ProAudioReview 2012 01.pdf

JA N UA RY 2012 | VOLU M E 18 | IS S U E 1

ProAudioReview

morereviews

Audio-Technica AT2022 • Guzauski-Swist GS-3a • Harrison Mixbus 2.0.5 DAW • JZ Microphone Vintage V12 • PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2 • Proel DB1-P, DB1-A & DB2-A • Solid State Logic Nucleus

New Products, P. 10, 48

INSIDE:• TECHNICALLY SPEAKING:

IT’S ABOUT TIME• STUDIO SENSE: MUSICARES FOR

MUSICIANS ... & ENGINEERS, TOO

STUDIO | L IVE | BROADCAST | CONTRACTING | P O S T

ProAudioReview

www.prosoundnetwork.com

The Review Resource for Sound Professionals

A PAR FACILITY REVIEW

NRG RECORDING STUDIOS

“THE WORLD’S GREATEST FOR ROCK ‘N’ ROLL”

PAR PICKS 6AMP SIMULATION PLUG-INS

4 ProAudioReview | January 2012

1048

8

2050

18

in this issueSound ReinforcementCovering Live Sound,

Contracting, and Installed Sound

New Studio Products

Facility Review

NRG Recording Studios, North Hollywood, CA

by Alex Oana

Review

PAR Picks 6: Guitar Amp Simulation Plug-ins

by Rich Tozzoli

Review

Guzauski-Swist GS-3a Studio Monitor System

by Ian Schreier

Review

Harrison Mixbus Version 2.0.5 Digital Audio Workstation

by Russ Long

Review

Solid State Logic Nucleus DAW Controller and Work Surface

by Rob Tavaglione

Review

JZ Vintage 12 “V12” Cardioid Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

by Rob Tavaglione

Review

Audio-Technica AT2022 X-Y Stereo Microphone

by Simon Tillbrook

New Studio Products

Review

Proel DB1-P, DB1-A & DB2-A Direct Boxes

by Rob Tavaglione

Review

PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2 Compact Digital Console

by Liz May

Technically Speaking

It’s About Timeby Frank Wells

Studio Sense

MusiCares For Musicians — And Engineers, Too

by Rob Tavaglione

PRO AUDIO REVIEW (ISSN 1083-6241) is published monthly by NewBay Media LLC, 28 E 28th Street, 12th floor, New York, NY 10016. Subscription information can be found at www.MyPARmag.com, by calling 212-378-0400, or writing to the above address. Letters to the editor are welcomed at the above address or [email protected].

Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY 10016 and additional mailing offices.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Pro Audio Review, P.O. Box 282, Lowell, MA 01853. © Copyright 2012 by NewBay Media, L.L.C. PRINTED IN U.S.A.

StudioCovering Recording, Broadcast

Production and Post Production

Departments

ProAudioReviewJANUARY 2012 | VOLUME 18 | ISSUE 1

Cover Photo: Oliver WalkerCover Design: Nicole Cobban

30

34

36

40

44

46

52

52

30

ProAudioReviewProAudioReviewThe Review Resource for Sound Professionals

6

J A N U A R Y 2 0 12 V O L U M E 1 8 I S S U E 1

EDITORIALFrank Wells, Editorial Director212-378-0400 x535, [email protected]

Strother Bullins, Editor336-703-9932, [email protected]

Fred Goodman, Managing Editor212-378-0423, [email protected]

Lynn Fuston, Technical Editor

Rich Tozzoli, Software Editor

Russ Long, Senior Contributor

Ty Ford, Steve Harvey, Will James, Tom Jung, Alex Oana, Randy Poole, Alan Silverman, Rob Tavaglione, Ben Williams, Sterling Winfi eld, Dan Wothke, Tom Young, Contributors

Paul Haggard, Photographer

ADVERTISINGTara Preston, Associate Publisher917-331-8904, [email protected] Godgart, Sales Director, West Coast Offi ce323-868-5416, [email protected] Ausejo, Specialty Sales Associate650-238-0298, [email protected]

ART & PRODUCTIONNicole Cobban, Senior Art DirectorAnnmarie LaScala, Art DirectorFred Vega, Production Manager212-378-0445, [email protected]

CIRCULATIONTracey H. Dwyer, Associate Circulation Director, Audience DevelopmentMichele Fonville, Associate Circulation ManagerSubscriptions: Pro Audio Review, www.MyPARmag.comP.O. Box 234, Lowell, Ma 01853Tel: 888-266-5828(U.S.A. Only, 8:30 A.M. - 5 P.M. Est)978-667-0352 (Outside The U.S.)Fax: 978-671-0460E-Mail: Newbay@Computerfulfi llment.com

NEWBAY MEDIA AUDIO GROUPJohn Pledger, Vice President/Group Publishing DirectorRagan Whiteside, Web DirectorRobert Granger, Online Production ManagerAshley Vermillion, Web Production Specialist

NEWBAY MEDIA CORPORATESteve Palm, President & CEOPaul Mastronardi, Chief Financial Offi cerJack Liedke, ControllerBill Amstutz, Vice President of Production & ManufacturingJoe Ferrick, Vice President of Digital MediaDenise Robbins, Vice President of Audience DevelopmentAnthony Savona, Vice President of Content & MarketingGreg Topf, Vice President of Information TechnologyRay Vollmer, Vice President of Human Resources

REPRINTS AND PERMISSIONS:For custom reprints & eprints please contact our reprints coordinator at Wright’s Media: 877-652-5295 or [email protected]

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.Administrative, Advertising, & Editorial Offi ces28 E 28th Street, 12th fl oorNew York, NY 10016TEL: (212) 378-0400

ProAudioReview | January 2012

technically speaking Frank Wells

Once upon a time, when budgets were huge, a studio could expect up to a month’s worth of work on a major project. A typical Nashville session saw “two-a-day’s” for tracking, four or five days of tracking, laying down a couple of songs a day. A week’s work of overdubs and master vocal takes followed, then a day a tune was

devoted to mixing. Occasionally, that pattern would get crunched into a tighter timeline, and even less occa-sionally, you’d have a producer who finessed a single song a day during tracking, but the pattern was fairly consistent and refined.

The advent of the ADAT in the early ’90s began to change that pattern. At first, it just affected the over-dub phase as a producer could relatively simply set up a small studio space for a vocalist or a single instru-mentalist. With an ADAT synced to a multitrack record-er, they’d lay a rough mix down on the ADAT at the end of tracking. Then, using good mics, mic pres, maybe a little EQ and dynamics processing and outboard converters, they could produce major-studio-quality overdubs for digital transfer back to the multitrack for mixing. Producer-owned studios rarely had the space for full-on tracking of a complete band, and practical mixing without a legacy infrastructure was not to the point of today’s complete studios In-The-Box.

Besides cost savings, this paradigm most notably gave the producer and artist time — time to polish a performance, time to experiment. And perhaps more significantly, time to step aside when a singer needed rest or things just weren’t coming together. When booking a big room, they had to pay whether they showed up or not, whether they worked all day or not. The clock was always ticking, upping the pressure and upping the tension. It’s likely that few projects actually required more on-the-clock time when working in a personal space, and may have actually run more effi-ciently while being more relaxed.

While many of today’s facilities, personal and com-mercial, are trying to cram as many sessions and proj-ects in as possible to maximize profit, others find that the personal studio model is, like with those early ADAT overdub rooms, giving them time back during overdubs and mixing. In a recent interview, producer/engineer Ed Cherney commented that where deadlines were once firm and tight, “These days it’s more ‘deadlines, schmedlines.’ I find myself hurrying less and concern-ing myself more with making it great...If we’re not feel-ing it that day, let’s go golf or something and we’ll finish it mañana.” He calls it a matter of “quality of life” that ripples into the quality of production.

Here’s hoping your workflow allows you the blessing of time.

It’s About Time


new studio products

10 ProAudioReview | January 2012 www.proaudioreview.com

Audio-Technica: 50th Anniversary Limited-Edition Products

Audio-Technica, celebrating “50 Years of Passionate Listening,” has introduced a number of limited-edition products, all featuring the company’s 50th anniversary design and color scheme. The products include ATH-M50s/LE professional studio monitor headphones, ATM25/LE hypercardioid dynamic instrument microphone, AE4100/LE cardioid dynamic handheld microphone, AE5400/LE cardioid condenser handheld microphone, AE6100/LE hypercardioid dynamic handheld microphone, AT4050/LE multi-pattern condenser microphone and the AT4050URUSHI multi-pattern condenser microphone. These products are limited-edition versions of A-T’s ATH-M50s, AE4100, AE5400, AE6100, AT4050 and the legacy product ATM25.

The LE/Anniversary limited editions feature a silver-colored metallic finish with blue accents, and the AT4050URUSHI sports a traditional urushi lacquer finish with hand-painted Japanese maple leaves. The AE4100/LE, AE5400/LE, AE6100/LE, AT4050/LE, AT4050URUSHI and ATM25/LE all feature an anniversary serial number etched on the surface of each model. The AE5400/LE, AT4050/LE and AT4050URUSHI come with a specially designed, handcrafted wooden carrying case. Prices: $209 (ATH-M50s/LE); $329 (AE4100/LE); $329 (AE6100/LE); $489 (ATM25/LE); $629 (AE5400/LE); $995 (AT4050/LE); $2,495 (AT4050URUSHI).Contact: Audio-Technica | audio-technica.com

Slate Pro Audio Raven X1 On display at Winter NAMM is a unique new “Production System” from Slate Pro

Audio called the Raven X1. “Steven [Slate] and I have both been making records for a long time in major studios and project studios,” Alex Oana, VP of creative operations at Slate Pro Audio & Slate Digital, explains. “We put all the features into this console that we’d want for recording and mixing in the way we (and most people) do it today. Keeping it creative, fast and fun, the Raven X1 has all kinds of really intuitive features in all the right places that no one has put in a recording and mixing console before. That’s why we call it a Production System.”A sneak peek at the feature set of the Raven X1 reveals some interesting highlights, including Slate’s Clear Path mastering grade analog circuitry; Full Monitor Control (“the most feature-rich analog monitor controller”); iPod/iPhone Dock with AES digital output; high-speed USB ports on console surface and under-keyboard tray for iLoks, iPad integration, USB flash drives, Smart Keys and hard drive; three My Mix 6-channel, stereo artist headphone cue mixers; iPad integration for Neyrinck V-Control Pro, tactile plug-in control; iPod to DAW routing (“capture ideas from your smartphone’s music creation apps,” offers Slate); Mix Focus Metering (comprehen-sive VU and scaleable LED metering); Auto Talk (talkback mode for effortless studio communication); 5.1 monitoring; four stereo speaker outputs; including studio output; eight stereo monitor sources; talkback to cue, to studio, and to slate; com-prehensive source to output routing; Betty, which is “built-in laptop speakers for consumer playback reference”; Avid fader packs (“industry-standard performance and support,” insists Slate; plus the ability to add optional integrated rack bays for outboard gear, converters, interfaces, preamps and more.

Finally, the Raven X1 will ship with Slate Digital’s Virtual Console Collection for authentic analog console emulation.Contact: Slate Pro Audio | slateproaudio.com

new studio products


IsoAcoustics ISO·L8R155 Speaker Stands

IsoAcoustics has launched its ISO·L8R155, a line of speaker stands that, thanks to a patented isolation technology, permits speakers to “float” in free space. The stands have undergone thorough testing at the National Research Council, and are said to “effectively eliminate energy transfer to surrounding surfaces.”

The patented isolation system reportedly decouples low-frequency vibrations from the supporting surfaces, while providing midrange audio imaging as it encourages all movement to remain on-axis. Tilt and height adjustments optimize positioning. At 6.0(W) x 7.5(D) inches, the ISO·L8R155 is specifically designed for all 4- to 7-inch near-field studio monitors. The stands have a height of up to 9 inches to raise and tilt high-frequency tweeters to ear level. The stands ship with two lengths of tubing-3 and 8 inches-which are said to optimize listening positions in any studio or home environment. Price: $119 per pairContact: IsoAcoustics | isoacoustics.com

Roland R-26 Portable Recorder

Roland has introduced its R-26 portable handheld recorder at $499 street. The device provides up to six simultane-ous channels of audio recording to SD/SDHC media, two types of built-in stereo mics, XLR/TRS combo inputs, USB audio interface functional-ity, and is aimed for solo and ensemble music recording, environmental sound capture, broadcast-ing and audio/video production.

The R-26 can be powered either with the included AC adap-tor, four internal AA batteries or an exter-nal battery. Two stereo mic types — omnidi-rectional and XY — are integrated into the R-26’s chassis. There are two XLR/TRS combo inputs with phan-tom power for connecting external mics or line-level devices, plus a stereo mini-jack for a plug-in-powered mic. The preamps for all mic channels are derived from the hi-res preamps found in Roland’s R-44 commer-cial field recorder.Price: $599 listContact: Roland | rolandus.com

new studio products

Lewitt Audio LCT 840, LCT 940 Tube Mics

Lewitt Audio has unveiled two new tube microphones-the LCT 840 and LCT 940. Equipped with a 1-inch capsule, the LCT 840 features five switchable polar patterns and is equipped with a specially coated and interference-resistant, plexiglass inspection window on the front side of the body, so the illuminated tube itself is fully exposed.

The LCT 940 shares these features with its little brother, but also boasts a total of nine different polar patterns (the five “standard” ones — omni-directional, cardioid, figure-8, wide- and super-cardioid) plus four additional intermediate patterns.Price: TBAContact: Lewitt Audio | lewitt-audio.com

McDSP Extended Platform Support

McDSP has released 64-bit versions of its entire Audio Unit (AU) plug-in product line. The McDSP 64-bit AU versions are a free update to McDSP v5 customers. Users may also demo the McDSP 64-bit AU plug-ins with v5 Native or v5 HD demo authorizations, available freely via mcdsp.com.

McDSP will be also adding support for the new AAX plug-in format as a free update to the McDSP v5 product line later in 2012. Support for the AAX DSP and AAX Native plug-in formats will be added to McDSP HD v5 plug-ins. Support for the AAX Native plug-in format will be added to McDSP Native v5 plug-ins. McDSP v5 plug-ins will continue to support the TDM, RTAS and Audio Unit (AU) plug-in formats.Contact: McDSP | mcdsp.com

new studio productsTelefunken ELA M 260 Tube Mic Stereo Set

Telefunken Elektroakustik has debuted its ELA M 260 Tube Microphone Stereo Set, which comes complete with three capsules — 260 cardioid, 261 omni-directional and 262 hyper-cardioid — for each microphone, plus one dual-power supply.

Also included are two 25-foot Accusound tube microphone cables with right-angle XLR connectors, two wooden microphone jewel boxes, two shockmounts and a flight case. The microphones also feature NOS Telefunken EF732 vacuum tubes, custom audio transformers and come in the same “flint gray” finish as the R-F-T AR-51 microphone.Price: $2,895 Contact: Telefunken Elektroakustik | telefunken-elektroakustik.com

MXL Tempo USB Condenser MicrophoneMXL’s Tempo USB condenser microphone is a lightweight mic that is compatible with the Apple iPad. The mic reportedly allows users to record vocals and other sounds on the go when connected via an optional Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit adapter.

The Tempo also works with a variety of computer music programs, as well as over-the-internet communications systems such as ooVoo, Skype, iChat and Google Talk.Price: $79 | Contact: MXL | mxlmics.com

opinion studio sense by Rob Tavaglione


Just like many of you, I recently found myself needing dental work and didn’t have the needed funds on hand when I stumbled across MusiCares, a charitable division of NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences). MusiCares quickly and efficiently got me the work I needed done while reminding me that altruism is still alive, even though greed gets all the headlines.

I asked MusiCares’ executive director Debbie Carroll to share more about her organization:

PAR: What is MusiCares, and what is its mission?

Carroll: MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares’ services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality.

PAR: What various types of assistance do you provide?

Carroll: We offer a wide range of ser-vices including assistance for basic living needs: rent, utilities, mortgages, car pay-ments, medical expenses, dental needs, substance abuse treatment, prescription costs, funeral and burial expenses, sto-len-instrument replacement, and so on.

Each client who contacts us has a specific need; we review each case on a case-by-case basis and provide assistance based upon the individual client’s need.

PAR: What do your dental clinics entail? Are producers, engineers and/or musicians eligible? How does one apply for a clinic in their area?

Carroll: Our eligibility expands to pro-ducers, engineers, songwriters, record label employees, musicians, vocalists, tour bus drivers, managers, production-crew members and others. Individuals do have to document that they have worked in the music industry in some capacity for at least five years or have credited contribution to six commercially recorded releases or videos (singles). Those five years don’t have to be five recent years or five consecutive years in order to qualify for assistance.

We provide dental clinics in partnership with local dentists or dental offices around the country during various times of the year. Each eligible client receives a free dental exam, X-ray and cleaning. If addi-tional services are needed, we can often provide the follow-up care as well. These clinics are part of our Healthy Essentials program to focus on a proactive screen-ings and treatment, and include other

types of clinics as well, such as flu shot clinics and other medical clinics.

PAR: What’s on the horizon in 2012 for MusiCares?

Carroll: We are consistently focused on expanding our outreach annually to ensure that each and every music person who may need our help knows how to reach us and is able to connect with us. We’d like to encourage folks to spread the word about our programs and ser-vices. Last fiscal year, we assisted about 2,700 music people nationally. We are on target to provide the same amount of assistance this fiscal year as well. We are expanding our dental and medical clinics substantially, and we hope more music people take advantage of those services nationally.

PAR: Please tell me about your 2012 MusiCares Person of the Year and 22nd annual benefit gala.

Carroll: Paul McCartney will be hon-ored as the 2012 MusiCares Person of the Year at its 22nd annual benefit gala. Proceeds from the dinner and concert — to be held in Los Angeles during Grammy Week on Friday, February 10, 2012, two days prior to the 54th Annual Grammy Awards — will provide essen-tial support for MusiCares. The legend-ary performer is being honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year in recog-nition of his singular creative accom-plishments as well as his charitable work, which has included an extraordi-nary range of philanthropic activities over the years. For ticket information, contact MusiCares at 310.392.3777.Contact: MusiCares | musicares.com

MusiCares For Musicians — And Engineers, Too

Rob Tavaglione owns and operates Charlotte, NC’s Catalyst Recording. [email protected].

Take a random survey of people employed in the music business and ask them what they skimp on, as far as budgeting is concerned. Many will tell you it’s their own health care needs. Whether due to the sporadic nature of our paychecks; rising costs of touring, studio ownership, instruments, etc.; or the overall downturn of the economy on a whole, many of us risk our long-term security.

All PAR Facility Review: NRG photography by Oliver Walker

By Alex Oana

Why does one great studio sur-vive when other great studios do not? In most businesses, there’s a constant ebb and flow of swim-mers and sinkers. It’s fairly clear now that the sky has not fallen on the music busi-ness. Label greed and technological changes may have caused a tsu-nami in the bathtub, but our little pro audio crew remains afloat on a fleet of single-mast sailboats.

The good news: Music produc-tion simply shifted to millions of sonically capable personal studios. The bad news: The seismic shift left many of the thousands of sonically notable, full-service, big studios unplugged and empty.

I first visited NRG Recording Studios in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles seven years ago during my friend John Fields’ tracking session for a mod-ern rock record. The label budget deluge was already drying up in 2004, but today NRG is among a handful of “name” studios still rocking in L.A. — alongside co-legends like The Village, Record Plant, Ocean Way, Capitol, Westlake, Henson (formerly Charlie Chaplin and A&M), East West (formerly Western Recorders and Cello) and The Pass, among others. And if you ask NRG president

Jay Baumgardner, his studio’s success is due to both flukes and great planning.

The Genesis of NRG

If you’ve heard Papa Roach, Alien Ant Farm, Seether, Drowning Pool and Coal Chamber, you’ve heard multiplatinum pro-ducer Jay Baumgardner’s production work. If you’ve heard Evanescence, Hoobastank, Three Days Grace, Godsmack, Jewel and

Bush, you’ve heard multiplatinum mixer Jay Baumgardner’s mixing work.

Before launching NRG at its current loca-tion in 1991, Jay ran several home and garage studios. Like many other notable engineer/producers of our time, he started off as a musician in a band, but when A&R guys would hear the demos they’d say, “We don’t much like the band, but your record-ings are really great.” Jay got so busy mak-ing hit records in his little NoHo home stu-dio that neighbors complained, ultimately signing a petition to evict him.

He took the opportunity to move up in the world by renting a building that already housed a studio, which he now owns. The studio had previously hosted lots of coun-

try recording sessions and jingles; at this point in the early ‘90s, it looked very dated and sounded too dead. So Jay and studio tech Wade Norton went about tearing every-thing out to make all the surfaces reflective, ultimately to “build the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll studio.” It was just the beginning of 20 years of renovation and expansion into three top-flight, full-service Neve and SSL-equipped studios.

For this third PAR Facility Review, Jay, NRG publicist Mackenzie Ramlow and studio manager Annette Scott invited me to track for two days on the custom Neve 8078 in NRG Studio B and mix for a day on the SSL 9072J in Studio C. Studio A is currently on long-term rental by a famous L.A. band — one of the increasingly rare ones with a label and a budget.

All I needed for my session was a good band and a good song.

Kissing Cousins

I started looking around for an indepen-dent L.A. band that might like to record at one of the best studios in the world. A friend of mine who is particularly in touch with the local music scene — Megan Pochebit

www.proaudioreview.com 21

NRG Recording StudiosNorth Hollywood’s Proven Spot To Rock

A PAR FACILITY REVIEW

ALL PHOTOS BY OLIVER WALKER

Kissing Cousins console tape on the Neve 8078

January 2012 | ProAudioReview

Alex Oana is the vice president of creative operations for Slate Pro Audio and Slate Digital and has been engineering for over 20 years. [email protected]

Hear & See: “The Well”

by Kissing Cousins

Visit the link below for audio

and video clips from the PAR

Facility Review: NRG Recording

Studios sessions, straight to you

from North Hollywood.

prosoundnetwork.com/NRG

of Off Central PR — recommended I check out a really cool, all-girl indie band. One look (and listen) to their video for “You Bring Me Down,” and I knew I had found what I needed: Kissing Cousins. Every bit of their riff-driven, bad-girl, dirge rock would be enhanced by the sound for which NRG is known.

Kissing Cousins is led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Heather B. Heywood; with keyboards, vocals, and percussion from Alexis Martin Woodall; guitars and main back-ing vocals from Amanda Paganini; drums and vocals from Beth Zeigler; and additional writing and instruments from Benjamin Z. Heywood. A few weeks prior to the session, Heather e-mailed a rough demo of a new song called, “The Well,” which we decided to use.

NRG Studio B

The first thing Heather, Ben and I did when we got to the studio was sit together behind Studio B’s 64-channel, wraparound Neve 8078 to feel important and stay warm while we refined the song structure and arrangement, so that we could come up with a game plan for tracking. I always like to capture as many musicians playing together live without a click track as pos-sible, and — in Studio B’s giant tracking room with Mytek Private Q headphone mix-ers — why not?

Ben and I set up the drum kit in the spot suggested by house assistant Marco Ruiz (toward the back wall under a portion of the 25-foot tall ceiling), and Heather set up her 1963 Fender Bandmaster about 20 feet away, facing the drums, so that the three of us could practice and tweak the drum arrangement. There are times when using click makes musical and logistical sense, but not for this little number. Once all the mics were set up, I recorded all the rehearsals. Our consistent, natural-feeling, keeper drum and guitar pass arrived after three official takes.

The more I record, the more I like to try new things. Usually, I spend a lot of time tweaking the tuning of the drums — not this time. We just went with the

tuning Ben had already dialed in, which was working great for the arrangement. Chris Dauray from sE Microphones let me borrow a pair of sE4400a condensers (an intentionally unabashed nod to the classic AKG C 414) and the unique RN17 condens-ers (co-designed by Rupert Neve and Siwei Zou), which feature the world’s smallest diaphragm condenser capsule (17mm, and cardioid, in this case) coupled to a very large custom Neve output transformer.

The idea is to capture extreme sonic detail with the super-accurate, super-fast small diaphragm and compensate for inher-ent, small-capsule, low-frequency rolloff with a fat transformer. “Why not kick and snare,” I thought, and then stuck a sE4400a and RN-17 right next to each other on both

kick and snare.For overheads, I couldn’t decide

between vintage Neumann U47 and U67 pairs, so I put up both, right next to each other, and printed both. As an afterthought while we were recording, Marco placed an AKG D 112 on the floor tom for me. It sounded fantastic, but was ulti-mately not used in the mix because the arrangement did not call for more floor tom than what came through the overheads. I lined up a Yamaha Subkick the same distance as the other mics from the beater. For room pickup, intern Brian and official NRG runner Joe put up a pair of Coles ribbon mics by the

control-room glass, opposite the drum kit. It may seem a subtle visual luxury, but the floor-to-ceiling control-room glass in B made the control room and live room feel signifi-cantly more connected — important in such a big studio.

Doing my best to provide some intern hazing, I instructed Joe and Brian to place a pair of Crown PZMs as high as they could up in the 25-foot ceiling area using what they called “the ladder of death.” (I have the same ladder; it’s not that bad.) The PZMs ended up becoming my main room sound for the drums and later for the piano record-ing as well. I placed three ribbon mics on the guitar amp — a beyerdynamic M 160, Royer R-121 and sE Voodoo VR1 — as close as possible to one another in order to combine


Kissing Cousins sitting pretty with vintage Neumann U67 and U47 mics as dual overheads

Alex, Heather and Benjamin work out the song arrangement

them into one sound. As great assistants will do, Marco already had my levels going for me when I walked into the control room to check out the sounds.

The Unique Neve 8078

Acquired by Jay from Allen Sides and Gary Belz, NRG Studio B’s Neve is a one-of-a-kind hybrid Neve 8078 with 24 1089 (same as 1073 except for EQ points) mod-ules in the left wing and 40 1091 (essen-tially a 1081) modules in the main section: the most expensive Neve at the time of its construction in the mid-1970s.

According to NRG chief engineer and stu-dio tech Wade Norton (who installed the console and has been with NRG since the beginning), “The console in Studio B was actually custom-built for a studio in Austria with the primary purpose of doing large-scale live music broadcasts. We modified the sepa-rate monitor section to include Neve 1089 modules so that it could be used for tracking as well. The desk doesn’t really have a model number since it was a one-off, but the main input modules are modeled after the 1081 module. They are actually labeled ‘1091.’ It’s similar to what an old 8078 would be like; it just looks way different. The most difficult part of installing the console was that most of it was labeled in German, including the user manual, so we really just had to figure it out.”

Despite its basis in familiar Neve parts,

Baumgardner points out one aspect that makes the sound of the console unique: “The console’s main section and custom 31091 modules actually run on 30-volt rails, higher than the standard Neve 24 volts.”

Getting Sounds and Tracking

There’s something about the Neve 1073 that always sounds “right.” With all the drum mics and guitar mics coming into the console, I quickly assessed my initial setup. I was totally shocked to hear a super-punchy kick drum sound with high-end definition and no harshness made up of equal parts sE4400a and RN17 that needed no additional treatment.

The RN17 was shocking on snare: the crack, quickness and smoothness of the high frequencies was unlike anything I’d heard before, while the body of the snare was natu-ral but not boring in the least (as some high-end, small-diaphragm condensers tend to be). The sE4400a added more body, a bit of a 1 to 3 kHz honk and a much more veiled top.

Pushing up the faders on NRG’s U47 and U67 pairs (via 1089s) was the defini-tion of bliss: rich midrange detail, creamy thickness, smooth top with no ouch and warm low mids ... ahh! The U67s went through Neve 2264A comps, the Coles just tapped vintage black-faced 1176s (revision unknown), and I increased the Crown PZMs’ detail and reach via Slate Pro Audio Dragon

dynamic processors at 2:1 with blend at 50 percent and “Sheen” engaged; the only EQ used was during drum tracking.

As I turned my attention to the room’s microphones, I was about to experience firsthand what makes the rooms at NRG legendary. When you push up the faders on your room mics you want to say, “Wow!” The thing about the NRG room sound is not only do you get “wow,” you get room sounds with the perfect amount of pre-delay, decay time and spectral content to work in rock tracks. My Crown PZMs in the overhead ceiling cove made the kit and the guitar amp sound open and airy, while the Coles pair in the back added room size and a dark thickness. Listen to audioclip #1

I recently became the vice president of creative operations for Slate Pro Audio and Slate Digital and, as luck would have it, my new boss, Steven Slate, showed up to see how I was doing with my drum sounds. To call him an authority on drum sounds would be a severe understatement. When Steven walked into the control room, his one comment was, “Sounds great ... I like what you have going on here, but something’s not right with the snare. It’s not cracking and sounds a bit boxy in the low mids.” He soloed tracks, then sim-ply shut off the 4400a snare mic and turned up the RN-17. Later, I texted Steven, saying, “You saved my snare sound!” In the mix, I ended up blending in some 4400a for thick-ness in the quieter song sections, but went 100 percent RN17 for the hard-hitting sec-tions. Listen to audioclip #2

For our first overdubs on the beautiful and bright Yamaha C7 piano, I thought I’d try extending my honeymoon with the RN17 pair. Between Marco’s mic placement and these sE mics themselves, the piano sound was well balanced from top to bottom, with the top end being particularly realistic when referenced against the top-end character inside this C7; the Neumann KM84 need no longer apply. The same Crown PZM room mics I used for drums worked as room ambience for the piano, giving it a more natural “reach.” Listen to audioclip #3

Heather’s electric guitar tracks with those three ribbons fell naturally into place just as I expected, but I ultimately chose to move the amp to one of the lockers for isolation. In the


NRG Studio B’s gorgeous, wraparound, custom Neve 8078

mix, I rolled off highs and added mids with the SSL J EQs. For acoustic guitar, which was a forcefully plucked alternating low octave part tuned down to C#, I wanted to get both the rattle-y rasp of strings without harsh-ness and the warm wood of the guitar: a perfect job for vintage, small-diaphragm tube condensers. The combination of hard-panned Neumann KM54 and Schoeps 221B as close mics, a center-panned Sennheiser MD441 supercardioid dynamic as a near-contact mic on the body behind the bridge and an RN17 pair in the room made for a complex, wide sound that required no doubling for depth. The RN17 pair was compressed with dual Slate Pro Audio Dragons, and all five mics were fed through two mono aux sends to the 1176 pair returning on their own faders for blend and EQ. Listen to audioclip #4

With beautifully maintained vintage tube mics and a fleet of the 1073ish 1089s at our disposal, vocal sounds were a no-brain-er and, of all recording we did, the band most often commented on how amazing the vocals sounded. I did experiment with two compressors I’d not used before: the

original Gates Sta-Level and a Collins limiter. My best results for Heather B. Heywood’s lead vocal came when going through the Sta-Level, then the Collins, being careful not to drive either too hard.

Switching from one vintage tube com-pressor in the chain to two was the sonic equivalent of opening my eyes wider. It was fun to set up the U47 and U67 on NRG’s huge stands in a 15 x 15 x 15-foot triangle

pattern for Beth, Amber and Alexis’ harmony and gang vocals; for comps, I used con-sole preamps and 1176, Dragon and 1176, respectively. The final overdub was tambo through the sE Voodoo VR1 ribbon, which has extended top that remains smooth. I love where it sat in the mix with no EQ.

Mixing in NRG Studio C

It may be called Studio C, but I just kept thinking about how I was in “Jay’s Mix Room” where he’s mixed so many killer singles I hear on the radio, like my favorite Evanescence track, “Bring Me to Life.” Hard to believe, but our layered arrangement of drums, piano, acoustic and electric guitars and vocals added up to 93 audio tracks, because I printed almost everything dis-cretely, with the exception of the five acous-tic guitar mics which printed stereo. The first six hours of my mix were spent sorting, organizing, cleaning up and doing some subtle timing tweaks. For a diminishing few, it’s an everyday process, but for me, it took some effort to efficiently spread the 93 tracks in my session out over 64 Pro Tools outputs across the 72-channel SSL 9000J.

By evening, I was turning physical knobs and quizzing my assistant Marco on Jay’s mixing tricks. Fortunately for me, Marco said, “Jay is not a secretive guy with his tricks. He likes working with his assistants to educate them.” Marco told me how Jay rolls off the very top end of electric gui-tars, sends kick and snare via busses to Distressors returning on their own faders, uses Slate Pro Audio Dragons on the lead

Alex Oana EQ’ing on the SSL 9072J in NRG Studio C


vocals, Bricasti M7 Reverb on snare and toms, sends to Sound Toys Echo Boy in Pro Tools via console aux, and most impor-tantly has the SSL console bus compressor engaged at 4:1, 30 ms attack, .3 release.

For my mix of Kissing Cousins’ “The Well,” it was all about using this giant tool called the Solid State Logic 9000J. I used the chan-nel comps on drums, one electric guitar and all the background vocals. SSL console EQs were applied to everything, including vocals. There’s nothing like the instant gratification of reaching out and grabbing the frequencies with my fingers. I used a total of three plug-in EQs for EQ automation and the Waves CLA-76 compressor/limiter on bass DI and amp, for which Amanda actually played baritone guitar through an octave pedal.

It’s odd making the transition from ITB (in-the-box) mixing back to an automated desk; it took some restraint to avoid the temptation to automate faders in Pro Tools. Once I got into it, I was reminded about how important it is for the mixer to interact and react in real time with the music via automated console faders. It had been a while for me, and it was a ton of fun. Within a few passes I had creat-ed a bridge arrangement just by automating the faders that would have certainly involved poking around in the DAW for a lot longer.

Add to Favorites

It’s easy as a reviewer to fall into the trap of calling everything “my new favorite this” or “one of the best that” I’ve ever heard. With that

admission, I have never stayed on a studio’s main speakers throughout an entire tracking session before working in NRG Studio B.

Jay tells me he and Andy Munro co-designed them on a napkin at AES years ago and that one-off became the Dynaudio C4. I turned on the nearfields for a total of maybe 45 seconds over the course of two days. The monitoring system — passive Dyns powered by Chord amps and underpinned by double Dynaudio BM14S active subs per side — sounded right from top to bottom, with noth-ing missing or out of proportion, invoking the least monitoring fatigue I’ve ever experi-enced during tracking. I re-proved to myself that the Neve 1073 is unflappable and great at everything I want to do in a rock session. sE Electronics and Rupert Neve had already captured my heart with their new-generation ribbon mics; now they’ve done it again, but in a unique way with the super hi-fi, detailed and rich RN17.

NRG Studio B has the best acoustics I’ve encountered to date for making a rock record. Close mic, and it’ll sound close, yet open. Put up a room mic, and it’ll sound big and open.

NRG Artist Development as

Business Development

“We were in the right place/right time from 1991 to 2002,” Jay told me in an interview. “NRG developed right in the middle of the explosive growth of the record industry. Now everything is paid off, we own the property

www.proaudioreview.com

Assistant Marco Ruiz and engineer Alex Oana at the SSL 9000J in NRG Studio C

(continued on page 58)



1 AVID Eleven

This plug-in for TDM/RTAS and AudioSuite covers a lot of territory as far as simulations of Fender, Mesa Boogie, Marshall and Vox amps go, plus AVID adds a few custom models of its own. The ‘64 Black Panel Lux Vibrato (based on ‘64 Fender Deluxe Reverb Vibrato Channel) is sweet when used on country/blues sounds, and the ‘92 Treadplate Modern (based on a 1992 Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Head) can rip any high-gain track with ease. I like to throw on the 4 x 12 Classic 30 Cabinet, a touch of Speaker Breakup and the Dyn 409

(Sennheiser MD 409) for some beef.There’s also a nice collection of speaker

cabinets, including a sweet ‘68 Marshall 1960A with G12H Greenbacks and a ‘59 Fender Bassman 4X10 with Jensen P10Q speakers. Mic choices (which can be switched on- or off-axis) include such goodies as the aforementioned Sennhesier MD 409 dynamic, the Sennheiser MD 421 dynamic and even a Royer R-121 ribbon microphone. At the top of the GUI resides a Thresh and Rel gate, and at the bottom is a useful Speaker Breakup slider, which can also be bypassed. Overall, Eleven is easy

to use and really gets some thick tones. It runs on TDM, RTAS and AudioSuite.Price: $595 Contact: AVID | avid.com/products/Eleven

2 AVID/Line 6 Amp Farm 3.0

Introduced in 1998, Amp Farm was one of the first TDM guitar simulator plug-ins and is still one of my favorites. When mixing, I’ve even placed it across amp’ed guitar tracks for extra bite. It’s still one of the easiest plug-ins to use, simply choose your amp, cab and mic from its drop-down menu. You can also

Guitar Amp Simulation Plug-ins6PAR

PICKS

Our software editor shares six crucial guitar-amp simulator plug-ins that are good enough to fool even guitar-amp aficionados.

In this installment of PAR Picks 6, we highlight an ideal collection of guitar-amp simulator plug-ins. The sound of real amps with real tubes glowing inside will always carve out a soft spot in our hardware-loving hearts. Yet “going direct” with a plug-in can provide recordists and savvy live performers a wide choice of amps, cabinets and mics, not to mention saving us lots of production time. Like anything, each plug-in has its own strengths and weaknesses. But with a little effort, these plug-ins can sound really good — and even fool a few golden ears.

Rich Tozzoli is an accomplished producer/engineer and the software editor for Pro Audio Review. richtozzoli.com

By Rich Tozzoli

(Left) AVID Eleven(Above) AVID/Line 6 Amp Farm 3.0

January 2012 | ProAudioReviewwww.proaudioreview.com 31

go to the presets menu for some generic choices such as “Tweed Blues.”

I’ve found that the internal level of Amp Farm clips quite easily, so it’s wise to drop the Input Level a bit. Also, the Gate (Threshold and Release) comes in handy with single coil pickups, as they can pick up video moni-tor noise quite easily.

One of my preferred TV gui-tar sounds involves recording my Les Paul in one channel with the 1989 Solo 100 Head (based on the 1989 Soldano SLO Head), the 4 X 12 Treadplate Cabinet and the Sennheiser MD 421 dynam-ic microphone. Then I record my Tele through the 1986 Brit J-800 (based on 1986 Marshall JCM 800) in a separate channel, panned fully opposite, with the 4 x 12 Brit V30 cabinet and Shure SM57 off-axis microphone. The result: truly heavy and delightful! As no reverb is included, you’ll need to add your own to taste. For clean/slightly dirty blues, the 1960 Class A-30 (based on the 1960 Vox AC-30) with 2 x 12 AC30 cabinet is also a winner.

The only real bummer is that Amp Farm is available for TDM only.Price: $595 Contact: AVID | avid.com

3 IK Multimedia AmpliTube 3

AmpliTube 3 features all newly “remas-tered” amps and gear with their most recent modeling technology. Within the latest ver-sion (v3.7), there’s a link at the top right of the plug-in called Custom Shop. With a few clicks, you can purchase and instantly down-load brands that include Fender, Ampeg, THD, Gallien-Krueger, Soldano, Groove Tubes, T-Rex, Seymour Duncan and Jet City. There are amps such as German Gain (based on the Engl Powerball), Thunderverb 200 (based on Orange Thunderverb 200), etc. Also provided is a wide choice of guitar, bass and rotary cabinets as well as Stomp, Mics and Rack gear.

There are some great “small” goodies in this collection, too, such as the Fender ‘63 Reverb unit, Fender Tape Echo and the Rotary 147-1 (based on the Leslie 147 with original woofer). You can also purchase col-lections such as AmpliTube Jim Hendrix, AmpliTube Metal, Ampeg SVX and, my favor-ite, the AmpliTube Fender.

Some ripping blues/rock can be had with the Jet City JCA20H paired up with the Orange 2X12 AD 30. The tone can quickly and easily be altered by moving the onscreen microphones around the cabinet. To comple-ment AmpliTube 3, the Stealthplug CS and Stealthpedal CS (Custom Shop) are two easy ways to get your quarter-inch guitar into the computer via USB connection. Overall, it’s a well-done, highly flexible guitar package. AmpliTube will run via VST, AU and RTAS. Price: $349 Contact: IK Multimedia | ikmultimedia.com/amplitube

4 Line 6 POD Farm

2.5 Platinum

POD Farm 2.5 delivers over 250 models of amps, cabs, stomp-boxes and preamps. It’s a wild experience to spin the “carousel of gear” and simply drag and drop your choices. Signals can be split to create two fully inde-pendent signal chains, and up to 20 FX models (10 each) can be placed in any order before your amp/cab selection.

POD Farm 2.5 is also available with fewer models: 18 amps, 24 cabinets, five bass amps, 29 stomp boxes and effects and six mic preamps. Built-in gates, a mixer, MIDI options and a tuner/

mute section are also provided.I’m a fan of the Orange AD30

amp and the Diezel Herbert for aggressive metal-ish tones. Throw in a Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi and Maestro EP-3 Echoplex, and it’s “game over.” Essentially, any sound you can think of can be had with the 2.5 Platinum version. POD Farm 2.5 will run AU, VST, RTAS and stand-alone.Price: $99 and $299 (POD

Farm 2.5 and POD Farm 2.5 Platinum, respectively)Contact: Line 6 | line6.com/podfarm

5 Softube Vintage Amp

Room

The modeling approach that Swedish com-pany Softube takes is different: It went for the sound of only three amps along with the associated speaker cabinets and microphones.

Simply called White, Brown and Green, these models seem to precisely emulate Marshall, Fender and Vox amps without directly saying as much. White is super simple: just a single input and no reverb. It’s the most powerful of the three distortion-wise and produces some seriously ripping tones. Brown provides great classic Fender-like tones. “Green” lets you go bluesy and proudly British.

(Top) IK Multimedia AmpliTube 3(Bottom) Line 6 POD Farm 2.5 Platinum

I really dig the way you can grab the mic stand (with a single SM-57 on it) and move it around the speaker and room; in use, the changes in tonality are dramatic, and I’d love to have this type of interaction on all guitar-amp plug-ins. Please note that you are limited to the preset cabinet/mic selections, but these are some really good guitar tones (sometimes, limitations are your best tools).

Vintage Amp Room is available for VST, AU and RTAS formats, as well as PowerCore and TDM.Price: $329 & $499 (Native and TDM)Contact: Softube | softube.se

6 Waves GTR3

This is a comprehensive guitar soft-ware package that features 25 amps, seven bass amps, 29 cabinets, 26 stomp pedals and multiple microphones and settings. It’s nice that there are some unusual amps in here, including the Carvin Legacy, Ibanez Thermion and a handful of quirky speaker cabinets like the Acme eight-inch OpenBack (from a 1968 Gibson Skylark), Electron

4 X 12 (straight cab with E-V speakers) and 15-inch ClosedBack (based on a ‘60s Fender Showman).

Users have the ability to load a stan-dard guitar amp, one with two cabinets or even just the pedal board. When loading the two cabinet model, you can adjust the individual volume, phase and delay for each.

Sometimes, I will place the GTR Stomp

2 as an insert after my chosen guitar software and simply use a single spring reverb, utilizing the Mix knob to create a good blend. GTR3 also has the standalone ToolRack; with it, you won’t need a DAW host. ToolRack is a great addition for laptop gigging or just jamming. GTR3 will run on RTAS, TDM, AudioSuite and VST. Price: $100 (TDM or Native)Contact: Waves | wavesgtr.com

Waves GTR3

studio review By Ian Schreier


Several months ago, with our facility nearing completion, the team here at Manifold Recording embarked on a search for the perfect monitors for our Annex control room. We needed an absolutely “no compromise” monitoring solution for both cur-rent and future surround for-mats in addition to good old-fashioned stereo.We also wanted a system that was a good fit with the design of the room, the dimensions of our Harrison Trion console, and a center channel able to accommodate a large video monitor/screen at the front of the room for sound-for-picture mixing. Even though we were ultimately going to purchase a sur-round system, we decided to evaluate all the contenders in a stereo configuration to simplify the audition process (and maintain my sanity). And for brevity’s sake, I’ll limit this review to the performance of a stereo pair for the same reasons.

The auditioning and shootout process was an epic journey not easily encapsu-lated here; to make a very long story very short, I’ll jump to the happy ending: We chose the Guzauski-Swist GS-3a monitor system.

“Never heard of ‘em,” you say? Well, until eight months ago, neither had I. Before I go into describing the how and why these monitors perform so well, a little back-story on the company is in order.

Background

You may be familiar with the names Mick Guzauski and Lawrence P. Swist individu-ally (and if not, look them up ), but what you may not know is that Mick and Larry have been friends since their teens, living in upstate New York. Each became successful in the pro audio world following indepen-dent paths, but remained in touch and close throughout the years, despite changes in the industry and from the different coasts where they sometimes resided.

Then, about 10 years ago, Mick moved back to the same state as his longtime friend. He reinitiated a long-standing conver-sation with Larry regarding his frustration with finding near/mid-field monitors that per-formed up to his expectations. At that point, the serious work of designing and building a “dream monitor” began in earnest. Drawing on Larry’s knowledge and skills in acoustics

and design and Mick’s ability with cross-overs, DSP and his vast mixing experience, the GS3a was conceived and built.

Initially, the monitor was created just for Mick’s use, in his own studio. It was only after many other visiting engineers, pro-ducers and artists begged Mick and Larry to build a pair for them that the intrepid duo considered this as a serious business opportunity and quite possibly the next chapter in their respective careers. It’s the quintessential American business story: two longtime friends build a better mouse-trap in their garage, and the rest is history.

Features

The GS-3a is a sealed enclosure, three-way active monitor configurable for horizon-tal or vertical operation with a frequency response of 29 Hz to 18 kHz (+/- 2dB). Each pair is powered by the GS-A3 Class-D

Guzauski-Swist GS-3a Studio Monitor System Astonishing performance is what the GS-3a will provide both world-class studios and our industry’s most discriminating end-users.

Ian Schreier is chief engineer/producer for Manifold Recording, a music production facility in North Carolina. ianschreier.net

stereo amplifier unit, which produces 1,950 watts per channel (1,550w for low frequen-cies, 400w for mids and 400w for highs). If you’re counting, that’s nearly four kilowatts of power for a stereo set! The GS-XD4080 crossover is a rackmounted, 96 kHz, 40-bit, floating-point DSP processor unit (with user-definable room compensation equal-ization and delay) with both analog and digital (AES) inputs.

While I believe they would improve the end results of any studio that uses them, at $17,500 list for a stereo system (approxi-mately $50,000 for 5.1), they’re aimed squarely at the world-class end-user who requires a rugged ultra-high performance monitoring system, but one in cabinets small enough to offer flexibility when con-figuring a room.

In Use

Personally speaking, it’s difficult for me to break the habit of describing monitor perfor-mance in general, broad and sweeping adjec-tives of quality, but I’m going to try. If you’re thinking I’ll describe these monitors as “transparent, rich, accurate, silky, detailed, or punchy,” I won’t. Instead, I’ll attempt a very brief synopsis of some key areas where I believe these monitors really excel.

Let’s start at the bottom end, my favorite! The GS-3a utilizes a two-cubic-foot sealed enclosure and a Dayton 12-inch aluminum

cone subwoofer driver. This results in accu-rate low-end response at volume with none of the “chuffing” or pumping effects associ-ated with ported cabinets. A sealed cabinet design simulates the “infinite baffle” ideal in speaker design and also dampens extra-neous cone movement. When paired with a light rigid cone and a very powerful amp with fast slew rate, a very detailed articu-lation of the low frequencies is possible; when working with material containing lots of bottom (which this monitor handles with ease), this equals the minimization of unwanted or excessive resonance of the speaker at low frequencies. In other words, that perfect bass/kick relationship you got in the control room is more likely to trans-late well in the real world.

The midrange is handled by a three-inch ATC dome driver; I’ve heard this driver argued by many to be the best device of its kind available, and I’m inclined to agree. It has a very wide frequency range, excellent power handling, and a broad, smooth dis-persion pattern. In practical terms, the wide frequency range of the ATC driver allows Mick and Larry’s monitor to send the vast bulk of the oh-so-critical mid/vocal range to a single driver. This keeps those potentially problematic crossover point phase issues out of the most important part of the mix. In application, it’s hard to overstate how big a difference this makes. The wide disper-

sion of the dome aids in the broad (and even sweet) spot these monitors produce.

A one-inch Morel soft dome tweeter handles the sparkly bits with an RMS power handling of 125W. Far more critical to discuss, however, is this: A few para-graphs ago, I commented on the GS-3a’s sealed enclosure design and the huge power to drive it. That design is not necessarily all rainbows and unicorns, which may be why it’s not used more often on high-power studio monitors; all that energy has to go somewhere, and other than

a tiny bit converted to heat, it shows up as enclosure vibration.

All that vibration can seriously affect the performance of any other driver con-nected to the cabinet. For example, visual-ize singing a steady pitch while sitting on a seriously unbalanced washing machine; imagine what that would do to mix and the stereo image perception! Thus, these clever guys have a solution — an effective way to isolate the mid- and high drivers from the vibration generated by the woofer. Because they are seeking a patent for the new technology, I can’t say more than that right now, other than it works beautifully. [Ed. Maybe the gap and appearance of separate low and mid-high cabinets pro-vides a clue?]

Summary

The results of these design achievements (and possibly hundreds more that I have no clue about) plus a high level of build quality and materials used is, in a word, astonish-ing. I know I promised to avoid broad sweep-ing generalizations, but this is one I’m com-fortable with. The GS-3a is among the finest speakers I’ve ever heard, period. I’m not kidding, nor am I a paid spokesperson. But if they asked ...

Price: $17,500 per pairContact: Guzauski-Swist Audio Systems, LLC | guzauski-swist.com


GS-3a monitors atop the Harrison Trion console in Manifold’s Annex control room.

studio review By Russ Long


In the last few years, Harrison has entered the workstation market with its Mixbus Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), one of the most buzzed-about new plat-forms amongst audio pros. Mixbus is built on the Ardour open-source DAW platform, and it utilizes Harrison’s precision DSP algorithms for EQ, Filter, Compression, Analog Tape Saturation and Summing. Originally avail-able for Macintosh OSX and Linux machines only, the latest version — Mixbus v2.0.5 — will shortly be released with support for Windows machines and, for $219, it’s within the reach of anyone.

Features

Mixbus is a full-fea-tured DAW that combines Harrison’s remarkable sound quality and fea-ture set into an in-the-box

(ITB) mixing solution. Mixbus’ up-front “knob per function” mixer layout is based on Harrison’s legendary 32-series and MR-series consoles. The DAW provides an infinite number of stereo and/or mono input channels (limited only by available CPU power) and each one features a High-pass Filter, EQ, Compressor and eight Mix Bus

sends. Each of the eight stereo mix busses includes tone controls, compression, side-chain control and analog tape saturation emulation and can be used either as a group or auxiliary return.

The master stereo bus also features tone controls, and analog tape saturation emula-tion as well as K-meter, Stereo Correlation Meter (which displays the mono compat-ibility of the stereo mix) and Limiting to ensure your mix is the best possible qual-ity. The K-meter (no, I hadn’t heard of this before Mixbus, either) is a loudness meter that was designed by well-known master-ing engineer Bob Katz. It is calibrated to -14 dBFS, and it indicates the average level of the stereo audio signal. [Visit digido.com/level-practices-part-2-includes-the-k-system.html for more info — Ed.] The workstation includes built-in delay compen-sation as well as a Polarity (phase) button and Input Trim and Makeup Gain controls on every channel.

Mixbus supports both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems and it requires a three-button mouse or track-ball with a scroll wheel for efficient operation. Included in the $219 Mixbus pur-chase price are licenses for Mac, Windows and Linux machines. The Mac OSX ver-sion supports Audio Unit plug-ins and any Core Audio interface; the Windows ver-sion supports VST plug-ins and any ASIO/MME interface;

Russ Long is a Nashville-based producer, engineer and mixer as well as a senior contributor to PAR. russlong.ws

Harrison Mixbus Version 2.0.5 Digital Audio WorkstationFor in-the-box music mixers, the “amazing-sounding” Mixbus DAW may be an answered prayer.

Even if you haven’t heard of Harrison Consoles — the Nashville-based mixer manufacturer — you’ve definitely heard Harrison consoles on some of the biggest-selling albums of all time: Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Bad, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation, Sade’s Promise, to name a few. You’ve heard Harrisons in many blockbuster films, too: Transformers 1 and 2, Spider-Man 1, 2 and 3, Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, and the Harry Potter series, not to mention top TV shows such as The Simpsons, 24 and CSI. With over 1,500 large-format Harrison consoles installed worldwide, the company is synonymous with high-end audio mixing.

Mixbus Version 2.0.5: All editing windows visible

and the Linux version sup-ports LADSPA plug-ins and any JACK-capable interface. Mixbus is the only DAW that I’m aware of that continues to support the older PPC Macs so, with Mixbus, you G5 diehards can continue to hold out.

In Use

I’ve been using Mixbus on a regular basis for nearly two years, and I’ve seen a lot of improvement over that time. Getting up and running with Mixbus requires install-ing JACK, which provides a concise way to move audio between audio interfaces and applications as well as from one application to another. Theoretically, this is a good idea but it can be a complete pain on some computers. I’m not sure why it’s easy on some com-puters and hard on others, but since I’ve started using Mixbus, I’ve installed it on two MacBook Pros, two Intel Mac Pros, a PPC Mac G5 and a Windows 8 PC and it’s been a breeze twice (the PC ver-sion, thankfully, doesn’t require you to install JACK separately) and overwhelmingly frustrating twice. Thankfully, in every instance, once I’ve had it up and running, it’s been smooth sailing from then on. Just be prepared to spend some time getting your system con-figuration just right. In JACK’s defense, it does add some nice functionality, such as the ability to route the output of iTunes or QuickTime directly into Mixbus. Newcomers to Mixbus should check out the educational videos on the mixcoach.com website. Kevin Ward has done a fine job creating videos that are extremely helpful and available free of charge.

I haven’t used Mixbus for a full track-ing session with musicians, but I’ve done quite a bit of experimenting (on both the

Mac and PC versions) with simultaneous-ly recording a couple of inputs across 64 tracks, randomly punching in and out, and quickly jumping from one point in the song to another: in my use, the workstation has been rock solid. I’ve also spent time over-dubbing a single track at a time and, in every instance, Mixbus never hiccupped or faltered. Based on these experiences, I anticipate the DAW would be completely dependable during a tracking session.

While editing with Mixbus is fairly intui-tive, it’s not as quick as with some other DAWs. I do think my workflow with Mixbus will improve as I use it more but I doubt if I’ll ever be able to edit on Mixbus as fast as I can in Pro Tools. Mixbus has some

great editing features as well (e.g., regions are trans-parent while they are being dragged, but they switch to opaque when dropped into place, making it easy to line up transients when sliding a sloppy performance into place). I must note that I love the momentary timecode readout that appears while moving regions within the edit window.

External MIDI control is limited with Mixbus, and Rewire and the Mackie HUI protocol aren’t supported at all, although it does include Logic Control inte-gration, which is a plus. The Mixbus keystroke for “learn MIDI control” is Command + Middle click, which is one of the reasons a three-button mouse is such a necessity. I use a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball, and using Trackball Works was able to program the trackball to send Middle click when I simultaneously press the Left and Right buttons.

When it comes to mixing with Mixbus, the first thing you notice is the sound qual-ity. It sounds very real, very

“analog.” I’m not saying you can’t get this sound with other DAWs; I’m just saying you don’t have to work to get it with Mixbus — it just happens. That said, old-school mixers accustomed to mixing on analog desks will love Mixbus.

The second thing you notice when work-ing with Mixbus is how great the onboard EQ and compression sounds. Having EQ and compression on every channel strip provides a big head start to the mix-ing process. And it’s not just some jive EQ and compressor that will barely get you by; it’s an extremely musical EQ with wonderful-sounding filters and a smooth, natural-sounding compressor that works well for virtually any instrument or vocal.

Mixbus Version 2.0.5’s Track window; Bottom: Mixbus Version 2.0.5 with all Mix windows visible


The EQ and compressor both outperform the majority of the plug-ins on the market today. Harrison has obvi-ously thought this whole mixing process through, as other features — like having a polarity switch on every channel — are a godsend for experienced mixers. I’d kill (OK, not really) for Avid to add this to Pro Tools.

Another feature that makes mixing with Mixbus a pleasure is its Plug-in Effect Control Sliders that allow the plug-in controls to be mapped direct-ly to the controls on the mixer strip. This means you can view your plug-in settings and make plug-in parameter adjustments directly on the channel. The Mix Busses make it easy to add parallel compression to the drums or more simulated analog tape saturation to the guitars and keyboards. The automation is easy to learn and quite powerful, too. The built-in compressors and

Tape Saturation create the perfect cohesion to make a mix really shine. I moved several mixes back and forth between the PC and Mac platforms, and it worked perfectly in every instance. Harrison claims (rightfully so, I’m sure) that it is just as smooth when moving to or from the Linux platform.

When it’s all said and done, it’s pretty amazing how quickly you can dial in a mix in from beginning to end with Mixbus

compared to other DAWs, partially because of the EQ and compression on every channel strip, and partially because each channel and bus’ metering includes peak, peak hold and gain-reduction available all of the time. And Mixbus sounds so good compared with other DAWs, there’s just less to do.

Summary

Mixbus isn’t a perfect DAW. For users who require virtual synths, extensive

MIDI support, etc., it likely won’t even be a consideration. Yet for the engineer who sim-ply mixes music and is increasingly doing it ITB, Mixbus may be an answered prayer: the software supports an unlimited number of tracks and the automation is intuitive. Most importantly, it sounds amazing.

Price: $219Contact: Harrison | harrisonconsoles.com

Mixbus 2.0.5’s Mix window

studio review By Rob Tavaglione


Yet the Nucleus is not your father’s SSL. And what it is precisely may be hard to summarize: a DAW control surface, a USB audio interface, a SuperAnalogue front end, a monitoring controller, and a plug-in-bundle-sporting central command center for your DAW-based professional or project studio. As a result, the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Features

Front and center, at least visually, are the Nucleus’ 16 100mm motorized fad-ers; each resides in a channel strip with a solo button, a cut button, a select button,

a rotary encoder, a 14-character scribble strip, a record enable button and a LED meter. The center section contains the prominent jog wheel, transport controls, mode buttons, numerous DAW commands, master metering, two mic preamps, con-trols for no-latency monitoring and moni-tor level control.

The rear panel contains a four output USB hub (Type A) and one Type B socket, an Ethernet jack, S/PDIF I/O (optical), two quarter-inch headphone jacks, a handy iPod input (stereo 1/8-inch mini-plug), stereo monitor outputs on XLR or RCA (-10 dB), inputs/outputs and send/return

insert loops for both mic pres (the insert loop can be inserted on your L/R mix as well) and an external stereo input on XLRs. Also on the rear are the power switch, lock-ing IEC cable socket that connects to the auto-ranging 90-250V AC supply, quarter-inch footswitch input, SD card slot and a 9-pin D-sub terminal input (SSL diagnostic use only).

In Use

Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t work the substantially sized Nucleus surface (70 cm x 40 cm) into my workflow or work area. Catalyst Recording is centered on a Mac Pro/MOTU Digital Performer DAW, yet mixing happens via a 24-channel, custom-modified Soundcraft Ghost console (and workstation full of outboard gear), effec-tively eating up all the suitable real estate in my control room. So Mike McGinnis, of post-production/composition house

Solid State Logic Nucleus DAW Controller and Work SurfaceIdeal for the modern DAW-based studio with limited need for mic inputs, the Nucleus is a cut above typical controller-type devices.

Rob Tavaglione is the owner of Charlotte’s Catalyst Recording. catalystrecording.com

There is no doubt that many smaller, DAW-based studios would abso-lutely love to get the classy Solid State Logic name front and center in their control rooms (without the space and budget traditionally required for an SSL desk, of course). SSL’s Nucleus facilitates just that.

SSL Nucleus

Concentrix Music and Sound Design here in Charlotte, NC, came to mind as some-one who might be able to fit the Nucleus right into his work and rig. I called him up, and he jumped at the chance to audi-tion the Nucleus in his busy production environment.

Mike’s rig at Concentrix consists of Apple Logic and Steinberg Nuendo DAWs via an Apple Mac Pro tower with a Mackie Control Universal 8-channel HUI, some Amek 9098 mic preamps and a Grace m201 mic pre, interfaced to the world (in stereo or 5.1 surround) via his TC Electronic System 6000. In setup, we took the Mackie HUI out of service, slipped the much bigger Nucleus in its place and connected direct-ly to his Mac Pro via Ethernet and USB.

We installed the Nucleus Remote soft-ware and the USB Control Panel software and drivers, then told the computer to

look for a Mackie controller and a Mackie Extender (which is how the computer sees the Nucleus and its 16 faders) and created a “profile” for this DAW. With that, we were up and running. Up to three DAW profiles are controllable with the Nucleus. Once running, Mike reported no crashes in his three days working with the Nucleus.

Mike commented that the Nucleus felt “sturdy, solid and well made” while its jog wheel has just the right heft and drag to it; he loved its quick, precise action. He par-ticularly liked the large and very readable scribble strips compared to his Mackie’s, although the meters seemed a little small. He reported the faders had a good feel (even though we’d both prefer aluminum over plastic).

The monitoring section was very clean to both our sets of ears. Mike reported that the preamps sounded excellent on

vocal, acoustic guitar and electric guitar overdubs. It’s “a nice, clear sound, similar to the 9098s,” he explained, “but more colored than the Grace m201.” These mic pres are the real deal SuperAnalogue ones, mind you: with 75 dB of gain, an input pad, high-impedance switch, 80 Hz HPF, phantom power, polarity reverse and a selectable insert loop for your favorite out-board gear.

Yet as nice as the Nucleus sounded and functioned, we still had some quibbles. Mike reasonably wished for some posi-tional indicator on the Nucleus, either a bar/beat counter or a time-code display: something to keep from having to look for the counter on the DAW screen. We both felt a built-in talkback mic was sorely missing from a device that should be the heart of your studio (you can always patch one into your DAW session, but I feel that’s


Mike McGinnis of Concentrix Music and Sound Design at work via SSL Nucleus.

inelegant, at best). I also felt that the headphone outputs didn’t provide enough volume, raising the need for an external headphone amp. Further, alternate moni-tor switching would be nice (although the -10 dB outs may suffice), as would good ol’ AES I/O, too.

Finally, the Nucleus doesn’t do sur-round ... and that’s a shame, as the post houses that could be a perfect fit for the Nucleus (like Concentrix) require it. This, however, would radically change the price and the product itself; perhaps this feature’s absence defines the Nucleus as simply being more for the music project studio?

Although I haven’t mentioned the Duende Native Plug-in bundle that comes with the Nucleus, it certainly deserves attention. This bundle has been previ-

ously reviewed and is worthy of its own detailed inspection. Suffice it to say, the EQ and Channel Strip has both “E” and “G” EQs, the Stereo Bus Compressor has liter-ally captured the sound of an era (like the original in big SSL center sections). Overall, the bundle adds significant func-tion and value to the Nucleus package.

Summary

SSL’s Nucleus is ideal for the modern DAW-based studio with limited need for mic inputs. The ease it provides in DAW control far surpasses mousing around, and its scrub wheel is a cut above typi-cal devices. Its software is stable and is coupled to an efficient, ergonomic work surface with the right controls in the right places, plus easy shortcut customization.

And yes, the absence of a talkback mic, sufficient visual display and sur-round capabilities are personally disap-pointing, considering the Nucleus’ $5k price tag. My first reaction was that the price is too high, but once I added up the cost of two eight-channel fader HUIs, two really nice preamps, a moni-tor controller and a premium plug-in bundle, I realized that the price is only slightly on the high side.

The center of the Nucleus glows with a backlit “Solid State Logic — Oxford, England.” It is mighty impressive and very convincingly implies the serious audio quality within. Just how much that is worth is up to you.

Price: $5,149 Contact: Solid State Logic | solidstatelogic.com

“The preamps sounded excellent on vocal, acoustic guitar and electric guitar overdubs.”

studio review By Rob Tavaglione


I’ve previously reviewed both the Vintage 47 (V47) and the Vintage 67 (V67) from JZ Microphones’ Vintage Series, which are soni-cally modeled after the Neumann U47 and U67, respectively. I was surprised to find them closely emu-lating the timbres of those highly desirable mics. This time around, we audition JZ’s Vintage 12, direct-ly comparing it to its much-lauded inspiration, the classic AKG C 12.

Features

The V12 shares the exact same body, metal-flake finish, stand-mount and design simplicity (transformerless, no pads, no fil-ters, no switches, cardioid-only) as the other Vintage Series microphones we reviewed. Therefore, the operative difference is the cap-sule — this time, the GDC12, a 25mm dia-phragm utilizing JZ’s Golden Drop technology, “a sputtering technique where a precisely engineered pattern of golden dots is distrib-uted across the diaphragm,” according to JZ promotional material. The V12 handles 134 dB max SPL with 6 dBA of self-noise.

In Use

I began by recording electric guitar over-dubs (via a AMS-Neve 4081 preamp), pair-ing it with a Shure SM 57 on the same speaker. As is typical in this config, the V12 picked up a much fuller bottom than the SM57, had much flatter mids and a little bit

more sizzle up top, as condensers usually do. I liked the warmth of the V12 and the top-end bite was just about right, too — but its bass was often a little woofy, especially

with the proximity effect due to its close position to the sound source. With a little bass rolloff, the V12 sounded excellent. We stacked a lot of divergent guitar tones with

JZ Vintage 12 “V12” Cardioid Large-Diaphragm Condenser Mic Latvian craftsmen of world-class microphones introduce a modern classic LDC inspired by the legendary AKG C 12.

Rob Tavaglione has owned and operated Catalyst Recording in Charlotte, NC since 1995. catalystrecording.com

JZ V12


the V12, including clean, “brown” and super-saturated; the V12 trans-lated the little details of the tones faithfully across the board, showing ample versatility.

With light and breathy vocal performances, the V12 picked up a nice airiness and intimate detail, remaining smooth even with lots of gain. Another vocalist really let the V12 have it with some over-the-top rock stuff (although he would occasionally lean in for a quiet line or two as well). Through it all, the V12 translated that sometimes-awkward transition with ease. With just a straight-up, middle-of the-road baritone guy, vocals sound-ed simply fantastic with minimal effort; the signal chain was the V12, Manley TNT tube preamp, Chandler Germanium compressor, a light Universal Audio de-esser and LA2A emulation on mix, no EQ.

No review of a vintage-inspired mic would be truly complete without some good old A/B comparisons, so I rented an original AKG C 12 from Blackbird Audio Rentals in Nashville. Blackbird’s Rolff Zwiep sent me a beauty of a C12 (serial number #0882, if you’d like to rent it and listen for yourself). I miked up my trusty Taylor solid-top acous-tic guitar with the C12 and V12 as coincident as possible, backed up about 18 inches so the mics’ placements would be equidistant, used two identical channels of Earthworks 1024 preamp and laid down a test clip.

The AKG C 12 had a huge, enveloping bottom-end, musical and slightly sculpted mids with a top end, that is, as you may know, extremely sweet but nowhere near overbearing [Listen to audioclip #1]. In comparison, the V12 had a less-substantial

low end with some similarities (and some differences) in the mids and a noticeably brighter, edgier top end with seemingly quicker transient response [Listen to audio-clip #2]. I tried to EQ away the differences between the two mics, but still couldn’t get the characters to match as closely as the V47 and V67 did with their Neumann-inspired classics.

I also rented the modern AKG C 12 VR (serial #0051) and repeated my test. Interestingly, the C 12 VR was quite bright compared to the V12 with a rather differ-ent bottom end and some different accen-tuations in the midrange. Fact is, the C 12 VR sounds more like a V12 than an original C 12.

Further and more detailed testing revealed the V12’s response to different impedances to be quite interesting. For example, I record-ed some jangly percussion tracks: tambo, shaker, cabasa, etc. Here, the V12’s slightly sizzly top end is a bit too much and too grainy at lower impedances (600 ohm), but works much better with more resistance (10 kohm). The V12 picked up plenty use-ful top-end and impressively gutsy lows on djembe, with the variable impedances offer-ing additional fine-tuning. Using the solid-state side of my Manley TNT preamp, I found the V12’s nuanced sensitivity to impedance to be a versatile “paintbrush,” with all set-tings potentially useful for vocals: a stark mids-accentuated intimacy at 300 ohm, an in-your-face flatness at 600 ohm, a slightly

scooped high frequency-empha-sizing response at 2 kohm and a compressed low-mid thickening at 2 Mohm.

Here’s the bottom line, according to what I’ve heard: the Vintage 12 sounds only somewhat similar to an original C 12 (even if it sounds more like a C 12 than the C 12 VR does), but it does not capture that subtly sweet top, that robust bot-tom, nor that elusive C 12 midrange quality. However, with a variable impedance preamp at the user’s fingertips, a V12 is a flexible vocal paintbrush, imparting magic and mood in some wonderful ways.

Summary

OK, so the JZ V12 doesn’t quite do what its Vintage Series brethren do — that is, quite accurately capture the vibe of a specific classic tube mic with which they (surprisingly) share almost zero physical qualities. But that’s hardly this review’s conclusion. The Vintage 12 sounds fine in its own right; comparisons aside, this mic sounds great on acoustic instruments, elec-tric amps and voices, too. It’s exceptional on voices, actually.

Admittedly relying on memory, the V47 and V67 both sounded very good on vocals, too, but I believe the V12 is a little more versatile than either of those models. All three JZ Vintage Series models bring color and personality to the table and they are really quite similar, despite their tonal dif-ferences. Yes, their slightly delicate-looking windscreen/basket is still there, as is that slightly too-limited-in-range, stand-mount swivel; I think these features could use some improvement.

But once again JZ Microphones has made a carefully crafted, well constructed, and great-sounding large-diaphragm condenser that is quieter and more dependable than a your standard premium-priced vintage tube microphone, and for a fraction of the cost, whether it precisely mimics its namesake classic or not.

Price: $1,895 directContact: JZ Microphones | jzmic.com

The C12 and V12 positioned as near to coincident as possible.

Selected Audio Clips:

JZ Vintage 12

Visit the link below to hear

clips referenced in Rob’s

review of the JZ V12.” -Ed.

prosoundnetwork.com/JZV12

studio review By Simon Tillbrook


Features

The body of the Audio-Technica AT2022 unscrews to expose the battery compart-ment. A single AA battery powers the mic, which has an on/off switch on the body. As well as turning on the power for the AT2022, this switch can also engage a high-pass filter with the turnover frequency fixed at 150 Hz with a 6 dB/octave slope. As a ste-reo microphone, it may initially appear odd that the base of the Audio-Technica AT2022 terminates in a standard three-pin XLR con-nector, but this is an unbalanced output with pins 2 and 3 carrying signals, with pin 1 common.

Along with a padded microphone case, clip, and furry “monster-type” windshield, the AT2022 is supplied with a short cable that converts this XLR output to a mini eighth-inch jack.

In Use

I tried the AT2022 out with two different devices. First, I attached the microphone to an HD Flash camcorder to record a number of different types of event, including auto

racing, an outdoor music gig, and some gen-eral dialogue examples. The supplied windshield is an absolute must, and thankfully didn’t make any significant changes to the frequency response of the AT2022, which was full ranging with good levels of high-end detail and convincing lows. I used the HPF in most applications, and also without it with open-air music and low throbbing engines to see how well the sound was represent-ed. I was not disappointed.

Handling noise was an issue with this microphone, but when fixed securely, or in an appropriate sus-pension, the problem goes away. The quality of both the microphone and the supplied accessories is very good indeed and all felt robust and up to the task.

For the second test, I used the AT2022 with a Zoom handheld ste-reo recorder to capture a number of sound effects and various instru-

ments within a few different studio spaces. When capturing ambient effects I noticed that the output of the AT2022 was gener-ally quite low and needed a good degree of gain to capture sufficient detail. It was only with this type of recording I really noticed this, and I ended up with some low-level background noise that might be an issue in some circumstances, though this was the only scenario where it was apparent during the review. In the studio, using the AT2022 to record drums and other instruments in a more ambient fashion was definitely the way to use it and, in this application, did a

very good job. In application, the AT2022 capsules in both the 90- and

120-degree settings pre-sented significant differ-ences in stereo image; it was more than I expect-

ed. In general, I found the standard 90-degree setting

was “the one to use.” The 120-degree setting offered a special dynamic effect that worked well with things such as wide ambiences and vehicle passes.

Summary

The Audio-Technica AT2022 is a well-designed and solidly built great value. It is ideal for achieving increased quality when capturing audio in the field with any variety of portable audio/video devices.

Price: $439 listContact: Audio-Technica | audio-technica.com

Audio-Technica AT2022 X-Y Stereo Microphone Adding an Audio-Technica AT2022 to your rig will significantly increase quality in audio field-capture via portable audio/video devices.

Simon Tillbrook is the principal music tutor at Islington Music Workshop in London and a regular contributor to PAR’s sister publication, Audio Media.

The Audio-Technica AT2022 is a stereo condenser microphone that is just 9.5 ounces and 7.5 inches long, with one end of the narrow body sprouting a pair of cardioid capsules arranged in an X-Y configuration. The angle between these two capsules can be altered to either 90 or 120 degrees on a swivel mount. The mount clicks into place at each angle, and the capsules are decoupled from the mount with rubber, helping to absorb some of the jolts and knocks you expect with a portable recording device. For storage and transportation purposes, you can fold the two capsules down flat.

new live products


Electro-Voice ZXA1-Sub Subwoofer

Electro-Voice has launched its ZXA1-Sub, the matching subwoofer for the com-pany’s ZXA1 compact, self-powered loudspeaker. The ZXA1-Sub is designed to provide “portability, performance and power” in a lightweight, small-format package. Though equipped with an EV-engineered 12-inch woofer, a 700-W amplifier and a maximum SPL rating of 126 dB, the ZXA1-Sub weighs in at 46 lbs. and sports a 15.75 x 17.5 x 18-inches profile.

Other features include dual XLR stereo inputs and outputs; a pole mount for full-range systems; 9-ply/15mm wood enclosure, internally braced, with textured paint; and DSP with low-end boost and polarity control.Price: TBAContact: Electro-Voice | electrovoice.com

Audix BP5 PRO and BP7 PRO ‘Band Packs’

Audix has introduced a new concept in bundled microphone kits: the “band pack.” Two professional band packs — the BP5 PRO and BP7 PRO — contain five and seven studio-quality Audix microphones, respectively. Also new for 2012 are two affordable, equivalent band packs, the BP5F and BP7F. These combina-tions include five and seven microphones from the dynamic Fusion Series. The Band Packs were created with microphones that have been used by artists, engineers and sound companies for many years.

The BP5 PRO is a five-piece professional microphone pack, which includes the D6 and i5 instrument mics, kick and snare drum mics, respectively. The D6 and i5, plus the OM5 lead vocal dynamic microphone and two OM2 dynamic vocal mics for support, comprises the BP5 PRO. The BP7 PRO is the same pack-age with two additional microphones, i5 dynamic mics, for miking guitar and bass cabinets a well as a wide variety of instruments. Prices: $975, $775, $650 & $495 (BP7 PRO, BP5 PRO, BP7F and BP5F, respectively)Contact: Audix | audix.com

Posse Personal Monitor Mix System

Posse Audio has launched a compact system for musicians, recording artists and music venues, which the company calls POSSE (Personal On Stage Sound Environment). It interfaces with wireless earphone and instrument systems and comes with an acoustic gooseneck mic.

POSSE also includes a tote bag, floor box, mic stand box, cables (6-foot MIDI, 6-foot HDMI, 3-foot guitar ), earbuds, belt box, power supply, external condenser microphone and user manual.Price: $449 streetContact: Posse Audio | posseaudio.com

new live products


MIPRO MM-89 Condenser Vocal Microphone

The MIPRO MM-89 is a handheld cardioid condenser vocal microphone with capa-bilities far beyond what you may expect if you’ve never heard of this Taiwanese pro audio manufacturer. The MM-89 features a shock-mounted, true condenser capsule housed in a die-cast, zinc-alloy metal chassis; its multi-layer windscreen/grille is designed to resist breath noise. Handling a maximum of 147 dB SPL, the MM-89 is capable in virtually any performance environment.

Other crucial specifications include a 50 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response with a notable presence peak between approximately 3.5 kHz and 7 kHz, adding sparkle and intimacy to vocals and other instrumentation, too. Price: TBAContact: MIPRO | mipro.com.tw

SKB 1SKB-R102 10U Slanted Top/2U Front-Facing Rack Case

SKB’s 1SKB-R102 is a 10U slanted-top and 2U front-facing rack case, roto-molded of linear medium density polyethylene and the lid and front and rear doors are injected for durability and strength. Featuring steel-threaded rails, hard lid and doors, side access ports (for cable routing), the 1SKB-R102 has enough space to mount the AV-8 computer shelf with the lid closed. The front door is hinged to the top lid, while the back door provides maximum access to the rack gear. Two TSA-locking, SKB-patented trigger latches secure the lid, while the flat hard top allows for stacking in transport and storage.

The SKB-R102 is covered by SKB’s no-fault Million Mile Guaranty (lifetime warranty).Price: $179.99Contact: SKB | skbcases.com

Earthworks DP30/C Drum Periscope Cardioid MicrophoneEarthworks has unveiled the “new and improved” DP30/C Drum Periscope cardioid microphone at $799 street. “After many recommendations from front-of-house engineers and drummers from all over the globe, the redesigned DP30/C features a thicker and more rugged gooseneck that will stay in place even when the snare or toms are struck extremely hard,” offers Earthworks promotional material. “Once the durable microphone head is placed in the ‘sweet spot,’ drummers will not have to worry about the DP30/C migrating.”

The new DP30/C reportedly maintains the same sound quality and craftsman-ship of the original. The microphone capsule housing is designed to protect the microphone capsule and withstand a direct hit from a drumstick. The electronics are housed in a cylindrical tube attached to the end of the gooseneck, providing a high-level, low-impedance output that will prevent radio frequency interference. Price: $1,099 listContact: Earthworks| earthworksaudio.com

live review By Rob Tavaglione


Simple passive DI boxes, active ones, and/or comparatively com-plex, feature-laden ones: All have their place in the modern engi-neer’s kit. Thus, I was eager to look into these Proel direct boxes from manufacturing-rich northern Italy: three high-quality imported models with a wide range of fea-tures, sonics and a few surprises.

Features

These three Proel DI boxes — the DB1-P, DB1-A, and DB2-A — share a similar chassis of steel and aluminum at a large 8.5 inches wide by 4.5 inches deep in size. Oversized

rubber endcaps/feet keep the boxes still on slick surfaces (allowing the stacking of multiple units); these endcaps are remov-able so that two units can be rackmounted in one standard 19-inch space.

All three models have quarter-inch inputs, ground lifts and quarter-inch unbal-anced link jacks, parallel to the input. The two active models both have 9V battery compartments on the back panel, as well as 9V DC inputs and outputs for daisy chain-ing power , or can run on phantom power. From here, each model differs wildly in its feature set.

The passive DB1-P conveniently offers a RCA phono plug input, a -20 dB pad, a -40 dB pad (yes, that’s 60 dB total reduction with both in, enough for taking a speaker level output out the back of an amp), and a filter for smoothing the high-end of such an

output. Most important-ly, the DB1-P has a mu metal core transformer: expensive and report-edly great for reducing phase and harmonic distortion [see sidebar for more on mu metal — Ed.].

The active DB1-A doesn’t have a phono plug, but has a female XLR instead. Pad-wise, the DB1-A has -10 and -20 selections, for -30

dB of total attenuation. Additionally, there’s a signal-present LED, a clip LED, a power switch, a handy polarity reverse

and that mu metal core transformer. The transformerless active/stereo DB2-A

has RCA inputs, -20 and -30 dB pads, dual ground lifts, and a power switch.

In Use

The Proel DIs showed up right at the start of a keyboard overdub session, so I had the DB2-A in my workflow within minutes of its arrival. I found it to be super-convenient with a no-fuss battery compartment and dual RCA inputs (ideal as we were coming out of a Macbook’s eighth-inch mini-plug headphone jack) while its sturdy feet and ample size helped hold things still. The sound was smooth and balanced (although it’s hard to tell much from a noisy laptop

Proel DB1-P, DB1-A & DB2-A Direct BoxesThese virtually unknown DI dark horses should give the major players a serious run for their money.

Rob Tavaglione (of Charlotte, NC’s Catalyst Recording) has been writing and reviewing for PAR since 1996. catalystrecording.com

What Is “Mu Metal”?

According to Proel, Mu metal is an

alloy consisting of 77% nickel, 16%

iron, 5% copper and 2% chromium

or molybdenum. In its final form, the

alloy is heat-treated in the annealing

process; it is exposed to high tempera-

tures in a hydrogen atmosphere within

a magnetic field. Annealing alters the

material’s crystalline structure, “increas-

ing the desirable electromagnetic

properties by 40 times.” More expen-

sive to work with (as bending, drilling,

or mechanical shock after annealing

disrupts the material’s grain align-

ment) Mu metal requires the hydrogen

annealing process to be repeated if the

electromagnetic properties are to be

retained. When used in the core of an

audio transformer, mu-metal core yields

excellent distortion and phase charac-

teristics.

output).Also ideally, I had lots of bass guitar

overdubs to lay down for nearly a month, and I ran a single-channel Proel on every one of them. Long story short, the pas-sive one was kind of dark up top (slightly veiled) with a very extended bottom-end that captured low notes (like those below a four-string bass) with incredible power.

The active one had a much hotter output (which is typical for active vs. passive mod-els) and much more top-end, more punch, but not the massive bottom of the DB1-P. I found myself using active DI on my pas-sive basses, where they benefited from a little extra zing, punch and clarity, yet my brighter active basses seemed to like the taming and musicality of the DB1-A. Both boxes were an absolute pleasure to use with their stability, pads and stackability.

I felt that a shootout was in order, so I ran all three Proel DIs and my personal favorite — a Countryman Type 10 active — through the paces with my Taylor acoustic, passive bass, active bass and a synth (mono only). The active DB1-A was on par with my Type 10; both were super clean and punchy, with the Type 10 perhaps slightly crisper, whereas the DB1-A was a little warmer and smoother (audioclip #1). The DB1-P (audio-clip #2) was darker than all my passive DIs, but it had the cure for anemic bottom, filling up the body of weak synth patches or thin basses (although this thick tonality wasn’t right at all for acoustic guitar). The DB2-A (audioclip #3) didn’t fare so well under such detailed inspection; it was noticeably noisier than all the other DIs with a smaller soundstage, less dynamics and punch, although its frequency balance proved to be right in between the chunky DB1-P and the crisp DB1-A.

Summary

After growing accustomed to all three Proel DIs, my only complaint is that I wish at least one model included all the great features of the line: all its pads, the filter, LED metering, the RCAs and the polar-ity reverse (put all these features in my sonic favorite, the DB1-A, and I’m sold). As it is, the stereo DB2-A does not offer the same low noise and clean punch of the

other two models and the DB1-A is limited in application by its dark tone.

That said, these virtually unknown DI dark horses should give the major play-ers a serious run for their money. The

proprietary mu metal core transform-ers bring enviable tone to the table and, paired up with the hefty chassis (which I prefer, although they may be a bit bulky for those touring with limited cartage), these Proel DIs are unique products in the competitive world of DI boxes.

Speaking of competitive, the DB1-P streets for $69, the DB1-A for $89 and the DB2-A for a mere $69: What a great surprise!

Prices: $89, $89 and $108 list (DB1-P, DB2-A and DB1-A, respectively)Contact: Proel America | proelamerica.com

January 2012 | ProAudioReview 51


Proel DI Boxes


clips referenced in Rob’s review

of the Proel DI boxes -Ed.

prosoundnetwork.com/ProelDI

The StudioLive 16.0.2 is an small-format digital console that stays true to the quality audio perfor-mance and fully integrated soft-ware of its bigger brothers, the StudioLive 24.4.2 and 16.4.2 [the latter of which was reviewed by PAR in April 2010: prosoundnet-work.com/review/presonus1642 —Ed.]

Taking up less than two square feet, the 16.0.2 offers a compact, user-friendly mixing solution for audio engineers on the go or smaller music venues needing both sophisticated sound reinforcement and music capture/production capabilities. It’s also great for contractors due to its remote-control features.

Features

The 16.0.2 provides 16 channels — eight mono, four stereo; 12 of them (1-8, 9, 11, 13 and 15) are equipped with Class-A XMAX preamps. The channel inputs are as fol-lows: mono channels 1-8, 9 and 11 (the left side of the stereo pairs 9/10 and 11/12) have both XLR and quarter-inch balanced inputs; channels 10 and 12 have quarter-inch balanced inputs only; channels 13 and 15 (the left side of stereo pairs 13/14 and 15/16) have XLR, quarter-inch balanced and RCA unbalanced inputs Channels 14 and 16 have quarter-inch balanced and RCA unbalanced inputs.

Feature-wise, PreSonus’ Fat Channel is

the golden ticket of the 16.0.2; each indi-vidual channel, when selected, has one of its own, complete with a gate, compressor, three-band semi-parametric EQ, limiter, high-pass filter. Phase reverse and phan-tom power are available on the channel inputs; stereo channels access the Fat Channel as stereo pairs. The Fat Channel is engaged by pressing the Select button on the desired channel, prominently locat-ed at the top of each fader (except for FX A and B, where there are no faders). When

mixing on the fly, it’s absolutely neces-sary to have this quick access to dynamic signal processing. The workflow and logic of Fat Channel gives engineers the ease

PreSonus 16.0.2

live review By Liz May


PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2 Compact Digital ConsoleThe 16.0.2 is an easy-to-use, truly useful and affordably priced mix/recording system for both live and studio applications.

Liz May is a producer/engineer, scoring artist and owner of SoundLizzard Productions, LLC . soundlizzard.com


PreSonus 16.0.2


clips referenced in Liz’s review of

the 16.0.2. -Ed.

prosoundnetwork.com/

PreSonus1602

and quickness needed to troubleshoot and execute a command, where some digital consoles leave you buried in lay-ers and pages to find your way back out (often too late in live applications).

The 16.0.2 has four aux busses with pre/post-fader sends and quarter-inch balanced input jacks for every channel, which gives the console the near-immediate familiarity of an analog board. It also provides two internal FX busses for delay and reverb effects. In all, the board provides over 130 options for sig-nal processing. The two, 32-bit floating-point stereo DSP effects channels are loaded up with reverbs and delays, including useful con-trols such as a tap tempo control and param-eter adjustments. FX assign, digital out, pan, and copy/load/save buttons; talkback, solo bus and headphone sections; and a 31-band graphic equalizer for the mains complete the work surface controls.

Ergonomically, the 16.0.2 has a lot of buttons for a small mixer, yet the plethora is really what makes it so user-friendly, especially for users with only a few hours experience on a digital board. At first glance, it can be somewhat overwhelming until the operator gets in the StudioLive groove. Once familiar with it, the minimal layering of pages is what makes this board a great choice for so many jobs.

The 16.0.2 can simultaneously handle multitrack recording as well as live mixing.

Equipped with a 16x16 FireWire interface, PreSonus includes the cables and software needed to record straight from the board to a laptop. This PreSonus software — Capture (multitracking application) and Studio One Artist (DAW) — provides the tools for mul-titrack recording and playback through the 16.0.2; it will also work with any DAW that supports ASIO or Core Audio, including Pro Tools 9 and later. Once the software is installed (which literally takes only min-utes), this simple system is ready to record.

Also included with the software is Virtual StudioLive (VSL); it works over FireWire to control the board via laptop, iPad, or the like, effectively serving as a virtual mixer. VSL also interacts with the wireless StudioLive Remote; SL Remote for iPad is a free down-load from the Apple App Store. [At Winter NAMM 2012, PreSonus is slated to announce shipment of QMix for iPhone/iPod touch, “which will provide wireless control of the auxes and users can assign permissions for each ‘iDevice.’ So, each band member could control just their own aux mix.” — Ed.]

MIDI features abound in the 16.0.2, unique to this smaller StudioLive desk (the larger models do not offer MIDI). Users may MIDI control main level output, scene change, effects assign, and effects level via the hardware MIDI I/O. This I/O also acts as a regular computer MIDI interface, so a MIDI control surface, synth, keyboard controller,

etc., can be attached to the 16.0.2. Finally, what would a digital board be

if it were unable to recall or store pre-sets and settings? Not adequate. So, the 16.0.2 can simply recall stored information in scenes; save individual channel settings; and copy information between channels. Users may choose which settings to save and restore, and in any combination; for example, the semi-parametric EQ setting could be restored while the compressor and fader position is not.

In Use

I installed the PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2 at the Underground Theatre in Winston-Salem, NC, at the Community Arts Café, an intimate performing arts venue where art-ists of all kinds can present a showcase, hold an album release event, screen film shorts or movies, hold poetry slams, etc. A variety of organizations regularly present shows here, including the Piedmont Jazz Alliance, Nashville Songwriters Association International, Fiddle & Bow Society, Cinema Pub, Comedy Pot Luck, Press 53, the East Coast Songwriters Conference, as well as my own production company, SoundLizzard. Some of the finest regional, national and international performers have graced this stage, so I felt it was both an appropriate and duly demanding environment to audi-tion the promising features of the 16.0.2. The


The StudioLive 16.0.2 as reviewed at Winston-Salem NC’s Underground Theatre, part of the city’s Community Arts Cafe.

venue requires the sound to be clean and intimate; it demands a flexible, modern and reliable board that is also user-friendly. So, the requirements are numerous and a lot to expect from a small, affordable digital mixer.

Upon first installing the board, there was some hesitation from the resident groups to use it over the older analog board that had been there. However, it didn’t take long for curiosity to get the better of them, and they began testing the waters to find the StudioLive functional for their purposes. Though the 16.0.2’s 12 dedicated mic inputs initially seemed a bit limiting for some at the Underground, the number of inputs proved to be more than sufficient in practice.

For install, the Underground’s exist-ing 16-channel snake was ready to use; balanced mains left and right as well as monitor outputs were provided, the latter of which is used to feed a “half stack” of main mix-augmenting speakers in an area of the room where the main mix doesn’t quite reach. The 16.0.2 also allowed addi-tional control over independent channel mutes, phantom power selection and out-puts (previously restricted by the normal house mixer).

StudioLive’s software bundle that ships with the 16.0.2 was fairly easy to install, and the board connects simply via FireWire 400 cable to a computer to record enabled independent channels. When recording live shows, I typically run Pro Tools via MacBook Pro and a Digi 002 Rack, so I was a little unsure of how stable this system would be for its first gig: an “active” live mix while multitracking an entire three-hour show at

the Underground. After restarting my computer, I was up

and running in no time. I have to admit, it was great to be able to record all separate tracks with minimal recording gear. I did have an initial roadblock: I selected my external hard drive as the record drive, since newer MacBook Pros only have one FireWire 800; the board wanted to be con-nected directly to the laptop. So, I was forced to record straight to my laptop,

which I was pretty uneasy about. However, I had no problems with it at all. [According to PreSonus, an external drive could have been used. “The mixer has two FireWire 400 ports, so users can connect the mixer to the computer via one port and attach a hard drive to the other.” Further, PreSonus does provide a FW800 to FW400 cable. — Ed.]

On December 22, I ran sound for acts ARGUS with Small Town Gossip at the Underground Theatre and recorded eight tracks to my laptop. At the end of the day, the recording went as smooth as one could have hoped for and the minimal setup time, to me, was incredible. Most importantly,

I was pleased with my recorded results. Another artist that SoundLizzard works with (Joe Next Door) used the 16.0.2 to record its show, too. “It was very easy to record from it,” offered Zoo of Joe Next Door. “Minutes of setup are all it took to be rolling.”

Summary

I recently met an engineer working in Los Angeles and, in our conversation he brought up a new piece of gear he was stoked about. At first, he didn’t tell me what it was, but mentioned how it fed his need for a live mixing board he could also transport easily for mobile remote record-ing. Once he said it was the 16.0.2, we immediately began to trade our thoughts on its great functionality and price.

The low learning curve makes the 16.0.2 a great tool for a venue that has many different individuals in the engineer-ing hot seat, especially for those that may not be familiar with digital consoles. Jim Tedder, the owner of the Community Arts Café and Underground Theatre, was so pleased with the board he does not want to be without it. We are now looking into making it a permanent resident of the venue, as it perfectly facilitates the goal of offering live recordings as a package to its visiting artists. I recommend the 16.0.2 as an easy-to-use, versatile board that is truly useful for both live and studio applications, priced affordably at $1,300 street.

Price: $1,599.95 MSRPContact: PreSonus | presonus.com


16.0.2’s rear panel I/O

Recording went as smooth as one could have hoped for and the minimal setup time was incredible.

classifieds


SOFTWARE

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

TO ADVERTISEContact: Doug Ausejo

650-238-0298 [email protected]

ProAudioReview

ACOUSTICS

STAY ONE STEP

AHEADwith NewBay Media’s FREE

Electronic Newsletters

ONE-STOP SHOP PING: Simply visit www.nbmedia.com and click on the “Email Newsletters” link. Then choose as many newsletters you need.

Sign-up today by visiting

www.nbmedia.com

FREE!

January 2012 | ProAudioReview


and there’s not a huge overhead. Now we’re developing artists ourselves with NRG Artists. We have a social-networking department.”

NRG welcomes a range of clients and, according to assistant engineer Marco Ruiz, “The second a client walks through the door we treat them with respect no matter who they are.” Independent bands approach Jay directly on Facebook; they don’t have to go through management. Jay can help deter-mine the budget since he owns the studio.

“You get used to being spoon-fed big-label budgets for a few years, but that’s done,” said Jay. “Things aren’t being created from the top down anymore; if you’re wait-ing around for a call ... you just do it. Now it’s back to being creative. Artistically, art is art. The money got so big, the game got so big, the artists just got worse and worse; the labels had picked all the low-hanging fruit.”

Finally, Jay said, “It’ll take a few years for

things to develop,” so I asked him, what’s evolving here? “The artist is given a chance to evolve. Things aren’t created overnight. True artists will emerge with some develop-ment, not overnight. You have to be resource-ful. Independent artists are a lot of what we’re doing now, while at the same time my mix of the new Bush record went number one and I’ve got the new P.O.D. mix coming up. We are booked for the next six months.”

Why NRG?

After learning Jay’s philosophy and busi-ness model, I was proud to have brought a true indie rock band to his studio. NRG is not

a fluffy/posh studio. This is a full-service, comfortably appointed, time-tested, no BS, everything-you-need-under-one-roof stu-dio with no sonic compromises and three world-class rooms where the sounds are great, almost no matter what the engineer does. And NRG’s monitoring clearly told me when I was going wrong.

I believe I just answered the question from an engineer’s perspective about why NRG has been rocking nonstop for 20 years.

NRG Recording

nrgrecording.com

facebook.com/nrgrecordingstudios

adindex16 Acoustics First acousticsfirst.com

25 ADAM Audio adam-audio.com

53 Alto Professional altoprofessional.com

8 Aphex aphex.com

23 API apiaudio.com

12 Argosy Console argosyconsole.com

59 Audio Plus Services audioplusservices.com

2 Audio-Technica U.S. audio-technica.com

55 B&H Pro Audio bhproaudio.com

9 DPA Microphones dpamicrophones.com

39 Fingerprint Audio fingerprintaudio.com

14,42 Full Compass fullcompass.com

13 Galaxy Audio galaxyaudio.com

5 Genelec genelec.com

17 Gepco International gepco.com

27 Grace Design gracedesign.com

51 JH Audio jhaudio.com

7 KRK Systems krksys.com

15 Lectrosonics lectrosonics.com

38 Parts Express parts-express.com/catalog

19 PreSonus presonusc.com

6 Primacoustic primacoustic.com

60 QSC Audio Products qscaudio.com

29 Radial Engineering radialeng.com

32 Rohde & Schwarz rohde-schwarz.com

11 Shure shure.com

33 Sony Creative Software sonycreativesoftware.com

26 Sweetwave Audio sweetwaveaudio.com

28 Telefunken t-funk.com

3 Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems yamahaca.com

NRG Recording(continued from page 28)

Kissing Cousins and their engineer at session’s end: Beth, Amanda, Alex, Heather and Alexis

ProAudioReview 2012 01.pdf

Documents

Transcript of ProAudioReview 2012 01.pdf