Audiomedia 1404

No. 281 � April 2014 www.audiomedia.com

IN THIS ISSUE

A guide to high-quality audiofor DSLR film production p24

Audio on the Go

�� TECH FOCUSAudioRecorders

p34

�� LOUDNESSAn update on the currentstate of broadcast audioloudness worldwide p28

�� TILEYARDA look inside one of themost exciting studiocomplexes in London p32

�� SHOW REVIEWAll the big releasesfrom this year’sProlight + Sound p16

Editor – Jory [email protected]

Deputy Editor – Jake [email protected]

Managing Editor – Jo [email protected]

Sales Manager – Graham [email protected]

Group Head of Design & Production – Adam [email protected]

Production Executive – Jason [email protected]

Designer – Jat [email protected]

Publisher – Steve [email protected]

Managing Director – Mark [email protected]

Press releases to:[email protected]

© Intent Media 2014. No part of this publication may bereproduced in any form or by any means without priorpermission of the copyright owners.

Audio Media is published by Intent Media London, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England. Editorial tel +44 (0)20 7354 6002Sales tel +44 (0)20 7354 6000

Audio Media ISSN number: ISSN 0960-7471 (Print)

Circulation & Subscription enquiries Tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6001email: [email protected]

Printed by Stephen & George, Wales

WELCOME

www.audiomedia.com April 2014 03

MEET THE TEAM

April 2014Issue 281

I HAD an argument recently with a friend ofmine over the quality and merits of a certainfilm. While I commented on the plot andcharacterisation, his responses were either“Well [insert review aggregator site name] onlygave it 56%”, or “[insert semi-famous film critic]said that the ending wasn’t believable”.

These types of arguments seem to behappening more and more where our owncriticisms become just a mere regurgitation ofsomeone else’s thoughts, or worse, facts andfigures from review aggregator sites.

It seems to boil down to two fundamentalissues. Firstly, a lack of confidence in our ownopinions, and secondly, forgetting about theimportance of the subjective experience. While

the first point is better suited to the realm of psychiatry (and I promise you, I’mno psychiatrist), this second point is one that rears its ugly head over and overin the world of sound. Whenever a new piece of kit is released we argue and

fight online and in person, looking at facts and charts and sound bites from[insert famous producer] who only uses it in his/her studio instead of relyingon our ears and deciding subjectively whether or not we personally like it.

Just the other day I had the chance to sit down with Steven Slate, founder ofSlate Digital and Slate Pro Audio, among other companies. His productscontinually put pressure on the status quo of the recording gear communityand I asked him about the negative responses he receives after every productlaunch. He admitted that they don’t bother him as his main goal is to createtools that foster creativity while adding to the democratisation of therecording industry by bringing those tools to people at all levels. For Steven, itseems that the worth of the kit comes down to each individual’s subjectiveexperience and what they are able to create with it – “If they can make bettermusic with it, I’m happy”.

As a magazine, we regularly have to walk that fine line between being strictlyfactual and being opinionated and subjective. There’s a responsibility to notonly report accurately on the facts and figures, but also to show how gear isbeing used in real life, because in the end that’s when these things truly shine.With the massive amounts of releases each month it’s sometimes hard toremember that every product has been made to address a certain issue wemight face on a daily basis, not just to add to the coffers of manufacturers.

While we are here as a resource and a knowledge base, it still has to beabout your own subjective experience. So get out there and get your hands on some kit.

Jory MacKay, Editor

“As a magazine, we regularly have to walk that fine line betweenbeing strictly factual and being opinionated and subjective.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>AADVERTISERINDEX

2014 NAB Show .......................................49Audio Engineering Society .....................31Calrec .........................................................15DiGiCo..........................................................2Dynaudio Professional.............................17Genelec .................................................5, 29IBC ..............................................................47JoeCo...........................................................8Lawo .............................................................7

Mogami......................................................23Nugen Audio ...............................................9Orban ..........................................................11PMC ............................................................25Prism Sound ..............................................13Radial ..........................................................51Richmond Film Services..........................37Riedel .........................................................43RME.............................................................19

RØDE Microphones .................................12Sony ............................................................27Stagetec.....................................................39Studer.........................................................52Studioking .................................................45Tascam .......................................................35TC Electronic ..............................................3Universal Audio ........................................38

CONTENTS Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com

04 April 2014 www.audiomedia.com

>TECHNOLOGYFOCUS:

Audio Recorders...............................34

REVIEWS:

Featured: Waves: Abbey Road

J37 Tape ............................................40

Softube Console 1............................42

RME MADIface XT ............................44

Sennheiser HDM Pro HD 25...........46

Neumann KH 310 A .........................48

>FEATURESLocation Recording Masterclass...22

� Will Strauss speaks with several location recordists about capturingsound for TV dramas

Loudness Update .............................28

� Kevin Hilton finds out the current state of loudness standards aroundthe globe

Tileyard Studios................................32

� Jake Young visits an exciting studiocomplex in London housing 72 rooms

TECHNOLOGY – NEW AT PL+S ......6

� Yamaha reveals the QL Series

� Midas launches the Pro X console

� Six new products from Dynaudio

INDUSTRY NEWS.............................10

� Dolby and Avid team up for awards

� Jungle bolsters staff

� Game Music Connect returns

>ALSO INSIDEShow News: NAB............................................................................14

Geo Focus: India....................................................................20

Interview: Red Bull Studio’s Brendon Harding.............50

p34

p22

COVERJerry Ibbotson exploresways to match high-res

video with equally high-quality audio for DSLR cameras p24

TECHNOLOGY NEWS


CADAC USED Frankfurt to

introduce a new version of its

CDC four compact digital

console – the CDC four,

featuring a 6 x 4 matrix – and

the M16, a 3U 16-channel

mic pre/MADI box.

The 6 x 4 matrix in the new

CDC four includes 31-band

graphic EQ, compressor/

limiter and delay on all four

channels, and 31-band graphic

EQ on all aux sends.

The compact digital console

has 16 motorised channel

faders, high-resolution TFT

colour display, and recallable

scene memory. Other features

include ultra-low distortion

EQ filters, analogue sounding

compressors, 96kHz 24-bit

Delta Sigma A-D/D-A

converters, and fourth

generation 32/40-bit floating

point SHARC processors. It

also has the advantage of

being rack-mountable making

it suitable for situations

requiring up to 56 channels in

14U of rack space.

The CDC four is also

designed for recording

applications as well as live

sound situations.

With 16 Cadac microphone

amplifiers in a 19in 3U

package, the M16 has a three-

way active split per channel

with a combined MADI port.

This combination makes the

unit suitable for live,

broadcast, recording, and

more; the integrated

MADI interface means

that third-party digital

consoles can upgrade

their inputs with the

Cadac preamp.

www.cadac-sound.com

www.soundking.com

Midas Announces271-channel PRO X

New at Prolight + Sound

Audient Unveils Mic PreAUDIENT SHOWCASED ASP880, an eight-channel microphone preamplifier and ADC.

ASP880 features eight of Audient’s console micpres, two JFET DI instrument inputs, convertertechnology, variable impedance, and variable highpass filters in a 1U rack mount unit.

Each channel has a balanced insert with directaccess to the converter so it can be used as aneight-channel mic pre and a standalone converter.

Much of Audient’s product range was on showtoo, including the audio interface iD22.www.audient.com V2 Software For

SSL Live ReleasedSOLID STATELogic madeseveral productannouncements inFrankfurt. Thecompanyannounced therelease of V2software for theSSL Live console,which includes enhancements tothe output matrix, effects rack,user interface, routing, solosystem, and focus channel, aswell as an offline setupapplication.

SSL also presented a trio ofdevelopments for its DuendeNative range of plug-ins. Thethree new plug-ins complementthe existing range, with twoplug-ins (X-Saturator and X-ValveComp) designed to bringsome analogue saturation anddistortion emulation to a digital

DAW and the third (X-Phase)delivering frequency specificphase correction.

Lastly, the companyannounced its first update forSigma, SSL’s remote-controlledanalogue summing unit. Thenew software will be a freeupgrade and enables all featuresof Sigma to be controlled froman iPad or iPhone via OpenSound Control (OSC), aprotocol that allowscommunication among devices.www.solid-state-logic.com

DURING A packed press

event, Yamaha launched a

range of digital mixing

consoles, delivering the audio

quality, processing power, and

flexibility of the CL Series, in

a smaller size and with local

I/O facilities aimed at smaller

scale productions.

The QL Series comprises

two models: the QL1 and

QL5. The QL1 features 16

inputs and eight outputs in a

468mm-wide chassis, with the

QL5 32 ins/16 outs, measuring

828.4mm wide. The QL1 has

32 mono and eight stereo input

channels, while the QL5 has

64 mono and eight stereo.

Onboard Dante networking

allows QL consoles to be

integrated into bigger systems

with Yamaha’s R-series I/O

units and CL Series consoles.

A QL console can

simultaneously control up to

eight R-series units, offering

as many as 256 input sources.

A new port-to-port facility

gives CL Series consoles access

to the onboard connections of

QL consoles, allowing them to

be used as external I/O. Auto

gain compensation can be

applied to the QL Series head

amps as well as R-series I/O

units, allowing two or more

QL and CL Series consoles to

share inputs without

unexpected level changes.

Dan Dugan’s auto-mixing is

provided onboard the QL

Series, while audio processing

includes the QL Effects Rack

and the Premium Rack. Two

Mini-YGDAI expansion slots

also allow QL Series consoles

to add further (external)

processing, additional local

I/O, and interface with other

audio networking formats.

www.yamahaproaudio.com

Yamaha Presents QL Series Consoles

Cadac Launches Two New Hardware Products MIDAS REVEALED the new PRO X, which the company claims

is the world’s most powerful live mixing console. The Neutronengine is capable of up to 800 audio channels, which can be routedon a point-to-point basis, with the ability to change the routing evenon individual automation scenes.

On its own, the PRO X provides 168 inputs and 99 mix or 103output channels simultaneously on a control surface that measuresless than 60in wide. AES50 digital audio connectivity allowsscalability for up to 288 network inputs and 294 network outputs.Integration comes via IP-compliant third-party audio networks,such as Audinate Dante and Cirrus Logic CobraNet, using theKlark Teknik DN9650 Network Bridge.

PRO X features 99 mix busses that can be simultaneously displayedas 24 mono or stereo mixes on the console surface. Each of thedisplayed mixes has its own LCD select switch with RGB colourcoding and scribble strips – plus 11-segment LED bargraph metering.

The powerhouse behind the PRO X system is the new NeutronAudio System Engine. FPGA and MIMD (Multiple Instruction,Multiple Data) architecture delivers more than 100 gigaflops of real-time audio processing, translating into 271 simultaneous processingchannels at 96kHz and 40-bit floating-point operation.

Visiting engineers can prepare shows in advance of their arrival,either using another Midas console or the Apple Mac OS X OfflineEditor software. Show files are forward and backward compatible, soshows created on the user’s Midas PRO Series console work exactlythe same on any other Midas PRO console.

The Midas PRO X will be available before the end of 2014.www.midasconsoles.com

TECHNOLOGY NEWS


AKG INTRODUCED the

DMSTetrad digital wireless

microphone system. This

licence-free system features

an integrated four-channel

mixer and an antenna front

mount kit.

With 24-bit, 48kHz audio

coding, it provides

uncompressed transmission

and a linear frequency response

for vocal and instrumental

performances. The

DMSTetrad’s 128-bit AES

standard encryption prevents

tapping of the audio signal.

The entire DMSTetrad

system features the

DSRTetrad digital stationary

receiver, the DPTTetrad

digital pocket transmitter, and

the DHTTetrad digital

handheld transmitter, available

with AKG’s D5 acoustics or as

DHTTetrad P5 with standard

dynamic capsule. Two sets are

available, the DMSTetrad

Vocal Set including the

DHTTetrad P5, and the

DMSTetrad Performer Set

including the DPTTetrad

together with a C111 L

earhook microphone and the

MKG L instrument cable.

The DSRTetrad receiver

can work with up to four

channels of audio in parallel

which can be mixed down

directly to its balanced XLR

sum output. The dynamic

frequency selection (DFS)

ensures that only the cleanest

frequency bands are selected

for the connection between

receivers and transmitters

automatically.

www.akg.com

DiGiCo D2-RackPROLIGHT + SOUND sawDiGiCo launch its new D2-Rack. Designed to support andexpand the higher sample rateI/O solutions of DiGiCo’s SDRange, the D2-Rack comeswith either BNC or Cat5MADI connections, allowing itto be used with a number ofDiGiCo consoles.

By using the latest convertorsfound in DiGiCo’s SD Racks,the D2-Rack offers connectionat either 48kHz or 96kHz withno I/O reduction.

The D2 Rack is currentlyavailable for use with SD8 andSD9 systems.www.digico.biz

Powersoft Offers X SeriesTHE POWERSOFT X Seriesamplifier integrates a system ofchannel routing, a universalmono, bi, and three-phasebalancing power supply, and afully featured DSP.

The X Series consists of twomodels. The X8 is the largest

amplifier in the range, boastingeight channels in a 2U chassis,while the X4 features fourchannels in a single rack unit.Both models share the samepower density, being capable ofdelivering up to 5,200W at 2ohms per channel.

The X Series nativelysupports AES3, two redundantDante by Audinate digitalstreams, and analogue inputs,providing up to four differentselectable input sources perchannel.

The X8 and X4 are suitablefor both low and high impedanceapplications. The modularconstruction permits the rearinput/output connections tofeature either XLR/speakON orPhoenix connectors.www.powersoft-audio.com

New at Prolight + SoundNew Wireless System from AKG

TECHNOLOGY

www.audiomedia.com

DYNAUDIO PROFESSIONAL introduced four

near-field monitors, mounting solutions, and two

subwoofers in Frankfurt. The near-field monitors

are the BM Compact mkIII, BM5 mkIII, BM6

mkIII, and BM12 mkIII (pictured); the new subs

are the BM9S II and BM14S II.

The smaller BM Compact mkIII and BM5

mkIII models feature expanded frequency response

and SPL thanks to a combination of

improvements including driver design and Class D

amplifiers. Each includes an auto standby mode as

well as both XLR and RCA input connectors.

The BM6 mkIII and BM12 mkIII have been

revoiced and now include Dynaudio’s wave-guide.

Both of the BMS II subwoofers have also been

further optimised.

www.dynaudioprofessional.com

Six Additions toDynaudio Family

WaveLab 8.5 RevealedSTEINBERGannounced a pointupdate to itsWaveLab audioediting and masteringsoftware. WaveLab8.5 includes new fileconversion and batchprocessing, A/Bcomparison betweenencoding formats, andimplementation of anAAC encoder.

The new automatedWatch Folderrendering feature

applies processing to allaudio files dragged intodesignated folders.Users can assign tasks,such as dithering andaudio file formatconversion, to any

number of WatchFolders without havingWaveLab open.

WaveLab 8.5 sportsthe new EncoderChecker plug-in forreal-time comparisonof codecs and settingsalong with theintroduction of newmulti-format renderingcapabilities facilitatingexporting files tovarious formatssimultaneously.www.steinberg.net

Trio of Releases from Radial

THE LATEST generation of the

Radial JDI Duplex, a two-channel

direct box designed for

professional touring and studio

recording, took centre stage on the

manufacturer’s booth.

According to Radial senior

engineer Dan Fraser: “The Duplex

has gained international stature as

the unchallenged champion of the

stereo direct box world. So before

making any changes, we wanted to

make sure that we would retain

the flexibility, ease of use, build

quality, and of course amazing

sound. We focused on making it

smaller for easy handling,

incorporating a rack-mount

option, and adding a 3.5mm TRS

connector for greater flexibility

when being used with laptops

and tablets.”

The Space Heater, a

combination tube drive and

summing mixer, and the StageBug

SB-7 EarMuff headphone mute

was also at Frankfurt.

According to Radial president

Peter Janis: “The Space Heater is

an eight-channel 12 AX7 tube line

amplifier with big fat Eclipse

transformers. These combine to

produce a huge bottom end. We

then added a three-position switch

that lets the user select the applied

voltage on the tube so that it can

be lo-fi, mid-fi, or hi-fidelity,

depending on the need.”

www.radialeng.com

New at Prolight +

Sound

NEWS


Dolby and Avid Join Forces With NFTS>>> POST PRODUCTION

DOLBY AND Avid have teamed up

to celebrate excellence in sound post

production and sound design in

student films.

Dolby is launching a new Dolby

Award for Best Sound with the

National Film and Television School

(NFTS) to recognise excellence in

sound mixing, sound editing, and

sound design in a student short film.

The winner will have the opportunity

to present their next feature film at

Dolby’s Atmos screening room in

Soho where many established

filmmakers showcase their movies.

The competition is open to NFTS

Sound Design students graduating in

2014, whose short films will be judged

by a jury of Dolby’s own sound

consultants. All of the entered films

will be showcased to industry sound

professionals at the state-of-the-art

Dolby Atmos screening room in

Soho, London, on 9 April where the

winner will be announced.

Avid will also use the event to

announce the winner of the new Avid

Award for Excellence in Sound

Design 2014. The winner will receive

an Avid Artist Mix, MBox Pro, and

Pro Tools 11 along with a pro plug-in

activation voucher for their choice of

Avid AAX plug-in. This bundle

represents over £2,000 of Avid

software and hardware.

“This collaboration with NFTS

and Avid celebrates new and exciting

talent across the film industry. We

hope that the Dolby Award for Best

Sound will showcase how innovative

sound mixers and editors are using

sound to transform the art of

storytelling to create the best possible

entertainment experience,” said Andy

Dowell, Dolby regional director,

northern Europe.

Simon Caton, Avid UK

professional audio manager, said:

“Avid is delighted to support the

National Film and Television School

and the Sound Design for Film and

TV course. We have a long-standing

relationship with the NFTS and their

alumni and are proud to play our part

in the success of their students past

and present. Through the sponsorship

of this award we look to recognise the

achievements of the NFTS and to

assist one of their highest achieving

graduates in their transition to the

professional world of film and

television.”

The announcement comes hot on

the heels of NFTS sound graduates

winning their 12th Motion Picture

Sound Editors (MPSE) Golden Reel

Award. The Verna Fields Award for

Sound Editing in a Student Film was

presented to sound designer Ting Li

Lim for her graduation animation

Robomax (directed by Moayad

Fahmi). In addition, alumnus Simon

Chase was the supervising ADR

editor on Captain Phillips, which won

the award for Sound Editing in a

Feature Film.

NFTS head of sound Chris Pow

said: “We are thrilled to win our 12th

Golden Reel student award; the NFTS

sound courses are now undeniably the

best in the world. The school has had

long-standing associations with Dolby

and Avid whose systems and software

our students use regularly. We are

delighted that our students’ talent is

being recognised with these new

awards, which will help launch their

careers.”

www.avid.com

www.nfts.co.uk

Neil Young Announces PonoMusicSINGER-SONGWRITER Neil Young released new details of his portable

high-resolution audio player PonoMusic at this year’s SXSW conference,

which also coincided with the launch of a Kickstarter campaign.

PonoMusic encompasses both an online music store (ponomusic.com) and a

playback device (PonoPlayer). The PonoPlayer offers what the company claims

is “the finest quality, highest-resolution digital music”, while PonoMusic allows

customers to download, manage, and sync their music to PonoPlayer and other

high-resolution digital music devices.

The audio technology in the PonoPlayer was developed in conjunction with

the engineering team at Ayre Acoustics, who describe their contribution to the

PonoPlayer design as including a digital filter with minimal phase (to combat

‘unnatural’, or digital sounding, pre-ringing); zero-feedback circuitry; a high-

quality DAC chip; and a fully discrete output buffer used to drive the

headphones, providing a flat frequency response and wide volume range using

‘virtually any set of headphones’.

“PonoMusic and Ayre have collaborated to achieve a lofty goal – to make

the power and majesty of music available to everybody. We are absolutely

thrilled to be a part of this project and will always be grateful to Neil Young

for changing the landscape of recorded music.” said Charlie Hansen, CEO

of Ayre Acoustics.

www.ponomusic.com

www.neilyoung.com

>>> RECORDING

The Dolby dubbing studio at the NFTS

Management CompanyLaunched in PartnershipWith Miloco

PIECES OF 8 Music is a boutique producer and

engineer management roster set up by James

Morgan to represent the next generation of

producers, engineers, and mixers, as part of a new

joint venture with Miloco.

With many years’ experience working in A&R,

Morgan is said to be well placed to nurture and

develop the studio talent that is coming through from the Miloco group. The

first four additions to the roster are Darren Lawson, Mark Allaway, Matt

Lawrence, and Mo Hausler.

“I’m thrilled to be working with Miloco on this venture as they are such a

well-respected and established brand with an unrivalled network of studios,”

said Morgan. “As a consequence they consistently attract and produce some

of the best engineers breaking through in the industry, which makes them

the perfect partner for Pieces of 8. With the support of the Miloco team, I’m

confident that it will not only be a successful partnership but will also

provide many opportunities for growth and development in the long-term.”

“Pieces of 8 is a great new venture for Miloco to be involved in,” added

Nick Young, managing director of Miloco. “As the Miloco family grows we

are constantly looking to help further the careers of engineers and producers

who come through our studios by offering them further avenues of work.

With the experience James has gained at Universal he is perfectly positioned

to help Pieces of 8 succeed.”

www.piecesof8music.com

>>> RECORDING

NEWS


Game Music ConnectAnnounces First Speakers

>>> EVENT

FOLLOWING THE inaugural

Game Music Connect

conference in 2013, the event

returns to the Purcell Room at

Southbank Centre, London on

24 September 2014.

The first announced speakers

for the 2014 edition include

Steve Schnur, worldwide

executive of music, Electronic

Arts, and composers Garry

Schyman, Jessica Curry, and Olivier Derivière.

Co-founder John Broomhall reprises his role as host, while

composers Jason Graves and Richard Jacques, and co-founder

and composer James Hannigan will return to discuss upcoming

projects and participate in presentations.

Hannigan said: “It’s a huge thrill to be back for 2014 and a

great honour to have such wonderfully talented, diverse, and

influential guests join us for the day. As promised last year, we

will be covering the innovative indie game music scene this time

around, as well as continuing our focus on blockbusters and the

challenges of interactive music.”

Watch this space for more announcements about this year’s

Game Music Connect conference.

www.gamemusicconnect.com

Jungle Ramps Up Sound Design Team

SOHO-BASED post-

production facility Jungle has

promoted three members of

its team, extending the

number of engineers at the

company to 14.

Lawrence Kendrick, Alex

Wilson-Thame, and Culum

Simpson (pictured, left to

right) will all be taking on the

role of sound design engineer,

where they will work across a

range of broadcast and

advertising clients.

All three have worked with

Jungle since leaving college.

Kendrick and Simpson

previously worked as tracklay

and assistant engineers while

Wilson-Thame has been

promoted from an account

handling role.

Graham Ebbs, managing

director, Jungle, said: “Jungle

has long been acknowledged

as having the most

thoroughly trained engineers

in the industry. We are

committed to providing

opportunities for hard-

working staff and take pride

in the fact that not only do

we have the best possible

team at Jungle, but that our

ex-employees now head up

the audio departments at

some of the UK’s leading

post houses and agencies.”

Jungle has also recently

appointed Athene Parker as

new business consultant.

Parker has over 17 years’

experience in the industry

and has had both exec

producing and new business

roles in the areas of

production, music, post, and

audio post. She said: “The

level of talent and expertise

under Jungle’s roof, along

with the company ethos and

the way they encourage their

staff made it a no brainer

when they approached me

for the role.”

www.junglestudios.co.uk

>>> POST PRODUCTION

NEWS


Storm HD Invests in Nugen Audio

Duke University Builds Acoustic Cloaking Device

ENGINEERS AT North Carolina’s Duke University

have built the world’s first 3D acoustic cloaking device.

Designed using perforated sheets of plastic the device

re-routes sound waves to create the impression that

both the cloak and anything beneath it are not there.

“The trick we’re performing is hiding an object

from sound waves,” said Steven Cummer, professor

of electrical and computer engineering at Duke. “By

placing this cloak around an object, the sound waves

behave like there is nothing more than a flat surface

in their path.”

The technology revolves around the field of

‘metamaterials’ – the combination of natural materials

in repeating patterns to achieve unnatural properties.

The device looks like several plastic plates with a

repeating pattern of holes stacked on top of one

another in the form of a pyramid but has the ability

to alter sound waves’ trajectories to match what they

would look like if they had reflected off a flat surface.

Because the sound is not reaching the surface

beneath, it is travelling a shorter distance and its

speed must be slowed to compensate.

The device works in all three dimensions, no

matter which direction the sound is coming from or

where the observer is located. While the technology

was developed with support from the US Army and

Navy, Cummer believes there are further

applications for the cloak.

“There’s also the design of auditoriums or concert

halls – any space where you need to control the

acoustics. If you had to put a beam somewhere for

structural reasons that was going to mess up the

sound, perhaps you could fix the acoustics by

cloaking it.”

www.pratt.duke.edu

Research scientist Bogdan Popa worked onSteven Cummer’s teambuilding the acoustic cloak

LONDON-BASED post-

production house Storm HD

has invested in Nugen

Audio’s VisLM and LM-

Correct plug-ins.

“Since we manage projects

for major broadcasters around

the world, delivering loudness-

compliant audio is a critical

success factor,” said Storm HD

senior dubbing mixer, Tim

Wheeler. “Storm HD provides

LKFS, LUFS, and LU

loudness metering on its menu

of audio services, facilitated by

Nugen Audio’s VisLM and

LM-Correct plug-ins.

Working in conjunction with

Pro Tools, VisLM, and LM-

Correct provide loudness-

normalised audio that

seamlessly integrates into our

audio production workflow.”

“We use the Nugen Audio

plug-ins as our main mix

metering tools in all of our

suites, and will continue to do

so for the foreseeable future.”

www.nugenaudio.com

www.stormhd.tv

>>> ACOUSTICS

>>> POST PRODUCTION

SHOW PREVIEW Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com


WITH MORE than 93,000 attendees

from 156 countries and 1,550+

exhibitors, the 2014 NAB Show will

welcome a host of pro-audio

technologies through dedicated

conference programming and

exhibitors. The convention takes place

5-10 April in Las Vegas, Nevada.

NAB will hold the US launch of

Merging Technologies’ new Hapi

small-format networked audio

interface, as well as the the first

showing of Pyramix 9, Ovation 5,

VCube 5, and the final release version

of the CoreAudio Driver for Horus

and Hapi.

“As for looking forward to it, I do

in a masochistic way,” says Merging’s

Chris Hollebone. “Apart from the

product launches, there are always a

bunch of US friends to catch up with,

there will be some cool stuff on the

GoPro stand (apart from the

cameras), and usually a few parties.

Usual Vegas craziness and typically

good weather all help.

“I also expect that AES67 will have

a positive effect on the acceptance of

Ravenna at NAB, and there might be

some more manufacturers joining,

which would be nice.”

Studer will be premiering Vista X

and Infinity Core for the first major

public show in the US. Similarly the

manufacturer will be hosting the first

US showing of the Soundcraft

Vi3000 with Realtime Rack.

At NAB, Fairlight will introduce

EVO.Live, a new generation digital

audio mixing system for on-air and

live productions. Jean-Claude

Kathriner, CEO of Fairlight,

comments: “EVO.Live includes an

array of innovations that will benefit

customers in terms of productivity

gains, reliability, and especially value

for money. The intuitive level of

customisation of the user interface and

its ability to switch between live and

post modes will change audio

production forever.”

iZotope will be presenting its Insight

essential metering suite, Nectar 2

production suite, and RX 3 and RX 3

Advanced, which remedy noise,

clipping, hum, buzz, crackles, and more.

Fresh from opening its first North

American office earlier this year,

Nugen Audio will showcase its

complete line of solutions for loudness

compliance, the new MultiMonitor

software for loudness and true-peak

monitoring, and a new MXF file-

handling option for LMB that allows

direct analysis of audio within the

MXF container.

Wohler Technologies will feature

version 8.3 of its RadiantGrid

Intelligent Media Transformation

Platform. Version 8.3 enables OTT

offerings for formats including

MPEG-DASH, HLS, and Microsoft

Smooth Streaming, and aids content

producers in meeting the array of target

bit rates, resolutions, and frame rates

necessary for today’s content delivery.

Other key NAB exhibitors from the

pro-audio community include Audio-

Technica, Calrec, Cedar Audio,

DiGiCo, DiGiGrid, Dolby, DPA

Microphones, Dynaudio Professional,

Focusrite, Genelec, Jünger Audio,

Lawo, Roland Systems Group, RTW,

Sennheiser, Shure, Solid State Logic,

Sony, Sound Devices, Stagetec, TC

Electronic, TSL, Waves, Yamaha,

and Zaxcom.

CONFERENCES

The six-day Broadcast Engineering

Conference features technical papers

addressing developments in audio

including: ‘AOIP in the Broadcast

Plant’, ‘AES67-2013: AES Standard of

Audio Applications of Networks: High

Performance Streaming Audio-Over-

IP Interoperability’, ‘AoIP and

Undiscovered Country: The Audio is

the Easy Part’, ‘Introducing Ethernet

AVB Technology in Live Production

Environments’, ‘Beyond Basic

Broadcast Loudness Compliance’,

‘CALM Compliance Issues’, ‘Loudness

Management Is Settled…What’s

Next?’, and ‘Loudness vs Speech

Normalization in Broadcast’, among

others.

The Creative Master Series, which

runs from 7-9 April, includes a talk

titled ‘In Heroes, We Trust: Building

the Soundscape for Captain America:The Winter Soldier’, featuring

supervising sound editor Daniel

Laurie, sound designer Shannon J

Mills, and Marvel Studios’ SVP feature

post production Bruce Markoe.

For a full list of NAB

conferences visit:

www.nabshow.com/2014/sessions/

conferences

WHAT?2014 NAB Show

WHERE?Las Vegas Convention CenterLas Vegas, Nevada, USA

WHEN?5-10 April 20149am-6pmwww.nabshow.com

NAB Bets on Pro Audio

Prior to NAB, Avid will host Avid Connect, the

inaugural event of the Avid Customer Association, a

comprehensive initiative designed to provide essential

strategic management to the media industry, which was

announced at last year’s IBC show in Amsterdam. At

the three-day event, which takes place on 4-6 April in

Las Vegas, Avid will introduce what it claims is the

industry’s most open, integrated, and flexible media

production and distribution environment, all guided by

Avid Everywhere.

“Avid Everywhere addresses the unprecedented

challenges that media professionals are facing, including:

the accelerated digitisation of media assets;

consumerisation of content creation and distribution;

and relentless pressure for operational efficiency,” said

Jeff Rosica, senior vice president of worldwide field

operations at Avid. “To make Avid Everywhere a reality,

we are developing the most fluid end-to-end, distributed

media production environment in the industry, a

comprehensive ecosystem that encompasses every aspect

of the new digital media value chain.”

www.avid.com

AVID EVERYWHERE

We cover some of the developments in broadcast sound that you can expect to see when the world’s largest electronic media show hits Las Vegas.

SHOW REVIEW Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com


THE ECONOMIC climate

has some in the industry

wondering about the future of

bigger pro-audio trade shows

and this year’s Prolight +

Sound brought many of those

bedroom critics back out into

the open.

Yet if there is a phrase that

would describe the general

sentiment of most of the

manufacturers I spoke with

during this year’s show in

Frankfurt it would have to be

something along the lines of

‘guarded optimism’.

As many of ‘those critics’

noted, Frankfurt is starting to

feel the pressure that the rest

of the industry is experiencing.

The halls are all still bustling,

albeit slightly less busy than in

past years (except for on the

consistently chaotic public

day). This isn’t necessarily a

bad thing, however. AudioMedia’s diary was filled with

back-to-back meetings and the

press events all seemed well

attended. Smaller crowds don’t

necessarily mean a show is

losing its appeal, but perhaps

instead that the crowd is

becoming more refined.

Prolight + Sound as well as

Musikmesse are some of, if not

the, most important shows for

many of the pro-audio

manufacturers in Europe. The

international press was out in

full force and most people I

spoke with said that with a few

less punters wandering from

stand to stand they were able

to get down to proper business.

The show’s big product

releases have been covered

elsewhere in the magazine

(check them out on pages 6-9)

but here are a few of the key

moments from our time in

Frankfurt...

Products, press events, and parties – check out some of ourhighlights from this year’s Prolight + Sound show in Frankfurt.

Bringing out the Quality

AKG Acoustic’s Walter Rühig withthe newly launched DMSTetrad

digital wireless microphone system

The crowds turned out forYamaha’s launch of its QL seriesof digital mixing consoles

Solid State Logic moved from hall5.1 to hall 8.0 and brought alongfive of its new Live consoles

Dynaudio global business manager Fred Speckeen announced sixnew products including four near-field monitors and two new subs

Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup held a press conferenceto announce the arrival of its new digital mixing console,the Polaris Evolution

The newly launched Soundcraft Vi3000 madeits European debut on the Harman stand

The Sennheiser stand featured botha live stage and a recording studiowhere attendees could try out thenew MK 8 recording microphone

Want more?Check out the full gallery at Facebook.com/AudioMediaMag

DPA Microphones CEO ChristianPoulsen demonstrated a number of

the company’s products

>

OPINION Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com


GOOD NEWS

FROM WALES

The Pinewood Studios

organisation is to set up a new

facility in Cardiff. Pinewood

Studios Wales will be based at

the former Energy Centre

building in Wentloog and will

form part of the company’s

global network. The Welsh

government hopes the

180,000sqft complex will

generate an estimated £90

million for the economy.

First Minister Carwyn

Jones states: “Attracting such

an iconic global brand as

Pinewood is wonderful news

for Wales. This high-profile

investment is of significant

economic value to Wales

while the partnership between

the Welsh government and

Pinewood offers a priceless

opportunity to promote Wales

as a world-class location for

film and TV production.”

Pinewood and Shepperton

Studios have created more

than 1,500 films in more than

75 years, including the James

Bond franchise and the CarryOn series. Wales has already

established a name for itself in

television and drama

production since the official

opening of BBC Cymru

Wales’ Roath Lock studios in

Cardiff Bay in 2012.

Programmes such as Casualty,

the Welsh-language drama

Pobol y Cwm and children’s

drama Wizards vs Aliens are

made there.

Pinewood will lease the

Cardiff building for a

minimum of five years from

the Welsh government.

However, it is not the first

attempt to create a movie

studio complex in Wales. In

2008, the multi-million pound

Dragon International Studios

in Rhondda Cynon Taf –

nicknamed Valleywood – was

partly mothballed after

promising to put Wales at the

heart of the UK film industry.

Only one film, Ironclad, was

shot at the site. Let’s hope the

Pinewood project prospers.

PLASA HEADS FOR

BRUSSELS & SCOTLAND

PLASA Events has

announced that two new

PLASA Focus events will take

place in Europe during 2014.

The first of these – and the

first PLASA Focus to be

staged in mainland Europe –

will take place this summer,

when PLASA Focus: Brussels

open its doors in the heart of

Belgium’s capital city on

1-2 July.

Having introduced the

successful PLASA Focus

event model in Leeds, UK, in

2009 and subsequently in

various cities across North

America, PLASA has long

been aware of the market’s

desire for more of this type of

event in Europe. The Benelux

region was one of the first to

be considered for a regional

market focus.

Christopher Toulmin,

director of PLASA Events,

comments: “We have proved

over recent years not only that

our Focus model really works,

but that there is a great desire

among the industry for access

to more of these affordable,

intimate, educational events

which allow exhibitors a

chance to really engage with a

regional market, in a very

accessible way.”

The Focus event in Brussels

marks the start of a three-year

initiative to expand the reach

of the PLASA Focus brand in

Europe, creating more

opportunities for the PLASA

community to meet regional

audiences, in particular those

customers that do not

otherwise visit major

international trade shows. The

second launch event will take

place in Scotland towards the

end of 2014. We will be there.

IN THE BEST

POSSIBLE TASTE

We’ve all been either the

perpetrator or victim of music

snobbery, but new research has

shown that it’s not all about

taste – in fact, some people are

biologically incapable of

registering any emotional

response to music. A global

research team, headed up by

scientists at the University of

Barcelona, has found that

between one and five percent

of people experience “specific

musical anhedonia”.

Thousands of university

students in Spain completed a

questionnaire, indicating how

strongly they agreed or

disagreed with various

statements, such as “when I

share music with someone I

feel a special connection with

that person”, and “I can’t help

humming or singing along to

music that I like”.

Thirty participants

identified as having low,

medium, or high sensitivity to

music were then selected to

listen to a range of music

chosen by their peers – from

Vivaldi to Simon &

Garfunkel – while researchers

recorded their reactions using

physiological indicators of

emotion: heart rate and

sweating. Music-lovers

showed an increase in both

heart rate and skin

conductance, the “anhedonic

group” had no such response.

Josep Marco-Pollarés,

author of the study, says: “It

would not be surprising to

find people who respond to

one genre and not to another

– we all have the experience of

people who love opera and

hate hip hop – but the study

reveals that there are

people that do not respond

to any music.

“All the participants in the

three groups had the same

sensitivity to reward for other

kinds of stimuli – food, sex,

money – and none of them

suffered from amusia [a

disorder affecting musical

perception and recognition].”

WELCOME BACK

Woodworm Studios in rural

Oxfordshire has refurbished

and reopened for business.

The original creative home to

Fairport Convention, Jethro

Tull, and an early incarnation

of Radiohead, among others,

Woodworm Studios is under

new management, which has

upgraded the entire

equipment collection and

technical installation for the

two-building facility. We wish

them well.

FINAL WORDS

The recent Prolight + Sound

extravaganza in Frankfurt was

– as reported elsewhere in

Audio Media – witness to a

mega load of new product

releases. And these were

accompanied by the usual PR

blurbs and releases. Certainly,

there were some interesting

new products on show, but

perhaps the PR people err on

the over-kill. Iconic, unique,

ideal, award-winning, game-

changing, next generation are

just a few of the regular

adjectives and descriptions

of new bits of kit. But what

took this year’s proverbial

biscuit has to be the

loudspeaker that, according to

the PR, is “soon to be

legendary”. Thanks for the

advance news – we wait with

baited breath.

Audio Media consulting editor Jim Evans rounds up the internationalheadlines that caught his attention this month.

Taking it to the Regions

GEO FOCUS INDIA Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com

India’s pro-audio industry continues to thrive thanks to thepopularity of locally produced film, TV, and, increasingly, music.

To the Beat ofBollywood

Munro India: Meeting Challenges>>> STUDIO DESIGN

I’ve heard from other sources that no real large-

format recording studios have been built in India in

the better part of a decade. How do you feel about

the current market for recording studios?

The large-format recording studios are not really

coming up because of real estate prices here. If they

move out to the outskirts they will be out of

business because no one would travel that far

thanks to the traffic problems in this country.

The last big format facility we did was last year.

It was for a big corporate group in the jewellery

business called Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri who

forayed into entertainment. The studio is called

ENZY studios (pictured).

Before this was a studio for another corporate –

the Sahara Group. The studio is called Studio

Nysa and has M4 large-format monitoring and an

SSL 9000 K.

The corporates started shying away from [building

studios] as the engineers and musicians are driving

the industry and they build their own studios so all

the work is done in their facility. Now if they have to

record strings or a big band then they will hire these

big studios for a week max to get their work done.

The final mix for movies is done in certified

Dolby Mix rooms, which only now are being

designed properly as Dolby is active in the country

and have their checks in place. Before this ‘engineers’

had lovely internet designs that would then be built

into horrible sounding rooms by carpenters.

What about post-production facilities?

The big names are Prime Focus and Famous but a

lot of Bollywood post production is done in cheap

facilities and along very fast timelines.

Television on the other hand I find is more

professional and organised. It’s a big market out

here for TV. In the 80s we had only two channels

and now I would say there are 200 or more. Then

there are language versions for the south, west,

north, and east of the country. This country has

over 30 languages and they dub for all of them.

Are there any design requests you’ve received that

might be unique to the Indian film/music industries?

They pretty much follow the studio design

internationally but the Indians listen to their

music/mixing loud. The musician/programmer/

music director wants to work on big monitoring

so that the producer feels the ‘effect’.

All the mastering is done in the UK or US and

these mastering engineers are always complaining

about the material levels that they receive.

For television, big, spacious rooms are the norm

(heights we get are a maximum of 3m) so we go as

big as the room ratios allow. The engineers sit

in the sweet spot, the musicians sit directly behind

him, and the production house people are all over

the studio.

www.munro.co.uk

THE SECOND most-populouscountry in the world, India, producessome of the most consumedcontent from films to music. Whilemost people outside of the countryare well aware of the phenomenonof Bollywood (and Indian cinema ingeneral), the country’s musicindustry is also starting to growindependently and is dominated bylocally produced content both forphysical and digital sales.

According to the IFPI’s latestreport, India is nearing an all timehigh with industry analysts believingthe country could become a top 10global market within the next fewyears.

“The Indian music scene hastraditionally been driven byBollywood, but changingdemographics, massive internetexposure to global music trends,and a progressive youth culture areleading to evolving tastes and this

growing market is set to be muchmore diverse in the future,”commented Mandar Thakur, chiefoperating officer, Times Music.

One of the biggest drivers forIndia’s music industry has been thehuge uptake in mobile phonesubscribers, which now totals morethan 900 million. Since 2006, anumber of streaming services suchas Gaana and Saavn, as well asindependent download stores havebegun to emerge. Yet, like in mostother countries around the globe,piracy is still a big issue with anestimated 54% of internet usersaccessing unlicensed services on amonthly basis.

In February of this year one of thetop-funded music startups,streaming service Dhingana,reportedly shut down due to‘industry challenges’ including piracythat reportedly costs the industrynearly £2.5 billion every year.

Despite this, India has a longhistory of protecting its contentproducers. The Indian MusicIndustry (formerly the IndianPhonographic Industry) wasestablished in 1936 and is thesecond-oldest music companies’association in the world engaged indefending, preserving, anddeveloping the rights of phonogramproducers while actively promotingand encouraging advancement ofcreativity and culture through soundrecordings.

The IMI includes membersranging from Saregama India andUniversal Music India, to otherprominent national and regionallabels that represent over 75% onthe output of recordings.

As part of its mission to protectthe rights of music producers, theIMI has been actively seeking waysto curb music piracy and in the lastfew years has obtained court orders

directing all internet serviceproviders in the country to blockmore than 250 illegal music sharingsites.

In the country’s thriving filmmarket, 2013 marked 100 years ofIndian cinema and saw the releaseof multiple big-budget productions.Three films from 2013, including twosequels (Dhoom 3 and Krrish 3) andone original (Chennai Express)became the highest grossingBollywood films of all time.

The constant output of both filmand, growingly, television, meansthat there is steady business foraudio post-production facilities.Global post-production powerhousePrime Focus first started in Mumbaimore than 16 years ago and nowboasts facilities in London, LA,Vancouver, New York, and Beijing,while independent post houses such as TeamWork Studio continueto expand.


After opening an office in Mumbai seven years ago, Munro Indiacontinues to build some of the country’s top recording andpost-production studios. We talk to studio designer and acousticand electroacoustic consultant Kapil Thirwani.

GEO FOCUS INDIA

POPULATION: 1.2 BILLION

£2.5 billionCost of internet piracy to the Indian

music industry every year


Word on the Street >>> DISTRIBUTOR

First off, tell me a bit about yourself and your

background in the pro-audio industry.

As a youngster I used to visit the music-recording

studio my father Daman Sood used to work in and

was intrigued by the audio recording process and all

the fancy equipment. It was also around that time

when the audio industry was moving from

analogue tape recorders to DAWs. In 1994, Daman

decided to start an audio consultancy and

distribution company. I subsequently did a course

in audio engineering and decided to get involved in

the business of audio distribution. Today we

distribute brands like Genelec, SSL, DPA

Microphones, Manley Labs, Chandler, Brauner

Microphones, Bricasti, Cranesong, Grace Design,

Thermionic Culture, and Prism Sound in India.

India is recognised worldwide as a huge producer

of everything from films to music. Has this large

amount of content production created a healthy

market for pro-audio equipment?

The Indian music industry is largely based around

music for films and there are very few artists who

have successfully launched their own private albums.

But we are seeing a trend over the past two or three

years where independent artist and bands are

producing music not related to films. I think it’s

largely due to better market exposure and good

audio gear being easily accessible. Today it really

does not cost much to buy your own recording gear

and make music. Overall I would say the market has

a lot of growth potential going forward.

Have you seen any trends in technology purchasing

in the past few years? Is there anything that could

be unique to India?

A lot of our customers are actually investing in

analogue gear. Our customers realise that you can

get only that far with audio plug-ins. They are

looking at high-resolution convertors, summing

boxes, bus compressors, etc. Customers today

actually want to develop a unique sound of their

own by hand picking the pieces of gear in their

signal chain that define their sound; and this is not

only the big audio studios but even music

producers working out of their bedrooms.

In many other countries large-format recording

studios are closing as people move to smaller

facilities or mobile set-ups. What is the current

state of the music recording industry in India?

Large-format studios that have been around for the

last seven to ten years are still actually in the market.

We have not seen any of them shut down. But there

are no new large-format studios being built. One of

the problems has been that the music and film hubs

are within the main city and with sky rocketing real

estate costs it’s really making them unviable to build

any longer. We are seeing a lot of music producers/

mix engineers actually set up their own studio. The

situation where you earlier would have a studio

owner (investor) and then have sound engineers

run the place is literally disappearing. Today the

engineers and music producers are investing in

setting up their own space.

What about audio post-production?

Audio post-production studios have been doing well

as it still demands a facility to be run out of a proper

commercial space. Over the past few years we have

seen more quality post-production studios being

built than music studios. Also there is a fair amount

of competition to have the most current production

platforms and invest in regular studio upgrades.

Are there any other sections of the market that are

experiencing growth right now?

The sound reinforcement market, audio post-

production studios, film mix facilities upgrading to

Dolby Atmos or Auro-3D. Cable television has

begun to move to HD transmission and have seen

some interest in studios and broadcast facilities

upgrading to 5.1.

Have there been any significant changes to

legislations, regulations, or laws that have affected

the industry?

Taxation in India is quite high, which is a

dampener to growth. Import duties are around

30% and then you have VAT charged between

12% and 15% across different states. When you

consider the Indian rupee has devalued by over

20% against major global currencies over the

course of last year and with the addition to these

duties and taxes it is making things a bit difficult.

The government needs to rationalise these duties

and taxes to help things improve.

www.soundteam.in

Based in the heart of India’s film and music capital, Mumbai,Sound Team has been supplying the country’s pro-audioindustry for over 15 years. We talk to company partner ShivSood about the current state of the market.

BROADCAST FOCUS Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com


ADRIAN BELL

Selected TV drama credits: Merlin,The Seventh HourKit: Zaxcom, Lectrosonics, DPA, Schoeps

As the production sound mixer on

all five series of the BBC’s Merlin,

Adrian Bell knows how important

audio is to a TV drama, and the

magic it can add.

“Sometimes sound is overlooked in

the way it can change the way a scene

plays out,” he says. “I like to be able to

contribute to a project in many ways,

not just recording the dialogue and

effects, but also coming up with ideas

for how a scene can be put together.”

And that doesn’t have to mean

adding sound. In fact, less can be

more. “Gravity has a really exciting

use of just silence,” adds the RTS

Award nominee.

A former documentary sound

recordist, Bell has now moved into

drama and features, working on,

among other things, Stephen

Poliakoff ’s The Seventh Hour for

BBC2 and, most recently, Everest,the Working Title movie about a

1996 climbing tragedy.

He says that he tries to bring a bit

of his factual filmmaking experience

to the TV drama world: being

mobile, using a small sound

recording kit, and working quickly.

“I can use it [to adopt] a very

instinctive way of recording,” he

says. “I will always look at a script or

a scene and plan it as effectively as

possible but generally shots will be

created on the hoof and a scene will

play out very differently to how it

was planned. ”

Bell’s kit list is made up of a

Zaxcom Deva 16-track recorder and

Mix-12 mixer plus Lectrosonics

radio mics and DPA personal

microphones. His boom mics are

Schoeps CMITs with Schoeps

CCM 41 small cardioid mics used

for planting onto the film set.

To come up with the perfect blend

of kit “has taken quite a few years”,

he says, not least because

manufacturers are constantly

improving their products but also

because of the increasing numbers of

recorded tracks needed these days.

When it comes to dealing with

background noise, like all recordists,

Bell has his own methods.

“On a lot of TV drama there seems

to be a great move away from sound

stages and studios,” he explains. “So a

lot of our work involves minimising

background noise, location

atmospheres, and filming between

aircraft passes and sirens.”

Dealing with harsh environments,

as he did during the Everest shoot, is

another challenge, he says. “In Nepal

and Italy, where we worked at

10,000ft with an ambient daytime

temperature of -20, to keep the kit

working correctly, without holding

up production, was a huge effort. The

trick was to keep the sound rig as

lightweight and small as possible.”

BARRY O’SULLIVAN

Selected TV drama credits: FoylesWar, Kidnap and Ransom, PrimevalKit: Fostex, Sennheiser, Lectrosonics,Sanken, Da-Cappo, Voice Technology

With a CV that includes Foyle’s War,Kidnap and Ransom, and Primeval –

not to mention the movie remake of

The Man From U.N.C.L.E –

production sound mixer Barry

O’Sullivan knows a thing or two

about recoding audio on location.

Starting out as a humble cable

man before becoming a boom op

and then a production sound mixer

he has experienced most drama

scenarios and is well placed to pass

on the secrets of his craft.

“Patience and perseverance are

important,” he says when asked what

it takes to excel in this field. “Often

we come against a general air of

‘we’ll have to loop this’ from other

members of the crew or cast but

often problems can be solved and

difficult situations overcome with a

bit of thought and hard work.”

“Sound is a collaborative thing,”

he explains. “I will always

communicate with the director

during a shoot, and with my team.

We always discuss scenes and the

best way to cover them and there

has been more than one occasion

when one of my guys will point out

something that I haven’t spotted.”

O’Sullivan’s current location set-

up is based around Fostex recorders

with Sennheiser mics on booms,

and then Lectrosonics radio mics

with a combination of lavalier

microphones from Sanken,

Da-Cappo, and Voice Technology.

“All of this equipment sounds

good, which is the most important

thing, and has also proved to be

very reliable,” he explains.

When working on a TV drama

O’Sullivan is very aware of his place

in the team dynamic. As such he

makes it his business to speak with

the sound editor in advance of the

shoot – if time permits – and during

post production and constantly

observe where the story is going.

“I am always aware of what the

shot is and what lens is being

used,” he says. “The sound needs to

match the picture, or should that be

the other way around? Also,

knowing what is happening visually

means that you can be prepared in

case [you suddenly] need a second

boom or require a microphone to

be planted on the set.”

In an ever-busier world, it will

come as no surprise to learn that

background noise is the biggest

challenge for a production sound

mixer. But it can be overcome.

“Physics is a hard thing to beat,”

he says. “In interior locations it

might mean making sure doors and

windows are closed. Or, if they

need to be open when we shoot, for

cable access, we will block up as

much of the gap as possible.”

Location,Location,Location

Will Strauss speaks to three location sound recordists/mixers to find out what it takes to make it in the worldof TV drama production.

BROADCAST FOCUS


GRANT BRIDGEMAN

Selected TV drama credits: MrSelfridge, Bert and Dickie, The AccusedKit: Sound Devices, Sennheiser, Schoeps,Sanken, Lectrosonics

For BAFTA-nominated sound

recordist Grant Bridgeman, there is

one defining factor when it comes

to location audio.

“Primarily it is about getting

clean dialogue,” he says. “Trying to

get other sounds can become a

distraction. In my opinion it is far

better to spend that time stopping a

chair squeaking, quieting a door, or

perfecting wireless reception.”

It is a manifesto that has served

him well on TV dramas such as MrSelfridge, Bert and Dickie, and TheAccused (series 2) for which he was

up for a sound BAFTA.

When it comes to additional

audio, there is some creative

collaboration, he says, but it’s often

down to the sound crew.

“The director may ask for specific

wildtracks,” says Bridgeman “But

more often it is left to the sound

recordist. We will try to get specific

things on location that may be hard

to replicate in post production such

as period cars or atmospheres in

characteristic locations. We try to

get room tones to help with

dialogue editing too but getting the

actor’s dialogue is of primary

importance.”

As far as kit is concerned,

Bridgeman is a Sound Devices man,

using a 788T recorder with the CL8

fader panel and CL9 controller. His

mic manufacturer of choice is

Sennheiser with the MKH60 being

used for exteriors and the MKH50

for interiors “purely because of their

robust nature”.

A Schoeps CCM41 is also called

upon for interior scenes while a

Sanken CUB-01 boundary layer

mic is “one of the most invaluable

microphones” for on-location work.

His radio mics are from

Lectrosonics.

When it comes to being a great

recordist though, you need more

than great kit.

“Clearly you have to be focused

on the audio elements of every

shot,” he suggests. “But often the

bigger role is that of being a

diplomat and negotiator. Working

with the other departments is

absolutely crucial: everyone from

locations, through costume to the

camera team. All of them can help

you if you ask in the right way and

at the right time.”

Does it matter to the sound crew

how many cameras there are?

Absolutely, says Bridgeman.

“Multiple camera shoots

completely change the way you

work,” he stresses. ‘‘Two cameras on

extremely different lenses – for

example, a wide and a tight shot –

mean that it’s not possible to get

the tight sound on a boom mic

without compromising the wide

shot. I always request that we don’t

shoot wide and tight at the same

time, but that we shoot similar

frame sizes. That means we can get

the same sound perspective for each

image and hopefully get it on the

boom mics.”

Preparation can be key, he says,

which is why it is important to be

involved in recces, but his biggest

piece of advice, aimed squarely at

the next generation of sound

recordists, is “don’t work for free”.

“When starting out, you may feel

that a lack of experience means that

you can offer a production very

little but this is rarely the case,” he

says passionately. “Value your worth

and all things you bring to the

production. [Working for free]

doesn’t just undercut more

experienced recordists, you

undercut yourself because in a few

years time when people ask you to

do it again, they will want you to

do it again for free.”

FEATURE PRODUCTION Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com


PITY POOR sound. Too often

treated like the ugly stepchild of

production. While it’s now easier

than ever to shoot stunningly good

video, with a breath-taking range of

hardware, audio still lags behind.

Here’s one example: I recently saw

some short documentaries made by

local film school students. While

these were well shot, perfectly framed

and beautifully lit, the audio on some

of them was nothing short of

shocking. And the common

denominator was that the crews were

using DSLRs to shoot on.

There’s no question that the

development of DSLR (Digital

Single Lens Reflex) cameras has been

a shot in the arm for video making.

Their great optics and image

processing, coupled with their

relatively low cost, have brought

broadcast- (or cinema-) quality film-

making to the masses.

But look at the body of a modern,

video-equipped DSLR. See that tiny

pin-hole just above the lens mount?

That’s the inbuilt microphone. Behind

a hole in the body. Okay, so you can

open a flap to reveal a mini-jack input

for an external mic but where’s the

preamp and the AD convertor?

Tucked away inside, in whatever space

is left after the designers have finished

sorting everything else.

Hence the students whose films I

watched had struggled to get decent

sound. They’d either used camera-

mounted mics that were too far away

from the subject or… well I’m not

entirely sure what but it sounded bad.

“The problem, in pretty much all

instances, is that a camera’s mic

preamp is very poor quality,” says

John McCombie, a location sound

recordist and owner of Pinknoise

Systems. This Gloucestershire-based

retailer specialises in audio for video

and sells a dizzying range of gear

aimed at DSLR users. He evangelises

about the subject.

“There is always a disparity for

customers, as the images are amazing

but the audio is less so, particularly

when they sit in the edit and have to

start to ‘sort’ the issues out with the

sound that’s been recorded.

“If the camera is enabled with

manual audio record settings the

more you wind up the record level,

the more the noise floor is exposed

and of course you hear the hiss.”

COPING WITH COMPROMISE

A lot of these issues stem from the

inherent compromises thrown up by

hardware that was originally designed

for stills photography, with video

being a bonus.

“DSLR is a messy proposition. It

always has been. You get great quality

images and great affordability but the

audio suffers. At the end of the day

it’s a stills camera with video

capability and not a pro video camera

with viewfinders and proper audio

inputs with phantom power.”

Talking to John sent me on a

virtual shopping trip (my favourite

kind, as it costs me nothing).

Without going to the expense and

complexity of a full-on location

recording kit, I wanted to find a

range of gear that would raise the bar

in DSLR sound.

The first is something I own

myself: a RØDE VideoMic. This is a

compact condenser mic with an

integrated shock mount or Lyre,

designed by Rycote. It’s an all-in-one

unit that sits on the camera’s hotshoe

and makes the crucial leap from using

the built-in microphone. It carries its

own battery power-supply and has a

super-cardioid pattern to make it

relatively directional. There’s an 80Hz

high pass filter and a two stage pad

(-10dB and -20dB). In use it does

make a marked difference compared

to the camera’s own microphone/hole

in the case but frankly, that’s hardly

difficult. But if you want to start with

something simple and are on the

move, it’s a good option.

Another interesting take on the

hotshoe mic is the Shure VP83F

Lenshopper. This is a small shotgun

microphone with a shock mount that

sends a feed down to the camera. But

it has a major trick up its sleeve.

Well, a couple actually. Firstly, it has a

headphone output. And more

importantly, it has its own built-in

recorder that captures audio at

48kHz/24bit to a micro SD card. It

has manual record level, an LCD

menu screen, and a range of user

controls that are accessed via a small

joystick. This means users can bypass

the camera’s dodgy audio circuitry for

a main recording and leave it just to

capture a synch track.

But if the subject matter (acting

talent, interviewee or presenter) is

more than a few feet away, they’re not

going to sound that great with any

kind of camera-mounted

microphone. This is the trap that

many new filmmakers fall into:

Audio has always been a secondary consideration behind video for DSLR manufacturers. But is it possible toproduce pro-quality audio recordings using a camera? Jerry Ibbotson finds out.

Out of the Shadows

“The problem, in prettymuch all instances, isthat a camera’s mic

preamp is very poor quality”

John McCombie

The Shure VP83FLenshopper has aheadphone output andits own built-in recorderthat captures audio at48kHz/24bit to a microSD card

26 April 2014 wwww.audiomedia.com


assuming microphones double as

miracle workers. Even alleged pros do

it – a number of product review-type

videos on YouTube are testament to

this. They often sound like they’ve

been shot down a well.

McCombie agrees: “Sometimes

expectations are overly enthusiastic

for the results that can and will be

achieved on location. Having a small

mic plonked on the camera hotshoe

with a presenter talking 15ft away –

and sometimes on a main road – well

it’s hardly surprising that the results

are going to be disappointing.

Another one we often get is

customers thinking that a directional

mic will miraculously cut out any

background noise so they hear

nothing but the dialogue. It’s never

going to happen.”

Clearly, getting the microphone

away from the camera and towards

the subject is the first big step to

seriously improving audio, along with

some way to monitor the sound in

headphones (a lot of DSLRs have no

headphone jack). You also want the

ability to use a range of microphones

on a proper ‘pro’ connection.

A quick solution is to use a small

recorder with XLR inputs to act as a

mixer/recorder. Something like the

Roland R26 springs to mind. This

could record the audio while feeding a

signal from the Line Out or

Headphone output to the camera as a

guide track.

The problem is most DSLRs only

have Mic inputs under their little

rubber flap. Plug a Line Level

connection into there and you’re

looking at some very fried recordings.

As it happens, Pinknoise has already

thought this through and has

produced a cable that attenuates the

signal by -25dB. That’s enough for

the camera to be able to take it safely,

provided you keep the camera’s record

level fairly low (which, given the

amount of noise in the preamps, is

a bonus).

The company produces various

versions, including one that splits the

output so users can still plug in

headphones, so it can offer a quick

and cheap solution for those who

already own a recorder.

DEDICATED DEVICES

How about a dedicated recorder/

mixer, without breaking the bank?

And preferably something that

can fit in with the compact

DSLR way of working? There are

a number on the market,

including the excellent Zoom H6

and Fostex DC-R302. These are

clearly aimed smack bang at

DSLR users – the Zoom has a

hotshoe mount while the Fostex

fixes to the belly of a camera on

its tripod thread. The latter has

three inputs feeding to two

channels of recording. In overall

looks and design it seems very

much like certain ‘full size’

mixer/recorders on the market;

like a professional bit of kit rather

than a consumer-based machine

that’s been scaled up. It can even

remotely control the SLR (with

compatible cameras) so recordings

are truly in sync.

One other recorder that caught my

eye is the Tascam DR-60D. This

neat, box-shaped machine has two

XLR inputs plus a separate stereo

3.5mm mic/line connection, giving it

true four-channel capability. It has

HDDA preamps and high-quality

A-D converters. On the rear of the

case there’s an LCD display, separate

gain dials, input selectors, and a

range of other controls.

As well as recording to SD card,

the DR-60D has a dedicated mini

jack Camera Out connection as well

as a Line Out with adjustable level.

Both of these mean it is possible to

hook up to a DSLR’s Mic Input

without frazzling your audio. It even

has a dual record Safety Track Mode

that records two versions of the

audio at different levels and the

ability to fire a burst of 1kHz tone at

the start and end of every recording,

to make syncing with the camera

audio track a lot easier. Plus, if the

camera does have a headphone

output, it is possible to feed that to

the Tascam and switch between

monitoring what the DR-60 is

hearing and what the SLR is.

If you want to leave the audio

recording to the camera (and not

have to sync up in post) then there

are a number of different mini-

mixers designed for DSLRs. Names

like Sound Devices and Beachtek sit

alongside less familiar brands such as

Juiced. The latter makes hardware

ranging from a basic preamp box

with no phantom power to the full-

blown RA-333 Riggy Assist. This

American-made rugged metal case,

which screws to the base of the

camera, contains three XLR inputs

with 48/12V phantom power and

low noise preamps. There are proper

gain controls, LED level meters, and

a headphone connection.

The feed out to the camera is, as

you’d expect by now, at Mic Level

but the RA-333 goes one step

further and is capable of Audio

Output Bracketing. This sums the

microphone signals to the left

channel. The right channel then

copies this but at a lower level

(around -16dB) so that users have a

back-up if the camera overloads the

main audio.

Perhaps, as excellent as it is, all

this gear is nothing more than a stop

gap. Maybe in a few years’ time

DSLR camera firms like Canon and

Nikon will have upped their game on

audio. McCombie isn’t holding his

breath.

“Education is the big thing, not

only for customers but also with

manufacturers. They just don’t

understand how sound works and

what the expectations of users in the

field are. Camera designers don't

necessarily need to make the product

that different just make what they

have better.”

In the meantime, audio equipment

designers have already woken up to

this gap in the market and a steady

stream of new gear is appearing all

the time. Of course, there’s no

guarantee that those shooting DSLR

video will necessarily give audio its

proper position in the grand scheme

of things. But that’s a whole other

story…

www.pinknoise-systems.co.uk

The Tascam DR-60D has two XLR inputsplus a separate stereo 3.5mm mic/lineconnection, giving it true four-channelcapability

The R26 portable field recorderfrom Roland



TECHNICAL standards can

take some time to come into

force and often rely on the

will of regulators or even

governments, as well as the

users, to implement them.

Some countries are more

enthusiastic adopters than

others, while a few might take

advantage of options in the

specifications to delay full

deployment. The introduction

of loudness controls has

certainly been staggered

around the world, with a

global recommendation by the

International

Telecommunication Union

(ITU), introduced as BS 1770

in 2006, adapted into more

localised standards in different

countries and regions.

Europe is covered by R128,

developed by the EBU

(European Broadcasting

Union). While other states in

Europe – notably France and

Germany – set a date and

introduced regulations for all

broadcasters from that point

(2011 and 2012 respectively),

others have taken more time

to work out exactly what

needs to be done.

The UK is one country

where the approach has been

more gradual. Not that the

subject of loudness has not

been taken seriously; BBC

R&D was looking into

monitoring and controlling

discrepancies in perceived

volume between different types

of TV broadcast programming

as far back as the 1950s; and in

the late 1990s and early 2000s

algorithms were developed for

the first meters aimed at

dealing with the problem.

In 2008 the Broadcast

Committee on Advertising

Practice (BCAP), part of

commercials regulator the

Advertising Standards

Authority, introduced

recommendations for loudness

on television advertisements.

While the preferred approach

was for facilities to use

loudness meters working to

1770, there was also the

option for material mixed on

peak meters to PPM6.

More recently the Digital

Production Partnership (DPP)

drew up specifications for

programme delivery to the

main UK broadcasters,

including the BBC, ITV,

Channel 4, Sky, and BT

Sport. R128 was the choice

for loudness from the start

and while some broadcasters,

notably Sky and BT Sport, are

using it now, R128 is not yet

mandatory. The aim is for that

to happen in October this year

when broadcasters move fully

to file-based operations, or, in

the case of the BBC, begin the

transition.

“R128 has made a

difference but we’re not

expecting it all to happen

immediately, people need time

to move across,” said Kevin

Burrows, chair of the DPP

technical standards committee

and controller of technical

broadcast and distribution at

C4, following the publication

of version 4 of the specs last

September. “Part of the

problem is that we’re working

with new commissions, which

conform to R128, and old or

archive programmes, which

don’t. The problem will reduce

over time and R128 will

minimise it but there will

always be an issue with not

knowing what commercial

might follow a drama with a

wide dynamic range.”

GETTING THE

MESSAGE ACROSS

The number of complaints

about loudness problems to

UK broadcast regulator

Ofcom is reported to have

fallen considerably, even

though not all broadcasters are

working to R128. The

situation with commercials,

once the main cause of

anguish for viewers, appears to

have changed considerably to

the slightly ironic point where

some ads have been quieter

than the programmes.

There is still some progress

to be made in this sector,

though. Owen Griffiths, chief

engineer at the Jungle group

of post-production facilities,

who says loudness has been a

subject close to his heart since

about 2006, acknowledges that

UK post houses producing

commercials are still mixing to

PPM6. “Video post facilities

require that because it’s what

the companies distributing the

commercials want,” he

explains.

Despite this Jungle is

equipped with loudness

meters; the primary units are

from Nugen, while other

devices, such as Chromatec

and DK, are available to meet

specific requests from

broadcasters. “At the moment,

because there is a fairly non-

standard approach to dealing

with loudness for

commercials, people have

taken their own route so they

don’t get reported by Ofcom.”

There is hope that the

BCAP regulations will be

updated to either come into line

with the DPP/R128 regulations

or be changed completely to

R128. In answer to questions

from Audio Media, BCAP’s

policy department stated:

“Advertising Code 4.7 (Harm

and Offence) of the Broadcast

Code still applies in relation to

noise levels on TV. We’re aware

of, and welcome, the DPP’s

work in this area and we’re

having discussions with them,

which might result in the

changes to the Code.”

R128 itself is due for an

update, which will include the

incorporation of further

loudness and peak parameters

Logging LoudnessAround the WorldFrom occasionally shaky beginnings, the monitoringand control of loudness in television, and now radio, isstarting to make itself felt in international broadcasting.Kevin Hilton rounds up the present situation.

Florian Camerer, chairman, P/LOUD group

into the basic specification.

Florian Camerer, chairman of

the P/LOUD group that

developed the standard,

comments that this process

was due to happen “within a

month or so” following two

meetings in Vienna during

early March. The supporting

technical documents – 3341,

defining Loudness Metering;

3342, covering Loudness

Range and loudness

normalisation; 3343,

describing Production and

Implementation; and 3344 for

Distribution of Programmes –

will be updated after this.

In terms of adoption of

R128 for TV, Camerer says

“the deployment is still moving

fast”. Finland began using the

standard last autumn, while

this year saw two TV stations

in Slovakia and broadcasters in

Catalonia following suit.

According to Camerer,

Norway is on the way to full

take-up, with the television

sector set to begin gradual

R128 operations before the

summer. Among the countries

he describes as “gearing up” is

Poland, with, he adds, the UK

“more and more normalised”

due to the DPP specs.

Outside Europe, South

Africa started to use the full

R128 spec from late July last

year, beginning with

commercials. “This will be

spreading and eventually

everything will be R128 in

South Africa within a few

years,” Camerer notes.

“Hopefully that spreads over

the continent.” He has also

given training sessions in

Venezuela and Colombia,

where he says interest was

“very high”.

In the US, Congress passed

the CALM (Commercial

Advertisement Loudness

Mitigation) Act into law in

December 2010 but the power

of the Federal

Communications Commission

(FCC) to fine broadcasters for

loudness transgressions did

not come into force until

2012. The technical aspects of

the CALM Act are based on

ATSC (Advanced Television

Systems Committee) A/85,

which, like R128, was derived

from 1770 but works to the

target of -24 LUFS (Loudness

unit relative to Full Scale),

rather than -23.

Tim Carroll, president of

loudness system manufacturer

Linear Acoustic, has been a

keen proponent of regulation

and control. He comments

that CALM is “now going

about as well as can be

expected”. He explains that

the initial version had the

unintended consequence of

sometimes causing more audio

processing in the name of

compliance. “The newer

version largely remedied that

by reiterating that there is a

+/-1 or 2dB tolerance and that

measurements are average and

should in fact move around a

bit,” he says.

What the legislation in the

US did do, Carroll observes, is

bring the general topics of

loudness and audio quality into

the consciousness of those

producing sound. “Broadcasters

often had limited power to

require changes to content and

so they ended up heavily

relying upon ‘automated’ means

to deliver compliance. A

machine can make a meter

happy but perhaps not the

audience. A trained audio

mixer can do both,” he adds.

Carroll concludes that

people are still learning and

getting their footing: “We are

making sure to describe that

loudness is a process and that

you cannot just rely on a

single device to correct

upstream errors and expect the

highest quality. There are tools

for every step in the chain, and

the better it is at each stage,

the higher the quality and

more natural the compliance.”

During IBC 2013 Linear

Acoustic showed its

AERO.lite SDI loudness

controller, while other leading

manufacturers in the field also

introduced new products or

updated existing ranges. RTW

launched a firmware update

for the SurroundControl

31900 and 31960 series and is

due to unveil a new product

during this year’s NAB. New

from DK-Technologies was

the 7in T7 meter, while Jünger

Audio announced it was to

develop hardware platforms

onto which specific firmware

for applications such as

loudness can be loaded.

RADIO RAGE

As loudness monitoring and

control in television becomes

more established, attention is

starting to move to other areas

where inconsistent sound

levels have also been a

problem. Radio has been a

cause for concern in this

regard for some time. Not

only are there inconsistencies

between speech, music,

commercials, and jingles,

particularly as many stations

now do not have engineers or

technical operators running

audio desks to correct any

lapses on the part of DJs and

presenters, but there are the

additional problems of output

compression and the amount

of coding used in digital

transmission. Add to this

modern commercial music

recordings that have little or

no dynamic range – the cause

of the dreaded ‘loudness

sausage’ – and the task of

bringing some normalisation

to the airwaves looks to be

even bigger than what

happened in TV.

Some pioneering steps have

been taken in Norway, where

the three DAB digital radio

operators, public broadcaster

NRK and its commercial

counterparts P4 group and

SBS, agreed in February 2012

to monitor and report their

own and each other’s output

for loudness compliance.

This mutual agreement

does not involve any

regulatory bodies and is based

on R128, although working to

-15 LUFS rather than -23.

Speaking at last year’s Radio

Academy TechCon in Salford,

Bjorn Aarseth, a senior

engineer with NRK, explained

that although R128 clearly

specifies -23, radio content is

very different from that of TV

sound. He added that radio

listeners might also need a

lower dynamic range. Aarseth

observed that radio

normalisation was cheap and

easy to achieve; under the

agreement the three

broadcasters monitor each

other and, if necessary,

complain about something

outside the target, which is

then corrected by the party

concerned. He said this was

keeping the listeners happy, at

least in meaning there were no

complaints about loudness.

Florian Camerer hopes that

when Norway moves to full

DAB+ transmission and

switches off its FM networks

the target level will be reduced

to -23. He adds that field tests

will take place in Sweden this

autumn, with all stations –

both public and commercial –

evaluating R128 for “a few

weeks”. He hopes that if that

is successful, it might act as a

role model for other countries.

Some countries are already

beginning to use loudness

normalisation in production

during this year, among them

France and Germany, while in

the UK BBC R&D has been

testing loudness monitoring to

-23 on the Radio 4 network.

It took some time for

broadcasters to get to grips

with loudness but now

momentum is gathering in

radio as well as TV, but there

is still a way to go until

complete compliance and the

point where the home volume

control has very little to do. As

one industry insider has said,

this is the end of the

beginning rather than the

beginning of the end.

FEATURE PRODUCTION


“A machine canmake a meter

happy but perhapsnot the audience.

A trained audiomixer can do both”

Tim Carroll, Linear Acoustics

LOUDNESS: THE

GLOBAL SITUATION

EUROPE

The EBU R128 developed

by the European

Broadcasting Union has

been adopted across the

continent with early

adopters introducing

regulations as early as 2011.

Works towards -23 LUFS.

AFRICA

Full R128 spec adoption in

South Africa from July

2013 with hope it will

spread across the continent.

US

The CALM Act, based on

ATSC A/85, was passed

into law in December 2010

with FCC enforcement

beginning 13 December

2012. Works towards -24

LUFS (rather than -23

LUFS in Europe).

AUSTRALIA

Full compliance of the

FreeTV OP-59 standard

(derived from ITU BS

1770) was implemented on

1 January 2013. OP-59

recommends a speech-

based as well as a universal

approach to audio

normalisation.

JAPAN

The TR-B32 standard

builds on ITU BS.1770-2,

which means a relative gate

is employed. Target level is

-24 LUFS as opposed to

-23 LUFS of the EBU

R128 standard.

Tim Carroll, Linear Acoustic

DK-Technologies’ 7in T7 meter

FEATURE STUDIO PROFILE Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com


“HILARIOUSLY I am an

ex-creative,” laughs Nick

Keynes, who runs Tileyard

Studios, a creative hub in

London’s Kings Cross. “I

used to argue I was ahead of

the curve because I had a

totally minimalist setup, all in

the box.” Opposed to its

manager’s former modesty

Tileyard Studios has a

selection of 72 standard and

large-sized studios, hosting

the likes of Chase and

Status/MTA Records,

Gearbox Records, Mark

Ronson, Spitfire Audio, and

The Temper Trap.

The story of Tileyard is

fantastically brief. Off the

back of being in late 90s band

Ultra, Keynes set up a music

production company called

Goldust with band mates

Michael Harwood and Jon

O'Mahony (which still exists

today albeit under in-house

music company Tileyard

Music). O’Mahony has since

moved on from the business

and is now the owner of LA

Sound Studios in west

London, but three years ago

Keynes and Harwood

relocated to Tileyard after

starting a partnership with

property developer Paul

Kempe, with the idea to build

a creative community out of

an unassuming brick business

park.

Tileyard started with 10

rooms and a one-page

business plan, and bespoke

offerings for clients became

very much the blueprint of

the complex. “It wasn’t a get-

rich-quick scheme but it just

about stacked up,” says

Keynes, whose job it was to

fill the empty space with

companies and individuals.

“To this day we’ve never yet

built a space, whether it be an

office space or a studio space,

speculatively.”

Keynes used Studio People

to design and build phase

one, then brought in Chris

Walls (then of Munro

Acoustics) as design

consultant for the next stage

of development, which

happened to be an entire

floor for British electronic

dance music twosome

Basement Jaxx. Built by

Davies Design &

Construction, Walls has since

carried out all of the design,

acoustics, drawing, project

management, and monitoring

set-up for every studio at

Tileyard and since leaving

Munro Acoustics in late

2013, has continued to work

with Keynes on studios at

Tileyard under the Level

Acoustic Design banner. “A

lot of acousticians are almost

a different species but Chris

was like a normal human

being,” says Keynes. “From

Basement Jaxx onwards Chris

Jake Young gets together with Nick Keynes and Chris Walls to take a look at the ever-growing Tileyard complex.

72 and Counting…

Tileyard StudiosChase and Status’ MTA Records hasmade its home at Tileyard

Spitfire Audio founders Paul Thomson and Christian Henson have studios in the complex

FEATURE STUDIO PROFILE


has designed every singlespace, and we have reallyraised the bar.”

Since the not-so-early days(the first 10 studios werebuilt in 2011) the complexhas moved onwards andupwards and is currently inphase 15, with every studiostill bespoke to its client. Themomentum and energy isapparent as soon as you stepfoot on the property and isnow attracting more andmore high-profile clients.

According to Keynes,when musician-cum-Grammy Award-winningproducer Mark Ronson cameto him looking for a newspace, he wanted to create anenvironment that felt like ithad been at Tileyard forever.Co-designed by Nashville-based acoustic engineer SteveDurr, the studio definitelydelivered on Ronson’s brief.Behind the brick wall andplain steel door, the studio’s

black and white checkeredtile floors and walls coveredin gold and platinum recordsfeel in line with any studiothat lived through the goldenera of the 60s and 70s.

CONTROL ROOMRonson’s control room feelsequally ‘worked in’, andfeatures an MCI-500, UREI813 and ATC SCM25ASLPro monitors, and animpressive offering ofoutboard including a stereoFairchild compressor. EMT140 and 240 plate reverbs aresupplemented with stereoreverb sends to the toilet fora ‘toilet reverb’ (which Wallsclaims gives the classic platereverbs a run for theirmoney).

A machine room off theback of the control roomhouses a Studer A800 2inand a Scully eight-track tapemachine while the large liveroom, which is easily viewed

though a massive window infront of the console, containsa serious amount of vintagekit from drums and guitars toamps as well as a separatebooth for cabinets, drums, orany other isolation needs.

“The thing that we need tobe sure about is that it’s builtand designed properly. It’s allabout creating a space thatyou feel good in. This was areally interesting one. It tooka while – it was a slowerprocess – but Mark loveswhat he’s got and hopefullyhe’ll make some reallyimportant records in here.”

Behind another similarlyunassuming steel door andup a flight of stairs is thehome of MTA Records, thelabel formed in 2008 byelectronic music duo Chaseand Status.

Inside is a far cry fromRonson’s vintage-inspiredroom where a Pro Toolssystem plays out into a pair of

massive, soffit-mountedGenelec 1034As acquiredfrom their previous studio atCounty Hall when it closedlast year.

Traversing the car park andheading up another flight ofstairs you’ll find the personalstudios of film, TV, andgames composers PaulThomson and ChristianHenson, the founders ofhigh-end sample librarycompany Spitfire Audio. Ifthe entirely custom nature of

Tileyard wasn’t alreadyapparent, walking into theSpitfire studios makes itperfectly clear. The tworooms feel more in line with aSoho post-production suiterather than a business park inKing’s Cross, with spaciousrooms in a red colour schemeand a wild variety of synths,keyboards, and outboard kitsitting on furniture madefrom reclaimed wood andmetal.

The complex has got10,000ft coming back thisyear and 30 people on thewaiting list. “It shows youthere is an audience and Ithink the more you build themore compelling being herebecomes,” says Keynes. “Wethought that there mighthave been a saturation pointbut actually the more youbuild the more people wantto be here. It just feeds itself.It’s a monster.”www.tileyard.co.uk

Chris Walls is an acousticianspecialising in the design of musicand post-production studios.

How were you retained as a consultant?Nick approached me in 2011, while Iwas working at Munro Acoustics toappraise the first few studios thathad been built. I was instantly soldon the Tileyard concept and Nickand I ended up discussing how Icould get involved in the design andbuild process. The first studio Idesigned at Tileyard was forBasement Jaxx at the tail end of2011 and I haven’t stopped since.

Was the design and layout of thestudios based on a template?Yes and no… Certain aspects of thedesign have become standardised. Forexample the isolation shell

construction I designed for BasementJaxx worked really well acoustically andwas cost-effective, so that has beenimplemented on the vast majority ofstudios. But no two studios are thesame – they are all different sizes andshapes, and the acoustic requirementschange depending on what the studiois used for, so I still start with a blankpiece of paper for each studio.

Did anyone make requests for tweaksor additions?A few people have asked for flush-mounted speakers, timber panelling,an acoustic enclosure for a projector,things like that. But what is suppliedas standard is more than enough formost of the clients.

How did you create comfortablesurroundings?The guys moving into the studios get

to choose their flooring, fabrics, paintetc, so they can really get involved ingiving the studios the look and feelthey want. I spend time with each ofthe clients to try to understand howthey work so that I can make surethat the studios work ergonomically.And a lot of it is down to the roomacoustics – these guys will regularlyspend 12 hours or more in the studioso they need to be natural-soundingspaces, not oppressive dungeons!

What was it like working with DaviesDesign & Construction?It has been really good. I think thefirst studio was a steep learning curveas they hadn’t done anything quitelike it before, but they grasped theconcept quickly and have consistentlyimpressed. The site foreman, JustinMartin, has been a phenomenal assetto the project.

What was the biggest challenge aboutthe build?It’s got to be isolation. We’ve gotmore than 60 rooms in a concentratedarea and making sure that they can alloperate without disruption from oneanother is key to the success of thecomplex. In the most recent phase webuilt Chase and Status’ and Nero’sstudios between Mark Ronson’s liveroom (below) and The Temper Traplive room (above). It’s not an ideal

situation and Nick and I discussed itat some length, but I did a lot oftesting and a lot of calculations andcame up with a solution that works.

You’re now designing under the LevelAcoustic Design banner?Yes, I left Munro Acoustics at the endof last year to start my own company.I first started at Munro in 2003 as asummer student and worked my wayup to principal acoustician, withoverall responsibility for acousticdesign. I’m immensely proud of theprojects I worked on there and it wasa very tough decision to leave.

I want Level to be able to provideclients with studios that enable themto thrive in an industry that haschanged drastically in the last 10years. Increasingly that means smallyet perfectly formed! I’ve beenrefining techniques for designingsmaller studios for a while now andthe studios at Tileyard are testamentto what can be achieved.

What projects are you currentlyworking on away from Tileyard?A lot of my projects are covered byNDAs unfortunately, but it’s quite anexciting portfolio; there is a mixture ofprivate and commercial, music andpost production. Hopefully I’ll be ableto tell you more once they’re complete!www.levelacousticdesign.com

MEET THE DESIGNER

“We thought thatthere might havebeen a saturationpoint but actuallythe more you buildthe more peoplewant to be here. Itjust feeds itself. It’s

a monster.”Nick Keynes

Credit: Alicia Light Photography

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AUDIO RECORDERS

Development of digital solid state sound recorders may have been slow to get off the mark, but the choices arenow numerous across all levels of the market, writes Solid State Sound’s Rodney Wayman.

Expert Witness


PORTABLE AUDIO recorders, eh?

Back in the day there was little need

for your gym membership because

recording on the hoof was combined

with weight lifting. Those shoulder-

numbing mechanical monsters from

Nagra and Uher were just so damned

heavy. And, boy, did you need the

money you saved on that gym

subscription – buying a portable

recorder in those days was literally an

arm and a leg.

That was in the 1980s when/before

you were a nipper, and tape and razor

blades were king. It’s hard to believe

we had to wait until 1994 for the

world’s first commercially available

digital solid state sound (SSS) recorder

to arrive. Developed by pioneering

Dutch electronics outfit Maycom, it

was quite aptly named The Easycorder.

This comparable lightweight came

with 128Mb of internal memory

(expandable to 2Gb) and even had a

slot to take a 2Gb Compact Flash

card. Audio formats were wav, BWF,

AIFF, and MPEG II. You could edit

on-board and there was even an ISDN

option so you could get your

recordings where they needed to go.

All in all The Easycorder proved to be

quite a compelling wave goodbye to

magnetic tape and all its weight and

disadvantages.

But despite this it wasn’t until the

early noughties that portable SSS

recording really got going. Maycom

had followed up by then with its little

HandHeld model, on whose design I

was a consultant, and pretty well every

single national broadcaster in Europe

(and beyond) invested in it.

Meanwhile, the then best-known

manufacturer of portable cassette tape

recorders, Marantz, had not been idle.

The company soon responded with

two wav/MP3 devices that became the

first ones really to get SSS recorders

noticed by the wider marketplace. Its

big brand marketing clout made the

shoulder-carried PMD670 and

handheld PMD660 the industry

standards for quite a long while, well

into the later noughties – especially the

more affordable PMD660, or ‘The

Recording Brick’, as it became known.

Pretty well every broadcast journalist

and features producer hankered after it.

Since then, of course, the SSS

recorder market has developed and

matured, and those early portables

have now been joined by their rack-

mounting colleagues. We now enjoy a

much wider choice of affordable

offerings from many leading

manufacturers including: Fostex,

Marantz, Olympus, Nagra, Roland,

Sony, Sound Devices, Tascam, Yamaha,

and Zoom. And if it’s a field recorder

you need, then instead of just the

classic over-the-shoulder portable of

old, we now have several different form

factors to suit varying applications.

Here are just a few:

Budget Notebooks are at the entry-

level end of the spectrum – Tascam’s

DR-05 and DR-07 Mk2, for instance.

All-in-one handhelds take things a

stage further with better build quality

and more attention to the quality of

the sound of the mic preamps and mic

capsules – Sony’s PCM-M10 and new

PCM-D100 are leaders here. Then

there are XLR handhelds for those

who need to use external pro mics –

Marantz’s PMD661 Mk2 is just one

contender. DSLR recorders like

Fostex’s DC-R302 are available for

videographers who use digital SLR

cameras but need a more capable audio

recorder to complement their HD

videos. Multichannel options include

Roland’s R-44 and R-88; for multi-

track there is the Olympus LS-100.

At Solid State Sound we constantly

advise on matching the right recording

tools to numerous applications. This

can range from basic meetings

recording in a corporate environment,

through one-to-one or one-to-multiple

interview situations (like oral history

recording and broadcast features

production), to courtroom recording, or

covert and non-covert recording

undertaking by military and security

organisations, as well as music

recording in education, and a whole

host of other types of speech and

music recording activities. We are

fortunate in being able to offer so

many solutions, each of them with

their own strengths and at differing

price points, but I’d like to focus on a

handful, if I may, because right now

these are the most interesting options.

If you need a really competent do-it-

all portable handheld recorder then the

Zoom H6 is outstanding. It is

primarily marketed as a DSLR audio

recorder but it is actually a really

versatile general-purpose recorder. It

comes complete with two microphone

modules, an X/Y and an MS stereo

(you can also add the optional shotgun

module if you so wish) plus four XLR

inputs (expandable to six) so you can

connect your external mics. Moreover,

it can record up to six tracks

simultaneously. You can even use it as

an audio interface with a PC or Mac.

Now the H6 sounds fine but what

should you get if your principal

requirement is audiophile performance

combined with an all-in-one form

factor? Enter the new high-resolution

Sony PCM-D100. Combining

stunning on-board microphones

adjustable for A/B or X/Y stereo, class-

leading mic preamps and not only up

to 192kHz/24-bit recording formats

but also DSD (or 1-bit) format. The

PCM-D100 is one for the aficionados,

certainly, but there are many recordists

with no tolerance for compromise and

£700 or so to spend.

But what if you need both a recorder

and a mixer in one convenient, light,

easy-to-carry form? Well, Roland has

two of them: the R-88 eight-channel

mixer/recorder/audio interface with up

to 192kHz/24-bit capability and the

similar but four-channel R-44 that can

be built into an eight-channel solution

later, if need be.

As you can see, portable sound

recording has come far since the days

of sore shoulders and spooling tape all

over the floor. But what of the future?

Well, SSS recorders can only get

better, lighter, more convenient, and

even less expensive. Even more

features, perhaps, too? If there is one

feature that we’d like to see sooner

rather than later, it is WiFi onboard.

Then you could stream your recordings

straight to your computer without a

USB lead. You could squirt it up to

Dropbox, say, or your radio station’s

Cloud.

It’s already happening in the digital

camera market so why not in solid

state sound? Come on!

Expert Witness

Rodney Wayman is MD of Solid State Sound, which specialises in portableand installation solid state recording systems. For further information andinsight into the world of solid state audio, visit the Solid State Sound websiteat www.solidstatesound.co.uk or call +44 (0)747 830670.

Rodney Wayman (right) with broadcasterJohnnie Walker, and an Olympus LS-100Credit: www.jamesmcmillan.co.uk

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Considering a purchase of an audio recorder? This month we take a look at a selectionof portable and installation devices.

Audio Recorders


NAGRA AUDIOSEVENThe Nagra Seven is the successor to the Nagra LB, ARES-C, and the ARES-BB+ recorders. It can be adapted to a multitude of specific applicationsdepending on the internal options installed. Identical in size to the LB, theSeven offers a selection of internal optional circuit cards to allow it to beadapted according to requirements.

• Two channels, 24-bit, 192kHz A-D/D-A• CompactFlash and 16GB internal micro SD memory• USB 2.0 and Ethernet communication ports• Optional MPEG-1 Layer II audio compression• Optional onboard graphic audio editor• Optional SMPTE/EBU time code or ISDNwww.nagraaudio.com

AATONCANTAR-X3

The same team that created the 10-year-old Aaton Cantar-X2 has designed itssuccessor. The Aaton Cantar-X3 combines the ergonomics of the X2 and itsmicrophone preamplifiers, redesigned to improve filtering and noise level,adding new functionalities. Pre-order sales will start after the 2014 NAB Showfor delivery later this year. Aaton claims this machine will be scalable for thenext 20 years.

• Optional Audinate Dante IP networking• Machined aluminium casing• Water and dust proof• Faders, knobs, and switcheswww.aaton.com

SOUND DEVICES633The 633 is a six-input mixer (three mic/line XLR inputs and three line-level TA3 inputs) with integrated 10-track recorder (24-bit, up to 192kHzuncompressed polyphonic or monophonic broadcast .wav file recording,or timecode stamped MP3 recording to CompactFlash and/or SD cards).Inputs can be individually recorded and assigned any of six output buses,including recordable busses left/right and aux 1/2.

• Two card slots• Sound Devices’ PowerSafe technology• Four-way power supply• Ambient-based timecode generator/reader• All common production timecode rates and modes availablewww.sounddevices.com

AETA AUDIO SYSTEMS4MINXWith its scalable and upgradable design and flexible monitoring and routingcapabilities, the 4MinX mixer-recorder is described as ideal for almost anysituation from TV/film location sound recording to music recording. It issuitable for all types of sound production from standard mono throughstereo (X/Y or fully featured M/S) to surround (A or B formats from AETAAudio Systems’ SoundField partnership or double M/S).

• Six hour operation• Onboard battery• Preamplifiers from AETA Audio Systems• Stainless steel chassis• Carbon fibre polymer casingwww.aeta-audio.com

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS


ALLEN & HEATHICE-16DThe ICE-16D is capable of the interfacing, converting, and bidirectionalstreaming of 16 channels over USB or FireWire at 24-bit, 96kHz resolution.Alternatively, 16 channels can be simultaneously recorded straight to aUSB hard drive or memory stick at up to 24-bit 48kHz resolution as a .wavfile. Additionally, the ICE-16D has balanced I/O, designed for those usingthe unit in a studio environment or requiring fully balanced inputs andoutputs on AES59 standard D Sub connectors.

• 16 analogue inputs, 16 analogue outputs• Up to six hours of 16 channel audio• Signal present and peak LED metering on each channel• Mono headphone bus for input or output monitoring• Daisy chain multiple units over FireWirewww.allen-heath.com

FOSTEXDC-R302

The DC-R302 stereorecorder has an onboardthree-channelmicrophone preamp/linemixer designed for usewith video-capableDSLRs. Recording stereoaudio direct to SD cards,the DC-R302allows DSLRs tobe easily used infield productionapplications andsimplifies thecapturingprocess allowingthe cameraoperator tooperate therecorder andcamera at the same time.

• Compatible with an off-the-shelf wired remote-control• Three XLR inputs with limiter and high pass filter• 48V phantom power for use with condenser microphones• Microphone out in addition to line out• Headphone monitoring of left/stereo/right/return• Auto slate tone (1kHz/sine wave) functionwww.scvdistribution.co.uk

TASCAMDA-3000Designed for studio mastering and compatible with various choices ofrecording media (SD/SDHC/CF), the DA-3000 features an A-D/D-A converterand supports sampling rates up to 192kHz (PCM) and 5.6MHz (DSD). The DA-3000’s digital circuit features a clock accuracy of 1ppm and low jitter. Tascamhas also paid attention to the analogue stages with resistors, a transformer,and an op-amp.

• Burr-Brown converters• Separate transformer coils for digital and analogue circuits• Remote control with computer keyboard or keypad via USB port• Multiple units can be cascadedwww.tascam.com

ROLAND SYSTEMSGROUPAR-3000SDThe AR-3000SD, the latest addition to the recorder/players portfolio fromRoland Systems Group, offers expanded compatibility that includesprogrammable timers, improved network efficiency, and support formultiple playback and control formats. The AR-3000SD features AES/EBUand supports a variety of audio formats for recording and playback.

• 24-bit recording and playback at 96kHz• SD or CompactFlash memory cards can be used• Optional 4GB SD/SDHC memory card• External controlwww.rolandsystemsgroup.co.uk

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS


JOECOBLACKBOX BBR1MP

JoeCo’s upcoming BlackBox BBR1MP is a 24-channel recorder with 24 micpreamps integrated into its 1U housing. Offering 24bit/96kHz quality and arange of connection options, the recorder is designed for broadcast andlocation sound recording or for direct, live multichannel performance capture.Audio is recorded to a USB2 drive in BWAV format for instant repurposing.

• Microphone connection via standard snake or optional 2U breakout panel• Runs off 12V power source• Simultaneous stereo mixdown during recording• Various synchronisation options• Remote set-up, control, and monitoring via JoeCoRemote for iPadwww.joeco.co.uk

MARANTZPMD620 MKIIThe Marantz PMD620 MKII records toSD/SDHC flashcard media in either PCM(.wav) or MP3 audio formats. The lightweightcompact form (62 x 102 x 25mm), ergonomicdesign, and ease of operation makes it usefulfor journalists, reporters, programme makers,podcasters, musicians, and sound engineers.

• Built-in stereo condenser microphone array• High contrast, low power draw organic LED

(OLED) screen• Selectable recording settings• Retake feature• Passcode protect featurewww.marantz.co.uk

ZAXCOMNOMADNomad includes 10 analogue inputs with six mic preampsfeaturing NeverClip inputs. NeverClip is a dual A-D converterdesign that extends the dynamic range of the Nomad input to 137dB. Nomadcontains an integrated Zaxnet transceiver. Via Zaxnet, an IFB audio channelcan be transmitted to multiple Zaxcom ERX2TCD audio monitor receivers.

• Mixer, recorder, IFB transmitter, and time code distribution system• Designed specifically for sound bag use• Three pairs of AES digital inputs with sample rate conversionwww.zaxcom.net

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS


YELLOWTECIXM MICROPHONEThe Yellowtec iXm digital recording microphone is an intuitive, all-in-one tool for reporters inthe field. The microphone’s capsule has been designed for high speech intelligibility and lowhandling noise sensitivity, while an LEA engine provides audio levelling for any recordedsource. The iXm’s capsules are twist-off-twist-on exchangeable and offered in cardioid,super-cardioid, or omnidirectional polar patterns to suit varying recording environments. It records to a built-in SD/SDHC memory card slot as .wav, BWF, or MP2 files.

• Built-in, rechargeable li-ion battery and redundant battery compartment• Total operation time of 16 hours• USB 2.0 port• Record ready – recording, battery, and memory status indicators www.hhb.co.uk

OLYMPUSLS-14Olympus’ LS music range capture and playback better-than-CD quality sound via linear PCM recording. The Olympus LS-14 features overdubbingcapabilities, playback speed control that can be setanywhere from 50% to 300%, a metronome to keepflawless time, and chromatic tuner for each musicalinstrument selected.

• Dial for fast access to tuner, manual, quick, and smart

• ‘TRESMIC’ increases the frequency response range to20Hz-20kHz

• Handles sound pressure levels upto 130dB

• New amplifier circuitry to minimise sound degradation

• Memory of up to 32GB on SD card or 4GB internal memory

www.olympus.co.uk

SONYPCM-D100Sony’s PCM-D100 is aportable linear PCMrecorder with 32GB ofbuilt-in flash memory.The recorder operatesfor approximately sixhours 35 minuteswhen recording inLinear PCM(192kHz/24-bit), oraround 10 hours 50minutes in DSD(2.8MHz/1-bit).

• Compatible with 2.8MHz/1-bit direct stream digital DSD

• Record and playbackin 192kHz/24-bit linear PCM High Resolution audio

• Playback frequency band exceeding 20Hz-25kHzaudible band

• Includes directional microphone• Recording functionality expresses

frequency properties up to 40kHzwww.sony.co.uk

I SPENT most of my early

recording life wrestling with

tape and tape machines,

whether it was expensive reels

of 2in Ampex tape – often

erasing another band’s

precious recordings in the

process – or trying to come to

terms with the black art of

alignment on Fostex’s range

of low-cost multi-track

recorders. Even when I

worked in professional

studios, the personal

peccadillos of engineers often

meant that different set-up

procedures or noise reduction

systems made moving from

studio to studio a sonic

nightmare. But when it

worked, how it worked! The

sound created by the

distortion and non-linearities

generated when pushing the

input levels onto the right

kind of tape running through

a high-quality machine has

been, until recently,

unmatched in the digital

world.

As computer-processing

power has increased though,

the eye of audio programmers

has swung mercilessly round

to shine on that holy of holies

– the analogue tape machine.

Israeli company Waves Inc

already has a tape emulator

on its roster of plug-ins – the

excellent Kramer Master Tap.

So what does the new boy on

the (editing) block, the Abbey

Road Studios J37, bring to

the world of virtual tape

machines?

Anything with the words

‘Abbey Road’ in its name is

bound to bring up an image

of The Beatles (a quite well

known pop combo from the

60s and 70s) to mind and the

J37 under review is based on

the Studer multi-track

machine of the same model

number which was used in

the recording of their

influential Sgt. Pepper’s LonelyHearts Club Band album,

among others. As you can

imagine, the J37 was heavily

modified by the engineers at

Abbey Road to extend its

range of experimental

possibilities – it could be

made to run at non-standard

speeds, in reverse, and could

utilise a range of EQ curves.

Waves’ emulation of the J37

features many of these

innovations, though it sadly

lacks the wheels that made

the original tape machine

effectively portable!

Installation and

authorisation via the Waves

licence centre was simple and

painless and creates a stereo

and mono version – Waves

calls them ‘components’ – of

the plug-in. The J37 is

available in Native versions

(AU, VST, and RTAS) and

AAX for Avid’s Pro Tools for

Windows and OSX.

IN USE

If you’re a long-time Waves

user, you’ll be familiar with

the strip of controls that lie at

the top of the plug-in screen.

These consist of undo and

redo, a button to allow you to

swap between two loaded

presets (setup A and B,) next

and previous preset arrows, a

button for copying from slots

A to B, a load and save area,

and a useful help section.

Below this, you’re presented

with a visual representation of

the tape machine itself that I

feel takes up rather too much

of the plug-in’s user interface

– though thankfully you can

stop the virtual spools

spinning with a click of the

mouse. The input and output

levels are optimised for the

digital recording environment

and the manual contains

some useful tips on how to

use the various parameters in

real-world situations.

Emulations of each of the

three classic tape formulations

that were commonly used

with the J37 are available,

namely the EMI TAPE 888

from the early 60s, the 811

from the mid- to late-60s,

and the 815 from the early

70s. These three choices give

you quite a range of tonal

colours in themselves and

they all respond differently to

the settings of the input level

control (you can set the

output level to keep the

overall gain constant, which is

essential for auditioning the

effect of overloading the

virtual tape machine’s input).

Two virtual tape speeds are

available, 7 and 15ips, with

the latter setting offering a

wider frequency response and

lower distortion. The Bias can

be set to Nominal or +3dB

and +5dB Over Bias – each

setting changes the overall

tonality and clarity of the

processed signal. The

modelled track’s settings are

used to modify the stereo

image of the processed audio

and there are informative

VU-type meters that provide

input and output level

information. So far, so

interesting, but the J37 has

another trick up its sleeve – it

can act as a virtual tape delay.

While I was working

recently with guitarist Adrian

Lee on a composition by

Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory

using two valve tape

machines, I was reminded

how lovely ‘proper’ valve-

based tape delay can sound.

The J37 doesn’t disappoint in

this respect as it nicely

recreates that ‘feedback into

noise’ effect that tape is so

good at.

It may seem strange to first

create an emulation of a high-

quality tape machine and

then add controls to mess up

the sound, but when it comes

to using the J37 as a tape

delay, the Wow and Flutter

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com

Stephen Bennett takes a look at Waves’ recent offering to see how close it comes to recreating the vibe ofAbbey Road in the 60s, and what it can offer to today’s productions.

40 April 2014 wwww.audiomedia.com

Waves: Abbey Road J37 Tape�� TAPE SATURATION PLUG-IN

wwww.audiomedia.com April 2014 41

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

rate and depth controls can

add character to the sound –

though you can also use these

parameters along with Noise

(hiss and intermodulation

distortion) and Sat (a

different effect compared to

just increasing the input level)

when processing in ‘normal’

tape emulation mode.

The delay can be set to

create various types of echo –

Slap(back,) FDBK

(feedback), and a stereo Ping-

Pong – and features linkable

stereo level/feedback settings,

high pass and low pass

equalisation, feedback delay

time (up to two seconds), and

a button to synchronise the

delay to the tempo of your

DAW.

THE SOUND

It would be an almost

impossible task to hear how

the J37 stands up to the

original hardware – unless it

was the actual model that

Waves had access to of

course! These machines are

now ancient and, even if in

perfect working order, the

combination of changing

tape formulations and

physical modifications would

make any direct comparison

fruitless – as would trying to

compare the plug-in directly

to other makes of vintage

reel-to-reel machines. In

spite of this, I powered up

my Ferrograph Series 6 and

Studer A800 stereo tape

recorders and ran some tracks

through them alongside the

J37 – after I’d spent a few

hours cleaning and

demagnetising heads and

performing alignment, that

is. I was pleasantly surprised

by what the J37 had to offer

– you can make it hiss and

wobble like a broken tape

machine if you like (instant

Frank Zappa!), but you can

also dial in something of the

‘warmth’ and compression

and other audio artefacts

that, ironically, people often

used to try to avoid when

using tape.

The effect of the J37 is

often subtle, but instancing a

few of these on several tracks

of multi-tracked drums, does

indeed ‘glue’ the instruments

together in a way that’s

difficult to achieve using

other processors – apart from

using analogue tape, of

course!

CONCLUSION

The J37 brings a set of audio

processing options to the table

that are not covered by other

tape emulators such as Waves’

own Kramer plug-in and the

Universal Audio Studer

A800. The sound it imparts is

more ‘vintage,’ for want of a

better word, and the delay

section turns it into

something rather special. If

your musical head is firmly set

in the 60s, the J37 should

help you some way to creating

the vibe of the technology of

that era. For the rest of us, the

tone shaping on offer and,

especially, the tape delay, will

be eminently useful in

modern productions. All

Waves needs to do now is

emulate the smell generated

by 52 vacuum tubes heating

up and I’ll be on Amazon

ordering a pair of loons before

I know it!

INFORMATION

Feature set

• Created in association with Abbey Road Studios• Includes models of three tape formulas developed

by EMI• Controls for bias, wow, flutter, tape speed, and more• Tape Delay including three different delay types, sync,

and LP and HP filter controls

www.waves.com

Those who know their recording history will

know the significance of the tape deck emulated

in the J37 plug-in, but for those who aren’t sure,

what is the importance of this particular unit?

This particular unit is a 1in four-track machine,

probably the highest resolution per track you can

get in tape machines till this day. It’s the first

machine to have both sync head output amps as

well as repro head output amps, which enabled the

invention of the ADT effect. It is considered to this

day to be one of the best sounding machines as it is

extremely flat (0.5dB at 20kHz is an astonishing

frequency response for tape machines). Lots of the

Abbey Road recordings, including Beatles albums,

were recorded on this machine.

As for the unique EMI formulas, these are

extremely rare and modelling them is probably one

of the best legacies Waves can leave behind, as there

are virtually no more formulas like these one.

What were your main concerns when designing the

plug-in?

A tape machine is a beast with so many sonic

variables. I think the main concern was to get it

properly calibrated each time you take a

measurement to make sure the results are

consistent. Also, we took great care in getting the

unique harmonic distortion structure.

What are some of the specific sonic characteristics

you were trying to capture?

Well the frequency response is probably the most

important aspect of modelling. The frequency

response varies according to how hard you hit the

machine, and these dynamic changes are hard to

model. We also wanted to get the silky high

frequencies as well as make sure that the variations

in bias change the sonic character of the machine

correctly.

How did you go about developing the different

tape formulas?

Each of the formulas has a different dynamic range,

frequency response, and harmonic distortion it

creates. We did the 815 first as this was the flattest

formula we had, and once we had modelled it to

our satisfaction, we moved onto modelling the 811

and the 888, which is the oldest one.

Getting some clean tape formulas was the key.

We recorded test signals we can measure on one,

and on the other one we recorded music to make

sure what we measure and calibrate in the plug-in

results in correct sonic characteristic.

Measurements will get you 80% there, but the last

20%, which are the hardest ones to do, are done by

ear – listening and matching.

Lastly, can you tell me about your partnership with

Abbey Road Studios?

Abbey Road is a very good partner for our

modelling line as they probably have some of the

most exotic hardware available, all with a history

beyond compare. They help us to make sure each

piece of gear we model is maintained properly and

they still have one of the original engineers

working for them and maintaining the gear in the

old, ‘proper’ way. They also help us with quality

assurance of the sound aspect and make sure to

point out the working methods used with the

specific devices we model as well as helping us to

acquire all the required measurements.

To me they don’t act only as a partner but also

as beta testers of the highest degree. Can you

imagine having the option to throw something at

15 top-notch engineers for immediate feedback? It

really helps the development process. To sum it all

up, Abbey Road is not just a marketing brand

partner, but they take a major part in the

development and that is the key the great products

we create together.

Audio Media editor Jory MacKay talks with Waves’ product manager Mike Fradis aboutmodelling such a classic piece of kit.

THE REVIEWERSTEPHEN BENNETT has beeninvolved in music productionfor over 30 years. Based inNorwich he splits his timebetween writing books andarticles on music technology,recording and touring, andlecturing at the University ofEast Anglia.

“The effect of theJ37 is often subtle,

but instancing a fewof these on several

tracks of multi-tracked drums,

does indeed ‘glue’the instruments

together in a waythat’s difficult to

achieve using otherprocessors.”

Stephen Bennett

THE SOFTUBE Console 1

is finally here! Launched at the

2013 Musikmesse show its

concept of console hardware

mixing for DAWs was an

instant hit. The Console 1 is

labelled as ‘The Next

Generation Mixer’, an answer

for those missing the hands-on

workflow and analogue sound

since moving from a

traditional large console to

mixing in the box (ITB).

The idea behind it is to

emulate a single SSL channel

strip by providing both the

physical knobs of an analogue

console as well as its sound all

for your DAW. The Console 1

is not limited to the SSL,

however, as it can also load

other Softube plug-ins for

each of the three main Shape,

EQ, and Compressor sections.

The Console 1 hardware is a

427 x 186 x 52mm heavy, well-

built metal unit, wedge shaped

so the top surface slopes

towards you as a desk would. It

has 26 smooth endless rotary

encoders (pots), and 39

momentary button switches.

These are supported by LEDs

under the surface, arranged

across five sections: Input,

Shape, Equalizer, Compressor,

and Output. (While slightly

irrelevant, personally I find it a

shame that a British SSL

emulation has Equaliser spelt

with a ‘z’). These sections

correspond to a fabulous large

on-screen display that is linked

to the Console 1 plug-in

DAW software. This includes

Softube’s SSL 4000 E channel

strip emulation with a few

innovative enhancements called

Drive and Shape control (the

SSL channel is the first in a

row of channel strips that will

be available for the Console 1).

OVERVIEW

The Console 1 supports

VST2, VST3, AAX, and

Audio Unit formats. After

running the latest Softube

installer, which covers all of its

plug-ins, connecting the unit is

simply a case of plugging in a

USB lead. Like other console

emulations there is the tricky

case of adding the Console 1

plug-in to the first slot on each

channel in your DAW, then

every channel gets the same

analogue ‘glue’ sound. It’s easier

to start with a preset template

as adding them to an existing

project can be time consuming.

Operating the Console 1

hardware is now linked to

your DAW channels, with

track selection along the top

of the unit for quick recall of

any track. There are 20

momentary track selection

switches labelled 1-20 and

21-40 switched via two page

up and down switches

(although there is no limit to

the amount of tracks).

Display switches on the

Console 1 bring up a large on-

screen floating display, showing

all of the different section

parameters and levels, and a

well laid out meter bridge. This

is then linked to the DAW

plug-in. Applying adjustments

in any of the five sections show

up beautifully – adjusting a

gate, applying EQ, or pushing

some dynamics with the

compressor is really well

displayed but operation is done

solely from the hardware. It is

difficult at first to not reach for

the mouse but you soon learn

to operate more on the physical

knobs and the sound itself as

you would a normal console.

The Console 1 plug-in

window displays the track

name and number option but

can also show a small ‘Knobs

only’ display for mouse control

– this is designed for laptop

operation when the hardware

isn’t available. My review

version unfortunately had a

problem with automatic track

numbers and track names

from a DAW and

manufacturers will need to add

support for the Console 1 to

make this automatic (until

then you have to manually add

the names). Hopefully this will

be sorted by the time this

review is published, as it’s

quite tedious to do. Henrik

from Softube assured me it’s

relatively simple and is already

done by PreSonus for Studio

One with other DAW

developers expected to follow

shortly.

On my current album

project I have been using the

excellent Steven Slate VCC

plug-in to emulate a slightly

driven Neve console, so it was

perfect to see the Console 1 in

action giving an SSL touch to

a track. Once the Console 1

plug-ins were in place it was

quite a change to the

workflow when using normal

plug-in operation. There is an

auto timer for the Console 1

display but I felt it easier to

leave it open on a second

monitor and work through my

mix, as normal.

Using just the SSL for all

general EQ, gate, and

compressor operations via the

Console 1 felt very good, but

the added Shape function of

the Transient Shaper really

opens up some new thinking

when sculpting your sounds –

it’s so easy to add a little extra

punch or sustain to a note.

Extra harmonic enhancement

via Drive and Character

meant I could add everything

from warmth to extreme fuzz.

I may have SSL emulation

plug-ins already, but the

combination of them via

hardware does bring a real

console-like workflow.

There is a switchable

ability to re-order the Shape,

EQ, and Compressor in case

you need to EQ before

shaping. You can also save

and recall presets for the

three main sections as well as

the complete channel strip,

and if you need something

different to the SSL process,

alternative Softube plug-ins

can be loaded into a section.

For example, I loaded an old

favourite, the Tube Tech PE

1C, for a bass line.

SUMMARY

The only way to really see the

power of the Console 1 is in a

full mix and this is where the

whole concept shines. I think

finally console emulations are

worth the time and trouble to

use; the addition of harmonic

distortion, non-linearities,

crosstalk, etc… does add

something unique to certain

material, but what the

Console 1 adds is a workflow

and sound quality that very

closely resembles mixing on a

traditional console.

Softube’s genius addition of

the Transient Shaper really

does complement the SSL

style of gate/expansion, EQ,

and compression and it was a

pleasure to go through track

by track sculpting the sounds,

finding problem frequencies,

cleaning up with a soft gate,

and adding punch and extra

dynamics with the compressor

and shape controls (adding

extra Drive and Character to

enhance the sound even subtly

was also excellent).

Once the auto track

naming/numbering is fixed

I’d say the Console 1 is the

mixing ITB game changer I

thought it would be.



Softube Console 1

“The only way toreally see the powerof the Console 1 is

in a full mix and thisis where the whole

concept shines.”Alan Branch

INFORMATION

Feature set

• Tightly integrated hardware/software system• Solid State Logic SL 4000 E model included• Use with any major DAW• Parametric equaliser, compressor, gate, transient

shaper, high/low cut filters, and harmonics/distortion• Customise the channel by adding any Softube equaliser

or dynamics plug-in

www.softube.com

THE REVIEWERALAN BRANCHis a freelance engineer/producer and ex-member ofthe On U Sound Crew. His listof credits include Jamiroquai,Beverley Knight, M People,Simply Red, Depeche Mode,Shed 7, Sinead O’Connor,Bjork, and Sade.www.alanbranch.com

Almost a year after it was first announced, ‘the ‘next-generation mixer’ is finally available. Alan Branch finds out if it was worth the wait.

�� NEXT-GENERATION AUDIO MIXER

I HAVE come to rely on

RME over a good period of

time now, and have always

been impressed by its

offerings, so my expectations

are always high when

something from its stable

arrives for me to take a look at.

Over the past few days I

have been making use of a

new unit from RME audio

that on first glance would give

you no indication of the power

and versatility it offers.

The MADIface XT appears

to be a simple, half-rack USB

interface box, but a good look

around the back tells you the

real story (and you don’t have

to look far into the existing

RME range to see where this

development has come from).

The RME HDSPe MADI

card is a PCI Express card

using the Hammerfall DSP

technology and RME’s

TotalMix FX software to

produce an incredibly

powerful MADI audio

distribution set-up. This, of

course, relies on using a

desktop computer to house

and run the system, but RME

has now developed portable

computer interfacing to allow

this powerful routing package

to be truly portable.

FEATURES

The MADIface XT is an

audio interface that provides

196 inputs and 198 outputs

with computer connection

options for PCI Express and

USB 3.0. I will run through

the connections in detail in a

moment, but it is worth

pointing out that RME has

developed the first real USB

3.0 interface here.

The front panel of the

RME MADIface XT has two

Neutrik combination sockets

providing two balanced

analogue inputs, each with

three LEDs to indicate the

presence of phantom power,

audio signal, and audio

clipping (there are

corresponding balanced XLR

analogue outputs on the rear).

There’s also a headphone

amplifier output that can be

used as unbalanced analogue

outputs three and four. The

headphone socket sits beside a

full-colour display with four

function selection buttons and

two rotary encoders with push

button functionality (more on

these later).

It is the rear of the

MADIface XT where things

start to get interesting.

Alongside the two analogue

outputs are word clock BNC

input and output, a mini-DIN

connector for external remote,

and an AES/MIDI D-Sub

connector that delivers

through the supplied breakout

cable via XLR and 5-pin DIN

connections.

Below these are the series of

sockets that will be the reason

the RME MADIface XT will

be of interest to potential users.

There are three sets of MADI

input and output sockets.

Numbers 1 and 2 deliver via

optical MADI ports, and

number 3 via standard MADI

coaxial connector ports.

Each is capable of delivering

64 channels both in and out,

giving a total of 192

bidirectional digital channels.

To be able to achieve this

you need connection to your

computer with significant

bandwidth, so next to the

MADI ports is the USB 3.0

socket (which is USB 2.0

compatible, but significantly

reduces the channel count) and

does not support bus power. As

well as USB 3.0 there is a PCI

Express connection compatible

with Molex E-PCIe cables. It

is also possible to use a PCIe-

to-Thunderbolt converter box

too (not supplied).

IN USE

RME has chosen to focus on

quality of interfacing here.

PCIe and the

bespoke USB 3.0

chipset deliver

the best possible

latency and CPU

loading figures

with the stability

we have come to

expect with the

desktop set-up.

The

MADIface XT

supports sample

rates from

32kHz to 192kHz/24bit, and

eight latency/buffer settings.

These are 0.7, 1.5, 3, 6, 12, 23,

46 and 93ms.

The four function selection

buttons along with the rotary

encoders allow for total

standalone operation without

any need for a host computer.

The colour display is

wonderfully clear and displays

selected functions with a great

deal of detail.

The functions selections

that are available start at the

top with Mic/Gain. Here we

can use the rotary encoders to

adjust and, when pushed, select

the options for the two inputs.

The Meters show the mix

screen where you can adjust

the routing and the mixing

between channels of audio. If

you are connected to a host

computer those routing/mixing

functions will only be available

to you through the connected

computer.

Channel gives you access to

all the inputs and outputs

using rotary encoder 1 for

input, and 2 for output. You

can change settings, low cut,

parametric EQ, compressor/

expander, and auto level.

Finally, setup/reverb allows

for adjustment of a

comprehensive set of

parameters for the in-built

reverb/echo processor.

TOTALMIX FX

The RME MADIface XT

really can be used standalone

with such a great display and

function set, but when

connected to a host computer

and utilising RME’s TotalMix

FX software, you really can get

incredible visual feedback on

the settings and configurations

you have put in place.

With the Matrix view in

TotalMix FX I could easily

create multiple independent

MADI monitoring streams

for the same input source, all

independently controllable. I

created a series of submixes

(you can create up to 99) for

different monitoring purposes,

and I had no issues with

latency in any of the

configurations I tried.

CONCLUSION

The RME MADIface XT is

quite a package. This small

innocent looking box hides

the most comprehensive

MADI routing/mixing system

in a completely portable

solution.

Standalone you can get

everything you need from the

RME MADIface XT, but

combined with the TotalMix

FX software you can quickly

and independently create and

store complex configurations

effortlessly. This is not a cheap

portable MADI routing

system; RME has taken the

route of producing a quality

option, and the MADIface

XT is all the better for it.


Simon Tillbrook walks us through RME’s new powerful, yet unassuming audio interface.


RME MADIface XT�� USB 3.0 AUDIO INTERFACE

“The MADIface XTappears to be a

simple, half-rackUSB interface box,

but a good look around the

back tells you thereal story.”

Simon Tillbrook

INFORMATION

Feature set

• World’s first USB 3.0 audio interface• Powerful MADI routing supporting 196 input and 198

output channels• Two analogue mic/line preamp inputs (XLR/TRS) with

four analogue outputs• TotalMix software offering more in-depth

visual feedbackwww.rme-audio.de

THE REVIEWERSimon Tilbrookis a freelance sound designer/engineer, and trainingdesigner working principallywith US clients on music,movies, and games.

‘IF IT’S too loud, you’re too

old’ – I think I first saw this

rock and roll wisdom

attributed to Ted Nugent.

And with the passing of the

years it now seems Ted was

exactly wrong (and in so

many ways). It turns out if it’s

too quiet when you’re old,

that’s because you listened too

loud when you were young

(life is nothing if not ironic).

Safe but useful levels it

turns out are a particular

problem for headphone

listening. Now I’m not saying

back in Ted’s day that radio

DJs wore (and indeed

demanded) Pioneer eight-

ohm headphones driven by

50W PA amps. (Well, actually

I am saying that). And that

was neither safe nor useful. If

the cans slipped a millimetre

your show was going to howl

round magnificently.

CHASING SAFETY

One approach is to fit all

headphones with limiters. This

makes everything safe but it

isn’t as useful as it might be.

Why? Because it ignores the

time dimension of loudness.

Safe listening levels integrate

loudness over a period of time,

which means you can safely

increase your listening volume

provided you shorten the

exposure. This flexibility isn’t

available with the simple

catchall level limiter. I’m sure

Glensound has done quite a

lot of work on this problem in

the past, but now another UK

company, LimitEar, has a

solution that is available for a

range of manufacturer’s

products. For professional

users this is the HDM Pro.

I tested some Sennheiser

HD 25s fitted with the HDM

Pro ‘Hearing Dose

Management’ system. The

system is the brainchild of

LimitEar and I guess in theory

can be added to any of

Sennheiser’s headphones as it

is contained in the lead. The

clever stuff is packed into a

lightweight plastic lozenge

about the size of a standard

USB stick. I took the cans out

on a long day’s shoot and was

not bothered by the weight

and had no real issues with

cable flexibility or the device

catching on bags, straps, and

cables.

There’s a multi-layer

challenge when producing a

system like this. Will the

product still do the job of

professional headphones?

How transparent will it be in

use? What about charging and

usage times and how will it fit

into your workflow?

IN USE

One of the main questions is

what is the HDM Pro actually

doing? Well, in the same way

that we have been growing

increasingly used to metering

loudness levels using time-

based averaging the LimitEar

product is working on average

levels calculated from the signal

we stuff up our headphone

leads. The sums are done on a

24-hour rolling average basis.

In action the technology

works on three levels. First, all

peaks are limited to 118dB

(sorry Ted) then audio levels

above 100dB but below

118dB are managed down to

100dB and your daily (24

hours) dose is controlled to

comply with the 2005 Noise

at Work Regulations.

How do they sound? Well

that’s a tricky question to

answer in any sort of

meaningful A/B test. I

certainly didn’t notice any

obvious artefacts or gain

limiting effects. I have a pair

of ordinary 60-ohm HD 25s

(the HDMs are 70 ohm) and

using a multiple output Sound

Devices HX-3 headphone

amp and a Castle sound level

meter did my best to match

levels. Feeding the system

from a Marenius DAC-S2

and swapping cans over I

wasn’t confident I could pick

out which was which at

ordinary listening levels. The

HDM system introduces a

3dB insertion loss and once

the system starts working at

higher sound levels then level

matching becomes a moot

point.

As we all know you get

nothing for nothing and

indeed the LimitEar

technology uses active

electronics that require

powering. The system is

rechargeable from a standard

micro USB charger or PC

USB port and a full charge

should run the headphones for

seven days with the LEDs

warning you when you run

down to one day’s charge.

When the battery is exhausted

the system applies a 14dB pad

and waits for you to charge it.

Displays of any sort would

presumably eat too many

electrons so the LimitEar

system makes do with flashing

LEDs – one green and one red.

Working out what the levels are

and what the circuitry is doing

is a matter of decoding flashes

spaced by different amounts

and in different ratios. Being a

simple man I found I had to

constantly refer to the operating

guide and this is probably the

weakest point of the system.

The system is clever but it

does help to engage your brain.

Using the indicators you should

be able to set the right levels for

the duration of your listening

session. And you should take

steps to bank your loudness –

unplug your cans for 20

minutes while playing the

extended 12in version of

Bohemian Rhapsody. Why? So

you will have saved up some

audio exposure brownie points.

So when you play the 13in

extended version of Ace ofSpades you can turn it up to 11.

CONCLUSION

Hearing damage is a serious

issue and I’m willing to bet

virtually every one of us knows

someone who has had their

hearing damaged in a business

where almost inevitably we are

exposed to high audio levels

over extended periods. Besides

the legal and financial issues of

getting sued none of us wants

a future with significant

hearing loss. Yes, if you buy

into the HDM Pro solution

you need to manage the

charging issue, and yes you

need to decode the flashing

LEDs and act accordingly but

that’s a small price to pay

against your future hearing.



Sennheiser HDM Pro HD 25

INFORMATION

Feature set

• Analogue signal path to ensure high-quality audio• Instantaneous clipping of extreme impulse signals • Rapid management of signals using Rapid

Overload Response• Long-term hearing dose management based on

24-hour assessment• LED indication of monitoring activity, high dose,

and battery levelen-uk.sennheiser.com

THE REVIEWERALISTAIR McGHEE began audio life in Hi-Fi before joining theBBC as an audio engineer. After 10 years in radio and TV, hemoved to production. Most recently, Alistair was assistant editor,BBC Radio Wales and has been helping the UN with broadcastoperations in Juba.

Can Sennheiser’s new collaboration with LimitEar really provide a safer headphonesolution while maintaining sound quality? Alistair McGhee finds out.

“In the same way that wehave been growing

increasingly used to meteringloudness levels using time-

based averaging the LimitEarproduct is working on

average levels calculatedfrom the signal we stuff up

our headphone leads.”Alistair McGhee

UPON REVIEW back in

2011, I found Neumann’s KH

120 monitors to be effective,

well designed, and pricey.

Having recently spent months

getting to know the KH 310

A three-way, tri-amplified

monitor, I must say I feel the

same way about them – along

with the increased

performance expectations that

naturally accompany a pair of

£3,000+ near/mid-field studio

monitors.

FEATURES

The KH 310 A packs a lot of

features into a relatively small

footprint (for a three-way

speaker). Drivers include a

7.25in woofer, a 3.5in dome

mid range and a 1in soft

dome tweeter. The enclosure

is not ported – it is an

acoustic reflex design – and

includes both rear and side

panel mounting brackets.

This, along with the absence

of a rear port, makes the

speaker a fine choice for

broadcast truck control rooms

and other tight spaces, and

Neumann offers a number of

mounting brackets and plates.

The controls on the KH

310 A include three bands of

EQ control (stepped low cut,

low-mid cut, and high-end

boost or cut); an input

sensitivity control; four

output levels; and a display

brightness control for the

illuminated Neumann logo

(this LED also flashes red for

protection indication and

lights solid red for the over-

temp attenuated output

condition).

The KH 310 A can reach

output levels of 113dB short

term (99dB long term,

average) via three Class A/B

power amps with 150W to

the woofer, 70W to the mid

range, and 70W to the

tweeter. Crossover points are

at 650Hz and 2kHz, each

fourth order

with a steep

24dB/octave.

Thermo

limiters are

present for all

three drivers

along with

woofer soft clip

and excursion

limiter and an

infrasonic

15Hz HPF.

IN USE

Initially

mounted along

my crowded

meter bridge, I

began utilising

the KH 310 A

pair and

enjoyed them

immediately.

Positioned only 3.5ft apart, I

found them quite useful for

dialogue/vocal editing as I sat

very close them. It quickly

became clear to me that the

KH 310 A has extremely

effective crossovers: virtually

undetectable, with seamless

transitions between all the

drivers. Used without a

subwoofer, I was pleasantly

surprised by the KH 310 A’s

bass response smoothness. It

reproduced lows quite

faithfully and as low as they

could, with nary a chubby

peak or hollow valley.

Upon inviting four audio

friends over to aid in

evaluation, we removed items

from my meter bridge, giving

the pair room to breathe, and

placed them on Primacoustic

Recoil Stabilizers too. With

my comparable Blue Sky

SAT8 monitors (three-way

speakers with the same driver

configuration) and video

monitor removed, the KH

310 A pair opened up to

reveal a sonic nirvana. It is

not hype to say that these

monitors sound fantastic. The

sealed cab design provides

tight, punchy, well-damped

and accurate bass; midrange

frequencies are translated in

incredible detail and with

uncolored, life-like clarity in

vocals, instruments, and even

percussion; and high

frequencies are detailed, crisp

without crispiness, and bright

without harshness.

In listening, we bounced

between folk, pop, EDM, and

nu-metal; the KH 310 A pair

delivered consistently in each

and every genre. Even as I

connected my sub to the KH

310 A pair, they exceeded my

expectations. They actually

‘melded’ with my powered

Blue Sky sub very nicely, with

increased extension, if at the

expense of accuracy.

SUMMARY

Short of monitors I’d

normally only find in a

world-class mastering room,

this KH 310 A pair is the

sweetest I’ve heard to date. I

can say that I absolutely love

them.

One of my colleagues said

they are slightly forward with

high-mids. He may be right,

though if he is, it’s the only

criticism I can imagine –

other than the hefty

£3,000+/pair price.


Rob Tavaglione investigates whether Neumann’s typical high quality translates from the beginning to the end of the signal chain.


Neumann KH 310 A �� ACTIVE STUDIO MONITOR

“It is not hype to saythat these monitors

sound fantastic.” Rob Tavaglione

THE REVIEWERRob Tavaglione has owned and operated Catalyst Recording in Charlotte, North Carolina since 1995. An early adopter of the projectstudio concept, Rob has recorded nearly 600 music projectssince Catalyst’s inception. Rob has also dabbled in nearly allforms of pro audio work including mixing live and taped TVbroadcasts (winning two regional Emmy Awards); mixingconcert and club sound; mixing and music supervising for indiefilms; mixing webinars and webcasts; mixing live sports; andcomposing and scoring for film/TV and various artists.www.catalystrecording.com.

INFORMATION

Feature set

• Compact sealed three-way cabinet design• Powerful analogue Class A/B amplifiers with

large headroom• Independent thermo limiters for woofer, midrange

dome, and tweeter to protect the voice coils• Four-position bass, low-mid, and treble

acoustical controls• Elliptical Mathematically Modeled Dispersion (MMD)

waveguide, with wide horizontal and narrow vertical dispersion

www.neumann.com

INTERVIEW Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com


Finding Your Wings

Jory MacKay sits down with Red Bull Studios London's headengineer Brendon Harding to talkgear, fostering up-and-comingartists, and working for aninternational energy drinkmanufacturer-cum-lifestyle brand.

RED BULL studio managerand head engineer BrendonHarding is a bit of an anomalyin the world of recordingstudios. Starting his path intothe industry during secondaryschool by working on the firstversions of Cubase (“when itwas in black and white”, henotes) he moved onto SAE inLondon before joining SohoRecording Studios as anassistant. Two years later hewas referred to acclaimedEnglish record producerAdrian Sherwood, who heworked with for three years onprojects ranging from LeeScratch Perry to PrimalScream. Another chancemeeting brought him to theattention of Red Bull’s studiobuilder Erik Breuer, and in2010 he took up his post ashead engineer at the brand’sstudio in London Bridge.

It’s rare to hear of such astraightforward path into themusic industry.Yes, I like to think that I’veworked hard enough to makemy own luck so that I’ve been in the right place at theright time for those links tohave happened.

Red Bull Studios definitelytakes a different approach tohow a recording studio shouldoperate. Can you tell me a bit

about the ethos of the space?For starters we are not acommercial studio. We don’tcharge for the studio, we neverhave and it’s not somethingwe’re even entertaining. We’vebeen able to make sessionshappen that wouldn’t havehappened anywhere else andwe’re just really pleased to beable to be positioned with thenetworks we have. People cansay ‘I want to do this projectwith this person, can we do itat your studio?’ and by andlarge we can say yes.

So what kind of people are youworking with in the studio?People use the studio indifferent ways. We do a lot ofpodcasts and voice-oversessions all the way up to thefull album projects withGhostpoet and Jessie [Ware]and artists like that. So it’squite a versatile space andwhat happens in the studio ona daily basis changes greatly. That’s part of the reason

why we wanted to expand andcreate Studio B and the Artistin Residence room. Studiosthese days are quite isolated –it’s a producer in a room thatcould be completely apart fromeverything else that’s going on.Back in the day you wouldhave four, five, six studios in acomplex and you’d get thosegreat little moments where a

producer would come out of aroom and get talking to a bandand they’d go off and maketheir next album together. Wewanted to create the kind ofenvironment where you getthose happy little accidents.

What’s the biggest projectyou’ve worked on in the studiosince you started?I suppose the biggest projectthat we’ve done is JessieWare’s first album. She hadtwo weeks in the studio, whichfor us was relatively unheardof as we’d been doing onlyone-, two-, or three-daysessions. For me, I was so usedto dealing with a new set ofpeople each and every day,that it was quite refreshingand slightly odd to see thesame two faces [ Jessie andproducer Dave Okumu] fortwo weeks. We got this reallygreat bond working together.

What was your set-up likeworking with Jessie?The set-up was pretty simple,actually. We used a Flea 47,which I love. Straight away itsounds great, which is always agood place to start. She thengoes through a Neve 1073 andthen an 1176. There’s no greatfeat of rocket science in whatwe’re doing – you take a greatsinger and a great mic, a greatpre and a great compressor – if

you can’t get a great sound outof that then the engineer isdoing something wrong atthat point. For me, a lot of thetime when you have a greatsource it’s about not fucking itup rather than having to becreative and turn nothing into something.

What about the rest of thestudio? What sort of kit areyou working with?The core of the studio is thedesk. We’ve got a 1993 SSL Gseries, 48 channels. We got itfrom a place called StudioDelphine in Paris. It was 56mono + 8 stereo originally sowe had to chop it downlargely just to fit it in theroom. I don’t think we wouldhave been able to fit anypeople in there if we got thewhole desk in. Everything elseis set up so we can coverpretty much all genres andstyles of music. There’s abackline that’s quite versatileand flexible and we’ve also gotsynths and toys: a NovationBass Station 2, Jupiter 80,some old Rolands like an SH-3a and an RS-202. Outboard-wise we’re set up

more as a tracking and writingfacility rather than a mixspace. Although we’ve got theSSL, we haven’t got a greatdeal in terms of external EQsand processing. I’ve got an

1176, an LA2A, a Distressor,and a DBX 160X. But fourcompressors doesn’t get youvery far in modernproductions – four monocompressors at that. Most ofeverything else we’ve got isexternal pres. When westarted we had a differentdesk – a DDA AMR 24. Thepres were nice, it was justabout having some externaloptions available. So we’ve gota 1073 and a 1066 in aVintage King rackmount, aFocusrite ISA828 eight-channel, four API 512c’s, threeGreat River MP-500NV, apair of Chandler TG2s, a two-channel tubetech MP1A. Sothere’s a lot more on the frontend then on the mix process. We run Pro Tools, Logic,

Ableton, and Reason – we like to think most bases are covered.

Lastly, what’s the best part ofworking with a company likeRed Bull?As a company we like to try tohelp people from thebeginning. Jessie’s the bestpoint for that. She hadn’treally released anything on herown before she came in here.She’d done some features with SBTRKT and Jokers, but this is where she became asolo artist. www.redbullstudios.com

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