Spotlight Journal Issue 2

ISSUE 02 / MARCH 2021 HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET UK £3.95 / USA $6.95 / CANADA $7.95

POWERED BY HEADLINER

issue 02

HARMONICA ANDROMEDA

KSHMR EMPIRICAL LABS TRAK PAK

NEUMANN V 402 PREAMP

TELETONE AUDIO

PULLING NO PUNCHINESS FOR SOFTUBE CONSOLE 1

HAS IT BEEN WORTH THE WAIT?

HITTING NOTES WITH POSTCARD PIANO

soothe harshness so your EQ doesn’t have to

read more at oeksound.com

“Lose your dreams and you might lose your mind.”

— Mick Jagger

©2020 QSC, LLC. All rights reserved. QSC and the QSC logo are registered trademarks of QSC, LLC in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and other countries. Play Out Loud is a trademark of QSC, LLC. Artist: Printz Board. Photo by Mikel Darling.

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SUP P

ATIVE CO RE

ING THE T R C O

NITY MU M SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

02 Welcome to the second installment of Spotlight Journal, Headliner’s techfocused sister title dedicated to the extraordinary instruments and audio gear that help inspire creativity and make our lives that little bit easier.

As always, we’ve used the talent to tap into the technology, so there are lots of fresh product reviews (and reveals!) to get stuck into, including some that were unveiled for the first time at this year’s virtual NAMM.

On our cover is the effervescent KSHMR, who recently delivered an internationally inspired journey on his much-anticipated debut album, Harmonica Andromeda.

A musician, record producer and DJ who’s climbed his way to 12th position on the Top 100 DJs list, he gives us an insight into the world of dance, reveals how he’s been sharing his carefully curated (and incredibly popular) sound packs with the music production community, and explains how he poured his heart and soul into his latest record, which promises to take listeners on a voyage through time and space.

In our Reveal section — where we spotlight some of the coolest upcoming products which we hope to get our hands on soon — we take a look at the new FIT Controller from Waves, which provides a hands-on way of controlling its eMotion LV1 live mixing software.

Also in this section are JH Audio’s impressive new Jolene IEMs, and the brand new UF8 expandable DAW controller from SSL. As usual, our Spotlight Reviews come with a Headliner twist, and in this issue encompass products from Shure, Antelope Audio, Sennheiser, Teletone, Leapwing and more.

Meanwhile there’s even more content In The Mix, where along with KSHMR’s production masterclass, we find out how Empirical Labs’ new Trak Pak enhances the Softube Console 1 workflow, and try out Neumann’s V 402 preamp / TLM 49 microphone combo with an emerging artist in Headliner’s HQ studio.

We hope you enjoy the issue - and that some of the gear ignites more than a few creative sparks!

Colby Ramsey Group Editor, Headliner HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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ISSUE 2

Welcome to Spotlight Journal

REVEAL 10-12

WAVES

FIT Controller

14-16

JH AUDIO

Jolene

18-20

SSL

UF8 DAW Controller

IN THE MIX 24-30

KSHMR

Cover Story | Harmonica Andromeda

32-36

SOFTUBE

Empirical Labs Trak Pak

38-42

NEUMANN

V 402 Mic Preamp

ISSUE SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

CONTENTS

07

REVIEWS 46-50

SHURE

DL4 DuraPlex

52-56

ANTELOPE AUDIO

Zen Go Synergy Core

58-60

SENNHEISER

IE 100 PRO

62-64

TELETONE AUDIO

Postcard Piano

66-70

D’ANGELICO

Excel Bowery x Scope Labs Periscope

72-76

LEAPWING AUDIO

Al Schmitt Signature Plugin

UE 02 HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

REVEAL

WAVES

FIT Controller

REVEAL

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FIT CONTROLLER

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SPOTLIGHT REVEAL

WAVES Waves is back to remind you that it doesn’t just do plugins. Meet the FIT Controller…

Anyone making music will have heard of or used Waves plugins, but may not be as familiar with the manufacturer’s live sound solutions.

In a move that surprised some, Waves recently launched the FIT controller, a physical, hands-on way of controlling its eMotion LV1 live mixing software.

Described as “the ultimate handson control unit” for the Waves eMotion LV1 live software mixer, FIT has been co-engineered by Waves Audio and expert MIDI control manufacturer, MIDIPLUS to offer live sound engineers intuitive, tactile control.

Now, users can enjoy the best of both worlds by integrating the software live sound mixer with a highly intuitive control surface for a tactile, hands-on experience that keeps them in full command of a live mix.

Priced at $1200, FIT incorporates 16+1 motorised 100mm faders which combine that familiar hands-on feel with all the benefits of a softwarebased mixer.

Boasting bright high-resolution scribble displays, multi-function rotary controls and user-assignable functions, this compact unit weighs only 9.43 lbs – making it perfect for the road and for use in multiple venues.

Getting tactile FIT is designed to extend the digital workflow of the eMotion LV1 to the tactile world, lining up fader for fader with the on-screen LV1 interface.

faders, channel parameters, plugin settings, FX sends and monitor mixes.

Users are encouraged to take advantage of the included five factory set utility functions to access some of the LV1’s most important operations: Toggle rotary mode, create a new scene, flip to custom layer, flip aux sends, and even spill mode to bring true tactile command with unprecedented flexibility and the highest precision.

Still want more? Then go beyond FIT’s physical fader controls using the eight available fader layer selectors to toggle between fader layers in the LV1 and access any channel in a live session, instantly.

The manufacturer is hoping that users will find it easier than ever to navigate, operate and make the most out of its LV1 software. As such, FIT gives users instant control of LV1 HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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WAVES

FIT Controller

Meanwhile, FIT’s 16 multifunction rotary encoders give users the flexibility to control preamp gain or pan for each channel with their label shown on the bright display, and thanks to a heavyduty Tap Tempo button, users can dial in a session’s BPM quickly and accurately.

Fast-and-easy access to mute groups and user-assignable keys is taken care of by setting channels’ select button to user mode, and for a truly customised live mixing workflow in the most demanding live sound mixing environments, you can map any eMotion LV1 parameter to the versatile touch-and-turn knob.

A total of 16 rotary controls can be set to control preamp gain or pan per

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

channel with their label shown in the display, and the 16 Select channel toggles can be set to ‘user’ mode to provide easy access to Mute Groups and user-assignable keys with their text labels displayed.

FIT can be fitted with rack ears into a 19” 7U rack space. The device’s rear connections include a USB B for computer connection, 12V 2A DC power input, and two 5V 0.5A USB outlets for LED lighting.

Additionally, common LV1 functions and modes can be controlled from the Utility section, where some of the controlled functions can be customised by the user.

If you purchased FIT before March 2021, you can update your firmware free of charge to make FIT HUI/ Mackie-compatible. Plus, users can order the DAW-specific covers for free, although shipping will be charged.

FIT also supports the HUI and Mackie protocols: it can serve as a controller of choice for Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton Live and Cubase, with FIT controls mapped to specific DAW parameters. (FIT comes with four DAW-specific plastic covers, showing which FIT button or knob controls which DAW parameter).

WAVES.COM

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GLM 4. Now nothing can stand between you and your artistry.

Find out more at www.genelec.com/glm4

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JH AUDIO

Jolene

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JOLENE

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REVEAL

SPOTLIGHT REVEAL

JH AUDIO JH Audio has launched what it believes to be its best sounding analogue IEM to date - and that’s quite a statement when you look at the company’s impressive track record. Without further ado, Meet Jolene.

HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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JH AUDIO

Jolene

JH Audio’s Jolene is a four-way, 12 element hybrid in-ear monitor.

The driver configuration combines balanced armature and dynamic components. The LF band (20Hz 400Hz) uses a pair of 9.2mm dynamic drivers; these diaphragms provide for a serious sub-bass punch.

armatures, similar to the JH Audio Roxanne. The tonality of the dynamics blended with the balanced armatures is said to create an extremely balanced IEM, and according to Jerry Harvey himself, Jolene is the most natural, analogue-sounding IEM he has ever designed.

The mid-range (400Hz – 4kHz) is powered by a pair of 4.9mm dynamic drivers that are said to produce a very natural low-end bass with highquality tonality and rich texture.

The high-mids (4kHz – 10kHz) and HF bands (10kHz – 23kHz) are both powered by quad balanced

Jolene has been crafted using JH Audio’s new construction process, which is genuinely unique: utlising premium materials and some stateof-the-art kit, the IEMs go through what JH describes as “an initial marching process” and are then later finished at the hands of their

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

engineers and technicians in the JH Audio HQ in Florida. JH also claims that the shell construction is the most durable on the market.

Jolene is available in two standard options: Jupiter shells with engraved copper faceplates; or Hyper Black shells with engraved aluminium faceplates. The street price is $1,795 (£1290).

JHAUDIO.COM

SSL

UF8 DAW Controller

ds by a l or

Brand new from SSL is the UF8 expandable DAW controller, designed to stimulate accelerated creativity using intelligent production ergonomics and 360° control software. There are many reasons you’ll love the UF8, and the price is just one of them.

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

n o

SOLID STATE LOGIC

us e g tafs ic

UF8 DAW CONTROLLER

w

REVEAL

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SPOTLIGHT REVEAL

Designed for today’s DAW-based production workflows and ultrafast turnaround times, the expandable eight-channel advanced DAW controller has arrived to connect engineers, producers and artists directly to the creative process, promising absolute command of their workflow while significantly accelerating the speed of audio production and content creation.

The culmination of 40 years of mastering studio ergonomics experience, the UF8 controller is designed to deliver a new level of user focused design, combining insightful displays, intelligent fader and control access and function, multiple stand angles for user defined placement, and a production workflow enhancing control layout.

With UF8 at the heart of a studio setup, users can navigate through large sessions and focus on the

music, instead of the mouse.

Whether music-makers need to solo tracks quickly or access their mostused editing functions from the touch of a button, UF8 is optimised to help create more engaging content for audiences – not to mention doing it faster and more efficiently.

Perfect for finessing dialogue automation rides and assigning all essential session shortcuts to the user-keys for enhanced productivity, UF8 is tailored to suit anyone’s post workflow.

Want to put some feel back into mixing? Look no further than UF8’s 100 mm high-quality motorised faders – perfect for balancing multiple tracks at once, or riding those reverb sends. Still want more?

Scale your system up to 32 faders (four UF8s! More on this below) for the full SSL mix experience.

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Expandable to a 32 channel control surface with integration for all major DAW platforms, the UF8 is ideally suited to music creation, production and mixing, post production and webcasting.

“UF8 is an obvious next step in SSL’s development in ergonomically designed studio tools for todays’ mixers, producers and creators,” says Andy Jackson, SSL studio product manager.

“The layout and build quality are all about our fixation with ‘human engineering’; creating products that keep you in the creative zone with high-speed access to every fader or control, without operator fatigue or discomfort.”

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SSL

UF8 DAW Controller

ADVANCED WORKFLOW UF8 offers intuitive features that are developed from a true understanding of production workflow, offering simultaneous control of multiple DAWs, multi-purpose Master Encoder for DAW timeline navigation, track banking and mouse wheel emulation for precision, plus that all important hands-on control.

Not to mention that the dedicated automation section and dual-purpose Selection Keys permit rapid access to select functions – solo and mute

clearing in Pro Tools and Logic Pro X. Meanwhile, new Channel and PlugIn control modes provide enhanced workflows for those using UF8 with Pro Tools, allowing users to easily access their sends and plugins without slowing down their creativity.

And if you don’t love it yet, how about chaining multiple UF8s together to create a unique mixing system? Users can build their perfect 16-24 channel music creation hub, or connect four

UF8s within a single system to create a 32-channel controller – ideal for large post production or mixing sessions.

The brains behind the whole thing is the SSL 360°. Installing the cross-platform application for Mac and Windows is quick and easy. Once installed, SSL 360° allows users to configure their UF8(s) for their DAW, customise the user keys and save/load profiles. Plus, SSL 360° manages software and firmware updates for you.

Open DAW Policy UF8 is uniquely flexible and promotes SSL’s Open DAW Policy: users can control three different DAWs simultaneously and keep the production and mixdown process agile. As such, UF8 integrates with all major DAWs and includes workflow ready templates for Ableton Live, Cubase / Nuendo, Pro Tools, Logic Pro X and Studio One. Key features include high quality 100 mm touch sensitive faders, high resolution colour displays, eight endless rotary encoders, custom workflows, SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

an intelligent multi-purpose channel encoder and mouse scroll emulation.

Up close and personal, the rear panel features a USB ‘C’ type port for easy connection to the host computer (‘C’ to ‘C’ and ‘C’ to ‘A’ cables included with UF8), two jack sockets offering standard foot-switch connections and a socket for UF8’s auto ranging external PSU. The USB ‘A’ port on UF8 can be used to daisy-chain USB communication between UF8s, or, it can be used to plug in any USB dongles you have.

At the end of the day, the high-spec touch sensitive faders, encoders and high-resolution colour displays compliment the premium build quality that belie this new price point for an SSL controller, which is available now and is priced at £833 + VAT / $1,299 + Tax / €999 + Tax. SOLIDSTATELOGIC.COM

MD 445 and MM 445 Closer. More direct. More intense.

The most powerful version of our dynamic high-end microphone series enhances vocals with an unprecedented intimacy and range of detail.

At the same time, the high-rejection, super-cardioid pattern offers an extremely high level of feedback resistance.

Learn more about the MD 445 top-of-therange microphone and the MM 445 capsule. www.sennheiser.com

IN THE MIX

24

KSHMR

Harmonica Andromeda

KSHMR SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

COVER STORY

25

HARMONICA ANDROMEDA

view by er

LBY RAMS CO

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Originally one half of hip-hop production duo The Cataracs, whose track Like a G6 with Far East Movement was a global hit, Indian-American musician, record producer and DJ Niles Hollowell-Dhar — better known by his stage name KSHMR — has used the global pandemic as a chance to embark on his most personal musical project to date. Here, we discuss how he’s immersed himself in the world of dance music, his creative process when it comes to production, and what to expect from his new album of truly galactic proportions...

Catching up with Headliner on a Zoom call from Studio City in L.A., which he has called home for the last 10 years, KSHMR reflects on the busy start he’s had to 2021, having released two fresh singles in anticipation of his new album, Harmonica Andromeda.

Originally from Berkeley, California, KSHMR is known for producing big room electro-house heavily influenced by his Indian heritage, and clearly plans to stay on everyone’s radars for a lot longer with this latest endeavour. In fact, it could just be the

most pivotal moment in his musical career so far.

“Thanks to the quarantine, there have of course been no shows, which are the biggest obstacle for a DJ in making new music,” he begins. “I love playing them, but to me it feels like a hearty meal is in my stomach when I know I’ve made a bunch of new material. During this time I’ve been able to experiment and explore, and really get myself to another level because I had no fear about time.”

HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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KSHMR

Harmonica Andromeda

KSHMR admits that his two latest singles, Around The World and The World We Left Behind (which features the hypnotic vocals of acclaimed vocal producer Karra), are perhaps his favourite songs that he’s ever made.

With the latter especially, he sought to capture his love for cinema and epic movie music (one of his best-loved is Hans Zimmer’s Gladiator score), in terms of conveying a sense of warmth and togetherness in a digestible dance format, with a drop that also captures that powerful feeling.

“You can have a really great melodic idea, but getting that drop to make it sound the way it’s supposed to is just hours and hours of trying different things, and is always the tough part,” KSHMR shares. “With this song, I really believed in the melodies, and then I banged my head against a wall for a bit, and felt like I got the drop in a pretty good place. And then I get in the studio with Karra and she has this beautiful song and we refine it together.

about ‘we’re gonna kick some ass tonight’ - I wanted to strip away any sort of modern references and leave it slightly more naked, like how a kid would look at the world. I’ve always been a fan of that kind of songwriting.

There’s something very pure about it, and it walks that line of not quite being cheesy; I think Karra really completed the idea with her vocal.”

“For me, it was a real shedding of ego in terms of a song that’s not talking

“It’s a gift, and mostly a curse, that as a producer you have to think like someone who’s hearing a song for the first time, even though you’re hearing it for the 5,000th time!”

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

COVER STORY

THE BIG PICTURE Every track on Harmonica Andromeda is an epic journey in its own right, and it was KSHMR’s love of the idea that something very small can have a big impact that led him to this juxtaposition; one of the smallest, relatively most simple instruments (which serves as the main motif of the title track), contrasted with a vast, infinitely complex galaxy.

The album’s penultimate track, The Little Voice, starts as its name would suggest, gradually building into a huge celebratory African chant chorus: “That concept has always been so fun to me, because it’s pretty much the premise of every movie, right?” affirms KSHMR. “A guy from the dirt who rises up and his voice is eventually heard in the halls of the gods.

“I’m probably developmentally stunted in terms of what I like in the world,” he laughs. “And I think that’s likely been exacerbated by having success in music and never having to

grow up. I’m just sort of a romantic about these basic, trite hero stories I guess.”

It was back in 2010 when he first got his foot in the door with Like A G6, a track that spent three weeks at Number One on the US Billboard Hot 100 (and served as the soundtrack of my freshers year at university).

“Like anything in life, you have to hit people with a big sucker punch that’s undeniable, and it’s up to them if they decide to like a song. No one thought that Like A G6 was going to be a big hit, or at least I didn’t…” he trails off. “Coming off the heels of zero previous success gave us a lot of power to strike any publishing deal we wanted, but the part that wasn’t so great was that I wasn’t really equipped as a pop producer at that point. We were just hip-hop guys who also had an interest in dance music.”

He soon found himself in the studio with the likes of Jason Derulo and Justin Bieber, yet wasn’t entirely sure how to recreate his previous

27

success. Admitting that he didn’t have the diversity of skillset to do those sessions justice at the time — although he did strike up working friendships with Robin Thicke and Enrique Iglesias — the idea of his KSHMR alias soon bubbled its way to the surface as he fell deeper in love with dance music.

After ghost producing a number of tracks that resonated with the EDM community, which were released via Dutch record label Spinnin’, Hollowell-Dhar was ready to pitch his big vision: “I was very naive, but just went out full force, and for the first year and a half I didn’t show my face - I would just lock myself in a room trying to get better at dance music, and put out song after song,” he recalls.

Following a further string of Beatport number ones, and after the success of Secrets with Tiesto, KSHMR was introduced on stage for the first time at Ultra Music Festival 2015; his identity finally revealed to the world.

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KSHMR

Harmonica Andromeda

planting

the seed

When it comes to his production, KSHMR loves to discover interesting melodies using the sounds in Native Instruments’ Kontakt sample library.

“Sometimes I’ll create what is essentially a key split using an FX rack on Ableton [his DAW of choice], allow myself to do some simple chords on the piano, and see if I can land on an emotion,” he reveals. “Then I’ll try to wait for that moment where the seed of a location or some culture or story pops into my head. I might just have two instruments on the screen for a long time, and once I feel like this musical world is worth creating, I’ll try to spend the rest of the time putting in drums that suit and enhance that world.”

These days KSHMR’s usual process involves renting a small cabin in Big Bear in the quiet hills surrounding L.A., setting himself a strict regimen of allotted time to work on a series of ideas: “One thing that was different leading up to my time in the cabin for this project was that I spent a lot of time organising samples,” he explains. “I had a Big Bear master library, which is basically a big pack of all the sounds I like from Splice, and it was just a wonderful palette — curated by me — that I could just reach into if I got creatively stuck. I’m always pleasantly surprised when I find something to fill in a particular gap, and of course it’s a huge time saver.

“It’s a gift, and mostly a curse, that as a producer you have to think like someone who’s hearing a song for the first time, even though you’re hearing it for the 5,000th time!”

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

As someone who arrived relatively late to the dance music party, KSHMR recognised that it could be fun to lean into more real, organic sounds on Harmonica Andromeda, tapping into his heritage with expressive instruments from India and the Middle East.

“People who make hip-hop love samples, because it immediately injects soul into a beat,” he continues. “I feel that it’s a shortcut in dance music that’s often overlooked; to put soul into dance music by using less than perfect instruments.”

As for his gear, KSHMR’s setup is mostly in the box, and he tells me that he often views instruments as the utility base in a project: “If I need a Supersaw synth to create the energy that hits the high end in a certain section, then then I’ll just initialise Serum [a wavetable synthesizer plugin], do a saw with seven or eight voices and that will pretty much serve the purpose for me. And while I do notice subtle differences between synths, I’m often looking at the whole song as one big idea that you’re giving people.

Ultimately a song’s value is going to be the combination of 1,000 ideas that you made throughout the process.”

His typical setup, like that of many contemporary producers, is really quite minimal; just his laptop, MIDI controllers and speakers going through a UAD Apollo interface. At the studio he makes use of guitars and basses, along with his trusty Sony C800 tube condenser, which he mostly uses on vocals.

Plugin-wise, KSHMR is a big fan of Waves, citing R-Vox, R-Comp, R-Axx, OVox and the C4 multiband compressor as some of his favourites.

He’s also fond of a limiter plugin called MaxxVolume: “Dance music is so intense and I can use MaxxVolume to create an absolute brick of the left and right channels independently, making something modest like a violin stand up against the Supersaw chords underneath it,” he shares. “Another plugin that I like for that is JST Gain Reduction, which is an absolutely disrespectful compressor that just slams things into oblivion, and is fun in small doses.

“But I will say that on the album, I’ve shied away slightly from pushing things too hard in favour of having more dynamics. Some of the songs are a little more mid-tempo, so bounce was more important than a big kick hitting you, and in some cases it was more about the off-beats. The kick is not really the central player in the low end, it’s more of a punch, like the traditional ‘rock’ way of mixing.”

KSHMR also often finds himself putting some distortion on vocals, and particularly likes Soundtoys’ DevilLoc Deluxe and Output Thermal for that use. He enjoys combining reverb and distortion to create an interesting swelling effect and fill up the space nicely, as well as using time-based FX to glue a vocal together.

“This album has been an exercise for me in terms of collecting FX, and seeing how far I can take something down a rabbit hole,” he adds.

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DO IT YOURSELF The ‘Sounds Of KSHMR’ are among some of the most popular sound packs on Splice, and with the first three volumes having been very well received, KSHMR has been busy recording sounds for volume four alongside the new album: “We rented a house and did a huge recording session for that; we brought in timpanis, orchestra bass drums, and really tried to push the boundaries

with the sounds,” he recollects, and proceeds to talk me through just a snippet of what to expect from this latest collection.

“If I start off in the main directory and go into drums, you’ve got drum loops, fills, FX elements and more. You have live instruments, song starters, synths, vocals, world sounds that are categorised by country, and a VIP Friends of KSHMR folder where my

DJ friends like Hardwell and Zedd have contributed their samples. And then you can dive deeper into each category to discover hundreds of different sample sounds.

“I really like sharing and learning from others. At the end of the day, if I can make some sort of contribution to the music production community, I’ll feel like I’ve made it. I’m really excited about the next plugin that I’m working on; it’s HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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KSHMR

Harmonica Andromeda

“I will say that on the album, i’ve shied away slightly from pushing things too hard in favour of having more dynamics.”

going to attempt to do something that hasn’t been done before, and is also going to help with plugin organisation.

It’s sort of a plugin for your plugins, and I can’t say much more than that!”

I round up the interview by asking KSHMR the typically loaded question of what advice he would give to aspiring music makers: “We all talk about being original, but what does that really mean?” he ponders. “Look at what makes you, you, and if you can find a way to take two

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

different aspects of your personality or find the genius in two things that you like, and make music around it, then that is enough to start your identity.”

And like many of his fellow DJs, he is also missing being out on the road playing shows, sort of...

“There’s a part of me that misses it but also a part that appreciates having a sturdy, consistent life,” he confesses.

“The more I’m at home, the more I just want to stay at home, but I also remember how beautiful it was to go

out there and play my music and meet fans and hear their stories. I will say it’s probably accelerated my descent into being an old man, but there’s still some fight left in this old dog yet.”

Undoubtedly one of the most intriguing albums of the year, Harmonica Andromeda is available on all streaming platforms now.

DHARMAWORLDWIDE.COM INSTA: @KSHMR

Softube & Empirical Labs.

A partnership made in analog heaven.

Empirical Labs is on a mission to make innovative, long-lasting equipment that’s a riot to use. With platinum-level hits like Fatso, DerrEsser, and Distressor it’s safe to say they’re killing it. That success is due to ELI’s conviction to go past good enough. It’s an ethos that Softube shares.

Softube believes that with truly excellent music technology, it’s not sufficient to just approximate the sound and function in software form. You have to go deeper. This dogged pursuit of high-quality sonic innovation is what bonds Softube and Empirical Labs, and what makes this partnership such a thrill.

After fifteen years of friendship and fun, we’re putting our hearts on our sleeve. Together. We proudly present the new products from Softube + Empirical Labs: Mike-E, Lil FrEQ, Trak Pak For Console 1, and the Empirical Labs Complete Collection.

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SOFTUBE

Empirical Labs Trak Pak

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IN THE MIX

SOFTUBE Softube Console 1 (C1) users are now able to encompass some of Empirical Labs’ (ELI) finest analogue kit into their digital workflow thanks to a first-ever collaboration between the two companies in the creation of a plugin bundle and full C1 channel strip, the Trak Pak, which I am going to be working with today. As a C1 advocate myself, and after spending an hour with Empirical Labs founder, Dave Derr, and Softube’s Niklas Odelholm, talking about the finer points of Trak Pak before I dive in, I’m keen to find out if I take to it as quickly as I did Softube’s SSL 4000 emulation which has since become my staple.

One of the easiest things about choosing C1 for me was its full integration with Reaper. It’s a DAW that super talented producer, Jack Ruston, recommended to me a few years back – Jack’s a real audiophile and said when he dug into Reaper that it became clear it could do so much more than the likes of Logic and Pro Tools, once you spend

sufficient time with it. I tend to agree – and four years down the line, I’m loving Reaper – still finding new nuances and shortcuts, and I find it does have its own sound over some other DAWs (another conversation for another time, of course).

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SOFTUBE

Empirical Labs Trak Pak

What Reaper also has is seamless integration with C1 – so hearing about that, and the fact that I’d been seeking an analogue hybrid style workflow for some time meant I simply had to understand more about the Softube ethos and product line. I was late to the party with C1, and even a little late with its sidekick, Fader 1, which came some years later; but my studio now houses a three-Fader 1 (30-channels total) setup with C1 as my centrepiece, and whether I’m putting it across every channel or working it in groups, it’s a joy to behold, as well as a touch nostalgic when I realise I’m riding faders throughout (with my actual hands!). I have even considered bringing in my old DAT machine to print off an actual mix, to see if I can still manage manual fades.

Maybe a bridge too far in 2021, but never say never.

Today, I’ll be using the Trak Pak for the first time – on a song I helped put together with talented Londonbased singer-songwriter and multiinstrumentalist Cam Bloomfield. In the pilot edition of Spotlight Journal [which dropped in December 2020] we invited Cam into Headliner HQ to write, record and produce ‘A Song In A Day’ – a cool initiative which he thrived on; in just four hours, he’d taken a beat I’d made, added some dynamism of his own, exported it as a stereo bus, written a

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

and guitars – and I’ve inserted Trak Pak on each one.

“THE KIT SOUNDS LIKE IT’S GONE THROUGH A BITCRUSHER; THE POWER OF THE OUTPUT SECTION IS IMMEDIATELY EVIDENT.”

track around it, tracked bass, guitars, keys, and six vocal tracks. Not half bad really – especially under pressure. Safe to say, I was very impressed.

So today I have that project in front of me – 27 tracks worth. We recorded everything clean, taking sound at source as always. Guitars have no processing on them; they went into a Vox head then into a Merging Anubis before hitting the DAW; the bass just went DI into the Anubis, again with no additional processing; the keys were the same, so were all the vocals. So it’s not only a pretty dry track, it’s all going to hit the Trak Pak without any processing prior.

I’ve broken the track down into five groups – each of which is assigned to C1. I have drums, vocals, keys, bass,

First up, like any C1 channel strip, there is an element to each which fills the channel strip – but not exactly as C1 users might expect. Input is the hipass filter from ELI’s Lil FrEQ and a newly-designed low-pass filter. The Shape section houses the de-esser and high-frequency limiter - both from the Lil FrEQ - and you can switch between them via C1’s ‘Hard Gate’ button.

There is a four-band parametric EQ with high and low shelf, and both the Compressor and Drive section are based on the classic ELI Mike-E, complete with ‘Nuke’ setting, as existing ELI users will no doubt be pleased to know.

As the guys at Softube have told me, setting Drive to 5.0 (50%) will generally apply the ‘glue’ of the channel strip/ console sound. This is absolutely true of the SSL 4000 emulation, so I decide to kick off here with the drum buss. But I get to 3.0/3.5 on Drive and can already feel the heat – in a good way, I should add. Knowing it’ll get very aggressive, I continue past halfway, and at around 75% the kit starts sounding totally different – the kick sounds like it’s gone through a bitcrusher, and although it’s not right for this track, the power of the output section is immediately evident,

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and it’s incredibly gritty sounding. Character works in the same fashion as ever on C1 – clockwise provides more top end, anti-clockwise will give you a darker tone. I settle at just left of centre. And the kit is already sounding great.

on the depth note, I’ve dialled Character about 20% to the left, for further warmth, a level of distinction to the individual notes, and plenty of guts. Parallel is set at around 20% Wet.

Onto the compressor – which I love instantly, and decide not to play around too much with. A 2:1 and 4:1 ratio both add punch and a real tightness when I apply about 25% of ‘wet’ – C1’s neat parallel control. I settle on 2:1 and move on. At this point I want to give it a low cut at 30Hz just to get rid of the real rubbish, and I open up the EQ, which instantly sounds superb. After a 4dB boost at 60Hz – which brings the kick right in your face yet keeps it tight thanks to the compression - I add some air at around 14kHz, and a touch of low mid. It’s made a big difference, no question. Some air in the highs, with some thump in the low. That’s what I want from my drums.

The Keys buss is quite an eye-opener – there are four parts, and as I bring Drive up to about 4, each part seems to jump out at me, which is amazing. It’s as if each is lining up alongside the other in order, somehow. A low cut at 100Hz takes out any unwanted mud and dark overtones within the reverb, and it’s just silkier sounding straight away; 2:1 compression with a boost around 11kHz is allowing the delays to open up, and I’m immediately noticing more width.

Onto bass guitar – which I cut at 60Hz to make way for the kick drum, and add some energy around 125-150Hz to compensate. I play with the Drive and at one point have it up at 8 or 9 which is clearly overkill, but the distortion is very easy on the ear so I can see this working on some bass tracks especially if you squash it afterwards (‘Nuke’ it, even?).

I like a 4:1 ratio on bass, and with no effort whatsoever, just dialling that in works instantly; it tightens and rounds off the instrument, while providing depth of tone. And

And now the vocals – and this is where the magic happens for me. A cut of 60Hz as standard to kill the unwanted frequencies, and Drive at around 3.5 is bringing out so many harmonics in Cam’s voice, probably more obvious on the ear as they’re not only dry, but there are three-part harmonies in there spanning his range nicely. The Drive somehow glues it all together without losing the dynamics - which is ideal, basically. Character is at about 40% clockwise – and the EQ I find wonderfully responsive with just a 1.5dB boost at 14kHz. I love to pan my vocals, and they just got a whole lot wider.

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Empirical Labs Trak Pak

One thing is really bugging me, though – a rogue frequency within this pack of vocals. Admittedly if I’d treated each track individually, I would have perhaps spotted this earlier, but because we’re applying Trak Pak in groups for this review, I’ll deal with it within the group. I find the frequency, and in the process I realise just how surgical the EQ actually is. I am dialling in such a narrow curve, and in about a minute, taken out what C1 tells me is 3dB at 0.76kHz, and to say it’s smoother would be doing it a disservice. Any harshness and tonal imbalance has literally vanished, and it all sounds way better.

Last port of call has to be the de-esser.

I’ve heard how good the hardware version is, but I have to confess all the de-essing I’ve done up to this point has been with software, and with limited success if I’m perfectly honest.

So I start cutting frequencies and bringing the threshold down fairly dramatically just to find out where I am. Way off, it turns out...!

But that’s okay – it shows it works! So I treat it with respect, subtly A/Bing the lead vocal with it dialled in and out, and then with the rest of the group - and after five minutes or so I am starting to get my head around it and realise it’s not only very easy to use, it’s again a surgical tool. I have threshold at -2.3dB and this is de-essing at around 7kHz – it’s subtle, but without it, I suddenly can’t bear the sibilance.

Very impressive.

And with the Dave Derr conversation still in the back of my mind, I decide to stick the de-esser on the kit to try and ‘de-ess’ the cymbals – within a stereo buss I’m not sure this is ideal, it’d be way better on just overheads, surely – but wow, does it work. I find it takes out the real nastiness in those trickier high frequencies without affecting the core sound of the drum buss. It tames them, I guess you could say.

As I bring up the track I realise the guitars are sounding way duller than everything else, which initially worries me until I realise I haven’t even worked on them yet! So I decide to do so with the rest of the track running (I’ve been working each buss in isolation so far). So I cut them at 80Hz, Drive up to 6.1 with Character at 5.0, with 2:1 compression (22% wet). I also open up the EQ but only to add a bit of weight in the low-mids, nothing more.

I notice my reverb tails are suddenly more evident, yet the instruments are somehow ‘closer’ to me - and again, that ‘glue’ has been applied. In under a minute, the guitar buss has been transformed, and this track is sounding really good.

Before I sign off, I decide to stick the Trak Pak on the master bus. I experiment at 2:1 and 4:1 ratios, both of which add punch and clarity. I also find myself driving it at roughly 20% with about the same level of Character (clockwise). It feels thicker still and chunky, and somehow a little wider, so maybe that’s worth a shot, also.

So in a nutshell, Trak Pak comes highly recommended. In under 30 minutes, I’ve been able to get to grips with a completely new and genuinely unique C1 channel strip, and it’s been a pleasure to work with. Each section is remarkably accurate and has been thought out to an extraordinary extent, and although I knew that was the case before I opened it up just by chatting to the two companies’ representatives about it, the proof is always in the pudding. And Trak Pak is the real deal.

I tweak the levels of the keys and then vocals, and everything has more warmth and presence and a definitive thickness to it. The top is phenomenally smooth and open, and I realise albeit with five channels, I am mixing analogue. That must be why everything is getting gradually louder..!

HIGHLIGHTS ++ Optimised for the Console 1 workflow ++ Sound and performance equivalent to the hardware counterparts ++ ELI available for the first time as a channel strip

SOFTUBE.COM EMPIRICALLABS.COM

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET merging.com/anubis

Merging Technologies SA, Le Verney 4, CH-1070, Puidoux, Switzerland T +41 21 946 0444 E anubis@merging.com W merging.com

NEUMANN

V 402 Mic Preamp

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There is a lot to be said for having a quality mic pre dialled in at input stage – even if your audio interface is excellent. In addition to cutting great vocals, instruments such as bass and guitars, synths, and even piano can benefit hugely from being run through something nice and analogue at the front end before hitting the digital domain. The V 402 is Neumann’s first mic preamp since the now iconic 476B – so it’s been a long time coming. But has it been worth the wait?

I’ve used a number of analogue preamps with a variety of microphones – and there is a lot of quality out there. I have to say, just having something physical to get tactile with is enough to excite me, and although there are an abundance of superb plugins that not only emulate but sometimes improve on some analogue circuitry, I prefer to add that stuff later, after the recording has taken place. And when I do record anything, it always goes in as close to sound at source as humanly possible, so I’m not one for crushing anything or even giving it much of a squeeze before it’s in the box.

So today I’m trying out the V 402 with a Neumann TLM 49 microphone with an emerging artist in Headliner’s HQ studio. I’ve not tracked with the TLM before, surprisingly – my mic collection includes an Austrian Audio OC818, a Vanguard V12, a couple of AKG C414s including the one with the gold capsule, and a few more – all of them of course are great sounding, but considering this is a Neumann unit, I’m going with a Neumann mic.

My audio interface is also right out of the top drawer – a Merging Technologies Anubis, and its pre is excellent, I should add. I find that it already allows for greater control of a vocal than most when I’m working

with artists, and it’s excellent for any instrument recording. Where driving a Neve 1073 will generate colour and offer character, the V 402 seems to have been designed with silky clean sonics in mind – so with an already very clean signal chain, I’m intrigued to see how much of a difference it will make to my sound and indeed workflow.

Aesthetically, I’m not sure I’ve seen anything as sleek and pro looking out of all the pres I’ve got hands-on with to date. A stunning anodised champagne coloured housing with red trim, extremely sturdy knobs that you feel you can trust right away, a nice LED meter, and shiny chrome buttons make up the front panel. It’s a fantastically designed piece of kit which oozes class.

The V 402 has a sizeable 60dB of gain along with switchable phantom power, HI-Z, 20dB pad, phase, and hi-pass on each of its channels - nicely laid out for all to see on the front panel. It’s a transformerless design, and it also has its own dedicated headphone amp which is a nice touch.

I plug the mic in at the back – there are two XLR mic in and outs, with HI-Z instrument inputs on the front

– and feed the output to the Anubis, and turn the dial. The first thing that strikes me is how quiet this pre is. I get the vocalist to run through a take, and I begin getting the gain structure as I want it, also dialling in the hi-pass filter – and as I drive the pre a little, it remains really quiet.

There is a presence in his vocal that I wasn’t getting without it, that is for sure. It also has this remarkable instant warmth – the vocal seems bigger and wider just running through this unit, filling the soundscape. I’m also really impressed with the air that the TLM offers – I can tell already that I won’t need to do much to this vocal in terms of EQ, as the top end is just there already. Also, as I push the vocal a little closer to the danger zone, the bright LED does its job and lets me know exactly how close I am to clipping.

We double-track the main vocal – and the artist tells me he found it easy to deliver a performance going through the Neumann as his vocal was louder and fuller in his cans.

Essentially, this is because headroom was no issue and I was able to give a loud mix with the vocal sitting nicely on top – not always easy to do without a good pre, which this V 402 quite clearly is. Very.

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NEUMANN

V 402 Mic Preamp

What you don’t need with this unit is a huge knowledge of how to use a mic pre – it’s very simple to get a great sound, and it’s just as easy to see when you’re driving it too hard. But the sound quality – that is the greatest thing of all about the V 402. And it’s only really on playback in the track that I realise just how great it is. The vocal – without my standard compression chain dialled in – is just ‘there’, and I find myself doing quite a bit less tweaking than normal in the box. Less compression, less aggressive EQ, even less dynamics as I’m so keen to keep it up close and personal.

The mic is most definitely a factor here, too – but this pre is very special, no question.

I decide to try a bass guitar through it – and this is another eureka moment for me. I don’t have a bass amp in the studio currently so have been relying on DI, and the Anubis, SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

as mentioned before, provides a great signal; but with the Neumann, I have another level of control as soon as I plug it in.

There is no boominess at all, and my sub isn’t screaming at me as soon as I play the low B string. I should add that the bass – as nice as it is for what it is – is only a Fender Squier, so we’re not talking high-end – but what I am finding is that suddenly it’s sounding more like a ‘real’ Fender – I mean that with respect, because I love this bass, I’m just saying that this thing is now suddenly punching well above its weight, and that is definitely down to the pre. There is more body, zero woolliness, and a little more punch – that’s the best way I can describe it. And as expected, when I come to dropping the bass into the mix, it’s sounding great before any further processing is applied.

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V 402 Mic Preamp

“The V 402 is a fantastically clean, rich sounding mic pre which literally allows you to get the best out of anything you put through it.”

My third test is acoustic guitar – again using the TLM. I’m using a Fender Dreadnought for this, and this is the first time I’ve listened through headphones. Once again I am drawn to the sound of silence within this pre – it is remarkably quiet, and also extremely clean. I then strum a few chords and play around with levels a little. Like it did with the bass, the V 402 provides a new level of control, as well as a natural warmth.

I always feel the urge to place the mic over the sound hole to get that perceived warmth when playing rather than on the 12th fret position, but I always end up rolling some low end off when I do! Here, a warmth and richness in tone is evident without sticking the mic over the soundhole which, I have to say, fills me with joy! And there is no trickery at play here, just decent mic placement and good gain structure. Then hit record and you’re away. The difference in the way the

HIGHLIGHTS ++ ++ ++ ++

Dual channel transformerless microphone preamp Two studio quality instrument inputs with very high impedence Switchable low cut removes rumble without signal degradation Easy monitoring mix with volume control for each channel

NEUMANN.COM

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

guitar sounds on playback is really noticeable, and again is helping me get ahead in the mix.

In conclusion, the Neumann V 402 is a fantastically clean, rich sounding mic pre which literally allows you to get the best out of anything you put through it. Its transparency is remarkable, as is its surprisingly tight low end, and as cliché as this may seem, it just seems to make everything sound much, much better. And that works for me.

REVIEWS

DL4 DuraPlex

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Late last year I did a review for Shure’s new, rather good SLX-D range of digital radio mics and bodypack. For the pack I used the instrument cable with a couple of guitars to check and review the system. At the time, they had also sent me a TwinPlex TL47 lavalier mic to help test out the body pack but no instrument or lapel mountings for this mic. With a lack of lapel clip and any other form of mountings at home with me, it wasn’t until after the SLX-D review that I took a trip to the warehouse and picked up some bits and pieces.

With the onset of the subsequent post Christmas lockdown, I was able to have a proper play with Shure’s flagship TwinPlex lavalier. This mic features a number of variants, sensitivity and cable-wise, but is essentially a side address, dual diaphragm condenser design that can be fitted with a choice of a flat or a presence EQ cap. I have fallen in love with the convenience of this mic, not to mention the broadcast quality sound, as I rarely sit still for long when I’m reviewing and video making! So having the SLX-D lightweight bodypack in my pocket and the TwinPlex Mic clipped onto my shirt has proved extremely convenient over the last couple of months.

Fast forward to March and I was asked if I could check out Shure’s new DuraPlex DL4 lavalier mic, a mic designed to satisfy broadcast needs but with a number of key features that position it very favourably in the stage and musical theatre sound reinforcement market. It also shows a serious commitment on Shure’s part to stop the European mic manufacturers having everything their own way. So feeling positively well disposed toward the TL47, and in the interest of keeping abreast

of all things mic related and the possibility of debunking those rumours that Shure only make great rock’n’roll mics, I took delivery of a couple.

DURA-BILITY If you’ve ever worked in theatre or musical theatre sound you’ll know that part of the challenge is getting the mics on and off the talent in such a way as to preserve as much integrity of the source without obstruction and interference.

Getting your mic as close to the talent’s mouth without it being seen, while all the time moving, getting contaminated with powder, makeup or sweat, is a tricky business.

Bearing in mind these mics are invariably omnis, I’m always in awe of those special breed of sound operators who are able to ‘dance’ those faders with millisecond precision so that only the words being spoken by any one individual are ever open!

means not only is it unaffected by sweat, but you can wash it in water if it does happen to arrive back in your hands caked in whatever! It’s also fair to say that being omni and more readily prone to feedback, having a presence cap for the end of the mic is a very interesting feature, but more on this later. The general feel of this lavalier is one of strength and durability; there is no actual exposed grill on the DL4, just a series of patterned tiny holes behind which is a tightly woven mesh to allow the audio to pass, or in the case of the presence cap, one small hole.

The DL4 is available in various colours to suit its application and comes with either a TF4 connector for Shure equipment or Lemo for other manufacturers’ professional radio equipment. Like many manufactured products these days there is an IP standard, IP57 which the DuraPlex conforms to for dust and water resistance. However in terms of microphones, very little of the DuraPlex’s competition does.

Enter stage left the Shure DuraPlex DL4. This miniature omni is waterproof and dust proof which HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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SHURE

DL4 DuraPlex

THE CABLE FABLE Engineers know that you’re only as good as your weakest link. It’s also true to say that quality cabling and how your audio chain interconnects is equally as important as the components themselves. RF techs and their number twos often take a huge amount of flak from all sides for costume malfunctions, drop outs, cut outs and a whole host of things that can and do go wrong when the talent takes on technology. So having the edge when it comes to how the mic’s audio gets to the radio pack via its attached cable technology is definitely a huge bonus.

One of the first things I noticed on the DL4 — and a feature it shares with the TwinPlex — is how strong the cable is. A common on-stage mishap is belt packs coming loose or more rarely dropping to the floor and slowly pulling the mic out of place. Or worst case producing a tiny break in the cable which produces resistance, poor audio, a microphonic cable, or a dropout, rendering the mic useless.

Another noticeable characteristic of the DL4 cable is how it loses any kinks or bends from previous placements, routing or taping; and this definitely makes for easy handling and persistent reuse. An absolute must for a tool you want to reuse again and again.

I have to say it, this cable is the strong and silent type!

Despite numerous attempts to extract some form of microphonic noise from the cable, I was unable to, and this was again the same for both the DuraPlex and the TwinPlex mics I have. The cable also has a coating which allows it to be painted with all the usual theatrical tones making it easy to hide and disguise.

MEMS THE WORD Traditionally, microphones have stuck to a familiar process of converting sound into electrical signals. A diaphragm with an attached coil, or a ribbon with a current passed through it move over a magnet and produce electrical signals which are then amplified in a couple of different ways: dynamic, electret, and condenser. MEMS stands for Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems and are miniaturised electret microphones within a tiny circuit board or chip. This allows them to be manufactured in a consistent and reliable way and also helps to keep them cost effective. Early and more widely available uses of this technology were in mobile SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

phones. But of course as with all technologies, silicon microphones have moved on to the point where they have similar frequency responses to traditional electrets and condensers.

This technology all adds up to a consistency in sound quality from one DL4 to another, something which has traditionally proved difficult to do. Many mics are often analysed to produce that matched stereo pair, and as I’ve found in the past from working in studios, an engineer will have their favourite, even from a selection of identical models!

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“WHEN IT COMES TO PRICE, DURABILITY AND CONSISTENCY OF SOUND QUALITY, THE SHURE DURAPLEX DEFINITELY OFFERS AN ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO ITS EUROPEAN RIVALS.”

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SHURE

DL4 DuraPlex

MAKES SOUND SENSE So what do the DuraPlex mics sound like? I’d have to be fair and say they don’t sound like anything else or don’t borrow any one single mic’s characteristics. I’ve always found lavaliers difficult to quantify as the same mic can (and does) sink or swim at the hands of the engineer using it. So in the absence of a theatrical production I have used both the TwinPlex and the DuraPlex on a couple of recent reviews that are available to watch and listen to on the Headliner YouTube channel.

The first which features the TwinPlex is the video: ‘How To Eliminate Ambient Sounds Using Oeksound’s Soothe 2’.

It is featured on the reviewer’s voice, not the singer’s voice, and only has a high pass filter at 100Hz and some mild compression. The TwinPlex sound really opens and shines when it comes to broadcast applications. It still retains enough depth and low end to give it that radio and podcast-friendly sound,

but this quality and transparency of sound could just as easily find itself at home on a film set or in a TV studio.

The second is on ‘Recording Guitars | Antelope Audio Zen Go Synergy Core’.

This video features the DuraPlex which also utilises just a 100Hz high pass and some compression, again showing just how transparent and open the DuraPlex is. There’s also a moment where I turn my head to read some notes on a key feature, which are on a table behind me, and although it’s noticeable that I’ve turned away from the mic, it’s still able to pick me up clearly.

The DuraPlex and Zen Go were used on two different takes: the first when I’m facing into the room where you can see the DuraPlex on the tie clip with a pop shield fitted, and the second where I’m more enclosed facing my computer screen in the corner of the room, clearly reflected in the slight changing

tone around the mic which beautifully conveys how well it works. And although it is only clipped to my shirt, I can imagine it would work equally as well concealed on true talent.

The DuraPlex comes with a presence cap which simply fits over the top of the capsule and gives you a presence boost of around 3-4dB at 10kHz, which could prove very useful depending on where the mic is attached or concealed. I found this little cap easier to get on and off in contrast to the TwinPlex’s two caps, which were just a much tighter fit and were harder to grip. All the video sound mentioned above was recorded using the flat response caps.

CONCLUSION The DuraPlex is a mic I found very useful and easy to use. It sounds good and comes with a whole host of attachments including a very neat little hard zipper pouch to protect it, as well as having a low noise floor and very good dynamic range.

While the sound of any given mic and the way individual engineers work is all a matter of personal taste, when it comes to price, durability and consistency of sound quality, the Shure DuraPlex definitely offers an attractive alternative to its European rivals. If you thought Shure just made great rock’n’roll mics, think again.

HIGHLIGHTS ++ 5mm omnidirectional subminiature design for discrete placement ++ IP57 dust-resistant, waterproof rated ++ Presence Cap included for tailored frequency response

SHURE.COM

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

DRUM RE-SYNTHESIZER

A revolutionary way to design your own drums – Backbone is your new, innovative drum designer for single kicks, snares, hi-hats, percussion, rises, hits and more.

Layer up to eight samples and shape them with classic subtractive synthesis, decompose samples into tonal and noise elements and re-synthesize samples to manipulate them in unheard ways.

steinberg.net/backbone All specifications are subject to change without notice. Copyright © 2020 Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. All rights reserved.

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ANTELOPE AUDIO

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Zen Go Synergy Core

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ZEN GO SYNERGY CORE

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REVIEW

ANTELOPE AUDIO Antelope Audio has long been associated with the more professional end of the market when it comes to audio interfaces and clocking: superb sound quality, multiple I/O options, FPGA processing, and sophisticated mic modelling are some of the features which have set the brand apart from the competition. The company has introduced a new compact interface that at £449 or less is half the price of its previous entry level interface, the Discrete 4 Synergy Core. So what has been sacrificed (if anything) to accommodate that kind of cost-effectiveness?

The Zen Go Synergy Core (ZGSC for ease of ID) is a bit like a baby Zen Tour Synergy Core, a desktop interface which has been available for around three years now but with a smaller desktop footprint and reduced I/O. The front panel features a large rotary control which in isolation controls the amount of monitor level to your speakers, and when you press it, it mutes the output signals. If you press it and hold it for a second or so it will also dim and then undim the signal.

When you press the small gain control once, it selects the first mic preamp; and twice, the second. Pressing the rotary with either mic pre moves between mic/line and instrument HiZ, and turning the rotary adjusts the input gain level. The middle of the three switches assigns either of the two headphone outputs, and main monitor output to the rotary. And pressing the little Antelope button exits you from the gain and monitor function but leaves whichever monitor output that you last selected assigned to the rotary.

The rear panel features two combination XLR/TRS jack inputs, two pairs of parallel outputs for monitoring - one on phonos, the other on balanced TRS jacks. There are stereo S/PDIF in and out and two USB-C connections - one to link to your computer, and one for additional bus power should you be using a laptop.

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ANTELOPE AUDIO

Zen Go Synergy Core

On the front there are two large ¼-inch independent stereo headphone sockets; the front panel also mentions the 64-bit AFC (Acoustically Focused Clocking) jitter management technology, supporting sample rates up to 24-bit/192 kHz. This is the same technology which is shared throughout the Antelope range in everything from their Goliath HD and Orion 32HD, and now the ZGSC.

What this ultimately means is, before you even load Antelope Audio’s accompanying Synergy Core software suite - and providing you have a Mac - you have a functioning USB interface straight out of the box. And not just any USB interface; this one sounds stunning, every bit the pedigree of Antelope’s high-end studio interfaces. I spent a good hour listening to some of my ‘off the shelf’ favourite pieces of music and acquired hi-res files before I even

thought about registering the ZGSC and downloading the accompanying software - or even opening up my DAW for that matter - such is the musicality of the ZGSC. I even started noticing things in pre-recorded songs that I hadn’t noticed before. The euphoria of a new device? Well, this is not the first new interface I’ve plugged in this year, put it that way..! So it’s clear that absolutely nothing has been sacrificed in terms of sound quality.

processing power of onboard FPGA chips with the suite of plugins in your DAW.

instruments and channels on existing projects in your DAW. As many other providers of products with onboard DSP and FPGA processing provide the means to use their plugins directly in the DAW, perhaps this is something Antelope will look at for future updates of the Synergy Core software? However, the good news is that the ZGSC is now fully supported with the new M1 Macs.

The Synergy Core Setting up the ZGSC is very easy.

Just log into or set up an Antelope Audio account, download the Mac or Windows installer, and follow the prompts. At the core of the ZGSC is its DSP and FPGA chips which provide real time FX processing of the Synergy Core software plugins used in the ZGSC control panel. It so happens that this is the same software available for the whole range of Antelope products which incorporates thunderbolt 3, 4 and USB drivers so you can use the

Sadly the ZGSC doesn’t allow straightforward access to the individual plugins directly from your DAW; there is a slightly more involved procedure of routing audio to the Synergy Core, so you can add the FX from within the interface. This is a minor point, but if like me you find a great sounding plugin, there’s a tendency to want to try it on other

CORE STRENGTH As we have all found out at some point or another, recording directly into our DAW using a bunch of plugins to control vocal dynamics and give a particular characteristic to the sound without increasing latency is not easy. The aim of the ZGSC is to allow you to assign a mic pre, a compressor, an EQ, and possibly even a gate if need be, all with next to zero latency and monitor in real time. I was very impressed with how quiet the preamps on the ZGSC were and how much dynamic range there was.

It was difficult at times to see this as a desktop bus-powered USB interface.

It has a depth and warmth of sound you associate with more powerful rack units.

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Recording acoustic guitar through a couple of different mic combinations was a good starting point. I used a 414 with the BA31 and the Stay Levin which is a very warm and in-yourface compressor, but at the same time gentle. For the second, I used a stereo pair of DPA 451s which I still swear by, but with the same plugins.

It was a real revelation hearing exactly how the sound changed as I made small adjustments in relation to the microphone’s position. It was also lovely to be using really open analogue sounding devices that had such a rich, warm tone. There are a wealth of additional plugins that you can add as you go should you wish, from the likes of SSL and other manufacturers, but you are provided

with some really good preamps, compressors and EQs straight out of the box.

I’m looking forward to the time when I can meet up with some of my musician friends so I get the opportunity to try some really good vocal recordings with this interface. I can really see the appeal of carrying, for example, the Antelope Edge mic with which you can emulate a range of vocal mics to use what suits. Hell, even if you’re just experimenting to see which mic suits a particular vocal style best, that combination’s going to save you a lot of time and money.

And if you’re new to music creating, then you’re going to learn a lot.

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“IT HAS A DEPTH AND WARMTH OF SOUND YOU ASSOCIATE WITH MORE POWERFUL RACK UNITS.”

Guitar Shop Heaven This brings me to the section which features the fully unlocked amp and cab models, no additional outlay required. You get 11 amps and 11 cabs, and there are also some additional chorus effects. And of course there’s absolutely nothing stopping you using your trusty FX pedals before you plug into the ZGSC. While all the usual suspects are available, there’s a certain quality about them; the sound is accurate, but more important is the way the instrument responds and behaves, almost like sitting in front of the amp and having the sound affect the vibration of the strings. A particular combination that demonstrated this to me was the Rock 22.10 with

the Green 4 x 12. It was uncanny the way the strings reacted to the gentlest of touches, just like a real amp behaves when you’re not in total control of those strings. And the level of sustain which sounded like it wanted to feedback if I just turned to face the speaker cab (which sadly wasn’t really there at all), takes me back to a time before children when I was forced to sell my last remaining Marshall 2204! The Top 30 Bright was another that had the feel of an AC30 as well as the sound; you know it’s an emulation, but it just has the sound and feel of an amped up Vox on a studio floor somewhere. There’s a Plexi59, a couple of Fenders, the Darkface, the Tweed Deluxe, two Mesa Boogies, an Orange 120, a

Burnsphere (which sounds like an ENGL), and several others including a bass amp, and Bass Supertube, which surely has to be the Ampeg SVT. The great thing about all of these simple amps and cab models is that they’re all unique in tone and incredibly simple to set up and use, which is exactly what you want from a songwriting suite of tools. They’re excellent, and of course once you have that inspirational moment and capture a great performance, there’s absolutely nothing to stop you from re-amping that guitar ‘til your heart’s content.

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ANTELOPE AUDIO

Zen Go Synergy Core

BEAUTIFUL REVERB Another really useful tool available from the Synergy Core interface is the AuraVerb application. This is a beautiful sounding reverb which you can use independently of the recording chain for vocal monitoring and headphone sends should you wish to. You could include it on the DAW’s return channels with guitar and anything else you need to add that touch of ambience to a session, but there is also comprehensive routing so that it can be included as part of your recorded sound, should you wish.

There are a wealth of reverbs out there, and I have spent hours selecting just a small number of presets and creating a few of my own in various reverb plugins that work for me. Strangely, I spent just a minute or so playing with the settings on the AuraVerb and couldn’t find a setting I didn’t like! Even easier, it also comes with a number of factory presets that serve as great starting points.

CONCLUSION It’s interesting how some pieces of equipment, however simplistic, can just inspire you to go on and create. I think this is very much one of those occasions. It’s super easy to use whether you’re plugging in a mic of your own or utilising one of Antelope’s modelling mics, and this is the perfect interface to throw in a rucksack and go capture a great performance. However, it’s equally at home on your desktop, free from complicated routing and clearly focused on the task of creating music. The exceptional guitar amp modelling plugins at zero latency are not only a joy to work with but are, dare I say, some of the best amp and cab emulations I have ever played with, and are themselves a source of great inspiration.

If you’re looking for a compact, uncluttered, easy to use USB interface that sounds like a big studio interface, which provides you with a collection of truly great sounding vintage analogue front end equipment to enhance your recordings, together with a studio full of authentic sounding guitar amps and cabs, then you need the Zen Go Synergy Core.

HIGHLIGHTS ++ ++ ++ ++

Class-leading AD/DA conversion with up to 127dB headroom 64-bit Acoustically Focused Clocking (AFC) technology Powered by USB connection Includes 37 Synergy Core FX modelled after classic analogue gear

EN.ANTELOPEAUDIO.COM

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

DEFY THE ELEMENTS. OMNIDIRECTIONAL WATERPROOF SUBMINIATURE MICROPHONE DuraPlex subminiature lavalier and headset microphones are consistent, long-lasting, and resistant to dust, dirt, water, and sweat. Offering professional-quality audio for film, broadcast, speech, theatre, and performance applications, DuraPlex is perfect for everyday situations but excels in the harshest environments. Capture every moment with confidence. Rain, or shine.

shure.com © 2020 Shure Incorporated. See shure.com/trademarks.

SENNHEISER

IE 100 PRO

During all my years mixing live sound, it’s inevitable that I should acquire a couple of sets of custom IEMs along the way. I am often asked by bands and artists that are thinking about IEMs but don’t want to shell out the best part of a grand for something they may not like or can’t get used to.

The simple answer has always been, ‘you get what you pay for’, but that might be about to change.

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I was recently fortunate enough to get my hands on Sennheiser’s new IE 100 PRO IEMs. In the box are a set of ears and a single cable to connect the two together, which features a Bluetooth unit as well as a small controller with on/off, connect, volume controls and a microphone, so you can use this with another Bluetooth device should you wish.

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You also get a separate cable so an engineer or musician can use the earpieces in the more traditional manor, say for instance from a mixer or an IEM body pack. There is also a handy little packet with a cleaning tool and a bunch of alternative buds to accommodate different ear sizes.

Now bearing in mind these units are the IE 100s, the entry level in a

REVIEW

series which already features the IE 400 and IE 500. I can’t say I was expecting too much, especially when they arrived already attached to the Bluetooth adapter. All preconceptions aside, I thought I’d start as they arrived, so I paired them up to my iPhone and stuck a bit of Pink Floyd on. To my surprise they didn’t sound half bad. I had to search around for the adapter you now need to plug up any audio output from a modern iPhone.

Just to make sure it was the iPhone’s internals that were at fault here, I refitted the earpieces onto the cable and plugged them straight into the iPhone’s little adapter, and low and behold there was a significant drop in quality from that experienced with the Bluetooth adapter. So far from being a sales gimmick or a bonus toy to sway your buying decision, it actually works, and works well.

I will apologise in advance for this, as it’s something I rarely do on account of the rather poor quality of the conversion and amp stage in modern phones, and unsurprisingly my near £1,000 of custom-built IEMs sounded uncomfortable. One nil to Mr. Sennheiser.

So to see if this could possibly be the device to accustom potential users to long periods of IEM wearing, I fitted the earpieces back up to the Bluetooth adapter and stuck it on charge. After home schooling was over, I took the opportunity to take a long walk down by the canal and

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regain my sanity, along with some of that contracted data allowance that never gets used. I could also take the opportunity to revise a couple of my playlists and reconnect with some past memories, as well as checking out some of the new artists the Headliner team have been interviewing and writing about.

After a good couple of hours, the IE 100 Pro was still going strong, and even with the phone in and out of my pocket, a random marketing call and a poor network area, there wasn’t a single Bluetooth dropout. Sennheiser claim a battery life of up to 10 hours and up to 20 in standby. Personally I try not to spend more than a couple of hours at a time with ears in, but I can’t see this being something that is likely to die on you unexpectedly.

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Also useful is the fact that the Bluetooth module, amps, batteries and controls are split between two evenly weighted and evenly spaced little modules, so when you take the ears out they hang evenly around your neck like a necklace without slipping one way or the other. Very neat!

With the useful range of earbuds available to fit every size and shape of ear, these IEMs create a comfortable full seal, and give you the kind of depth and bass that’s impossible from devices like Apple AirPods, and others of that ilk.

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK Around 18 months ago, I also had the good fortune of acquiring a set of Sennheiser IE 500s to try out. Equally small enough to comfortably fit in any ear and perfect for introducing IEM newbies to a better onstage sound. Sadly, in my eagerness to do just that, I lent them to somebody who promptly left them in a dressing room, never to be recovered!

It’s evident that there are many similarities to be drawn between the 500s and the new 100s. For a start, they look and feel - if memory serves me correct - identical in size, shape and weight. The fitting to attach the cables looks identical and on further investigation, I discover that the Bluetooth device is interchangeable between the IE 100, the IE 500 and the third member of this series, the IE 400.

The housing on my pair of IE 100s is black, whereas my 500s were clear so I could see the driver inside, but I’m absolutely sure this houses the same type of driver.

The similarities in terms of phase and detail are uncanny.

The overall sound however is similar, but not the same.

It could be because I’ve had no reason to wear IEMs of

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late, but I remember the IE500s being loud and having a slight dip in the upper-mids, so you could easily cope with higher voice levels and a more dynamic response in those frequencies. Suffice to say for the then price tag of £500 I thought they were possibly the best sounding and most comfortable set of ‘of-the-shelf’ IEMs you could buy.

The IE 100s still have all that rich bass and tight low-mids, but are brighter and a little more sibilant when you try to turn them up loud. If anything, I’d describe them as a little more Hi-Fi; perhaps a conscious decision to make them more universally appealing to a broader market!

I’m certain I’ll be carrying them around from now on for quick referencing and general Apple Music duties. I might even leave the Astell & Kern in the FOH rack just for system checking. But more importantly I’ll have some spare generics that’ll be perfectly capable of providing anyone who wants to try out in-ear monitoring with a really great sounding mix.

Now comes the rather surprising news on how much the Sennheiser IE 100 Pro Wireless will cost you. £129! Yep, you read that right. Should you already own either the IE 400s or 500s, you can pick up the Bluetooth adapter which replaces the cable for £87, and you can also purchase the IE 100s on their own without the Bluetooth adapter for £87. No more stressing about expensive generics getting crushed or forgotten; this is a stress-free price. Have Sennheiser got it right? Yes, I for one think they definitely have. With the IE 100 Pro, trying out the concept of in-ear monitoring just got a whole lot easier.

EN-DE.SENNHEISER.COM

ZEN GO SY NERGY CORE

Antelope Audio’s first bus-powered interface shrinks the gap between artists with access to professional studios and home creators, by making the 64-bit AFC™ clocking technology, discrete preamp architecture and Synergy Core effects processing more accessible than ever.

antelopeaudio.com

THE TURNING POINT FOR YOUR RECORDINGS.

TELETONE AUDIO

Postcard Piano

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Teletone Audio is a very new company which I discovered via a Facebook AD (true story) - and after listening to the demo of its first VI, Postcard Piano, I was instantly in need of it. Two weeks and three piano-led songs later, it had inspired me to create and collaborate with several aspiring artists using this extremely cool little lo-fi piano.

I even more recently saw that Scarbo - the company’s second VI - was released, so I got in there fast and made my second Teletone purchase. As I’d hoped, it is also an extraordinary VI library which fuses mood, movement, ambience, percussion, and a whole spectrum of colour which allows you to create anything from the darkest most haunting of tones to ultra delicate and uplifting soundscapes. A written review will follow, but today I’d like to take you through my musical journey so far with Postcard Piano.

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I should start off by saying that I started playing with Postcard Piano on a super compact Akai MPK Mini MIDI keyboard. Not because that’s my main MIDI controller(!) but because I wasn’t at my studio when I downloaded it; I felt like creating, and I had the Akai at home.

I’d normally have a fully-weighted Korg or a semi-weighted Novation in front of me, but by a twist of fate, it turns out that this is important information, because I have never ever managed to

find a piano VI which is anywhere close to playable when working with such a tiny keyboard. Until now, that is.

So before I dive in, be in the understanding that within 10 minutes of downloading this instrument and plugging in a sustain pedal to the MPK Mini, I felt like I was playing a real piano. That’s how good Postcard Piano actually is.

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UNDER THE HOOD So what does it do, and why do you need it? Well, if you’re into composition and you’re a pianist, I don’t think there is better out there, anywhere.

As one of my fellow musical collaborators put it, who is a great pianist, and a huge fan of piano-led composers such as Nils Frahm and Olafur Arnald: “Postcard Piano literally has every lo-fi sound that people are after at the minute”. And I’d have to agree. He and I are both fans of Spitfire Audio’s LABS instruments – particularly the Soft Piano – it’s excellent, and it’s

free, so what’s not to love? But Postcard Piano takes that sound and scope of modulation and playability to a completely different level. And it’s under £50 ($69).

As presets go, Teletone’s are outrageously good: from the very oldy worldy sound of the 1920 piano, moving through the decades to the 1958, 1969 and 1974 (my personal favourite) – and then the exciting curveball settings such as Bad Cable, Doppelganger, and Grime Bass – it makes for an unbelievably playable,

inspiring, and experimental palette.

As a writing tool, I instantly found Postcard Piano incredible – and that’s due to not only its phenomenal sonics, but its ability to take you on a journey with the expansive range and depth of controls. Each sample of this piano has been pitch shifted down a minor third and time-stretched, and as a result, it performs like no other.

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Postcard Piano

THE WOW MOMENT

Let’s walk through the interface, from left to right: first up is the Reverb section – and it’s very good. From Spring and Plate to Room, Hall and Church, all options are catered for, with a nice and responsive dry/wet knob. The next section contains Tube and Age – and this is like the magic sauce for me.

Tube is as it sounds; tubey! It provides warmth and a compressed tone, and you can also really drive the instrument using this. And Age is just brilliant – complete with the magnificent ‘Wow’ option, which adds an incredibly organic and nostalgic effect. Whether you use it a little or turn it all the way to 11, it can feel moody, seductive, emotive, atmospheric – awkward, even – I’m not sure one virtual switch has ever brought out so many adjectives!

Moving on – and this next section really helped when playing on the mini keyboard – we have output and sensitivity. Output is your stereo image, ultimately – which allows you to make the piano super narrow or as wide as the ocean; and the sensitivity is extremely accurate (again, evidence being the fact that somehow this little keyboard is bringing out real piano

playing in me). Talking of the ocean – crank up the Reverb and the next setting, Noise, and you’ll feel like you’re by the sea. Dial in 1920 with some Wow and Noise, and I dare you to compose something that isn’t nostalgic and/or tear jerking. So wonderfully emotive.

And Room allows you to add depth and sonic space to proceedings by ‘moving’ the mics in the studio virtually; the piano can be as in your face or distant as you desire. Then we have a Release Samples dial, and Sustain Pedal Noise, which is remarkably accurate also.

I did eventually move on to a fully weighted full-size keyboard in my studio after my impromptu home writing session, and that was like discovering Postcard Piano all over again. For one, I was finally off headphones, so I could take in the sound of the room – and I was able to soak up not only the level of width achievable, but the richness in tone and the extraordinarily accurate low end in this instrument – particularly that 1974 preset. Also, I could now hear way more intricately the level of detail

and dimension within things like Noise and Wow – and I found it genuinely mindbending. What a sonically astute piece of kit this is, and at a pricepoint that is achievable for aspiring writers and musicians, too.

Is there a downside? Only that you need the full Kontakt package to run it.

But that is the only slight qualm I can find, because from an engineering perspective, and as a tool for creativity, I am hard pushed to find anyhing more desirable on the market.

And if you’d like a taster of how it sounds, head on over to Headliner’s YouTube channel for our video review, where we also dive into Scarbo, Teletone’s second release, which has some welcome nods to Postcard Piano, but provides a whole other world of pad-laden colour and texture with a nice rhythmic underbelly. Put the two together and you’ve got a hell of a soundscape palette.

Teletone founder, Jeremy Larson, is most definitely onto something here.

HIGHLIGHTS ++ AGE button controls FX that takes the piano through the years ++ Dial in the sound of your studio with the ROOM mic position knob ++ Designed to create a sound that is both nostalgic and modern TELETONEAUDIO.COM

SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

Destino, Ibiza with the d&b GSL System

N E X T X N O W

At home in the most demanding club applications, a d&b system brings market-leading software and hardware to every performance. Night after night, this easy-to-use audio toolkit helps bring dancefloors to life. And, as d&b works hand in hand with the industry on innovative, patented technologies, the boundaries of what’s possible evolve. So, in shaping what’s coming next, the now becomes even more exciting. More than a sound system.

See what’s possible at dbaudio.com/club

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D’ANGELICO EXCEL BOWERY I spend a couple of hours with D’Angelico’s Excel Bowery acoustic guitar – examining its architecture, strumming some chords, exploring its playable neck, and tracking it in Headliner’s studio using Scope Labs’ new and genuinely unique Periscope microphone.

Today, I’m reviewing a D’Angelico Excel Bowery acoustic – and I’m going to be keeping it simple, but with a bit of a twist. The D’Angelico brand is a family business based out of New York City. The instruments it makes look super cool, with a strong reputation for build quality and playability. And rightly so; after spending some one-on-one time with this guitar, I will also add ‘inspiring’ to that list.

The Bowery’s C-shape neck is as good a place as any to start: it’s slimline, remarkably easy to get around, and smooth to the touch with a great aesthetic. You look at it, you want to play it.

The Bowery’s intonation is also stunning; the strings sit nice and snug to the fretboard, and as I strum out some chords with a pick, the volume of the instrument – especially

considering how light it is – is surprising. It also has that natural body to it, tonally, and the resonance of this guitar is extraordinary – that dreadnought shape lends itself to this kind of character, of course, but even so, this feels pretty special.

And I soon find myself beginning to compose something – as is so often the way when I tinker with a new instrument for the first time.

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I can also see really quick players enjoying this guitar – it’s so simple churning out lead lines on the Excel Bowery compared to most acoustics, largely due to its slimline neck, which is quite the confidence builder - and means your wrist is getting a much easier time of it.

For the touring guitarists out there, I should also add that the Excel Bowery’s Fishman pickup is spot on – although I won’t be focusing on that in this review because we’re miking up the instrument, it’s worth pointing out that when I briefly plugged it into my Vox amp head, it produced

a gorgeous clean sound without any hassle whatsoever and no EQ or processing dialled in.

Ultimately, plugged in, you get a tone that’s as close to unplugged as could be expected, which really does justice to the natural sound of the guitar.

“The intonation on the excel bowery is stunning; and the resonance of the instrument is extraordinary...”

RECORDING Recording acoustic guitar is a really subjective thing, and the results can vary dramatically depending on the approach. I often position a mic around the twelfth fret, six to eight inches away from the neck – but I’m sometimes tempted to shuffle up nearer the soundhole for that extra warmth, provided the guitar (and indeed microphone) are up to the job. A negative on either of those two criteria and you’ll be left with a wooly, muddy recording that becomes a real pain to fix in the mix.

Of course some people dive way deeper than this: two mics (one either end of the neck), X/Y setups, and so on. I’ve even seen five mics on an acoustic guitar setup, including a pair positioned behind the player. A bit overkill for me, but each to their own.

Today is a first for me – I’m recording the Excel Bowery using Scope Labs’ new Periscope mic. And this thing SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

is different, to say the least. Firstly, it looks like a periscope. Secondly, there are no polar pattern options. Thirdly, and most extraordinary of all, it has a built-in compressor.

The Periscope is an omnidirectional condenser designed for creative recording; signal is sent to its built-in compressor circuit, which is where it gets its flavour, Scope Labs says.

But any compressor I’ve ever used has adjustable threshold, ratio, attack... and the most difficult thing to get my head around initially when setting the Periscope up was the fact that there are no compression controls - the way you drive or tame this compressor is through mic position. And when you adopt a less technical and more ‘let’s create a vibe’ approach, you will soon start getting fantastic results out of this excellent little microphone.

I begin strumming with the Periscope positioned pretty close to the twelfth fret and stick on my headphones – I guess by default I am treating it like a pencil condenser, which I soon realise is my first mistake, because the gain from this thing is sizeable – and the compressor is kicking in really hard as the signal of the Bowery hits it.

Rather than dare move this mic closer to the soundhole, I realise it probably makes sense to do a left, heading down to the ninth fret - and this is where it gets interesting. The sound isn’t losing any thickness, and the compressor isn’t being worked as hard - and there is something cool happening. I’m not sure what that is exactly, but as I continue to experiment with mic positioning, I start to understand what Scope Labs is getting at: if you’re going to create with this mic, you may as well chuck the rulebook out the window.

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DITCH THE RULEBOOK About 30 minutes later, I play back several short recordings I’ve created using the Periscope, and here is what I find: when strumming, and Periscope is positioned over the twelfth fret, you’ve got to back off to about 12 inches or even a little more to avoid a super-compressed sound; and when you do, it’s fantastic. For a less weighty sound, drop Periscope down to the ninth fret: you’ll get clarity, and the guitar will cut through a mix better.

But it’s when I start to fingerpick that the magic starts to happen.

When recording picked acoustic guitar, I used to get very tempted to move the microphone closer to the soundhole for additional warmth – albeit perceived warmth because when you actually play it back, there’s always that bit of work that needs to be done rolling the ‘mud’ off at the bottom end.

However, with the Periscope, because the compressor is automatically dialled in, it’s reacting to the bold bodylaiden notes of the guitar quite differently, and creating a sonic that I have never experienced when tracking something like this. It’s as if I’m recording with a full signal chain dialled in – no doubt due to the Periscope’s compressor circuit - and as I move the mic left, right, up and down – closer and then further away from the instrument (including right over the sound hole) – the Periscope is giving me an array of different results. All of which are interesting and exciting.

On playback, not only is the sound clear and pristine – largely thanks to the quality of the guitar, of course – but I notice that what the Periscope is actually doing is complementing the signal it’s receiving, and doing something that makes not only the dynamics stand out, but provides a warmth without the woolliness.

Is it taking just a little of the top end away? Probably, due to the compressor. But I dial in a couple of dB at 14kHz (which is all I’m having to do in terms of EQ), and that

extra sparkle returns. And let’s remember, Scope Labs isn’t trying to recreate the air of a U87 here; the company is telling us right from the start that Periscope sounds and behaves like nothing else out there. And they’re absolutely right.

What I’m also noticing about the Excel Bowery is its ability to stay in tune during this entire process. That may sound strange, but during this experimental review, I’ve put my capo on and taken it off several times, and had it clipped on as high as the ninth fret, which is normally asking for trouble with pretty much any guitar. But no such issues here, which is really impressive.

At this point – and this is not to play one mic off against the other – I pick up my Austrian Audio OC818 large diaphragm condenser, which is one of my favourites on pretty much everything. I know it’ll sound extremely different to the Periscope, and they’re not meant to sound anything like each other, but I want to hear how pure this Excel Bowery sounds through a totally clean sounding mic and pre (everything is going through a Merging Technologies Anubis interface, by the way).

On playback, my suspicions are confirmed – it’s the sparkly top end and also the way the high mids cut through with such ease that makes this Excel Bowery such a fantastic sounding instrument for recording with.

Not to mention the overall warmth it delivers. Furthermore, the sound of the instrument itself fills my control room, which is a joy to behold.

Having moved into a new and hopefully more fruitful year, let’s hope that the guys and girls at brands like D’Angelico and Scope Labs continue to create such excellent instruments and tools that can help inspire the creative community – and in the Headliner studio, I’ll be excited to see what some of our aspiring artists can put together using tools such as these. Watch this space.

HIGHLIGHTS ++ ++ ++ ++

Single-cutaway dreadnought for max performance comfort Fishman Presys+ onboard preamp including LED tuner Periscope is the first condenser mic with a built-in compressor Periscope adds different dynamics to every recording

DANGELICOGUITARS.COM SCOPELABS.EU

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LEAPWING AUDIO AI Schmitt Signature

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We put Leapwing’s Al Schmitt Signature plugin through its paces on a variety of different instruments in our Headliner HQ studio...

20 Grammy Awards and collaborations with Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Madonna and Michael Jackson — this is what comes with the name attached to Leapwing Audio’s first signature plugin. Al Schmitt is a recording legend in every sense of the word - and Leapwing Audio, who entered the plugin game in 2015, have done extremely well to work with the recording engineer to recreate his brilliant sound in this new plugin — ‘echo’, not reverb, to use Schmitt’s terminology.

close to replicating his sound that has been so abundantly successful in nearly seven decades at the top of the music industry. A tidbit that must be mentioned: at the very start of his career at 19 years old, Schmitt found himself alone at Apex Studios with Duke Ellington and his orchestra.

Unable to reach the studio owner or head engineer, he said “Mr Ellington, I’m not qualified to do this.” Ellington patted his leg, looked him in the eye and said “It’s okay sonny, we’re going to get through this.” They then cut three songs in four hours.

Leapwing spent time with Schmitt with a view to getting to the essence of his work and to try and come

With deep attention to detail, Leapwing looked very closely at Schmitt’s studio gear, workflow,

and the characteristics of his sound; the subtle harmonics, the echos, compression and EQ. They describe the process as an “incredible journey” — meticulously going through his mixes and analysing many multitracks. The team quickly realised Schmitt had a few distinctive traits that defined his legendary sound.

And the main thing they honed in on perhaps comes as a surprise: a unique simplicity. Al Schmitt doesn’t use lots of processing, and has a restrained approach to adding just the right amount of texture to the music he works on.

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LEAPWING AUDIO AI Schmitt Signature

“IF YOU WANT YOUR PIANO TO SOUND LIKE A RECITAL IN AN OPULENT ROOM IN A STATELY HOME, LOOK NO FURTHER...”

So with that being said, when you open up this plugin in your chosen DAW, you might be struck by a particularly sleek and minimal design.

In honour of Schmitt’s less is more approach, this plugin makes a point of not bogging users down with loads of presets or unnecessary options.

The main variations you’ll see upon opening up the plugin are the ‘source’ options: Piano, Vocals, Bass, Strings, Mix, Brass. The options within each source vary depending on the needs of the instrument. For example, the piano has compression that you can adjust, whereas the strings do not.

This is to reflect the piano being a much larger instrument with more harmonic characteristics to play around with. If you select Mix, you will see the most options, including Sub Boost, Mid Level, Air Boost and several more.

So how does it sound? In a word, stunning. I have no doubt that Schmitt will be very proud of what Leapwing Audio have achieved here in a digital plugin. I first tested it on one of my absolute favourite VIs, the Soft Piano from Spitfire Audio’s LABS range. This particular piano plugin sounds pretty good without reverb, however, I always do add some reverb to enhance and experiment SPOTLIGHT JOURNAL

with the sound. And as I toggled the Al Schmitt on and off while playing, you really do notice a difference with the richness and depth being offered here. Especially when you sustain the notes, it sounds wonderful. If you want your piano to sound like a recital in an opulent room in a stately home, look no further.

Sticking with Spitfire LABS instruments, I wanted to hear how it sounds on something totally different, so went for the Dulcimer this time (emulating the stringed instrument from the 1900s). This time I even tried using the Leapwing reverb versus one of Logic Pro X’s stock reverbs, Enverb. And sorry to all the bedroom producers out there who love making music with a zero pounds budget, but you really do notice a significant difference. With Leapwing, the music feels much more organic and authentic, and switching to the Enverb it does suddenly feel a bit more synthetic. Very impressive results on a free virtual instrument.

Sticking with the theme of stock sounds from Logic, I opened up a square bass synth sound. I’m sure you’ll agree the stock instruments often do need an extra bit of love and attention to get them to sound how you want,

so I was very interested to see what results I could achieve with the Al Schmitt Signature. And I was instantly impressed — with virtually no tweaking at all, I’d gone from a laptop sound to a Moog in seconds! This time I set the source to Bass and enjoyed toying with the compression, body, and air level.

Again, you really get to experience the varying harmonic characteristics in this process.

On vocals, unsurprisingly, this plugin shines particularly bright. On an intimate performance with an aspiring folk artist, a touch of Al Schmitt on the acoustic guitar added flavour, while a wide and airy reverb on the voice added a truly ethereal quality to proceedings; and on a more compressed and in-your-face ‘belting’ vocal, a shorter plate kept everything tight and up, close and personal.

If you’re looking for a very high-quality plugin that will take little to no time at all to add to your workflow, Al Schmitt Signature deserves a close look at the very least; it’s fully refined down to a beautiful simplicity in both design and accessibility. Goodness knows there are a lot of reverbs out there, but this plugin fully justifies entering the market, and it could just be the missing piece to your sonic arsenal.

REVIEW

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HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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LEAPWING AUDIO AI Schmitt Signature

HIGHLIGHTS ++ ++ ++ ++

Six unique profiles individually tuned with their own parameters Carefully tuned harmonic distortion, different per profile Slick retina design with all controls on one screen Wide compatibility

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