www.audiomediainternational.com
February 2016
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS How binaural is bringing an intimate theatre experience like no other to the Barbican p20
FEATURE
The latest on loudness for TV, radio and cinema p16
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REVIEW
Alistair McGhee gets his hands on A&H’s dLive system p32
INTERVIEW
In conversation with composer John Lunn p42
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THE BEST SOUND, ALL AROUND
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In creating the X Series, we brought all of the experience gained in designing the K2 to bear on a new series of reference coaxials. Optimized design, ergonomics, acoustical performance and weight make the X Series the most advanced coaxials on the market. Four distinct enclosures with format, bandwidth, SPL and coverage angles perfectly adapted to short throw rental or install applications, the X Series offers studio monitor sound quality, compact design, consistent tonal balance, no minimum listening distance and exceptional feedback rejection. www.l-acoustics.com
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WELCOME
www.audiomediainternational.com
EDITOR Adam Savage asavage@nbmedia.com
Experts in the issue
FORWARD THINKING
MANAGING EDITOR Jo Ruddock jruddock@nbmedia.com STAFF WRITER Colby Ramsey cramsey@nbmedia.com ADVERTISING MANAGER Ryan O’Donnell rodonnell@nbmedia.com ACCOUNT MANAGER Rian Zoll-Khan rzoll-khan@nbmedia.com HEAD OF DESIGN Jat Garcha jgarcha@nbmedia.com DESIGNER Tom Carpenter tcarpenter@nbmedia.com PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Warren Kelly wkelly@nbmedia.com CONTENT DIRECTOR James McKeown jmckeown@nbmedia.com Press releases to: ukpressreleases@nbmedia.com © NewBay Media 2016. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners. Audio Media International is published by NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England. Editorial tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6002 Sales tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6000
Audio Media International ISSN number: ISSN 2057-5165 (Print) Circulation & Subscription enquiries Tel: +44 (0)1580 883848 email: audiomedia.subscriptions@c-cms.com 1 Color - 100 White
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Gareth Fry is an Olivier Awardwinning sound designer who has collaborated with some of the UK’s leading theatre directors, and designed the sound effects for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. John Lunn is a Scottish composer known for his soundtrack work for TV shows such as Downton Abbey, Shetland and The Last Kingdom. Dean McCarthy is an audio engineer and degree programme leader in audio production and music business at the SAE Institute in Oxford. Garry Taylor is audio director at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, co-founder of Sony Worldwide Studios’ ‘Audio Standards Working Group’, and is speaking about ‘Audio Mastering for Interactive Entertainment’ at this year’s Game Developers’ Conference (GDC) in March.
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know I probably shouldn’t be surprised, as it’s been one of the major talking points in pro-audio for some time now, and if anything it’s only in the early stages of its development, but 2016 is already gearing up to be another big year for immersive sound. At the beginning of January we had Sennheiser introduce its new AMBEO concept – choosing CES in Las Vegas to carry out the launch now that the consumer side seems just as keen to discover more about exciting new sound formats as we are – and although we may have to wait to see the full result of the company’s new strategic focus on this exciting area of the industry, it will be very interesting to see where this leads, for sure. Furthermore, this isn’t the only page in this issue where you’ll find the German audio giant and an immersive topic – but not one you hear about a lot any more, it has to be said – mentioned in the same sentence. One of the great things about this technology is that it
can be applied in such a multitude of applications, and one area ripe for the picking is theatre. Without giving too much away, we managed to track down renowned sound designer Gareth Fry to talk about one of his latest projects involving the binaural recording technique, a Hollywood actor and a sizeable sound team. ISE looks like it will have plenty to offer in this field too. We’ve previously mentioned Merging and Genelec teaming up to deliver an immersive audio experience, but what we haven’t already talked about is Auro Technologies – the Belgian firm behind the Auro-3D format – and its upcoming foray into hardware, which is due to debut at the event. Again, it appears they’re waiting until the show gets underway on 9 February to reveal the real juicy stuff, but it’s all looking pretty promising. And lastly, it was pleasing to finally be able to report some more in-depth details online about the new collaboration between Dolby and Ministry of Sound, with the new series of immersive events now underway at the London club following the recent Martin Audio upgrade. The only thing left to do in this case is to go along and check it out for ourselves, and from what I hear, the invite’s in the post, so there could be more to come from us on this still.
Adam Savage Editor Audio Media International
February 2016
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CONTENTS
42
PRODUCT NEWS
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Array of new mics from Audio-Technica
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Waves unveils virtual mix room plug-in
PEOPLE 12
OPINION Sony’s Garry Taylor on why the Playstation 4 Mastering Suite is good news for both gamers and developers
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Audio engineer Dean McCarthy discusses the development of the music hacker landscape
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INTERVIEW TV composer John Lunn talks Downton Abbey, the analogue versus digital debate and more
FEATURES 16
LOUDNESS: Kevin Hilton looks at the loudness environment across radio and cinema, as well as television
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LIVE PROFILE: Adam Savage chats to Gareth Fry about a new theatre show where sound takes centre stage
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STUDIO PROFILE: Celebrating three decades of Production Consultants in Missouri
ALSO INSIDE 8
SHOW PREVIEWS ISE 2016
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BVE 2016
4
www.audiomediainternational.com
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TECHNOLOGY
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HOW TO Warehouse Sound’s Simon Meadows advises on setting up and getting the best out of a line array system
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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: LOUDSPEAKER TECHNOLOGY Summarising the latest technologies in this ever-evolving market sector
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REVIEWS
32 34 36 38 40
Allen & Heath dLive KLANG:fabrik Vertigo Sound VSE-2 UVI Falcon Mackie Reach
February 2016
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“The LEO Family is the right choice for providing the best quality sound to our clients and their audiences. The Meyer Sound brand is the perfect match for Wigwam Acoustics, in terms of its reputation for quality.� Chris Hill, Co-founder and Spencer Beard, Managing Director, Wigwam Acoustics
Read the full interview at meyersound.com/wigwam
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PRODUCT NEWS
AUDIO-TECHNICA’S ARRAY OF NEW MICS Audio-Technica introduced an assortment of new microphones and headphones at NAMM 2016, including the new Artist Elite AE2300, ATM230 and ATW-T1007 models. The Artist Elite AE2300 (£220 RRP) dynamic cardioid instrument microphone features Audio-Technica’s double-dome diaphragm construction, giving it highfrequency and transient response. It has a low-profile design, as well as the ability to handle high SPLs and capture sound from a range of instruments ’with clarity and precision.’ The ATM230 (£110 RRP) hypercardioid dynamic instrument microphone is said to be ideal for capturing drums and percussion and offers a proprietary capsule that is also designed to excel in high SPL applications, much like the AE2300. Audio-Technica also released new desk stand and boundary microphone models compatible with its System 10 PRO rack-mount and System 10 stack-mount digital wireless systems. Designed to work with phantompowered, condenser gooseneck
microphones with a three-pin XLRM-type output, the ATW-T1007 (£299) System 10 microphone desk stand transmitter pairs with the System 10 PRO or System 10 digital wireless receiver to provide 2.4GHz wireless performance. Then there is the ATW-T1006 (£335) System 10 boundary microphone/ transmitter, which also partners with any System 10 PRO or System 10 digital wireless receiver to provide ‘clear, natural sound quality’ with 2.4GHz wireless performance. It is intended for conference rooms and other meeting spaces. Finally, the M50xMG (£159) is a limited edition matt grey version of Audio-Technica’s ATH-M50x professional monitor headphones – part of its M-Series line. www.audio-technica.com
QSC DEBUTS E SERIES SPEAKERS QSC launched a new range of passive loudspeakers at this year’s NAMM Show. Consisting of four models incorporating DMT (Directivity Matched Transition), which promises uniform frequency response across the entire coverage area, the E Series is designed for sound reinforcement in entertainment applications such as live performance, DJ and dance music, and stage monitoring and production. When used as part of the complete E Series Entertainment System – with QSC’s PLD and GXD amplifiers and TouchMix digital mixers – the E Series takes advantage of advanced DSP settings for a ‘very high level of performance’, according to the company. The E10 has a 10in, die cast frame woofer with a 2.5in voice-coil housed in an enclosure that’s ideal as a stage monitor or in main PA deployment. The E12 is a trapezoidal, two-way
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loudspeaker using a 12in die cast aluminium woofer with a 3in voicecoil, and the 15mm, 11-ply enclosure provides enough volume to deliver low-frequency extension down to 60Hz, making it suitable for applications which preclude the use of a sub. The E15 is a trapezoidal, two-way loudspeaker utilising a 15in, 500W die cast aluminium frame woofer with a 3in voice coil, intended for when high power and authoritative low-end are needed from a full-range loudspeaker. Lastly there is the E18SW, a subwoofer with a single, high-powered, 18in aluminium frame woofer, designed to produce ‘crushing’ low-end for live performance with kick-drum and bass in the PA for high-level, high-energy dance music. www.qsc.com
www.audiomediainternational.com
DANTE-ENABLED DI BOX FROM RADIAL Radial Engineering introduced a wide variety of new kit in Anaheim. As well as giving visitors another chance to check out the McBoost Microphone Signal Booster first announced back in November, the company introduced a number of products for the first time this year. Described as the world’s first Danteenabled direct box, the DiNET DAN-RX includes a 24-bit/96kHz digital to analogue endpoint that allows the user to output audio from a Dante network to stereo systems. It also enables instruments or line level sources to be connected directly to networked audio systems using the Dante protocol. ‘A modern recreation of a classic’ – made to fit the 500 series format – the Jensen Twin-Servo ($999.99) is designed to completely eliminate capacitors and combines two 990 op-amps with a pair of Jensen transformers to produce ‘the widest bandwidth and fattest bass ever’. Also new was the Shotgun 2 x 4 Guitar Signal Distro ($169.99), a combination signal driver and isolator
that lets the user feed four guitar amps in either mono or stereo. It features two inputs with switching jack on input B to auto configure for stereo use, as well as transformer isolated outputs to eliminate ground loops. Lastly, the JDX Direct Drive ($199.99) is a compact combination guitar amp emulator and direct box that allows the user to perform live or record without an amplifier – simply connect a guitar to the pedals and play. It offers three cabinet styles with ¼in out for monitors and XLR out for the PA system. www.radialeng.com
PRESONUS SHOWCASES STUDIO 192 MOBILE PreSonus used the 2016 NAMM Show to announce its Studio 192 Mobile USB 3.0 22 x 26 audio interface, as well as the StudioLive AVB Mix Systems and ULT-series active loudspeakers. The Studio 192 Mobile features the same high-end audio, low latency monitoring, tight software integration and ‘studio command centre functionality’ introduced in the Studio 192 audio interface but in a smaller form factor suitable for both mobile and studio use. It records at up to 192kHz and comes equipped with two digitally controlled XMAX Class A, solid-state mic preamps and premium Burr-Brown converters with 118dB of dynamic range. There are also 18 channels of digital I/O, making it easy to add up to 16 additional remote-controlled microphone preamps when expanded with two DigiMax DP88 A-D-A converters. The new StudioLive AVB Mix Systems allow users to combine one or two StudioLive RM-series rack mixers, a StudioLive CS18AI
Ethernet/AVB control surface and integrated control, recording and production software. Four systems are available: the StudioLive AVB 16AI Mix System with one RM16AI mixer; StudioLive AVB 32AI with one RM32AI; StudioLive AVB 48AI with one of each RM model, cascaded to form a 48-input, 64-channel system; and StudioLive AVB 64AI, with two cascaded StudioLive RM32AIs for a 64-input system. The ULT-series active loudspeakers promise ‘the widest horizontal dispersion of any loudspeaker in their class’, along with a focused vertical dispersion for an ultra-long throw. The result is even coverage throughout the space, PreSonus says, enabling the audience to hear clearly wherever they are. www.presonus.com
February 2016
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PRODUCT NEWS
NUGEN’S NEW SPLINE EQUALISER DU: 10.12.2015 GB
5 – 8. 4. 2016 prolight-sound.com
Let’s master it. provide music producers with true-peak compliance and prevent the distortion that often results from the codec conversions required to deliver audio to online platforms. ISL 2st DSP is also now available for Avid Pro Tools HDX users. An upgrade to Visualizer, the company’s audio-analysis plug-in and stand-alone metering system, debuted as well. The latest version includes a new comparison mode, a significant upgrade to the Lissajous view and numerous fine-tuning improvements, further enhancing intuitive operation and allowing rapid adjustment to achieve ‘a perfectly optimised visualisation for the task at hand.’ www.nugenaudio.com
61837-001_PLS_allg_Audio_Media_International_95x270_GB • CD-Rom • ISO 39 • CMYK • yi:07.12.15
Nugen Audio presented its latest mixing and mastering tools, including several new updates and feature enhancements, in California. New to its product offering is the SEQ-ST, a linear phase spline EQ with powerful sonic sculpting and EQ matching, stereo midside operation and automated spectrum analysis. Also on display was a new filter-morphing feature that allows fluid morphing between two sets of filter curves under full user control. The company also showcased MasterCheck, the first music industryspecific audio plug-in designed to facilitate mixing and mastering for loudness-normalised playout by using internationally recognised loudness, dynamics and true-peak standards, which are now standard on iTunes, Spotify, DAB and many other online platforms. Also on display at NAMM was ISL 2st, a stereo-only version of Nugen’s awardwinning ISL 2 solution, designed to
WAVES UNVEILS VIRTUAL MIX ROOM PLUG-IN Waves Audio has revealed Nx, a new plug-in that enables the user to hear, on headphones, the same depth, reflections and panoramic stereo image heard through speakers in an actual, physical room. It is designed to “unmask” headphone sound, allowing the listener to hear everything with “real-world dimension”. This way, all the elements of a mix can be heard accurately laid out in space, like in the sweet spot of a beautifulsounding room. Waves says that the new plug-in finally bridges the gap between monitoring on speakers and monitoring on headphones, putting an end to constant crossreferencing between headphone and stereo sound.
By delivering the natural listening experience of a physical room, Waves Nx promises to make the headphone experience comfortable and earfriendly over long periods of time. Those wanting to mix for 5.1 surround on regular stereo headphones can also do just that – a true revolution in the world of surround mixing, according to Waves – and Nx claims to do this without coloring the sound in any way. What the user hears is a mix exactly how they want it to sound – only now with a more accurate way to monitor it on headphones. The plug-in can be used with real-time head tracking – taking advantage of a computer’s camera or the Waves Head Tracker unit. www.waves.com
Discover the technology trends of tomorrow at Prolight + Sound 2016! Find out at first hand how technology can transform entertainment into a unique experience – and take part in the world’s largest gathering for the event industry! info@uk.messefrankfurt.com Tel. +44 (0) 14 83 48 39 83
February 2016
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SHOW NEWS: ISE 2016
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ALL ABOUT AUDIO
Information
The annual AV extravaganza returns to Amsterdam with a renewed focus on sound equipment.
What? ISE 2016 Where? Amsterdam RAI When? 9-12 February
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here’s no denying that ISE 2016 is going to be the biggest show in the event’s 13-year history. The addition of a fourth day and an 11% increase in sold floor space compared with 2015 mean there will be plenty for visitors to see. And the good news for AMI readers is that audio is set to play an even more central role too. The day before the show opens, the AudioForum will return to the RAI. This full-day event will look at modern loudspeaker technologies, key issues surrounding filtering technologies, the composition and detail of datasheets and audio networking transportation. When it comes to ISE itself, Audio Solutions now has its own Show Floor Theatre where attendees can enjoy presentations by installers, manufacturers, distributors, end customers and live events professionals. An extensive programme is running over all four days of the show, covering topics such as ‘Communications Solutions for Major Events’ at 13:00 on 9 February, ‘New Audio Technology’ at midday on 10 February, ‘Immersive Audio Enhancing the Travel Experience’ at 14:30 on 11 February and ‘Solving Acoustic Challenges with Audio Networking Systems and Digital Signal Processing’ at 11:30 on the final day. If you prefer to experience the latest kit rather than just hear about it, head to the Audio Demo Rooms (E103, E104, E107 and E108). Here you’ll be able to enjoy 8
an Auro 11.1 immersive sound system as part of a Barco Theatre Room, while d&b audiotechnik will be introducing its latest products and offering a beginners guide to its ArrayProcessing array optimisation tool. In Room E104 Martin Audio’s product support engineer Robin Dibble will be presenting a series of demos, featuring the CDD Series, MLA Mini and O-Line, and in E108 Steinway Lyngdorf’s Model P200 surround sound processor will be available for demo.
on the Showfloor Powersoft will once again partner up with its Dutch distributor TM Audio, part of the Ampco Flashlight Group. The amp maker is set to adopt a white, ‘building block’ Tetris-style booth theme designed to ‘subliminally focus integrator attention on the importance of interoperability and functionality between systems.’ “This eye catching stand has been set up to differentiate us from the competition and demonstrate how Powersoft amps suit any application,” said the firm’s brand and communication director Francesco Fanicchi. ISE 2016 will also be the place to see the latest loudspeaker technology. Community Professional is introducing five new Compact speakers, which are designed to match the performance, appearance and voicing of the larger I Series point source and subwoofer models.
The 6.5in IC6-1062 features a high LF extension for its cabinet size and a very wide dispersion fabric dome HF on a shallow waveguide. The single 8in IC6-1082 and symmetrical dual 8in IC6-2082 are each available with two rotatable horn patterns paired with a low distortion, high output 1.7in diaphragm HF compression driver. New from DPA is the d:screet SC4098 podium microphone, which is aimed at addressing problems in the conference and AV install markets and features a directional supercardioid polar pattern. The miniature capsule is mounted on a delicate gooseneck and comes in several lengths for hanging, table or podium mounting or on floor stands. It comes with an XLR for a wired solution, but also as a MicroDot version that can be used in a wireless configuration by employing the company’s adapter range, which is already used for other miniature microphones. Also in the field of conference audio, Sennheiser is launching TeamConnect Wireless, a conferencing solution that allows users to connect their own smart device or computer wirelessly via Bluetooth, and also permits wired connections via USB or jack cable. It supports multiple simultaneous audio channels, allowing users to bring up to 24 additional callers into an ongoing conference by simply connecting another device. A Meyer Sound team of acousticians will demonstrate the capabilities of the company’s Constellation acoustic
system at this year’s show. Integrators and design consultants will have opportunities to demo the product every 30 minutes while asking questions of the manufacturer’s expert staff. The patented Libra acoustic image system will also feature at ISE. A passive acoustical solution for spaces that works together with Constellation to create ‘the ideal sonic environment’, Libra combines sound absorptive properties with works of art created or selected by California photographer Deborah O’Grady. Other Meyer Sound products at the event include the CAL column array loudspeaker and Leopard line array. Lawo will showcase the mc²36 all-in-one audio console and the 19in 1RU Compact Engine network-based processing and mixing engine. The mc²36 features Lawo-grade mic preamps, a DSP micro-core with internal 512 x 512 port audio matrix, and integrated I/O, which Lawo says make it suited to permanent installations with limited space. The Compact Engine is a 19in 1RU IPbased networked audio I/O, processing and mixing engine featuring power supply redundancy and expansion slots for addition of I/O cards. It offers both touchscreen control and control via classic physical faders from Lawo crystal mixing consoles. Live sound consoles will be the focus on the Avid stand with the Venue S6L and the compact Venue S3L-X being showcased in Hall 7. Avid is delivering hands-on demos of both systems, showcasing their integration with Pro Tools for streamlined recording and playback functionality. www.iseurope.org
February 2016
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INSTALL- DEDICATED AMPLIFIERS DESIGNED TO ALWAYS FIT IT
8-Channel High-Performance Amplifiers with Optional DSP and DanteTM
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SHOW NEWS: BVE
www.audiomediainternational.com
BLURRING BOUNDARIES
BVE is broadening its horizons this year with a new focus on the live and pro-AV sectors, making it perhaps the most diverse show to date.
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ondon’s ExCeL Centre will once again host the BVE show later this month, attracting more than 15,000 visitors from over 60 countries and featuring the usual plethora of manufacturers, distributors and resellers of proproduction and broadcast equipment. There is something that returning attendees may not immediately recognise, however. This year, BVE is expanding its scope through a partnership with London Entertainment Week, providing an opportunity for partners to present events for the entire creative sector from the tradeshow’s well-established platform. As a result, visitors can get their teeth into over 75 hours of seminar content, case studies, panel discussions and learning workshops from 150 expert speakers across the content creation industries, including production, postproduction, workflow and for the first time, AV and live entertainment. In addition, an 850sqm ‘Pro AV and live entertainment technology zone’ has been added to the show floor, providing space to cover all aspects of event production; kit for theatre and performing arts, concerts and touring, festivals, outdoor events, corporate events, conferences, houses of worship, educational establishments, leisure facilities and corporate installations. Daniel Sacchelli, event manager for BVE and London Entertainment Week 10
2016, said. “Our wider focus recognises the increasing convergence of the broadcast and AV sectors and I am thoroughly looking forward to the broad range of exhibitors, speakers and visitors we can expect both on the BVE show floor and during London Entertainment Week this year.” London Entertainment Week will start on Monday 22 February and carry through the week.
On the Showfloor HHB Communications will debut the compact Avid Pro Tools Dock, a EUCON control surface that works with iPad and Avid’s free iOS app, Pro Tools Control. At the show, HHB will pair the Dock with the 16-fader Pro Tools S3 control surface to demonstrate mixing workflows. Based on the Master Touch Module of the Pro Tools S6 control surface, Pro Tools Dock adds to the touchscreen capabilities of the iPad with a single fader, assignable knobs, switches, jog shuttle wheel, a full transport section, automation mode switches, programmable soft keys and more. Also on the HHB stand, NTP Technology will introduce major enhancements to its DAD AX32 ultrahigh-quality audio converter, router and monitor controller. At the show, NTP will demonstrate the AX32 on its own as well as how it integrates with the Avid S6 control surface to provide an ‘extremely flexible’ platform for audio post-
production. Two new I/O option cards are being added to the AX32: a dual MADI I/O module and an eight-line AES3 (AES/EBU) I/O module with optional sample rate conversion. The updated AX32 also has a 64-channel interface for Avid Pro Tools and can be optionally fitted with a Dante AoIP interface. Audio-Technica will be showing its BP40 large-diaphragm dynamic broadcast microphone. Featuring a large diaphragm with patented floating edge construction for optimal performance, along with a humbucking voice coil, multistage windscreen and other pro essentials, the all-metal BP40 promises to maintain a commanding vocal presence free from electromagnetic interference (EMI) and popping. The company will also show a new dual mount for its System 10 camera-mount wireless microphone system for the first time at the show. Calrec Audio will showcase V4.0, the latest software enhancement for the company’s Apollo and Artemis consoles. New features include send levels on faders that allow the user to change the path level indicators on the fader to aux send level, admin-level protection of bus widths that are stored in the show memory for quick and easy changes, and meter highlighting when a fader is touched. Then there is an integrated Waves SoundGrid solution for Calrec’s Hydra2 platform of consoles, which is unique among broadcast desks in that it
Information
What? BVE 2016 Where? ExCeL London When? 23-25 February uses a brand-new SoundGrid interface module on Calrec’s Hydra2 network, introducing fewer parts into the chain for lower latency and greater reliability. Pro-audio distributor Emerging will be showing enhanced features on the Trinnov Audio D-Mon digital integrated monitoring processor and room correction system along with two new products from PSI Audio – the A14 studio monitor and the Active Velocity Acoustic Absorber (AVAA). Also being shown on the Emerging stand are the new Pyramix 10 and Ovation 6 releases from Merging Technologies, which take full advantage of the company’s transition to 64-bit processing for all software programs, and now offer 3D panning for manipulating the audio to any number of speakers, in any position, in a room of any size. Finally, Riedel is set to display MicroN, an 80G media distribution network device for the MediorNet line of media transport and management solutions. MicroN features a complete array of audio, video, and data inputs and outputs, including two MADI optical digital audio ports. The firm will also have the Tango TNG-200 on show, which represents Riedel’s first network-based platform supporting the Ravenna/AES67 and AVB standards. www.bvexpo.com
February 2016
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BVE LONDON Stand B-07
01/02/2016 11:50:17
OPINION
www.audiomediainternational.com
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING ON?
Garry Taylor, audio director at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, explains why he believes the new Playstation 4 Mastering Suite is good news for both gamers and developers.
GARRY TAYLOR
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suppose some people might consider me an audiophile. I’m not naive enough to buy expensive blocks of wood to keep my speaker cables off the floor, but I do have the luxury of a decent 5.1 system at home, as well as a number of 7.1 studios at work where our sound and music teams create and mix soundtracks for some very successful video games. However, I’m not everyone, and I understand that not everyone listens to games in the same way that I do. The problem of not knowing what sort of system the consumer is listening to our content on has been a challenge for audio teams in the games industry for years. Sound designers and engineers at most big game studios these days have good facilities, but producers and other team members tend to listen in less than ideal environments on less than ideal speaker systems, just like most of our audience. Dynamic soundtracks sound great on a big system and may suit the title you’re working on, but a significant percentage of your audience will miss out if they’re listening to a dynamic mix on two tiny speakers on the back of a thin, flatpanel TV. How do we give people the ability to ship big dynamic mixes, as well as ensure people who may be listening on a small TV or tablet don’t miss anything? Last year, a small group of us at various divisions across Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) got together to try to solve this problem. The result is the PlayStation 4 Audio Mastering Suite 12
The objective We needed to give game audio developers the ability to modify dynamic range, equalisation, limiting and gain of their finished mix, and to hit SCE’s average loudness standard for PlayStation 4 of -24LKFS, easily. We also needed this functionality to be available to all game developers, regardless of whether they’re big triple A studios or small indie developers, and we needed the mastering suite to have no impact on the performance of the title. The Mastering Suite we’ve introduced to the PlayStation 4 consists of a four-band parametric equaliser, a three-band dynamics processor, a gain stage and a limiter, as well as loudness metering and spectral analysis. It runs independently of the game’s audio engine, meaning it works on all titles, and it runs on the system core of the CPU, separate from the cores running the game, meaning that it doesn’t affect the performance of the title. We also created a tool called Sulpha, part of the PlayStation 4 Software Development Kit (SDK) which, as well as giving developers audio system analysis tools, allows them to create presets for the Mastering Suite. It connects to the
game and allows engineers to adjust parameters in real time to suit different types of playback devices. This is all well and good, but it means nothing if the user cannot tell the PlayStation what type of system they’re listening to a specific game on, or if the player has to dig through lots of menus to find the audio settings, which, even then, they may not fully understand the ramifications of any choice they make. It boils down to a user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) issue.
Game changer A game called SOMA, a sci-fi horror title developed by Frictional Games, was the first game to be released on PS4 that utilised the Mastering Suite. It solved this problem in a simple and quite obvious way. The first time it’s run, it asks the player to adjust the gamma settings to suit the player’s screen, as many games do. It also asked the player on what type of system they were listening to the game, and gave options such as ‘home cinema’, ‘small TV’, ‘headphones’ etc. Presets for these options were then loaded by the Mastering Suite to suit the speaker system. The choice takes the player a couple of seconds and is not intrusive. A final audio mastering process
is something that most game audio teams have not had to deal with before and some developers may need educating as to the benefits it affords them. This also means there’s currently a lack of experienced audio mastering engineers working in the games industry. Our tool design means that it’s obvious to any audio engineer how it works, even if they’ve never been involved in the complexities of game audio development. So, now, a mastering engineer can take the game installed as a ‘package’ on a PS4 development kit and a laptop running Sulpha to any studio in the world and master the game to suit as many scenarios as they wish. As far as getting information about a particular player’s speaker system, all that’s left is for the developer to ask, like Frictional Games did, is “What are you listening on?” Garry Taylor is audio director at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and cofounder of Sony Worldwide Studios’ Audio Standards Working Group. He is speaking about ‘Audio Mastering for Interactive Entertainment’ at this year’s Game Developers’ Conference (GDC) in March. Twitter: @tetley_uk
February 2016
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OPINION
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BESPOKE BEATS AND THE RISE OF THE MUSICAL HACKER Audio engineer Dean McCarthy talks about his work with Music Tech Fest, which aims to encourage the inception, development and adoption of more creative production methods.
DEAN MCCARTHY
T
he music hacker landscape used to be underground, populated by shed-dwellers recycling and repurposing technology, often experimenting rather than looking to solve any particular problem. Today, there is a growing crowd of creators looking for more bespoke production methods; this market is starting to turn away from big brand tools to find their signature sound. For over a year, I have been involved with one of the forces behind this exploration: Music Tech Fest. Led by founder Michela Magas and director Andrew Dubber, the organisation prides itself on being “the festival of music ideas” – a playground where musical creativity and technological innovation take centre stage. During the event, the main stage hosts dozens of examples of new technology, home-brew experiments, performance collaborations and startup businesses. The event has seen the weird and the wonderful – from musical Tesla coils, brainwave synthesisers and giant inflatable MIDI cubes to performances by beatbox world champion Reeps One and electronic music legend Graham Massey (808 State). One of the key events is the 24-hour hack camp. Led by hacker and musician Adam John Williams, the focus is on music14
Graham Massey (808 State) performing at MTFCentral in Ljubljana, Slovenia related ‘hacks’, especially those with a slant on performance and interactions with tangible objects. It encourages collaborations between those with the code and those with the chords, allowing artists to work with tech enthusiasts. The environment provides the freedom to consider what interactions are possible and where these new ideas and inventions can be positively disruptive to both industry and music creation. Through experimentation without a strict objective, these events often lead to unexpected and unintended outcomes.
Carving a niche Examples of these experiments and bespoke instruments are increasingly finding their way onto the main stage, with a growing demand for artists to include interesting performance elements. Projects like Imogen Heap and her Mi.Mu gloves, Beardyman’s Beardytron 5000 and Tim Exile’s Flow Machine all allow live interaction, keeping audience members fascinated by not just the sounds but also the way they are being produced. These events contribute to a growing scene complemented by the emergence of more local hackspaces and a progressive startup culture pushing innovation and disruption. There is an increased emphasis on diversity and outreach, especially towards women and
Picture: Filip Koludrovic
young people. For example, Music Tech Fest Paris hosted a Girls Hack run by a ‘women in tech’ hacker group, intended to give new female hackers a chance to hone their skills. At Music Tech Fest events in London, Ljubljana and Umeå, groups of 8-12-year-olds were given their first experiences of both code and hardware construction. The next Music Tech Fest will be returning to Berlin and setting up in the amazing Funkhaus venue from 27 -29 May. The Funkhaus was East Germany’s premier recording and broadcast facility and has recently come under new ownership with an aim to restore it to its former glory. The venue is part of Berlin’s plan to become the music tech capital of the world, and will be a spectacular festival venue.
graphical programming environment that allows you to make a range of different music patches including controllers, synthesisers, visualisers and pretty much anything else you’re used to seeing in your DAW.
Ways to get into music hacking
Find a jam session Don’t just keep your projects to yourself. The community is often filled with musicians who get together to play music and put their creations to good use. Keep an eye on the hackspaces, community boards and places like meetup.com.
Find a ‘hackspace’ The hack community is growing fast and there are hackspaces springing up across the world. Some are open to all kinds of hacks and some are more focused on music, such as the Music Hackspace in London. UK folks should check out the UK Hackspace Foundation for more information. Make a Pure Data patch Pure Data is a free, community-driven
Build your own synthesiser Synthesisers are as cool as ever, so more companies have been releasing fun units to get you started with DIY building. Some are simpler pre-made boards you click together, like the Korg/littleBits – Synth Kit and the Patchblocks Programmable Mini Synths system. If you’d rather go from scratch, try some of the tutorials on www.instructables.com or look at the awesome kits over at groovesizer.com and what’s being discussed on the Arduino community boards.
Dean McCarthy is an audio engineer and degree programme leader in audio production and music business at the SAE Institute in Oxford.
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FEATURE: LOUDNESS
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////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Loudness monitoring and control is becoming established in television but there are still challenges in radio and cinema. Kevin Hilton rounds up the latest developments and opinions.
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ost people are deeply protective of their respective areas and tend not to see any crossover or similarity between them. Sometimes this is true but there can be more parallels than people care to acknowledge. Loudness is a case in point, as attention shifts from television on to radio and cinema. Perceived variations in volume between different types of material is not a new issue in TV. It was recognised in the earliest days of the medium and has taxed the minds of engineers ever since. Radio has long had its own troubles with music of both wide and narrow dynamics against loud or softly spoken presenters, compounded by heavy compression on transmission. But today’s media 16
landscape of TV and radio channels sharing both the same platforms and some of the same material means it is not confined to one area. “Media today is not produced to be used only in radio or TV,” comments Michael Kahsnitz, head of product management at RTW. “It’s transmitted through very different channels, including broadband radio, broadband TV, data reduced TV, internet, for mobile platforms and more. So it seems to make a lot of sense to produce on the ‘general purpose’ layer around -23 LUFS [Loudness units relative to Full Scale; -23 is the average target set by the EBU R128 standard]. This allows compatibility for all platforms.” Despite this commonality there are still enough specifics for TV, radio and
cinema that need to be considered individually, with work progressing in all three.
Television There has been some form of loudness control available to broadcasters for at least 30 years. The 1990s saw more awareness of the problem but standardisation and widespread implementation of loudness monitoring, metering and control did not come in until the 2000s. The ITU issued its BS 1770 in 2006, with the lead followed by regional and national bodies, including the EBU PLOUD group with R128 in 2010 and the ATSC in the US, whose A/85 is backed by law in the form of the 2010 CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness
Mitigation) Act, which became fully enforceable in 2012. All three have been updated or revised recently to accommodate particular areas of production. A supplement to R128 was released at the end of 2014 to cover short-form material, including commercials and promos. The original guideline was +3 LU (loudness units) but Florian Camerer, ORF sound engineer and chair of PLOUD, explained at the time that this was found to be “too restrictive”, so it was opened up to +5 LU. The publication of R128 S1 and changes in production priorities has brought about revisions to three of the standard’s four supporting Technical Documents. TD 3341 Loudness Metering: EBU Mode now includes an expanded range of test signals, including for True
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RTW’s Continuous Loudness Control plug-in allows loudness correction to a definable target with or without changing the original Loudness Range
//////////////////////////// Peak; 3342: Loudness Range (LRA) features a tighter means of calculating LRA to bring more consistency over different meters; while 3343: Guidelines for Production has been substantially rewritten to reflect practical experience of using R128 and includes a new Reference Listening Level. Tech Doc 3344: Guidelines for Distribution and Reproduction is set for an update in the foreseeable future. Camerer comments that the consistency of loudness control is “generally very good” but that each broadcaster has the responsibility to keep “a weary eye on the situation and not let it get sloppy”. He adds that loudness levelling is becoming more the norm and almost taken for granted, as was peak levelling because it was something that just happened. “There are still countries, and of course areas like radio, where it is not as developed
but things will get there eventually,” Camerer says. Among the manufacturers involved with EBU PLOUD and its deliberations is TC Electronic. Esben Skovenborg, the company’s principal research engineer, says it has been working in the Metering Subgroup to produce revised versions of documents pertaining to Loudness Metering and LRA. “Rather than introducing any new measures, the update tightens the spec and test requirements for both true peak and loudness measurements,” he explains. “Thereby equipment from different manufacturers will behave more similarly. It is still up to the individual manufacturer, however, to make sure its products are compliant.” Peter Pörs, chief executive of Jünger Audio, says TV is “in a good position”, with a lot of people paying attention to the issue. “On the other hand it doesn’t improve everything immediately,” he says. “Before this material could suffer from peak control limiting. Now it can be affected by loudness controlled audio. And there are still a number of situations that can’t be managed by -23 or -24 [the target set by A/85].” Tim Carroll, president of Linear Acoustic, comments that not only is TV loudness now more consistent but the audio has greater dynamic range. “The trick is going to be making sure it does not become uncomfortably dynamic, or else it could backfire and result in random processing,” he says. “On the subject of short-term material and momentary loudness, Carroll comments that most meters accommodated this already and hopes that now it is documented producers will manage dynamic range, which he calls “the evil cousin of loudness”, manually and creatively. While the general consensus is to do the majority of loudness measurement and normalisation on meters in the dubbing or on-air studio, file-based software programs are also used widely as part of the QC (quality control) process through the production chain to transmission. While the aim is to automate loudness checking further down the line, manual intervention will not disappear completely overnight. The Digital Production Partnership (DPP), the organisation that sets programme delivery specifications in
FEATURE: LOUDNESS Peter Pörs, Junger Audio
the UK, published Technical Standards for delivery of HD Commercials, Sponsorship material, Promos and Presentation Events during January. This incorporates the R128 guidelines for short-term material and introduces an Exceptions Process for content that is “intentionally quiet”. Something approaching silence is occasionally used by advertising agencies and producers for creative purposes; the potential problem in an automated environment is that it would be normalised to -23, thereby ruining the effect. Under DPP recommendations the agencies and producers will have to fill in three metadata fields to highlight that the material is intentionally quiet. It is then marked as ex-R128, or out of spec, and the system manually compensated to accommodate it. MC Patel, chief executive of Emotion Systems, which produces the eFF (Emotion File Finish) software program, feels there is still a need for clarity on this issue: “In the file-based world we haven’t defined how to find out which material is intentionally quiet. It could go through post and be taken to -23. We’re keen to open a dialogue about how to resolve these issues because it is something that needs special treatment.”
A lot has happened with TV loudness in a relatively short time but it is clear there is still some way to go, both in fully implementing the standards and getting them to work in all broadcast applications.
Radio While the audio-only medium is not completely unaware of the implications of loudness and its various standards, it is still in the early stages of coming to terms with it all. The first country to embrace R128 for radio was Norway. In February 2012 the three DAB digital radio operators, public broadcaster NRK and commercial counterparts P4 group and SBS agreed to monitor and report their own and each other’s output for loudness compliance. Because those involved concluded that radio content is very different from that of TV they set an average target of -15 LUFS instead of -23. Camerer commented at the time that he hoped the Norwegian radio broadcasters would settle on -23 when the country switched off its FM transmitters and moved fully to DAB+ in 2017. While Swedish broadcasters have carried out loudness tests for radio Germany is now moving the issue on. February 2016
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FEATURE: LOUDNESS Tim Carroll, Linear Acoustic
The LM6n LoudnessRadar from TC Electronic Camerer gives the example of Bavarian Radio (BR), which switched all its stations to loudness control in production during 2015. “Everything is produced to -23 LUFS before being aired,” he says. “To keep their current levels in FM, they boost the signal by 5dB at Master Control. But the -23 production paradigm makes interchange with TV really easy, an asset gaining importance in this tri-media world. We’ll see how fast the example of BR spreads around Europe.” Compressors and other signal processors have been used routinely on the output of radio stations for many years, most commonly to make a channel stand out when listeners tuned across the FM or AM dial. Camerer comments that processing can “kind of level things out” but that some broadcasters have run tests that show normalising archive material allows the processor to be backed off and so less aggressive. “It achieves a better sound while not losing perceived loudness,” he explains. “This is promising news also for pop/rock stations. For cultural channels with more dynamics the situation is similar to TV, meaning the benefits are high.” Pörs points out that radio services over DAB/DAB+, satellite and streaming can all 18
have different loudness values. “There is an ongoing discussion over which loudness is suitable for streaming,” he says. “There is also the situation of DAB and DAB+ not fully covering areas, so there has to be simulcasting with FM. This means DAB gets the same processing as FM. But when analogue is switched off we will have almost transparent audio over DAB.” Carroll picks up on this, saying “a common meter is the name of the game”. He explains: “From there, everything else becomes easier and will definitely result in better sounding audio. The processors will work less hard. It is worth noting that certain radio processors, such as the Omnia Audio 7 and 9 have had ITU meters in them for several years and that metering can be viewed remotely by operators.” While radio is starting to come to terms with loudness an equally venerable medium that has had its own battles with high volumes is coming under closer scrutiny.
Cinema Back in the 1990s and into the 2000s there were concerns about the high playback levels of films. That situation appears to have changed but the wide
dynamic range used by re-recording mixers in big dubbing theatres still poses a problem in achieving reasonable levels that satisfy all cinemagoers and the artistic aspirations of filmmakers. Skovenborg observes sadly that cinema has invented its own version of the loudness war: “As feature films are mixed louder, the projectionist will turn the playback level down. This reduces the available dynamic range, so an even louder mix – and more compression – is applied to the next film and so on. Several working groups are currently studying how the tools, developed in connection with the ITU and EBU loudness recommendations, can be employed to solve the issue in cinema.” Camerer confirms that there is “quite some activity in SMPTE and the AES” to agree suitable guidelines for cinema loudness. Under the auspices of the latter organisation he is working with Eelco Grimm, a member of the Sound for Digital Cinema and Television technical committee and co-owner of Grimm Audio, on a metric for cinema loudness, based on ITU 1770. “The issue is that most cinemas in Europe actually turn the level down because audience complaints are frequent. That fuels the loudness
war in the cinema, pushing levels up and squeezing dynamics down. The situation is not as severe in the US but in Europe it is quite dramatic. If you mix dynamically with a low level of dialogue, you risk being too low in the cinema.” Kahsnitz is more optimistic about the state of cinema loudness, saying the sector was “ahead of TV and radio” in terms of audio because of standards such as TASA and SAWA for the production of film commercials. “Today’s loudness standards will improve the given situation ever more,” he says. “So it should be a goal to have these standards applied to all cinema film and additional material [commercials and trailers].” As cinemas move towards even more loudspeakers with Dolby Atmos and Auro 11.1, the ITU has updated its original standard again as BS 1770-4 to include immersive sound systems. And with continuing evolution in cinema, radio and TV, dealing with loudness is clearly not going to be a fixed discipline either. www.emotion-systems.com www.jungeraudio.com www.rtw.com www.tcelectronic.com www.telosalliance.com/linear
February 2016
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LIVE PROFILE
Picture: Sarah Ainslie
TURNING HEADS
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Adam Savage speaks to sound designer Gareth Fry about his use of binaural technology to create an intimate stage show of the kind even hardened theatregoers will never have experienced before.
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ow often do you hear of a stage production featuring more sound operators than actors? When we heard this was the case with The Encounter, theatre company Complicite’s latest project, which arrives at The Barbican in London this month, let’s just say our interest was piqued somewhat. And when we further discovered that it involved awardwinning sound designer Gareth Fry, plus the clever use of binaural sound both recorded on location and improvised live, the opportunity to find out more seemed too good to miss. Directed/written by and starring Simon McBurney – also known for major parts in recent films such as 20
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and The Theory of Everything – The Encounter is a show like no other. You won’t find any fancy backdrops, dazzling visual effects or large ensemble casts here – McBurney performs solo for the duration – but there are reasons for this, the main one being that the focus is almost entirely on what the audience is hearing instead of seeing. The story is based on a book called Amazon Beaming, which McBurney took possession of 20 years ago, and spent the last 15 trying to figure out how to tell it in an innovative way. It’s centred around a real-life account of an American photographer who went deep into the Amazon to capture some shots of an indigenous tribe, but loses his way
back to base camp and is left with no choice but to assimilate with the locals until he can find a way out. So how do you bring this to the stage and make it truly captivating? According to Fry, it was always McBurney’s intention to do something completely unexpected: “The company [Complicite] has always been quite cutting edge with its use of technology to tell stories,” he explains. “We looked at conventional ways of doing it but everything felt wrong; you can’t have a painted backdrop of some trees. I think there is an expectation that theatre shows will use technology in more sophisticated ways, not for the sake of it but to find new and interesting ways to tell the story.”
And the result is certainly unconventional. The only ‘prop’ you see is a binaural head, which McBurney cleverly uses to communicate intimately with the audience member, who dons headphones throughout. So a whisper into the right ear of the head would be received by the listener as though the head on stage was theirs. The actor also plays around with several voices – his own, that of the photographer in the story and various others – that require the use of five microphones that are pitched differently to suit each personality.
Going Old School Binaural is not a new thing, of course, but what is new is this way of applying
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LIVE PROFILE it. And even though there are many more up-to-date ways of immersing the audience in sound, Fry is glad they went with this method. “It’s a way of replicating the human hearing system, so if you were to record something binaurally and listen to it back over headphones it’s exactly like you being there and it’s better than any other technology, including surround sound, at recording a space,” he says. “It’s a great technology for telling stories and taking you to unusual places like the Amazon rainforest and it places you, as the audience, on stage with the performer. It creates this wonderful sense of intimacy.” It’s also the first time that Fry has properly utilised binaural sound for a theatre show, and although there have been others that have experimented with it in this field, he isn’t aware of anyone going about it quite in this way. “There’s another theatre director called David Rosenberg who’s been doing it for a few shows over the past ten years or so and he’s explored the use of recorded binaural sound a lot,” he notes. “We’ve got a mix of recorded and live binaural sound and I think the live part is quite unusual – I’ve not heard of anyone who’s done that before.”
Location, location, location To achieve the difficult task of making the audience feel like they’re being taken on an Amazon adventure with so little to guide them visually, it was crucial that the somewhat chaotic rainforest soundscape be brought to life as accurately as possible for this production. And what better way to do that than to travel to the place itself? “We were in the Amazon rainforest for a week, meeting the tribe who lived out there and hearing their stories,” Fry recalls. “They took us on little expeditions out in the rainforest to record different things and get the sounds of the forest at various times of day. “If you want to create a sense of the Amazon rainforest it’s very difficult if you haven’t actually been there to know what you’re trying to get a sense of – the heat, claustrophobia, mosquitoes, things like that.” But even visiting the location you’re trying to recreate doesn’t guarantee you’ll be coming back with all of the 22
sounds you went out there for, which is why it was necessary for Fry and his team to make some additional trips to a couple of slightly less exotic spots. “I went to the London Hospital and School of Tropical Medicine, where they have some mosquito colonies there of different breeds. There’s a section of the show where he’s swarmed by mosquitoes and that’s a very difficult thing to get on location and a different thing to isolate the mosquitoes as the rainforest is a very noisy place,” he says. “So I went there, got a tent full of mosquitoes, put our binaural head inside it and let them buzz around. “One of the challenges of binaural sound is it’s very difficult to layer normal sound effects on top of it; you can really hear when something is recorded binaurally and normal sound effects layered over the top sound quite flat. There aren’t that many binaurallyrecorded sound effects so a lot of the sounds we had to go and get from scratch. We also got 30-40 extras to go to Epping Forest and had people running around and getting footsteps there.”
Picture: Gianmarco Bresadola
Gareth’s Gear As for the choice of equipment, there are Sennheiser G3 Series wireless systems, Countryman headset mics, the all-important Neumann KU100 binaural microphone, a range of Macs running QLab and Ableton Live for the playback and looping, two Yamaha QL1 mixing desks – one for each operator – a Yamaha DME24 processor and last but not least Sennheiser HP 02-100 headphones for the audience. “We’ve custom designed this headphone infrastructure because everybody’s wearing wired headphones and it’s quite a big thing to install the cabling infrastructure for 600 pairs of headphones, so that involved quite a lot of work to make a system that can do weekly touring and still [allow us to] install several kilometres of cable each week underneath auditorium seating that was never designed for this,” Fry explained.
Meet the Team Earlier we mentioned the unusually large sound crew, but who are they, and as this clearly isn’t a normal arrangement, what are their responsibilities?
“There’s myself, our operators Helen Skiera and Ella Wahlstrom and my associate Pete Malkin, who’s been doing a lot of the design work with me and creating a lot of the material that we play,” Fry reports. “Typically on a theatre show you have one sound operator and they run the sound for the show – mixing the mics, the music, the sound effects and all that sort of stuff – but this one is so complex that we’ve had to expand that to two people and part of that is also because we’re not working from the existing script.” And that brings us onto another interesting element of The Encounter – no two shows are ever the same. “We’ve written everything from scratch and so the script is an evolving thing and we keep honing it with every performance, trying to make it better and try out different aspects of the story – make some things bigger, some things smaller – and so the show is never the same show twice. “Helen and Ella have to improvise with Simon quite a lot – sometimes it’s prearranged and he’ll say ‘I’m going to try this differently tonight’ or he’ll just
do it on the night. So we’ve spent quite a lot of time making everything quite fluid so that we can change the order of things quite rapidly,” Fry explains. “With a typical theatre show you’d try and program everything as much as possible so that it can happen repeatedly, but we’ve had to make it more like the sound operators are musicians and they’re having to jam along with Simon.” Having fulfilled sound design duties for such a wide variety of acclaimed stage productions not just in London but in the United States, Germany, Ireland and even South Korea (Let The Right One In at Seoul Arts Centre), where he had just returned from when our interview took place, Fry is about as experienced as they come, but he also knows there will always be more exciting challenges out there for him, and The Encounter was undoubtedly one of those. “This is a dream-come-true project because it’s so reliant on the sound to be part of how we tell the story and demanding on a technical and artistic level,” Fry concludes. “So it’s been a joy to work on.”
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STUDIO PROFILE
MIDWEST MAGIC
Bill Schulenburg has amassed a wide array of kit during his time in the business
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// A small, albeit armed-to-the-teeth recording studio in St. Louis, Missouri celebrates its 30th birthday this year, and its owner has quite a story to tell, as Colby Ramsey found out.
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hen you’ve been in and around the recording business for over 50 years and witnessed a vast evolution of the industry’s products and best practices, it undoubtedly becomes a way of life. For Bill Schulenburg, this has certainly been the case and as such, the 30th anniversary of his company and studio, Production Consultants, did not go unnoticed by the self-proclaimed audiophile. Schulenburg has been very much involved in the audio scene since the days of Technisonic – the huge media production powerhouse based in the Midwest during the pre-digital era – learning the craft simply by watching and talking to the veterans of the industry. Schulenburg went on to work at Technisonic for many years during the 1970s, and at the height of his career would read voiceovers in the morning,then record jingles in the afternoon and rock’n’roll and disco at night. After getting ‘burnt out’ on music and subsequently bagging an Emmy Award for video tape editing in the early ‘80s, he made the decision to go freelance using a plethora of equipment 24
he had in his home at the time. It wasn’t until the late ‘80s, however, that Schulenburg began building the hidden treasure of a studio that exists in his home in St. Louis, Missouri today. “There’s not many people left to talk to in St. Louis about recording in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” he humourously begins. He set aside a space with 10ft ceilings on the lower level to accommodate a booth and control room, which at the time was “just a load of junk on a table”. Radio commercials and local training films have been some of Schulenburg’s most common work since then, voiced and recorded by himself right there in the comfort of his home. “The room is very quiet and I paid attention to ventilation and acoustic isolation etc. It’s a true studio facility that I have here in my home,” he says.
Fair Play It was after Schulenburg invested in a Fairlight Prodigy system that his work really started to gain momentum however. He explains: “That’s pretty much when my room here turned into a real first-class professional production facility. “I was essentially just a freelancer
for hire; I had developed what I hoped was a good reputation and cultivated a lot of friends in the industry. I called my company Production Consultants because I still wanted to be available to work with people that I liked who were actual producers – I didn’t want to position myself as a studio competitor.” Schulenburg’s investment in the Fairlight attracted him a job from his colleagues in Hollywood, World Wide Wadio, with whom he experienced much success in the ‘90s and 2000s, producing hundreds of radio commercials as the syndication voice for 20th Television’s King of the Hill. Schulenburg’s long-term love for the business is equalled by his love for the equipment, his biggest passion being the Fairlight, which he upgraded in 2010 to a Xynergi system. “It works in a way that really appeals to me as a long-time sound guy, and has really justified my faith in it over the years,” he explains. “It feels like sound equipment rather than a computer even though it has all the power of such. It’s just fantastic for sweetening video projects and I have several clients who use me for that.” For his main monitoring system, Genelec 1029s, 1032s and an 8020 Espresso system equipped with 7050B
sub provide surround. An API channel strip, one of his newest purchases, makes up for the lack of preamps on the Fairlight, and built-in EQ and compression means that he does not rely on plug-ins. With regards to microphones, Schulenburg has accumulated the kind of collection that serves his needs. A Neumann U87, an EV RE35 and Shure SM57 along with a Sennheiser MD421 and 416 shotgun make up just a fraction of Schulenburg’s assemblage of mics. Yet despite all this, he holds a special place in his heart for tape recording. “Here in my control room I have an Ampex 440C and a Revox A700 along with a pair of Dolby 361s with SR cards. It really means something to me that I can access my tapes from the ‘60s and ‘70s – you need to preserve your life’s work even if you don’t make money on it,” he notes. “Restoring tapes is definitely a labour of love.”
Keeping Busy These days, aside from his more recent voiceover projects and radio campaigns for a number of CBS sitcoms, Schulenburg teaches Audio Aesthetics at Webster University, and also sits on the Midwest regional board of the Screen Actors Guild and is chairman of the St. Louis section of the AES. “The jobs now tend to be more last minute,” he explains. “I love listening to the old stuff, I love preserving it and I love inspiring students with it.” For an industry veteran with such a well-armed studio, maintaining a competitive edge has not necessarily always been paramount for Schulenburg, and he admits that right now it is just about staying satisfied in his audio life. “As an owner of the business I don’t have to conform to anyone else’s ideas of success,” he concludes. “To this day, I’ve never really had a plan – you never know what the clients are going to bring you – yet I could never just retire, it would be very difficult for me to hand this great space over to someone else. “The company isn’t structured so that someone can take over – it’s pretty much just me until I decide to stop.” www.productionconsultants.com
February 2016
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Award-winning sound from small-format loudspeakers.
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TECHNOLOGY: HOW TO
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LINE ARRAY FOR THE MIX ENGINEER
The Warehouse Sound’s Simon Meadows offers his advice on setting up and getting the best out of a flown loudspeaker system.
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or a lot of us who are not system techs or system engineers, who don’t build and optimise line arrays every day, they can be difficult to fully understand – so many speakers in one place; what angles should they be set at; how should they be equalised; where should they be pointing, etc. Line array systems should really be thought of in a different way. Most people perceive a line array as lots of speakers all hanging together because that is what they see. But really a line array is more like one big speaker made up of multiple elements and should be treated as such. It’s a bit like Lego. You use Lego bricks to build something like a truck and then you play with the truck. The bricks are no more than the building blocks of the truck, they can’t be used individually in any way like a truck until they are built into the correct shape of a truck. In the same way line array elements (the individual speaker boxes that make up a line array) don’t really work well as speakers in their own right; they only
become useful when they are put into a line array and built correctly. With that in mind the approach to setting up and using a line array should really be in two distinct steps. Firstly we need a system engineer to design and build the line arrays to suit the venue in which they are being used, and to best amplify the content required. The content for a performance is equally as important as the venue when designing a large line array system. For example, in a venue that seats 10,000 people there will be an obvious starting point for where to put the line arrays, but we would need a completely different system to amplify the speech intelligibility of the Dalai Lama talking than we would need to provide the extreme sub bass of The Prodigy. Once the line arrays are optimised to provide the best coverage of the audience area for the required content, we need to stop controlling the individual line array elements and use the line arrays as if they were very large point source speakers to achieve the desired result for the performance.
There needs to be a distinct separation between setting up the line arrays and using them. Once the line array setup is complete, small changes to individual line array elements have the potential to ruin the system as a whole. For example, saying ‘we could do with a bit more HF at the back’ then adding a bit of EQ to tweak the high frequencies on the top two elements of the line array (you know we’ve all done it). Without proper calculation, that change in frequency response could drastically affect the rest of the line array and result in a worse sound somewhere else in the venue. A system engineer should design the system for the venue and plan appropriately. They will do an accurate room measurement then calculate the best placement of the line arrays to cover the audience area most effectively. This is when discussion on the content of the performance is required; information on what needs to be achieved by the system should be decided so that the system engineer can adjust their design to provide the required result. Then they will build and rig the system to the agreed design. Once the line array system is rigged they need time to correctly tune the arrays according to their calculations.
To the point Once the engineer has finished their setup we can start to use the line arrays as if they were point sources – mixing and equalising across the system as a whole and treating it as if it were just a set of speakers on stands, resulting in a more consistent sound and better listening experience for the audience as a whole. While the sound checks and the performance are in process, the system engineer should continue to monitor the line arrays to provide us with feedback on how it is performing. 26
Simon Meadows The job the system engineer does in trying to achieve the most even coverage of an audience is a very skilled one. A good system engineer will have a wealth of experience and the calculation tools to do the job well. Many system engineers will also have had training from various speaker system manufacturers in exactly how to properly set up their line array systems. We need to understand that we are all trying to achieve the best result and allow them time to give us the best system setup they can. On smaller performances, sometimes we have to be the mix engineer and the system engineer. The process should still stay the same. First, set up the line arrays and optimise them. Then start to use them as a system. Don’t try to make changes to the line array elements once the sound checks have started. If we can try not to be intimidated by the complexities of how a line array should be set up, and just treat them as bigger versions of normal point source speakers we can usually end up with a better sounding system. And, more importantly, by not worrying about changing and tweaking the line array elements we can have an easier and more relaxed time mixing the performance. Simon Meadows is technical manager for The Warehouse Sound, Scotland’s largest pro-audio company, offering solutions for national broadcasters, touring firms, theatres and more.
February 2016
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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT LOUDSPEAKER TECHNOLOGY
BOXING CLEVER
As competition remains intense within the sound market and as production companies become more and more demanding, loudspeaker manufacturers are increasingly expected to provide a renewed focus not just on the quality of the products, but on the extended features, customer service and support that come part and parcel.
A
s a new year begins we asked a number of manufacturers if they’d noticed any recent shifts in the market for loudspeaker products and what they thought the key priorities and focuses would be for 2016. At Meyer Sound, director of product management Luke Jenks envisages many of the driving forces in play last year to carry over into 2016: “Manufacturers will seek to maximise the performance available for every pound you have to fly in the air or pack in a truck. So we do expect to see more power from lighter boxes,” he explains. Digital and networking
advances are also expected to continue apace while “a greater focus on software developments will make the use of these technologies easier and more intuitive for the end user”. The team at Pioneer Pro Audio agrees that the software side of the audio industry will continue to evolve. “I would imagine that products are going to be catered around the DSP functionality that is available, and get more compact,” says the manufacturer’s professional audio specialist David Ferreira. Over at Tannoy the focus for 2016 is expected to be on intelligibility in installed systems, and therefore greater demand
Funktion-One Evolution Series Since the Evolution Series was launched, Funktion-One has reported huge demand from around the world. The range boasts two dispersion options – the Evo 6E with 50° and the Evo 7E (pictured) with 40° horizontal dispersion. Both products are fully horn-loaded with 15in mid-bass, 10in FunktionOne signature midrange and a 1.4in compression driver solely for high frequencies above 4kHz. The range boasts skeletal options, as well as grouped configurations such as two-wide and three-wide. The applications they have been specified for are wide-ranging, covering live, touring, nightclubs, theatres and sports stadiums. Then there are the festivals and events: Burning Man, Notting Hill Carnival, Space Ibiza Opening and Closing Fiestas, The Hydra, Secret Garden Party and Boom Festival have all been successful outings for the Evolution Series.
for high-quality loudspeakers that have consistent coverage through their frequency response is predicted. Audiologic also believes that demand for better quality loudspeakers is growing. “Although the technology used to make loudspeaker drivers has not changed greatly, the digital methods of controlling them have, meaning we can achieve greater music performance and enhanced speech intelligibility,” says MD Simon Stoll. Point source is an area to watch according to Funktion-One founder Tony Andrews: “There seems to be quite a lot of people coming back to point source. There are a number of new point source
Meyer Sound IntelligentDC Technology
Audio Feed’s Will Wright, speaking after supplying a number of stages at Secret Garden Party, comments: “This was our first outing for the Evo 6Es and I was particularly excited about hearing some live vocals through those new 10in Axheads. I was not disappointed. Frequency response was spot on, but the real excitement came from the overall energy that the system seemed to deliver. The transients in the mid-range were constructing one of the most stable stereo images I have ever heard in a live situation.”
products out there – particularly in smaller loudspeakers.” For L-Acoustics the onus is on products that are easier to use, faster to rig or install, lighter in weight, have increased bandwidth, and are more economical to run. “It’s this constant demand for better, faster, easier that drives our R&D,” notes Stéphane Ecalle, L-Acoustics’ director of marketing. Overall, there appears to be a lot going on in this area of the industry, with so many innovative tools at the fingertips of loudspeaker manufacturers and distributors. Here we put some of the current kit under the spotlight…
Luke Jenks, director of product management for Meyer Sound, says that IntelligentDC technology offers no-compromise audio performance in situations where installation time and costs are a significant factor. “This can be any scenario where running AC power to all loudspeaker locations presents difficulties, such as in older buildings as well as for temporary installations in museums or theatrical surround and delay systems. Each loudspeaker can be addressed with its own input signal,” comments Jenks.
Meyer Sound installation loudspeakers with IntelligentDC technology are the only selfpowered loudspeakers available with remote DC powering. Twelve loudspeakers are available with this proprietary technology: two subs and 10 fullrange loudspeakers. Systems with IntelligentDC retain the advantages of self-powering by eliminating long loudspeaker cables and enable bi-amplification with active crossovers in twoway loudspeakers. Internal amplifier modules are powered via a remote, rack-mount power supply and distribution unit, meaning installation can be achieved using a single five-conducter cable with no need for conduit in nearly all code jurisdictions. The result is faster installation at costs comparable to conventional distributed systems. IntelligentDC systems have proven successful as the primary system for small music venues, expositions and theatrical shows, and the technology is also a key component of Meyer Sound’s cinema systems and Constellation acoustic system. www.meyersound. com
www.funktion-one.com
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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
www.audiomediainternational.com
LOUDSPEAKER TECHNOLOGY
L-Acoustics “The beauty of ARCS II and ARCS WiFo is what-you-see-iswhat-you-get,” notes Stéphane Ecalle, L-Acoustics’ director of marketing. “The directivity of the boxes perfectly matches the box shape so it’s basically point and shoot. “We are fortunate to have a very optimised product line-up with one line of speakers to address short-, medium- and long-throw applications. Our sales are spread out over each of these segments, reflecting our ability to address the needs of the end-users.”
ARCS II The ARCS II constant curvature line source is optimised for medium-throw applications. With K1-grade drivers in a two-way active enclosure, ARCS II delivers high SPL, native low-frequency performance and constant tonal balance over distance. ARCS II permits ease of use, with its constant curvature design particularly recommended for indoor L/C/R applications, medium-sized outdoor festivals or as a fill complement to large K systems. In the enclosure coupling plane, the ‘razor-sharp’ SPL off-axis rejection is used to avoid reflecting surfaces. In the perpendicular plane, the smooth SPL roll off and asymmetric directivity of ARCS II can be used to maximise stereo imaging and adjust accordingly to the audience geometry. ARCS Wide and Focus (WiFo) brings the sonic qualities of L-Acoustics Wavefront Sculpture Technology line sources into a compact, constant curvature enclosure, optimal for medium-throw applications. ARCS WiFo is the workhorse of sound providers, going from single enclosure fill all the way up to 360° in-the-round coverage. ARCS WiFo combines high SPL, native low frequency performance and constant tonal balance over distance. www.l-acoustics.com
Electro-Voice EKX Series The EKX series is the newest member of the Electro-Voice portable loudspeaker family, combining ‘legendary’ sound quality and reliability with the latest technology – all in a “The loudspeaker’s lightweight, compact package suitable for a wide QuickSmartDSP digital signal range of sound reinforcement scenarios, processing control allows userincluding musicians, DJs and live/club/installed friendly single-knob control and sound applications. application presets for easy The EKX series, positioned above the ZLX and set-up. As a result, users can ELX series and below the ETX series, features fit the sound solution to their eight models (four powered and four passive), respective needs in no time,” including 12in and 15in two-way models and 15in states Markus Schmittinger, and 18in subwoofers. product marketing managerMarkus Schmittinger, product marketing portable speakers at Bosch manager-portable speakers at Bosch Communication Systems. Communication Systems, says that EV-exclusive features ensure the EKX provides best-in-class performance and versatility, including EV-engineered speaker and amplifier components for superior sound quality and reliability as well as on-board signal processing with user-friendly single-knob control and application presets for easy set-up.
Tannoy QFlex
“Many steerable columns are primarily voiced for speech applications, but Qflex works equally well for intelligible speech reproduction as well as pleasant and accurate musical reproduction. Also, by steering and shaping a single beam, rather than multiple beams, QFlex provides seamless coverage throughout a venue without noticeable changes of response from one area of seating to another,” says Ivan Schwartz, Western sales manager – install for TC Group Americas.
The Tannoy QFlex is a range of digitally steerable, multichannel array speaker systems for the professional install market. It is designed for applications with difficult acoustics such as houses of worship, transportation hubs and shopping malls. QFlex can be used as a standalone self-powered column array device for both speech and limited BGM applications in smaller spaces, where high intelligibility and minimal visual impact are concerns. Tannoy says the QFlex is ‘quite revolutionary’ in that it is able to steer the beam away from surfaces that cause reflections to frequencies beyond 12kHz, making it the first digitally steerable array to maintain music quality over the desired area of coverage, all in a ‘very architecturally pleasing package’. New features introduced on QFlex deliver more resolute safety and monitoring facilities, making it fully compliant in any life safety or mass notification environment. In addition QFlex has been weatherised for outdoor or harsh environments without compromising on the product’s sleek aesthetic. www.tannoypro.com
www.electrovoice.com
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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT LOUDSPEAKER TECHNOLOGY
Ecler (Audiologic) ARQIS
XPRS Series
Audiologic brand Ecler has released a new range of high-performance installation speakers called ARQIS, featuring what the company describes as architecturally attractive cabinets in a variety of different configurations. The range starts with single 5in bass drivers and hi-fi-sounding, high-frequency tweeters and goes up to units equipped with
“The focus on this range has been based firstly on providing superb quality of sound,” says Simon Stoll, managing director of Audiologic. “Too many systems these days are fatiguing to listen to so a more laid-back sound has been achieved to ensure listeners at a venue enjoy every part of the audio experience.”
Pioneer Professional Audio
12in bass- and horn-loaded tops, providing suitable options for discrete but quality sound, as well as solutions satisfying more full-range and long-throw applications.
Pioneer Pro Audio recently launched the compact, portable, wooden-enclosure XPRS Series – combining Pioneer Pro Audio’s sound engineering heritage with the energy-efficient power of Powersoft amps to give users what the company describes as a ‘versatile plugand-play system that fills the room with a natural sound’. The XPRS Series comprises the XPRS15 and XPRS12 two-way full range speakers and the XPRS215S dual 15in subwoofer. All three feature 15mm birch plywood enclosures for a dynamic sound that works across all musical genres. Although the cabinets are built in China, the XPRS range has been designed in Japan and voiced in the UK by Pioneer Pro Audio.
“The XPRS15/12 have a 15/12in ferrite LF driver, a 1.75in titanium diaphragm compression driver and Pioneer Pro Audio’s AFAST technology to deliver a clear, clean sound with a deep bass range,” says David Ferreira, professional audio specialist at Pioneer Pro Audio. “Sound can also be enhanced for various applications using the four EQ modes with built-in DSP.”
www.pioneerproaudio.com
www.audiologic.uk
Dynacord Vertical Array Series The Dynacord TS 400 and Vertical Array series is a compact and versatile loudspeaker system for mobile applications and fixed installations, and can be used either full-range or in active two-way systems for applications requiring subwoofers. The TS 400 with its vertical pattern control was designed to provide smooth coverage over a very wide bandwidth by using spaced and filtered woofers as array elements. The TS 400’s 2.5-way design places elements at both ends of the speaker column to maximise the distance between them, ensuring that greater control over the low frequency range is retained. The MF and HF elements are placed in the middle of the column for a smooth transition between the different frequency areas and to achieve further control over the radiation pattern.
“The loudspeaker cabinets of the Vertical Array series satisfy the highest standards in terms of acoustic performance and wide coverage patterns, operational safety and reliability,” says Bosch’s Markus Schmittinger. “Meeting the requirements of a large number of mobile applications and fixed installations, the speaker family consists of three full-range vertical array speaker systems as well as four subwoofers. Suitable for audiences of up to 500 people, the key to the high sound quality is the optimal control over the dispersion pattern that the TS 400 provides.”
www.dynacord.com
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S E R E I M E R P T C U D RO
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
ALLEN & HEATH DLIVE
Key Features
DIGITAL MIXING SYSTEM
Promising power and processing tools to satisfy even the fussiest of engineers, A&H dLive is designed to pick up where the much-loved iLive left off, which is no easy feat. Alistair McGhee takes it for a spin.
A
llen & Heath has been making waves in the digital mixer world for quite a while, mostly of late at the more affordable end of the market where the GLD and Qu series have been attracting a lot of attention and well-deserved acclaim. Above these two newer product lines the iLive series has long established itself as a solid option in the live world with great interconnectivity and a reputation for excellent sound quality and solid reliability. Now A&H has revealed the iLive’s successor: the dLive, building on the hard-won success of the iLive series while raising the bar in just about every area. There are three new dLive surfaces: the S3000 with 20 faders and a single touchscreen (all the dLive surfaces can 32
drive an external screen); the S5000 with 28 faders and two touchscreens up to the S7000 with 36 faders and dual touchscreens. These surfaces can be partnered with any of the new DM MixRacks, which come in 32-in, 16-out; 48-in, 24-out; and 64-in, 32-out (analogue) channel versions. In a dLive system the MixRack houses not just most of the I/O but also the grunt. All three options have the same processing power differing only in the amount of analogue input and output on offer. Each rack can mix 128 inputs to 64 outputs and all at 96kHz. If 64 analogue inputs isn’t enough you add to this via the new DX 32 – this is a 32-channel expander, two of which can be attached to a DM MixRack and one DX32 can also be connected to the dLive surface.
Each DX32 has four eight-channel expansion slots and expansion cards are available in analogue in with remote mic amps or analogue out or digital in or out in AES3 format. Further expansion is available through the new I/O ports – three on the MixRack, two on the surface – each of which offers 128 x 128 out at 96kHz. That’s a lot of I/O. And although you can mix 128 inputs, you can route any of the 800 inputs to any of the 800 outputs using the tieline feature, without consuming DSP resources. Game changer. And all this with latency of around .6ms with all processing time aligned. Each component of the dLive system features dual redundant, hot swappable power supplies and the MixRacks and expander offer dual redundant Cat5e
n XCVI Core – Generates enough power for 160 x 64 channels of processing at 96kHz n DEEP Processing – Embeds ‘class-leading’ compressors and processing emulations directly within the input and mix channels n Harmony user interface with single or twin 12in capacitive touchscreens n Fully customisable layout n RackExtra FX RRP: From $22,500 www.allen-heath.com connectivity using the new A&H GigaAce protocol. This is a system that takes redundancy seriously. One of the glorious aspects of the digital age we live in is getting 64 channels down a Cat5 – of course one of the worst things about the digital age is putting all your eggs in one Cat5 basket. So when the show really, really has to go on then two Cat5s really are much, much better than one. I pulled one GigaAce out and the dLive didn’t miss a beat, I’m pleased to report – the show goes on. I got a bit cocky, so I pulled both out, and then quickly plugged one back in and in under two seconds there was audio running and the surface responding as normal. Neat, eh? And in a clever bit of thinking all the surfaces, MixRacks and expanders share a common PSU design.
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
Touch and Go The touchscreens on the dLive are seriously nice bits of kit – dimmable for you theatre guys, and daylight bright. They respond beautifully to the touch and with pinch zoom and swiping options they are intuitive in operation. Surrounding the screens are encoders with embedded multicolour LEDs that change colour to reflect the controls available at any given moment. The lefthand screen is dedicated to processing. Here, the channel strip is presented in blocks adjacent to the controls at the screen edges – left, right and bottom, with the centre section available for the detailed information of what you are working on. The righthand screen is your system screen – here you can handle I/O, set up the surface and MixRack and work on routing and meter presentation. On the processing screen the centre detail section is tabbed and defaults to the bank view of showing the overview of the bank of faders (12 or 8) in which your selected channel lives. Next, you have a global overview of the channel and then individual sections, preamp (including routing and the ability to remove the preamp gain from the surface – when you’re sharing the preamp with monitors), filters, dynamics etc. However, while the centre section changes the two ‘cheeks’ and the ‘chin’ remain fixed, so your preamp settings are always visible on the left cheek and on the right you get to pick three options from a set that includes your dynamics, your sends and your effects. Just hit the Setup button and any configurable sections of the screen displays Setup mode and you have access to your options with drag and drop where applicable. The bottom section of the screen has configurable views of EQ and an option to view metering. Your curves can be controlled by the respective controllers or by the touchscreen. It’s options and flexibility galore.
Do it your way The really clever bit is allowing you all that configurability and then allowing you to nail it down for repeatability. Ben Hammond, who was giving us the once over on the desk, always had the main vocal compressor settings visible on the righthand cheek of the Setup screen
”Focusing on feedback from our customer base and key engineers, we have developed a new Allen & Heath technology base for live mixing. The XCVI Core is designed from the ground up to execute our DEEP Processing algorithms from within the FPGA channel processor core. This unique architecture allows users to select various embedded processing models on every input and mix channel on the fly, without burning valuable FX slots or adding latency.” Rob Clark, A&H
(which is also divided into a central detail
sends to your first four aux busses and
area and three panels: left, right and bottom) and similarly always has gate, compressor and FX sends on the three pages for the righthand cheek of the processor screen. Everywhere drag and drop offers fast and flexible setup. We had some guys from local PA outfit AB Acoustics over and we discussed building layers on the fly while mixing – something they do at the moment with pop group functionality, and the dLive has the same trick by allowing you to configure layers using drag and drop on the system screen while leaving the layer you are mixing on and the processing screen to carry on as normal. The huge flexibility of the desk is visible in areas like setting up sends to mixes. Hit the Mix key on an aux and the channels flip to the Sends on Faders we all know and love. Tired of that, use the Sends option in your processing screen – one button or swipe away – on your selected channel or hit Sends on Rotary and use the option to switch off Sends on Faders. Here you see the mighty leaps Allen & Heath has taken in desk usability – when I looked at speccing an iLive for a job six or seven years ago, the rotary did anything you liked as long as it was pan. Now it does gain (preamp or trim), pan, sends to selected mix or one of four customisable buttons with access to a myriad options. And, for a slightly different cat, set the custom rotaries as
you have an alternate workflow option. Another area of improvement is the MixRack speed. The first choice you have to make is configuring the MixRack for the number of groups/auxes and matrices you need. These can all be mono or stereo. So if you want a 52 mono aux setup, you can have it, and when you have chosen the right layout for the gig, reboot the MixRack to present the new configuration. I tested it with audio running through the desk – don’t try this at home – I lost about two seconds of audio and the whole system will be back up in less than 15. Shows and scenes are comprehensively catered for and crossfades have been implemented between scenes. You have up to 20 seconds available for cross fades and dedicated buttons for operation, including a nice big GO button. And your scene list (or set list!) is always available in the lefthand cheek of your system screen. Save out your show files to a front panel USC socket; a second USB on the front panel allows stereo playback and stereo recording.
Conclusion Summing up is difficult when so much has been left unsaid: 24 DCAs; copy and paste channels; freezing inputs down layers; pinch zoom on the I/O assign matrix – a function for 50-year-old eyes; assign all your inputs by dragging your finger at 45º across the I/O screen in two
seconds; unlimited stereo input ganging and 16 multi-input gangs on the surface; four custom meter pages (please can I have the custom meters that auto widen to the screen – it’s a 50-year-old eye thing); use your iLive interface cards with adapters; iPad control and system editors coming soon; build quality is very fine and all the fixtures and fittings cry out quality. One of the most successful aspects of the desk is the control count – large enough to give you lots of instant access to tonnes of features but avoiding the forest of knobs that induces indecision as you reach for the control you need right now. I think the numbers will sell dLive – the sheer amount of I/O and processing will surely attract the theatre market – but I also think the workflow will sell dLive; it is usable in a way that makes engineers’ lives easy, and let’s them have it their way. Allen & Heath’s dLive is an ergonomic triumph, in fact the whole system is a Triumph – a big beautiful Bonneville sort of Triumph. Iconic British engineering at its best.
The Reviewer Alistair McGhee began audio life in Hi-Fi before joining the BBC as an audio engineer. After 10 years in radio and TV, he moved to production. When BBC Choice started, he pioneered personal digital production in television. Most recently, Alistair was assistant editor, BBC Radio Wales and has been helping the UN with broadcast operations in Juba. February 2016
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
KLANG:FABRIK IN-EAR MONITORS
When KLANG:technologies first announced its intention to introduce 3D IEM systems to the market, it certainly turned a few heads. So, does it really work? Andy Coules gets immersed in this intriguing new technology to find out…
T
he use of in-ear monitors (IEMs) has become much more common in recent years; the sheer convenience and consistency of sound from show to show coupled with a reduction in monitor spill from the stage have made them a firm favourite with musicians and engineers alike. The standard model is simple and universal – you get a stereo mix delivered directly to your ears – however KLANG has come up with a new system that quite literally adds another dimension to the experience. The KLANG:fabrik system offers 3D in-ear monitoring and is designed to be inserted into the existing signal chain between the monitor console and the IEMs (be they wired or wireless) and while the processing required is prodigious the process itself is really quite simple. It fabricates the kind of inter-aural delays and filtering that occur in the natural world, which our brains decode to give us accurate information on the placement of sound sources in a three dimensional sound field. The unit itself is a 2U 19in rack module; the front panel is quite sparse with just a USB port and a 5in touchscreen. The rear panel sports 16 XLR outputs, three RJ45 sockets (for Dante and control), BNC word clock in and out, four ADAT optical ins and outs, dual IEC power sockets and a power switch. The touch-enabled display screen is for status feedback only (due to its slow response) so you will need some kind of hardware controller in order to operate the system. This may seem annoying to some, that the system doesn’t come with all you need, but the assumption is that most people already have a suitable device which they would prefer to use, whether it be a tablet, laptop or phone – all are catered for by the KLANG:app software (Windows, Mac OS, Android and iOS). Also bear in mind 34
that if you plan to control the system wirelessly you will require a wireless router (which again a lot of people already have to control their digital desks, etc). To get your audio from the monitor desk into the KLANG unit you can currently use either Dante or ADAT; a MADI version is planned but not yet available. The number of inputs it can handle depends on how many outputs are in use – if all eight stereo outputs are in use you can only have 24 inputs whereas if you’re only using three stereo outputs you can have up to 56 inputs. Once your input channels are all present and correct and the control connection is in place you can start to use your hardware controller to configure the mixes via the KLANG:app. The app has four main screens: Config, Meter, Faders and Stage, which give you access to everything you need in an interface optimised for touchscreen devices. All that remains to do, in order to get the system up and running, is to connect the analogue outputs into your IEM system and you’re good to go.
In Use When I first donned my in-ears and fired up the system it was configured to send a standard stereo mix – nothing new there – but the real moment of revelation came when I clicked on the 3D button. Suddenly the mix went from being between my ears and in my head to being all around me. I expected some kind of 3D effect but I didn’t expect it to be so real; it was a bit like the audio
equivalent of that moment in The Wizard of Oz when it goes from black and white to colour. Operation is very straightforward and the app is simple to use while still being powerful; creating your 3D mix is as simple as setting fader levels and moving a few icons around the circular’stage’. You quickly get carried away creating realistic mixes where you are centre stage and the band is arranged around you (which just proves that we all secretly want to be the lead singer). What struck me was the degree of separation you get – it really lets you hear each individual instrument in its own space and makes the mix sound much more natural. After using it for a while switching back to stereo operation was a bit of a shock as the mix collapsed into my head and sat boringly between my ears – I had to remind myself that this is what every IEM mix normally sounds like. While a monitor console is still required it is relegated to a slightly subservient role where it just provides the inputs and channel processing. The separation you get in 3D mode means you don’t have to work quite so hard to ensure instruments don’t overlap and mask each other’s frequencies, which should help ensure less muddy mixes but could make it possible for non-engineers (or even the band themselves) to mix the monitors. Interestingly, KLANG has also developed an addition to the fabrik system called KLANG:vektor, which embeds a small motion tracker
into your IEMs and enables the mix to respond to your head and body movements on stage and thus mimic the physical position of the instruments, keeping them anchored in space as you move around. There’s a lot of buzz right now about virtual reality but this promises virtual aurality. What amazes me is how this technology has arrived fully formed – this is not a beta version of a concept which will improve over time but a fully realised end solution to a problem none of us knew existed. It’s one of those exciting new technologies that shift the paradigm. I fully expect that once people have tried it out they won’t want to go back to boring old 2D ears.
Key Features n Each unit can handle up to eight musicians n Compatible with Dante and ADAT, with MADI on the way n 16 balanced analogue line level outputs n Two locking IEC power connectors n BNC Word Clock RRP: £3,190 www.klang.com
The Reviewer Andy Coules is a sound engineer and audio educator who has toured the world with a diverse array of acts in a wide range of genres. andycoules.co.uk
February 2016
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
VERTIGO SOUND VSE-2 Key Features
Discrete gyrator-based concept Each band provides ± 8dB of gain 18 selectable frequencies on each channel All Impedance Resonance (A.I.R) ‘air band’ enhancer n 10Hz-400Hz hi pass filter with bypass n n n n
RRP: €4,490 excluding VAT www.vertigosound.com
EQUALISER
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ermany is a country with at least its fair share of great audio design people, and one such is Andreas ‘Andy’ Eschenwecker of Vertigo Sound whom I first heard of in 2008 when reviewing the outstanding VSC-2 Quad Discrete Compressor – now something of a modern classic. A look at the company’s meticulous and striking component layouts tells you that here is someone who cares about detail, an impression that’s more than confirmed on listening. One of Eschenwecker’s strengths is the combination of classic ideas with modern implementation, and this may be seen in the Vertigo’s latest offering, the VSE-2 Discrete Gyrator EQ.
Overview Originally proposed in 1948, a gyrator is a type of electronic network that can be used at the heart of equaliser designs as an alternative to its even older wire coil predecessor, the inductor. Although inductors are still popular with some designers looking for a vintage sound, they are expensive and have inherent issues; on the other hand, gyrators (aka ‘simulated inductors’) can work better than the ‘real thing’ and give the designer more freedom, a factor put to work in the VSE-2 to create, among other things, a tube-like distortion spectrum. The VSE-2 equaliser has a conventional, if quite deep, 19in 2U 36
Following a satisfying first experience with the brand a few years ago, Nigel Palmer jumped at the chance to try out the newest addition to Vertigo Sound’s audio arsenal, the Discrete Gyrator EQ. rackmount form factor. The unit’s front panel is an attractive dark red colour with control markings in white, and two identical channels of EQ with three gyrator filters each – marked LF, MF and HF – that occupy most of the panel. The boost and cut controls use discrete components and are switched, with amplitudes of ±1dB, ±2dB, ±3.5dB, ±5.5dB and ±8dB. The band frequency selectors have corresponding legends laid out on the front panel in a pleasing wave shape, and the 18 points are: LF 40, 60, 80, 120, 160, 240; MF 315, 480, 640, 1k, 1.3k, 2k and HF 2.5k, 3.8k, 5k, 8k, 10k plus A.I.R. This last stands for All Impedance Resonance, and is a useful ‘air band’ enhancer. You’ll notice the frequency points don’t overlap – while this is often considered a virtue in an analogue EQ as it can, for example, allow for slightly different frequencies at crossover points to ‘get in the cracks’ of critical areas like the midrange, with the mostly broad shaping nature of the VSE-2 borne in mind I didn’t miss this. The unit doesn’t have bandwidth or ‘Q’ controls, as it’s a proportional Q design (Vertigo call it variable Q) where the more cut or boost applied the steeper the bell curve becomes. This helps keep controls to a minimum and is an effective way of working, as I know from a variation on this in my own main mastering EQ at Lowland Masters. Each channel has a bypassable rotary highpass filter offering a 24dB per octave
slope between 10 and 400Hz – a useful facility for cleaning up the low end – and concluding the roundup of front panel features with the power switch to the right. When powered down the VSE-2 continues to allow audio through in a true hardwire bypass.
In Use Once set up, I tried the EQ on a range of material. My immediate impression was of beautiful, malleable sound and a refreshingly simple way of accessing it; the VSE-2 has a delicious hint of a valve quality about it without a glass tube in sight, and this gets progressively warmer the more you push the level, to around 1% total harmonic distortion while maintaining bags of headroom and low noise. The low band is a revelation: warm and articulate without ever sounding boomy or harsh, it’s possible to add considerable weight and loudness to a signal if you wish, and where appropriate I found myself boosting further into the upper bass/lower mid area than I’m used to without sonic penalty. Interestingly, I didn’t feel a lack of shelf curves – although shelves can be a useful way to lift or cut a chunk of low or high frequencies without changing inner balances too much, there’s something about the VSE-2’s approach that can promote a similar feel but in a more positive way. Midrange boosts (great on guitars and vocals)
and cuts (equally good for containing general ‘forwardness’ or harsh areas) were exemplary and the high end had a silky quality I’ve rarely heard, again without harshness. In fact HF boosts are quite addictive and can be easy to overcook at first, although familiarity with the unit soon overcomes this tendency. Finally, the A.I.R. HF setting works well at providing a different kind of smooth high-end lift, and is a very usable additional facility.
Conclusion In my opinion, Vertigo has done it again. While the VSE-2 wouldn’t be my first choice as a main mastering equaliser, it does fit the bill very well as a secondary ‘broad shaper’ on any kind of music. Where I think it excels would be for tracking as a dual-mono EQ with the added bonus of the powerful high-pass filter, or particularly on the mix bus where its ability to gently nudge chosen areas in a characterful way would be a real gift to many mixer/producers.
The Reviewer Nigel Palmer has been a freelance sound engineer and producer for over 20 years. He runs his CD mastering business Lowland Masters from rural Essex. www.lowlandmasters.com
February 2016
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04/12/2015 11:40:25 12/11/2015 17:22
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
UVI FALCON SOFTWARE
Ryan McCambridge discovers why this new ‘Creative Hybrid Instrument’ is more than just another softsynth.
T
here has been a lot of excitement in the synth communities that I frequent around UVI’s Falcon. It’s promised a breadth that doesn’t come along very often, which is sort of the point of Falcon. UVI is calling Falcon a ‘Creative Hybrid Instrument’ in an attempt to encapsulate everything that it does. On the surface, one could view Falcon as simply a softsynth, but looking under the hood reveals a powerhouse that runs the gamut from simple analogue shapes, through to FM, wavetable, all the way through to granular synthesis. There are even modules dedicated to drum and plucking sounds. Digging deeper uncovers a platform that welcomes third-party libraries and sounds, sampling capabilities and macros to help facilitate live performance. For those mad scientist types, the rabbit hole goes down even further, offering the capability to script custom event generators and instruments. The possibilities are seemingly infinite; that is the essence of Falcon. It only takes a few notes to realise that UVI has created something quite special here. UVI’s thoroughness with Falcon has resulted in an instrument that sounds stunning, and with the 15 different oscillators the palette covers almost anything. Where Falcon truly excels though is in its ability to take those raw sounds and manipulate them. For starters, there are 80 effects to mangle or polish your sonic creations, but ultimately the modulation capabilities are what will entice passionate synth programmers. There is a nearly limitless matrix of modulation 38
possibilities, all of which can be assigned with a simple right-click on the parameter. This streamlined approach to modulation assignment is probably one of Falcon’s best assets because it makes programming straightforward and limits the time spent in menus. UVI has provided tools and presets to help users quickly perform simple tasks within the many modulators and sub-modulators. The ‘Drunk’ modulator is worth mentioning as it randomly modulates a source, offering an easy way to simulate analogue artifacts like pitch drift. There is also a step envelope, with full control up to 128 steps, included in the possible modulators, which has a plethora of pre-programmed rhythms, if needed. Falcon’s modulation section also offers a modulation mapper editor that runs between the modulation source and the parameter itself, which remaps the modulation control signal based on the shape of the stepped mapper editor. Given the number of controls that are potentially needed for a complex patch, Falcon offers tabs to easily navigate between important aspects of the instruments and also has flexible resizing of the main window, and pop-up windows for a closer look at modulation parameters.
A ‘Sound Design Ecosystem’ Falcon is natively surround capable, outputting up to 10.2 channels, which
at this point is the most users will really need. With its sample playback capabilities, you can see that Falcon may want to encroach on Native Instruments’ Kontakt, which has in many respects cornered the market on instruments for composing. Falcon will load both UVI and third-party libraries, but only time will tell if it sticks as a platform for that purpose. I could also see Falcon being an asset to those who have a basic grasp on programming but are looking to push their abilities forward. Conceivably, one could use only Falcon to create a song from start to finish. That said, as with any complex instrument, there is definitely a learning curve to Falcon, but the payoff is having an instrument that offers the kind of depth and flexibility that will appease even the most demanding of programmers.
Conclusion Falcon is an incredible accomplishment and presents a great value for everything that it packs in. Ultimately though, Falcon’s best asset is also its biggest impediment: it’s incredibly expansive. This is an instrument for synth programmers and sound designers and though it has some great presets, it might scare off the faint of heart who are just looking to cycle through pre-made sounds. If you thrive on flexibility and manipulation in your synths, Falcon
Key Features n 15 oscillators covering a wide range of modern synthesis methods n 80 high-quality effects categorised for easy navigation n 8 modulation generators n Native support for channel configurations from Mono to 10.2 RRP: $349 www.uvi.net could be an incredible addition to your synth arsenal. In fact, it could be your arsenal. But if you like specific instruments for specific tasks, Falcon may be a bit overwhelming. Falcon rewards those who are willing to put some time into it, and I imagine that even the most demanding of user will appreciate the instrument.
The Reviewer Ryan McCambridge is a freelance audio engineer, writer, producer and programmer from. He has taught audio production in workshops and universities, is the creator of the production blog Bit Crushing and is the frontman of A Calmer Collision. www.bitcrushing. com www.acalmercollision.com
February 2016
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REACH YOUR
The Ultimate All-In-One Professional PA System
Everything you need and then some for your performance or presentation. From ultra-wide coverage to personal monitoring to wireless control over it all, only Reach delivers the comprehensive solution you need.
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ARC™ COVERAGE: The ARC (Amplified Radial Curve) array technology utilizes a unique angled waveguide structure to provide 150° of horizontal coverage to reach each and every audience member.
02
EARSHOT™ PERSONAL MONITORING: Only Reach features
03
WIRELESS STREAMING AND MIXING: The Mackie Connect™ app for iOS and Android™ gives you total control of your mix including wireless music streaming.
built-in dedicated personal monitors so you can hear yourself better on stage, driving better performance.
mackie.com/reach ©2015 LOUD Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. “Mackie.”, the “Running Man” figure, EarShot, ARC and Mackie Connect are trademarks or registered trademarks of LOUD Technologies Inc. The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by LOUD Technologies is under license.
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
MACKIE REACH PORTABLE PA
This new system packs plenty of punch, according to Strother Bullins.
H
aving recently evaluated Mackie’s unique FreePlay Personal PA, the subsequent arrival of a Reach portable PA (PPA) system for review made a lot of chronological sense. While the “new century boom box” design of the 11lb, battery-powerable FreePlay makes it the easiest PPA I’ve ever travelled with, the significantly larger Reach is entirely practical for use in sound reinforcement applications where a very small footprint yet comprehensive stage and audience coverage is desired – yet all from one box. You heard that right – one Reach enclosure will deliver both main and dual stage monitor duties quite well in many small to medium-sized rooms. Reach’s size and form are probably its most important attributes: 28.7in high by 9.5in wide by 8.6in deep; it’s a skinny, tall, 31.7lb, self-powered cabinet. It features a built-in six-channel digital mixer feeding 720W of peak Class D power, which pushes an impressive 150º of horizontal coverage out front (thanks to Mackie’s proprietary ARC array technology) at up to 121dB maximum SPL. Meanwhile, its adjustable EarShot personal monitoring system – consisting of dual side-torear-firing two-way monitors with an additional 50º of horizontal monitor mix coverage per side – allows performing musicians a built-in monitor on either side of the unit when positioned slightly in front of them. On Reach’s rear panel are four XLR/ TRS combo inputs/preamps plus an 1/8in aux input and TRS jacks for phones output, footswitch control (to mute/unmute internal effects), link in and link out connectivity. Its interface is intuitive, too. Simple press/hold button controls allow level and effects send adjustments, side monitor and oh-so40
valuable Feedback Destroyer features. Its four effects – Verb1, Verb2, Delay1 and Delay2 – are well chosen, middleof-the-road acoustic treatments that should suit most common live applications. Pre-selected EQ voicings are available, as are EarShot speaker selection settings; for the latter, left, right, both or neither mute options further expand Reach’s on-stage usefulness. Bluetooth features take Reach to an entirely different level than its closest competition. With the free Mackie Connect mixing app – allowing level, EQ, effects, monitoring and other adjustments – Reach is truly a tetherfree system with the simplest, most logical of touchscreen mixers I’ve had the benefit of using live. Usefully, it pairs with OSX and iOS as well as Android devices. More information about Reach’s Bluetooth-enabled functionality is available on the Mackie website.
In Use I utilised Reach in a wide range of environments with a variety of input sources: most notably for a house of worship youth band performance; as a portable DJ rig in a very large school gymnasium at an elementary public school fundraiser; as a main monitor at two different small club gigs with a four-piece cover band; and in a variety of ensemble rehearsal situations. In each case, the Reach performed surprisingly well. Depending only on its fourchannel internal digital mixer, Reach impressively covers many portable PA applications, though I paired the unit with an external mixer for more channels (most notably in the cover band and HOW scenarios) with much success. The system excelled in DJ applications; low-channel count, club-based ensemble sound reinforcement; and typical rehearsal room scenarios where vocals, acoustic instruments and other low SPL sources must mix with other amplified or naturally loud sounds (e.g. drums). In the gymnasium setting, rife with potential feedback, Reach’s Feedback Destroyer literally saved the evening.
Key Features n n n n n
ARC array technology for clear high-fidelity sound Built-in EarShot personal monitoring system Wireless Bluetooth streaming Integrated six-channel digital mixer Mackie Connect app for wireless adjustment
RRP: $999.99 www.mackie.com As two school representatives roamed with wireless microphones through the crowd, speaking over prerecorded music, sound effects and such, I punched the appropriate button at least a half-dozen times; Reach scanned for the guilty frequencies, grabbing them and ducking them out in literally a second. In more acoustically friendly environments, one Feedback Destroyer scan is all it took, and those gigs went off without a problem – or a squeal, to be specific. Reach’s EarShot monitoring system is ingenious and quite amazing, actually. In the club gig setting, we placed Reach at the front of the stage, pole-mounted at about head height to band members. Standing on either side and slightly behind Reach, monitoring the mix on stage was a pleasure, as the bassist manned the mix via his iPhone. Only the drummer complained a bit for not hearing the mix very well. I’d simply suggest adding a small powered monitor for any backline players positioned too far away from the Reach cabinet. As such, Reach plus a powered wedge equals nearly 360º of combination main/monitor coverage, all without feedback problems. I tried it later, and all I can say is “Wow!” I’ve used Fishman SoloAmp and Bose L1 systems extensively, and they’re the closest comparative products I can think of to Mackie’s Reach. At $999 street, Reach is the same street price as the SoloAmp SA220, yet far more powerful, useful and featurepacked. In direct comparison, Reach is incredibly “bass deep”. An entry-level L1 is available at $899 street and is very nice indeed, yet it lacks the many
features and attractive accessories of a thousands-more fully featured L1, which is closer to what Reach ultimately offers its users. Further, both these Fishman and Bose rig examples lack Reach’s input count, effects and Bluetooth-enabled mixing features, and the incredibly useful EarShot monitoring system. For that reason, I highly recommend Reach for any DIY, jack-of-all-trades live audio pro, performer or band in similar gig situations as illustrated above. Also, it’s an ideal PPA for institutions – schools, HOWs, and other event centres – as it can cover many applications, is small and lightweight, and is very intuitive.
The Reviewer Strother Bullins is reviews editor for NewBay Media’s AV/Pro Audio Group. sbullins@nbmedia.com www.prosoundnetwork.com
February 2016
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12/01/2016 12:41
INTERVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
ABBEY ENDINGS
Now one of the UK’s top TV composers after decades spent honing his craft on shows such as Going Postal and Hotel Babylon, two-time Emmy winner John Lunn is best known for his work on Downton Abbey, which had its grand finale recently. Adam Savage asks him to look back on what made the show so successful and reveal his 2016 plans. It started off quite a lot at Abbey Road with Downton Abbey and then for series three I think we had difficulty getting in because they were doing a lot of recording for The Olympics so we went to AIR Studios and Angel Studios, where we probably ended up doing more recording than anywhere else.
So Downton Abbey has finally come to an end. It must feel strange that it’s all over now? It is a bit, but it’s still on in America so there’s quite a lot of publicity at the moment. I’ve also done a new Downton Abbey album, there’s talk of a live tour and a movie and Japan’s only on series two so even though it feels like the end, it’s still ongoing. Have you been surprised by the show’s popularity, as well as the amount of interest in the soundtrack? I think because it became so popular and the theme tune got played more and more people got to know it. Is it because it’s a brilliant tune or is it just that sense of familiarity? It’s probably a bit of both actually. I think it works really well because it does kind of sum up what you’re about to see and give you a certain level of expectation, but I didn’t know the whole series was going to be so popular, particularly in America. Has your approach changed much since the first series? Not really, the size of the orchestra has stayed pretty familiar for example. Before it was so popular, the budget 42
was a bit of a struggle in series one but it was the kind of score that couldn’t be done with sample libraries; it had to be real musicians. I ended up initially cutting corners, so we’d only book a studio to record the orchestra in, then we’d take the Pro Tools session back to my studio and I’d record the piano on top of it. There are no samples in it at all; obviously I used samples to write it, but they all got replaced by real musicians. You once said you were “unconvinced by digital emulations”. Are you still a die-hard analogue fan? Things have possibly changed a bit now but about ten years ago I moved my studio into a slightly smaller room and did go down that route of trying to do everything in the box. It was a bit unfortunate because I was doing a job that had a lot of electric guitars in it but I just couldn’t get it to sound good mixing within Logic. Things have certainly got better and I have been surprised with some things I’ve heard that were mixed in the box but I think I can tell the difference. I use Pro Tools, which is a fantastic piece of software, but most of the compression and EQ we use is all analogue.
I’m sure it has developed and I can see the reasons for doing it [going digital]. Last summer I was working on three jobs at once and moving between jobs on an analogue desk was pretty complex actually. I’ve just gone out and bought a new SSL AWS 948 desk to cover for this so I’ve got some sort of recall and automation. What other equipment have you been using for your recent projects? Have you been trying anything new? For The Last Kingdom, which is about Vikings, I used a lot of electronics. I’ve really got into modular synthesisers. There’s this thing called Eurorack and it’s just exploded that whole side of things. Again, recall ability is a bit of a problem but what’s great about it is that it’s almost impossible to sound like anything else and I think that’s what I’ve been constantly trying to avoid – so many composers have gone down the route of using the same sample libraries, everybody’s using Omnisphere, and we all end up sounding the same! Did you find yourself working across several studios for Downtown, or was it all done at Abbey Road?
Abbey Road was where you did the live streaming of the music for the last episode of Downton too, of course. How did that go? Pretty well I think, although I didn’t really have a chance to see it because I was so busy. I think some people are really surprised by certain things to do with music and film, like how we record to picture. It’s very picture-specific and on Downton we never used the same cue twice; it was re-recorded every single time. People do try to cut corners by reusing cues but in Downton it just didn’t work because there was so much dialogue in it and the music had to fit underneath it. We used the same tunes but they just had to be arranged differently. What have you got coming up now then? Any more big projects in the pipeline? I’m just finishing off a second series of Grantchester and there’s a second series of The Last Kingdom, another project called Jamestown – about the pilgrim fathers and set in America – and that will keep me busy for the year. Now that Downton’s finished I wouldn’t mind finding something else orchestral but I’m also into all the electronic stuff so I wouldn’t mind doing a bit more experimenting as Downton’s taken me away from that side. What was good about doing The Last Kingdom was that it was so different – that’s why I took it on – but if I’m known for Downton Abbey for the rest of my life then I’ll be quite happy! www.jlunn.com
February 2016
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