Daws & Plug-ins 2015 by Future PLC

THE 1 Color - 0 Cyan / 100 Magenta / 99 Yellow / 4 Black

BUYER’S GUIDE THE BUYER’S GUIDE

DAWs & Plug-ins Guide 2015 In association with:

Produced by: International TECHNOLOGY AND TRENDS FOR THE PRO-AUDIO PROFESSIONAL

01 FCAMBGuide2015 Final.indd 1

10/06/2015 10:29

Introducing Pro Tools 12 ÂŽ

More choice, infinite possibilities

Power your music with the tools that power an industry. Take a closer look at avid.com/ProTools Take a closer look: visit avid.com/ProTools ÂŠ 2015 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, the Avid logo, and Pro Tools are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Avid_PT12_Ad_220x290.indd new tvbe template remade.indd 1 2

6/2/1517:25:38 9:06 AM 02/06/2015

CONTENTS

Welcome to the latest Audio Media International Buyer’s Guide, focusing on the ever-evolving DAWs and Plug-ins market.

Front Cover: The Avid S6 in Silverglade Post Production’s dubbing theatre

CONTENTS 28 Opinion – The Innovation Game 30 Feature – Soft Spots 32 Steinberg

Although the majority of pro-audio manufacturers will regularly find themselves under pressure to deliver new products on a regular basis – especially with there being so many trade shows these days, where visitors always expect something new – you could argue that the companies behind the many Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) out there have it harder than most. It’s not enough to simply release some new software and move on to the next project; the launch of a new version is only the beginning. Further updates, tweaks and improvements will need to follow, and you can be sure that your customers will require a helping hand getting their heads around the new changes. Therefore, the world or DAWs and Plug-ins can be a challenging one for both creators and users. And with there being so many options available – some of them offering more than just a few similarities, too – it can be tricky to make the correct decision. In our previous Guide, on Microphones, our experts recommended trying out as many models and brands as possible; when it comes to selecting a DAW, you’ll probably want to try and get it right first time, as mastering your chosen workstation can be a time-consuming process. To help with this, we’ve once again asked our software specialist Stephen Bennett to give us an in-depth rundown of the current state of play in this sector (Page 28), and this year we’ve enlisted the help of four experienced producers and engineers – Ian Palmer, Romesh Dodangoda, Katie Tavini and Ryan McCambridge – who were more than happy to explain their personal preferences, and offer a few words of advice. So if you’re still unsure where your loyalty lies, or you’re just curious to see what’s new, I recommend flicking through the next few pages, where you will also find promotional articles from manufacturers and a full directory of companies in this particular field. Also, make sure you look out for the two other Guides in our annual series coming later this year, on Monitors and Headphones, and Consoles. Adam Savage, Audio Media International www.audiomediainternational.com

MEET THE TEAM > Advertising Manager Ryan O’ Donnell rodonnell@nbmedia.com

34 Merging

> Editor Adam Savage asavage@nbmedia.com

AUDIO MEDIA INTERNATIONAL

Audio Media International is published by Jo Ruddock NewBay Media, jruddock@intentmedia.co.uk 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, > Head of Design London N1 8LN, England. Jat Garcha Telephone: 0207 354 6001 jgarcha@nbmedia.com www.audiomediainternational.com

> Managing Editor

1 Color - 0 Cyan / 100 Magenta / 99 Yellow / 4 Black

36 Source Elements

> Production Assistant Warren Kelly wkelly@nbmedia.com

37 Directory www.audiomediainternational.com

03 Leader & Contents Final.indd 1

www.nbmedia.com

The contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or in part, whether mechanical or electronic, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Great care is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication but neither NewBay Media nor the Editor can be held responsible for its contents or any omissions. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Publishers or Editor. The Publishers accept no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or artwork. © 2015 NewBay Media. All rights reserved.

June 2015 03

10/06/2015 10:29

OPINION

The Innovation Game Some would argue that modern Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) are in danger of becoming too ‘samey’, so how are manufacturers continuing to carve a niche for themselves in this increasingly competitive market? Here’s Stephen Bennett with an in-depth overview. Have you ever wondered why so many animals and plants sport similar features even though they are spread many miles apart and have never met socially? Biologists call this tendency of organisms to demonstrate a consistency of adaptation to comparable ecological niches ‘convergent evolution’. A similar trait is clearly apparent in the mature world of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), with most of the main players’ products looking more and more alike, featurewise, with each iteration, although some software does diverge from the paradigm laid out by the DAW’s common ancestor, Steinberg’s Cubase. Cubase set the general pattern of DAW workflow early on and most of the software on the market today still conforms to many of the original design concepts featured in the first version for the Atari ST. Cubase featured – and still features – a central arrange page where recordings can be captured in a similar fashion to the way engineers worked with multitrack tape machines in the past. The DAW is a flexible beast and most companies create their software from the ground up to be used for multiple tasks such as recording, editing, mixing, effects processing and the playing of virtual instruments (VIs) – which leaves software designers plenty of scope for innovation. Some DAWs, such as Cubase and Apple’s Logic Pro, have evolved from their MIDI-only ancestors and tend to be full of features that composers may value, while others were designed primarily as audio recorders – for example, Avid’s Pro Tools and Merging Technologies’ Pyramix. Some DAWs eschew the traditional ‘tape recorder’ paradigm and focus on looping and arrangement. The best-known software of this type is Ableton Live, which is, to continue the biological analogy, a duck-billed platypus among DAWs. Bitwig Studio, a relatively new DAW for Linux, Windows and OSX, is one of the few to follow in Live’s musical footsteps, but E-Magic’s (the original developer of Logic) first forays into the DAW world were with the Notator and Creator software for the Atari ST, both of which were built around similar concepts. Ableton Live allows the user to perform real-time pitch and tempo manipulation and has therefore become as much of a performance tool 04 June 2015

04-05 Opinion_Final.indd 1

as a recording system. Its close integration with MAX for Live (a DSP processing environment) means that users can get right in there and code their own audio processing tools. A programme that could arguably be said to be Live’s spiritual ancestor, the MIDI-only algorithmic composition software ‘M’ (originally released by Intelligent Music in the 1980s) has been resurrected, Jurassic Parklike, for the Macintosh by Cycling 74, the creators of Max/ MSP. Whether Pyramix from Merging Technologies is used for post-production TV and film, music this software will production, CD/SACD mastering and many more audio-related industries bite someone’s way – depending on the chosen ‘style’ of the head off on the toilet remains to be seen. virtual drummer. For demos, Drummer is perfect, Steinberg’s Nuendo, with its ADR taker but expect to hear the fruits of its self-generated system and sophisticated video synchronisation paradiddles on a hit near you very soon. tools, is designed from the ground up for audio post, while Cubase’s VST expression TOOLS OF THE TRADE feature is designed to breath life into orchestral The latest version of Avid’s Pro Tools now library programming and is squarely aimed at features an embedded cloud computing-based the composer. There is a trend for innovative collaboration system that allows composers and features from a particular DAW to eventually engineers to work on projects wherever they appear in other companies’ products, so DAW are in the world – and, if singing astronauts are manufacturers go to great lengths to attempt to anything to go by, off it as well. stay one step ahead of the competition. One of Pro Tools’ upcoming new features, Apple’s Logic Pro X features ‘Drummer’, the Marketplace, is a place to publish session which allows the composer to create authentic files, stems and mixes directly from the DAW. percussion tracks that vary – in a very human The International Guide To Plug-ins and DAWs 2015

10/06/2015 10:29

Whether this new ecosystem will help to sell more product remains to be seen, but as many of the most profitable audio projects are completed within Pro Tools, Avid is probably the bestplaced manufacturer to have success in this area. Merging’s Pyramix can capture audio on up to four separate drives simultaneously and the takes can be edited before all the recording has been completed, while the latest iteration of Cubase features some innovative compositional tools, such as Chord Track, Chord Assistant and Chord Pads. With the introduction of 64-bit processing, VCA mixers, pitch and tempo correction software, the bouncing of regions directly to disk and export of tracks as audio files, automation and efficient CPU processing, one may be tempted to think that most of the currently available DAWs have reached some kind of common evolutionary feature climax. However, all of the available software differs in the way they look, the Operating System and platforms they run on, and the sonic nature and type of their included plug-in instruments and effects. Workflow is a very personal thing; the choice of a DAW will often be based on personal familiarity with a particular product or based on the type of software that their collaborators may be using, rather than a focus on raw features. Those clever people at Steinberg were also the progenitors – in 1996 – of that most useful innovation, the audio plug-in, with their Virtual Studio Technology (VST) protocol. While many companies have since developed their own proprietary plug-in formats, such as Audio Units (AU) from Apple and Avid’s Audio eXtension (AAX), these mostly perform in the same fashion as Steinberg’s protocol. Because each manufacturer makes its Software Development Kits (SDK) open to all, it allows the big fish in the DAW world to take advantage of plug-ins created by smaller fry. This enables innovations

Chord Pads are one new feature of Cubase Pro 8

in plug-in design to move at a greater pace than is possible in the behemoth DAW itself, as the resources required to move from a great idea to a downloadable product are easily within the grasp of most programmers.

THIRD-PARTY PLAYERS In reality, the addition of third-party plug-ins, such as Synchro Arts’ Vocalign for ADR, which is often found in Pro Tools-based post facilities or Pyramix’s optional ADR package, can take up the slack where the DAW itself is lacking and many DAWs bundle third-party plug-ins to enhance the basic features of the software. Quite a few of the ‘standard’ features in modern DAWs, such as drum replacement and pitch and tempo correction, first appeared as separate plug-ins whose conceptual ideas – and sometimes code – have since been subsumed into the DAW. Major names in hardware processing and electronic musical instruments have also entered the plug-in market, with virtual versions of their classic equipment. This obviously makes a lot of sense where the original was a digital design, such as Eventide’s H3000 plug-in – an emulation of their vintage pitch shifting hardware – but there are many examples of recreations of analogue gear. While several companies have resurrected other manufacturers’ classic designs, such as the Xils lab emulations of the EMS VCS3 and Vocoder, UVI’s Emulator II and GForce’s Oddity and MTron Pro, some of the original manufacturers are also getting in on the digital act. The UAD platform is proving popular with those companies keen on creating emulations of iZotope’s Ozone 6 offers a complete mastering platform their own hardware, as the www.audiomediainternational.com

04-05 Opinion_Final.indd 2

OPINION

DSP card effectively acts as a ‘dongle’, making the software almost impossible to crack and the Universal Audio format currently sports plug-ins from most of the top manufacturers of hardware, such as Lexicon, Neve, API, Manley, Marshall, Tube Tech and Valley People. While some may feel this slavish emulation of older hardware demonstrates a lack of innovation, releasing the engineer from the limitations of using one or two instances of a piece of hardware opens up new creative possibilities for everyone. In any case, in tandem to these recreations, there are plenty of examples of exciting and innovative plug-ins being developed, such as Izotope’s Ozone mastering plug-in and the company’s ‘Swiss army knife’ audio restoration suite, RX. Innovation can come in many guises and even in the field of the now almost traditional orchestral library, East West is pushing the boundaries of what is possible – and available – with its Composer Cloud, a subscriber-based system that offers instant access to over 9,000 of its high-quality instruments. The composer and engineer now have available a wide range of recording platforms and processing tools. Though it may seem that the development of the DAW has converged to such an extent that there is little to choose between the competitors’ products, the very different workflows and focus on where the software is likely to be used means that there is still real choices to be made. The tsunami of plug-in innovation appears to show no signs of abating however, and the next few years of development will bring tools that are unheard of in our philosophy. The next stage in evolution of digital tools should further enhance the creative possibilities in audio production. Stephen Bennett has been involved in music production for over 30 years. Based in Norwich he splits his time between writing books and articles on music technology, recording and touring, and lecturing at the University of East Anglia. June 2015 05

10/06/2015 10:29

FEATURE

Soft spots With digital audio workstation and plug-in preferences a regular topic of debate among users, we invited four experienced audio professionals to explain their software choices.

Universal Audio has “really cornered the market on emulations”, according to Ryan McCambridge

The DAW market has arguably reached saturation point as competitors desperately try to outmuscle each other and stake their claim as the industry standard. As this struggle pushes software to become more and more homogenous, it can be difficult to find the right package. We have assembled four experts to help guide your choice; Ian Palmer, sound designer and dubbing mixer at Gorilla Group TV; Ryan McCambridge, audio engineer, producer and programmer; Romesh Dodangoda, producer/mixer at Long Wave Recording and Katie Tavini, producer and mixing/ mastering engineer. What do you look for in a DAW? Ian: As I have been a sound editor and dubbing mixer over the years, I look for a DAW that is good at both. I need something that will be quick and efficient. It means I only need one piece of software to be able to work. Ryan: I have been using a digital audio workstation professionally for over 15 years. The most important thing for me is reliability, as a lack of reliability costs money and time, which for me is non-negotiable. I also appreciate a DAW with a logical and efficient workflow, because that ultimately allows me to work faster and more efficiently. Katie: I mainly look for stability in a DAW. Having a system that runs smoothly with your DAW is a must too, as there’s nothing worse than losing work because of crashing, or a DAW running slowly when you’re in the middle of a session with loads of cool ideas to try out. Which DAW(s) do you rely on most? Ian: I use Pro Tools. I think it’s very good at both editing and mixing; it’s not perfect but it has been a great tool over the years. I also use it 06 June 2015

06-07 Feature DPS Final.indd 1

as it’s the industry standard. The ability for me to edit dialogue and send that session to be mixed is invaluable. That also enables me to work in any company without having to learn any new software. Ryan: I primarily use Pro Tools 11; I find it to be the most logical for those of us who came from linear formats. It can do almost anything you need it to but it doesn’t ever ‘auto-magically’ do it for you. I want flexibility but I want absolute control over that flexibility. The moment a DAW starts making assumptions for me, I have a problem with it. On bigger sessions, Pro Tools HD is a must. I use native Pro Tools a lot but I wouldn’t want to track a band live off the floor without HD; it’s the only platform that I know of that can get you there with the necessary stability. I’m enjoying Logic for MIDI-based projects. It generally seems to handle virtual instruments better than Pro Tools. Romesh: I use Steinberg Nuendo V6. As work got more hectic, I had to find a system that I could comfortably mix in the box; I needed to be able to do recalls fast and open multiple projects quickly. I have everything set up in a way that I can spend less time looking at the DAW and more time focusing on the music. Katie: For recording projects, I mostly use Pro Tools and Cubase. I have two different versions of Cubase – version 1.1 and version 5. I think for any audio engineer it’s important to know Pro Tools as it’s completely industry standard. The main reason I still use Cubase 1.1 is because, for MIDI, it’s solid as a rock. How would you describe the rate at which DAWs have been improving over the past few years?

Ryan McCambridge

Ian: I actually think sometimes DAWs don’t progress quickly enough. The addition of Clip Gain to Pro Tools has speeded up my workflow greatly. Why did such a simple feature that has been requested for years take so long to arrive? I do think that with hardware improvements, DAWs have continuously got better. I personally find new features easy to use as they are built into a pre-existing GUI and workflow that is solidly established. Romesh: The demand on the DAW has increased as more people rely on it now, so I think it’s important that there are improvements made. The DAW has become the centre of a lot of people’s workflow. Katie: Pro Tools 11 and Cubase 5 are my go-to DAWs for audio. Cubase 7 has a lot of really useful updates, and it’s a lot more user friendly than Cubase 5, but I have found it to be less reliable, which is why I’m happy staying slightly old school. Are there now too many updates? Do you find it hard to keep up with them all? The International Guide To Plug-ins and DAWs 2015

10/06/2015 10:30

Katie Tavini

where things are and what they are labelled, new icons, etc. But the basic structure of a “I actually think sometimes DAW is standard DAWs don’t progress quickly just like a mixing enough.” desk is. A bus might Ian Palmer be called an Aux or a Group track but they perform the same job. Ryan: To me, great tools are the ones that empower you, which usually is a product of your connection to them. Most DAWs have the same features and do the same things but each of them feels a bit different. I Ian: I find updates a little frustrating. Not in think people should use whichever DAW makes themselves, but when you have to organise lots the most sense to them and the way they think. of different software to do one little upgrade. The Ultimately, someone’s comfort with a DAW will combination of OSX, Waves and Pro Tools has far outweigh the advantages of the very minor been a fairly precarious path to upgrade on nuances between the different platforms. at times. Romesh: I think a lot of the DAWs out there Romesh: If my system is stable, then I usually have applications that they are really good for won’t update it for a while as I don’t have a lot and that make them stand out. Nuendo for me of time to be troubleshooting if I have a lot of is great because it is great all round for tracking, sessions I need to work on. If it starts altering the mixing and also working with video. It’s great way you work and it means you have to adjust to that there is choice out there so users can find fit the DAW, then it can become a problem. something that suits their workflow and what Katie: As long as a DAW does the job you they are looking to do with it. need it to, there’s not really much point in Katie: I think manufacturers are trying to go upgrading. There doesn’t seem much point in for an all-in-one package. It’s more noticeable upgrading each year just for one or two extra with things like PreSonus Studio One’s ability features which you might spend a couple of days to generate DDP files. It’s basically a DAW that learning and then never use. you can record, mix and then master in. Home studios are everywhere, and I think companies are Do you agree that some DAWs are trying to use that to their advantage. becoming too similar to one another? Should companies be doing more to set Are you a big plug-in user? Do you have themselves apart? any favourites? Ian: I guess that a combination of the two Ian: I love plug-ins and couldn’t live with out is a good balance. If I went into the Nuendo them. I use them extensively when I edit and environment, for example, I would have to learn Ian Palmer

www.audiomediainternational.com

06-07 Feature DPS Final.indd 2

FEATURE

Romesh Dodangoda

mix. My favourite editing plug-in has to be iZotope’s RX4. It’s just so powerful for cleaning up production sound. I really like the addition of the Dialogue DeNoiser component – useful if you cannot find some suitable noise for the DeNoiser to Learn.  For mixing I love the Renaissance plug-ins by Waves. The UI is simple and easy to use, plus they sound good. I use the REQ and RComp on all my dialogue tracks as my go to plug-ins for television mixing. Ryan: Universal Audio has really cornered the market on emulations. Every one of its plug-ins has a distinct flavour, which often isn’t the case with plug-ins. The AMS RMX16 has a sound that was so prevalent in the ’80s and it’s incredible when a plug-in can emulate the hardware so accurately that you’re instantly able to recreate that era. Their entire plug-in line is incredible. For me, McDSP is my go-to for everything else. They are incredibly forward-thinking with their plug-ins. They make them so featurerich that they’re unparalleled in the amount of control that they offer. Also, often the problem with plug-ins is that they fall apart if pushed too hard, but McDSP are musical even at extremes. CompressorBank, FilterBank, and the NF575 Noise Filter make it into every mix that I do. Romesh: I tend to use a lot of analogue equipment for tracking so when the audio hits the DAW, there is not a lot I need to do to the sound. However, if I do go to plug-ins, I’m a big fan of Universal Audio. They sound great! Katie: I’m not a heavy plug-in user, but my go-tos are Sonnox EQ, dynamics and limiter, and the Brainworx Digital V2. I love how transparent and natural sounding Sonnox plug-ins are, and I love the M/S processing on the BXV2. June 2015 07

10/06/2015 10:30

STEINBERG MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES GMBH

Nuendo 7: Steinberg’s Audio Post-Production System Gets Major Update Steinberg first showcased the upcoming release of Nuendo 7 at the 2015 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March. Since then the next iteration of Steinberg’s award-winning digital audio workstation has been making appearances at trade shows all over the world, highlighting new and enhanced tools and functionality around audio post-production and game audio. Nuendo 7 is scheduled to finally be shipping at the end of this month. 15 years ago, the Nuendo digital audio workstation first enriched the pro-audio market by introducing a new paradigm: to unite completely native technologies with peerless audio and surround features. Today, Nuendo has staked out an industry openness that empowers audio professionals to higher levels of productivity, and this is why so many post-production editors, film mixers and recording engineers are more than happy to rely on the advantages that this unprecedented flexibility brings. Tailored to the needs and requirements of film and TV post-production companies, Nuendo provides extensive surround mixing with one of the world’s most flexible mixing consoles. Keeping things simple, especially when working on massive post-production projects, Nuendo 08 June 2015

08-09 Steinberg Final.indd 1

lets you manage channel visibility by dynamically displaying only the tracks you actually want to see, as well as offering an array of channel search functions. With IOSONO’s Anymix Pro plug-in for advanced surround panning and upmixing alongside the all-inclusive ADR taker system with enhancements for voice and foley recording, major enhancements in loudness processing and proven editing tools, Nuendo boasts a feature set dedicated to audio post-production. With Nuendo 7, Steinberg have now extended Nuendo’s core competency by one: game audio. In previous years game sound designers have increasingly turned to Nuendo to appreciate its highly configurable program structure and the many sophisticated tools for creating and manipulating audio. Adding Game

Audio Connect, which allows easy transfer of audio assets to the Wwise audio middleware solution by Audiokinetic, has acknowledged this development. Other useful tools for sound designers and those dealing with a large number of audio files are the new Render Export feature that exports a free selection of audio files to a specified disk destination, and Render In Place for direct rendering within the project. Nuendo 7 has much more in stock for editors and engineers. One of the highlights of this iteration is the new ReConforming feature. Its re-conforming algorithm detects picture changes and automatically re-edits the audio projects accordingly. Also new in Nuendo, VCA faders assist in creating complex mixes for film and TV projects, allowing for advanced automation The International Guide To Plug-ins and DAWs 2015

10/06/2015 10:32

STEINBERG MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES GMBH

workflows by merging the automation curve of a VCA fader with the automation curve of a controlled fader or fader groups. Editing enhancements include frame rate support of 50 FPS and a new timecode entering scheme and automation curves, which follow the trimming of events. The redesigned Track List and Inspector allows for better readability, while the new VST Rack Zone offers a dedicated space for MediaBay and the VST Instrument Rack within the project window. Steinberg are hosting a number of Nuendo 7 demonstrations around the globe in the forthcoming months, making stops in over 20 countries. For a detailed schedule visit http://www.steinberg.net/nuendo7worldtour.

INFORMATION

(Manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HQ) Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH Frankenstr. 18b 20097 Hamburg Germany W: www.steinberg.net (US distributor) Yamaha Corporation of America 6600 Orangethorpe Ave CA-90620 Buena Park USA

www.audiomediainternational.com

08-09 Steinberg Final.indd 2

June 2015 09

10/06/2015 10:32

MERGING TECHNOLOGIES SA

Pyramix 10 |3D Toolkit for AV/Post/Music/Mastering A redesigned mix engine brings with it the possibility of building mixes into 3 dimensions… in a HUGE way. From all the 2D and 3D standards to immersive configurations of well over 200 speakers Pyramix 10 has become the IMMERSIVE workstation.

Working with audio in more-than-stereo situations has been developing ever since Walt Disney tried out something new with ‘Fantasia’ in 1940. Since that point, more speakers, better panning and more advanced workflows have been attempting to continue with what is the truly the ultimate goal of all recorded sound… to make the listener believe that they are listening to the “real thing”. Complete immersion has always been the holy grail of any entertainment technology. Pyramix 10 is a gift to those content developers who want to create with the intention of getting as close to this as possible. … And as Merging Technologies don’t seem to ever do anything in half measures, Pyramix 10 has a new bus layout which can work for any job from mono…. up to 256 speakers in a single array. PANNING IN THE BOX The idea came from a development meeting where a number of new speaker layouts had been requested by users and Merging were figuring out how to implement them. The product manager asked the question “isn’t there a way in which we can implement something that will avoid us having this discussion again?”, and from that a seed was planted which would inevitably grow into the new panning engine of Pyramix 10. The idea was to allow the user to position sound sources in a “room” without any need to specify the amount and the position of the speakers. Once the position is described on each strip, the user can then apply that position to a summing bus, aux send or subgroups. This means that any combination of speaker arrays in the same project become incredibly simply to manage. Stereo Reverb sends, LCR stems and 11.1 final 10 June 2015

10-11 Merging Final.indd 1

SELECTION OF SPEAKER PRESETS • Stereo • Quad • 5.1 / 7.1 • Dolby Atmos 9.1 • Auro3D 9.1/11.1/13.1 • DTS Neo:X 11.1 • NHK 22.2 • La Totale 30.2 mix busses can all work in unison without any thought or care from the user. In terms of layouts available, Pyramix has covered all the bases. Considering the pace at which these new standards have been released and adopted in various audio markets, this was a massive job in itself. And the coolest thing about using these presets is that you can change the layout of any of your busses whenever you want. Start in stereo and move to 9.1 without losing any automation or plugins in your mix. This means movement of current projects to new rooms and updates of old projects has now become infinitely simple to do. The Panner is also prepared for two very different types of content creation workflows. Most music, TV and cinema is created by panning sounds into various speakers using a method where a percentage of the total sound level is added into 2 or more speakers to give it a feeling of “location” in the soundscape. This works very

MULTICHANNEL ROTATIONAL PANNING Users can also create mixer strips of any size, so being able to control and pan multichannel sources is incredibly important. The Source Size and Rotation controls give simple access to controlling immersive sound files and mix them with ease.

well for these industries as it does not require the replay environment to have defined sizes. This basically means that a mix that works on speakers The International Guide To Daws & Plug-ins 2015

10/06/2015 10:33

in your living room will also work on headphones. And, this is the default manner in which the new Pyramix panner works. However, there are other audio industry sectors where content must be developed for rooms where the speakers’ positions are very well defined and where having a different, more “real” way of panning is already starting to create some major waves. Live events, museums, theme parks and other immersive spaces built with artistic intent, are all limited in how they can bring sound to a space, as they have limited to this “normal” panning concept. Switching a bus to Sized Room mode and entering the radius of a room/space allows the user to then determine a physical distance between each speaker. Then, rather than “pan” between speakers, the sound source is instead distance measured to every speaker in the virtual room. Essentially what this is doing is using the speakers as samplers in the “room” within the panner. The result is that you get a much more “natural” sounding placement in any room where you are able to place and measure your speakers. Merging has also added functionality allowing Pyramix to be simply and easily used for Dolby Atmos workflows. For those in the know, telling you that it is possible to create an “Object Bus” directly in the mixer which automatically removes the sound source(s) from the channel mixes and adds them exclusively to a free object track will hopefully be raising a couple of interested eyebrows. Designed to work seamlessly with industry-standard cinema mixing techniques using large format consoles, Pyramix has already been employed on a respectable number of Dolby Atmos releases. GO LIVE WITH OVATION Introducing 3D workflows, and especially when talking about our Sized Room Panning Algorithm, it wouldn’t be right if the Ovation Audio&Event Sequencer, also from Merging Technologies, wasn’t mentioned. Sporting the

www.audiomediainternational.com

10-11 Merging Final.indd 2

MERGING TECHNOLOGIES SA

VIRTUAL VS. SIZED ROOM PANNING Virtual Room: Uses normal panning concept where a sounds “location” in between speakers is a result of adding a percentage of the sound to each of the speakers. This is normally used as the resultant mix could be listened to in any room as there is no need to have the speakers at a specific distance from one another. Sized Room: Defines the location of the speakers with a physical distance between each other. Once the distance is known, then a panning algorithm which calculates the movement of sound through free space is used (-6dB / distance2). This is a very interesting way to pan when the user knows the location of the speakers their mix will be played through.

OVATION AUDIO & EVENT SEQUENCER A media player used heavily in live and events industries ranging from theatre, concerts and touring to installed AV, theme parks, cruise ships, museums and commercial spaces.

same MassCore VS3 engine of Pyramix fame, Ovation is a hugely popular audio server, mix engine and show control tool used by some of the largest live entertainment spaces in the world. Whether at the Imperial War Museum in London UK, Orlando’s Universal Theme Park, or if you were one of the lucky few to get to a Kate Bush concert at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, Ovation has been helping to create some of the most powerful soundscapes ever. With this new panning engine, Pyramix is able to create the perfect content for use in this live application system. And, since Ovation shares the same mix engine, the special bonus of this entire venture is that the whole panning paradigm made by the Merging team can be used in either post, or in real-time, critical live environments!

Merging Technologies have seen the future, and it is all 3D!

INFORMATION

Worldwide Headquarters Merging Technologies SA Le Verney 4, CH-1070 Puidoux, Switzerland W: www.merging.com E: info@merging.com Merging UK Offices Emerging UK ltd. 23 Easter Park,Benyon Road, Silchester, Reading RG7 2PQ, United Kingdom T: +44 (0) 118 402 5090 E: sales@emerginguk.com Merging USA Offices Independent Audio Inc. 43 Deerfield Road, Portland, ME 04101 T: +1 (207) 773 2424 E: info@independentaudio.com

June 2015 11

10/06/2015 10:33

SOURCE ELEMENTS

Game-changing remote recording, monitoring and file transfer Source Elements lets audio professionals work with clients and talent from all over the world in real time. Source-Connect offers high-resolution IP audio straight into your timeline. With Source-Live, broadcast your mix to anyone, anywhere and transfer quickly with Source-Zip.

Your professional, home, or portable studio can affordably record, collaborate, or monitor sessions anywhere in the world. Record with Source-Connect Source-Connect® enables worldwide real-time audio connections up to 7.1 channels with no per-minute charges, subscriptions, or line fees. Experience flawless direct-to-the-timeline recordings with uncompromising audio quality, using the highest quality low-delay AAC codec available. With Restore and Replace you have automatic replacement of your streamed audio with the original uncompressed PCM audio directly in your timeline’s existing edits. Remote Transport Sync brings you lock-to-picture for easy ADR and overdubbing. Source-Connect integrates with Pro Tools, Logic, Nuendo and more, and the portable, automatic configuration works with most networks. With ISDN bridging partners you are no longer trapped with running expensive lines - you can do an ISDN session from anywhere and any time. And Source Elements’ industry-first Surround-capable software opens your world to so many possibilities. Got questions or need help? With an industryrecognised incredible ‘above-and-beyond’ support offering, Source is available by phone and directly over Source-Connect to troubleshoot on demand. 12 June 2015

12 Source Final.indd 1

Monitor with Source-Live Video Source-Live® with Video gives your clients instant world-wide access to your studio – an insanely useful tool you’ll find yourself using more and more. Send your live mix directly to your clients: email them your Live link, and they can log on to your Source-Live Gateway and listen immediately in sync with your HD video stream from any web browser or with our free iOS app. Transfer with Source-Zip A self-extracting session archiver that speeds up internet transfers up to 10 times, Source-Zip® solves a specific problem: you need to send your audio session to another location, but don’t have the time or bandwidth it takes to send a large file. Use Source-Zip to compress your session by half (Lossless) or by as much as 10 times (lossy) and your metadata information stays intact. Also great for storing session archives using Lossless technology to halve the required disk space.

Notable sessions and clients: • The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Alex Heffes and Park Road Post conducted sessions between Los Angeles and NZ: Using Source-Connect allowed Alex to have additional support without the added expense of having that person flown to New Zealand. • James Lugo: “Source-Live has made my dream of being an international mixer a reality. Incredible software” • For Santisound, Source-Zip delivers mixes on a tight schedule for projects ranging from Avatar to HBO sessions. • Ben Patrick Johnson, one of America’s Top 5 voice over recording artists: “Source-Connect is proving to be an invaluable mobility solution for me”

INFORMATION

Download a free trial at http://source-elements.com/ trial or give Source Elements a call to discuss your unique needs. Source Elements LLC Address T: +1 312 706 5555 (US) T: +44 20 3519 2554 (UK) W: http://source-elements.com

The International Guide To Daws & Plug-ins 2015

10/06/2015 10:35