has shown the
world’s first USB receiver for Digital
Radio Mondiale (DRM) digital broad-
casting in the long, medium/AM, and
short-wave bands. The little box,
which is called the Digital World
Traveller, is connected to the USB port
of a PC and comes with Digital World
Traveller Radio Software, which can
receive DRM, FM and AM radio pro-
grammes. It is the third DRM receiver
from Coding and will be sold at a
‘competitive’ price.
‘We are convinced that this ambi-
tious project will contribute to the suc-
cess of Digital Radio Mondiale by
giving an easier access to the tech-
nology for a broader community,’ said
Stefan Meltzer, VP business develop-
ment at Coding.
The DVD Forum has selected
Coding’s High-Efficiency AAC (HE
AAC) codec as the mandatory format
for the new Compressed Audio Zone
in DVD Audio. Known in the market as
MPEG-4 aacPlus and fully standard-
ized by MPEG, HE AAC enables the
inclusion of high-quality pre-com-
pressed audio on DVD Audio discs.
These tracks can be easily transferred
directly to portable music players and
jukeboxes in a protected format with-
out the complexity of ‘ripping’ the
disc. It supports stereo and 5.1 at
sampling rates up to 96kHz.
Via Licensing has announced that
patent licenses for Coding Technologies’
HE AAC are now available through the
MPEG-4 Audio patent pool.
America Online has licensed the
aacPlus v2 audio codec for use with its
media delivery platform and the NSV
file format.
• At the Digital Radio Mondiale con-
sortium’s first board meetings in
Russia, Voice of Russia announced the
implementation and planned expan-
sion of its DRM broadcasts on short-
wave and medium-wave. ‘Now is the
right time to introduce digital broad-
casting standards in Russia,’ said Voice
of Russia head Armen Oganisyan. ‘We
have modified our existing transmitter
network so that it has DRM capabili-
ty, and we plan to expand the current
broadcast schedule to serve even
more listeners in the coming months.’
DPA jazz in Oporto recording
DPA Microphones’ Portuguese distributor
AudioPro played a major role in the
recording of an album for jazz pianist
Rodrigo Goncalves. The Lisbon-based
company provided funding, technical
knowledge and equipment, including a
range of DPA microphones, for the
sessions.
Tribology, released on CD by
Portuguese jazz label Capella Blue Series,
was recorded at MB Studios in Oporto
with the project co-produced by the artist
and AudioPro co-owner and sound
engineer Paulo Ferreira, who supervised all
technical aspects.
DPA microphones were used for the
entire recording. A pair of 4003s as
overhead drum mics were complemented
by a 4007 for the bass drum and a pair of
4012s to emphasise the toms. The double
bass was handled by a 4061 miniature mic
under the bridge using DPA’s microphone
holder for strings, and a similar setup was used for the guitarist. The piano was
miked with a pair of 4041s and 4006s were used for the saxophones.
‘These leading jazz musicians play music which can, at times, be very delicate
or really energetic, and the fact they never do more than two or three takes
means there’s little margin for error,’ said Ferreira. ‘With DPA you can’t go wrong.
As we own the original recordings, they make first class material to demonstrate
the excellence of the microphones.’
CBC chooses Innovason for broadcast programming
CBC’s new Radio and TV building in Quebec
has installed three Innovason consoles for its
TV and radio programming.
Two Sy40s are at the heart of two new On
Air radio studios; each Sy40 is equipped
with a remote stage box, 48 inputs and 32
outputs. An Sy80, equipped with 80 inputs
and 80 mixed analogue and digital outputs,
has been installed in the audio control room
of a new On Air TV studio. All three studios
are in use around the clock, broadcasting
public affairs, cultural and musical
programming, as well as newscasting across
the national French network.
‘We looked at many different brands of
digital,’ said Jacques André Thibeault, senior
sound engineer at CBC Radio (pictured). ‘On
the wish list was to have as many faders as
possible on the work surface; as many output
buses as possible; rapid reboot; as short a
propagation delay as possible; sample rate
convertors for AES-EBU inputs; flexibility in
selecting the hardware configuration (digital or
analogue inputs and outputs); physical size;
ease of transition from an analogue mixer
when training operators; redundancy of power
supplies; ease of maintenance; modular
construction; flexibility to do a radio show with
live musicians’ monitor mixes; no multilayer
operation; and last but not least, price. Our
trust in Sennheiser Canada as Innovason’s local
representative also greatly influenced our final
decision to invest in the brand.’
‘This is a trend we are seeing more and more,
and Innovason desks with their proven reliability
for live mixing are a natural choice for live to air
broadcast applications,’ said Innovason sales
and marketing director Nick Cook.
into mastering
Following the imple-
mentation of the Lake
Contour digital speak-
er processor in tour-
ing and installed
sound, the arrival of
Lake Mesa Quad EQ
has seen the compa-
ny’s asymmetrical
Mesa Filter and EQ fil-
ter being adopted in studio mastering.
Mastering engineer Bill Wolf from Wolf
Productions in Alexandria, VA is one of the
first to take it on having been introduced
to Lake Mesa EQ Parametric Overlays and
Ideal Graphic EQ by sound engineer Greg
Lukens who had used it in live work.
‘I noticed that the equaliser did things
sonically that I had only previously heard in
the mastering studio,’ said Lukens. ‘But the
style and quality of the equaliser and its
interface far surpasses anything currently
available for the mastering studio.’
‘The thing that gets you right away is the
sound,’ added Wolf. ‘The unit has a very
solid sound and yet is capable of really
opening the treble.’
‘Having the full bandwidth at high
resolution up to 40kHz gives a new meaning
to putting a little air on the mix,’ he said.
‘It’s just a sweet sound that really does hold
up when you down-sample to 44.1.’
The asymmetrical filtering of the Lake EQ
provides the ability to separate the sides of
a parametric section, change centre
frequencies, and adjust slopes
independently. With EQ Overlay processing
a virtually unlimited number of EQ filters
may be implemented.
College Sports Television, the fastest-grow-
ing independent US cable network, is now
using a Soundcraft Series Five as the main
on-air audio production console at its new
headquarters and broadcast centre on
Manhattan’s West Side. The 32-channel
desk has a customised configuration of 24
mono and eight stereo inputs and is mixing
all of CSTV’s original programming. CSTV,
the first 24-hour college sports network,
is available to more than 20 million homes
nationally on cable and satellite.

10 resolution October 2004

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:19 PM Page 11

THE PERFECT MATCH

The DPA 3521 stereo kit. Two DPA 4021 compact cardioid microphones
matched within 2 dB on frequency response, sensitivity and self noise.
Supplied in a robust carrying case with an XY/ORTF holder, two goose-
neck mounts and two magnet bases, the DPA 3521 is designed for low
profile mounting inside pianos. It's also the perfect stereo pair for drums,
horn and string sections and choirs, and a spot pair for acoustic ensembles.

The DPA 3521 stereo kit - the perfect partner for your instruments.

For more information call +45 4814 2828 or visit www.dpamicrophones.com

DPA Microphones A/S info@dpamicrophones.com JUST ADD TALENT
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04
THE BIG PICTURE
• The UK’s Capital Radio and GWR
have merged to create the UK’s
largest commercial radio group, with
one national (Classic FM) radio sta-
tion, 55 local analogue radio sta-
tions and 93 digital radio stations.
Capital shareholders will hold 52%
and GWR 48%. It will have a com-
bined reach of around 18 million lis-
teners (36% of the UK commercial
radio audience) and an annual
turnover of UK£243 million and pre-
tax profits of UK£40 million.
According to researchers and the
Digital Radio Development Bureau,
digital radio will reach a million UK
households by the end of the year.
• Thomson has signed a manufac-
turing agreement with BSkyB to pro-
duce its newest version of the Sky+
digital satellite receiver and integrat-
ed digital video recorder (DVR). Sky+
160 is the first box in the Sky+ family
to offer increased storage capacity
with a 160Gb drive for some 80 hours
of recording. It also has USB 2.0 for
future applications.
• More than one in five UK house-
holds has a broadband connection,
according to a study, making the UK
one of the fastest growing markets
for high-speed Internet access. The
market broke 5 million subscribers last
month and is expected to grow 64%
over the next 15 months, according
to research firm Baskerville.
The UK and French broadband
markets are the fastest growing in
Western Europe and are expected
to surpass Germany as Europe’s
biggest broadband market in the
next year.
12
10:20 PM Page 12
news
Nordic Rentals doubles
Biz bites If you could invest for a 6.3% average growth rate, would you
put money into our recording business? asks Nigel Jopson.
PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts the global entertainment and media industry
up on KT splits
Nordic Rentals A/S, one of Denmark’s lead-
will grow to US$1.7 trillion in 2008, up from US$1.2 trillion in 2003. In the US, ing rental and production companies, has
digital music sales increased from $13 million in 2002 to $71 million in 2003, and are taken delivery of a further five Klark Teknik
projected to swell to a massive $2.2 billion in 2008. That’s a compound rate of DN1248 Plus active signal splitters and now
more than 700%! If these figures are near the mark, there must be commensurate has a total of ten units.
erosion of physical sales in mature markets, although CD sales are predicted to ‘We used to buy our splitters from another
rise in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Microsoft intends to muscle in on this manufacturer, but the problem was that they
digital media bonanza, and has launched MSN Music, its much anticipated online music just didn’t have the capacity to accept high
store. Far more significant was Windows Media Player 10, the Janus digital-rights input levels without distorting or clipping,’
management software (to be built into portable music players) and the forthcoming explained Nordic’s chief engineer and head
Portable Media Centre device (a multimedia Pocket PC). ‘This idea of consuming and of sound, Jens Elsborg (pictured). ‘For
using music on your desktop is becoming a significant part of what people do on example, signal from, say, a high-hat or a
their computers, and Microsoft doesn’t want to be left out,’ said Josh Bernoff, condenser mic, just used to send them off
principal analyst with Forrester Research. However: ‘... it is far more important the scale. We would then have to reduce
that Windows media becomes standard than their music store becomes the leader, the gain by as much as 10dB so that the
because controlling the future of digital media ... is probably one of the top forward- split could handle the signal safely, but of
looking objectives of the Microsoft Corporation.’ course, in a festival situation when the next
September 1st saw the launch of the monitor guy comes and plugs his gear in...
UK official download chart, trailered in it’s very frustrating.
Resolution V2.6. Contrary to hopeful
predictions from enlightened pundits
that it would give alternative music a
chance, the top spots were occupied by
teen bands Westlife and Blazin’ Squad.
Most of the downloads came from the
bands own websites — reinforcing the
crucial role artist sites will play. The UK’s
top spandex-rockers The Darkness
started selling digital songs at 99p from
their website. In an echo of veteran
prog-rockers Marillion (Resolution V2.4),
The Darkness will initially be marketing
to it’s mailing list of 100,000 fans.
Having read the Resolution business
column last month, Darkness manager
Sue Whitehouse said, ‘Downloading and
mobile phones are the future. There’s
no getting away from it and we have to embrace it.’ Reinforcing the Biz bites
scorn for CD copy protection, she went on to reveal: ‘When we first released
the album we had it copy-protected, which I didn’t want. I really argued that you ‘However, with the KT device, you can just
hear terrible things about CDs not working and messing up computers, but the plug it in and walk away. It has sufficient
record company talked me into it, saying there was new technology that had headroom to handle pretty much anything
proved to be problem-free. And, of course, the album came out and we were we throw at it up to +21dBu without
flooded with complaints about it not working!’ clipping or distorting, and of course it
sounds great,’ he said.
resolution October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:20 PM Page 13
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:20 PM
Alchemy
Take established mastering and postproduction operations, double the capacity and move
the lot to the 29th floor of one of London’s landmark buildings and you have a recipe for an
interesting setup.
T
HE FACILITY IN question is Alchemy and
the building is Centre Point, which when it was
built in the 1960s towered out of place of New
Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road but now appears
pleasingly retro and right on the London skyline.
The move to these new premises was necessitated by
the growth of Alchemy’s business and coincided with
some major shifts in the London mastering and post
scenes and created a timely home for some heavyweight
engineers. Ray Staff, John Davis, and Chris Potter (all ex-
Sony Whitfield Street) joined Alchemy mastering
engineers Martin Giles (ex-CTS) and Alchemy co-
founder Barry Grint; Tim Lofts (ex-Saunders & Gordon)
headed up the postproduction wing with Alchemy co-
founder Rowan Laxton. The new site has two mastering
rooms with lathes, two post rooms, CD duplication, a
digital transfer room, an e-copy room, a machine room,
plus a kitchen and a reception area not far off the size of
many small Soho post facilities.
14
Page 14
ZENON SCHOEPE
I feel I need to get the issue of Alchemy’s panoramic
view of London out of the way now so I don’t keep
referring to it later. It is truly incredible. Perched at the
North West corner of the Soho boundary you get
uninterrupted views across the city in all directions —
Alchemy has the whole of the 29th floor — and
control rooms have vistas that rival those of any
studio in the world. Certainly beats a Soho basement.
Master mastering engineer Ray Staff had taught
Barry Grint to cut records at Trident and when Trident
was bought by Tape One and became Audio One,
Rowan Laxton was recruited for his background in
commercials and music mixing. Barry and Rowan
started Alchemy eight years ago on £15,000 in a little
building in Goodge Place. During the day Rowan was
doing his voice work with Barry as teaboy and in the
evenings Barry mastered CDs with Rowan as teaboy.
One control room, one voice booth, one reception,
450sqft and two client bases.
resolution
They borrowed £30,000 for a cutting lathe to build
on Barry’s mastering work and got the use of the
Hidley mastering room at the old Tape One building,
which was not being used by its new owners but was
still fully functional. They were a successful ‘two-
centre’ operation but ‘a logistical nightmare’, according
to Rowan, and were soon on the look out for premises
that would allow them to combine it under one roof.
‘We started looking around Soho about four years
ago, we wanted something with a Wow factor and if
we did find a nice building it wasn’t suitable enough to
put mastering and recording studios in next to each
other, and there were generally pillars all over the
place,’ says Rowan. ‘Barry had this bright idea about
Centre Point but I thought it would be way out of our
league. We looked at it and at the time they were
trying to encourage media associated companies into
the building. We were looking at the 16th floor — it
gets more expensive the higher you go. We managed
to do a good deal on the rent but then realised that we
wouldn’t be able to run the air conditioning from the
top or the bottom so we went back to the landlords
and cut the same deal with them for the 29th floor,
which we knew was available.’
After all the glitz and glory of its opening as a new
London landmark that typified the era that saw it built,
Centre Point went from flash and brash to trash as the
building stood empty for a good many years and its
environs became popular with down and outs and
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:20 PM
winos. Today it is imposingly plush with masses spent
on smartening up the building and its surroundings.
‘There were always plans to have two mastering
and two recording areas,’ explains Rowan. ‘What
changed was that we became aware that Sony
(Whitfield Street) studios was closing [Now fully
operational again as Whitfield Street under the
auspices of Robin Millar, Resolution V3.4]. We had
already been speaking to Ray (Staff) who looked like
he would come and join us, and when Sony pulled the
plug we approached the mastering engineers and John
Davis and Chris Potter said they would come over too.
We also took on Emily for bookings.
‘We were still looking for an engineer to run the
recording side, I’d done it in the past but knew I
needed time to run the business,’ he continues. ‘We
approached Tim (Lofts) who was at Saunders &
Gordon [now closed] who said he was interested.
‘We thought that we would only be able get a
No. 2 engineer but Tim joining changed things because
we’d actually managed to get a No.1 engineer and that
upped things because he has serious clients — it all
had to look nice, we were now going for the top
clients, not a lower price bracket.’
Just as developers’ plans to build a piazza type area
outside Centre Point were scuppered by the revelation
that the awful fountain outside the building (once a
premium-dare place for drunk males to empty their
bladders ‘of a night out’) was Grade 2 listed, so were
Alchemy’s need-for-speed building plans.
‘Not only is the fountain Grade 2 listed, so is the
external view of Centre Point,’ explains Barry. ‘That
means you have to get listed building consent if you
want to put up any partitions that are near the
windows.’ They couldn’t take so much as a bag of
nails into the empty shell of the 29th floor without the
building consent and predictably it was very slow in
coming. As it happened it’s all worked out rather well;
later than intended but the mastering rooms opened at
the beginning of March with postproduction kicking in
a month later.
Acoustic design was by Sean Davis. ‘The biggest
challenge was that they need to have roaring dance
music here in a mastering room and voice overs across
the corridor in post,’ he says. ‘That’s been solved and
the isolation is excellent. The other challenge was to
avoid a “padded crash helmet” feeling in a room with
a low ceiling structure. The rooms are floating but we
were very constrained by the ceiling height.’ The
rooms sound light and comfortable and not in the
slightest bit oppressive (maybe the view has
something to do with that too).
The view is one thing but there is a downside if you
need to build up there. The lift could take three sheets
of plasterboard at a time and the build required 800
boards. The wooden joists were far too long for the lifts
so these were hauled up the stairwell with rope.
A kit list had been combined for all four rooms from
input of all the engineers and Total Audio Solutions got
involved and became the principle supplier for the
project. The mastering rooms run Sadie while the
postproduction rooms run Merging Pyramix. No Pro
Tools? ‘It’s a great system and I won’t knock it but it
originated as a music package and is a perfect tool for
musicians,’ states Rowan. ‘Unfortunately it doesn’t do
mastering and that’s the reason Alchemy adopted
Sadie in the first place, it was a mastering tool and an
audio postproduction tool. We’ve moved to Pyramix in
the post here because it also is a mastering tool and
post tool. They are the two systems that do both those
things equally well.’
October 2004
Page 15
facility
Both post rooms run Soundtracs DS-00 consoles and ‘Vinyl led that to a certain extent,’ adds Barry.
permit projects to move with demand. ‘That’s the whole ‘People thought they could do the mastering at home
point of having Soundtracs desks, we can interchange and then they decided to do it on vinyl so it had to
the data and as they’re both running Pyramix that also come in somewhere where a guy has some
helps,’ says Tim Lofts. ‘With commercials people it’s all experience. They then realise that the vinyl sounds
very last minute and very fast turnaround and we can better than what they’ve done. They come back for
use the same desk no matter which room the job goes the CD too.
in to. Clients won’t wait a day or two just so they can ‘Clients find it relaxing up here because you are
come back into the same room when its empty, they’ll detached from all the hurly-burly,’ explains Barry. It
wait an hour or two and we have to have that flexibility looks like London out of the window, but it doesn’t feel
to move things around.’ like it. The two that started it all remain excited by the
Barry adds that they have paid particular attention project but similarly realistic and cautious. ‘The danger
to future expandability. All rooms are 5.1 ready and is that you try and take on too much and you don’t
even the DK meters can be upgraded to surround quite deliver on anything,’ says Barry. ‘We’re being
when required. sensible, we’ve got the rooms open and working well.
While Tim concentrates on radio and TV commercials Then we can think about 5.1 as the next stage.’
his previous experience says there’s also the cinema ‘We had to move because we were at full capacity,’
trailers market to address. This will be accommodated in adds Rowan. ‘I’m really glad that we’ve done it
a proposed Phase 2 build, expected later next year, because it really is a most prestigious setup and we
which will see the opening of a large multichannel want to encourage people to just come and look at it.’
Dolby room in the ample space of the massive reception I’ve seen it, you should too. Oh, that view... ■
area. This will allow cinema trailers to be done well
while also doubling as a 5.1 mastering room.
The mastering engineers share rooms on a day on,
day off rota. ‘The Maselec is the heart of the control
room for me, I used it at Sony and it’s really good,’
explains Ray. ‘It’s definitely the best mastering room
I’ve ever had, you can always want more but I’m really
happy with it and it’s getting great results. The rooms
sound good, Sean’s done a great job on the acoustics,
they’re much better than the ones we had at Sony.’
Rumours of vinyl’s demise are greatly exaggerated
according to Ray who says that 80% of Alchemy’s
mastering output is vinyl. ‘From the mastering point of
view it has always been consistent business,’ he says
adding that he is cutting more vinyl now than he was
ten years ago and that the UK remains something of a
lathe capital of the world.
Ray doesn’t believe that a generation has been lost
to the importance of mastering with the empowerment
of modern technology. ‘I think we went through a Contact
slightly negative phase where the attitude was: why
give it to a mastering engineer when you can do it ALCHEMY SOHO, UK:
yourself,’ he says. ‘It doesn’t matter how many 29th Floor, Centre Point, 103 New Oxford Street,
software tools they have at home, they can’t get it right London. WC1A 1DD
Tel: +44 207 420 8000
and now they are coming back to people who know
E-mail: info@alchemysoho.com
what they’re doing. And they can hear the difference.’
resolution 15
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:21 PM
Products
Equipment introductions and announcements plus
news on Digidesign, Steinberg and Logic.
FIREWIRE, PHONES AMPS AND TAPCO SUB
Mackie’s Onyx 400F is a 10-channel, 192kHz-capable
FireWire audio interface that features the flagship Onyx
microphone preamps as well as on-board DSP matrix mix-
ing for latency free headphone mixing and routing inde-
pendent of the DAW software.
Front panel controls include control room output level,
dual independent headphone outputs with dedicated level
control, dual instrument inputs, and four-segment metering
for the mic inputs. The rear panel includes four combo
mic/line inputs, balanced TRS sends and returns for the first
two mic inputs, four line inputs, 8 line outputs, control room
outputs, Wordclock I-O, MIDI I-O, SPDIF I-O and two
FireWire ports.
The HM54 4-channel headphone amplifier and the HMX56
tabletop matrix mixer/amplifier offer robust steel construction
and high sonic quality.
Designed to complement the Tapco Sï5 and Sï8 active
studio monitors, the SWï10 active subwoofer has a 10-inch
woofer with a 120W amp. Connections include a pair of
XLR balanced inputs and a pair of RCA unbalanced inputs.
Stereo high-pass outputs are provided on XLR balanced
and RCA unbalanced. Input sensitivity and polarity controls
combine with a 4th-order, 24dB/octive Linkwitz-Riley
crossover that is variable independently from 55-110Hz.
Mackie’s SRM350 active loudspeaker incorporates a 10-inch
LF woofer and a wave-guide-loaded 1-inch HF driver with
an on-board amplifier that supplies 165W to the LF driver
and 30W for the HF. Active Protection Management System
employs limiting and variable thermal response circuitry to
limit high input signals levels while Dynamic Bass Boost
boosts low-end frequencies as volume levels are reduced.
www.mackie.com
SMART DAW CONTROLLER
Smart AV’s
Smart Console DAW mix-
ing control surface incorporates ARC tech-
nology, which uses a physical ‘arc’ to present
and unify the functions of interrogation and
channel selection into a spatially fixed array pro-
viding instant access to any channel or combi-
nation of channels. You touch the strip, the
desired channel and the channels surrounding
16
Page 16
gear
Platform news: Digidesign
Digidesign Venue is a live sound mixing and processing environment that was designed with input from live sound
professionals. It has a host of expandable hardware subsystems and software components. These include the
D-Show mixing console with expandable digital mix engine and control software, mix position analogue and digital
I-O, remote-controlled mic/line preamps, a multichannel digital snake, and Personal Q artist-controlled monitor
mixing option. Venue also supports DSP effects plug-in processing and features an integrated recording and
playback option for Pro Tools systems.
Internal 48-bit processing provides every channel of the D-Show console with delay, 4-band parametric EQ
(including additional 4th order HPF) and two dynamics processors. D-Show’s EQ algorithms have four fully
overlapping 20Hz-20kHz bands with +/-18dB and a separate analogue EQ emulation mode. D-Show’s remote-
controlled mic/line preamps and convertors use a digital snake system.
Multiple redundant subsystems ensure that audio continues to pass through to the speakers in the event of
a system restart and operators retain complete control over channel mutes and faders during a restart.
Get the most out of your Pro Tools|24 MIX system with new feature
enhancements offered in free Pro Tools TDM 6.4.1 software
— the final software release to support the Pro Tools|24
MIX product line. The update enables Pro Tools|24
MIX owners to add new features and
to maintain session compatibility
with current Pro Tools|HD-series
systems with features like +12dB
fader gain. For Mac OS X users, it adds
Panther support and a subset of the new
features found in Pro Tools TDM 6.4 software
(now shipping with Pro Tools|HD) along with some
Pro Tools|24 MIX-specific bug fixes.
Through November 30, 2004, Pro Tools users can visit
the DigiStore on the Digidesign website and browse through
Pro Tools-related learning media, and purchase any number of
items at 30% off list pricing.
www.digidesign.com
it immediately appear in front headroom by at least 10dB. The signal
of the operator. Even hand- path is completely transformerless,
written channel descriptions allowing a frequency range from
are transferred to the strips 10Hz to 100kHz (-1dB).
in front of the user. The HMA5000 can be used to
The Smart Console claims power DPA’s high-voltage mics like the
to be the first console design 4003 and 4004 omnis, 4012 cardioid, 4016 wide cardioid,
to reduce the number of and 4041-S omni solid state and 4041-T omni tube mics. It
knobs on a panel and reduce the number of actions required supplies 130V to a mic’s preamp and features low-noise
to gain access to out of reach controls. Analog Devices amplifiers in the input stages and
Designed as an open platform controller of DAWs, it works independently switchable gain in 10dB increments on each
in conjunction with Logic Pro 6, The VADIS system from channel input corresponding to a maximum input voltage
Klotz Digital, Pyramix, the QDC engine from Fairlight, and of 0.5 -160V peak. The phase can be reversed on both
the DME64N and DME24N from Yamaha. channels individually, and crosstalk attenuation is better
Smart AV, Europe: +44 7866 314181 than 90dB.
www.dpamicrophones.com
DPA PIANO SET AND HIGH-V AMP
DPA’s Compact Cardioid CEDAR CAMBRIDGE V2
Stereo Kit, the DPA 3521, is
the company’s solution for
professional piano miking
but can also be used
with other instruments.
The 3521 is a stereo
kit with two 4021
compact cardioid mics matched within
2dB on frequency response, sensitivity and self-noise.
Complete with accessories, this kit is designed for low profile
mounting directly inside a piano. With the XY/ORTF holder,
the kit can also work as a compact stereo pair for overheads.
The kit is supplied in a carrying case and includes two
gooseneck mounts and two magnet bases for mounting on CEDAR Cambridge V2 adds numerous new modules and
metal surfaces. features to versions 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2. The earlier versions
The HMA5000 2-channel, high-voltage mic amp builds are now obsolete because V2.0 extends the system’s capa-
on the established HMA4000 and extends dynamic bilities in significant ways.
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gear

PYRAMIX V4.3 through OMF or AAF solves the sync issues that are com-
Merging Technologies has launched Pyramix V4.3 mon with CMX EDLs.
with new features for film dubbing and editing environ- V4.3 also offers Virtual Tape Mode — a true
ments. Support for the AAF is available as an option and BWF file destructive record punch-in, punch-out
new Re-conform features include ‘Re-link To New Media’. mode. Quick Mount dramatically reduces the time
This allows a complex edited file imported from a taken to mount media files by creating a specific
video editing station referencing 16 bits stereo files to cache file of the mounted media. Pyramix’s CD mastering
properly relink the 24 bits multichannel original location allows the system to modify the CD image, PQ editing,
recording media with all edits seamlessly extended to CD Text, and track names without having to regenerate a
whatever number of tracks the original media was new image.
recorded to. For multitrack source destination music Dayang Technology Development in collaboration with
editing, Pyramix can reassign a stereo edited mix of a Merging has unveiled its D3-Edit NLE video workstation,
multitrack project to the original multitrack media which uses Merging’s Mykerinos DSP hardware and
V2.0 File Processing instantly recreating the edits across all tracks. The ability to synchronisation features.
capabilities allow users relink sessions transferred to Pyramix through EDL and www.merging.com
to analyse and process
selected parts of, or
whole, WAV and AIFF
files rendering the
results back to hard disk (disk-to-disk) in a fraction of the
time needed to process audio in real-time. It also allows
passing WAV and AIFF files through the processing chain and
outputting the results so you can monitor them in real-time.
The 64-bit Dynamics Processor contains three new
modules: a compressor, an upward expander and a
downward expander. Each offers eight audio channels and
you can use any combination of processes simultaneously.
All three processes offer precise envelope control and side-
chain linking and processing with IIR Precision EQ. The
Cambridge Limiter also offers eight channels of processing.
www.cedaraudio.com

VTC PRICE CUT

Streamlining of TL Audio’s VTC console production process
has resulted in price reductions of
up to 30%. The VTC-16 is now
available from UK£9995
(+ VAT). Frames are pro-
duced in 16, 24, 32, 40, 48
and 56 input formats, with
additional metering and a
floor stand available as options.
TL Audio has upgraded its Ivory-2 digital output
cards to operate at 44.1, 48 or 96kHz complete
with an external Wordclock input. Available factory fitted
as an option for mono and stereo Ivory-2 processors, the
upgrade card can also be retrofitted.
www.tlaudio.co.uk

POWERCORE COMPACT
TC’s PowerCore Compact is
a lightweight and portable
hardware platform with
FireWire ports for easy laptop connection. Price is Euro 760.
It comes with nine standard plug-ins — two reverbs, two
compressors/limiters, a chorus/delay, a parametric EQ, a
synthesiser, a complete voice channel and a guitar amp
simulator — it also has the Character plug-in from Noveltech,
the dual ‘analogue’ filter bank Filtroid, and the Master X3
incarnation of the Finalizer.
PowerCore Compact supports any VST or Audio Unit
based DAW and runs a 266MHz PowerPC and two 150MHz
Motorola DSPs each with 512k RAM.
TC now offers PowerCore in three hardware configurations
with a differentiated number of plug-ins included: PowerCore
Element still comes with 9 plug-ins; PowerCore Compact
features 12 plug-ins; and PowerCore FireWire includes 14
plug-ins in total.
www.tcelectronic.com

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Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:21 PM
PORTADISC BATTERY AND CHARGER
The MDPBP is a robust NiMH battery pack that powers
HHB’s Portadisc for around three and a half hours. It is short
circuit and temperature protected, with all internal metal
contacts securely welded for long-term reliability.
The ACS110 is a
microprocessor-controlled
charger specifically developed for the
MDPBP battery pack, providing intelligent monitoring and
controlled charging. At just 3 hours to fully charge an MDPBP
battery pack, the ACS110 includes a Discharge function and
comprehensive LED metering of the charging functions.
HHB has introduced the DVD-R4.7GB-G 1X-4X General-
type DVD-R disc, which uses a custom recording dye to
ensure compatibility with computers, DAWs and standalone
DVD recorders. The new disc is registered with major
hardware manufacturers, so it is recognised by the drive
and the signal characteristics of the laser optimised for error-
free recording. This also ensures that the recorded disc is
compatible with a wide range of players.
www.hhb.co.uk
X-LOGIC PRICE CUT
Due to the low dollar, SSL and KMR Audio have brought
the UK prices for the X-Logic series of outboard in line with
those in the US.
All prices plus VAT: 5.1 Compressor £3900; 4-Way
SuperAnalogue Mic-Pre £2400; 8-Channel Mic-Pre Remote
Control £830; Channel Strip £2000; G-Series Compressor
£1900; and ADC board for Channel Strip £300.
www.kmraudio.com
DYNAUDIO SUBS AND MONITORS
Dynaudio Acoustics’ BM 5A is a 2-way
active speaker powered by two 50W amps.
Employing a 170mm woofer and 26mm
soft dome tweeter, its small footprint is
said to make it well suited to project
studios, edit suites, and OB vans. 5.1
systems can be built with the BM 10S and
BM 12S subwoofers.
AIR Base 12 and AIR Base 24 active
subwoofers feature a 12-inch driver specifically
designed for low frequency reproduction. AIR
Base 12 has a 500W amp and a single driver
while the AIR Base 24 uses two drivers and a
700W amp.
Both subs sport AIR Series networking,
advanced bass management, extensive
calibration, preset handling and the ability to
control parameters from a remote or PC editor.
www.tcelectronic.com
DRAWMER DYNAMICS
The DSL424 TwoPlusTwo combined dynamics processor
includes two frequency conscious noise gates and two soft/hard
knee compressors with variable threshold limiting. The chan-
nels may be front panel configured as four individual standalone
processors or a stereo linked pair of compressor/limiters with
18
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gear
Platform news: Steinberg
Cubase SX3 is
described as ‘a
quantum leap forward
in music production’ on
PC and Mac and offers
new facilities for
composition and
songwriting. Audio
Warp, a real-time time
stretching and pitch-
shifting tool, has new
audio and processing
capabilities, including ACID file support. Combined with
the new Play Order Track, a new tool for pattern-style
composition, Cubase SX3 offers ‘a fresh approach to loop-based composing and arranging’. A new Inplace
Editing system allows convenient editing of MIDI data directly
within the Project Window in context with audio and video data.
Users have new user-definable workspaces to create virtual
desktops, with a separate work area for each step of the production
process, and can switch between them with a key command. The
Freeze functionality introduced in Cubase SX 2.0 to free up CPU
resources has been extended to include audio tracks and insert
effects, and is now faster and more effective.
MIDI Device Maps and panels permit direct, user-customisable access to outboard MIDI hardware and
External FX plug-ins allow direct integration of external effect processors, such as reverbs and compressors,
into the VST mixing environment with automatic latency compensation.
The first fruits of the development alliance between Steinberg and Yamaha, Studio Connections technology
has been incorporated into SX3 with total system Recall functionality. It integrates Yamaha’s Studio Manager
2 software as a link between the sequencer and hardware editing components.
www.steinberg.net
CHEAPER DIGICO D1
a stereo linked pair of gates. Alternatively, any combination of The DiGiCo D1 Live has all the features of the D5 Live in a
processing can be achieved by rear panel patching. smaller, lighter package. A new MADI card gives a dramatic
Drawmer has announced an all new product from its price reduction by providing a fully digital link on up to 100m
ongoing collaboration with Mercenary Audio. The Drawmer of coax cable as opposed to the 50m maximum run on expen-
1968 Mercenary Edition is a 1U valve/FET stereo bus sive optical fibre. The console is supplied in four main feature
compressor designed to deliver ‘a transparent wide open configurations as a direct replacement for analogue consoles:
sound even during periods of heavy compression’ in true D1 Live 40, D1 Live 48DP (dual purpose), D1 Live 48DR (dual
stereo or dual mono mode. Each channel has a switchable rack), and the fully enabled D1 Live 56EX.
‘Big’ mode that applies less processing to the fundamental low
frequency but still controls the upward associated harmonics.
Selecting Big mode results in a solid bottom end, enhanced
sub-bass and a smoother, wider frequency response overall.
The DMS-2 D-Clock is a dual input/20-output Wordclock
distributor with a 16-character LCD that provides reference
measurement of the incoming sample rate. AES-EBU and
BNC Word clock inputs feature a zero latency loop-through
output with switchable high impedance to maintain the
correct level of the digital signal for onward distribution.
www.drawmer.com
APHEX UPGRADES 1788
Highlights include a 25 layered fader worksurface, grouped
in blocks of eight user-definable banks per section, with
meterbridge and 40 bus DSP engine, configurable for stereo,
LCR(S) and 5.1 operations, 64 to 160 input processing channels
Aphex has upgraded its 1788 8-channel remote controlled mic and 8 user configurable macro buttons.
preamp. The upgrade includes Ethernet connection, which has V3 software for the D5 Live adds comprehensive control over
increased the speed of the system by a factor of 16, making console and rack connections; enhanced system redundancy;
it simpler to operate. The new model will supersede the orig- revised Optocore firmware support of further Optocore devices
inal 1788 and upgrade kits for existing units will be available. (DD32); and enhanced networking capability for use of a hub
The software and hardware upgrades allow instant access to or switch to allow simultaneous mirroring (D5-RE – Redundant
all 128 channels and full display of all these channels at a glance. Engine) and remote control (D5-RC or laptop PCs).
www.aphex.com www.digiconsoles.com
resolution October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:22 PM
SOUNDSCAPE MIXPANDER GOES NATIVE
Soundscape’s Mixpander Power Pak allows users of Native
based systems to enjoy the same benefits as Soundscape
DAW users when recording and mixing. The Mixpander Power
Pak combines the power of DSP mixing on the Mixpander 9
with the new iBox 48-TA or the iBox 64-MADI/TA I-O inter-
faces, which are configurable with up to 128 analogue and dig-
ital I-Os. Prices start from UK£2499 (inc. VAT) for the Mixpander
Power Pak 48 supporting 48 tracks of simultaneous I-O.
www.aspromedia.com
AT PRO HAS STEREO CONDENSER
The reengineered Pro Series range of performance and
general production mics features three new models, three
updated models and improves still further on competitive
pricing. The 11 different models include, dynamic and con-
denser capsules, handheld, headset, clip mic and special-
ist instrument designs plus a high quality stereo condenser
mic. The PRO24 stereo small condenser has a X/Y configured
capsule and is said to be suited to ‘fixed’ stereo reinforce-
ment, recording, or for camera mounting.
www.audio-technica.co.uk
E900 SERIES AND HEADMICS
Sennheiser has introduced its complete evolution e900
Series of wired stage microphones and the HSP headmic
line. The e900 Series microphones include two profession-
al vocal mics, the e935 and the e945, plus a wide range of
instrument microphones for the complete backline.
The cardioid e935 and super-cardioid e945 are vocal mics,
the e901 condenser boundary mic is said to be ideal for
October 2004
Page 19
gear
miking kick drums and grand pianos, while the frequency
response of the e902 has been optimised for very low
frequencies, making this cardioid dynamic good for kick
drums, bass guitar amps, and tuba.
The compact cardioid e904 is designed specially for drums,
the dynamic e905 is described as an all-rounder suitable
for a wide range of instruments, and the supercardioid e906
is designed specially for guitar amps. The e908 condenser
comes in two variants — the e908B for brass instruments and
the e908D has all the features of the B variant but is supplied
with a dedicated clip for use with drums and percussion.
The e914 condenser microphone is designed for cymbals,
hi-hats, and overhead miking.
Sennheiser is also showcasing a new professional headmic
range, the HSP Series. The omnidirectional HSP 2 and the
cardioid HSP 4 headmics are unobtrusive yet rugged and are
available in black or beige. The boom is adjustable for length
and angle while the HSP 4 additionally features a flexible
gooseneck.
www.sennheiser.co.uk
API DAW MONITOR RACKS
Essentially a mini API console in a 19-inch rack, the DSM
(Discrete Summing Mixer) workstation monitor rack is
designed to work with DAWs by providing analogue sum-
ming, mixing, control room switching/monitoring, patchbay
facilities, and studio I-O connections. Versions are available
to accommodate 24, 48 and 72-output channel DAWs.
www.apiaudio.com
TASCAM VL-S21
Tascam’s low-cost VL-S21 satellite speaker system pairs two
NXT technology thin speakers with a powered subwoofer.
www.tascam.com
resolution
NOISE REDUCTION HEADSETS
The Telex PH-100 and PH-200 headsets are medium-weight,
noise reduction headsets with dynamic microphones. Both
have noise attenuation of 21+dB and feature a headband
design that distributes ear cushion pressure evenly.
The dynamic mic arm has a sealed ball-and-socket joint and
flexible boom for precise placement.
www.rtsintercoms.com
PC DSD FILE PLAYBACK
Following the all-in-one SACD Creator application, which
also contains an embedded DSD playback feature,
Philips-ProTECH has released a standalone solution for play-
back and listening to DSD files, DST files or SACD Disc
image files.
The Playback application consists of a small hardware PCI
card that can be installed in a PC and a software application
to control the listening application. The PCI card provides
real-time decoding of the SACD disc image or DST data
into DSD data. The 6-channel DSD data is available via six
small SMB connectors (SDIF3 format) and can be connected
to external D-ACs.
The card also contains a Clock input and Clock output to
synchronise the DSD data to a studio clock. Cables and
connectors to connect the card to the D-ACs are included.
The software supports Windows 2000 and Windows XP
and gives track selection, search forward/backwards, and
SA-CD Text display.
protech@philips.com
HEBDEN SOUND MIC SERIES
The HS3000 series is a fully interchangeable microphone
capsule system. It consists of omni (HS3010), cardioid
(HS3020), hypercardioid (HS3030) and subcardioid (HS3040)
directivity options available singly or as matched stereo
pairs. All four polar pattern options can be built around a sin-
gle preamp and each mic
comes with a 23mm clip and
an antivibration mount in a
studio case.
www.hebdensound.co.uk
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METACORDER FIELD RECORDER FOR YOUR MAC

The Metacorder is described as an ‘open architecture’ Mac
OS X based field recorder that works with any Core Audio
Platform news: Logic
Interface (44.1kHz-192kHz, 16-24 bit, 2-48 channels). It Apple has introduced Logic Pro 7 and Logic Express 7. Logic Pro 7 includes new
software instruments such as Sculpture, a component-modelling based
synthesiser; the UltraBeat drum machine; and new plug-ins including Guitar
Amp Pro, a full-featured guitar amplifier simulator. Along with over 100
workflow enhancements, new mastering plug-ins and support for Apple Loops,
Logic Pro 7 debuts distributed audio processing, a technology that allows
audio pros to tap into a virtually unlimited number of Macs to expand available
DSP power. The result is described as ‘an audio and music production system
with processing power previously unimaginable for native based systems’.
Workflow in
Logic Pro 7 is
improved with more than 100 productivity
enhancement features including song templates,
channel strip save and recall, shuffle and auto
crossfade edit modes that are directly accessible
from the arrange window. Users can compile and
burn CDs to Red Book with WaveBurner, which is
included with Logic Pro 7.
Logic Express 7, a streamlined version of Logic,
provides a basic set of professional tools for
students, educators and hobbyists at an affordable
price. Both products come with support for projects
from GarageBand, Apple’s consumer music creation software.
www.apple.com

writes and mirrors to any Mac compatible media, internal

IDE, FireWire, USB/USB2, PCMCIA, Flash, and DVD-RAM
with full network support via Ethernet/802.11.
No modal windows means that you can press Record at any
time (1-30 second prerecord buffer) and it includes powerful
Metadata functionality, including Project, SoundRoll, scene,
take, track labels and indexes, and recording notes. It
automatically updates scene and take using US, UK or
generic slating systems. Metadata can be edited before,
during or after recording. Metadata is stored in several
formats including bext and iXML for seamless
postproduction.
A background SoundRoll Mirror (non real-time)
automatically mirrors current soundroll to slower media as
recordings are made (e.g. for Compact Flash, networked, or
DVD-RAM for high track counts, where real-time record is not
possible).
It writes Metadata rich Broadcast WAVE, AIFF or SD2 files,
has 128-segment level meters on all inputs, and writes AES-
31 ADLs, Pro Tools sessions, ALE and Final Cut Pro XML
lists for workstation import.
sales@gallery.co.uk
AEON RADIO CONSOLE
Klotz Digital’s AEON radio console has an integrated router
and is based on the company’s ‘Air Board’ concept.
Graphic configuration software allows users to configure
the system to fit their requirements and the desk is available
in 8, 12 and 16-
fader consoles.
Each 4-fader
module is in its
own housing
and each
channel strip
has a 100mm
fader and an
alphanumeric display with 16 digits in two lines, as well as
large On/Off buttons, PFL, TB, free assignable routing keys
and status indication LEDs for the most important parameters
and functions.
www.klotzdigital.com
INNOVASON SY48
Innovason’s Sy48 packages the
feature sets from the large format Sy80 digital mixing
console in a compact and lightweight standalone surface.
With the capability of mixing up to 64 mic/line sources to 32
buses, it can be fitted with up to six 8-channel audio cards.
A typical configuration could provide 32 mic/line to 16
processed outputs, plus 16 line inputs and outputs for bus
inserts or aux sends and returns. With the optional digital
stage box connected via coaxial or optical fibre, up to 64
inputs can be mixed.
For those who want to run their I-O modules and DSP
externally to the console control surface, e.g. OB trucks, a 7U
Local External Mix box containing up to eight I-O cards can be
connected to the rear of the console via a 5m Jaeger cable.
www.innovason.com
BEL EXPANDS MONITOR SOLUTIONS
The BEL Broadcast Monitor series offers a choice of three 2U
audio/video monitors and three 1U audio only monitors.
The BEL BM-A1 is a 4-channel audio only monitor and
input sources can be selected from four analogue or two
AES-EBU stereo pairs. The BM-A1S provides an additional
SDI input allowing selection of one of the four embedded
SDI Groups in addition to the I-O found on the base model.
A composite video output of the SDI source is also provided.
In addition to the functionality found on the BM-A1S, the
BM-A1SD provides analogue and AES-3 outputs of the
selected SDI Group.
The new 2U audio and video broadcast monitors
incorporate a 4-inch TFT video display. The BM-AV2 can
accept three composite (auto PAL/NTSC) video inputs while
audio input sources can be selected from four analogue or
two AES-EBU inputs. The BM-AV2S allows selection from two
SDI and one composite video feeds plus four analogue,
two AES-EBU stereo pairs and one of four embedded SDI
Groups. The BM-AV2SL also provides active, or reclocked
loop-through outputs of AES, SDI and composite inputs
while the selected audio source is also provided as four
analogue and two AES-EBU stereo pair outputs.
www.beldigital.com
SPEAKER RE-FURB
Wembley Loudspeaker is offering a refurbishment service of
hi-fi speakers and claims it can re-furb virtually any model to
its original sound.
With more than 32 years experience in repairing cabinets,
Wembley Loudspeaker is able to identify the cause of a
problem and re-cone, re-coil or re-foam damaged drivers,
returning them to their original high quality.
‘It is often the case that owners of classic speakers think that
as soon as they begin losing some of their attributes, it is time
for a modern pair of speakers,’ said Paul MacCallum,
Wembley Loudspeaker MD. ‘However, they can be re-furbed
for less than the cost of a new set and to a higher quality of
sound than today’s speakers.’
Wembley Loudspeaker: +44 208 743 4567

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review

Mackie digitalXbus 200 Waves plug-ins will soon be available. Just one
illustration of where the ‘depth’ comes in. This is a
comparatively ‘open’ system. You can install any
It is one of the most eagerly awaited digital consoles of recent times and repositions well-behaved VST plug-in. A ‘first’ to the best of my
knowledge and most welcome.
Mackie as a contender. ROB JAMES believes it is revolutionary and that it will redefine The on-board DSP available for plug-ins is, of
course, finite, as is the DSP for more basic functions.
expectations of the digital 8-bus sector. At 44.1kHz I managed to activate 64 iterations of
four band EQ, compressors and gates plus 28
iterations of the SaneWave reverb. At higher
sampling rates (up to 192kHz) you get
proportionately less. If and when you run out, up to
four of the excellent UAD powered plug-ins are
already supported and, PC permitting, there is no
obvious reason why support for other proprietary
hardware plug-in accelerators should not follow.
Functionally, the digitalXbus 200 is a 72-input
console with 8 buses plus a master stereo bus and 12
aux sends arranged as three input layers, master and
‘VCA’ group layers, and a MIDI control bank/layer. By
using its Universal Control as a starting point, Mackie
has been able to provide software control of the
following workstations: Adobe Audition,
Apple/Emagic Logic, Cakewalk Sonar, Digidesign
Pro Tools, Sony Vegas, Steinberg Cubase SX/SL
and Nuendo. In the future, the list will no doubt
grow and there is no reason why alternative surface

D
ESIGNING A RADICAL NEW console is a UK£8932 plus VAT, with all the optional interface ‘skins’ should not be provided.
complex business, requiring artistic and cards at UK£297 plus VAT, apart from the 8-channel This console is revolutionary because it successfully
scientific rigour. But this is not sufficient, there mic/line at UK£510, I believe it will redefine our combines the discipline of a traditional, fixed
has to be lateral thinking and a dash of luck in the expectations in this 8-bus segment. Its up-market architecture, analogue desk with the almost anarchic
brew. Get it right and once potential customers take the sibling, the digitalXbus 400, may well do more than flexibility of the WIMP interface and the workstation.
time to investigate, they will experience that ‘light- that and frighten some much bigger fish. (It’s worth This means 4-band parametric EQ and
bulb’ moment as suddenly it all seems so obvious. pointing out that the desk when originally compressor/expander dynamics on each channel plus
This will be followed by, ‘Why didn’t somebody think announced was called the dXb but the owners of the 8 aux and 2 stereo cue sends, inserts and direct outs.
of this before?’ as they reach for their credit cards. dbx brand name complained and claimed it was too You also get surround panners and effects slots.
When I first saw this console, at a trade show back similar to dbx. Mackie refers to the desk now as the Channel strips are consistent with EQ, dynamics,
in February, I was distinctly underwhelmed. Two digitalXbus. Ed) auxes, etc. in the same place every time.
pretty screens, each with 24 Penny and Giles motor The digitalXbus is unashamedly built on a PC The touchscreens are used to maximum effect. A
faders, 24 V-Pot rotary encoders with 4 x 24 buttons platform, as was the d8b before it, but here the PC is single touch on any element block in a strip opens up
underneath, a master strip, monitor section, the usual in the control surface, a lot more convenient than an expanded window for the function. Another touch
transport controls and a few other blocks of buttons separate units, but with the disadvantage, at least on moves to the same parameters for the channel before
and knobs. But where were the rest of the forest of the one I had, of being very noisy. I have six PCs in or after. In the EQ window there is the choice of
knobs and the usual minefield of buttons? There is no my studio/office (not all on at any one time) and the altering parameters by using the encoders under the
hardware ‘fat channel’, one of the defining features of digitalXbus is noisier than any of them apart from the screen/above the faders or touching and dragging
the d8b. OK, so the screens are touch sensitive, but I one the children use. Making a quiet PC power supply directly on the graphic EQ curve nodes. Seventy two
don’t really like touch screens on the grounds that if is no longer ‘rocket science’ or even especially input channels plus masters and DAW control means
you’re touching them, you can’t see them. So, when expensive in components so I’m sure Mackie can do bank or layer switching to access then all and, yes,
the big cardboard box arrived, my expectations were better in this area (Mackie says that a retrofittable you can hold or lock channels on the surface when
not especially high. ‘ducting’ silencer will sort this issue. Ed). you switch.
I have always been a great believer in the old adage Unlike the d8b this console is running Windows One really clever bit is translating familiar PC
of ‘When all else fails, open the manual’. In other XP which brings many benefits such as easier porting conventions to the hardware surface. For example,
words, the first test with any new piece of kit is to see of third party plug-ins, for example, the estimable lots of useful and semi-intuitive double-click functions
how far you can get without having to resort to the
book of rules. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating
ignoring the technical author’s art, but this approach
gives a much better idea of the likely learning curve.
Diving in recklessly, the digitalXbus turns out to be
amazingly intuitive, at least for me. Far more so than
any digital console I have ever previously
encountered. (Of course, you have to take into account
all the hard won learning that has gone
before...)(You’re being modest but the point is a fair
one. Ed) There could be a downside to this, lack of
depth. But, as I was delighted to discover, nothing
could be further from the truth.
Mackie has learnt a lot from the d8b experience.
The d8b was always slightly quirky but ultimately
close to being just another ‘me too’ console and I was
never a great fan. The digitalXbus is a horse of a
completely different colour. At the asking price of

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on the buttons — the Shift key, when double-clicked,
selects all strips in the current bank. Double-clicking a
channel Select key opens the EQ and Dynamics
windows for the selected strip, one on each screen,
giving near instant access and a further double-click
closes them again. Leaving your finger on a channel
select for a couple of seconds opens the Channel
Settings window.
The V-Pots above the faders are ‘soft’. When a
window is open with adjustable parameters, for
example EQ, the V-pots below become controls for the
window. Otherwise the block of buttons to the right of
the screens governs their global function. LR pan, FB
pan aux sends 1-8, digital level trim, level to tape or
cue send 1&2 level or pan. This is far more intuitive in
practice than in description. The same logic applies to
the programmable Macro keys. By default Macro 1
opens the Effects Rack window; another press on the
key closes it. When opened, plug-in effects can be
added, removed, routed and controlled from a
combination of pull down menus, the touchscreens
and the surface controls. Again, this is all arranged in
an intuitive and logical manner with operational
controls mapped to the surface and set-up options
relegated to pull down menus. Routing to the main
stereo bus can be made directly from the surface
although curiously, routing to the 8 buses has to be
done via a pop-up. I suspect this will soon change.
All this translates into a fast, productive interface,
often with several ways of achieving the same result.
I found myself using the touch screens much more
than I would have expected. Of course, you can
connect a standard mouse or trackerball and QWERTY
keyboard as well if you prefer.
As ever, the devil is in the detail. The V-Pots or shaft
encoders are inferior in feel to those found on the d8b
and lack the concentric circle of LEDs.
The fader motors retain the curious ‘damped’
action found on the d8b. This gives the illusion that
the faders are slow. They aren’t, but when a fader
moves automatically from, say, unity to infinity, the
last centimetre or so takes significantly longer than
the rest of the move. I think this may be done to avoid
fader jitter or hunting, but it is unsettling until you
become accustomed to it. Needless to say, audio
transitions happen exactly as they were originally
made, it is just the faders that lag behind. The
automation needs a bit of work. It could use more
options and the editing is a bit clunky in practice,
although the theory looks good. A method of quickly
zeroing pans and EQs would be nice. All this and a
great deal more is eminently possible thanks to the PC
software nature of the beast.
At present, the digitalXbus is something of a work
in progress and to some extent, it probably always will
be. This goes with the territory when there is a PC
involved and should be seen as a virtue rather than a
vice. Throughout the product’s life it can be updated,
improved and extended and this includes the PC
hardware and the DSP accelerator(s) should this
become necessary or desirable. To judge from Mackie’s
previous form, this will undoubtedly be the case. The
hardware is sleek and good looking, the buttons and
faders all feel positive and the jog-wheel is superb.
SMPTE generation is built in and the digitalXbus is

I-Os
On the rear panel are two USB ports, an
also a 9-pin controller. Throw in a scrolling automation
display and editing, VST plug-ins, surround in formats
up to 7.1 and, whether used with digital multitracks or
Ethernet port, MIDI I-O, two footswitch jacks workstations, the fluidity of the interface offers a
and a serial 9-pin socket. The digitalXbus is a considerable enhancement to productivity.
9-pin controller (but not synchroniser). Lurking underneath a metal plate are the normal motherboard connectors. What we have here is a glimpse of the future, a
The digitalXbus comes with a Mix card and a Sync card already installed. The card cage has a dedicated slot hardware audio mixer/controller for the Playstation
for the included sync card, (which has BNCs for Wordclock I-O and Jacks for SMPTE I-O) plus three A slots, three generation, with a seriously powerful DSP engine
B, three C and a single D slot. underneath, supported by flexible I-O options. Where
One C slot is occupied by the Mix out card which has 8 analogue balanced jack outputs for stereo speakers others have sought to disguise the PC basis of their
A and B, phones 1 and 2 and mix out and two XLRs for stereo AES-EBU I-O and two phonos for SPDIF I-O. There consoles so far as is possible, the digitalXbus celebrates
is only one digital stereo input, software switched between AES-EBU and SPDIF. this fact and exploits it to maximum effect. Best of all,
anyone who is PC literate and knows what an audio
OPTIONAL I-O CARDS mixer is supposed to do, can operate this console
Mic/Line 4 Card: 4 XLR balanced analogue mic/line inputs; 4 TRS balanced analogue line level inputs; digitally without spending a ridiculous amount of time learning
remote-controlled mic preamps; independent (+48v) phantom power per mic input channel. how the designer’s mind works. Check it out. ■
Mic/Line 8 Card: 8 balanced analogue mic/line inputs; 8 balanced analogue line level outputs; independent
phantom power (+48v) per input channel; digitally remote-controlled mic preamps; two female 25-pin
D-Sub connectors.
PROS First of its kind; shallow learning curve;
Huge potential.
Line Card: 8 channels of balanced analogue line level inputs and outputs; +4dBU/-10dBV jumpers for each
channel; two female 25-pin D-Sub connectors. CONS Noisy power supply fan; automation
Digital Card: 8 channels of ADAT optical digital audio input and output at 96kHz (4 channels at 192kHz); up to needs work; LP and HP filters in
8 channels of TDIF digital audio input and output at 96kHz; direct digital connection between digitalXbus and addition to the 4-band EQ would have
been nice.
external digital devices; female 25-pin D-Sub connector (TDIF) and four TOSlink optical connectors (ADAT x 2).
AES Card: 8 channels of AES-EBU digital audio input and output at 96kHz; direct digital connection between
digital X bus and other AES-EBU compliant equipment; uses one female 25-pin D-Sub connector. Contact
FireWire Card: direct digital audio streaming between digitalXbus and any compatible computer running
Windows XP or Mac OSX; ASIO 2.0 or OSX Core Audio compliant; 2 IEEE 1394a FireWire ports. MACKIE, US:
Website: www.mackie.com

October 2004 resolution 23

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:23 PM
Dolby Model 585
The ability to shrink, stretch and alter the pitch of programme is a routine requirement
in front-line postproduction. There are a number of ways to achieve
it and now Dolby has released a one box solution.
E
VER HAD THE FEELING that your favourite
juve lead isn’t sounding quite as butch as you
remembered? Or that the leading lady is even
more shrill than she was in the cinema? Or if you are
blessed/cursed with perfect pitch, does the music
sound wrong? If you are watching a film on TV in any
country with 50Hz mains, or come to that a VHS or
even DVD, chances are you’re right. Not only that, the
film will finish sooner and it isn’t the censors at work.
The sad truth is that films are shot and seen in the
cinema at 24FPS but telecined at 25FPS, which means
they run 4.16 recurring percent faster than they
should and are pitched up by the same amount unless
steps are taken to ameliorate the problem.
You may already be thinking, ‘so why don’t they just
pitch-change by a reciprocal amount?’ Well, sometimes
‘they’ do. But pitch-changing introduces artefacts and,
truth to tell, I’ve only ever come across one stereo pitch-
changer I would even consider using on an entire movie
in real time. (I don’t intend to embarrass other
manufacturers by naming it...) The emphasis should be
on the word ‘stereo’ because up to this point I have not
heard any pitch-changer I would even think about
using on an entire 5.1 movie. (And I’m quite prepared
to be convinced otherwise, if other manufacturers are
feeling slighted.) One problem is phase coherence
between channels. Phase shifts are undesirable in any
case, but can be catastrophic when the ‘extra’ channels
are downmixed for poor unfortunates listening in mono
or stereo.
Movies are not by any means the only application for
a time-scaling processor. Adverts are another obvious
target since they are frequently made for the cinema but
used for TV or vice-versa and here time really is money. A
30-second slot is just that. Broadcast is another rich seam.
As schedules become ever more inflexible, programmes
are stretched or shrunk to fit. If programmes can be scaled
with few audio artefacts this is likely to prove a better and
less expensive solution than editing them.
24
Page 24
review
ROB JAMES checks out its time
scaling processor.
There are three groups of time-scaling technologies
available, frequency-domain, time-domain and modelling.
The first practical device for restoring correct pitch to
a speeded up or slowed down tape was time-domain
based and employed a rotating playback head on a
conventional analogue tape transport. This repeated or
discarded sections of material to achieve its results. At
best this could be described as ‘lo-fi’, but I well
remember using an EMI ‘Eltro’ tape machine equipped
with just such a system in the early 1970s to convert
TV film rushes tapes from 24FPS to 25FPS in the
absence of any viable alternative.
A frequency domain solution proposed by
Schroeder in 1967 produced characteristic artefacts
including phase and loss of transient definition and
frequency domain processes have never taken off.
Later time-domain solutions are, unsurprisingly,
digital variations on the original rotating head splicing
technique using circular memory buffers with
algorithms looking for zero crossing points to make the
joins less audible. More sophisticated versions analyse
the signal content in an attempt to minimise artefacts
such as echoes, stuttering and loss of definition.
Modelling emerged as a bright hope in the 1980s,
but only proved to be applicable to less complex material
and each model tended to be highly specific to a few
types of audio. Processing time is significant so this is
not an obvious choice for a near real-time solution.
The best chance has always seemed to be a
sophisticated analysis engine controlling a time-
domain process and this is substantially what the
Dolby 585 offer is, but in an interesting package and at
a competitive price of UK£4450 plus VAT. Psycho-
acoustic analysis and processing techniques similar to
those employed in data-reduction audio coding
schemes are used to minimise artefacts. The unit has a
fair claim to the title ‘Time Scaling Processor’ rather
than simply pitch-shifter, partly because of the way
information is presented but also because it can record
resolution
a limited amount of material and play it back time-
scaled by up to 15%. (23 minutes 11 seconds of mono,
pro-rata for multichannel formats.)
The 585 is housed in a 2U with a sculpted alloy
front panel in keeping with other recent Dolby
products. In the same vein, it interfaces with the rest
of the world via BNCs for audio at a nominal 48kHz
sampling rate. In, Loop-through and Out connections
are provided for the four pairs of AES-EBU channels
along with AES reference In and Loop-through. 9-pin
D-sub connectors allow for remote RS232 updating of
the software and GP I-O for remote reporting the 585’s
status. Four further ports, not currently active, service
Metadata to and from Dolby E devices and Remote (9-
pin) in and out.
Around the front, the oval screen is backlit in orange
and accompanied by six buttons, a knob and three
indicator LEDs. There is no immediate indication as to
the health of reference or audio input signals on the front
panel or the main status menu, you have to use the
cursor keys to get to the Digital In or Reference screens.
Twenty four different Program Configuration
permutations of the eight channels range from 5.1 + 2
through every practical combination up to 7.1. Display
Mode allows the choice of units for pitch shifting,
frames, cents or percent. The display conveniently tells
you when the percentage is appropriate for the
common 24FPS to 25FPS and vice-versa conversions.
As with any pitch shifting device, latency is an
issue. The 585 allows the user to choose a value
between 400 and 480mS. With the lower value still
approaching half a second, real-time time-scaling will
either require separate video and audio passes, the
introduction of a significant video delay or separate
video and audio sources with a timecode offset.
The oval screen, reminiscent of a thousand sci-fi
images, is not as informative as it could be. Operation
in a hurry with a mere six buttons and a knob isn’t too
much fun either. In Transport mode, all the buttons
take on new functions, not entirely intuitive.
None of this would matter a jot if the unit actually
achieved its goal — i.e. Time Scaling/Pitch changing
without audible artefacts. Even on short acquaintance
and with not especially challenging material I could
hear it in action. Playing with the sensitivity setting
helps, but artefacts are still audible and the
requirement to adjust the process sensitivity to suit the
material takes it out of the ‘plug-and-forget’ category.
This should not be taken as a negative verdict. The
585 finishes a considerable distance ahead of the rest of
the pack. The artefacts are less objectionable than usual
and, in the absence of the other leading contenders for
direct comparison, I believe the 585 is at least as good
in multichannel as it’s nearest rival is in stereo only. The
585 is certainly the best option I’ve come across for the
function it is most obviously optimised for — adverts. I
would still think carefully about routinely applying it to
entire movies in real-time. ■
PROS Phase synchronous pitch shifting/time
scaling; this is as good as it gets.
CONS Artefacts still audible; not the most
intuitive user interface; only 48kHz
nominal sampling rate.
Contact
DOLBY:
Website: www.dolby.com
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:33 PM Page 25

The neXt generation C 414

C 414 B-XLS C 414 B-XL II

• Choose between the ultra linear C 414 B-XLS
and transformerless C 414 B-XL II.
• Higher sensitivity than on earlier models
and extremely low self noise.
• High sound pressure level capability, wide
dynamic range, and low impedance over
the entire audio spectrum.
• Special gold-sputtered plastic foil
diaphragm to prevent short circuiting if
strong blasts of air are applied.
• Elastic capsule suspension greatly
minimizes structurally-transmitted noise
from chassis vibration.
• All switchable components operate in low
impedance circuits for ultra-high reliability
even in extremely humid conditions.
• Two-color LEDs provide quick visual
indication of selected polar pattern.
• Five switchable polar patterns including a
new generation wide cardioid for
placement and application flexibility.
• Green to red LED change to give an
overload warning when the output signal is
distorted.
• Three switchable bass cut filters and three
pre-attenuation pads with LEDs for quick
visual indication.
• 3-pin XLR-type connector with gold-plated
contacts for loss-free signal connection to
the associated equipment.
• Complete immunity to electrostatic and
electro-magnetic interference from digital
gear, computer monitors, etc. due to solid
metal housing and transformerless output
stage.
• Available in stereo pairs factory-matched
for response and sensitivity.
• Complete with hard-shell carrying case,
professional shock mount/stand adapter,
external pop filter and windscreen. Stereo
pairs include stereo bar for X/Y
configuration and single stand placement.
• Optional remote control unit (available by
end 2004) offers full control of all
switchable parameters via standard
microphone cable and 3-pin XLR-type
connectors.

15 new features combined

with the legendary classic sound.
Distributed in UK and Eire by: Harman Pro UK, Cranborne House, Cranborne Road, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 3JN
t: 01707 668222 f: 01707 668010 e: info@harmanprouk.com w: www.harmanprouk.com www.akg.com
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:33 PM
SE Electronics SE1a, SE2a and SE3
While the emphasis on large diaphragm mics remains fairly constant, it’s a peculiar fact that the interest in the altogether more versatile
‘stick’ mic enjoys regular cyclical invigoration as manufacturers release new models in clumps. JON THORNTON test-drives three
spectacular offerings from China’s premium brand.
A
S THE LANDSCAPE of microphone
manufacture has shifted in recent years with
newer, low cost manufacturers entering the
picture, most attention has been paid to the increasing
number of low cost large diaphragm studio capacitors
entering the market. Sure, the large diaphragm tool
has always had a certain prestige associated with it,
but let’s not forget the need for small diaphragm
designs. One company that hasn’t forgotten is SE
Electronics — indeed it has been producing small
diaphragm capacitor microphones for some time. But
alongside recent changes in manufacturing and
worldwide distribution, it has also taken the
opportunity to update and expand its range.
Logically, if rather unimaginatively titled the SE1a,
SE2a and SE3, all three of these microphones are
small diaphragm, pencil type devices. Least expensive
in the pecking order is the SE1a, a development of the
company’s original SE1. Even at a recommended retail
price point of UK£69 (inc. VAT), the SE1a
has a capsule that is a true, externally
polarised capacitor design rather than a
back-electret.
While the capsule is the same fixed
pattern cardioid design found in the original
SE1, the electronics have been overhauled
to reduce self-noise and improve sensitivity
slightly. This has all been packaged in a new
enclosure that is a great improvement on the
original, and whose overall dimensions are
slightly thicker and longer than, say an AKG
SE300. In fact, in looks it’s probably more
like a longer version of a Neumann KM184
than anything else. Looks are one thing,
though — sounds are quite another — and
so in deference to its pricing as much as
anything else, I put it up against an AKG
SE300 with a CK91 cardioid capsule, and a
Beyer Opus 83.
In purely operational terms, the SE1a
lacks some of the features of the
comparison microphones as it possesses no
high pass filter or pad. In sonic terms though, it turns
in a fairly creditable performance. To my ears it has the
edge over the (back-electret) Opus 83, as it seemed to
resolve low level detail that little bit better. Overall
sound of the SE1a is bright but not forward —
although on some sound sources, particularly vocals,
it can start to sound a little brittle at times. Extension
at the top and bottom end is fairly good, and overall
response seems smooth with just a little lift around
10kHz. In the final analysis, the AKG SE300 manages
to sound more convincing and generally more natural
and open.
For those wanting more flexibility in the polar-
pattern department, the next microphone in the range
is the SE2a. Featuring the same electronics and body
as the SE1a, for UK£149 (inc. VAT) you get three
interchangeable capsules in cardioid, hypercardioid
and omni flavours. Also for the price, the microphone
comes in a wooden box together with a fairly crude
26
Page 26
review
looking, but perfectly functional shockmount. This is
in comparison to the cardboard packaging and plastic
clip that accompany the SE1a.
Actually, if you delve under the hood a little
bit deeper, you find that economies of scale do
come into play here. Although the SE1a is
sold as a fixed pattern capacitor, the capsule
will actually unscrew, and will happily accept
the capsules that ship with the SE2a — which
could prove a very cost-effective way to mix
and match capsules and bodies. Sonically, the
cardioid and hypercardioid capsule sound very
similar to the stock capsule on the SE1a —
although predictably the
hypercardioid’s off axis response
is a lot lumpier and coloured.
The pick of the capsules is
probably the omni, which
manages to sound less
‘closed-in’ than the
other two
sometimes can —
and did a nice job
on acoustic guitar.
At the top of the
food chain is the SE3, which is a much
weightier proposition in more ways
than one. Physically longer and thicker
than the SE1a or SE2a, the SE3 uses an
entirely different capsule design to that
employed in its smaller siblings. Higher
specification components in the electronics
and an improved PCB design further up
the ante, as does the provision of a -10dB
pad and a high pass filter. All of this puts
on a bit of weight, and it’s only when you
pick it up that you really appreciate just
how big it actually is, and realise that those
circular side entry ports give the
microphone a curiously retro, almost
1970s look.
All this, another one of those utilitarian
shockmounts and a nice wooden box, can
be yours for UK£129 (inc. VAT) — almost
double the price of the SE1a. And, I have
to say, sonically it also represents a big
jump. Initial auditioning of the SE3 gave
the impression that somehow all of the
little quibbles you can point to in the sound of the SE1
and SE2 have just been ironed out. And while each
one marks an incremental step — the lows seem to
just have that touch more authority, the sense of
brittleness to the high mids has been softened slightly,
the HF extension seems better and more open —
collectively they add up to a very impressive sounding
mic. It still sounds that little bit brighter and more
forward than the AKG SE300 does, but now it seems
to have the bottle to back up that slight brashness.
Admittedly, the SE3 might not be the first choice on
vocals, but on electric and acoustic guitar, percussion,
snare, overheads and even viola it delivered
resolution
consistently good results.
While manufacturers like DPA are not exactly going
to be quaking in their boots as a result of SE
Electronics’ small diaphragm offerings, there’s no
doubt that the SE1a and SE2a are useful tools that
represent terrific value for money. In my opinion, the
pick of the bunch is definitely the SE3. For the price,
it’s more than capable of delivering a natural, but
slightly larger than life sound — and it does so in a
very fuss free manner. And while it would be
overstating things to say that it is nipping at the heels
of the likes of Neumann’s
KM184 — it’s closer than it’s
pricing might have led you
to believe. The folks at
Sonic Distribution also tell
me that an SE4 is in the
offing, which will
effectively be an SE3
with interchangeable
capsules. I’m looking
forward to it. ■
PROS Cheap as chips — particularly SE1a; true
condensers for back-electret money;
SE3 a versatile and classy performer.
CONS SE1a and SE2a can sound a touch brittle
at times; SE3 not as compact as some of
its competitors; supplied shockmounts
look a little ‘industrial’.
EXTRAS As mentioned in the review, SE has an
interchangeable capsule version of the
SE3 on the cards, which will emerge as the
SE4. SE3s will also be available as matched
stereo pairs for UK£349 (inc. VAT).
Incredibly, you can win an SE1a, 2a and
3 as a complete package by entering our
competition on page 57.
Contact
SE MICROPHONES, CHINA:
Website: www.sonic-distribution.com
Worldwide: +44 1525 840400
US: +1 617 623 5581
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:34 PM Page 27
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:34 PM
Manifold Labs Plugzilla
It’s one of those boxes that really caught the imagination when it was first announced. Effectively a way to run plug-ins in a dedicated rack
unit it’ll find friends among those who want to sideline their computer. GEORGE SHILLING squares up to Plugzilla.
P
LUGZILLA IS A STANDALONE plug-in host,
designed to run plug-ins that would normally
run in a computer DAW. Designed by digital
boffin Tony Agnello and built by Eventide, it presently
loads and runs Steinberg Windows format VSTs and
VSTis, compatibility mainly dependent on copy
protection systems. It will also soon support Linux
Audio Developer’s Simple Plug-in API (LADPSA)
format.
The box itself is a deep, heavy, wider than normal
2U rackmounter, containing much of the innards of a
PC, running Linux on a Celeron processor, complete
with whirring hard drive and fans. There is, as yet, no
monitor support, but you can plug in a USB keyboard
for entering text when saving settings.
The architecture has been designed with two
‘machines’, each of which can simultaneously load
four plug-ins. An extremely flexible routing system
allows for instrument plug-ins to merge their output
with incoming audio, and each machine may be
routed in series or parallel with the other machine, or
sent to any desired outputs. Individual plug-in slots
can also derive input and send output to any separate
single analogue or digital connection. A large number
of setup presets are available for different routing
combinations including M-S and 4-channel settings
using different clock rates.
On the rear are XLRs for four analogue inputs and
outputs. XLRs are also provided for stereo AES-EBU
I-O, along with a pair of Wordclock connectors for
operation up to 96kHz plus SPDIF on phonos. There
are two TRS footswitch sockets, MIDI 1 In, Out and
Thru, plus a MIDI 2 In/Out on a single 5-pin DIN plug.
There is a power rocker by the IEC socket, and
computer connectivity in the shape of two USB A
sockets, a USB B, and an Ethernet connector. The unit
can directly access system updates from the Internet
and PZView software for Windows provides file
management using a networked PC. The USB sockets
can be used to connect external drives, and there are
a further two USB A connectors on the front.
Another Power button on the front panel boots the
machine and it takes about 85 seconds before relays
click to switch on the audio signal connections. The
front panel has been neatly designed with rows of
buttons and eight continuous clicking rotary
encoders with surrounding LEDs for pointers or
metering; these are officially known as the Knobs.
Functions and values are displayed on a pair of two-
row LED displays. The bottom row displays the
function of the knob underneath, while the top row
shows related information. Above each display is a
row of four buttons, one for each plug-in slot, that
28
Page 28
review
are used to access and bypass each plug-in. In the
centre are overall machine bypass buttons, page
scroll buttons and primitive meters.
Five illuminating buttons on the right select main
modes. Snapshot is a quick way of saving and
loading the entire setup of the unit into one of 8
locations. Load/Save takes you into menus for more
specific file functions for individual plug-ins,
machines, plug-in settings, system setups and more.
In Knobs mode you can access the parameters for the
plug-in, usually spread across multiple pages.
Each screen’s page up/down buttons can be
pressed simultaneously to enter Zoom mode where
you can use all eight knobs for a single plug-in.
Knobs can be pushed for coarse editing, and also, for
example, to Load settings or display parameter
values. By pressing Knobs again you enter a Hot
Knobs page where you can assign the most useful
functions for immediate access to essential settings,
using the knobs and buttons above. It is also possible
to set ranges, and control parameters via MIDI
controllers and even USB joysticks.
Confusingly, this is referred to as Automation,
although unless recorded as MIDI in a sequencer,
nothing is automated about it. Meters mode handles
many pages of possible points to monitor signal levels
and these are displayed on-screen numerically; useful
but not especially clear to read. Finally, Setup mode
provides MIDI and audio connection configurations,
CPU usage indicators, and all the other configuration
setups, such as sample rate.
A huge number of plug-ins is included preloaded
PROS Great VSTi host for live keyboard performance; ultimate flexible effects unit.
CONS Noisy HD and fans; problems saving settings.
EXTRAS Manifold Labs consists of veterans of the
pro audio and telecoms industries. (L-R)
Marc Lindahl (went from dbx to co
founding Sonorus and doing design work
for Avid, Mackie, TC Works, Swissonic,
Midiman, Event, and others before joining
Eventide as VP of marketing & strategy
and moving to Manifold Labs); Jim Sieniki
(lead software engineer with AT&T Bell
Labs, Ariel, and UTStarcomm); Don Elwell
(started at Ariel Corp as a hardware
engineer, eventually led the department
as VP Engineering); Tony Agnello (while at
Eventide invented the Harmonizer and SP2016 effects processor, has been involved in DSP since the
1970s, including cofounding Ariel Corp); Joe Waltz (veteran of Lexicon and Eventide, worked on
JamMan, Lexicon 300, Eclipse and Orville among others); Todd Mizenko (musician and senior software
engineer with Ariel, General Atronics, and Dot4).
resolution
with accompanying preset programs, although the
quality of these effects and instruments is variable. A
large proportion of available VSTs are compatible and
can be installed; Challenge/Response authorisation
can be activated from the front panel. Plug-ins are
listed alphabetically by Name, Vendor or Type through
the simple menu system, making finding and loading
plug-ins very straightforward.
As a VSTi host Plugzilla works extremely efficiently
— MIDI and audio latency is extremely low, probably
considerably lower than would normally be achieved
by the average DAW software instrument plug-in
running on a normal computer. This is where Plugzilla
excels, and would prove extremely useful for onstage
use of software synths and sample-based
instruments. With VST studio effects, the convertors
sound excellent, and the knobs tweak very
effectively, although in some instances missing GUI
detail slightly mars the experience.
In theory Plugzilla should eliminate some of the
stability problems normally associated with running
any DAW on a PC or Mac. However, I overloaded the
CPU and crashed it with (an admittedly ridiculous) six
instantiations of PSP MasterQ at 96kHz, and I was
unable to make any kind of Save function work. This
caused an error message, and ‘unloaded’ the plug-in
I was trying to save.
But Plugzilla is fairly straightforward to use, and
for VSTi live use Plugzilla is undoubtedly preferable
and more robust than a laptop, and the low latency
is very welcome for musicians. The physical
whirring noise of the unit is irritating in a studio
situation, but for sheer flexibility of function
Plugzilla is hard to beat. ■
Contact
MANIFOLD LABS, US:
Website: www.manifoldlabs.com
Website: www.plugzilla.com
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:34 PM
PSP Prozilla
Plugzilla currently ships with an evaluation version of this suite of VST plug-ins that will not run on any other host than this machine. After
25 uses you are encouraged to buy the plug-ins from the PSP website. GEORGE SHILLING goes from Plugzilla to Prozilla.
T
HERE ARE NINE DIFFERENT plug-ins
included in this comprehensive suite from Polish
company PSP, mostly useful as mastering
processors (Euro 512).
AutoComp is designed to emulate classic opto-
electronic compression. Ratio is apparently fixed,
while Knee is available as a percentage setting for the
range below the threshold level, and there is an option
between RMS and Peak operation — both modes
sound great. With Plugzilla ‘zoomed’, all parameters
are available on one page, with two knobs’ LEDs used
for metering of Gain Reduction and Peak Level. A Time
knob adjusts attack and release simultaneously, and
there is an element of automatic adjustment. Gain is
automatically made up — the make-up seems a little
over-generous at times, although there is a knob to
trim this! AutoComp sounds remarkably analogue-
like, and is quick to set up.
EasyLimit is a brick wall limiter with just four knobs
for two variable controls, plus bypass and a meter. The
controls are Input level and Release time. The
threshold is fixed — level coming out appears to
remain below -6dBfs. Release time is oddly shown as
a percentage, and again there is an automatic element
to this. It sounds good, and by tweaking the release
you can vary the degree of pumping. The sound
remains pleasantly crunchy at fast settings.
MasterQ comprises parametric EQ with high and
low filters (12 or 24dB/octave), high and low shelving
bands, and three parametric bell curves with slightly
different ranges, although these all cover almost all of
the audio spectrum. Default frequencies and Q settings
are sensibly chosen though.
Q settings for the shelves changes the slope and
includes overshoot and undershoot settings. In-built
192kHz capability (although Plugzilla is presently
only 96kHz capable) ensures accurate EQ with ranges
up to 30kHz. Bands have ranges of +/-24dB and there
is an optional FAT mode that uses double sampling
technology for higher accuracy HF filtrations at the
expense of slightly increased latency.
Extremely small boosts and cuts are easy to achieve
accurately with Plugzilla’s knobs. There is even a
LimSat setting with a choice of seven soft-clipping and
October 2004
Page 29
review
limiting algorithms (or thru). All bands include bypass
knobs, and the only downside of this great sounding
and incredibly powerful EQ is all the page-scrolling
necessary on Plugzilla’s front panel, although this is
probably no more of a nuisance than mouse-
controlling the DAW equivalent.
MixPressor includes more possibilities than the
aforementioned AutoComp, but apparently works on
broadly similar principles. The Compress knob seems to
operate much like a threshold knob. Make-up starts
with Auto then moves into a 0 to 47dB range, but there
seems to be a slight software glitch that makes the Auto
mode display ‘Auto’ when in fact there is 0dB gain.
This plug includes a sidechain filter with a listen
facility, and separate Attack, Hold and Release settings,
the Hold setting effectively providing LA-2A-style dual
release times. A Delay setting (on or off) seems to act
as a look-ahead and contains transients more
effectively, and there is a Limit or Saturate option before
output that stops things getting nasty. It sounds much
like the AutoComp but the extra knobs give the user a
few more options to tweak.
MixSaturator adds distortion and enriching
harmonics to mixes or individual instruments. There
are three Valve settings, three Tape settings, and one
Clip setting — a surprisingly gentle emulation of digital
clipping. There are also separate Low and High
Frequency bands where you can select frequencies
and then drive these bands separately; you can then
compensate for level differences of these bands with
gain trims. Overall Drive level plus Input and Output
trims are provided, along with a Mix setting. The
analogue distortions are remarkably convincing,
creating some juicy rich sounds... I still long for a good
tape-hiss plug-in though!
MS is a simple XY to MS and MS to XY codec with
resolution
a Gain knob and channel swapping options.
StereoController comprises a bunch of tools for
corrective mastering, such as phase reversal, L-R swap
and Balance correction. The Sides setting cleverly uses
the differential signal to balance the stereo signals
without influencing centrally panned signals, and
similarly Center moves the central elements without
affecting the sides. Correlation and Balance meters are
included on two of the knobs, and another knob
controls a very accurate short delay for corrections
between the channels.
StereoEnhancer uses differential signal adjustment
and comb-filtering to enhance stereo width. There are
several different modes and a comprehensive set of
controls for tweaking the exact effect, including selection
of the base frequency for the comb filtering and an
Emphasis setting to use a high pass filter, reducing the
effect of spatial enhancement on lower frequencies. A
correlation meter is included, and there is also a mode
for making mono signals into spatial stereo effects. This
plug-in is great fun and works really well.
VintageWarmer is yet another compressor/limiter,
this one including a 3-band multiband mode, and tape
saturation effects. In single band mode, a three-band
EQ is available. The multiple bands are fully editable
with individual settings for crossover frequencies,
saturation effects and release times. ■
PROS Simple to operate; powerful and great
sounding plug-ins; 96kHz.
CONS Plugzilla metering is poor; Prozilla
won’t run on any other VST host;
Plugzilla’s physical noise too loud for
mastering rooms.
Contact
PSP, POLAND:
Website: www.pspaudioware.com
29
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:34 PM
Toft Audio Designs ATC-2
Malcolm Toft returns after a short absence with a new line of outboard with his name on.
ZENON SCHOEPE attempts to resist a dual-channel mic preamp, compressor, and
EQ that has real character.
M
ALCOLM TOFT’S NAME is so strongly
and immediately associated with the
Trident brand that is has largely
overshadowed much of his other work. While many
would want to keep him firmly back in the days of
that limited short run of first A series desks, allowing
him perhaps to venture as far forward as the Series
80 and TSM, I like to look as his work over a much
broader period. For me, his days at MTA did
epitomise much of what was good about what
Malcolm does. Well thought out desks that were
stacked full of features, that were well laid out, and
that sounded great on pretty much all fronts. They
looked a tad sudden with their light back colour and
bright red switches but they’ve probably aged more
gracefully than some of the cosmetic atrocities that
were hitting us at around the same time. Most
importantly they were always extremely good value
and still represent a great second hand buy today for
those who want a proper desk.
The MTA days also saw the release of the desk EQ
as a Signature series rack unit and it remains one of
my favourite EQs simply because it is so usable and so
effective. An all to brief association with the Trident-
MTA brand and Fletcher Electroacoustics did,
however, produce the rather superb and very
underrated A Series EQ mic preamp that I regard as
among the finest ever built. After a another quiet
period, it’s great to see Malcolm back again with a
range of boxes with his name on.
The ATC-2 breaks no immediate ground with what
has become a fairly standard list of features but
because it has the Toft name on it we can expect
something a little special. We have a dual channel mic
preamp, with line and instrument inputs, FET
compressor and EQ housed in a stylish case with
nicely sculpted recesses for the switchgear. It’s built in
the Far East but you really wouldn’t think it as it’s
chunky, tight and well screwed together with smooth
pots, which are centre detented where appropriate,
positive switches and good hardware. Most
significantly it’s UK£699 (inc. VAT).
The rear panel has XLR connectors for mic and line
balanced inputs and outputs plus unbalanced jack I-
Os. The front panel adds instrument level inputs to
both channels.
I’ll say straight away that the compressor has a
Stereo Link switch that merely links the control
voltages and leaves each channel’s individual controls
fully independent. So there is no master channel
allocation just like in those old desirable FET designs.
30
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review
To quote the rather poor manual, which really
should have a front panel layout with pot by pot and
switch by switch descriptions, the box’s mic pres are
derived from his earlier desks and the EQ and
compressor sections ‘borrow heavily from vintage
Trident designs’. The EQ, in particular, will stir Series
80 fans.
Starting with the equaliser then, you get a
switchable 12dB/octave 50Hz rolloff and +/-15dB
on all for four bands. LF and HF are shelving with
switchable 60/120Hz and 8/12kHz frequencies. The
mids are peaking and seem to sweep (there are no
figures in the manual) 100Hz-1.5kHz and
1-15kHz. This is a great design and I love it. It might
not read like much but believe me that it has a
subtlety that is now increasingly lacking in modern
designs. It’s pure sweetener, whether in boost or cut,
generous and full bodied. You can pile it in with
enthusiasm but I found I ended up using little bits of
each band and used it lots.
To my mind when you get a tracking EQ you want
to be using it, the special occasion EQs are all well and
good but they do tend to spend a disproportionate
amount of time On and unplugged. This circuit is a
high usage design that I love to death. Admittedly
you’re not going to be pulling out mains hum with this
thing but you will very quickly find it can improve and
correct with ease.
Now the compressor is a different sort of
proposition mostly because its action is quite different
from the more common VCA-type designs. It’s
PROS Quality, characterful processing; ultimately usable EQ; real retro compression; a great box.
CONS Could do with a Peak LED and the ability to desensitise the VU for gain reduction extremes; no
switchable EQ-compressor order; poor manual.
EXTRAS
Other products in the Toft range include the AFC dual channel equaliser and mic preamp, the EC-1
mono channel compressor, EQ and mic preamp and the DC-2 dual channel mono/stereo compressor.
resolution
certainly fast but its squash factor has much more in
common with ‘classic’ designs than its modern
presentation would suggest. There are fully variable
Attack and Release pots (marked only as fast and
slow at their extremes), Ratio (apparently unity to
12:1) and the essential Gain Make Up (-50 to +20).
VU-style meters can follow output level or gain
reduction. The former could really do with a Peak
LED, to my mind, and
the latter could do with a
means of desensitising
the meters when
hammering hard as
mine spent most of their
time twitching on the
hard left end stop.
But it’s really very
good, I can’t knock it.
There’s a creamy quality
to what it does that is
immediately flattering and very refined. It’s very
similar in quality to boxes costing very much more
that have those funny plastic controls on the front.
This is a good mix compressor, excellent on drum
subgroups if you want to get that sucky room mic
sound, and very handy on snares. It’s also fabulous
on a quality vocal mic because it can be remarkably
transparent and doesn’t have to overpower and
stamp its mark on the singer. I’m fumbling for a word
here and ‘smooth’ probably gets closest and will
mean most to you.
It goes without saying that the mic preamp is damn
fine — very quiet and responsive — and surprisingly
unfussy about what mic it is being fed.
EQs and compressors can be bypassed individually.
EQ is fixed before the compressor which is OK for most
things but there are times when I like to run things the
other way around.
The ATC-2 is very hard to fault in any major way
and amounts to a quality unit of remarkable character
— again that’s something that is starting to be lacking
in a lot of ‘affordable’ outboard. I love the EQ, the
compressor and the mic pre. I’ve think I’ve just added
another box to my list of favourites. ■
Contact
TOFT AUDIO DESIGNS, UK:
Tel: +44 1803 215111
Website: www.toftaudio.com
US, PMI Audio: +1 877 563 6335
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:34 PM Page 31

‘ My investigation
into the many
facets of the
SCX-25 has
proved to be
most rewarding!’
David Grisman
Legendary Mandolinist

You don't have to be a sleuth to figure out that

the SCX-25 is one of the most original and best
sounding microphones to hit the pro audio market
in recent times.
SCX-25
Uniquely shock mounted within an intricately machined Condenser Microphone
brass housing, the SCX25's patented shock mount design
completely isolates the capsule from the mic body and the
electronics. By successfully minimizing acoustic reflections and diffractions,
the SCX-25 delivers a pure, open-air sound unlike any other microphone.
Track down a pair of SCX25's for your next recording. David Grisman did
and you can hear the results on his latest releases.
For more information about David Grisman and his music go to www.dawgnet.com.
For a dealer near you call: 800-966-8261
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Audix Corporation, PO Box 4010, Wilsonville, OR 97070. In Canada, C-Tec, Tel 604-942-1001, Fax 604-942-1010 ®Audix Corp 2003. All rights reserved. Audix and the Audix logo are trademarks of Audix Corporation.
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:34 PM
Sony Oxford Dynamics and R3 EQ
They’ve been around for a while but sport impeccable lineage and an individual twist on tonal shaping and gain reduction.
GEORGE SHILLING returns to Oxford.
T
HE SONY OXFORD R3 EQ and Dynamics
plug-ins are directly modelled on the Oxford OXF-
R3 console’s respective sections, and are available
for Pro Tools LE and TDM, as well as for TC Powercore.
The EQ comprises five bands of fully parametric EQ,
with top and bottom bands switchable to shelving
function, plus high- and low-pass filters. There are
four types of EQ available, mysteriously labelled Type
1, Type 2, etc. Everything else about the appearance
makes the function fairly obvious, with each band
including conventional Cut/Boost, Frequency and Q
controls. As soon as the mouse is hovered over a
control, the value appears as a ‘tooltip’ in text form.
There is an option for these numeric values to display
on all knobs at all times, and with the rather shallow
32
Page 32
review
plot graph, I preferred this, despite the semi-
obliteration of the pointers.
Unfortunately there is no way to enter numbers
directly. When the plug-in is instantiated, twiddling the
knobs does absolutely nothing initially: each band
includes an ‘In’ button that must be clicked first — the
default is bypass. In the centre are A and B buttons for
storing two different overall EQ setups for comparison,
although there was no way I could copy settings from
A to B or B to A, even using copy and paste, as that
copied the A or B setting too.
An overall level attenuation knob is useful for
avoiding clipping when boosting loud signals. Here
also is the Type selector, where you can nudge up and
down the list before clicking the In button to activate.
resolution
The bands have big 20dB ranges, and enormous
frequency overlaps. Type 1 is the most clinical, with
minimal ‘Gain/Q dependency’ — this does what it
says on the tin, seeming similar in character to Waves
Renaissance EQ or McDSP FilterBank.
Type 2 has a similar boost characteristic, but in cut
retains constant Q, useful for more precise notching
out, particularly when tweaking drums. Type 3 makes
the Q narrower at higher cut/boost levels, and so
sounds more ‘musical’, and Type 4 takes this even
further, where when increasing gain it’s more akin to
the Waves Paragraphic plug-ins. Shelf bands use the Q
knob to vary the undershoot/overshoot at the
turnover frequency, and are unaffected by the Type
selected. Filters are variable from 6dB/octave up to
October 2004
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review

36dB/octave. With more gain/cut available than the

competition, and the sheer range of available PROS Fantastic sound quality and flexibility.
characteristics, the package is extremely flexible, and
sonically excellent, if a little ergonomically lacking.
CONS CPU load can be high; fiddly graphics.

The Dynamics plug-in includes simultaneous Gate, EXTRAS Sony Oxford has launched its Oxford
Expander, Compresser, Limiter, Sidechain EQ and Reverb plug-in. Designed as a flexible
Warmth sections, each with their own dedicated stereo reverberation generator it has
control page and bypass button. The compressor presets and complete control of its many
parameters, including a comprehensive
section in particular is comprehensively featured, with
early reflections section and integrated
five different knee settings where you can lower the 5-band EQ. It is compatible with ProTools
onset of compression below the threshold point in HD and ProTools LE.
steps of 5dB. Another interesting feature is the
implementation of a Hold knob, which delays the
release part of the compressor effect, enabling some
very smooth programme compression.
The Limiter section features similar timing controls
that have large ranges — for example, Release goes
right down to 0.005S and up to over 3S. These timings
can be controlled by three different modes. Normal
generates logarithmic timings and the Classic mode is
similar but fixes time settings to emulate the dbx 160.
There is also a Linear mode that provides a constant
rate of gain change, which can generate dynamic
sound effects.
The Compressor’s Ratio control also boasts enormous
range, but sensibly the 2:1 position is half way round.
The Compressor is extremely versatile, and in some ways
similar to an analogue dbx in its precision. Perhaps
slightly bland compared to vintage models, this deficiency
is partially addressed by the Warmth section where a
variable control adds some pseudo-valve richness and
depth which is particularly enjoyable on vocals.
The Limiter is astonishingly good with a built-in
look-ahead function that keeps things very well tamed
without any unpleasant artefacts. The very effective
Gate and Expander sections both include Threshold,
Attack, Hold, Release and Range knobs, with the
Expander additionally providing a Ratio. The Side-
Chain EQ is a powerful 2-band parametric/shelving
section that can by switched to the dynamics side
chain or even into the main signal path.
An enormous graph shows very clearly the
combined theoretical effect of all active sections on the
gain curve. This is a fixed display, while virtual LED
meters show input and output levels, plus gain
reduction separately for each section. These meters are
small and could have benefited from a little more
resolution. The Dynamics plug-in additionally offers a
16-bit dithering mode for mastering situations —
normal audio resolution is 24 bit, of course.
In conclusion, both plug-ins are extremely versatile,
thoroughly designed and boast supreme sonic
integrity (TDM EQ: UK550 + VAT; TDM Dynamics:
UK£550 + VAT). These are Rolls-Royce models, and
the downside of their powerful performance and
flexibility is that they use slightly more processing
power than some of the competition. There are no
‘cut-down’ options of, say, instantiating just the
Compressor section of the Dynamics plug-in, although
there are versions of the EQ with fewer bands in the
TDM version. It could be argued that the GUI designs
of both are a little fiddly — precision mouse-work is
required. Their overall sonic character is refined, dry
and slightly bland compared to vintage valve
outboard. However, these are plug-ins and sonically
the best of their kind. ■

Contact

SONY OXFORD, UK:

Website: www.sonyplugins.com

October 2004 resolution 33

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review

AKG WMS 40 Microtools system

The WMS 40 Wireless Microphone system represents an impressive range of UHF transmitters and receivers, with a selection of
compatible accessories and complimentary applications, that together AKG calls Microtools. NEIL HILLMAN goes small.

M
ICRO. FROM THE GREEK ‘mikros’
meaning small. So far so good. An adjective:
extremely small in scope or capability; trivial.
But as far as those definitions are concerned: no, no
and, well, no. The only thing small or trivial in this
range is the attractive semi-professional price tag that
accompanies each item.
Designed expressly by AKG to be entry-level, the
WMS 40 range has succeeded in lowering the price-
point for such-specified kit, while simultaneously
providing a quality that will have other manufacturers
of serious systems pausing awhile to maybe consider
their own offerings. Yes, the casings are plastic, yes, the
battery compartments will need the respect that only a
freelance owner would afford them; but given the
finances faced by the jobbing recordists servicing
today’s television (the micro-economy, in microcosm),
or if you were just embarking on a road-career, it
suddenly becomes less of a compromise to consider
these products as a low-cost and flexible way to tool-
up. However, one of the proviso’s is, inevitably, the
obligatory licensing arrangement with JFMG in the UK.
The WMS 40 range operates in the 710-865MHz
band, which neatly spans the allocated bands for UK
Channel 69 ‘specific locations’: indoors (854.250-
862.000MHz) or outdoors (854.250-858.750MHz
and 859.750-862.000MHz), or ‘free-roaming’
(854.900-860.400MHz): all of which require an
annual license fee to be paid to operate legally;
although some of the WMS 40’s channels are in the
license-free (863-865MHz) smash-and-grab zone of were best suited to each purchaser. offer an output level control that allows adjustment of
the bingo hall and aerobic instructor. However, the There are three receivers in the WMS 40 range; one the receiver’s output between -30dB, 0dB and +6dB.
fixed, preset, frequencies of the transmitters and is a portable diversity, the PR 40, for location use and RF and Power levels are displayed on the front
receivers let the system be set-up quickly and easily, two stationary models: the SR 40 and the SR 40 indicator panel. The audio bandwidth for the whole
and ensure that a recordist need never inadvertently Diversity. Both of the stationary SR 40 receivers — WMS 40 range is stated to be 40Hz-20kHz; THD as
slip across the wrong side of the tracks. Either way, I which may be rack-mounted or free-standing — carry 0.8% and a claimed signal-to-noise ratio greater than
would assume that any AKG supplier would take the a balanced XLR output along with an unbalanced 1/4- 108dB. Reasonable then, even if only 4 channels may
time and trouble to determine which preset frequencies inch jack-socket, provide an adjustable squelch, and run together inter-mod free.

DAC 1
Two Channel 24-bit, 96-kHz
D/A Converter
Listening to audio from the DAC1 is an amazing experience.
The distortion free output is so clear it feels as though someone has
lifted the curtain! Now you can hear detail that was previously
masked by jitter induced artifacts and distortion. If it was an
exceptional recording, you’ll hear it, if it wasn’t, you’ll hear that too.
The DAC1 offers just about the finest analog conversion available -
right up to 192-kHz, plus all sample rates playback with a 52-kHz
analog bandwidth. Performance is unrivaled. THD+N is an
astonishing low -106 dB (0.0005%) measured at 0 dBFS, at any
playback frequency, at any sample rate, with any degree of input
jitter, and it just gets better from there.
For more information, contact your local dealer.

The DAC1... you never heard it so good!™

Exclusively distributed in the UK by SCV London.

Tel: 020 8418 0778 Email: info@scvlondon.co.uk www.scvlondon.co.uk

34 resolution October 2004

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review

The PR 40 diversity portable receiver is specifically various dynamic microphones. Its single AAA battery PROS A brilliant bangs-for-bucks price-point
designed for location recordists — as a mixer-bag power should last for up to 8 hours; but even this little coupled with a refreshing sense of style,
pocket item — or for camera-persons, fixed to the device is designed to sit comfortably in the CU 40 class and quality.
camera of their one-man-band crew. It carries two ‘drop-in’ charger.
folding antennae, an on/off switch and indicator, and, The Microtools range also includes a guitar-jack CONS While the WMS 40 is disrespectful to its
peers by blurring the boundary of
in an easily scanned row of three: a battery level LED, transmitter (the ‘Guitar Bug’ GB 40) for musicians, where it ought to stand given its price,
an RF level LED and an audio level LED. There are two and for lecturers, a lavalier microphone with a you do — ultimately — get what you
conjoined outputs: a combined line-level and detachable head; worn like a ball-point pen in a breast pay for.
headphone arrangement on a 2.5mm TRS jack socket; pocket (the ‘Micropen’ MP 40). This whole AKG WMS
the fixed line-level signal appears on the tip, whilst the 40 system shows a considerable, and pleasing, Ikea-
adjustable headphone feed is carried by the ring. esque style; combined with a satisfying sense of Contact
The unit is powered by two AAA batteries, giving a ergonomic flair and economic prudence.
useful life of 8 hours; or by an optional Powering Adaptor In a world where there’s no such thing as a free AKG, AUSTRIA:
(PA 40) which fits neatly into the battery compartment lunch, the AKG WMS 40 certainly makes for a Website: www.akg.com
UK, HARMAN PRO: www.harmanprouk.com
of the unit and takes power from a suitable camcorder tempting finger-buffet. ■
supply outlet operating between 5-18V; or by
rechargeable cells, replenished via an optional drop-in,
walkie-talkie type charger (CU 40) that conducts
through an array of contacts located on the bottom of the
receiver. This highly convenient feature is common to all
of the transmitters in the WMS 40 range, too, with a re-
cycle time of around just 1 hour. Comforting.
Users are spoilt for choice with the transmitters on
offer. My favourite in a moment; first there is the HT
40 handheld transmitter. Designed as a robust vocal
microphone — with a bright edge to its output — the
transmission technology is housed within the body of
an AKG D880, a dynamic cardioid microphone whose
rugged body hides the integral antenna.
The transmitter is operated by a silent on/off switch,
and there is a low-battery indicator; although with
around 35 hours of operational life from two AA
batteries, that could amount to an awesome 700
renditions of My Way; or a spine-tingling combination
of 350 each of I Will Survive and Hey, Big Spender
before it starts to glow. Staggering.
The PT 40 bodypack transmitter is, surprisingly,
quite large, though light, and may be worn in the
traditional manner of either a presenter’s pocket or
belt, and may be coupled to a selection of suitable
lavalier microphones. Simplicity itself in ergonomics
and controls, it carries a mini-XLR connector, an on/off
switch, a Mute slider-switch and a low-battery
indicator. A small display window provides an LCD
showing Carrier Frequency or sub-channel of a
Frequency Group, audio input level, battery level and
remaining operating time, error messages and the set-
up menus for Frequency, Preset and Gain.
A jog switch on the side of the unit is used to alter
variable parameters and activates the screen’s
backlight for 10 seconds when momentarily pushed.
The key to the inherent quality of any transmitter is its
compander, or more precisely its ability to process HF
transients; and its here, probably for the first time, that
a cognoscenti will pause and reconsider the merits of
the performance-cost ratio in the WMS 40; in
particular the critical coupling of a PT 40 with a PR 40,
processing a variety of male and female voices.
But my favourite of the WMS 40’s Microtools is,
without a doubt, the delightful SO 40 ‘Snap On’
transmitter. It is tactile and elegant, efficient and
effective, and the cheapest way I know to instantly
transform any cabled dynamic microphone into a
hand-held transmitter. The SO 40 is so small and light,
it weighs less than the cable and XLR it replaces.
Sturdily made in a light, reinforced glass-fibre case that
houses an integral antenna, there is a silent on/off
switch with a centre mute position, yet retains the
power to the device while it continues to transmit the
5mW RF carrier. A recessed rotary pot allows the input
gain of the SO 40 to be optimised for the outputs of

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review

Sony Vegas +DVD Production Suite

Audio’s standard-bearing package for the video world has changed hands and undergone a number of
refinements. ROB JAMES looks at Vegas V5 and DVD Architect 2 Plus AC-3 Encoder and judges it a cost-
effective way to get a postproduction suite.

T
HE MIDDLE GROUND nonlinear editing
market is moving on apace. Neatly mirroring
the DAW experience, prices are falling and the
feature count is rising. Although necessarily there are
common factors to all the big players’ packages, there
is one wild card that has always managed to go its
own way. Adobe’s Premiere, Pinnacle’s Liquid Edition
and even the new Canopus Edius all follow the model
set down by the phenomenally successful Avid Media
Composer to a greater or lesser extent. Vegas Video,
on the other hand, began life as Vegas Audio,
developed by Sonic Foundry, and these audio roots
arguably make for an easier transition to video for
people who are more used to audio workstations. For
example, there is no twin-screen source-edit window
but there is an excellent trimmer.
When Sony Pictures Digital Networks bought Sonic
Foundry, it was the cause of some consternation
among the existing user base because of worries
about the future development directions that Sony
might impose. This is the first major release since the
take-over and should successfully allay any
remaining fears and win plenty of new adopters.
The standalone editing part of the package, Vegas
5 is now priced at a very reasonable UK£424.68
(+VAT) and includes Boris Graffiti 3.0 LTD for 2D
titling. But the real steal is the whole package,
complete with DVD Architect 2 and 5.1 Dolby
licensed AC-3 encoder for a mere UK£638.30 (+VAT).
To put this into perspective, a few years back, when I
reviewed Sonic Foundry’s earlier AC-3 encoder, Soft
Encode, the price was the same or more than this
complete package.
Vegas 5 has been given on-the-fly, punch-in music. It has also gained envelope automation ‘rubber-band’ technique. Vegas also has support for a
recording. This will be useful for recording recording. This can be written using the on-screen single Mackie Control Universal or up to five generic
commentary to picture and, of course, ADR as well as faders for audio and further adjusted using the usual MIDI controllers. Continuing with the audio

the daddy.

2 channel JFET/tube stereo bus compressor

. C O M

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review

improvements, the already useful collection of support and I am inclined to agree with them. One of
plug-ins has been augmented with three new, 5.1, the joys of native processing with a standard PROS Cost effective all in one package;
effects — Track EQ, dither and Wave Hammer (a soundcard and OHCI compliant FireWire is that you network rendering; doesn’t follow the
surround compressor). can have several packages installed on a machine and herd; intuitive user interface.
Bus to bus routing now allows sub-grouping and do various parts of a project using the most CONS DVD Architect lacks DLT support and
there is film-style surround panning with support for appropriate one or just the one you are most CSS/Macrovision; may seem alien to
panning between adjacent pairs of speakers using a comfortable with. people used to other editors; 2D only
constant power pan law. Real-time downmixing from This is a cost-effective and relatively painless way titling seems a bit mean.
5.1 to stereo should help improve efficiency. of acquiring a complete postproduction suite. Vegas
On the media management front it is now itself is an unconventional but very seductive editor. I
possible to create subclips, which reference a section find it works more naturally than most. The surround Contact
of a media file. These can be defined in either the sound tools and DVD authoring are intuitive and
SONY MEDIASOFTWARE, US:
Trimmer window or directly in the Vegas timeline. quick to use and can give highly impressive results. It
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These subclips are added to the project’s media pool doesn’t condescend and it doesn’t feel rigid. I liked the UK, SCV London: +44 208 418 0778
and are used in exactly the same way as ‘normal’ previous incarnations; it’s a whole lot better now. ■
clips. The ‘bin’ architecture has been improved to
help housekeeping on long-form projects but could
still be better.
As an aid to workflow for projects destined for
DVD, frame accurate subtitles can be entered in Vegas
and exported to DVD Architect by creating named
regions in Vegas. These are exported as a text file
using a script then imported into DVD Architect to
create frame-accurate subtitles in a DVD project.
Unique on a product at this price point, the
provision of networked rendering is a big advance.
Vegas comes complete with two additional render-
only ‘service packs’. If these are installed on
networked PCs, Vegas can break down a project into
smaller chunks and, from the users point of view,
transparently manage the rendering and
reassembly process.
Vegas uses the popular MainConcept MPEG
encoder. There is now a twin pass option
that certainly enhances the picture quality but, on a
modest system, at the expense of very long
render times.
DVD Architect has been comprehensively
revamped with a new Project Overview Window, Real
Time External Monitor preview via FireWire, 24p DVD
encoding, Fit To Disk Compression, programmable
end actions for menus and media, multiple audio
track support, subtitle creation and import support,
enhanced optimisation tools and asset behaviour
control. These features and others, such as audio
track waveforms and up to 32 subtitle streams (16 in
widescreen) add up to make DVD Architect 2
arguably the most comprehensive solution available
The Direct-Access Console
at anywhere near this price point.
However, there are some omissions, which will
appear glaring to some and irrelevant to others.
There is no support for multiple angles and Architect
Instant access is essential in live situations. This is
cannot import complete menus in Adobe PSD format. exactly what the unique AURUS Direct-Access con-
However, Architect’s own design tools are very good. cept provides. Developed from scratch, the AURUS
Anyone contemplating commercial duplication will Digital Audio Mixing System sets new standards in
have a problem because DLT is not currently the high-end digital audio market.
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approach. Those who have persisted are vocal in their

October 2004 resolution 37

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:35 PM
Youth
He’s a bass player turned remixer, writer and producer with a string of hits that support his
particular approach. He talks to GEORGE SHILLING about production methods, staying
focused, the mystery of getting it right and his new studio in Spain.
I
FIRST MET YOUTH at Livingston Studios in 1988
when we were both working on the Yazz album for
Big Life. He was at that point best known as the
former bass player in Killing Joke (they have since
sporadically reformed, with Youth producing their
latter-day output). He had also been a member of the
Stock, Aitken & Waterman produced Brilliant
(alongside KLF’s Jimmy Cauty), but by now was
building a reputation as a remixer, writer and producer.
He was associated with the burgeoning post-Acid
House UK dance, trance and chill-out scene,
contrasting dramatically with the art-punk leanings of
Killing Joke. Since then he has developed an
exceptional CV as a producer, including the
monumentally successful Urban Hymns by The Verve,
plus Crowded House, Tom Jones, James, Dido and
Embrace’s recent number one album.
38
Page 38
For some years he ran his own Butterfly Studios in
Brixton, along with a bunch of record labels — he
currently runs Dragonfly, Liquid Sound Design and
Kamaflage — through which he releases development
projects, remixes, and his own work under
pseudonyms. He is presently resurrecting the Butterfly
label for a project featuring folk-based artists, and he
continues to write and co-write material. Recently he’s
been working on a classical crossover project with Mel
Bush and a Croatian pianist, writing and arranging
with an orchestra, and has completed albums with
String Cheese Incident, Howie Day and Keith Flint. I
interviewed him in his garden summerhouse studio in
London while he worked on a remix for Juno Reactor,
who featured in The Matrix movies. However, after 30
years in London, he is planning a move to Spain and
is currently constructing a self-designed house
resolution
alongside his dream recording studio based around a
TL Audio VTC console, complete with views of snow-
capped mountains, and a floor-plan loosely based on
Olympic Studio 2.
Why did you choose the TLA VTC console for
the new studio?
Because studios are going through such a radical re-
evaluation at the moment, because of the technology
and the state of the industry. When you think, okay I
want to build my ideal studio, you’re not going to
spend hundreds of grand on it like you would in the
old days. And even if you did, making it commercially
viable would be ridiculous. I didn’t want to get into a
situation where I’d invested so much I’d have to make
it commercial — which is kind of what happened in
the 1990s when I had Butterfly Studios in Brixton.
And also the technology’s changed — it’s so good now
with Logic and Pro Tools, it’s as good as, if not better
than tape ever was. So what we decided to do is have
more of a mastering studio centred around a big HD
system, and really the TLA desk — at one point I
really didn’t want a desk. Maybe 12 channels of old
Neve, that was one idea. When I saw the TLA, apart
from this being a great desk it has great mic inputs;
I’ve got to get those anyway, so it seemed like a really
good solution.
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:36 PM
So it’s mostly for band recording?
I think so, but what we’ve also done when we start
mixing from Logic is bringing the mix up like stems,
so the whole mix covers 8 tracks, and bringing that up
through the TLA and cranking it a little bit, just to give
it a bit of analogue compression and warmth and a
little bit more spread. We’ll have a minimal amount of
outboard, a couple of Ureis and an SSL compressor, a
few delays and stuff, but not much, because the plug-
ins are so good now, it’s kind of pointless.
Who is involved with building the new studio?
I’ve had Terry Otley and Ian Davidson who both
refurbished Olympic and Abbey Road and come
highly recommended as the best in the business. It’s
a fresh build; I’ve designed the house and the studio
myself with Terry. It’s loosely based on Studio 2 at
Olympic, which is my favourite room, with a few
other ideas — lots of floor-to-ceiling glass and long
views, which is unusual for a studio. To get the
acoustics right with all that glass was a little bit tricky,
but Terry’s an absolute genius and knows where all
the sweet spots are. I’ve got a pair of 1035 Genelecs
and the TLA. I’ve got quite a big collection of guitars
and old vintage amps, I’m looking for some old BBC
compressors and a few toys to take down there, and
I want to go over with an unsigned rock band and see
how she runs. And from that point on, do album
projects there.
Do you have any special convertors or gizmos?
Just 888s. If I’m doing a big production I’ll use HD at
Olympic, but here I’ve got one 24-bit interface and two
16-bit.
So you’re not too fussy about all that?
If you record low-res you can make anything sound
like whatever you want today. You can make it sound
like vinyl or tape, if you record with an 87 you can
make it sound like it was recorded on a transistor built-
in mic. You can almost make one of those mics sound
like an 87. It’s more to do with proportion and
perspective, and things like authenticity that make
something work. It’s great having all the processing
power, but none of that’s ever going to give you those
insights that make something really work and give
something magic and soul, and that’s what you really
want out of a record. I get fascinated by the
technology, but I’m not a techno buff. I suppose it’s
relative — I’m not a techno buff compared to my
assistant Adam, or great programmers and engineer-
producers like Gareth Jones, or great engineers I work
with like Clive Goddard — but to friends of my wife I’m
a total techno buff.
How do you approach band recording?
Pretty traditional really, I preproduce and rehearse, go
through arrangements and selections of songs.
Choosing the songs is the most important choice of the
whole album. Once you’ve picked the contenders,
then routining them and working with the band on
arrangements and direction. And that’s a really good
fun part of it, because it’s really instant. The band’s
there and you can just try something completely
different in seconds, you don’t need any of this
technology, you just plug in and do it.
Generally I only do two or three days and go
through 15 songs, sometimes it’s a week. It depends on
their circumstances — if they’ve been on the road for
18 months, or writing for two years. Try out a few ideas
in the arrangements, and put the songs in the ring a bit
October 2004
Page 39
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and really try the fast ones really slow, try the ballads
really fast, and different keys and totally different
approaches, just to see the parameters of the song.
After the routining, into the studio and it’s
focusing on great performances, which means not
doing too many takes, keeping the band fresh and
focused. Trying out the different arrangements to see
which ones work. And we might record jams in the
evening, and then we might do things like take the
lyric and melody from a properly worked out song
and put that over the jam in a different key and really
play around with it. The main responsibility of the
producer is to create a space and a team that really
allows the band to go into lots of different areas and
at the same time keep it really focused. The dynamic
between those two things is what creates the magic,
I think. It sounds pretty straightforward and easy,
and it can be, but at the same time it can be
incredibly traumatic for a band because it involves
vast reserves of bravery and confidence to really
commit to those ideas with the same amount of
intensity and emotion as the one they’ve been
rehearsing at home for the last six months before I
came along. And to have someone who’s a relative
stranger come along and critique their technique and
style and suggest other things, it’s a bit like having a
sex therapist come in and tell you how to make love
to your wife, because it’s a very intimate thing.
So in that sense, it’s very, very sensitive. But I’m
pretty frank and very honest in the studio, and I think
that’s something that’s valuable as well, it’s no good
pussyfooting about with an artist, because that will
make them feel twice as bad and they won’t know
where they are. Generally, after the first couple of
weeks the band settles into a new kind of confidence
once they start hearing what they’ve achieved and
once they can hear where they can go with the songs.
At that point things start changing gear, we’ll have got
the rhythm tracks, but we’re going for rhythm tracks
with great performances, and once we’ve got the
rhythm track we can do anything. I think that’s the
way most of my favourite classic records have been
made, from Dark Side of the Moon to Never Mind The
Bollocks, it’s the same kind of philosophy. I’ve spent
years experimenting with lots of different ways of
working with bands, and there are no absolutes or
dogma to it, but that particular approach seems to be
consistently successful.
resolution
Do you get your engineer to set up for a mix?
Yeah, I let them at it, and even if they’ve recorded it,
they’ll generally reinvent it in a way I haven’t
expected. And I think it’s the same with the recording
thing, you go in with expectations and ideals and a
certain vision, and really you want to have that
superceded and smashed with fantastic surprises, and
that’s the best thing that can happen, and that often
happens in the mix. I think there’s a certain amount of
performance to a mix as well. The best mixers I’ve
worked with, from Bob Clearmountain to Mark Spike
Stent to Clive Goddard, they’ll get a mix in three or four
hours. If you haven’t got it happening in three or four
hours, it’s probably not going to happen, unfortunately.
No matter how big the mix is, because especially if it’s
a really big mix, you have to be able to translate that
into a simple thing that people can understand. And it’s
also reducing it down to bass, middle and treble.
What I love is the kind of weird crazy side of all this,
the fact that you’re taking moments of time and
manipulating them, and turning them into things that
have soul — actually give people soul, make people
cry, and they’re outside of time, they’re there
regardless. That can really happen in a mix. Everything
in a studio goes into that recording, I believe. You are
making these weird fetishes, weird magical little
moments. The whole process of doing that is a bit of a
weird thing, when you sit down and think about it.
And I think a lot of engineers and musicians do think
about it, because they’re there for hours, ‘What is this?
What are we actually doing?’ That’s one whole side of
it, and the other side of it is just bass, middle and treble,
and totally mundane and practical.
How hung up do you get about how it’ll
sound on the radio?
It always sounds better on the radio. But you never
really hear that in the studio. So you have to guess
that when you get that little stop and the guitars are
revving up you have that ‘whoooor’ sucking air sort of
thing. And you’ll never hear that on the album, you’ll
only have that on the radio, and of course different
radio stations sound different. If you go to LA it’ll
sound even better there than it ever does here, I think
they use more powerful signals or something but it
definitely sounds much, much better. It probably has
something to do with the geographic altitude of a
place, and how many water molecules are in the air,
39
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:36 PM
and things like that. I’ve heard people say that studios
that are by the sea are very good because of that. It’s
a bit far-fetched, but there could be a lot to it!
There’s all this other stuff that no-one knows
anything about as to why something clicks and
works, I suppose that’s why I’m quite superstitious,
because I’m aware that there’s a lot of other stuff that
goes into it. And I think it’s balancing all that other
stuff with the practical, rational, functional side of
recording a song that makes something great. On one
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hand, you’re trying to get the technology out of the
way of that stuff, so that stuff can really fly around.
On the other you’re really trying to keep that stuff well
under rein, so it doesn’t spin everybody out, make
everybody freak out, and get what you’re playing and
all that emotion recorded so it actually sounds good.
Have you done anything in 5.1?
I’ve experimented a little bit, but the only thing I’ve
heard that I liked was Metallica and that sounded
resolution
awesome, but it only sounds awesome when you’re in
a 5.1 studio and you stand right in the middle.
Anywhere to the left or right, it’s awful. I’ve heard
some terrible ones where you stand at the back and it’s
just the guitars, all the drums are at the front, it’s like,
where are you supposed to be? Under the stage?
I think it’s great for movies, but generally in
movies they want a stereo image up the front with
the odd effect flying around. When you split the
band up, you lose a lot of the weight, and also you
lose a lot of the illusion a recording gives you,
because, don’t forget, it is an illusion, it’s not live.
And like any good illusionist, as soon as you start
showing how it’s done, it doesn’t have any kind of
magic to it. I think I preferred Quadraphonic! I think
it’s funny because a lot of studios have invested in
5.1 rooms and they’re not being used very much. It
remains to see anyone using it as a creative tool
other than for sound design. I haven’t heard music
work that’s been specifically recorded for that, and
only works in that context, in the way that stereo
was when it first happened.
Do you think the technology gives us too
much choice?
Well yeah, but that’s why you need focus. But I think
you’ve always had a problem with choice in the
studio; even with just a band, you’ve always had that
freedom, and that can be a major problem in trying to
get a focused piece of work. But getting focused is a
pretty straightforward thing to do — none of it is
rocket science. However, getting it right, getting a
great performance and making it sound brilliant is a
mystery still. ■
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:36 PM Page 41

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Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:37 PM Page 42

Dan Swift
Recording live bands with microphones is a
skill that’s suddenly back in demand as A&R
departments jump to sign real music.
NIGEL JOPSON talks to a man with the
skill and the demand who is busy
redefining his role.

D
AN SWIFT IS THE ENGINEER capturing the
vibe for chart-storming and Mercury Prize-
listed act Snow Patrol. He engineered
Aqualung’s critically acclaimed album Still Life and has
also recorded The Datsuns, The Thrills, Clay Hill, The
Libertines, Nickelback, The Delays and Kasabian. Dan
is one of the UK’s up and coming production talents,
having recently produced well-received albums for The
Futureheads, Winnebago Deal and Help She Can’t
Swim, he’s currently working on tracks with All Saints
singer Melanie Blatt and Ikara Colt.

42 resolution October 2004

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:37 PM Page 43

craft

Snow Patrol may have been awarded 4
stars by Q magazine for their ‘Simmering,
sophisticated cool,’ but they also got the
coveted 4Ks and a rave review in rock/metal
mag Kerrang! How did you record the
energetic rock sound that whips in between
the cool bits?
There’s a lot of overdrive in the drum sounds. The bulk
of the sound was an RE20 gaffa-taped to the bass
drum, pointing at the shell of the snare drum, and an
AKG C414 placed roughly underneath the snare,
driven to hell on the desk. A lot of the sound on the
album grew from this one C414, the whole kit was
present there, you can hear it prominently on Tiny
Little Fractures. Britannia Row is not a huge studio, so
I had a couple of U87s as far away as I could get them,
an SPL Transient Designer with release on full
exaggerated the sound of these room mics. When
Garrret (Lee, Snow Patrol’s producer) mixed it he
chose those tracks —- in fact, once you are using
those mics all the other mics aren’t delivering any sort
of noise that can compete anyway!
Did you use Logic with the TDM Bridge to
record Snow Patrol?
I think most engineers agree it’s a bit of a pain
using Logic in TDM. With Snow Patrol, we moved
to Pro Tools because it just wasn’t working, we
were having a horrible time with synchronisation. I
tried to get Garret’s laptop to talk to the studio G4,
and run both at the same time, but it was
wandering. The Pro Tools rig with a USD unit and
tape machine all worked fine ... it’s still a problem
we’re trying to crack as Garret wants to work
straight into Logic. If you’re working with someone
like Garret, he wants to jump in and do his thing —
if we’re in Pro Tools he can’t — because all his toys
aren’t there!
“Some day” has finally arrived...
In the late 1990s, the recording engineer’s role
seemed past it’s sell-by date as musicians
made electronic music on their own ... do you
think engineers have regained an important
position as a sort of system integrator?
Electronic technologies are finally taking their place in
proportion to their worth, they’re no longer seen as the
heaven-sent answer to everything. It was very
noticeable to me yesterday with a band I’m producing
called Dorp, I walked in and there was a beaten up old
PC with a sequencer — it just looked like a load of
band gear — it was no longer: ‘This is our new
computer — we don’t need you anymore!’ Now you’ll
see a drum kit, an AC30 and a laptop with gaffa tape
all over it. Computers are not favoured over guitars as

Did you record to Pro Tools or tape?

We started off going to tape —- at that time everyone
had heard about the idea of recording to tape and then
going to Pro Tools — but I don’t think anyone really
knew why! I do love tape, but these days I can’t face
the heartache of the whole process. I don’t use it
anymore for tracking, although I mix to half inch as
a preference, and I recorded Winnebago Deal to tape
as it was right for their music. I’ve struggled to hear
the difference in the end, by the time you get it back
from mastering. You have to weigh up the
advantages of not using it — the total flexibility of
being able to turn a song on its head in five minutes
— against the pain generated and the enormous
amount of transferring involved.

Were a lot of songs turned on their heads for

Snow Patrol’s album?
There is quite a lot of ‘post’ in there. Garret made his
name as a DJ and remixer, and he has a background
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as a fantastic musician in his own right. When we
started recording I wasn’t sure if we were going to
record blinding live tracks, or if we were recording
fodder to be remixed. As I hadn’t worked with Garret
on an album project before, I think I only properly
understood the process after it was all finished, when
I actually had an album with artwork. But I’m still
working that one out — if you’re going to edit, and
almost remix someone’s music — how much of the
spirit of the music and the energy of the initial
playing survives that process? I like the idea of an
album with a sound that is its identity — like Bowie’s
Low album. It came through with Snow Patrol:
Garret remixed all of the tracks, moved things
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10:37 PM Page 44
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they would have been six years ago. However
musicians choose to generate their music, today
there’s a sense returning that somebody has to do
something to help them deliver. Enablers and helpers
— people like myself — have had our roles redefined.
It used to be that the recording engineer held the
keys to the studio, and if you were nice to him, he’d
let you in. It’s possible that in the 1980s, people
who worked in studios had too much power and
became too arrogant. I don’t think the recording
process itself is such a mystery anymore, so
musicians are not shoved around as easily. Bands
that recorded in the 1980s have described their
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sampler, running up a huge budget, until it’s the
way I want it to be!’ I think it’s not so easy to do that
with young bands now, because they are better
educated about the whole process.
How did you acquire and hone your own
recording skills?
I come from a background where you just thunder
into producing records, then about five or six years in
you realise you are rubbish! When I realised I was
rubbish I busted myself back to assistant and asked
Blackwing if I could work there. I assisted there for a
few years with the objective of learning how to do it
properly. Eric (Radcliffe) would listen to my mixes
and talk to me about it. I also learnt a lot from
producer Hugh Jones, he has a wonderful way of
making people feel they are getting better at what
they do. He has a brilliant ear for balance, I quickly
learnt I was just overdoing everything! After I’d
worked with Hugh the quality of what I was doing
went right up. You can learn a lot from people who’ve
been recording successfully for a long time.
It sounds like you put that experience to
good use on Still Life, the Aqualung album.
That’s some of the best work I’ve done. Matt Hales is
very clear about what he wants and is a great
musician. It was recorded at Jacobs, a lovely studio, I
had a lot of fun recording slightly unusual drum
sounds, we did percussion with huge orchestral drums
... and maybe the odd crisp packet on the floor!
There’s some very subtle dynamics to
the sound...
I’ve become so fond of Waves compressors I find I’m
almost not using hardware compressors anymore. I’m
using the C4 multiband compressor on all sorts of
things; on guitars it’s just incredible. In some respects
they’re quite boring pieces of software, because they
don’t have any character, but with acoustic guitars it’s
such a benefit to be able to compress just the lumpy bit,
leaving the top alone. Using multiband compressors I’m
getting results that just weren’t available before. I’ve just
got the new Waves L3 Multimaximizer, once your ears
get used to that level of precision ... I’ve started to notice
the drawbacks of analogue compressors!
Do you mix ‘in the box’ with Pro Tools and
Logic, or do you take separate outs to an
analogue mixer?
You need to have a D-A convertor for each individual
track. Even if you just insert a delay on the individual
track, it will not sound as good. The concept for my
home studio was actually based on Spike Stent’s
facility at Olympic (on a slightly lower budget!) after
I’d been there when he was mixing the Aqualung
single. I’ve got 48 outputs from two MOTU HD192s so
there’s a convertor for each of my Mackie’s 32 faders,
then I use the effects returns for the remaining 8
convertors. If I’m using a software reverb on a track,
the reverb is returned through it’s own convertors,
through its own bit of multicore, to its own channel.
The difference in sound is very pronounced, I wouldn’t
ask a convertor to work on two sounds. Mixing in
software involves a lot of calculations, and I think it
probably delivers the mix in an acceptable time frame
by turning a blind eye to most of the music.
So where do you adjust the mix levels?
Ah — that can be a bit of a compromise! My ideal
scenario is to mix on a Neve console. In my small studio
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:37 PM Page 45

craft

I use my hands to get all the basic levels and when I get
to the bit where I’d normally turn the Flying Faders on,
I just go into Logic and do the final trims. The rest of it
is completely within the computer, the more I work like
that, the more I don’t want to do it any other way.
You start to get a frighteningly good sound out of
that kind of equipment if you play the analogue game
and give every track its own bit of electronics.
Software EQs still seem a little weak, though. I’ve tried
doing mixes just using software EQ, the Waves and
Logic plugs, but I found I just couldn’t get there. The
Mackie EQ is not the best in the world, but you just
lean in and turn the bass up and you get ... bass! The
marriage of an analogue desk and digital audio seems
to be increasingly where it’s at now.
Do you use Space Designer (the new Logic
convolution reverb)?
Just recently there’s been a huge improvement in
the quality of plug-in reverbs, which initially were
astonishingly awful! I’ve flicked through the 500
presets ... I changed my mind about software
reverbs when I found some settings that really do
work on voices. I’m a big fan of EMT plates and if
you like plates you are probably totally
unimpressed by digital reverbs! Inside Altiverb (a
convolution reverb for Pro Tools RTAS and TDM)
the Wendy Carlos 140 plate is pretty good, and the
Cello Studios echo rooms are amazing. The
transparency is there and once you get used to
having as many as you want wherever you want,
and being able to change them if you feel like it, it’s
quite hard to let go of that.
Do you see recording engineers, at the top
level, becoming almost like Second Unit
Directors in film making?
Officially you have artists, producers and engineers —
but I think if you don’t allow a free discourse and a
flow of ideas between everybody, it’s not going to
work — you can’t just sit there and say ‘all right, what
do you want to do next?’ But for each member of the
team, there’s only a few other individuals they can
work with in this manner. I’ve produced albums
myself so I’ve got an appreciation of what it involves,
hopefully that means I know when to offer something
and when not to. For example, on the Snow Patrol
album at the end of Spitting Games you hear Gary
singing on the stairs. That was born out of the fact that
I really wanted to record the acoustic guitar on the
stairs — if you want something to sound distant then
put it in a distant space! He started to play and sing as
well — I think that’s a good example of ideas coming
together and growing into something good.
Do you miss following a production all the
way through as an engineer, trying different
techniques out on overdubs or rough mixes
as the opportunity arises?
The work I do as a specialist recording engineer —
like with Snow Patrol — is informed by the other
work I do on productions of my own. For example,
when I produced Help She Can’t Swim, there was
something I wanted to try on guitar, similar to Tony
Visconti’s trick of recording extra room microphones
with noise gates, opening dynamically on Bowie’s
voice: the louder Bowie sang on Heroes, the more
room mics opened up. I wanted to make a small
guitar part very important, so I placed stereo pairs
down the full length of the studio — I didn’t need to
use gates of course — I could just snip it around in
Pro Tools. Every time the guitarist played this part it
would be recorded across several mics, then in Pro
Tools I could swap between the mics and make the
sound appear to change location. Something like that
takes a bit of time to set up.
If, as an engineer, you throw a wild idea you’ve only
thought of in the bath last night at a producer — ‘I’ll
just need an hour to build a tunnel and put mics
everywhere’ — you’re being quite presumptuous, it
might not work! I need to be doing my own
productions so that if I go back and engineer in a
recording scenario, I’ve got recent experience of having
done something experimental (to me, anyway.) Then I
can suggest ideas with authority and even play people
what it sounds like. If I only ever worked as an
engineer, there’d come a point where I wasn’t sticking
my neck out enough ... so I need to do both! ■

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October 2004 resolution 45

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:37 PM
Finishing Touches
Having discussed the basic physical structure of his new facility in the last issue,
JIM BETTERIDGE now turns his attention to kit, caboodle and the studio within
in his room-at-a-price project.
U
NTIL RECENTLY, QUIET AIR conditioning
has required a fully ducted system with vast
airways and plenum chambers to reduce sound
transmission, all rather impractical unless you have a
large, industrial space and a matching budget. To my
surprise there are now wall-mounted (split system)
units that will produce a constant draft of chilled air at
as low as 24dB which, with some careful mic
placement, is fine for just about any practical
application. We got a single Daikin roof-mounted
condenser to power four wall-mounted units, and
even the condenser is so quiet you have to strain to
hear it above the general London hum. The experts at
Purified Air persuaded me that with an opening roof
light in the central kitchen area (we’re on the top floor)
and opened windows at either end of the building
there would be sufficient air exchange when people
opened and closed doors as they moved through.
Thankfully they were right and it’s a very pleasant
working environment.
With regard to acoustic treatment, we did end up
using quite a lot of Rockwool but only between the
skins of stud walls where it would be sealed-in and not
allow particles into the breathable air of the studio.
Elsewhere Roger Quested used a combination of
profiled acoustic foam, carpet under felt and lamb’s
wool batts for the general treatment. The lamb’s wool
is quite new to Roger’s list of materials but he favours
it because it’s all-natural, non-irritating and provides
excellent linear absorption.
To fix these materials to the walls and ceilings we
used a pneumatic stapler. The treatment was installed
within a 2-inch x 2-inch stud frame except on the rear
wall of the control room where a 4-inch x 2-inch
frame was erected either side of the window into
which was built the bass trapping. Here a piece of
under felt was hung 25mm from the wall and then
50mm in front of that we used a piece of 1060 Revac
46
Page 46
sweet spot
The control room
before the final finishes
or final front speakers.
barrier matt. The felt and the matt were cut so as to
hang freely inside their frame. The booth was treated
similarly but it was made more dead because when
doing Foley or ADR work you really don’t want any
reflections or colouration.
Frames awaiting material.
To cover the treatment we made open frames of
9mm MDF over which we stretched acoustically
transparent material. The frames were fixed to the
studs using a system of plastic sockets (attached to the
studs) and plungers (attached to the frames). These
allow the frames to be removed and accurately
replaced should we decide to change the treatment or
someone throws some red wine up the wall. (Your
clients do that sort of thing regularly then? Ed)
A system of three trunkings was built into the 2-
inch x 2-inch studwork to allow cables to run freely
and to allow mains cabling to be kept as separate as
possible from signal cables. The lower run, holding
exclusively mains cabling was sealed behind an
upstand of carpet while the other two remain
accessible behind dado rails.
I went for a Yamaha DM2000 console and a
Pyramix DAW. After the 02R I believe the DM2000
offers another quantum leap in terms of production
resolution
power at a price. It’s extremely flexible in terms of ins
and outs and is capable of handling multiple 5.1 stems
for film work. Using a combination of ADAT cards on
the desk, an RME ADAT to MADI convertor and a
MADI card in the computer, I can have 56 channels of
Pyramix, plus amazing flexibility to connect any other
digital equipment that may need to be incorporated.
I’ve also got a couple of 16-channel AES cards for my
existing 32-channels of Akai DD1500.
I chose Pyramix because I’d seen some very
impressive demos and have heard nothing but good
from the various big facilities houses that have taken
it on over the past year or so: De Lane Lea,
Shepperton, Twickenham and Videosonics to name
but a few. It’s an excellent system, very solid and
comes with dedicated and attentive support. To house
the desk I had built a 3m long modular metal
Desk frame.
framework that would be strong and rigid but offer
flexibility for the future. Designer, Mike Stallion, came
up with the idea of using recycled plastics for the
cladding. In the event we used recycled CDs for the
sides (the most astonishing translucent blue with
specs of red, gold and silver) and recycled coffee cups
for the tops. It looks beautiful and it’s Right On.
Although DLP technology is newer and sexier than
LCD especially in terms of contrast ratio, a
combination of optical neutrality and operational
flexibility led me to chose an LCD projector, the Sanyo
PLV-Z2. We housed the projector in an 18mm MDF
Projector housing.
box, lined with under felt and acoustic foam and with
a 10mm optically neutral glass front. This was
connected to the machine room with a similarly lined
18mm MDF boxing containing a 110mm pipe which
was connected using flexible trunking to the projector
exhaust at one end and to a specially acoustically
housed extractor fan inside the machine room. As the
hot air is pulled out, cold air is pulled into the boxing
and through a port at the back of the projector box into
the projector’s air intake. In practice it works like a
dream with no noise and adequate cooling.
One of the great shocks of this project was the price
of acoustically transparent projection screens. Where
ever I looked in professional facilities around the world
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:37 PM Page 47

sweet spot

I found Stewart screens are pre-eminent. They go to In the past I’ve seen several top professional largely because we didn’t allow anything shoddy to
extraordinary lengths to fill their screen with tiny engineers sit with a graphic EQ, noise generator and slip through: if it was wrong we’d redo it and we’d
perforations that allow the sound through with minimal analyser pushing and pulling sliders trying to get a always go for the better quality ingredients. With an
effect on the picture. However, for the size of screen I perfectly flat response and the results have been excellent acoustician, an excellent designer and a
wanted, around the 80-inch mark, I was looking at invariably horrible. The effects of phase shift thus dedicated work force we’ve managed to produce a
about UK£4,500 — ouch. Of course you can put your introduced are generally as bad or worse than the beautiful looking and sounding studio. My thanks to
speakers below the screen level or go for a phantom original deficiencies of the room. Better by far to try them all. ■
centre, but I just didn’t want to settle for that. and tackle the problem acoustically and allow some
Then I happened upon a new kind of projection slight variation around an ideal curve. Contact
screen called Clear Pix, from French company Screen Like so many other projects of any size, this one
Research, which had recently been awarded THX ran over time (more than seven months from lifting Acoustic Materials: Siderise +44 20 8549 6389
certification and was being installed in various West the first board to the first paying session) and over Air Conditioning: Purified Air www.purifiedair.co.uk
Frame Fixings: AMCO +44 1763 242040
Coast American facilities. I quickly got a sample of the budget (well, if you amortise it over 28 years and
Lambs Wool batts: www.secondnatureuk.com
screen material to Roger and amazingly he found it to blue sky the cashflow...) and it often felt like pulling Recycled Plastic: www.smile-plastics.co.uk
be considerably more transparent than the Stewart at a tiger backwards through a thorn bush. But that’s
about two-thirds the price. Okay, it’s still not exactly
cheap, but it’s considerably cheaper and offers superior
aural performance; so that’s what we went for.
When last I used Quested speakers in the early
1990s I only needed a couple of them and so price was
not such an issue. When I upgraded to a 5.1 system in
the mid 1990s, though, unit cost had more of an
impact and I’d opted for a less expensive option — a
decision I regretted, but you’ve got to draw a line
somewhere. It’s worth remembering, incidentally, that
it generally costs more than three times as much to
install a 5.1 system compared to a similar one in stereo.
Happily, when I phoned Roger I discovered that he was
in the process of developing a less expensive, though
no less high fidelity, range of powered monitors with a
matching sub bass aimed at just my kind of set-up. It’s
unlikely that Quested will ever compete merely on price
or be a really mass-market product and there’s no
doubt you can get cheaper systems that call themselves
professional. But ask around and see if you find a
single (unbiased) person with a bad word to say about
them — I never have.
Roger supplied me with three Quested metal section
speaker stands for the front three units. These had holes
at the top matching the tapped mounting holes in the
base of the speakers, and at the bottom to screw down
to the floor. There were also holes through which to fill
the stands with sand to kill them acoustically. Initially I
tried three F5 Quested powered monitors containing a
soft dome tweeter and a 5-inch cone driver in
conjunction with a pair of 12-inch F19 Quested
powered subwoofers. The F5 is the forerunner to the
recently released S6, which features a new cabinet
design and a superior HF driver. I’d always liked the
sound of the F5 but after hearing the S6s I decided to
use them for the four surround speakers and wait for the
6.5-inch versions, the S7s, for the front three.
When working in stereo the system works as a
traditional 3-way left/right array, with the subs acting
independently. Because the subs become progressively
more directional at higher frequencies it’s better to
have two, one beneath each of the main speakers.
Having two smaller subs, rather than one large, also Trevor Horn and Hans Zimmer
makes it easier to get a balanced bass response in the
room. When I switch the DM2000 to 5.1 its bass have trusted Questeds since 1985.
management comes into play and the bass from all
five channels is monoed below 80Hz into the two
subwoofers along with any actual sub bass sent from
Isn’t it time you listened too?
the sixth output. The crossover frequency can, of
course, be altered to match different systems. Make a sound judgement with the new
Roger spent some time with pink noise and a S6 monitor speakers from Quested
spectrum analyser making sure the main system was
in phase with the subs, tweaking the levels, the various Contact us now t +44 (0)1404 41500 f +44 (0)1404 44660
HPFs and LPFs and getting the angle of the surrounds e sales@quested.com w www.quested.com
right. The results sound excellent to my ears and I’ve UK Distributor Sonic8 Limited w www.sonic8.com t 08701 657456
had nothing but praise from clients and colleagues.

October 2004 resolution 47

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:37 PM
On the matter of Metadata
The business of moving data around between disciplines within a production has technological and economic implications for all the parties
involved. NEIL HILLMAN attends the AES Conference on Metadata for Audio and says he has glimpsed the future.
I
F THERE IS ONE area where profitability can
trickle unrecognised or unchecked through a
postproduction facility’s fingers, it is the integral and
inescapable process of data transfer; specifically
getting the raw material from an originating picture
suite into an audio-post’s chosen DAW before work
can begin. In fact, only in studio downtime can the
data-transfer be considered lossless; keeping paying-
punters off the equipment for a few hours each week
amounts to a sizeable loss of cash over the course of a
year. You do the maths...insert your rate-card hourly-
rate and allow one hour for each of the 200 days the
average facility would conservatively expect to be
operational on; then read on.
Avid’s temperamental and imperfect, but none-the-
less industry-wide, Open Media Framework (OMF)
system was the first of the file formats that hinted at
such oil and water, picture and sound,
interchangeability; and this only recently became more
viable as a working practice through third-party
software applications such as the more reliable and
robust AV Transfer. What the Holy Grail has become for
postproduction disciples is the comprehensive ability to
transfer data and content, across a range of
manufacturer’s platforms and devices, coupled with a
way of readily describing those bundles of information:
the data about the data; more simply described as
Metadata. Actually, what we hanker after is an IT
solution: cheap, universal, reliable, robust. And why
not? The ones and zeros differentiate not one jot
between home, office or professional applications.
Here’s the good news: we’re getting there; and as
members of the sonic fraternity, we are there and we
benefit, in this instance, from sound leading pictures.
With the relative file sizes and the complexity being
proportionally less for audio than for video
applications, a great deal of development has already
enabled manufacturers to be at a point where we truly
should see open file exchange, irrespective of our
48
Page 48
technology
preferred workstations, in the immediate future. This audio information available to any of the workstations
pleasing promise of a panacea occurs as the crowning- en-route. And if your favourite manufacturer is not
hour approaches for AAF and MXF; so let me offering you this ability, now is the time to be asking
introduce you to our two, new, best friends. the very pointed question ‘why not?’
We’ve been waiting 10 years for this. Through AAF Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a project
and MXF we have the ability to cut a picture sequence, format. It contains edit data such as events, transitions
move it to the dubbing suite, mix it and then return it or effects, along with the reference to the source
to the picture editor, complete with all the visual and material. Media Exchange Format (MXF) is a media
Synchronicity, substance and information
The basis of all audio-visual file transfer centres around the delivery of synchronicity, substance and
information. Back in the mists of time, two planks of wood painted with converging black and white
chevrons were brought before a camera lens. Bells rang and cries of ‘Turnover!’ culminated in a sharp
crack, as wooden strips were banged together to make a noise that the film camera could see, and
a sound recordist could hear. This was ‘synchronicity’ between pictures and sound. The sound’s ‘substance’ was
recorded onto a 1/4-inch magnetic tape recorder. At the end of each take, the recordist would place onto tape a
short burst of 1kHz tone from the in-built oscillator of his tape recorder. This was the ‘information’: the clapper
at the head showed the start, the pip at the tail indicated the end of the recording. Basic; but a start.
Film and television postproduction technologies converged in the 1980s, coinciding with the
introduction of nonlinear editing devices such as Lightworks and Avid. Video came to replace
magnetic and film stock — irrespective of the final delivery media — with timecode as the life-blood
of the system. When an editor digitised sound into these new systems, either from separate rolls or
from audio recorded straight to the picture recorder, and then created a cut, the editing device could automatically
generate a telephone directory’s worth of numbers, addressing where the original picture and sound material
had come from, and where they were located in the cut version. This Edit Decision List was passed via floppy disk
to the dubbing mixer, allowing the audio import process to be repeated again through an auto-conform process.
But why, you ask, take the sound into the system twice?
With Avid’s OMFI process, sound tracks loaded onto their range of editing devices could be exported
as a file to media such as a Jaz disk and then be recognised by many audio DAWs. In theory, anyway;
until the intervention of dedicated software from AVTransfer, the OMFI process was desperately
unreliable between various machines.
MXF and AAF place a robust structure around the essence of Avid’s OMFI process. The substance,
synchronicity and information are packaged, are freely available to the picture editor, and importantly
from an audio perspective, pass transparently through the picture editing stage, untouched from disk
to dub.
resolution October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:38 PM Page 49

technology

format. It contains the actual video and audio for the
project. Think of them this way — material is ingested
and played-out via MXF files; AAF files are the work
in progress on your system.
MXF ‘wraps’ the media inside its openly-defined
structure, allowing professional applications to access
and understand its contents, and crucially, join in
partnership with AAF compositions. While AAF
works with a variety of media types such as
Windows Media, QuickTime and MXF itself, the MXF
standard allows for the inclusion of any kind of raw
media format such as WAV, MPEG or AVI; making it
a useful and a powerful format. AAF and MXF share
the same internal structure to handle the data and
both use the SMPTE Metadata dictionary as a
standard for high-level data and workflow
information. And, of course, they are platform
independent working equally effectively on
Windows, Mac, Linux or Unix.
Both AAF and MXF are descendents of Avid’s OMF
system and retain the spirit of it — somewhat
redesigned and updated however — along with
AES31-3 defines a Simple Project Structure — based useful ID information that incorporates the SMPTE’s
on a sample-accurate Audio Decision List (ADL). Unique Material Modifier (UMID). This UMID
AES31-4 is an Object Oriented Project Structure — associates external metadata with the audio files,
as yet undefined, but possibly based on an extensible useful for tracking the source or ownership of AES31-
object model capable of describing a much wider range compliant data within a library system.
of parameters. And here’s the best part: Broadcast Wave files can
The Broadcast WAV (BWF) epitomises this proposal be played on any humble, home, PC capable of
of marriage between professional audio and IT replaying conventional WAVE files. Welcome to the
solutions. The now large-scale use of BWF is due in no future of pro audio. ■
small way to the deceptive ease and simplicity of its
Contact
use, combined with its ability to convey useful
information. A BWF’s data bits can define the audio The AAF association www.aafassociation.org
format, describe the sound sequence, its originator, Pro-MPEG implementation group www.mxf.tv
plus an EBU timecode reference. It time-stamps each The Audio Engineering Society www.aes.org
audio file with its proper location in a project, and adds
DIGIDESIGN ICON
I N T E G R AT E D C O N S O L E

inheriting the task of resolving the issues that weakened

the OMF. Things like audio-editing decisions, such as
panning and level information, EQ and complex fades.
These could not be adequately defined in OMF; and Experience the ultimate professional audio
projects without this Metadata are simply incomplete. production environment for music and film:
Coupled with the tantalising differences in architecture of the Digidesign® ICON integrated console.
existing DAWs and their various algorithms used to
achieve, for instance, a complex fade, and the high
expectations of AAF become a little clearer.
What the AAF designers chose to do in the example
of the fade was to simply map the attenuation of the
signal over time rather than attempt to provide the
actual details of each DAWs algorithms for playback.
In this way, the Metadata for the effect is maintained
as closely as possible to the original, while allowing
transparent exchange and interchange across different
manufacturer’s tools at various stages along the
production process.
The AAF file-format, by being adopted by
manufacturers of video and audio equipment, provides
a bridge between the two halves of an audio-visual
equation that until now has had too many variables.
In contrast to the ‘new’ audio-only exchange formats
such as AES31-2 (Broadcast WAV), video and audio
may be embedded in an AAF file. MXF and AAF not
only define the codecs required for playback, they can
indicate object parameters such as ‘audio’ or ‘video’,
frame-rate or picture size — in fact, almost all that
might be needed to uniquely describe a particular item.
The days of labouriously ploughing through an EDL
manually should be well and truly over now that the
ability to transfer files between MXF and AAF-aware
devices is here.
But audio-only file exchange development continues
too, alongside the progress achieved by MXF and AAF
in promoting harmony between the sound and picture Fully modular, state-of-the-art console control • Pro Tools|HD® Accel DSP and I/O resources
communities. The Audio Engineering Society (AES) has 192 kHz sample rate support • Industry’s finest plug-in options
defined, and is continuing to develop, its File-Transfer Automatic Delay Compensation • Integrated video and delivery • Total session recall
Format standard, AES-31. This set of technical
specifications when enabled on a DAW will allow disk
drives, digital audio media and EDLs to be transferred
from one AES-31-compliant device to another. The four
tiers of AES-31 make it a multi-part standard: Visit www.digidesign.com to learn more about ICON.
AES31-1 defines Physical Data Transport — the
way in which files move from one system to another
as FAT32-compliant data.
AES31-2 defines the Audio File Format — the way © 8/04. Avid, D-Control, Digidesign, and Pro Tools|HD are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc.,
or its subsidiaries or divisions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
in which Broadcast Wave files should be arranged on
removable media or travel on a network.

October 2004 resolution 49

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:50 PM
Indies: scouting and management
As a new generation of young, gig playing bands wielding traditional music-making instruments hit the charts, indie labels look increasingly
like a fig leaf for the majors’ A&R inadequacies.
Picture by Claire Wood
Alan Wills
‘I
DON’T THINK THEY’RE weak at A&R — I
don’t even think it’s on their radar any more!’
says Alan Wills, head of Liverpool label
Deltasonic. His theory is that arty A&R types lost their
corporate clout with the introduction of the CD, as
marketing men and lawyers suddenly found
themselves able to make a bigger impact on bottom
lines selling back catalogue. ‘Dumb and R is the best
way to describe it. When someone takes a polaroid
photograph, it’s just a blank — the game is all about
— at what stage can you guess it’s going to be a great
photograph? Most A&R people today need that
polaroid fully developed, in a frame, and on someone
else’s mantelpiece before they can tell it’s a good
picture ... really you have to be able to look at the
shadows and say: That’s going to be great!’ What Alan
is actually talking about is talent scouting — and he’s
canny enough to recognise that scouting and
management are his forté — and play them to the hilt.
Deltasonic, perhaps one of the most visible of UK
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Darrin Robson
talent gatherers currently, is not the only indie playing
this game.
Darrin Robson is the boss of a smaller label who
likes music so much he actually reserves time for
listening to demos. ‘We get between 6 to 10 demos a
day. In a few weeks time I’ll sit down with a couple of
hundred demos and listen to them. A lot of times it’s
just by word of mouth, though ...’
As a record shop owner, Darrin knew the retail
market well, and started his Fantastic Plastic label
doing one-off vinyl EPs for bands he liked. ‘We
generally split the profit with the band — and of course
they’re free contractually — a major would want to
have a band tied up for much longer. That can work
both ways, but sometimes it can be good for an indie
to have that association of doing a first record with a
band who then go on to great things.’ Since Sanctuary
took a stake in his label, Darrin’s been able to focus on
albums. ‘Ikara Colt would be our biggest selling band
to date, we licensed that in other countries and they’ve
resolution
NIGEL JOPSON
sold about 30,000 globally. We generally pay for all
recording costs, then it will be a royalty in the UK and
it’s always a 50:50 split with the band when we
license overseas. If we’re on a second album with a
band that’s starting to move, we do advances and so
forth, it just depends where the band’s at.’
Darrin has an incremental approach to spending
money on bands. ‘It’s a case of gauge-it-as-we-go. I
think a lot of record labels are stupid to force the issue
with advertising and huge promotions, sometimes
that money is better spent elsewhere.’ And as a
retailer himself, Darrin is aware of high-street
realities. ‘Inevitably these days you are buying your
way into the shops with racking and campaigns and
co-op ads. But a lot of indies forget that you can have
10,000 records come back six weeks later: you’ve
had to pay to get them in, and then you have to pay
again to get them out! From my point of view you
should be as realistic as possible and respect what the
market needs.’
At Deltasonic, Alan pursues a cautious financial
strategy as well. ‘The biggest advance we’ve ever
given a band is UK£2000. When we re-negotiate and
take them to a second level, then bands get bigger
deals. The Dead 60s are still on level 1, but with their
single going into the top 40, we’re about to sign them
up to level 2.’ There’s a policy at Deltasonic of putting
bands into the Top 40 before risking the full weight of
Deltasonic — and Sony — resources. ‘I think it takes
roughly 18 months to break a band, if you’re good
and you work hard. I don’t believe in luck,’ declares
Wills, ‘I believe preparation meets opportunity —
that’s luck! It’s a lot of hard work, and the only time
you can really test whether you’re right or wrong is
when you put the band in front of an audience.’
Neither of these labels, at contrasting ends of the
indie spectrum, are totally independent in the true (not
music industry) meaning of the word. They’ve both, in
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business

different manners, taken the shilling of a major in the musos. Perhaps it will soon be time to drop the conceit bringing musician’s songs to the public. Which is not
form of a so-called Label Deal. Anyone who bought a that major labels can and should A&R acts all the way to say that these entrepreneurs should be
Coral album will realise Deltasonic is globally from inception. After all, no one seriously expects ‘businessmen’: in 1983 I’d been mixing an album by
distributed (and 49% owned) by Sony, and Fantastic commercial TV networks to produce all their own content The Go-Betweens, a band who — as the fashion
Plastic has sold a chunk of equity to Sanctuary Group. — they commission from independent producers and wheel swings — might not seem out of place today.
Darrin explained to me: ‘It came about through Joe assign an executive to manage it. Nourishing a bunch of When I went to see them play a gig in Brixton, they
Cokell (now CEO of Sanctuary records) who I’d known creative 20-somethings is possibly best left to someone were supported by a young group from Liverpool
because he was interested in one of our bands when he who was once a creative 20-something themselves. called The Room, who were receiving quite a bit of
was head of MCA. He went on to buy Castle Perhaps this is part of a new model for the future: majors press interest at the time. Livening up the earnest
Communications when he left MCA, and then Castle consolidate into distribution conglomerates, independent presentation of this post-punk outfit from behind the
were bought by Sanctuary Group. Sanctuary let us talent-gatherers are responsibly managed through more drums was ... Alan Wills. Actually he’s better known
develop and do our own thing, but they’re in the intelligently structured label deals. as the skinsman for psychedelic scousers Shack, but
background if we need.’ This arrangement is analogous As new genres of music develop, or old genres my point is that Alan has been a musician, and Darrin
to a large pharmaceutical group like Glaxo buying an become newly fashionable, new generations of has been a maverick music fan, since The Bunnymen
interest in a small science research lab in Cambridge ... entrepreneurs are needed to manage the business of found their Echo. ■
just in case the boffins come up with something!
Sony’s arrangement with Deltasonic is more
comparable to NBC Universal’s stake in British film
production company Working Title (Four Weddings &
A Funeral, Bridget Jones, etc). Indeed, the name
Deltasonic is nowhere to be seen next to Zutons or
Coral tracks on Apple’s iTunes online store. Alan
explained to me the thinking behind his association
with Sony: ‘Everyone was telling me not to do the deal
— saying “you’ve got to hold on, you’ve got to own
your company” — but not one of them had a good
reason for remaining independent. I was saying “Show
me one successful indie in the world that is privately
owned!” They’d all go — “Beggars — they’re privately
owned and independent” — but as soon as Beggars
Banquet get a band that’s big, they license it to majors
worldwide, they’re only independent in Britain!’
In his forthright way, Alan gives voice to the hip
independent sector’s dirty secret: you cannot break a
band worldwide independently — you certainly can’t
in America. ‘In order to get to the position where I’d be
licensing acts worldwide I’d be dealing with bank
managers or a venture capitalist from the city. They’re
only interested in profit, they aren’t music people.’
There was another pressing aspect to the deal, for
Wills. ‘My house was about 10 days away from being
repossessed! I was putting every penny that I had into
the label. I knew that if we didn’t have Rob Stringer
and Muff Winwood coming in, the bank would have
foreclosed on us. I’m very confident ... and very stupid
as well! You don’t really put your entire house on a
music venture unless you’re a bit stupid!’
A great deal of discussion, time and energy in the
music industry is spent finding new or improved ways of
selling more records. But Darrin Robson would rather
leave the ins and outs of online sales to Sanctuary, and
Alan Wills is not in the slightest bit interested: ‘Every
week there’s another way of selling records, but I’m not
interested in any of it, I’m interested in making records.’
It’s this focus on music that renders indie labels like these
so attractive to young musicians. ‘All I know is that it’s
about individuals,’ explains Alan. ‘You need to be
making seminal records, then your label becomes a top
label, therefore young creative artists want to be involved
with you. You’re building up your imprint, your brand.
That is why you can’t screw your artists over, that’s why,
when times are hard, you’ve got to put your arms
around your artists and help them work through it.’
At a major label, A&R executives are employed on
three-year contracts and have set budgets and sales
targets. The temptation is to throw the entire budget at
everything in sight and hope something sticks, knowing
you’ll be sacked in three years anyway, or if there’s a
corporate take-over. Quarterly appraisals and sales
targets are appropriate for selling finished product, but
probably not for nursing potentially creative young

October 2004 resolution 51

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:50 PM
Leslie Shatz
Leslie Shatz has a list of mixing and sound design credits to die for. His career goes back to
dialogue editing on Apocalypse Now and before. Unlike many of his contemporaries he
works on an international stage and was recently in the UK leading up a British team to finish
the final mix at Twickenham of the US production Sahara. ROB JAMES caught up with him.
How did you get into this business?
I actually wanted to be in rock ‘n’ roll and unfortunately
I was not successful in that endeavour. As a final fallback
I took a job mixing at the American Film Institute. I’m
very happy, as it turns out, because when I see my
colleagues in the record industry, they’re not getting paid
that well and they’re working gruesome hours.
At first I really found it hard to make a move at a precise
footage. Finally I learned that the thing all mixers have is
that you go into almost a trance and let the whole situation
go inside of you. I know it sounds kinda high-falutin’, but
you actually become a part of the mixing console.
I used to liken it to playing pinball.
I have the same experience and it’s pertinent because
now I take great pride in being able to hit those marks,
repeatably, under pressured circumstances. Like with
pinball, if you have that confidence going into it, you
know you can do no wrong.
I compare it to being a professional athlete. Even
though I don’t build any muscles doing it, it’s training;
reaction time and getting into the head-state that
means you can put it all together.
In Los Angeles mixing was just unattainable, so I
went into editorial. The union had a very strong hold on
mixing, still does in LA. You had to have been doing it
for ten years and be related to someone to get in the
union in the first place. But it was always a frustration for
me in the mix when I sat next to these guys who were
considerably older and not really interested in expanding
their horizons. Now that I’m that generation, it’s
interesting seeing how it all sort of comes around. But I
was convinced that if I could cut the sound and mix it I’d
be able to do a much better job.
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How did you get into that?
I knew it was possible from Walter Murch, and I
worked with a guy called Alan Splet who did
Elephant Man and Eraserhead who started doing it
at a studio in Philadelphia. I never considered myself
a sound designer until Tom Luddy hired me for a film
called Mishima.
I thought, well, it’s Japanese and the Yamaha
DX7 synthesiser had just come out, maybe there’s a
way I can get that to work. It was a nightmare to
programme. I sat in a room for a month and
came up with literally one sound. Every day I
thought, ‘I’m a failure, I’m an impostor,’ eventually, I
figured it out, almost idiotically. It’s a trial and
error thing, but you have to be able to recognise
when you get onto a sound that you like. I
found the first sound, then I got another and then I
started to come up with all these sounds. I had a
nightingale, wind, temple bells and a car. They
pleased me but I didn’t know if anyone else was
going to be interested.
I still have this problem when I play something
for the director for the first time on a film. I put it
off and put it off and finally I can’t put it off any
longer and I feel like I’m going to the firing squad.
Anyway, I played these sounds for Paul Schrader,
the director, and sure enough, he hated them. He
said, ‘This is ridiculous, I don’t understand it’.
They were going to have a screening for George
Lucas and they had nothing else to put in, so Paul
said, ‘Well put some of those things in for
temporary.’ Then George and Francis saw it and
after the screening said, ‘ Wow those sounds are
really great, you need to put more of that in there.’
resolution
How do you maintain objectivity?
I don’t think I’m really capable of being objective. You
tend to look upon the entire music contingent as the
enemy unless the music is really good. But, because I
wouldn’t want to be accused of being partisan to my
work, oftentimes it has the opposite effect so I end up
making the music much louder than my sound.
Something I have done is not to mix my own sound
design in the final mix. I give it to the effects mixer, like
on this film with Craig (Irving). I take the lead and do
the music and the dialogue. That way it’s easier
because people are communicating with somebody else
and Craig is more objective. I really trust him and it
works when you trust the people you’re working with.
But there’s a tension and a compromise?
If you look at the film that won the Academy Award
last year, Master and Commander, there were
wonderful scenes with very little music. The director
wasn’t trying to hedge his bets, you know, ‘let’s see
what the music guys come up with and see what the
sound guys come up with and then kind of mush
them both together.’ He was confident enough to say,
‘I don’t want music and sound effects colliding’.
Your work is very eclectic. Do you have
a preference?
I like having the span. To the art film people I’m the
action film guy; to the action film people I’m the art
film guy. I like to do horror films like Dracula or even
The Mummy because they deal with the idea of being
able to use purely sound to create visceral emotions, to
scare people. You can use space a lot in horror films
and you can use abstract sounds and feelings. Maybe
it’s just my character. When my daughters were young
I used to like to scare them and chase them round the
house. Maybe it’s just an extension of that.
You’ve also worked in France?
I mixed a Merchant Ivory picture there a couple of
years ago, The Divorce. The French are no slouches
when it comes to sound, they’ve done some
excellent ‘sound’ movies and a Frenchman pioneered
music concrete. So I go there with respect. The
French have a way of talking about sound that’s
very mysterious and makes me feel very American.
I would jokingly say, ‘Well, does that mean you want
it louder or you want it softer?’ Because they would
start to discuss the texture of the sound, the
indescribable aspects, and go on about it at great
length. The French go out to cafés and talk about this
stuff for hours and I enjoy it too.
What are the differences working in Europe?
Even in England you still have to decode the methods,
the cultural differences. I’m the outsider so I feel it’s
incumbent upon me to understand and be amenable to
the ways things are done here. On the other hand, I
find that people here are interested in my way of doing
things. Particularly working at Twickenham, it’s great
to have that kind of exchange and certain things I’ve
learned here I take back to the US and there are also
people here I’d love to take back.
When I work in France and England the American
working mentality seems almost shockingly extreme.
In America, creating the product is the number one
priority and people almost totally put their lives aside.
Here in England and France this is not unthinkable,
but it is not necessarily considered to be a good thing.
Unfortunately people in England are coming round to
that way of working because the Americans have
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:50 PM
come over here. I don’t think it’s a good thing at all.
In England and France, sound design in the modern
sense is a more recent arrival and as a result, people are
taking bigger strides. Twickenham is better equipped in
many ways than studios in the US. Just having Pyramix,
some kind of master recorder that makes sense, in the US
we’re still using MR-8s. This is a better-integrated solution.
What are your must haves?
The Lexicon 960, a superior device. Another is the
Behringer single-ended de-noiser. I just can’t work
without it. And Lafont’s dip filter, but with digital
consoles now... a really excellent cup of coffee is at the
top of the list.
How about workstations?
Unfortunately, I have to. Maybe I sound like an old
fogey, but I’ve spent so much time perfecting my
ability to operate a console in real time, that the whole
Pro Tools experience is kind of sad for me. You can do
a lot of stuff and it’s powerful, but you have to listen
to the final result. It’s not interesting for me that I can
get 150 plug-ins to turn on and off at different times.
You can mix in Pro Tools, but I don’t find it’s as
accurate. I still feel I can do a much better job on a
good console.
Working in the ‘digital dubber’ sense?
It’s more appealing and reliable. Pyramix has a very
robust feeling to it. So far it’s just been in the background
when I’ve been working, but I like its appearance and
that it’s on a PC. It’s funny because it’s like I’m becoming
a reverse snob now everybody’s got a Mac!
What do you like or hate?
I like intuitive equipment. I love the AMS harmoniser,
but it was so unintuitive it would drive me crazy
although it’s still the best there is. The AMS Neve
console was a real head-scratcher for everybody, now
we’re very casual about it.
All consoles have their strengths and weaknesses,
but I really like the Harrison. The AMS Neve is now
the industry standard and it’s got a lot of great
things, but it’s infuriating on various simple, stupid
things. One thing that really does bug me is this idea
that it’s the equipment that matters. It’s the people
who make the decisions, who have the aesthetic
control, that matter.
October 2004
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What gets you into trouble?
There’s this moment on every mix where I’m
overwhelmed by the situation. You could solve the
problem by just pushing the Stop button and saying,
‘I’m sorry but we just have to start all over again.’ But
nobody really wants to do that.
Or when the director asks me for something and I
don’t really understand what he wants and he’s
insisting on it. I keep trying things and they don’t
work and that’s when I have to let go and get into that
mental state where you can move around without
constricting yourself so much. It’s hard to do under
pressure and it’s frightening for me.
You have to stop and re-evaluate what you’re
doing. Just take the time to get it right.
How about tools?
There’s no panacea. I rate tools in this order of
effectiveness; fader, equaliser, then all the outboard
gear. Don’t forget your fader is still the most effective
tool. That’s the organic approach, maybe the ‘green’
approach. EQ is next because it’s not that invasive if
used properly, then the outboard gear. I always try
to set it the way I like it, then back it off a notch,
because in the heat of the moment you feel like
you’re working miracles and then when you get
back later it sounds like crap. If you just back it off
a little bit you get a nice compromise between
thinking you’re getting rid of everything and
making it sound acceptable.
Where’s this business going?
I think it’s going straight to the toilet. It’s all 12 or
14-hour days, seven-day weeks, high alert, stress,
picture changes. We all appreciate computers but I
think we are all aware of the negative side, making
too many choices possible, postponing final choices
until very late in the game. Since Dolby Digital made
it possible, there’s been a big creative gluttony where
we just threw everything we could at the screen and
that was good for then. I hope, I believe, we are
entering a new period where people are taking a
more selective approach, more minimal. There’s a
new style of filmmaking that’s going to be more
specific in the integration of sound and picture. I was
talking with the director of Aeon Flux about films that
we loved and we both landed on Alien, very sparse
but brilliant. ■
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Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:51 PM
Broadcasting from V Festival
Occupying a regular slot in the event calendar, the V Festival now also combines radio and
TV output as part of its remit. GEORGE SHILLING was in the thick of it and doing his bit.
W
ILL SHAPLAND WORKED with Manor
Mobiles for 14 years, and his name became
synonymous with its fleet of recording
trucks. He was associated with Manor throughout its
expansion — it bought an ex-Fleetwood trailer when
that company ran into difficulties, and fitted it with the
ex-Manor Studios SSL desk. Then it acquired
another truck, which it fitted with the SSL MT digital
console. Ultimately, like Fleetwood, Manor was
swallowed up by the Sanctuary Group, but for the last
year Will has been freelancing and his new venture
effectively reinvents the spirit of Manor Mobiles, now
under the banner of Will Shapland Mobiles. He and his
partner in the venture, Zoe Fawcett-Eustace (also
ex-Manor) have entered into an arrangement with
classical specialists Floating Earth to share two trucks,
the main one boasting the first UK installation of an
SSL C200 digital console. The other truck houses a
Sony DMX100.
The annual V Festival in Chelmsford has been a
regular gig for Shapland, and this year was the first
Audio PCs & Drives
available for a wide range of applications
including Digidesign approved ProTools HD.
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enamoured of the C200. ‘For what we do, the
combination of facilities and ease of use, they’re way
better than anything else you could use,’ he says. ‘You
don’t want a desk you have to configure for every job,
because you haven’t got time. It’s all the things I liked
about the MT, but it’s fast, it boots from scratch in 25
seconds instead of 5 minutes.’ This is evidentially true,
as the truck arrived directly from a job in Edinburgh on
the setup day, and was ready to rock when the festival
started at noon the following day.
The C200’s first festival outing had been the Isle of
Wight Festival, having been tested on a classical job
before that. The SSL mic amps were onstage with a
fibre system connecting back to the truck. The only
band multitracking was The Strokes, so four rifles,
Sennheiser 416s, pointed out from stage was enough.
Will: ‘There’s not much else you can do outdoors. 816s
I find are too pointy and close, but 416s are just the
right balance for getting the right audience reaction on
an outdoors stage — two looking fairly close at the
mosh pit, and two looking halfway back to the PA desk
— any further back and you don’t really get anything.’
For processing, all the dynamics requirements were
satisfied by the C200 according to Will. ‘The mix bus
compressor is like the old Quad Compressor, and much
better than the MT one.’ For effects he employed a
Lexicon 480L with TC M5000, M3000 and two D-Two’s.
The Sony DMX truck was put to work at the Virgin
VIP-guest tent, where Virgin Radio staged acoustic sets
and their own Mark Robinson bravely mixed for Radio
while simultaneously balancing not only the PA, but
also onstage wedge monitoring, all from the truck’s
Sony DMX100, something Mark described as ‘in
retrospect a stupid move! We were pushing the
DMX100 to its limits, using every input and output.’
The Virgin tent had in previous years used the old
Manor Raindirk and analogue SSL trucks. Last year it
used one of the Sanctuary Euphonix trucks. ‘We
figured Virgin have Sony DMX desks, so Mark
Robinson was more than capable of using that, but we
hadn’t got a vehicle to put it in,’ explained Will. ‘Steve
Williams (Sound Moves) had a half-built truck so we
bought that and finished the build, so we have a truck
now to house the gear that was originally in the SSL
Floating Earth truck.’
This truck was the only one of the four to run
analogue multicores. Here, all outboard duties were
performed by a Lexicon 960L with compression and
EQ provided by the desk. Mark used a pair of Beyer
occasion where he covered the event with his new shotguns mounted on the lighting rig for audience.
company. Will’s operations covered four stages — all Many of the acts appearing on the larger stages
for Virgin Radio, with feeds also provided for TV from dropped in to perform acoustic sets to entertain Virgin
the two main stages. Will manned the SSL truck and Radio VIP guests, including Badly Drawn Boy,
provided stereo mixes for all bands from the main V Starsailor, The Thrills, Easyworld and Snow Patrol.
Stage over the two-day event including sets from The For the other two stages, Will engaged the services of
Pixies, Dido, Pink, Jamie Cullum and Muse. Steve Williams’ Sound Moves operation. His two trucks
Will is a fan of SSL digital desks and he is particularly both house Soundtracs DPCII consoles. The larger of
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these was stationed behind the NME-sponsored second

stage, where ex-BBC engineer Paul Nickson mixed sets
for TV and Radio including Scissor Sisters, Starsailor,
Keane, The Killers and Kings Of Leon.
Having been employed in the past for events with
Manor Mobiles and Sound Moves, your intrepid
reporter manfully braved the mixing duties for radio at
the Music Choice stage, housed in a marquee, where
highlights for me included The Bees, Hope Of The
States, Longview, South, Rooster and The Delays.
In all the trucks, stereo mixes were recorded live
onto two simultaneously recording CD-R machines for
safety, and on the two TV stages also recorded onto
timecode DAT. Will explains: ‘Primarily our stereo mix
was plugged into the TV truck and recorded onto their
VTs, but we were recording timecode DATs as a backup,
especially as the TV trucks were a long way from the
NME stage [behind the V stage.] We weren’t being paid
to multitrack, except on the main stage where we knew
the Strokes wanted to take multitrack away, but
Pyramix systems were available just in case.’
Following each set, Virgin Radio staff would whizz
around in golf buggies to round up the CD-Rs for
almost immediate broadcast of selected tracks from the
Portakabin radio studio that had been assembled just
behind the Virgin VIP stage tent. If we were very lucky,
these same golf-buggy riders would also deliver food!
Apart from the slightly unusual setup in the Virgin VIP
tent, splits were taken from the PA monitor desk
onstage to the respective trucks, while two pairs of
audience mics were rigged near the front of the stage.
A generous complement of assistant engineers were
on hand in the trucks and at the NME stage including overall mix. Another three of the TC engines were to deal as Will explains. ‘Paul Nickson is an ex-BBC
ex-Manor staffers Alex Goodison and Sven Hertens, pressed into service to provide a couple of different engineer, I’ve used him for the B-stage at V for several
Floating Earth’s Hugh Walker, ex-SSL man Chris reverb spaces and a delay effect, although the years. I thought he did a really good job, because he
Goddard and Sound Moves regular Robin Delwiche. I Soundtracs does in fact include onboard reverb and was stationed right behind the stage [with the nearby
was lucky enough to have assistance from Floating delay effects. PA pretty loud], but he had ATCs [SCM100As] which
Earth’s expert engineer Limo Hearn, as well as the Most of the bands played 25 minute sets, and I think are really fantastic mixing speakers, they tell
experienced Steve Williams, and his newest recruit soundchecking was minimal, usually consisting of a you what’s happening.’ The Virgin VIP tent’s truck
Ben Uren. brief check of each mic or instrument, then it was a used Genelec 1031As, but everywhere else used ATCs.
At the Music Choice Stage we ran MADI links from case of bringing the balance into shape as quickly as I was lucky enough to have a pair of {personal
the truck to the DPCII’s onstage inputs over a run of possible during the opening number of each set. The V favourites) SCM100As in my truck at the Music
about 40m. We were equipped with a UPS, so after and NME stages enjoyed the live TV pictures piped into Choice stage, where with the advantage of a fairly
running power from stage to truck, Steve sent the UPS their trucks. Music Choice recording was for radio, so enclosed tent I was able to use a pair of KM84s in
output back to stage to supply power to the desk we set up a camera at the side of the stage to see addition to the shotguns for the audience, giving a nice
inputs to safeguard against loss of power. onstage activities from the truck, and Limo, my mixture of audience reactions spread across the stereo.
The Soundtracs is fast to use, with excellent visual onstage assistant, advised me via his comms headset De-rigging was successfully completed within a
feedback on the surface screens, and a very flexible of any changes and instrument swapping. Following couple of hours of the last band leaving the stage.
and responsive channel EQ. The onboard compressors each set he would procure a set-list so we could Despite this summer’s weather, we had thankfully
worked well for individual compression of vocals and correctly label the CDs. Meanwhile, in the truck, stayed almost completely dry for three days — until
instruments where necessary, while overall mix assistant Ben handled writing Start IDs onto the CDs my car journey home at which point it absolutely
compression was provided by a TC System 6000, during the applause between songs. pelted down with rain and I was glad I didn’t have an
where I also notched a tiny bit of mid EQ out of the At the NME stage there were environmental issues HGV licence. ■

no words – ask your ears...

BRAUNER.THE ART OF MICROPHONES

www.brauner-microphones.com

October 2004 resolution 55

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:51 PM
Becky and Fred – never on the same level
Mastering engineer, audiofile guru and author BOB KATZ introduces us to Becky and Fred, two audio professionals with a common audio dilemma.
A
UDIO ENGINEERS SEEM to have some
trouble communicating. Let me present Becky and
Fred, two friendly engineers who live in different
towns and collaborate on music production through the
Internet. Last week Fred sent Becky a new mix for her
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56
Page 56
katz’s column
opinion. Let’s listen in on their phone conversation...
‘Hey,’ says Becky, ‘I like your mix, it really
punches. I just got this new monitor controller — my
technician calibrated it. It’s marked in SPL from 65 to
95, and 83 is the new Dolby level standard. So, now I
can listen at the same level as you! Just tell me what
level you’re listening at!’
‘Great,’ replies Fred, ‘I’ll call you back after I measure
with my little sound level meter.’ [Five minutes later]
‘OK, Becky, I played the loudest passage, and it
measures 90dB, so I must be mixing at 90.’
‘All right,’ says Becky, ‘let me set my knob to 90
and check it out... Ouch!’ she screams. ‘You must be
going deaf. If I turn mine past 80 I’ll blow my speakers,
or my ears. For me it sounds loud enough at 77.’
‘What the hey!’ replies Fred. ‘Mine is just cooking
when I set the loud passage to 90 on my meter. This
can’t be right — your technician must have miscalibrated
your controller.’
So Becky calls her technician, Bob, who explains how
it all worked. ‘Beck, the problem is that your monitor
controller isn’t really marked in output SPL. It’s marked
in the SPL it would produce if you fed it a calibrated pink
noise level, and 83 is the reference point.’
‘Bob, that’s the biggest pile of geek talk I’ve ever
heard. Try again in plain English.’
‘Well, if you turn it up to 90, it means that you’re
turning your monitor gain up by 7dB above the standard
reference of 83. You would go deaf at that setting!’
‘You mean the control is somehow marked in gain
and not in SPL?’
[We must not confuse gain with level] ‘That’s right.
We mustn’t confuse gain with level, and this monitor
controller’s language doesn’t help a bit. With a hot
resolution
enough mix, you can end up at 90dB SPL in your
room even with the controller set to 77. I know that
sounds contradictory, but think of the monitor
controller like a water tap (sound = water); if there’s
more pressure coming into the tap, you don’t have to
open it up as much to get high pressure out.
‘In other words, Fred was measuring SPL, not gain,
but you’re measuring gain. At 77 setting, your gain is
6dB below the standard gain which is marked as 83.
You’re probably both listening at the same level.’
‘Huh?’ says Becky. ‘So why don’t they just mark the
control with a zero at the calibration point, so you can
know exactly what you’re using relative to that gain?’
[Monitor controllers should not be labelled in SPL]
‘That would be too smart,’ explains Bob, ‘this
manufacturer seems to have a smart-alec idea that
marking the control with SPL numbers is an impressive
thing to do. A couple of manufacturers are doing this and
I agree that it is really confusing. In reality, the numbers
on your controller have no absolute relationship to the
SPL you are listening at, only a relative relationship! It
stands to reason that to play a loud, compressed
recording you have to turn the monitor down, and vice
versa. If you’re playing a compressed piece of music, it
can end up producing 90dB SPL even if you turn the
monitor down to the so-called 77 position.’
‘That’s just too crazy,’ exclaims Becky. ‘Is there
any way that I can ever label the control so I can know
my SPL?’
‘Never. But you can get an excellent idea of how
compressed or how dynamic a recording is by how
much monitor gain you have to use. So having a
calibrated monitor control can be a very important tool
for mixing (and mastering) engineers.’
‘I’m going to re-label my controls right away. It
makes so much sense to label the monitor pot with
relative gains,’ says Becky.
[Making better-sounding music] Yes, folks, it turns
out that both Fred and Becky were listening at exactly
the same intensity, but speaking completely different
languages! Fred was speaking the language of SPL and
Becky was struggling with the language of gain. This
very confusion causes fights between engineers. Just
like other attenuators, monitor gain controls should be
marked in decibels relative to a zero reference.
If every 21st Century engineer installs a calibrated
monitor controller on their console we will end up
making better-sounding musical productions.
Visit the CD Honour Roll at www.digido.com, where
you’ll see some examples of ‘honourable’ compact
discs and how they relate to monitor control position
in my listening room. If we all learn about calibrated
monitor gains and their relation to compression and
loudness, we’ll progress towards a better way of
thinking. Write me and tell me what you think! ■
Contact
Resolution recommends Bob Katz’s book
Mastering Audio—the art and the science as an
essential source of information for every pro
audio enthusiast who cares about sound.
You can buy it on line at www.digido.com
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:51 PM Page 57

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Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:51 PM
Do you have the power?
Those who believe that lightning never strikes twice are not so secure in their trust of
clean and continuous electrical mains power. ROB JAMES says that the problems exist
but so do the solutions.
I
T DOESN’T TAKE A GENIUS to notice
power cuts and thunderstorms.
It may be less obvious that it
doesn’t take a direct hit to do damage
ranging from immediate destruction
to insidious over-stressing of vulnerable
components. Induced spikes from
nearby lightning can run to many
thousands of volts. A recent lightning
strike near here demolished a
chimneystack and destroyed the
electrical installation. It also took out
14 PCs in a travel agent’s more than
200m away.
Lightning is not the only source
of spikes. Any contact generating a
spark is a potential source of trouble, as
are fast transients generated by
switching appliances such as
refrigerators, fluorescent tube starters,
and thermostats.
Longer supply voltage variations,
surges and sags, cause more subtle
effects. Years ago, we experienced a digital console
crashing at the same time every day. Monitoring
revealed a supply spike of several kV. We never found
out the cause, but an On-line UPS solved the problem.
‘Switch-mode’ power supplies, ubiquitous in
computers and many other devices, are a rich source of
harmonics. Unless filtered, induced noise and
harmonics spread throughout the building and back to
the grid substation. Then there is the matter of power
factor and power factor correction. Manufacturers often
use this as a marketing tool but few people know what
it is. Power factor indicates the effect of a load on power
supply system efficiency, i.e. the ratio between the
actual power draw of a circuit (kW) and the apparent
power (kVA). Poor power factor results from high
harmonic content, phase differences between voltage
and current or distorted current waveform. In essence,
Sources
Here are a few manufacturers with products
especially applicable to pro audio/video.
Applied Research and Technology (ART) has a
range of models with various features. The 400 series
all offer surge/spike protection, EMI/RFI filtering,
front-mount circuit breaker, 1,800W capacity, and
eight rear AC outlets.
ETA Systems offers a range of models including
conditioners, regulators and sequencers.
Furman Sound has a wide range of products.
Furman uses MOVs and gas-discharge tubes to
control voltage spikes allowing the larger units to
cope with as much as 11,000A. All Furman units have
high-voltage shutdown protection.
For more ‘industrial’ scale problems the Claude
Lyons Group have a variety of solutions.
58
Page 58
know how
power factor correction (PFC) makes a complex AC load
look like a simple load such as a light bulb.
Just switching on can be a problem. Audio and
video devices, including computers, often require a
very high current when first switched on, known as
the ‘inrush’ current. When several devices are
switched on together, this inrush current can trip
circuit breakers.
Using a Furman power conditioner as a meter, I’ve
been keeping an eye on the mains voltage here. It
varies from 228V to 245V, well within tolerance but
not confidence inspiring. We also experience short-
term variations that cause the lights to flicker in
stormy weather. Despite this, I have few problems.
Switch-mode supplies, especially universal voltage
types, are quite good at dealing with surges and sags.
However, it is obvious that expensive and/or
mission — critical equipment needs at least some
protection beyond conventional circuit breakers and
fuses. The level of protection you choose will depend
on local conditions and the level of risk you are
prepared to tolerate. If you are seriously obsessed,
Furman offers a balanced mains supply. This confers
immunity from induced noise, which would otherwise
appear on conventional, unbalanced, power rails. To
put this in perspective, UK 230V mains is a mere 49dB
or so above zero level.
A power regulator/conditioner for
audio/video use will
resolution
ideally combine spike and over-voltage protection with
RF filtering and voltage regulation.
Spikes can be dealt with by using MOVs (Metal
Oxide Varistors). The better examples are robust, fast
acting (15nS) and reliable. Cheap ones are, in effect,
sacrificial. Zener or avalanche diodes can offer a
quicker response to fast transients but not as fast as
1nS gas-discharge tubes. The better designs use a
combination of technologies.
For surges and sags, a power conditioner with
a toroidal transformer and big capacitors can
smooth out longer-term voltage
variations. The transformer has multiple
output taps and a sensing/control circuit
that monitors voltage and automatically
switches to the appropriate output tap.
In cheaper designs the output may step
between taps producing spikes. More
sophisticated solutions employ solid-
state switching to smooth out the steps.
A more ‘industrial’ answer will employ a
servo-mechanical voltage stabiliser with
a sensing circuit driving a motorised
variable transformer or ‘Variac’.
‘Inrush’ problems can be avoided
with a sequencer. This simply turns on a
number of sockets in a defined order
with a delay between each, and does
the opposite when turning off.
It is often assumed a so-called UPS
(Uninterruptable Power Supply)
regulates, conditions and removes
spikes with the added bonus of
protection against power cuts. In fact, there are three
classes of UPS and only the most expensive is any
substitute for proper regulation and conditioning.
In the cheaper SBS or Stand By power Supply the
output is effectively a pass through of the input until
the input power fails, then it switches over to a
battery-powered inverter. Inverters are very variable in
quality and most cheap ones output stepped or square
waveforms that are unlikely to be appreciated by
audio/video devices.
Next up the food chain is the Line Interactive UPS.
This combines at least some degree of voltage
regulation with standby backup. Then comes the true,
On-line, UPS that produces a stable, accurate voltage
output and waveform at all times. In effect, the load is
isolated from mains borne effects.
We all tend to think ‘It will never happen to me’,
but after two near misses, I’m now in the market
for some insurance. Every rented workstation rig
I’ve seen recently comes with a conditioner in the
rack. Hire companies don’t invest without good
reason. Effective spike and surge protection costs a
tiny fraction of even a modest studio set-up.
Can you afford the risk? ■
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:51 PM
Most influential albums
Another impossible job as it depends on all the usual caveats. There were many candidates that were argued over so you’ll almost
certainly disagree with the choice. However, the game is to name ten albums that significantly influenced the music and recording
that followed.
ABBA / GREATEST HITS
VOLS 1&2 (1976/79) —
Strong melodies, predominantly
meaningful lyrics, outstanding
arrangements, tasteful production
and skilled recording. Superior
pop music that set new
standards despite the fact that it
may have taken the passing of the years for this to
become so universally apparent. Represented by the
Hits album but this could be replaced by any of their
later albums, which showed enhanced sophistication.
ABBA set the standards for chart music that few had the
energy or ability to equal — and English wasn’t even
their first language!
BEACH BOYS — SURF’S
UP (1971) — Most name Pet
Sounds as the definitive Beach
Boys work but why isn’t clear.
True there are some good
songs and carefully sculpted
arrangements but those same
elements are also present in
Surf’s Up together with a Wilson-inspired realisation of
his own quirkiness expressed through songs,
recording style, arrangements and vocal gymnastics.
The album marked a collective return to form by a
band that had been desperately trying to creatively
match Sgt Pepper, and here they did it on their own
terms. Layered dry vocals and unpredictable directions
are echoed in later work by others, while the treatment
of introspective emotion of the title track is unique.
THE BEATLES — SGT
PEPPER (1967) — The recipe
is simple — some great songs,
virtually definitive interpretation
and immaculate production and
a physical presentation that was
in a different league. Freed from
the need to consider physical
performance of the tracks, and the money to support the
project, this album transcended ordinary critical
judgements. Other Beatles albums such as Revolver
may be more musically satisfying and have better songs
but this was a gauntlet, realised by skill, talent and
technology, that was thrown down as a marker that left
their competitors floundering to equal.
JAMES BROWN — LIVE AT
THE APOLLO (1962) — This
simple 30-minute live album
recorded live at New York’s
Harlem Apollo Theater enabled
James Brown to break out of
playing to just black audiences
where hit records and constant
October 2004
Page 59
ten
gigging had made him a major R&B attraction. This
album made #2 in the mainstream charts, was
released outside the US, and made him a star
by capturing the energy and musicianship of a
band that excelled in live performance. With
the assistance given by this success Brown
was influential in the development of soul music
and later funk. Certainly the first live album that
ever made any impact on the charts and ironically
was funded by Brown himself because his label
didn’t think it would sell.
MICHAEL JACKSON —
THRILLER (1982) — One of
those albums that was hugely
influential through the 1980s
but listen now and much
sounds almost quaint. Jackson
was one of the first to embrace
the ‘new’ music technologies
of sampling and synthesis in mainstream pop. The
vast success of this album largely defined how pop
music would use the new tools for the next decade.
Unfortunately much of it now sounds wooden and
stilted relying purely on Jackson’s vocals and songs
— such are the dangers of pioneering before the
paint is dry.
LED ZEPPELIN — II (1969)
— While their first album set
the tone, II realised the
promise. It focused years of
rock recording experience to
refine the elements that would
transfer live excitement to
vinyl — dynamics, ambient
drums with power, guitars that sounded live but
controlled, four musicians entering the zenith of their
skills, and a disregard of musical noise (e.g. amplifier
buzz, drum rattle) in preference to performance.
While II’s songs display more derivation than
originality, this was powerful rock music that
sounded the way we’d imagined it should. Later
albums refined the elements but were never as
consistently energetic as this.
MIKE OLDFIELD — drawing a wide range of
TUBULAR BELLS (1973) —
The one-man-band school of
recording was not new when
this album arrived — Les Paul,
Emmit Rhodes, Terry Riley
and others had preceded but
here was something that was
an immediately accessible single minded vision full of
repeated melodies that defied the listener to ignore.
Clearly made with love and dedication, and despite
the imperfections of limited track recording, this
resolution
KEITH SPENCER-ALLEN
album wins prizes for most remixed — even available
in all four original quadraphonic formats. To many
this represents garden party easy listening, to
musicians it was the realisation that if 19-year-old
Oldfield’s doodling could sell... For Mr Branson, the
key to an empire.
PINK FLOYD — DARK
SIDE OF THE MOON
(1973) — Any album that
sells as many as this has over
30 years will influence.
Beautifully recorded at Abbey
Road, it showcases a band
working in harmony, rather
than the eclectic mix of earlier albums, taking
intelligent themes to create a concept album with
minimal cringe factor. There was something to listen
to, and yet, could play low without intrusion over
dinner party chat — it marked the arrival of superior
easy-listening — with credibility.
RUN DMC — RAISING
HELL (1986) — Some albums
seem to kick-off on the wrong
premise but they capture the
public imagination. The idea of
crossing rap, still largely just
New York black street culture
at that time, with heavy metal
riffs would not seem a predictable success. But this
album did it in a big way. Although their previous two
albums had sold well, this went multi-platinum, broke
down a lot of barriers and brought rap/hip-hop culture
into the mainstream of popular music. It was melodic,
relatively innocent, and with a sense of fun that had a
broad appeal, and the collaboration with Aerosmith
instantly drew a new audience. Their appeal waned as
an alternative side of rap emerged but by then their job
was done.
STEELY DAN — CAN’T
BUY A THRILL (1972) —
Formed as a vehicle for the
songs of Fagen and Becker,
this album expressed them by
musical styles into a rock
context, blending them with
elaborate harmonies and skilled musicianship. This
was their first album and although the songs
developed in later recordings, the variety of stylings
decreased with a move towards a jazzier base. This
album showed how rock music could draw on wider
influences, embrace technical perfection without
being sanitised, and address a more adult audience.
Others watched and learnt but didn’t always get the
balance right. ■
59
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:52 PM
Martin Kloiber
He’s a classic example of a poacher turned gamekeeper — a customer who ends up
working for the manufacturer. As executive VP of technology at Euphonix he talks about
the interface issue, the acceptance of assignability, the back-end and relationships with
other manufacturers
W
ITH A DEGREE IN Music and Electronics,
Martin Kloiber has been working as an
independent music producer and engineer
since 1984 and has had a stint at Austrian broadcaster
ORF as an engineer from 1989 to 1991. He has
worked with Terence Trent D’Arby, Baka Boyz, 98
Degrees, Yello and Norman Brown and has also been
involved in film scoring, sound design and dubbing. In
1992, Martin co-founded, designed and acted as
studio manager and chief engineer for Soundproof
Studios in Los Angeles — home to the European
music duo, Yello (one half of which is Euphonix
chairman Dieter Meier).
The studio now includes a Euphonix System 5 and
R-1 recorder but Martin first became familiar with
Euphonix in 1991 when the studio installed a CSII.
‘This was during the early days of the company, but I
was totally blown away by the power and sound of
the digitally controlled analogue mixer. Since then, I
have been a big fan. As a client, I spent a lot of time
working with their product development and sales
60
Page 60
meet your maker
team helping to refine the systems, so it was natural
for me to move to a full-time role.
‘I think it is very important for product development
to have connections to the real world, and that is my
main goal, to provide a link between what we do in
development, the client and other companies that
have complementary technology,’ he says. As
executive vice president of technology, and a member
of the Euphonix board of directors, Martin oversees
technical development inside Euphonix for its current
and future products.
What is special about Euphonix technology?
We have focused on perfecting digital control
surfaces ever since we introduced the CS series in
the early 1990s and followed up with the all-digital
System 5 in 1999 and the Max Air in 2002. We are
passionate about producing the best professional
console designs in the world and providing
unrivalled personal customer support. Ask any of
our users. If you look at our client lists they include
some of the top audio facilities in the world in all
markets. We have worked very hard over the years
to get to this position and we feel we are at the
cutting edge of the technology that includes the
option to integrate with third party applications and
the art of console design. Euphonix deployed non-
proprietary computer technology from Silicon
Valley, and has architected a scalable and very
flexible hardware platform. To communicate within
this networked computer environment, we had to
develop a control protocol — EuCon. We have now
expanded this protocol, so we are able to control
and integrate third party DAWs into our
environment, therefore offering an end-to-end
production solution from a workstation up to a full-
featured production console.
How has the dynamic of manufacturing cost
and R&D effort changed over the transitions
from all analogue to digitally controlled
analogue to all digital desks?
When we introduced the CS Series digitally controlled
analogue console in 1991, we basically
halved the price of a 96-channel
console by separating
the digital surface from
the analogue processing
racks. The System 5 range
introduced a digital surface with a
fully digital back-end.
Obviously the surface design
uses completely different
technology from analogue but still is
constrained by the physical
hardware necessary to provide a
superior surface. Now we have a
great surface, and we will stick
with it in various forms in the
future to maintain
operational compatibility.
resolution
The big changes are happening in the back-end
where costs are being reduced and new technology
allows us to provide more for less and to connect
with DAWs, for example. The big challenge now for
us is to form relationships with the DAW
manufactures such as Steinberg and Merging
Technologies as their products will form an integral
part of our new System 5-MC console range. I have
always felt that as digital products can
communicate with each other the time has come for
manufacturers to start working together to allow
their products to integrate with each other over
networks. Just look at what’s happening in the
computer market. The big buzz is networking. A lot
of people use networks in their home, so it is a
logical step for us to apply this technology also in
our products. We made a substantial effort in
engineering for interconnectivity in the digital
domain. For us, the move to all digital has
improved manufacturability and reliability.
If the proliferation of digital workstations has
taught us anything, it is the importance of the
analogue end. Against such a backdrop it
would seem that a digitally controlled analogue
desk represents the practical ideal, why then
has Euphonix gone all digital?
One of the things that has emerged over the last
10 years is that there is a place for analogue mixers,
all-digital mixers, digitally controlled analogue
mixers and workstation control surfaces. Each has
its place and is ideal for a specific application. We
don’t build analogue consoles because we feel that
this is a specialised declining market, well covered
by companies such as SSL and AMS/Neve.
However, we do address the other three mixer
product areas and also manufacture high-quality
analogue convertors.
I think it’s best to look at this from a market
perspective, as the requirements are different for each
market. The last few years we have concentrated on
the broadcast and long-form audio post markets as
there is a growing demand for high-quality digital
consoles that we can satisfy with the System 5 and
Max Air products. In music and short-form post, all
projects involve workstations and there is a need for
integration between the workstation and console. That
is why we are introducing the MC DAW controller and
the System 5-MC mixing control surface that directly
integrates with DAWs such as Steinberg’s Nuendo and
Merging’s Pyramix via our high-speed EuCon
protocol. Therefore we can offer the user best of class
products in an integrated environment.
How have end-user attitudes to ‘assignability’
altered and are there still operational principles
in which desk designers still have to play safe?
Early digital consoles took the analogue route, laying
out channels in a linear fashion — 1-48, 49-96 — and
paging between them. Engineers initially felt
comfortable with that but soon found that it is not the
best way for an operator to mix. It’s clumsy, slow,
requires a large surface, and does not take advantage
of one of the most exiting operational improvements
you get with an assignable console: freedom to put
any channel anywhere on the surface.
Euphonix took this a stage further with System 5,
allowing any source to be placed in any position on
the console and saving that as a ‘layout’ for easy
recall. It is possible to do standard 1-48 linear
‘layouts’ with a System 5 for beginners but anyone
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:52 PM
who works on a System 5 soon figures out how easy
it is to lay out the channels you need in logical
positions close to the sweet spot and swap between
‘layouts’ when moving from mixing one set of
sources to another. Early designs also forced the
operator to do many channel functions from a central
assignable set of channel controls. We know now that
it is much better if the engineer can have control from
the channel strip as well as from the centre — that’s
why System 5 has 8 knobs per channel that can be
switched to control all channel functions.
Are console users really as conservative as
modern console designs would suggest they
are or could they embrace far more radical
control technologies? What could the desks
of 20 years’ time look like?
Consoles have evolved over the years constantly
improving the way an engineer can control and mix
sources. In some ways a modern design like System 5
is conservative as it has faders, channel strips, knobs
and meters but in many ways it is a radical change
from an analogue console that is confined and
constrained by the mechanics of the electronics.
Separating the control surface from the ‘engine’,
analogue or digital, has profound implications in size,
layout and flexibility of the mixing surface, plus
everything can be automated and recalled.
This separation also allows a surface such as
System 5 to directly control a DAW such as Nuendo
as its engine with the bonus of recording and editing
integration. So, in some respects, it is conservative
but at the same time quite radical. I think in a
professional environment it is important to provide a
practical solution that really does speed up operation
and allow for more creative flexibility, and basing
some of the design on proven mixing principles is a
good thing. Since cars still have a steering wheel,
despite some experiments, I believe that in 20 years
there will still be a pro mixing surface with faders
and knobs, there will be more touchscreens but
definitely there will be one or more PCs at the back
end. In order to create a good product, you have to
solve a problem for the customer. In our case, we
provide a tactile, ergonomic and comfortable tool to
get the work done.
Would you agree that with computer processing
power continuing to increase, as an industry we
are shifting our attentions away from harnessing
that power to the business of controlling it — it’s
now all about the interface again, just as it was in
analogue’s heyday, and it’s what differentiates
different manufacturers’ approaches because the
processing is now largely similar?
I definitely agree that computer processing power will
continue to increase. Everybody now accepts the fact
that you can cut and edit a movie on your laptop
computer, something that would have been
impossible a couple of years ago. The same
revolution is now starting in the audio business and
the border between audio and video production is
very blurred. As a manufacturer we have to harness
the power of commercial computer development,
since we simply can’t keep up with technical
progress if we have to reinvent the wheel constantly
and also try to accommodate the need of users in
video production.
On the other hand, DAW developers have long
acknowledged the limitations of a point-and-click
mouse interface for sound mixing. Therefore I believe
October 2004
Page 61
meet your maker
that the most important and difficult aspect of the design
is the surface — its what the engineer sees and feels and
connects with to produce an artistically stunning mix.
The best analogue consoles always had the most
ergonomically effective surface and that is still true
today for all-digital consoles. The back-end has changed
from analogue to digital processing core to DAW, but the
art of designing the surface always remains the ultimate
challenge and separates the men from the boys. At
Euphonix our design philosophy with digital is to
concentrate on designing the best surface and to allow
it to control any back end via our EuCon protocol, which
even supports a single surface controlling a combination
of DAWs and our own DSP processing core.
What do you see as the main differences
between the worksurface requirements in
music recording, post and broadcast?
There are a lot of similarities between music and
post requirements and both these markets are DAW-
based so integration of DAWs is important. The
high-end post console requires a more sophisticated
monitor matrix and panel and there is the issue of
multiple operator film consoles, but other than that
they can have very similar surfaces especially now
that surround is important in each market. The
broadcast console is different in that reliability is
critical and there is no DAW integration. There are
also many applications where the surface can be
much smaller and simpler with fewer controls such
as in a local news environment — hence the
Euphonix Max Air surface designed specifically for
this type of market.
However, there are many broadcast applications
where the console has to handle hundreds of sources
that include music as well as dialogue — such as a
variety show, or a complex sports event — and in this
case a surface such as System 5, with the redundancy
options, is perfectly suitable for on-air broadcast.
Would the adoption and standardisation of a
particular ‘digital interconnect’ make your
life and that of end-users simpler?
Yes, of course, standardisation helps in a big way but
it is important to remember that no one digital
standard can work for all applications, especially in the
high-end professional market where the requirements
are totally different from the consumer or project
studio. In many cases there is no standard to solve
some of the problems we face as console
designers. There are many open standards
that console manufactures can adopt,
such as AES10 MADI, AES31, etc.
Also I can see the industry going
down a path using a protocol
like Sony’s Super-Mac and
Hyper-Mac, which solves
the problem of
combining a high-
channel count of
digital audio
signals with
control and sync
information.
However, there are also
instances, such as console
connectivity to DAWs, that are so cutting edge
and complex, for which no standard exists yet. In this
case a company like Euphonix, with a great deal of
experience in surface networking, has to further
develop a protocol such as EuCon to bridge this gap.
resolution
What are the popular misconceptions
about digital desks?
That they are difficult to operate, unreliable and don’t
sound very good. Its 20 years since pro digital
consoles came on the market and back in those early
days these fears were justified. However, I think in
the past five years all those issues have been
addressed, certainly in the case of System 5, and any
engineer who has spent time on a good digital
console knows that it can match what analogue has
to offer with the bonus of assignability, full
automation, recallability, greater flexibility and
integration with DAWs.
The pressure to be price competitive in
large-scale desk design is apparent, but
where can compromises be made to
accommodate this and where can they
not be tolerated? What frustrates you as
a designer?
To produce a good console surface design that looks
and feels professional and that speeds up operation
and allows the engineer effortless creative control
costs money — it’s simply a matter of the cost of
components that go into the design. The back-end is
obviously getting cheaper and we have embraced
that with our integration of the System 5-MC with
DAWs, such as Nuendo, which greatly brings down
the cost of a system.
For some markets, such as broadcast, reliability and
modularity are more important than cost so these
systems will continue to be more expensive than a
surface/DAW solution. At Euphonix we actually offer
two different surface designs for broadcast to match
control surface needs of different areas such as live
production (System 5) and local news (Max Air). I
think that right now is an extremely exciting time to
be in the console business especially with the
integration of console and DAW.
One big caveat I see in the above-presented
concepts is that we want and need collaboration
with other manufacturers. We have to work together
and not against each other. But not all
manufacturers believe in this concept. Some more
than others would like to keep their users in a
proprietary and very controlled environment. It is
hard for some companies to understand and support
an open architecture, but Euphonix can and will lead
the way. ■
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Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 10:59 PM
Test equipment: why you need it
Ultimately the final output of most audio production is for the entertainment of a largely undiscerning audience listening through
indifferent equipment frequently fed by indifferent channels. As a consequence of the undemanding market, the quality of a significant
amount of production is also indifferent. JOHN WATKINSON argues that this is no reason to abandon standards and that, in fact, new ones
are needed.
T
ESTING FALLS INTO a number of categories.
Testing for fire safety or likelihood of
electrocution isn’t unique to audio and I don’t
plan to discuss it beyond saying it’s important. In
audio, testing generally is taken to mean sound quality
testing. In electronic devices it’s a lot easier than in
transducers.
In a generic device under test, the waveform
coming out won’t be identical to the waveform that
went in. There are three sources of difference: signals
that are added from elsewhere, such as noise and
interference, signals that result from the original signal
passing through a non-linear process, and lack of
phase linearity. Most general-purpose audio test sets
can measure all of this. When measuring distortion,
the input signal is nulled at the output, and what is left
is measured. What is left, however,
cannot exclude the noise the device has
added, so in practice, to be precise we
quote THD + N — total harmonic
distortion plus noise. I have a small
gripe, which is that some processes
produce anharmonic distortion so the
term THD is not strictly correct. Total
Non-linear Distortion would be better.
In principle anything that can be
heard can be measured objectively, but
the audio industry is one of the few in
which measurements of key parameters
still have no agreed test method. Thus
we have a situation where lack of
comprehensive test procedures allows
the situation where equipments having
identical test results can sound different.
Another difficulty is to relate the
quantity measured to what is acceptable.
The finest array of test equipment on
earth is of no benefit if the user has
insufficient knowledge to interpret the
results, or lacks the authority to have
something done about it.
For many years the figure of 0.1%
was considered good enough for audio
power amplifiers. Given the kind of
distortion product spectrum a valve
amplifier produces, this is reasonable.
However, when transistorised amplifiers
were introduced, they were designed to
the same figure, yet many sounded
dreadful. There are a couple of reasons
for that. Valve amplifiers work in Class
A and don’t have crossover distortion.
The distortion gets worse as level
increases and so they are tested at full
power. Transistor amplifiers working in
Class B produce distortion at low levels,
as indeed did early A-DCs. The
distortion product spectrum is different
and the human auditory system is more
sensitive to it.
When we sell stereo recordings, we
62
Page 62
slaying dragons
are purveyors of images, yet we don’t have a standard
for image accuracy. Instead we have equipment that
varies wildly in its imaging ability. The majority of
traditional loudspeakers are hopeless in this respect.
Lacking comprehensive test procedures, the best we
can do is to combine listening tests with objective tests.
The listening test is a kind of catch-all, because if there
is anything wrong, we ought to hear it whether or not
there is an objective test for it. Unfortunately, we can
only listen through loudspeakers and if these are
imperfect, other defects will be concealed.
One of the most obvious artefacts of bit-rate
reduction is damage to the imaging, yet if we listen
through traditional speakers we don’t hear it, whereas
on high-resolution speakers we do. As a result audio
compression has entered wide service on the
resolution
misleading assumption that it is inaudible. DAB should
have been wonderful and it is advertised as such, but
it isn’t. It reached the market based on flawed listening
tests. How much better would it have been if the
testers could have heard the damage? Perhaps there
would have been a decision to wait for AAC.
Although easy to measure, phase linearity doesn’t
get considered often enough, probably because of the
well-known myth that the ear is phase deaf. The ear
is phase deaf on continuous sounds, but unfortunately
it isn’t on transients and lack of phase linearity is a
common cause of poor realism.
Probably as a result of poor loudspeakers we have
any number of incompatible spaced microphone
techniques for stereo recording, none of which has a
valid theory of operation and none of which produces
a recognisable image. Instead they
display an effect by which sound is
spread around. The only microphone
technique that can produce an image,
and for which a theory of operation
exists, is the coincident microphone, and
this is obvious when heard on
loudspeakers of appropriate specification.
However, there are many who won’t use
coincident microphones because they
don’t like the sound. Maybe it’s the tricks
the microphones employ to achieve
directivity, maybe it’s the directivity itself.
Maybe it’s subjective nonsense. If we had
imaging accuracy measurement we could
resolve all of this, perhaps by seeing the
need to invent new types of microphone
that don’t presently exist. But we don’t,
so we stay stuck in the mud and
professional audio slides inexorably
towards the oxymoronic.
The distinction between accurate
reproduction and the creation of an effect
isn’t difficult to grasp, and I have long
stressed the importance of knowing
which is the goal before entering any
debate. However, it appears that a lot of
equipment is chosen because it gives an
effect that someone finds desirable under
certain conditions. Unfortunately this
effect is an inherent colouration that
cannot be turned off and thus for other
applications this equipment is not good
enough. Thus we have one piece of kit
that’s good for this, one piece of kit that’s
good for that, and the users erect a wall
of mystique regarding the principles by
which the appropriate item is selected.
How much easier it would be to have
neutral equipment and put in the effects
in a controlled process. I recall recently
reading a review of a microphone in
which it was judged to be ‘perhaps too
neutral’. I would have thought it
axiomatic that it is not possible for a
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 11:00 PM Page 63

slaying dragons showcase

To advertiser here call +44 (0)1273 236681

microphone to be too neutral either from a linguistic Pro-Tools for Post Pro training
standpoint or from an electro-acoustic standpoint. As I ALCHEMEA
already owned a pair of these microphones, I was College of Audio Engineering
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Another problem is that good test equipment is
expensive. With the explosion of consumer Topics include:
Linear & Nonlinear Video with Pro Tools, DV,
computing, a PC or Mac based home studio can be put OMF import/export, editing automation data to picture
together at incredibly low cost. Chances are there Mixing for Picture, groups/stems, surround Synchronization,
won’t be any test gear at all because it would cost machine control, multiple decks, offsets, etc.
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that if testing revealed a deficiency, there wouldn’t be
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which isn’t a solution. The commoditised hardware is
made by the thousand in the Far East and isn’t going
to be changed because you don’t like it.
Most audio installations consist of a significant
number of boxes connected together. Testing each box
individually is fine as far as it goes, but even if each
box passes, it doesn’t mean the system is good. I have
seen too many examples of low-resolution systems
that were the result of poor installation practice.
Screens on analogue cables disconnected at one end to
stop hum, instead of fixing it properly; Pin 1 of XLRs
not going direct to chassis; and various other insults to
EMC compliance. Poor quality clock distribution can
have a disastrous effect in digital systems as jitter gets
into convertors.
Today we have MP3 and DAB that use bit rate
reduction and give me no pleasure. Analogue FM radio
has its dynamic range modified. Modern equipment
needs next to no maintenance. It’s no longer important
to have someone who understands how it works and
it’s cheaper to hire employees that don’t. In this context
it’s hardly surprising that quality is going to go down.
One could be forgiven for wondering if it’s worth
trying to uphold any standards. I would argue that it
is. Whatever the industry, the mass market products
will always be mediocre, yet there is always space for
a smaller number of higher quality products for the
base of discerning customers that won’t go away. The
only difference between the two markets is that in
one, test equipment is used to make sure the
specification isn’t exceeded as this raises cost,
whereas in the other test equipment is used to move
the state of the art forwards. ■

DO Buy neutral sounding, uncoloured

equipment and add the effects later.

Combine the use of test equipment

with listening tests on high-resolution
speakers.

showcase
Remember to test the system, not just
the components.

Try to learn something about the theory

so you know what the test does and why.

DON’T Assume that testing tests everything

that can be heard.
Resolution
Confuse self-indulgence with
professionalism.
classified section
Test equipment by listening to the
output on poor speakers.
To advertise here
Assume that acceptability criteria
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are universal.

October 2004 resolution 63

Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 11:00 PM
Herding cats
Perhaps music folks are hard to organise. That’s fine, since there seems like more than
enough others out there willing to do it for them. But will producers get lost in the
organisational shuffle? asks DAN DALEY
W
E’VE TALKED ABOUT organising
producers, and it’s been done, more or less
successfully, at various stages of the industry’s
history, in the UK and the US. But the emerging and still-
evolving vista of the music business in the digital age
seems to have created a byproduct in the form of many,
many, many organisations, formal, ad hoc or blog-like
in nature, centred around the Internet and directly or
tangentially useful to record producers.
The Internet has always seemed a poor
surrogate for actually interacting with people,
whether you want to hire them or date them.
But it’s that same ability to broach vast
distances that, while making it less intimate,
makes it far more efficient. “Efficient’ is not
a word I’ve used often in writing about the
process of making records. Imagine:
‘Leonardo Da Vinci was extremely
efficient in his use of colour in his work.’
But it’s telling that efficiency is one of the
criteria by which many producers are
judged these days, by their employers if
not by those who buy the records
they produce.
Thus, the plethora of
organisations out there becomes a
bit like the way religion is approached by
many in the 21st Century: pick a bit
from this one and a bit from that
one and assemble to suit your
needs du jour. And I say that
without a trace of condescension.
To expect to pull all of your
information from one or two sources
these days is limiting.
There’s not a lot out there dedicated strictly to
producers, though there are a number of engineering
threads. I’m more of a fan of actual websites than I am
of threads and blogs, though the last two are great for
detecting pulses and trends.
The Music Producers Guild (www.mpg.org.uk) is
about as official a site as you’ll find. Andy East and
company have kept it up well and it’s the one I’d
recommend for authoritative insights on legal and
certain business issues.
Recordproduction.com is probably the most
innovative and technically advanced. The online video
interviews with engineers and producers, such as Al
Schmitt, are fun and informative, as are the virtual
tours of recording studios in the US and the UK (where
the site is based). There are also links to tons of stuff,
some as useless as a subscription to Rolling Stone,
some as useful as information on insurance, a topic on
which I have been, I’m sure, as boring as I have been
relentless. (But for the benefit of our US readers, get
some damned health insurance, as miserable as it is in
the States. I’ve had it for 25 years and had virtually
never used it until this year, and the US$25,000 or so
it just saved me was worth all those premium
payments. UK readers: Rant about national Health all
you want, but we’ll take it!)
64
Page 64
your business
Dave Mellor’s www.record-producer.com is thick with
stuff that most novice producers will find useful. Mellor
uses the site to sell his books and a distance-learning
curriculum whose content I cannot comment on but I
love the idea simply because it takes something he’s
good at and finds another way to make it earn money.
You can get a lot of studio news at
www.rpmdirect.com, a subscription site whose front
free section is always worth a look, especially for the
‘missing persons’ section, an appeal to update the
whereabouts of producers who have dropped off
industry (and airport) radars. I rather like that since
this is a business in which you’re only as good as your
next record, let alone your last one.
The frenetic look of www.breakingartists.com is the
template for what we’ll be seeing a lot more of: central
commercial enterprises selling books and tip sheets
with numerous links to a myriad of independent
producers and producer management and related
organisations.
Websites like www.taxi.com have been around a
while and have attained a certain amount of credibility
via features in papers like the New York Times. Still,
they play to the American Idol/Pop Idol crowd more
than anything else. However, sites like these are fairly
resolution
good for linking to more exotic and unique sites, such
as www.vocalist.org.uk, which itself has one of the
most eclectic and interesting link assemblies I’ve run
into. www.hungrybands.com, indeed.
One of the sites I like is the National Association of
Record Industry Professionals (NARIP)
(www.narip.com), run out of LA by a seemingly
tireless Tess Taylor. The site represents the vocation of
the organisation — which last year opened a chapter
in London — which is about the changing nature of
the larger entertainment industry. It will encompass a
lot of things that might not seem directly germane to
record producers. But in that is its virtue, since
everything is directly related to just about everything
else these days.
A recent conclave made these points about how
music might be monetised in the future,
suggesting a form of compulsory licensing in
which the creator of a recording (often also the
producer) would register it with the appropriate
government copyright agency, which would grant
it a unique file identifier as well as copyright, which
would be used to track Internet transmissions of
the file (song). A company called Big Champagne
in the US is already experimenting with this.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and the makers of
media and hardware used in file sharing would then
be charged accordingly. These firms would, in turn,
charge their users. Some say this is analogous to
the way you are now charged only for the
amount of water that flows out of your tap. Use
more, pay more; use less, pay less.
Of course, Taylor continues, there is
the possibility that there might not be a
one-to-one ratio between downloading
and fees. ‘Recording artist Asha Corpas, an
event attendee, likened it to the now-accepted
payments most households make to cable television
providers. “You receive 500 channels, but you don’t
watch all of them, yet the fee includes the
cost of providing all of the programming.”’
Taylor believes that record labels are
hiring again, which bodes well for them
remaining as players in a rearranged music
industry landscape. However, as with most other
industries, they’re being hired at lower wages,
commensurate with lower operating costs across the
board, including record budgets. (The producer
connection becomes clearer now.)
NARIP’s website also has a few producer
interviews, useful in that they don’t take a technical
tone for granted. An interview with producer team The
Underdogs — Damon Thomas and Harvey Mason, Jr,
who have written and produced records for artists
including Brandy, Faith Evans, Dru Hill, Pink, Tyrese,
Justin Timberlake, Toni Braxton and Mariah Carey —
asks those sorts of questions that make the technically
savvy cringe but which result in useful answers.
Here’s an excerpt:
Q: What do two of the top producers in the record
business look for in an artist?
A: ‘What helps make great artists is a story in their
songs,’ said Damon Thomas. ‘It also helps if they
seem to be about a lifestyle.’
On the subject of equipment, Thomas replies, ‘It’s
not the gear that matters, it’s the song. You can give
us an old beat-up 8-track and we’ll make you a
record.’ Mason: ‘Technology is a tool, but it’s not the
main thing.’
For career advice, Thomas suggests, ‘It’s not about
how much you charge for your work. It’s about being
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 11:00 PM
your business
able to charge something fair for doing great work.’
Mason adds, ‘If you focus on the money, you’re going
to hurt your career. Be in it for the love of music and
the money will find you.’
Then there’s the individual producer websites.
Understandably, most of these are by younger
producers. But there are a few by established
producer engineers, like Bryan Carlstrom
(www.bryancarlstrom.com), who coproduced Rob
Zombie and has recorded bands including Alice In
Chains and Offspring. I’d call his about perfect for the
purpose: good, stylised photo up front with a menu
of just-the-facts — bio, discography, gear list, links to
interviews done on him in magazines, and a product
recommendation link that subtly hypes his
preferences and doesn’t duck product endorsements.
Most of what’s on the web for producers is pretty
basic stuff, but there’s enough of it, and enough
variety, to give producers and engineers some ideas as
to how they best can fit themselves and their careers
into the marketing engine that is the Web. Troll a bit
and use links randomly, sort of like closing your eyes
and hitting a patch on a DSP box just to see what you
get. At the very least, you’ll get an idea. ■
Advertisers Index
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October 2004
Page 65
headroom
A GOOD SPACE
Resolution is indeed a great magazine and I can’t
help but look regularly in my mail box in the hope
that my issue is sitting there. One of the main
reasons, apart from the many excellent features and
articles (such as Thomas Lund’s on digital levels V3.2
and V3.3), has always been reading John
Watkinson’s Slaying Dragons, where he normally
touches the wound with incredible objectivity.
This time, however, I think that he has over-
stretched himself by attempting to write during his
sleep (Defining a good acoustic space, V3.5).
Obviously this is a guess, and maybe he had only
fallen asleep half way to the end of his article. Then
he started dreaming about reverberant control-
rooms with a good sound definition, perfect
loudspeakers and other strange issues. Maybe in his
nightmare he dreamt he was a studio ‘near-field’
salesman (do we need another one?)
One curious thing is that John starts his article saying
that ‘no one has ever heard what a musical instrument
sounds like’. Well, this is the reason why I think that in
close to hemi-anechoic conditions (read Non-
Environment control-rooms) we can hear exactly how
our ‘monitors’ sound, and hence what’s on the mix,
furthermore avoiding big surprises in the tonal
balance of our songs when played anywhere else. All
this because we simply sent our room out of the
equation. Reverberation belongs in the recording
space. The control-room needs a highly damped
acoustic to allow the recording personnel to hear the
true reverberation that has been recorded — in other
words, the reverberation that has been ‘locked into’
the recording.
Then John goes on with an extensive analysis on
the interferences between different types of music
for the different types of acoustic spaces, or on
what has been lost with modern multitrack
technologies — superb. But then the truth becomes
a dream... And no, not all big monitors are a pain in
the ear. And when they are, in many cases it is a
function of the room, hence rooms and monitors are
not totally independent. In fact, I am persuaded that
they cannot survive without each other.
In the remote case that it has not been a dream,
my only suggestion to John would be to have the
experience of a good set of loudspeakers in a well
designed ‘Non-Environment’ highly damped control
room. Nothing special or esoteric about it — not
even secret — and all well scientifically documented.
In the end, who cares about the real sound of an
instrument? Instruments are used to produce a form of
art, known as music, and in Art all (almost?) is valid. On
the other hand, when it comes to deciding how you
want to ‘pack’ your form of art, you really ought to
have the ‘microscope’ type facility of a well defined,
fast transient, phase accurate system inside a room
that remains innocuous to your programme material.
In a studio, diffusion is a great help for recording,
but simply not commendable for monitoring
purposes. Diffusion in the control room can, with
room decays beyond about 0.25 seconds, mask and
confuse the reverberant sound on the recording,
and make its assessment difficult. But, to
understand that, you need to experience it. And
also this emphasis on stereo imaging. Once set it is
resolution
the least variable aspect of the recording —
especially if we consider modern Pop and Rock
recordings that create stereo out of over-panned
instruments. Why colour the tonal balance, which
excessive diffusion can do, just for the sake of
everybody in the room having the stereo imaging?
While working on the balance of a mix, the stereo
imaging for all in the room is usually a rather low
priority. And I could also give you a few good
examples where owners of such types of control
room have had to buy some resonant, flattering
near or mid-field speakers — which they refer to as
‘the bad ones’ — only to please their recording
customers. At the end of the day, and as soon as the
customer goes, the main monitors are the ones to
rely upon.
One last thing is that I really don’t think that the
continuous drop in the price of studio gear justifies
anything at all or that it is something that we should
feel proud of, and I especially cannot accept that it
drags acoustics down to the same level. In reality it
is economically impossible. On the other hand, and
unfortunately for this industry, this price drop goes
along with a quality drop and, believe me, I know
what I am talking about as I sell some of it.
Anyhow, I cannot wait for the next issue of
Resolution because I really enjoy reading John, even
when I do not agree (partially) with his ‘presentation’.
Sergio Castro, AMIOA, Vigo, Spain
The audio industry is an easy target and sometimes I
feel as if I could bring the axe down in my sleep much
as Sergio suggests. However entertaining, such cheap
shots are not my style because they are destructive and
at odds with my own creativity. Thus, whenever I take a
swipe at something, I try to soak up the blood by
suggesting a better alternative.
If there is any difference between our views, it must be
that Sergio is focussed on pan-potted mixes for
commercial stereo recordings. These are an art form that
cannot be wrong any more than a painting can be wrong.
I am concerned with broader horizons, including
realistic reproduction of natural sounds, not necessarily
musical and not necessarily for entertainment. I am
comfortable with the fact that Sergio and his
colleagues have perfected the traditional dead control
room and speaker combination and I don’t need to
hear it because I have already moved on.
In a sense Sergio is right that I have been dreaming,
but he was out with the time scale. The dreams took
place some time ago and since then they have been
replaced by actual hardware that performs exactly as I
have described. I have used omnidirectional speakers
to relay live classical music into highly reverberant
spaces such as the Tate Modern with highly acclaimed
results. The reverberant glass control room is a reality;
it’s under design right now. I’m looking forward to
integrating linear phase omnidirectional speakers into
it. Then the points I have been making all this time will
be transparently obvious.
John Watkinson
While I agreed with much of what John Watkinson said
in his article in the July/August issue (Defining a good
acoustic space, V3.5), I feel that he made a great
mistake when he began to discuss control rooms. He
seems to be confusing control rooms with listening
rooms. Certainly in my opinion, a control room has a
quality-control function that far exceeds the simple
enjoyment of the music with a nice stereo image. A
control room should facilitate the recognition of
problems in the recordings — processing artefacts, bad
edits, timing errors (where relevant), noises. etc. This is
all better achieved in rooms with much lower decay
times than those for optimal listening for pleasure.
Furthermore, this is not the pseudoscience that
John claims it to be. As John is not an acoustician by
profession, his lack of knowledge of the science is
probably just a result of his unfamiliarity with this
type of work. [For example, see Fazenda, Avis,
Davies, Difference Limes for the Q-factor of Room
Modes, AES Convention paper, New York, October
65
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 11:00 PM
2003; which also makes a clear distinction between
listening rooms and control rooms. And these are
people from Salford University, UK, quite well-known
for its work on diffusers.] In fact, David Bell, of White
Mark, is a great user of diffusion, but in a contribution
which he kindly made on the subject of LEDE control
rooms in a recent book that I wrote, he clearly stated
that ‘Modern control rooms are built to impose huge
amounts of acoustic control, and their acoustics have
to be robust to the way in which they are used....It is
important to note the difference between the listening
and the monitoring processes, here. “Monitoring” is
not consistently possible in many [listening]
environments as these artefacts [of a listening
acoustic] may conceal aspects of the programme or
modify them in ways that make objectivity impossible.’
So there you have it, both a loser (absorber) and a
diffuser in general agreement about short decay time
requirements in control rooms. And what does John
mean when he says ‘It’s simply not possible to mix
surround sound in a dead room because there won’t
be any sound at all from the side loudspeakers’? As
far as I am aware, the surround systems with indirect
side/rear loudspeakers are only for domestic use.
Professional systems do not use dipole loudspeakers
at the sides because they produce a sound that is too
arbitrary and room dependent to be any serious
reference to anything.
I also know from direct conversation with John that
he refutes the need for high-level monitoring, but in
practical circumstances this can be very necessary to
animate musicians during a creative process; thus
powerful loudspeakers can be very necessary. It
therefore follows that rooms may need to be designed
to take this into account. Recording can be a very
complex process, so to make over-simplistic statements
about it can tend to do more harm than good.
However, at least John has precipitated a debate.
Philip Newell, Moana, Spain
I should make it clear that Philip Newell and I are
seldom in any real conflict. After all, we have both been
critical of the deficiencies of ported loudspeakers and
that message is slowly getting across.
All I have done is to move on to another deficiency to
which I have also found a solution. Quite simply, the
traditional loudspeaker cannot radiate sound of
identical quality in every horizontal direction and the
ear’s own abilities to isolate the direct sound from the
reverberant are compromised. As a direct consequence
different conditions are needed in a control room and a
listening room having traditional loudspeakers.
I assure Philip that I never confuse traditional control
rooms and listening rooms. I can tell them apart
blindfold because the acoustic in a traditional control
room makes me feel like a bird in a cage. They are
oppressive, I find them damaging to my serenity and I
refuse to get used to them.
But never mind my subjective feelings. It is simple
physics that loudspeakers designed to work in dead
rooms must be more powerful and must therefore have
higher distortion and worse directivity and Philip must
accept it.
The point I am making is that when loudspeakers of
adequate directivity specification are used, the
distinction between control room and listening room
vanishes. All of the problems that Philip lists are easily
discernible, possibly more easily. In fact I have written at
length about measuring loudspeaker performance by
the ability to reveal compression artefacts.
On the subject of surround monitoring, I regret that
Philip has misquoted me. I did not say ‘there won’t be
any sound from the side loudspeakers’. What I said was
‘there won’t be any sound from the side’. In a four or five
channel surround system with a centrally placed forward
facing listener in anechoic conditions, there is a stereo
image at the front, a stereo image at the rear and
nothing is perceived from the sides at all. Sound can
only be received from the sides if there is reverberation.
Traditional control room design isn’t appropriate for
surround sound working. New loudspeaker technology
allows a different and better room acoustic. One of the
66
Page 66
headroom
occupational hazards in dragon slaying is that
sometimes the dragon turns out to be a brontosaurus.
John Watkinson
THE SACD RESPONSE
Before I begin I’ll nail my colours firmly to the mast, I
work for Sony, one of the co-developers of SACD, and
I’ve been working with DSD since 1991. I’ll start with my
main message and append a few comments on recently
published letters and articles.
It is actually quite simple to make a recording for
release on SACD, and there are multiple ways to do this.
The golden rule is to retain as much sound quality as
you can all through the chain. You can start with an
analogue tape or a digital recording, if you’re using a
digital recording go for the highest sample rate you can
achieve and if at all possible don’t then reduce the
sample rate only to raise it again for final release on
SACD. If you can start with a DSD recording then do so,
with presently available recorders, editors and
processing you can stay at the full DSD sampling rate all
the way to release, and don’t let anybody tell you it
can’t be done, there are hundreds of workstations in the
field doing it every day.
If DSD recording isn’t available for some reason then
DXD, as outlined in Mikael Vest’s article in the
July/August edition, is your next best choice, especially
if you can stay at its 8fs PCM sample rate through all of
production. If this 8fs system isn’t available, then 4fs is
better than 2fs and 2fs is better than fs. It really is that
simple to understand and to do, try to keep the sound
quality, and the sample rate as high as you can all
through the chain.
In an amicable spirit I’d like to address some of the
points Mikael Vest’s made in his article on his new 8fs
24-bit PCM A-DCs and D-ACs. This is a very high quality
format, it certainly should be, requiring 12 times the CD
data rate or three times the SACD data rate.
Mr Vest says in his article, ‘Since DXD is a PCM-like
signal, editing can be made using conventional lossless
digital processing.’ I’ve two points to make here. First,
DXD is not just ‘PCM-like’ it is PCM. Secondly no digital
processing is lossless. While I agree that digital
transmission and storage are lossless, digital processing,
i.e. gain control, cross-fade, filtering, etc. is not. At
whatever sample rate it is done, 1 or 2fs for traditional
PCM, 8fs for DXD, or 64fs for DSD, all processing
involves the creation of long multibit words each time a
multiplication by a coefficient is executed and also
involves the correct addition of dither, used to reduce
the bit-width from that generated in the processing back
to that used for interconnection or storage.
Mr Vest mentions at several points in his article that he
believes that no editing or processing can be done on
the DSD signal without converting it to PCM. Clearly
ALL digital processing is done via multibit internal
representations, but it is not necessary to down convert
the DSD signal to the traditional PCM sample rates of 1
or 2fs in order to process it. Commercially available
solutions exist using moderate down conversion to the
8fs sample rate of DXD and using no sample rate
conversion at the full 64fs sample rate of DSD.
Despite these minor niggles Mikael Vest’s article
presents an effective method of recording for release on
SACD.
Most unusually for the good Mr Watkinson his amusing
article in the September edition contained a few factual
errors.
The number of combinations per second for CD is
(216)44100not (216) * 44100 and the number of combinations
per second for SACD is (21)2822400 not 2 * 2822400. Thus
the figures he gives, ‘2900 million combinations per
second’ for CD and ‘5.6 million combinations per
second’ for SACD are incorrect. The correct numbers
are 10212407 for CD and 10849627 for SACD showing, not
surprisingly, that there are 10637220 times as many
combinations in one second of SACD than in one
second of CD. There is indeed four times as much
information in the SACD channel.
John says that SACD has ‘a practical bandwidth of
22kHz’ and that ‘any signal above that frequency in
resolution
DSD64 will be dwarfed by noise’. I can assure him, as
someone who has been working with this signal for the
last 13 years, that there is indeed audio above 22kHz,
and that although the S/N ratio does get less as the
frequency rises it certainly isn’t dwarfed by noise.
I’m sorry to read John saying that ‘to perform
production steps with DSD it has to be converted to
PCM and then back again’. There exist commercial and
Sony in-house workstations that retain the full DSD
sample rate throughout their processing and recording.
You do not have to convert DSD down to 8fs PCM or
even lower in order to perform recording, mixing,
equalisation or dynamics processing.
I’m saddened by Richard Elen’s letter in the
September edition, in which the whole of the first two
paragraphs are directed at ‘partisan authors’. He spends
the rest of his letter attacking Mr Vest and SACD. May I
remind your readers that Richard Elen is Head of
Creative Services at Meridian Audio Ltd, the patent
holder of MLP, a key technology in, you’ve guessed it …
DVD-A. Pot, kettle?
To end on a happier note, with over 2400 SACDs
released so far it can’t be that difficult. It is also probable
that just about every possible chain of recording, editing
and processing equipment has been used at least once
to create recordings that have satisfied musicians and
listeners alike. Just remember, keep the sound quality
and the sample rate UP!
Peter Eastty, chief consultant engineer, Sony
Pro-Audio Lab, Oxford.
Proving that romance is
alive and well and living in
Shoreham-by-Sea,
Resolution's very own
Dean Cook recently
married Claire, the love of
his life. The honeymoon in
the Dominican Republic
was apparently frustrated by single beds in the hotel.
(picture by Georgia Gargett, age 6)
Sonic Distribution's two-wheeled petrolhead Warren
Stean has forsaken his tricked-up Ducati in favour of
more sedate transport as a result of his numerous trips
to SE Electronics' manufacturing base in Shanghai. Said
Warren: 'I've come to realise that acceleration and mid
range grunt isn't everything and there's a lot to be said
for the out and out handling and extra load carrying
capacity that an extra wheel can give you. Frankly, it's
also more of chick magnet and it's much easier to park.'
A new slim-line and svelte Greg Mackie graced the
recent Mackie 15-year celebrations in Woodinville
and allowed himself a momentary dietary lapse.
October 2004
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 11:00 PM Page 67
Resolution 3.7 October 2004 12/10/04 11:01 PM Page 68

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