Resolution V21.7 November-December 2021

REPORT

/ AES TD1008: Streaming loudness / ISE in 2022: back and in Barcelona! / Resolution Awards 2021: all the winners

REVIEWS

/ Eventide SplitEQ: a new approach / Apogee Clearmountain’s Phases / PSP Saturator: back to the classics

REVEALED

/ Matt Colton: mastering master / Neve 88R: living with a legend / REDIAcoustics & NIRO

V21.7 | November/December 2021 | £5.50

The

Interview

Stephen Lipson

Unleash your creativity Introducing GLM 4.1 loudspeaker manager software For 15 years, GLM software has worked with our Smart Active Monitors to minimise the unwanted acoustic influences of your room and help your mixes sound great, everywhere. Now, GLM 4.1 includes the next generation AutoCal 2 calibration algorithm and a host of new features – delivering a much faster calibration time and an even more precise frequency response.

So, wherever you choose to work, GLM 4.1 will unleash your creativity, and help you produce mixes that translate consistently to other rooms and playback systems. And with GLM 4.1, both your monitoring system and your listening skills have room to develop and grow naturally too.

Find out more at www.genelec.com/glm

AWARDS 2021

WINNER MONITORING

Genelec GLM4.1 Software REWARDING QUALITY AND INNOVATION

/ Contents

38 V21.7 | November/December 2021

News & Analysis 5 6

Leader News News, studios and appointments 12 News Report: ISE in Barcelona Nigel Jopson takes a look ahead to the upcoming Integrated Systems Europe show, due to take place in Barcelona in February 14 New Products The best of the new products for the month, including DPA, SalsaSound and Audio-Technica

Stephen Lipson

Columns 18

Crosstalk: Rob Speight Rob takes a look at the AES’ TD1008 standard, which gives recommendations for Loudness of Internet Audio Streaming and On-Demand Distribution 44 RESOLUTION AWARDS WINNERS We round up 2021 with a look at all the winners of this year’s Resolution Awards — voted for by you!

54 Playlist In honour of Stephen Lipson’s role mixing the No Time To Die title track, we take a look at some classic Bond musical moments

Craft

28 Matt Colton George Shillings gets the low down on vinyl cutting and the changing trends of the mastering scene during an in-depth conversation with the Metropolis-based engineer 32 The 88R at Capitol Studios and British Grove As the AMS Neve 88R celebrates its 20th birthday, John Moore talks to British Grove’s Andy Cook and Jason Elliot and Capitol Studios’ Dave Clark about the console 38 Stephen Lipson Danny Turner talks to Stephen Lipson about his homebased studio, and mixing the music for blockbusters like No Time To Die and the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick

Technology

50 REDIacoustics & NIRO Nigel Jopson sits down with Peter DiAntonio of REDIacoustics for an in-depth analysis of the development of NIRO, a potentially powerful tool for studio designers

28 12 AWARDS 2021 REWARDING QUALITY AND INNOVATION

32

44

50

REVIEWS 22 23 24 26

Apogee Clearmountain’s Phases PSP Saturator Leapwing UltraVox Eventide SplitEQ

November/December 2021 / 3

MIX MORE The McDSP APB-8 and APB-16 programmable analog processors bring mixing out of the box right back into the box. Choose from a growing list of APB ready plug-ins, available in all the major formats (AAX, AU, or VST3). Sample accurate automation. Savable presets.

Instant session recall. You can spend your time recalling mixes with patch cables and traditional outboard gear, or you can spend your time mixing. Isn't it about time you got to mix more?

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P R O F E S S I O N A L

A U D I O

H A R D W A R E

A N D

S O F T W A R E

/ Welcome

Leader

John Moore

Editor/Content Manager John Moore john@resolutionmag.com

Editor-at-large Nigel Jopson

Contributors Mike Aiton, Dennis Baxter, John Broomhall, Simon Clark, Russell Cottier, Jay Dean, Gijs Friesen, Kevin Hilton, Tim Oliver, George Shilling, Rob Speight, Jon Thornton, Danny Turner, Phil Ward

It was a very good year, I guess...

Chief Executive Officer Stuart Allen +44 (0)7999 847715 stuart@resolutionmag.com

Chief Operating Officer — Publishing, Sales & Marketing Jeff Turner UK/Europe: +44 (0)117 318 5041 USA: +1 415 307 7337 jturner@resolutionmag.com

Director of Production Dean Cook The Magazine Production Company +44 (0)1273 911730 dean@resolutionmag.com

Finance & Accounts Manager Judith Clegg +44 (0)7977 104648 judith@resolutionmag.com

Printing Gemini Print Southern Ltd, Unit A1 Dolphin Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex. BN43 6NZ Published by S2 Publications Ltd info@resolutionmag.com c/o 221 Commercial, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Gardens, London, WC2H 9JQ ©2021 S2 Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher.

Great care is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication, but neither S2 Publications Ltd or the editor can be held responsible for its contents.

The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publisher. S2 Publications Ltd. Registered in England and Wales.

REGISTERED OFFICE Gowran House, 56 Broad Street, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol, BS37 6AG Company number: 4375084

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@resolutionmagazine

O

f course, this time of year will always be a time to look back on the 12 months just passed and further into the past. And what better way for Resolution to look back on the year just gone than with the announcement of our Awards winners for 2021 — which you’ll find on page 44 this month. Winning a vote isn’t everything of course, as politics often shows us. Thus, all the nominees this year — as every year — deserve our congratulations and praise for their excellent contributions to music technology. Some of which, it has to be said, was developed and launched in the most trying of times.

While on our side of the business, things are largely returning to how they were pre-Covid as the year draws to a close, the recent cancellation of the IBC show — due to take place in Amsterdam in early December — has shown that live events may not be returning to what we used to consider normal just yet.

However, as our news feature this month shows, we’re hopeful for a return to face-to-face meetings in Europe early next year with the Integrated Systems Europe show in Barcelona.

Here’s hoping that’s the case. Do check out our events diary in the News section for the latest information we have on shows due to go ahead, and their dates. Despite continuing and unfortunate problems on the live side of the business, conversations our team has had with a lot of music equipment manufacturers has proven to us that on the broadcast, post and recording side of the industry, business has been somewhat booming over the last 18

months. Here’s to that continuing into 2022.

Much of that boom has, it would seem, been down to the rise in home working, which we’ve discussed with many interviewees this year.

While some have relished it, and others not, it’s something that our cover star Stephen Lipson has been way ahead of the curve with — having worked much more in his home studio over the past three years than he has in the room he retains at Battery in London. Danny Turner’s interview with him gives a fascinating insight into why he began to make that switch, and his gradual transition into the world of soundtracks after his illustrious pop career — including his work on the latest Bond, No Time To Die and other projects with Hans Zimmer, such as the new Top Gun movie.

Echoing Stephen’s wish to be more flexible about his work, Jason Elliot (British Grove) talks a lot about his need to be flexible in his film and TV work — though he and the studio’s manager, Andy Cook, made a strong case for the ongoing demand for large studios and large format consoles when I interviewed them about British Grove’s AMS Neve 88R to celebrate that desk’s 20th Birthday. You can read their interview on page 32.

So, that’s it then, another year done! We’ll be back early in 2022 with a new Res — and working towards our 20th Anniversary, believe it or not. I know, I know, we don’t look that old…

Oh stop, you’ll make us blush…

I’d personally like to thank all our contributors, advertisers, and most of all, you, our readers for another year of support.

Onwards and upwards, eh?

Take care.

John

November/December 2021 / 5

News

Kemper adds doubletracking with Profiler 8.6

Kemper has announced the immediate availability of the V8.6 OS for the Kemper Profiler guitar amp and FX System. One notable effect addition to the new OS is the Double Tracker, which turns mono signals into a stereo double-tracked signal in real-time as if two guitarists were playing the same track left and right. Kemper’s methodology for the effect uses a dedicated timestretching algorithm to create the necessary timing variations (controlled by a Looseness setting) independent of the pitch fluctuations, though random timbre variance can be added to the effect using the Detune parameter. Additionally, a Stereo setting controls the width of the double-tracking. www.kemper-amps.com

Grand Bay Recording opts for SSL Origin

While many US production facilities saw bookings decline during the pandemic, Grand Bay Recording Studios in Tampa, Florida substantially increased bookings — thanks in part to the growing reputation of its owner Alex “MixedbyAlex” Romero. After months of 18-hour days, Romero has opted for Solid State Logic’s Origin analogue console as part of a re-fit, that will also see the facility add a new building that will house a number of SSL-equipped production rooms, utilising the SiX SuperAnalogue desktop mixer. On the upgrade, Romero believes his team noticed a change in the sonics in the room right away. “We all fell in love with it,” he says, “and now we can’t take our fingers off this board.”

Having worked with SSL 4000 E and G series boards at other studios, Romero says the Origin not only has SSL’s sound, but more reliability on its side. “Those old consoles had a sound, but there’s also a frustration that comes with them,” he says.

“Now, I wake up, come to the studio and turn the Origin on, and I have no doubts that when I hit the centre section Mix button it will work.” www.solidstatelogic.com 6 / November/December 2021

PSI Audio provides for immersive at MD Karlsruhe-based MD Productions relies on loudspeakers from PSI Audio for complex Dolby Atmos productions, using a system comprised of A23-M (L, C and R), A21-M (back and side surrounds) and A14-M (ceiling mounted), as the company works on increasing the immersive quality of documentaries. While formats such as Dolby Atmos are well established in cinema sound, they are rare in the documentary sector.

MD Productions’ Michèle Dutt explains that “Sound is feeling... You get the feeling of reality.

If someone is standing on a mountain and the wind is blowing, then the viewer has to experience that as well, the whole acoustic environment.”

“There is no DSP or digital technology that alters the [PSI] sound,” adds MD’s Philipp Weiss.

“As a result, the speakers are very linear and neutral, you can immediately hear mistakes and tell exactly when something is wrong and where the problem is.” www.psiaudio.swiss

Custom Consoles in Geneva Custom Consoles has completed the installation of two dual-operator Module-R Lite technical control desks for a major Swiss television broadcaster. The desks have been integrated into a control room at the network's Geneva studios.

The largest of the two custom desks is a 4m x 2.5m front-to-back L-shaped desk with nine bays including a 13U equipment storage pod, which forms the left-hand pillar. A 6U desktop equipment pod is positioned above this bay, set at a 45° horizontal angle. An audio production mixer is set into the worktop. The second desk is 3m x 1m front-to-back with five bays plus a

13U equipment cabinet forming the right-hand pillar, in turn supporting a 6U desktop equipment pod. This desk is fitted with three Ergotron-mounted 24” video monitor displays and two centrally positioned loudspeakers. Both desks are equipped with knee-level storage bays for computers and related equipment.

Widely used throughout the broadcast industry, Custom Consoles Module-R offers a high level of choice in terms of desk size, configuration and facilities plus the freedom to expand or reconfigure desks at any time during their working life. www.customconsoles.co.uk

APPOINTMENTS

Audio Animals installs PMC for Atmos A visit to PMC Studio London was all it took to convince online mixing and mastering specialists Audio Animals to install PMC monitors in its Dolby Atmos mixing studio. The company’s owners — cousins and engineers Paul Ashmore and Nick Burchall — were so impressed by the demo that they immediately ordered a PMC system comprising 15 of its Ci Series monitors. These have now been installed in 9.1.4 configuration that fully meets Dolby’s specification for Atmos.

“We chose PMC because we were quite

simply blown away by the quality of what we heard in the company’s new London demo facility,” Paul Ashmore says. “I was amazed by the sound quality and said to myself if I get this sound in my own studio, that would be incredible.”

Established in 2012, London-based Audio Animals have mixed and mastered with clients including French Montana, Flo Rida and George Ezra, as well as numerous Hollywood films such as Frozen 2 and Avengers: Endgame. www.pmc-speakers.com

Tieline adds Ravenna Support

Toad the Wet Sprocket in The Lab

Australian codec creator Tieline has embraced Ravenna with a new firmware release that adds AoIP support to its Gateway family of codecs. Tieline’s codecs specialise in streaming low latency audio over a range of wired and wireless IP transports and facilitate the integration of compressed and uncompressed IP audio streams. The codecs are often gateway devices in IP networks bridging between WAN nodes that may include the broadcast plant, other studios (inter-studio links), production facilities and live events.

Gateway and Gateway 4 codecs can be routed between between equipment based on standards like Ravenna, AES67 and ST 2110-30 as well as between devices using AoIP protocols like WheatNet-IP and others. www.tieline.com

Alt Rockers Toad The Wet Sprocket appear in Telefunken’s latest Live From The Lab video, where they try out its TF11 FET condenser and M80 vocal mic.

Founder Glen Phillips says the band’s “been switching me from mic to mic, trying out some of the top brands in the market,” before switching to the M80. “We’re loving it,” he adds. The ‘Lab series is tracked with Telefunken’s mics at its facility in South Windsor, CT. Multitrack 48kHz/24-bit WAVs of the sessions are available, with tracks labelled to give instrument and mic information for review by potential customers. You can see and hear the show at youtu.be/EJfyFY69BsI. www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com

TSL Products’ growth has led to two new senior-level appointments in the form Ian Godfrey as president of TSL Inc. (based at the company’s US lead office in Northridge, CA) and Head of Control Systems (worldwide), and Robin Adams, Worldwide Sales Director of TSL Products. Two and a half years after the acquisition of DNF Controls, that company’s founder Dan Fogel is stepping out of the company to pursue other interests; also, Tom Dickinson, who was responsible for helping bring the businesses together, has announced his retirement. Godfrey formerly served as senior product manager at Telestream and, prior to that he spent much of his career at Grass Valley. Adams will be a trailblazer for the brand as the primary individual to hold this global sales role.

Adams has enjoyed a successful career in sales spanning 20 years, most recently at EditShare where he held the position of Vice President.

Jigsaw24 has appointed Patrick Roche as an audio professional services engineer and Rolf Martens as an audio presales consultant. An experienced audio and visual specialist with 22 years’ experience, Roche joins the company from Kinly. Previous roles saw him as a sound editor, managing technical sales and working on projects and installations with pro audio and video systems.

Martens was previously Technical Supervisor & Sound Engineer at Voice Over Soho, where he directed a team of sound technicians. He also managed and developed studio infrastructure projects, and worked on tasks such as sound editing, track laying, mixing and mastering. He brings with him extensive Dolby Atmos experience.

“Audio is a pivotal part of our Jigsaw24 M&E business,” commented Jason Cowan, Business Director M&E at Jigsaw24. “As we continue to grow our audio business we will invest in great talent to support and add value to our customers.”

After its recent acquisition of Alchemy Mastering, London’s AIR Studios has appointed Nikki Affleck to the post of Head of Mastering. Affleck will be responsible for the day to day running of Alchemy Mastering at AIR and promoting AIR Studios’ new mastering facilities - currently under construction at its Lyndhurst premises.

November/December 2021 / 7

/ News

APPOINTMENTS Riedel Communications has appointed William Wong as the company's regional sales manager for Southeast Asia.

Wong joins the company with more than 20 years of experience in the broadcast video industry. He will be responsible for leading both direct and channel sales across the region. Wong most recently served in roles as senior sales manager and regional sales manager for Southeast Asia for EditShare UK. He earlier served in similar roles at Imagine Communications and Matrox Video, having begun his career as a product manager for Matrox in Malaysia.

"While offering renowned communications and real-time media network products, Riedel continues to innovate and deliver new solutions that are shaping the future of the broadcast and production industries," said Wong.

"It's an exciting time to be joining the company and bringing greater awareness of Riedel solutions to territories across Southeast Asia."

Lawo, the German manufacturer of IP-based audio/video systems and control solutions, has announced that Klaus-Joerg Jasper has been promoted to Senior Sales Director Middle East and CIS, immediately assuming responsibility for the additional sales activities in his new function. He will be supported by Alexander Yankovski, based in Moscow.

Jasper brings with him over 25 years of experience in the broadcast industry and joined Lawo in 2008 with an MA in Technical Engineering. He has most recently been focused on the Middle East.

“I am proud to be a part of the Lawo team; and I am happy that since my appointment at Lawo I have been in a position to deliver the best broadcast products and solutions to customers across the Middle East. Now I am excited to extend the range of customers to whom I can deliver the same level and quality of service and support,” says Jasper. “I am really looking forward to taking on this position, and I believe that my experience and expertise are a strong basis for growing upon our existing successes in the CIS region.”

Universal Audio has announced the hiring of Sandeep Gupta as chief operating officer, overseeing all aspects of the company’s business, including engineering, product, financial, sales, and marketing efforts. Reporting directly to CEO Bill Putnam Jr., Gupta has previously worked for Amazon, Yahoo!, Digidesign and Apple.

8 / November/December 2021

Lectrosonics hits new heights Sacremento-based production sound mixer Donovan Murphy has a taste for the adventurous, whether that’s working amid wildfires, following workers servicing massive structures, or going inside Folsom Prison. In these situations, his main rig revolves around the all-digital Lectrosonics D Squared family, including the DCR822 compact dual-channel receiver, DBSMD bodypack transmitters, and a DPR plug-on transmitter for his boom mic. This is augmented by time-proven Digital Hybrid Wireless gear: an SRc receiver paired with SMV and SMQV transmitters.

“I recently worked on a documentary series about rope access — crews who climb towers and bridges, that kind of thing,” he says, “I worked on the California portion in two locations. I’m terrified of heights [and] I certainly wasn’t going to go out there with them carrying my audio bag, so I was glad I’d be able to send dweedle tones to the DBSMDs we had on them to put them in record mode,” explains Murphy, referring the DBSMD’s ability to double as a stand-alone microSD recorder.

“I didn’t need to,” he adds, as “at 50 milliwatts output power, I was getting great signal at the nice, safe sidelines!” www.lectrosonics.com

Neumann binaural tech helps Fringe project Lark, a new international performance collective, have used Neumann’s KU100 binaural head to create their presentation of ‘I Feel You Apart From Me’ by Emer Heatley for the 2021 Dublin Fringe Festival.

Creative producer, Tilly Taylor describes it as ‘...a show about missing what you love. It’s about holding onto each other when we’re forced apart. As such, the story is told through a soundscape created using WhatsApp voice notes and other sonic textures, which feature alongside original compositions by Brian Fallon — and the KU 100 binaural head was crucial in creating a transformed audio landscape for listeners.

“The piece relies primarily on audio,” says Taylor, “so it was crucial that we used the right equipment to create a smooth and immersive experience. We used WhatsApp voice notes to ensure the recordings sounded like a real-life voice note, with

audio captured at an array of everyday locations, including rugby pitches, DIY dance floors, the seaside, on a train, on busy streets, in the bath, even in a festival portaloo, to create a sense of authenticity.

When the performance then transformed into a more ethereal and surreal soundscape, we deployed Neumann’s KU 100 binaural head microphone to capture recordings that placed the listener within the sound in a completely immersive way. ‘I Feel You Apart From Me’ is now available for booking. We can’t wait to travel with it to other venues and festivals!”

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/ News

Lawo projects win awards Lawo has won two industry awards that recognise new products and technologies. It’s HOME Management Platform has won a NAB Show Product of the Year Award in the category for ‘IT Networking/Infrastructure & Security.’

Launched in April, HOME is natively built on a cloud-ready microservices architecture, enabling users to connect, manage and secure networked production setups from the ground up, providing centralised access and control for all Lawo gear within a setup.

Secondly, it Zurich Opera secured an AVard for ‘Best Innovative Integration 2021’ for its use of an IP-based, near-zero latency setup to physically separate musicians, the choir, and soloists while uniting them on a virtual level at the hall. The soloists on stage followed the conductor on a screen, and the orchestra was replaced by 10 speakers in the pit. www.lawo.com

Nugen helps Vaudeville celebrate its 15th

Since opening in 2006, Vaudeville Sound Group — the London-based postproduction house for TV, film, broadcast, gaming and documentary work — has expanded to locations in Los Angeles (2013) and Vancouver (2020), and recently completed its 35th sound studio build — which accommodate 60+ creatives in various departments, including sound design and dialogue editing, as well as ADR and mixing.

“We are a talent-led group that works differently than traditional post-production facilities,” explains Daniel Jones, CEO of Vaudeville Sound Group. “In addition to our high-security post-production facilities in those three territories, we also create and supervise full audio post-production facilities for clients.”

Each of its studio locations relies on Nugen Audio’s plug-ins, especially Halo Upmix, which has proven particularly beneficial for Vaudeville’s immersive sound/ Dolby Atmos projects. This includes the world’s first immersive history podcast series, Amazing War Stories, which was completed using Upmix’s 3D extension. www.nugenaudio.com 10 / November/December 2021

ATC mix Jam & Lewis Volume 1 After nearly 40 years in the industry, the five-time Grammy-winning songwriting/ production duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, have released their debut album as artists: Jam & Lewis Volume One. As their pedigree demands, the album boasts guests including Mariah Carey, Babyface, Mary J. Blige, Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton and Usher. And, as modern taste demands, the team mixed their new tracks in immersive formats, using ATC monitoring.

“We wanted to mix the entire album in an immersive format, but we had never mixed for surround in our studio,” Lewis noted. “We had been impressed by ATC monitors, and the array of different ATC models and sizes made it possible to outfit our Flyte Tyme control room with the right boxes for an immersive system.”

That meant three ATC SCM45A Pro monitors to serve as left/center/right, two slightly smaller ATC SCM25A Pro monitors for rear channels, six smaller-still ATC SCM12 Pro monitors as side channels, and four ATC SCM12i Pros overhead.

“We’re always looking for a good mix with lots of detail that adds up to an effective whole,” Jam said. “The ATCs are great for that; they’re very true. They sound warm and pleasant and are easy to work on, but they aren’t hyped. They won’t make a bad mix sound good, so they make us work! But once we have things sounding good on the ATCs, we can be confident that they will translate everywhere else.” www.transaudiogroup.com

RND debuts limited edition Dual Shelford Rupert Neve Designs has announced a limited edition run of 300 5025 Dual Shelford Mic Pres. They will be twochannel units based on their best-selling Shelford Channel. Production, which the company describes as “the definitive evolution of the original technologies found in Rupert’s classic modules like the 1073, 1064 and 2254, advanced and refined for the modern engineer.”

The Dual Shelford Mic Pre utilises custom step-up transformers on the microphone inputs, which provide the first 15dB of gain, while also offering 72dB of low-noise class-A gain, a sweepable high-pass filter,

EVENTS GUIDE CES, Las Vegas

5-8 January 2022

the company’s well-known Silk Red and Blue circuit and the dual output level transformers originally developed for the Shelford Channel.

The Dual Shelford Mic Pre is now shipping worldwide in limited quantities, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $3,999 USD. www.rupertneve.com

MPTS, London

NAMM Believe in Music (online) 20-21 January

PALM Expo, India

ISE, Barcelona

NAMM, Anaheim

NAB, Las Vegas Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt Musikmesse, Frankfurt High End, Munich

1-4 February 23-27 April

Infocomm, Las Vegas

11-12 May 26-28 May 3-5 June 4-10 June

26-29 April

MIDEM, Cannes

7-10 June

29 April-1 May

PLASA, London

4-6 September

19-22 May

IBC, Amsterdam

9-12 September

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MADE IN THE USA

/ News

/ ISE’s new venue at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía

Integrated Systems Europe — big in Barcelona Exhibitors are signing up to take part in ISE 2022, NIGEL JOPSON takes a look at the plans for a new venue

R

egistration for ISE 2022 is now open, offering the international audio, visual, and systems integration community a long-anticipated opportunity to reconnect in person at ISE’s new home at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía exhibition centre — the second largest trade fair and exhibition centre in Europe. Six Technology Zones, set out over five spacious halls will welcome in-person visitors from 1st-4th February 2022. The ISE Conference programme runs from Monday 31st January through to Friday 4th February.

After 16 years being held at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre, the organisers of ISE — the world's largest audio-visual fair — announced in 2018 that Barcelona would become the permanent venue for the event for its next exhibitions. Pre-pandemic, with annual growth in ISE exhibitors and attendees approaching 10%, and the AV market forecast to grow by 5% per annum through 2021, it seemed eminently sensible to conclude that ISE was outgrowing its popular Amsterdam location. These plans took a hard knock from Covid, with the 2021 show having to be moved from February to June, and then replaced by ‘ISE Live & Online’, a series of two-day in-person events taking place in Barcelona, Munich, Amsterdam, and London.

12 / November/December 2021

Barca!

This hybrid 2021 event from ISE, combining live and digital content, nevertheless achieved 1,431

in-person attendees on Day 1, and 990 on Day 2 in Barcelona. Over 8,000 people registered for ISE Digital, which had 120 live sessions. It’s been a 17-year journey to get to Barcelona so it was bittersweet not to make the big bang we’d hoped for on our debut, but we know the value of live events for forging trust, deeper business relationships and driving business,” commented Integrated Systems Events managing director, Mike Blackman, “I hope this sends a message of confidence to cities around the world that live events can be safe and successful. All visitors within the venues in June this year had to provide a negative Covid-19 anti-allergen test result prior to entry, and wore FFP2 NR

/ News

facemasks inside the venue. Despite these stringent health restrictions, the turnout demonstrated that, for many, in-person trade shows are still a persuasive draw. After more than a year without events and exhibitions, we were excited and delighted to meet people face-to-face again,“ said Oriol Massague, field marketing manager at Panasonic.

Spread across five halls at the Fira Gran Vía, the 2022 show floor has been organised into five Technology Zones to provide a muchimproved visitor experience over RAI, which had begun to look a little cramped. With a motivational motto of ‘Rise up. Reconnect.

Ignite the future’, the wide aisles and easy-tonavigate layout of ISE 2022 is designed to provide both the AV channel and end-users with plenty of inspiration. It is very heartening to see that globally, events and exhibitions are returning to strength,” said Blackman. “We are delighted that we already have over 700 exhibitors confirming their presence at ISE 2022 and we expect more to confirm in the coming days.” Committed exhibitors include big names like Barco, Crestron, KNX, Kramer, LG, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony.

Sound Xperience

Audio shares Hall 7 with Lighting and Staging.

There will be three new demo areas covering lighting and staging (within the Lighting & Staging Zone), audio and digital signage (both outdoors). Taking advantage of the expansive facilities at the new venue, these areas will allow visitors to experience major multi-technology solutions in ‘real-life’ set-ups. A perennial problem for audio pros at trade shows is not being able to objectively and accurately

/ The 2021 show is scheduled for February 2022

evaluate new equipment; ISE has addressed this for the 2022 show with the ‘Sound Xperience’. Set just metres away from the Fira Gran Vía, a dedicated cinema complex offers 12 specially configured listening rooms to showcase audio “with depth, accuracy and pin-point clarity”. This initiative, in partnership with Eventos Filmax Cinema Gran Vía complex, takes advantage of treated screening rooms

/ Six Technology Zones will be spread out across the five halls

14 / November/December 2021

with a capacity to host up to 2,500 people, within a very modern movie complex, which includes 4DX theatres.

The redesigned show floor will feature a new Discovery Zone, highlighting 40 companies exhibiting for the first time. The numbers are lower than the 1,300 recorded in ISE’s peak year of 2019, but ten times higher than the number of exhibitors seen at ISE’s 2021 regional roadshows in Barcelona and London. A new development for 2022 is a paperless approach to visitor registration in the form of digital badges, issued via the new ISE app, which will also be a source of additional information and content.

“There will be many education opportunities for attendees to explore, including our CTS (Certified Technology Specialist) half-day workshops in multiple languages, along with member events,” said Sarah Joyce, Chief Global Officer, AVIXA. AV Career Day also returns to ISE 2022, taking place on Thursday 2 February.

Supported by AVIXA, CEDIA and ISE, this initiative is designed to showcase career opportunities and ensure that the next generation of professionals has the skills to meet the challenges of the future. ISE 2022 will provide plenty of opportunities for professional development through its five-day, multilanguage content programme. Combining a mix of paid-for and free sessions, To register, the 2022 thought-leadership scan the code programme covers a wide variety of industry topics.

Starting on Monday with two full-day conferences, the programme will take place on three dedicated stages within Hall 1.

Rise Up. Reimagine.

Ignite the Future.

ISE 2022 unites and inspires AV professionals to meet the latest challenges with innovative solutions.

The future begins in Barcelona.

Fira de Barcelona | Gran Vía 1-4 February 2022

A joint venture partnership of

Discover more iseurope.org

New Gear

New products A guide to the latest new hardware and software Trinnov Audio

D-MON upgrade

Trinnov Audio has announced a complete hardware and software refresh of its D-MON speaker optimisation and management range, which – alongside the ‘La Remote’ control system — we featured in Resolution V21.3.

The upgrades are designed to deliver new features that can meet customer and studio requirements as the music industry incrementally adopts Dolby Atmos and other standards to meet modern demand for ammersive audio. Effective from December, the current Trinnov D-MON

range, which consists of the D-MON 6 and 12 (six- and 12-channel units respectively) will be replaced by a single option. This new unit will be configurable and adaptable via software to provide between 6 and 18 optimisation channels as required, with upgrades available in increments of two channels. For some current D-MON owners, access to this extended functionality does not necessarily require new hardware, however. All D-MON 12 units sold to customers in either 2020 or 2021 will also be upgradable via their software from 12 channels (at 96kHz) up to 18 (at 48kHz) if customers so wish.

Also included in the upcoming software overhaul will be support for new Dolby Atmos formats (up to 9.3.6), while support for multiple subwoofers will now be provided via the unit’s Matrix bass management system. Also part of the package will be Ravenna/AES67 support (Dante compatible).

Trinnov inform us that all D-MON units sold before 2020 will have upgrade paths made available to the current specifications at some point during 2022. Rather than via software, however, these units will require replacement hardware; though the process will not require the return of the processor to Trinnov itself, and will be handled by local Trinnov resellers. At the time of going to press, no pricing for these upgrades — hardware or software — was available. Please check with the manufacturer or supplier for details. www.trinnov.com

Audix

DPA Microphones

Apogee

Audix’s latest largediaphragm studio vocal microphone, the A231, features a gold-plated brass band around the circumference of the A231 that hints at the capsule within: a 33mm, true condenser featuring a diaphragm with gold deposition all the way to its far edges. This produces an effective diaphragm area approximately 25% larger than that of a typical large-diaphragm mic. The company says its cardioid pickup pattern offers a predictable proximity effect and good off-axis rejection. The capsule feeds circuitry that utilises an active driven shield to protect the signal path from interference and capacitive coupling. An internal shockmount helps eliminate touch noise, enabling the A231 to be used across a wide variety of environments — from the recording studio to the live stage. The mic can handle 140dB maximum SPL with a 128dB dynamic range, while also offering a 12dBA equivalent noise level 128 dB dynamic range.

DPA Microphones has released a new accessory, the MS4099 Mic Stand Mount, for its 4099 CORE instrument mic — and is also shipping brown versions of its 4466 CORE omnidirectional and 4488 CORE directional headset mics (Resolution V21.3). A solution for mounting the 4099 onto any mic stand, the MS4099 can be used for ⅜” and ⅝” inch threads, and borrows its design from other DPA options. In addition, the mount can be turned for vertical or horizontal use and is cross-compatible with the 4097 CORE Micro Shotgun.

The new 4466 and 4488 headsets feature the brand’s 5mm round microphone capsule, also used in the 6066 subminiature headsets.

With a one-size-fits-all design and adjustable height and boom length, the headsets accommodate small to large head types, with a three-point gripping system for security. In addition to the brown solution, the headsets are also available in black and beige options.

Apogee has launched a new Bob Clearmountaininspired and designed plug-in. Phases features modelled plugin emulations of the producer/mixer Bob Clearmountain’s vintage analogue flanger and phaser rack modules and unique set-ups. The plug-in offers Presets based on Clearmountain’s personal settings and phaser+flanger combinations, including used from some of his most popular musical projects, as well as a Module Config to combine the sounds of the two distinct modules for “complex, evolving soundscapes”.

Expanded Settings Modules offer control over the effects well beyond what was possible with the original units. The software adds to the company’s Clearmountain line of software, which also contains Spaces (Reverb) and Domain (Signal Chain) offerings too.

www.audixusa.com

www.dpamicrophones.com

www.apogeedigital.com

A231

16 / November/December 2021

MS4099 & 4466/4488 Clearmountain

Salsa Sound

Studio Technologies

MIXaiR, an AI-driven automix system for pitch/court-based sporting events, enables you to automatically create an immersive listening experience using standard mic setups without the need for tracking or manual operation by analysing the signals of multiple inputs and adjusting accordingly to its ‘trained’ AI. The system can also be set up to automatically manage crowd, commentary and AUX-in feeds outputting as many different mix variants required — in formats such as stereo, 5.1, NGA, B-format — with each mix is normalised to your required loudness standard to ensure compliance with the target platform’s regulations.

This new version of MIXaiR transitions the technology from a 1RU hardware-based offering to a pure software solution, supporting all the major operating systems (MacOS, Linux, Windows, etc.) as well as VMs and major cloud platforms. This creates a scalable solution that can be deployed onsite, as part of a remote production workflow, over IP or in the cloud — with an AI that the company says has been “trained” using hundreds of hours of content from English Premier League and Championship games, to create a system that automatically recognises the significant audio moments in the game and can even automatically reduce profanity from pitch-side mics getting into the broadcast.

Consisting of the Model 792 central controller and the Model 793 control console, the StudioComm System incorporates an internal 16-channel architecture, providing direct support for a range of surround audio monitoring applications.

Audio level control and processing are performed in 32-bit programmable logic, which helps to ensure that excellent audio quality is maintained. With Dante digital and analogue audio inputs and outputs and an extensive set of operating resources, the system can be integrated into virtually any facility and support a variety of audio formats with their associated channel counts and arrangements. The Model 793 serves as the system’s ‘command centre’, and is designed to reside at a user’s location for quick access to all monitoring functions and a direct view of status information.

The Model 792 contains all the circuitry required to support the 16-channel Dante digital and analogue audio input and output signals.

The one-rack-space unit links with the Model 793 using a 9-conductor D-subminiature cable, while an integral web server allows fast and flexible configuration of the unit’s Ethernet networking, Dante, and analogue audio performance.

www.salsasound.com

www.studio-tech.com

MIXaiR 2.0

StudioComm System

Coda Audio

DirectOut

Audio-Technica

Coda Audio’s new immersive processor, Space Hub features spatial audio algorithms for the positioning and movement of sound objects, Space Hub can render up to 128 audio sources into 128 outputs to create 3D immersive listening experiences for in theatres, houses of worship, live venues and production studios. Space Hub will become an integral component of the company’s Space Immersive System Solution. The multi-core CPU system, in a 19”/3U rack unit offers low latency performance, with a reverb engine; Stereo, Mono and Aux (with fader per object) downmixes for subwoofers, fills, etc. and a redundant Dante interface; VST3, AU, AAX and AAX-DSP plug-ins for automation and Open Sound Control (OSC). The system is also PosiStageNet stage tracker compatible.

The latest system update for the Prodigy series adds new features. The PRODIGY.MP now supports the fully automatic mixing of different input signals — for panel discussions or multilanguage feeds at sport events, with control parameters that can help to meet even complex requirements, e.g. particularly reverberant event rooms. Also, its new TruePeak Levelmeter fulfills the requirements of EBU R 128, and allows reliable detection and display of intersample peaks. The PRODIGY.MC is now enhanced with Summing Busses, to sum several channels in a simple matrix with adjustable output level. DirectOut's MirrorMode, which is integral to both of the Prodigy series options, allows selected parameters of a ‘Mirror’ unit to be automatically aligned with a ‘Main’ unit, while Alignment allows immediate switch-over for seamless operation with the matching device configuration in the event of a failure.

Audio-Technica’s low-profile BP898 subminiature cardioid condenser and BP899 subminiature omnidirectional condenser lavalier mics are intended as direct replacements and upgrades to the existing AT898 and AT899 units. The new models are available in a number of different terminations (for wired or wireless use), with the BP898 available in four black-finished models, all with permanently attached cables and varying termination and power configurations; the BP899 options mirror this, but the omni version is also available in black or ‘theatre beige’ finishes. The low-profile design is 5.3 mm in diameter, and ideal for applications requiring minimum visibility, while in terms of design they are touted as offering higher quality cable-build and better corrosion resistance, improved connectors and two new windshield options.

codaaudio.com

www.directout.eu

www.audio-technica.com

Space Hub

Prodigy update

BP898 & BP899

November/December 2021 / 17

Column

Crosstalk Rob Speight

Keeping ahead of levels

B

How the new set of recommendations from the AES are a first step in shaping the sound of streaming in a metadata-driven world.

ack in 2010 the US Congress passed the CALM Act, which required the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish loudness standards to be applied to television commercials. This all came from the wellknown phenomena of having to reach for the remote control to turn down ads that were overbearingly loud in comparison to the surrounding programs. This standard has, over the past eleven years, become the basic standard across broadcasters (with a slight variation of one or two dB here and there).

One area of entertainment where this standard, or something similar, has utterly failed to take root is that of streaming and on-demand audio — think Spotify or Pandora for streaming and podcast downloads. For streaming, and especially music, each platform works to it’s own rules and often these rules do not do justice to the artist, especially when considering album normalisation as opposed to track normalisation, which unfortunately seems to be more common than not. I say unfortunately here because most platforms are, shall we say, shy about sharing exactly what they are doing to your music before they stream it — because this is tech and the tech industry is extremely guarded about their, erm, tech!

With this in mind the AES recently launched TD1008 — Recommendations for Loudness of Internet Audio Streaming and On-Demand Distribution. In it, the document contains ‘recommendations for establishing and implementing an effective Distribution Loudness for streaming and on-demand audio file playback’. Although the document and its proposed standards will be useful for content creators it is specifically aimed at the distributors and streamers themselves.

I sat down with John Kean, Rob Byers and Bob Katz from the documents writing group to discuss some of the implications and reasons why this series of recommendations is so important at this point in time.

“I’ve been an audiophile for many years and I’m a big fan of dynamics. As the years went on I found that it was getting really hard for me to make dynamic productions ‘compete’ with 18 / November/December 2021

more compressed material no matter what I did. A little bit of limiting, maybe a dB here or a dB there and then the next year I couldn’t compete with that and the quality just kept going down. So I became a big fan of working on getting platforms to normalise, which was not possible in the days of CD. But, hopefully it will be possible and is actually happening on some streaming platforms,” stated Bob Katz, mastering engineer and author of Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science.

TABLE 1

Defining distributor

One thing that the writing group, which consisted of a total of thirteen contributors from across the industry, aimed to do was really define who the recommendations were for as well as what was meant by the word distributor: “We’re defining distributors as entities in the delivery chain tasked with the normalisation of content loudness before streaming or download,” explained Rob Byers, ex-Director of Broadcast and Media Operations

the listener is in. The device and the listener then determine how they would like that played out,” said Kean.

Real world range

Photo credit: Jocelyn Frank

So how, I wondered, might this work in the real world? “Let me give you a musical example,” started Katz. “So, if you’re familiar with Steely Dan and Tool, it appears that the recordings from Tool have a large amount of dynamic range. It gets really loud and really soft, but that loudness change was performed by a fader after considerable dynamic compression was performed. So, it can be very compressed but

with a large loudness range or in other words what I call micro dynamically compressed.

Micro changes are very small and it sounds squashed, but the loudness changes are very large and it is those loudness changes that you might want to deal with when you are jogging with headphones on. The other example is Steely Dan. Many Steely Dan songs have very little loudness range. They get a little loud, they get a little soft, but they sound very ‘audiophile’.

That is because they have a lot of good transients. So their loudness range is small but their peak to loudness ratio is high.”

If these two examples were encoded streams

Rob Byers

at APMG (American Public Media Group) and current board member and mentor at AIR (Association of Independents in Radio) TD1008 has several goals, but it is stressed that these are recommendations, while recognising the evolutionary development of listening devices that currently, and will in the future, support Loudness Management using metadata encoded streams as specified in the ANSI/CTA-2075 standard. This standard is already supported by major manufacturers and in many consumer playback devices.

“My original desire was to make metadata a key part of the technical document,” explained John Kean, Senior Technologist (retired) for National Public Radio in the USA and current broadcast engineering consultant.

“But, I was convinced by the drafting group members that it was too early to put it into the document. We do have a section that explains that this should really be viewed as an interim document. It’s part of a developing process that will be, I hope in only a couple of years, superseded by a new loudness management system, which will not be at the point of distribution, where you set the encoding loudness and determine the dynamic range and peak level, it will be done at the point of content creation where everyone can create audio the way they intended it,” Kean continued.

This new way of distribution would rely on realtime encoded metadata in the stream or on-demand download that compatible devices could utilise to establish a loudness level for playback.

This would be “based on things like gain structure of the device, how big the amplifier and speakers are and what noise environment November/December 2021 / 19

/ Column

architecture in place for doing that,” agreed Kean. “But we decided that now is not the time.

We decided that we would get this interim document finished, which serves as the point of transition to this new world of audio metadata that is about to happen. In fact, it is already happening in a few cases. iOS and Android operating systems have had the capability for about four years and so a great number of consumer devices, tablets and phones are already provisioned for this, they just need additional software to activate it. I would also expect that shortly HTML 5 browsers will also have the capability. It’s not a technical issue that’s slowing them down it’s something to do with licensing that is currently being worked out,” said Kean.

Metadata will matter most

Bob Katz

John Kean

or downloads, the real-time loudness data could be used by the player to dynamically control the loudness of the piece — be it music or podcast — based on the user-selected environment. There are very basic implementations of this in many AV amps today in the form of Night mode, which basically rolls off a significant part of the bottom end and levels out the dynamics in an attempt to avoid annoying the neighbours. However, dynamic range control is envisioned to be much more intelligent and specific to locale with each user preset, combined with the device’s audio capabilities, resulting in a playback that adapts to the listening environment while respecting the creators intent when it comes to the dynamics of the piece.

“In a perfect world all the players would sense the ambient noise in the room and when the music or the podcast gets too soft for intelligibility, it would raise it up invisibly,” concluded Katz.

this does nothing for the end user. It is just loud and, in many circumstances, heavily compressed. Streaming music radio tends to take their stream from after the highly compressed FM transmission chain so it ‘sounds like radio’ but which, as we all know, takes little consideration of the original material’s dynamic range. Streaming album content is a whole other can of worms. As it stands streaming platforms tend to normalise music track-bytrack without any consideration of how or where it fits into a larger piece of work, namely an album. This can cause an album that is intended to have a large dynamic range to be flattened considerably.

“I think I can speak for everyone in the drafting committee [in saying that], as we were working through this -18dB is where everything landed,” explained Byers. “I mean all of the decisions where based around this -18dB number for speech. But that guided a lot of our decision making and we want to end up, I think it’s pretty safe to say, in a place where that target is much lower, where we’re down at -23dB, -24dB somewhere like that, and to get there we have to have the metadata and we have to have the devices aware of their environments,” he continued.

“That’s really in the offing, there is already an

Life after LUFS

This is completely different to how distributors (on the whole) and content creators deliver their audio today. For podcasting a nonindustry standard of -16dB LUFS +/- 2dB with a -2dB maximum peak is common, but of course

For podcasting a nonindustry standard of -16dB LUFS +/- 2dB with a -2dB maximum peak is common, but of course this does nothing for the end user 20 / November/December 2021

Everything in the document is, it would appear, possible now. It is discussion, adoption and implementation that is required to move the recommended standards forward. TD1008 is a stepping off point from the audio environment of the internet that Kean describes as, “…the Wild West, where people use whatever level and whatever amount of compression they want.”

The keys to the document, as mentioned by all three, are the speech and music levels — with speech having an anchor of -18dB LUFS and music having a track normalisation level of -16dB LUFS or -14dB for the loudest track on an album.

“This begins to move us toward the production techniques for video, which have for quite some time now been using dialogue as the anchor, so-called Dialnorm,” said Kean.

So as a content creator, mastering engineer or record label, I wondered what I would have to do to enable this new world of dynamic range control to be implemented by the delivery platform as it streamed my audio?

“You would probably put instructions into the file to describe your loudness objective. Its dynamic range, objective true peak level, what type of compression codec you use and so so.

That’s data that is already in the AES standards for file management,” Kean explained.

As the audio passed from the delivered linear high bit rate file to the delivery platforms lossy compression encoder, low level audio realtime metadata is embedded into the resulting file, based on the key data embedded by the content creator. Although at first glance these recommendations could appear to take control away from the creator, what they are actually doing is giving back that control, and with it the ability to get away from the horribly compressed and limited audio we are hearing across the internet today.

“I think audio metadata is going to be the biggest thing in audio in a generation. It’s going to be a sea change in how audio is distributed and heard by everyone,” Kean concluded.

AES TD1008: https://www.aes.org/technical/ documentDownloads.cfm?docID=731

Reviews

Apogee Clearmountain’s Phases NIGEL JOPSON sets the controls for the heart of the sun Bucket list

B

ob Clearmountain (Resolution V6.4) was a bit of a legend to analogue-era engineers like myself: his mixes for Chic, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams and INXS taunted us from CDs producers often played as benchmarks. It wasn’t just the hammer-like snare and ‘fullfrequency-range’ guitars — it was the depth and complexity of his mixes that proved a tough task to match. Songs seemed simple, but detailed listening revealed a lot of subtle processing, with reverb returns, backing vocals and all sorts of subsidiary elements each given a little edge to place them in the soundscape. Short delays plus phasing and flanging played a big part in this — and now Bob has teamed up with Apogee to offer a deluxe phasing and flanging plug-in.

The plug-in UI makes the source of inspiration plain — MXR’s Auto Flanger and Auto Phaser modules — not the clunky 19” rack Flanger/Doubler, but the much rarer ‘lunchbox’ mini-rack. Where the eight jack sockets were on the hardware MXR unit, there’s a Global Control section on the left side of the plug-in UI. The key to setting-up this plug-in is revealed by clicking here on the Module Config icon: you can select flanger or phaser alone, flanger feeding phaser or vice versa, or flanger and phaser in parallel. Above this configuration icon are three switches for Flanger and/or Phaser Low Frequency Oscillator sync to the DAW session's tempo; the modules’ Sweep Rate knobs can then select a musical interval from 4 bars to a sixteenth note.

Bob has taken the opportunity to specify a whole host of signal modifiers that would have been welcome in the old MXR units. Clicking a small chevron at top right of the Manual control opens a second control module to the right of both flanger and phaser. In addition to manual and oscillator control over the phaser and flanger sweep, you can additionally adjust feedback amount, LFO phase, polarity, and a high-pass filter with these extra control panels.

22 / November/December 2021

On the flanger side the BBD control allows adjustment of the delay range in milliseconds, based on delay times of classic analogue bucket brigade chips.

With the BBD at the 12 o’ clock (NTE) position, I found I could generate a really effective short ambience on rock guitar (with flanger sweep on zero, feedback around 5-7). Tweaking the time ms with the Manual control delivered a spookily realistic simulation of changing the blend on two amp microphones with a single recorded mic! In fact, I’ve decided this is THE secret sauce to thicken electric guitars; it can be so inadvisable to add conventional reverb to chunky guitar parts in a mix, this trick is a real bonus.

The sound starts to degrade and burble in an authentic manner as the BBD control moves further to the right.

The Tape Flange switch underneath BBD applies a fixed delay to the dry signal — ‘zero crossing flange’ — which adds a nice bit of depth to the sound.

The feedback and time delay (Tdly) have variable high-pass filters and polarity switches. At more extreme feedback settings the HPF is particularly handy to prevent ringing.

Unsurprisingly, considering the name attached to this plug-in, the twenty included presets are pretty useful starting points. It has to be said — modern effect plug-ins often need rather a lot of tweaking to sculpt the sound you actually want.

Clearmountain’s Phases is, on the other hand, satisfyingly easy to tweak. For example — just turning the LFO phase to 180 will introduce a pleasant stereo quality with most flanger settings.

Notch filters

On the Phaser extra control section, the Stages control determines the number of notch filters in the phaser output.

Turning it up adds that familiar ‘wobble’ effect of analogue units. On a rhythm part, keeping this control over to the left and adjusting the Polarity switches dialed-in a satisfying sense of tonal movement. The Tap knob in the feedback section selects the point in the all-pass signal path from where the feedback signal originates. Extravagant use can actually make the plug-in self-oscillate! If this proves too distracting, you can still get extreme phaser feedback by pushing the Analog button, which aims to sound more like a hardware phaser, with relatively attenuated higher frequencies.

Apogee Clearmountain’s Phases is available at $149 for AX Native, AU, VST or VST 3, is iLok authorised (cloud, computer or dongle) — and I ran it in Logic on MacOS 12.0.1. Production pros will welcome this plug-in as it fills a genuine gap in the market: a really organic/analogue sounding effect with extremely comprehensive and granular adjustment. It is the ‘Yang’ to Eventide’s ‘Yin’ Instant Flanger Mk II plug-in — but with many additional controls that actually make Phases useful as a static tone-shaper as well as a processor. The problem with many of the other already-available flanger plug-ins is that they are the equivalent of guitar stomp-boxes: a cheap effect. If you want to actually feature flanging and phasing on a key mix element, then Clearmountain’s phases delivers the sound quality and control required to feature subtle effects creatively.

VERDICT PROS

A flanger you can actually use on a vocal; Great tweaking options to fit the processing to the track; Nice stereo effects – you can almost make it sound like a MuTron Bi-Phase!

CONS

It can be a little hard to tell if the rectangular white buttons are on or off when the UI has been reduced to 50% (e.g. when working on a laptop)

EXTRAS Clearmountain’s Domain — his FX signal chain recreated “in a simple, powerful plug-in” ($349) and Clearmountain’s Spaces — a basic reverb with three programs and input processing ($49) www.apogeedigital.com/products/clearmountains-phases

/ Review

PSP Saturator These clever Poles have been pedalling tone-enhancing plug-ins for more than twenty years now. GEORGE SHILLING soaks up their latest processor ‘bump’ associated with tape. You can set a crossover frequency, then increase ‘Warmth’ to emulate a tape head ‘bump’ EQ shape. On the right is a separate High Frequency processor, emulating tape compression and HF loss. This also includes a crossover frequency control, then the Softness knob increases the tape compression emulation. These High and Low frequency sections both have level trims, so you can compensate for their effects or use this as broad EQ. Additionally, there is a soft-knee Limiter or soft-clip (additional) Saturator on the output section, operating at 0dBFS. These sound great if you find yourself pushing the output level.

Starting points

I

n analogue times, the struggle against distortion was real.

However, with digital, it’s a different story. Plenty of new plug-ins adding tone, warmth, crunch and distortion have appeared recently, with all kinds of clever and interesting processes. PSP were pioneers of such code with their Vintage Warmer — which many still find useful — and Mixsaturator. This new plug-in is a ground-up redesign of the latter of those old favourites.

The neat looking plug-in window recreates the layout of Mixsaturator, with a pair of VU meters above the array of rotary controls and buttons, and wood-effect side-cheeks.

The Saturator emulates analogue devices such as tape recorders and valve circuits to warm up and distort audio.

Three processes add harmonics, process dynamically and use dedicated filtering. Eight different modes provide all kinds of flavours from very subtle mix enhancement, to more extremely crunchy distortion.

The Biggest Knob

The largest knob controls the amount of overall Saturation or drive. Below is Shape, an eight-way switch to select the distortion mode, from Soft, Medium and Hard Valve, Warm and Modern Tape, Ram (a saturation curve bent like a ram’s horn!), Soft and Hard Clip. All can be used subtly, but all offer different colours that add character in different ways, depending on how hard you drive the big knob. This is easiest to hear inserted on a drum bus and hearing the different types of glue. The different styles are akin to different compression characters, and their attack and release settings.

On the left side is the entirely separate Low Frequency processor, which adds harmonics and non-linearities like the

A huge quantity of presets are supplied, many designed by celebrity professionals — like Michael Brauer, Steve Levine, Ronan Chris Murphy — and various musicians, DJs and composers who were involved in a lengthy beta process. The preset system is internal rather than using the DAW host, and settings end up in your Documents folder by default. In the plug-in they are usefully categorised both by designer and application. The Waves-style toolbar has undo/redo but only goes back one level. A resize function works by hovering and using your mouse wheel. However, I resized it so big that the resize button was no longer available (oops!) and then had to close and reopen the plug-in, which then crashed Pro Tools. Mouse-wheel scrolling through presets is painfully slow. This was version 1.0.0, though, so there are still bugs to squash.

The VU ref knob is hidden — unexpectedly — in the info pane found by clicking the plug-in name. This might have been better lumped with the other hidden panel at the bottom (more on which below), but it is a preference saved independently of the plug-in instance or session.

The input and output gain knobs can be usefully reverse-linked so that increasing input reduces output. Of course, there is a Mix knob here too.

Cleverly, an all-pass filter compensates

for phase distortion introduced by the filters, so blending wet and dry works much better than some older distortion plug-ins, and is therefore preferable to setting up external parallel processing where you might get comb filtering.

Frequency Authentication Technique

A hidden panel reveals FAT mode, which enables quadruple oversampling — reducing aliasing for major tracks, mix processing, or strong saturation when running at lower sample rates.

Also hidden here are HPF settings for side-chain and pre and/or post highpass filters, if you want to further sculpt the main saturation mode. Most useful is the Smooth adjuster which reduces harshness as it is increased.

I love the simplicity of operation pf the PSP Saturator; it’s easy to find a suitable style of effect and shape the top and bottom ends to taste. Even at extreme levels of distortion, there is something believable and wholesome about this. It can certainly smooth transients, but doesn’t just turn everything to mush. Some distortion plugins with settings such as “Insane” or whatever will provide plenty of ugly, rarely usable sound design or special effects settings, but the Saturator provides truly useful settings that are great for enhancement when mixing music. It’s especially suitable for drums, vocals, and across the mix, but also all kinds of other situations. It can sound pleasing whether used subtly or drastically. There are no complex graphs to study, but the metering is great. It’s a well-thought out processor which is extremely useful and does a fantastic job of sonic manipulation.

VERDICT PROS

Easy to use great sounding saturation effects; low latency; great value

CONS

Some manual reading required to fully understand the controls; one or two bugs need fixing

www.pspaudioware.com

November/December 2021 / 23

/ Review

Leapwing UltraVox BARRY RUDOLPH checks out another new plug-in from Resolution Award 2021 nominees Leapwing 4-second peak hold indicators. These are K-weighted loudness meters reading in LUFS — so -17 represents -17 LUFS. The faders are unity by default and very handy to deal with either very quiet or hot incoming audio levels.

These are essential for structuring a proper gain chain for recording with UltraVox. For the entire review, I imported into Pro Tools Ultimate HDX a dozen lead vocal tracks from different mix projects with lots of different styles of songs, It is a good assortment of artists—male, female, shouters, whisperers, rappers, great singers, and not great singers.

N

amed after a mid-70s British new wave rock band, Leapwing’s Ultravox is a vocal processor plugin — a complete, all-in-one processing chain for recording or mixing vocals. Its four, simple controls belie the care, expertise and time used ‘under the hood’ developing, refining and testing this marvellous plugin. This craftsmanship was evident the first time I used it in a mix. The goal is better sounding vocals for everyone no matter their recording engineering skill level. A good singer, great performance, a good (enough) microphone and UltraVox are all you need.

For recording, UltraVox, latency is low: 144 samples late in Pro Tools 2021.10 HDX Ultimate at 48kHz. It runs 64-bit and supports up to 384kHz (DXD) and in VST, VST3, AAX, and AU hosts/formats — macOS 10.13 or higher and Win 8 and 10 PCs.

Fantastic Four

The top section of the resizable UltraVox interface has a familiar frame with a Bypass button that, while bypassed, retains its latency, an Undo/Redo button, and A|B Comparison to quickly store two different settings. When recording, I used A|B to toggle between separate settings for quiet verses and loud choruses. There is a drop-down menu of 12 presets you can modify and then save to augment your preset collection.

The four processors are named: Compression, Harmonics, Air and Gate. They each have a single slider control located at the four corners of the GUI. These are four well-tuned algorithms that interact with each other to avoid attack/release time settings conflicts between the compressor and gate.

At the centre of the GUI is a circular ‘radar screen’ that sweeps clockwise; it’s an instantaneous histogram display that shows varying output level and the amount of gain reduction in a darker colour (if you have compression enabled) over about 25 seconds. I liked how the display fades out when there is no audio.

Left and right of the histogram are the Input and Output faders and meters with EBU R128 implementation and 24 / November/December 2021

Vocal Compressor

UltraVox uses a single band compressor with a program-dependent short attack time of less than 2ms and a long release time typically over 0.5 seconds.

The control sets threshold from -60dB to 0dB and there is automatic makeup gain.

I tried the compressor on a female Country singer’s lead vocal. I was looking for a super clean sound and with the compressor at -17dB threshold, I got a straight-ahead traditional vocal sound. The makeup gain worked well unless you crank the Threshold. I tried lowering the Input level fader and then turned Threshold down to about -34dB and raised the output level to match. I used the A/B function to compare both setups. It is a different compressor sound for sure but the Gate section doesn’t work as accurately. Since you cannot individually bypass any of the four processors, A|B is a way to compare two presets with and without one or more of the processors in/out.

Vocal gate

The UltraVox Gate is designed to reduce background room tone and, to a certain extent, inhalations and mouth noises that are especially hearable with close-miked vocals. Gate is actually a downward expander with a variable program-dependent medium-long attack and short release times.

For testing just the Gate, I tried it on a female Rock singer’s track for her verses where she sang at the bottom of her range and at a low level right up close to

the mic. I started with the “Pop Vocal Gentle” preset and adjusted it to suit. It worked great and never clipped off the front of words or closed down too early.

There was a little room tone and leakage from her headphones and, with max compression, it is still heard but greatly reduced.

Air and Harmonics is icing on the cake

Air is a 12kHz shelving EQ with a “custom curve to add crispness without harshness” You may boost or cut with this control. (Option-click any control returns it to 0, its default preset value.)

Air is useful in two ways: restore lost high frequencies from deep compression (+ values) and also to reduce brightness (- values). Although not a de-esser, Air is subtle and always used in my UltraVox settings. If your singer doesn’t have an “S” problem, Air always sounds great. I found it very useful for mixing when just a touch of Air made such a big difference by opening up the sound of a lead vocal.

Harmonics generates 2nd and 3rd harmonics and blends them back with the original using its wet/dry control. I tried Harmonics on all my lead vocal examples. My stand out use of UltraVox was for a Rock/Country song with a male singer. I started with the “Rock Vocal Hard” preset that uses all four processors — notably Harmonics set to 95. Again I used A|B to assess the effect of the Harmonics and I loved it. It seems made for this singer giving him just the right amount of grit and edge you cannot get with an EQ. Leapwing’s UltraVox is an easy-to-use plugin so well thought out in its design, you cannot help but like and use it as I do! Highly recommended!

VERDICT PROS Simple and effective processors; Good Results every time.

CONS

No bypass buttons for individual processors.

www.leapwingaudio.com

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Q with high and low shelving filters that have overlapping 10Hz to 20kHz ranges and up to 96dB/octave slopes. These two filters are fixed as shelves, but you can split them into transient and tonal streams and individually adjust the frequency point of their knees.

Six bands

Eventide SplitEQ BARRY RUDOLPH assesses Eventide’s new approach to equalisation

T

he Eventide SplitEQ (Mac and PC in VST, AAX and AU) is based on its patented Structural Split technology, originally developed for the modification and reconfiguration of dynamics in an earlier Eventide plugin called Physion.

Both Physion and now SplitEQ divide the incoming audio into two components or parallel streams: the ‘transient’ and ‘tonal’ signals and recombines them at the output. For an equalizer/filter, this is a novel approach for applying corrective equalization and/or creative tone shaping for enhancing, repairing, or even widening the stereo image of audio sources including finished mixes.

The implications are many: now you can boost/cut (using extreme values) and focus on very specific and tight areas without the typical 'collateral damage' associated with drastic audio surgery using conventional equalizers.

signals together or split them into separate views and either pre or post processing using controls in the Structural Spilt section at the bottom of the GUI (more below). The two curves (blue and green) are very close to the same color (visually, for me) and a good update would be to make these colours selectable preferences.

SplitEQ uses a beautiful-looking parametric

Next are six overlapping bands of precise filters with an extensive collection of controls available for each colour-coded band in the Band Editor.

The Band Editor has six filter types available for each of these six bands and, unlike the two shelving filters, each band's center frequency is the same for both transient and tonal streams; when you drag a node sideways in frequency, they move together. Filter types are: low shelf, peak, notch, high shelf, tilt shelf and bandpass.

All EQ/filters in the six bands are available for individual adjustment for the transient and/or the tonal streams or you may adjust them locked together just like a conventional parametric EQ. You can bypass individual EQ sections, link/ unlink and solo tonal or transient EQ'd streams, apply different Qs from a broad .025 to an extremely narrow Q of 40, and set individual band gain(s) of either stream.

Stereo audio

On stereo (only) audio tracks, clicking on the Pan button in the Split section changes the Band Editor into a Pan Editor so you may shuffle and spread the effect(s) of the transient and tonal EQs across the stereo field. Each band has a choice between regular L/R panning (intensity) or Mid/Side panning where the stereo width of the transient relative to the tonal is adjustable and you then preserve any offset between them; i.e. they move together when you make any subsequent changes. This is an amazing and evocative feature for me as a music mixer!

Split and display

The SplitEQ GUI has two faders/meters labeled Transient and Tonal for rebalancing these two components in any ratio. But the real power lies in the ability to do this microscopically in the frequency domain by individually cutting/ boosting gain in the transient and/or the tonal streams and in up to eight overlapping frequency bands.

The resizable SplitEQ GUI displays the energies existing in both the transient and tonal components as two curves superimposed over an excellent real-time spectrum analyzer. You can view the summed tonal and transient 26 / November/December 2021

/ The SplitEQ GUI clearly shows the changes to Transient and Tonal signals

/ Review

Structural Split section

Besides selecting the EQ/Pan mode changes, this section might be your first stop when setting up SplitEQ by ‘tuning’ the algorithm to the source audio. The Split Source drop down menu has: Full Mix, individual acoustic drum kit drums and cymbals, Full drum kit, electronic drum kit, various percussion instruments, bass, piano/synths, guitar, vocal and, when all else fails, General—the default.

SplitEQ includes a comprehensive library with over 150 presets in a drop down menu that will get you close and the A|B buttons allow quick auditioning of two settings with Undo/ Redo functionality.

The Split section has controls for ‘Tuning The Split’ using Transient Separation, Transient Decay and Smoothing controls — all explained well in the manual with details on exactly how to use them.

frequencies disappearing or have excessive phasing artifacts!

My workflow started with equalizing the piano track conventionally with SplitEQ's transient and tonal streams locked together. I used three bands for touch-ups in the low, midrange and high frequencies. Once I was good, I switched in Pan mode and experimented with hard panning left and right various tonal and transient streams. I used the Mid/Side pan for the mid-range EQ to spread the transient stream but kept the tonal mono.

What a new world all this is, and I can highly recommend jumping into it!

VERDICT PROS

A complete system for restoration, enhancement, and drastic audio surgeries; achieves EQ tasks that were formerly impossible. Resizable GUI; range of presets; unique stereo modes.

CONS

Latency, color-coding could use a preference panel; the buttons and faders are a little small; checking mono capability is advised.

www.eventideaudio.com/plug-ins/spliteq

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In use

I chose to set SplitEQ two tasks that reflect much of my mixing work — correcting problems and enhancing instrumentation. First up was the kick drum of an R&B song I was mixing, and which had very little subsonic energy. I found a preset called ‘Control Drumkit Boom’ that, when altered to boost rather than cut, hit the right frequencies for the task.

Normally when boosting low frequencies with an EQ, the low frequencies take on a boomy quality and experience a jump in (electrical VU) level. A carefully set multi-band compressor can help, but only to a certain degree — in this case this kick drum was high-pass filtered severely. After selecting Kick as the source, my Split tuning ended up being: Transient Separation at 100%, Transient Decay at 0%, and Smooth — the speed at which the algorithm makes the decision — at 0ms. I liked that there are solo buttons for the overall transient and tonal streams located right down next to the Split controls.

You should solo these to hear what the Split Tuning offers. I only used three EQ bands split between transient and tonal: +12dB @58Hz Q of 4.9 and mostly on transient energy, +3dB @ 20Hz Q of 1 on both streams but tonal had +9dB boost, and for the kick's attack, +9dB with a 12dB/Oct shelving band stating at 616Hz but without any tonal component at all. Not only did the bass drum sound 'reborn', the hyped sub-sonic is now tight with a minimal level jump.

As ‘happy accidents’ happen a lot with this plugin, I found it prudent to save my SplitEQ programming along the way as presets. The 131 parameters available for automation will give you an idea of how deep this processor goes into 'rabbit hole'. I love it!

Next, I went on to explore stereo processing of a grand piano track that was mostly monaural. Stereo mod in SplitEQ opened up an entire new collection of effect treatments for my Pop music mixing work. Early on, I learned it is best to check your work in mono — L+R, and flipping polarity to hear if you have any

Your Story is Our Story

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November/December 2021 / 27

Craft

Matt Colton The renowned mastering engineer goes from strength to strength with his magic touch gracing award winners and chart toppers. He tells GEORGE SHILLING some of his secrets…

O

n Matt Colton’s Metropolis Studios profile page is a telling disclaimer: “Due to high demand, some orders may take longer than usual to fulfil”.

This is hardly surprising, given Colton’s astonishing roll call of successes.

Recent projects include the Mercury Prizewinning album Collapsed In Sunbeams from Arlo Parks, the previous Mercury Prize winner 28 / November/December 2021

Kiwanuka by Michael Kiwanuka, the Manic Street Preachers’ No.1 album The Ultra Vivid Lament, Public Service Broadcasting’s recent Bright Magic album, Katie Melua’s Album No. 8, Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, Thom Yorke’s Suspiria, Paul Weller’s Fat Pop, and a huge list of other terrific albums and artists including two previous Mercury winners for James Blake and Sampha.

A trio of MPG Awards cement his place as one of the most respected and sought after mastering engineers in the business. With the resurgence of interest in vinyl, Colton has been perfectly placed to cut lacquers for plenty of projects, with his expertise in half-speed mastering, and his training and wisdom learned from the experts of the original vinyl era. As well as vinyl versions of recent releases, he has been drafted in to remaster the likes of Peter Gabriel’s first four solo albums for vinyl reissue.

Introduced to the concept of mastering by Mike Marsh of The Exchange through his local radio station job, he landed a position at Porky’s Mastering in 1997. He later moved to Alchemy Soho, then AIR (alongside Ray Staff), before rejoining Alchemy when it relaunched in 2012. Since 2019 however, he has been ensconced at London’s Metropolis Studios, where his bookings are still managed by his wife Charlie Colton who also manages Urchin Studios, and a select bunch of producers and engineers.

How is the room at Metropolis?

They got so many things right when they built those rooms. Acoustically they’re really good, the power supply’s incredible. The basics are so good; it makes such a difference. This is a great room, and it makes my work better.

How much did you inherit when you moved in?

It was chock-full of equipment; I’ve moved a fair amount of it out. The PMC/Bryston monitoring is the original installation. There’s a cutting lathe that was moved in there for me — a Neumann VMS80. On the hardware side, Prism converters and Sontec EQ, Maselec EQ — quite a lot of Maselec stuff; I’ve got the De-Esser, both the compressors: the single-band and the multiband, and the stereo image with the elliptical EQ, high- and low-pass filters. When I moved in, it had one of the hand-built original Metropolis consoles that John Goldstraw built. He actually built a desk for me at Alchemy, but this one lacked some of the features you get on today’s off-the-shelf desks, so we replaced it with the SPL console, which is stunning.

I always wanted one of the original 8U mastering desks like Bob Ludwig had. They’ve made a slightly smaller version which is fantastic.

I generally hate analogue routers, and I often end up patching point-to-point because it sounds better. But it takes so long — if you have to labour for 20 minutes, and then think, what was I hearing? And then the loading might change,

/ Matt in his room at Metropolis Studios

depending on what gear is connected. So then there’s a question of consistency of sound. Tony Cousins had the SPL first at Metropolis, and the functionality is better than anything else I’ve seen, and it has the 120-volt power rails. I did some comparisons with patching directly versus

going through the router, and you’ve got to work hard to hear a difference. Plus you can set up three different patches and flip between them; it’s so flexible. And I brought quite a lot of my own stuff: some Avalon EQs, Elysia compressor, Lavry converters, the Unfairchild…

November/December 2021 / 29

/ While the monitoring in his room was the original PMC/Bryston install, his hardware choices are largely his own

Does that get used a lot?

It’s a great vibe box. It does a thing that is fantastic, it’s just not always required. But sometimes you do need to put a stamp on something; it’s very euphonic and can add a choir of angels to whatever you’re working on.

Presumably you’re not doing much compression with it?

No, I’m mostly working with contemporary music, and mixes these days are not short of compression. When I started engineers were mixing on a desk and might have one or two compressors, but now everyone’s got as many compressors as they want. So it’s rare that I’m using analogue compression for any kind of major dynamic control. So the Unfairchild gives me a pleasant, driven sound, and a broad lump around 50 to 100 Hertz, and some gnarly 3k presence. The Elysia Alpha seems to add an open quality; it puts a space around the upper mids and does something subtle and nice. The Maselec multiband has a shape to it. It’s quite transparent compared to an SSL, but it gives a kind of slightly exciting ‘Loudness button’ shape. But it’s rare that I’ve got more than half a dB of gain reduction going on with outboard compression.

You’ve mastered a lot of records that David Wrench has mixed. Does he attend?

A lot of mixing engineers have a broad philosophy of how they want things to sound, so the more you work with somebody, the more you get to know what it is that they want to hear you bring to the table. So with David, I usually know the ballpark he wants me to land in. Mostly we do unattended because he’s busy, 30 / November/December 2021

I love attended sessions, but Covid changed my way of working. I like to chat about art, philosophy, cinema, books and whatever but there are times when he’ll say, ‘this is too important for me not to be there’. I love attended sessions, but Covid changed my way of working. I like to chat about art, philosophy, cinema, books and whatever, and I think you get a better feel for what the artist wants to hear. And questions about crossfading — you do it there and then rather than emailing back and forth.

I gather you got into some forensic detail work on the second Audiobooks album [Wrench’s band with Evangeline Ling] with David?

Well, there was Unfairchild all over it, but it then meant we had to do quite a lot of surgical EQ after that because resonances were popping out. David wanted to make sure we had done the work, and we weren’t going to leave that bit of honkiness in the vocal for those five seconds, because we can go in and fix that — and we should.

So would he then adjust the mix?

No, it was at my end. With mastering, you can sometimes make 95% of the mix better but 5% worse. Often it’s a case of compromise, whereas with this one, the 95% win is great, but let’s not settle for that 5% where we’ve lifted out

a bit of ugliness in the low-mids on that particular synth in the right channel for the first note of the pre-chorus. We would zoom in, tidy up and tweak what we were doing.

So did you automate things or edit sections?

Mostly on that it was just doing edit sections.

Some automation, but as with most projects I’m playing on one machine into analogue and capturing on a second machine. So there was an element of automation on the playback machine before it went into analogue, and then almost a bit of post-production on the record machine once we’d captured everything — so just using everything really.

How much vinyl are you cutting at the moment?

I’m probably doing five to ten records a week.

Unfortunately there are times when I don’t get to cut the vinyl on my own projects. With the lead times of pressing plants, more people are getting them cut at the factory.

So for a factory cut do you just send the same digital master?

Yes. You’re at the point where you’ve got an approved master. If I’m cutting the vinyl myself I might back off the limiting and tweak the EQ to

/ Craft

Do you keep an eye on LUFS loudness?

I generally think: make the record sound how you want. And this is my advice to everyone.

Occasionally a client says, ‘This needs to be at -14LUFS,’ and it can be, I genuinely don’t mind, but why don’t we just let the music decide? The reason why I say that is that these numbers that get bandied around change all the time. All the streaming platforms have changed how they’re calculating loudness. So you could be optimised for a period of time, and then you’re not. And then you’re not making musical decisions, you’re making abstract mathematical decisions. What I keep an eye on is dynamic range. That’s

something I meter all the time, predominantly using the Youlean meter. Really pushing things beyond -6db dynamic range; that’s compressed.

If I want it a bit more open maybe for house music, maybe -8. If it’s a ballad, maybe -10.

These are very rough numbers. If I’m doing an album I’ll usually get the best two or three tracks sitting how I want, then I’m not particularly looking at the meters from that point. Everything then needs to sit right with that benchmark that I’ve set with those first tracks, so it doesn’t matter as much what the meters say. I’m always trying to come back to musicality rather than fixating on the meters.

/ Matt’s recent work has included The Arctic Monkeys, Public Service Broadcasting and Michael Kiwanuka

get it to cut better, but I’m doing all of those changes based on test cuts I’m doing on my lathe, playing those back on a couple of turntables I know. But if I’m not doing those test cuts, there’s no valid change I can make that I can justify, because every lathe sounds different.

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So I’m paying double for a version that has some frequency information missing?

Vinyl doesn’t have a flat frequency response across the disc anyway, The high-frequency response at the outside is vastly superior to that of the inside. I could cut something completely flat at the outside, and you could say, that sounds like the digital, and I could cut it at the inside and you’d say, where has all the high frequency gone? Why has the stereo closed down? And the answer is the physics of the disc. The response changes depending on where you are on the surface of the record. It’s always different, so it can be different if that’s a good engineering decision.

That’s why people pay me — to make good engineering decisions. Hopefully, the listener puts on the record and says, yeah, I like the way that sounds. David [Wrench] did tweet that he thought the Audiobooks vinyl sounded better than the digital. Which does happen from time to time. But with that, I didn’t do anything to it, I just cut it from the digital! But even if you’re not trying to do anything different — the signal path from the workstation to the cutting lathe, there’s a lot going on there. Which sometimes sounds better!

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November/December 2021 / 31

Craft

/ The massive 96-channel Neve 88R in British Grove’s Studio One

British Grove Andy Cook and Jason Elliot of London’s British Grove discuss its centrepiece Neve 88R with JOHN MOORE

O

ver the last decade and a half, British Grove has risen to become one of the go-to recording facilities in the UK, establishing a reputation for its old-school approach and vast array of classic equipment. Engineers Andy Cook and Jason Elliot have both been with the Studio for more than 10 of those years, having both collected an array of album, film and TV credits for their work there — and with the former now holding the title of Studio Manager, and the latter now splitting his time between the facility and his own studio, having branched out into production and writing.

British Grove is famous for the vintage equipment on its inventory, but it feels as if the Neve is the beating heart of what's going on...

Andy: In Studio One, it’s certainly the 32 / November/December 2021

centrepiece. So, although we have the EMI TG and the REDD in there, everything always ends up pointing at the 88R. The beating heart is a good way of putting it. With external clients, who maybe aren’t used to using those older format consoles, it allows them to interface with something they're familiar with.

How much do you think the reputation of British Grove is built around an appreciation for analogue and how much is down to the effort that went into creating the space itself and its infrastructure?

Andy: British Grove was built with 50 years of hindsight. Everybody who was involved has seen the best and the worst of studios.

Everyone's been to a studio where they advertise some great piece of old gear, you go there and it is out of service — or you use it and

…everything always ends up pointing at the 88R. The beating heart is a good way of putting it it's buzzing or frying. Here, we always knew that if we're going to have this stuff, it needs to work. If things go down, they need to be fixed quickly.

I like to think the rep we have is based on the old gear for certain circles, the room for other circles, and then competency and ability to deliver for others. It's all very well having that old gear in it working… Fine, but if you don't have the staff who know how to use it or, or even just operate on a high-pressure film session, then it's kind of pointless.

When Mark [Knopfler] built this place he was very clever with who he surrounded himself with. Dave Harries, David Stewart, Graham

Meek have so much experience and were just incredible at finding the right people for specific jobs in the build.

Jason: It’s also worth mentioning Brian Gibson and Joe Shaw. I often think they don't get mentioned enough. Our tech team is amazing.

They care so much for the gear they're looking after. Everything is meticulously thought-out and maintained, even the very simplest wiring is done beautifully. The official tech team of British Grove is just Graham, but he has a good community of people.

With the 88R you don’t have the Scoring Panel that became such a big selling point, is that a modification you’ve thought about making?

Jason: We always think about it, but I think the main thing is the 88R strikes a balance between being just ‘complicated’ enough — or just versatile enough, so you can do anything you want with it — and at the same time, it makes it easy. So we have always found our 88R configuration works for us.

Andy: I think Jason and I have done every single combination of session between us. The good thing about British Grove is we have so many isolation booths — and the stemming panel, I mean, I'm sure we would utilise it having so many booths. But, we've always been able to find workarounds for multiple live mixes and things. You know, even just, I'm sure they're not always the most technical workarounds sometimes, but we've always found a way.

Jason: I must admit, though, I've largely left consoles for mixing. We still have a lot of clients that mix on the consoles, but I can't remember the last time I mixed on a console. I mix in the box because the industry demands the recall capabilities and the flexibility of me being able to load up and mix wherever I am. My rig is designed to go with me everywhere. So I could do a revision from my kitchen if I needed to.

But for tracking, you know… I've tried hard to work out a way to do large session tracking and not have to rely on a console, but it just isn't as good. The 88R is just the best option for large scale tracking.

Andy: I think, growing up in the DAW generation, we always had the option of not being committal... It's not necessarily particularly unique to the 88R, but with it being an inline console, I can have a band session or a big band session or something where they know there's a lot at stake, but I can make a lot of bold tonal decisions on my monitor path.

And then I could go, like: ‘I know this sounds good now, and I trust this desk’. So then with one switch, I can just quickly put everything to tape.

Jason: [When tracking] I can be that little bit more detailed about how I do things. It affords a lot of flexibility in how I arrange my cue sends and headphones. One day someone will ask you for something a little different, and you'll be ‘I can do that for you! I have you on a separate cue send or submix etc.’. It goes back to the fact you can do anything you want with it. It is

/ Andy Cook at work

flexible. So if you wanted to keep your session simple, you're good, or you can very detailed I think Andy would agree, I can do things a bit over-the-top sometimes. I can go a bit too far — but yeah, the console allows you to do that. I think it's very, very flexible.

Andy: Yeah, I'd second that (laughs).

What was working on the Neve desk like when you first approached it? How did it strike you as being different or change the way that you worked?

Jason: When I first started at British Grove and I walked into Studio One and I saw the Neve and I was just like, 'Oh my god', how am I going to learn this? And then you start assisting sessions and, in your quiet moments, flicking through the manual desperately trying to learn it all.

Because you know, at some point, you're going to be asked a question.

It all came together quite quickly. The

biggest thing to get your head around, I don't know if Andy would agree when you're learning the 88R is the concept of being able to flip all the sections of the channel paths and monitor paths, and change the combinations. You can flip everything, you can configure the audio path per channel — or the whole console — to work exactly how you want it. It just takes a minute to get your head around that. But once you've worked that out, it's kind of like a 'eureka' moment, and you just get going. The rest is all really simple and as you would expect.

Andy: Yeah, I think in its versatility, initially, you can get yourself in knots because you'll be like ‘Why am I getting nothing off this auxiliary’.

And then you're like, ‘Oh, it's because it's in this mode’, or something. I remember having that initially. But now when I'm sitting in a session, like a big orchestral session, maybe a broadcast, I'm just doing everything and not thinking about it.

November/December 2021 / 33

/ Jason Elliot tracking through the 88R

Jason: I don't know if this is just because it's the console I'm most familiar with, but when I glance at an 88R I can kind of see everything that's happening and very quickly see ‘Oh, that's my balance; there are the auxiliaries I’ve got turned on…’ I can see all the meters, I can see what's going on. You get an overall picture of the scoring session quickly.

When I go to other studios — or even Studio Two at British Grove — working on other consoles, I feel like I need to take a bigger look.

A lot of that has to do with the fact that I personally much prefer the PPMs to VU meters; but I feel like the way the 88R is laid out, even down to the colours on the knobs, I feel it's well laid out and presented.

What would you pick out as being recognisable about its character?

Jason: When I was a student, and I was learning, I was doing it in the box. Trying to learn how to mix. At that point, I didn't have any plugins, I was just using the stock EQ plug-ins.

You had to work hard to make things sound good whilst doing stuff in the box.

And then you put something through the console and start EQing and it's like ‘wow, this top end is so beautiful’, or I can really carve something and it still sounds lovely. So, I remember thinking that about the EQs, early on. I suppose one of the great things about British Grove is we're blessed with so many consoles; you do very quickly start to learn the flavours — ‘oh, that's what the TG sounds like in 34 / November/December 2021

If all the gear in the studio were like your mates, like the 88R would be the one you go to with all your problems! comparison to REDD’. We also have the API in Studio Two. So you then start to get an appreciation for the different flavours that different consoles give you. I feel that the 88R, has got a lot of body and depth.

Andy: Versatility is the word I'd use. The versatility of the desk is very similar to the studio. We'll do a score like Gravity, which is just, you know, incredible, lush strings, and then we'll also do a Rolling Stones album. So you can go from this really polite room where you've got a beautiful orchestra playing, or it can be a raucous rock and roll room. And in both scenarios, I'm very comfortable just running everything through the 88R. If I need to, I can push the mix bus in a way that, on rock and pop, just sounds amazing. Or you can just really trust that what you're hearing when you're recording an orchestra is true.

Jason: I mean, 'trust' is another massive thing…

Andy: Yeah!

Jason: If all the gear in the studio were like your mates, like the 88R would be the one you go to with all your problems! It's so trustworthy. On a session you don't want any technical mishaps

to waste time, everything needs to be solid.

And the 88R is the absolute pinnacle of that trust; it just always works. If something's going wrong, it's the last thing you check, because it's, it's never going to be the 88R! Andy: We've had that desk a while and never had anything serious — but we do get, you know, like a dirty pot or something. But if something has gone wrong with it, you can immediately think of three ways to get around it. There's always a very quick fix and you can very quickly get yourself out of trouble if you need to.

I think when you look at the size of our room, and you see the live room, and then you think we've got a 96-channel desk, I think some people will think ‘oh, that's indulgent’. But I did a band session last week, and I ended up using every track! It was great, because we were jumping between tracking and then overdubs.

And I wasn't having to rebalance everything every time, because I had my big layout of tracking tracks, and then I've thrown up a stereo pair and, and some spot mics because we're doing some percussion and I can just

/ Craft

leave that set up in case — in a week's time — we want to come back to it. It's just there and it hasn't been touched. And, you know, if a track goes down during tracking, I can just move to the next one — and then on a lunch break be able to troubleshoot what that problem was.

Something that we've spoke about a couple of times is that it would be nice to have some 88R flavours in Studio Two too. So we have been considering the 500 series units.

We have the Montserrat remote Pres for the 88R, and they’re great because they can be remote-controlled from the console. So you have your mic amp at source, basically. And you can save the settings as well…

I suppose that's the other thing! The automation and recall have definitely, definitely saved us in the past. The core software that does it is pretty comprehensive, more comprehensive than we need, actually. You can recall everything. So you can take recording snapshots, halfway through projects. It easily does fader levels — it's very rare nowadays that we're recording live fader rides, but it can happen. It's pretty simple, isn't it?

Jason: [The recall is] one of those things that as an assistant, you're learning and you look at it and go, 'Oh, god, how am I going to get my head around this?', but then pretty soon you’re in a session and you’re like: 'look at my mix tree'!

Do you foresee the Neve staying central to what you're doing in the future?

Andy: I can't imagine ever trusting another way of recording a big orchestra or something. It's just, there's nothing about 88R where I'm like, 'this is 20 years old now'... it just works perfectly.

Jason: That's a really good point. You never feel that do you? It doesn't feel old at all. It feels new. To me anyway. I mean, like, as Andy says, you sit in front of that thing, and you know, it's gonna work. And, it feels like it's a modern console.

I don't want to do the big format control surfaces a disservice, because I'm sure they're amazing, But I just can't see it replacing the big format tracking consoles. I can't see it. Certainly not in British Grove anyway.

Andy: I think in some mix situations, with a lot of film stuff, people are just in the box, but even on those sessions, any tracking that was involved, was done through that desk. I can't imagine a time when I would not want to track with this console.

Jason: I think mixing is a completely separate thing, isn't it? Yeah. But certainly for tracking, if you're going to be a serious tracking studio with the track count that we employ, I can't imagine not doing it on an 88R. Andy: At the end of big tracking days or sessions, we always like to replicate our console balances in the box. So clients can just open their Pro Tools sessions when they get home and things sound kind of like they did on the day. But, there’s always a bit of a sigh when I come back to that because the mix bus on that console just sounds fantastic. You can approximate things, but it's just never

quite the same.

Jason: There's a little part of my brain that’s started talking again, being like: ‘you should start analogue summing again.’ I think it comes back to what I said about the body and depth.

That's what I always feel I'm working hard to recreate in the box.

Technically, everything you've got in Pro Tools is the same as you heard coming from the Neve — bar the fader balance — yet Pro Tools, compared to the console, just never has the same body and depth. That's got to be a combination of the analogue summing and the 88R mix bus. You can get a little bit closer if you

start throwing some plugins on and just doing some bits and bobs in Pro Tools. But it never quite matches. It's got a magic to it... It's a little bit more 3D, isn't it?

Andy: Yeah, and just the broad strokes of when you're doing stuff on a session where you're just throwing a little bit of top-end or something and it takes no time at all! It's so instinctual — press the button and turn two knobs and I've got this fantastic sound. If I'm doing that in the box it takes me so much longer. I just love the immediacy of working on it. There is a trade-off when mixing… But the immediacy when tracking? It's just fantastic.

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Craft

/ Dave Clark in front of the 88RSP2 he helped install in Capitol Studios A, and now helps keep in prime working order

Capitol Studios We chatted to Dave Clark, Technical Engineer at Capitol Studios in Hollywood about his work there, his memories of the installation of the 88RSP2 in the facility’s iconic Studio A, and his career working with AMS Neve technology The installation of the 88RS in Capitol Studio A was one of the first parts of a lot of changes that happened in the facility. Was it exciting to be part of that change?

Dave Clark: Yes, it was. I was not part of Capitol at that point, I was an independent engineer hired by AMS Neve to assist with the installation and commissioning of the 88RSP2 into this studio. In January of 2011, I had assisted installing the 88RSP2 Abbey Road Studio Two. Then I was hired to assist Robin Porter to install the 88R here at Capitol about a year later. I

believe Abbey Road Studio Two is a 60, this is a 72-input. So yeah, it was it was pretty intense.

We did have to work around the rather intense remodelling Capitol was doing — I was hired only for the desk install. the wiring and room remodelling was taken up by the existing Capitol staff. I had also been involved with the console that was previously in Studio A, a VR with a scoring panel; I did servicing on it and things like that. The control room has changed a lot, but the live room hasn't really changed at all since then.

/ The famous live room of Studio A, set up here for a big band session

36 / November/December 2021

Having seen both desks in use, what was the reaction of people when they moved from the VR to the 88RSP2?

Capitol wanted to move more into a film situation, with the extensive stem monitoring of the SP2 console. So from that perspective, they were quite happy with it. But — that being said — they did a demo session right after it was installed and pretty much everyone who heard it commented that this is the best sounding 88 anybody's ever heard. It probably had something to do with the fact that it was a brand new desk, and brought up to the latest specification. But also, the mains wiring here was designed for minimum noise and best isolation from the outside world. So I think possibly part of that is the noise floor of the overall infrastructure because it was designed properly and designed well. It’s very, very quiet and allows the console really breathe and be able to present forth what it is best at — which is the highest level of fidelity in a large format recording on an analogue recording console.

How big a factor has the SP scoring system been to the reputation and success of the 88RSP2? It was kind of the killer app at the time...

Yes. At Capitol, it’s not really been used to its fullest extent. It hasn't been really put to the test as it has in some other film scoring studios here in Los Angeles. I'm great friends with the studio tech that used to work at Fox, and he said there were times when they'd completely run every bit of horsepower out of that console.

With maximum stems and such.

We haven't gotten that far here, but we have had sessions where they have to use pretty much every function other than the stem monitoring. They have used the stem monitoring, but not to the extent that the film scoring has done.

And in terms of your role, technically, what's the month-to-month process that you go through to maintain the desk and to maintain the studio as Capitol wants it to be?

The only thing that we do on a proactive basis is to exercise the switches and the controls to keep their intermittency down to a minimum.

Because, as we found — or I found, doing this for a pretty long time — a lot of the issues are really based on mechanical problems. If we keep it exercised and working, that mitigates the issues that can happen. The console itself has been quite good.

We try to keep everything up and as running as best as possible, we try to offer — and we think we do offer — one of the best five-star services in the world. We're one of the top studios and you know, there's, day-to-day maintenance, and things like that on other pieces of gear, but this particular console has been rock solid.

Capitol is very much of the ‘old school’, in that the studio serves as a reflection of the wider company — and symbolises the

company’s ethos in a way that it's not really as prevalent as it used to be. How does it feel to be a part of that team?

It is definitely a perk, it is something to be proud of. We look to keep the Capitol brand growing and leading this state of the art, even though we've been here for a long time. In the sense that Abbey Road has cast in stone studios that really shouldn't ever be changed, and won't be changed, it’s the same here. We have what we think is the best selection of different size rooms for the recording community at large,

Roey Hershkotvitz

which includes records, films TV. When people book Capitol, they expect that everything works, and everything they need to have their session go off without a hitch to be done. That is what they get here at Capitol.

Do you think that the 88RSP2 is halfway through its life-span now, I know that’s a difficult question... but do you think its life-span will exceed that of the VR that preceded it?

Yes, I do believe so. The VR was in here for

As VP of Capitol Studios, Roey Hershkovitz is one of the people tasked with setting the direction of the facility as it navigates towards the future, so we were interested to get his take on the facility’s blend of tradition and new technology, and how that works as a symbol of the Capitol ethos.

“You know, to many it feels like a throwback,” he begins, ”But for us, that is part of the flavour of the studios and the appeal. Some would refer to it as ‘the history’ or ‘the legacy’ of these rooms — and ‘the way recording has been done’. But for us here, it's still very much a way we operate today.

In terms of the role of the Neve 88RSP in Studio A, Heshkovitz sees it as a totem of the blending of old and new, which serves as one of Capitol’s USPs — along with the technical prowess of people like Dave and the team he works with.

“A significant part of that is is the rooms and the equipment that's available” he continues, “but also the talent of our staff as well. When

about a little over 20 years, so I would expect the 88R to last at least that length of time here.

Studio B, which has a Neve 8060/8058 has been here a Capitol, I believe, since the mid-80s — maybe even earlier than that. So that's one of our legacy consoles that's been here for a long, long, long time. Studio C, before it got changed over, also had the very first 8108 manufactured

by Neve — the prototype. That was here for a good long time. So the expectation is the life of the console here is probably going to exceed 25 years overall. Knock on wood!

you hear Dave say: ‘Oh, well, you know, the Neve hasn’t needed a tremendous amount of maintenance or TLC’, that's because of the knowledge and experience that Dave and the team bring to the rooms. The reason it doesn't need an overhaul is that it’s getting TLC every day, every week, and every month. Our cool old stuff works here, and that is incredibly appealing to a wide variety of artists, labels, and productions today — knowing that they can come in here and get that… let’s call it ‘old school flavour’.

“We're very proud of the history and the legacy of the studio and, at the same time, fully embrace the technologies of today. Where you can sit in one room and have Pro Tools and your up-to-date plug-ins, and still be working and using the echo chambers. Or, move over to Studio C and be working in the immersive lane as well. So we're very proud of that, that whole picture of yesterday, today and tomorrow. And we would not be able to do that without the wisdom and excellence that Dave and the technical department and electronic maintenance engineers bring to our rooms.”

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Craft

Stephen Lipson For 40 years, Stephen Lipson produced and engineered a catalogue of iconic hits before being hauled into the world of big-budget film scores. DANNY TURNER discusses his remarkable career

A

lthough setting up a recording studio in the early ‘80s proved to be a short-lived affair, Stephen Lipson managed to earn the attention of record company entrepreneur Jill Sinclair who invited the promising engineer to work at SARM West studios as Trevor Horn’s right-hand man.

A jack of all trades, it was at Horn’s ZTT label 38 / November/December 2021

that Lipson played on, produced and engineered numerous landmark records for the likes of Grace Jones, Propaganda and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Lipson’s back catalogue of studio credits would later go on to read like a who’s who of household names, with Annie Lennox, Paul McCartney, Whitney Houston and The Rolling

Stones being the tip of the iceberg. Following a chance meeting with Hans Zimmer in the late ‘00s, Lipson was inducted into the world of film soundtrack by the legendary composer.

Their partnership incorporated Lipson’s debut on Batman: The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 and now includes the latest James Bond installment No Time To Die and upcoming Top Gun: Maverick.

What chain of events led to you becoming an engineer at SARM West studios?

I never really intended to be an engineer, it’s just something that happened by accident. In a nutshell, I ended up co-owning a studio at a very early age with an old friend that I was doing guitar sessions for. He had the building and the money and told me I could equip and run the studio. I had a year to set this place up with £15,000 and zero knowledge. Despite

/ Much of Lipson’s work is now completed from a home Atmos-equipped studio, though he retains his room at Battery too

pretending to be producer, within six months I got a co-production credit for Sniff ‘n’ The Tears’ Driver’s Seat, which was a top 10 record in America. Unfortunately, the studio partnership dissolved and the only way I could make a living was to be a freelance engineer.

That’s when Jill Sinclair asked me to work with Trevor Horn for a couple of days. Once I started resolution 1 12.10.2021 working with Trevor,2021_2.pdf I figured where I‘d been 22.46

going wrong, a few holes in my knowledge got filled and I ended up producing most of ZTT’s output.

What qualities did Trevor possess that rubbed off on you?

Tenacity is his biggest attribute — he was never satisfied. On many occasions we’d start a track again from scratch, which I’d never done before,

or he’d get a drummer in and then try another one who he thought might be better. He also has a great way of capturing stuff that wasn’t supposed to be recorded. That would happen all the time — the machine would be in record and he’d capture a performance of mine that hadn’t even occurred to me was a performance.

I’m not sure if he had a sound vision, but he kept pushing.

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/ Stephen (far right) on guitar for supergroup The Producers with (L-R) Lol Creme, Trevor Horn, Ash Soan, and Chris Braide

You played an integral role on the Frankie Goes To Hollywood track Two Tribes...

The real driving force of Two Tribes was the bass, which, it’s safe to say, took months to get right. We had a bass part and composer Andy Richards lowered one note by an octave, which turned the whole thing into a melodic hook. We used a Fairlight CMI, a Synclavier and a PPG Wave, but it took us ages to find the right sounds. It’s all sampling, basically.

Holly Johnson fell out with Trevor in the end.

Were you comfortable dealing with the industry’s more extrovert personalities?

Working with personalities is everything — that’s the job. If you’re dealing with a singer you need to make sure you get the best out them, whatever it takes. With some artists it could be as simple as driving them to the studio, making sure they’re fed or being their psychiatrist.

Because I was a musician, I knew what was

needed to get something worth having because I felt that myself. I don’t know the difference between an extrovert and an introvert — that’s a hard one. I suppose people just develop an act or put up a front, but it’s easy to get past all that.

When I met Paul McCartney we hit it off straight away. With Cher, the first thing she said to me was “So, what do you want from me?”, to which I replied, “Maybe you can make the tea?”

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/ Craft

With Cher, the first thing she said to me was “So, what do you want from me?”, to which I replied, “Maybe you can make the tea?”

Instantly we were on a level playing field, so you can easily break through those barriers.

Having worked repeatedly with numerous artists, do you find that artistic creativity wanes over time?

As time goes on, lots of artists assume that every idea they have is great, so I don’t think their creativity suffers but they lose the filters that surround them. I made an album a while ago with Ultravox in a room at SARM and one of the young assistants walked past and, thinking he was being funny, said: “what are you doing working with those old farts?”

Believe me, to still be doing this for as many years as they’ve been tells you there’s no shortage of talent with those four guys. I wouldn’t dare mention names but I’ve worked with some artists who were nothing, we had a huge hit and the next time I saw them they magically thought they knew it all and that everything they did was brilliant, so maybe some people believe the hype around them.

Do you find artists are more production savvy today due to the democratisation of gear, especially digital?

It’s of no interest to me either way. My manager put me in touch with an artist recently who sent me some demos, which were great, but she was hooked on making everything sound ‘analogue’.

It’s a bit like saying you want an outside toilet.

What difference does it make? It’s all about the song, the instrumentation, the voice, the edits and the mix, to an extent.

The gear is there to serve you and if there is a difference between analogue and digital it’s

maybe the 2% cherry on the top. Hans Zimmer loves his modular synths and will often find a sound, get someone to sample it and put it into his sample software. At that point, I get slightly confused about whether it’s analogue or digital as the process is the same for sample libraries like Omnisphere or Zebra.

terminology based on celluloid reel. The whole lot got rejected, but Hans explained what had gone wrong and with the help of his mix engineer Alan Myerson we got over the finish line, but I never worked with Chris Nolan again.

One of your earliest film production credits was for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992). How did you get involved in that?

I produced the Annie Lennox song called Love Song for a Vampire, which was added to the end of it. It was very strange because I was on the phone one day thinking, “fuck me, I’m talking to Francis Ford Coppola and we’re not getting anywhere”. He didn’t want to have a song at the end of his movie but finally put it there, in mono and quietly.

What do you think Hans saw in you that has sustained your working relationship to this day?

You’d have to ask him, but I remember mixing a cue and telling him there’s nothing I could do because it already sounded pretty good. He told me that’s why he wanted me there — in other words, I wasn’t trying to prove myself I was just trying to get the best result. Most successful people think their ideas are great, but I’m not that person. Hans and I are coproducing a Lionel Richie album at the moment and I sometimes tell him an idea of his is ridiculous, and it’s possible he likes that honesty.

How did Hans Zimmer persuade you to get into film scoring and work on The Dark Knight Rises?

About 11 years ago I was playing guitar at a Buggles gig and Hans, who was in Buggles, was in the audience. After the show, he said we really must work together, which I dismissed as a silly remark but six months later I got a call asking if I could come out to LA. He showed me round his whole organisation and within a few months asked me to mix The Dark Knight Rises.

First, I’d never considered myself someone you’d approach to have a mix done and I didn’t know anything about film. I was out of my depth in every respect, but he sent someone over to help me understand the workflow and I ended up mixing 20 minutes of reel one, a

What have you learned from film scoring that’s made you a better producer in the commercial pop realm?

The necessity to be more organised has paid off in numerous ways, but I learned very quickly from watching Hans the requirement to let go of things. He’d spend weeks on a piece of music but if the director said it didn’t have quite the right atmosphere he’d just dump it, which is a huge cognitive skill. Whatever I’ve learnt has been an addendum to my existing knowledge, but I’m still learning to this day. I love the rigidity of the song format, but after a while it gets boring. On the other hand, film scoring is so out there, but after a while it has a tendency to become like wallpaper, so going between the two stops me from getting bored with either.

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constantly have to be one step ahead of what everybody else is doing. From that perspective, when I have a problem I often don’t know who to turn to. My room at home is state-of-the-art and crammed with gear, but it’s also a shambles and in a constant state of flux. It was a big deal figuring how to put Atmos into what is a very small room, but luckily the guys from Dolby came down and gave me some advice. I had the speakers built for me and installed and then I found Dante, which is an amazing technology based on audio over Ethernet. I also have an amazing room at Battery Studios, but haven’t used it much for around three years now. I’m happier at home because I can do what I want whenever I want and only have to walk up two flights of stairs.

/ Stephen’s career has taken him from running his own studio, to SARM West and on to movie soundtracks

I’m happy to sit in my room and be enveloped by Atmos, but I don’t particularly want to hear a backing vocal coming out of the top-left speaker. If that’s what people want, that’s fine How have you approached the use of spatial audio technology, which is crossing from film to the commercial music domain?

My room at home is now Dolby Atmos, and one thing I’ve realised is that if you’re going to use that then you have to record at 48 kHz, not 44.1.

On this new Lionel Richie album, I’ve made sure that the orchestra has been recorded using Atmos microphones with up-high, four quad audio and I suspect I’ll be mixing it in Atmos too. I’m happy to sit in my room and be enveloped by Atmos, but I don’t particularly want to hear a backing vocal coming out of the top-left speaker. If that’s what people want, that’s fine — it’s why I’ve upgraded my room, but I don’t know where it’ll lead.

42 / November/December 2021

Are you leaning towards it being a gimmick rather than a game-changer?

Because Apple has dived in with Spatial Audio everybody wants it and the record companies want their back catalogues mixed in Atmos, but we live in a different time and music has a different place, so it’s not for me to comment.

When I was growing up, music was everything, now it isn’t. People don’t build rooms around their hi-fi speakers or have great big subs in the back of their cars anymore.

Has working on soundtracks forced you to upgrade to keep up with technological advances?

I’ve always been on the cutting edge and

Was that partly brought on by necessity due to the pandemic?

No, I was doing a movie and, on the last day, I delivered the cue, went home, got into bed and the phone rang telling me I had to do a reprint.

So, I had to get dressed, drive to the studio again and didn’t get back to bed until 4am. I started to think more about my home studio and realised I only needed X-Y-Z, so Chuck Choi at Remote showed me how to work off a laptop, use SSDs and an iLock. The studio is literally plug-and-play and all of that happened long before the pandemic. Since then, I’ve slowly added acoustics, the Atmos speakers, some Universal Audio boxes, an Avid S6 modular control surface and an MTRX audio interface. It’s brilliant now and I’m happy to have one or two people come in to do vocals, but if I’m working with a band I’ll still go to a studio. On a big movie, I’ll get an assistant to prepare my sessions, but all of that can be done remotely now that I have a seriously high-speed internet connection.

That must be critical when it comes to exchanging audio data for big movie projects?

Having a secure and reliable connection has changed everything because composers are sending a lot of data. If the strings are recorded at Air, the amount of information relating to a three-minute orchestrated cue, which could comprise 6 passes and 600 tracks, is enormous. Beyond that, I’ve probably got 90% of every plugin ever made, but I only use about three for the most part. Having worked on so many projects I just acquire them, so I have huge quantities of software and really good hardware. After that, I just get on with it.

You’ve been working with Hans again on Top Gun: Maverick and, more recently, No Time To Die. How has that relationship evolved?

On No Time To Die, Hans’s participation didn’t actually involve him sending me anything apart from a few rhythm sounds/ideas. His main input was asking me to mix those and help facilitate the orchestral session. Of course, ideas and rough mixes flowed between us, but he was more involved in writing the score during that time while I was working on the theme.

/ Craft

/ Stephen Lipson with Jeff Beck

It sounds a mad thing to say, but with all these scores they’ll just send me the cues and I’ll do whatever I think needs to be done.

For example, I might change a rhythm or bass part, put a pad in or remove a bunch of stuff and people seem happy I ended up co-mixing the score with Al Clay and, because we worked so well together, we mixed Top Gun: Maverick too.

It sounds a mad thing to say, but with all these scores they’ll just send me the cues and I’ll do whatever I think needs to be done. For example, I might change a rhythm or bass part, put a pad in or remove a bunch of stuff and people seem happy with me doing that.

As a team player, I can be as maverick as I like because the buck doesn’t stop with me.

I understand you had to work quite hard on Billie Eilish’s theme song to make it more ‘Bond-sounding’. Can you give us some insight into that process?

I edited Billie’s track down, put in some tempo changes, got some bass and rhythm on it and sorted a lot of the orchestration so it would retain its Billy Eilish-ness yet satisfy the need for it to sound like a Bond theme. At first, I received a Logic session from Finneas O’Connell and

managed to do the tempo shifts using his original sounds, but I also had to make Billie’s voice work over the tempo changes by stretching the audio and retiming it to match.

There might have been a couple of syllables that I stretched, but not using software — I achieved that by copying and pasting sections of held notes. It was a laborious process but I got far better results that way It was remarkable working with Barbara Broccoli on the whole project. She was so in control of things and wouldn’t have allowed Daniel Craig to be unsatisfied with the title track.

What would have happened had Daniel rejected it?

It wouldn’t have been the theme. The movie was Daniel’s swansong and he made it clear from the outset that he didn’t think the track delivered emotionally what he thought a Bond song should deliver. And he has every right to think that; he’s James Bond.

TF11 FET November/December 2021 / 43

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The following pages showcase the companies and products that came out on top in some ultra-competitive categories this year.

W

hile the world at large has attempted to return to normality, it’s still been a disrupted cycle for many of us — though the pro audio industry has showed no signs of slowing down its development and progress in that time, and many have experienced another excellent year of trading as more and more audio pros alter and augment their set-ups to reflect the new reality of a world involving more remote work and needing more flexible arrangements. AVID, for example is currently reporting a 12% rise in profits, driven by a 50%+ rise in its subscription revenues for Pro Tools. With 2021 seeing a major update for the long-standing DAW that significantly upgraded its operation thanks to the new Hybrid Engine under the bonnet — an achievement recognised in these awards — more people seem to now be ready to take the plunge with the monthly and yearly options.

Last year we reported on a stellar year for Focusrite (a PLC that reports detailed financials), and that performance was repeated in 2021 as the company’s profits leapt almost four-fold on the back of a 30%+ increase in revenue, This shows that that demand for high-end audio equipment has not slowed down. The markets may be changing, but the need for quality hardware is not only persistent, but growing; and Focusrite’s CEO Tim Carrol believes that even ​​ “those sectors negatively impacted by COVID-19 are showing ongoing signs of recovery.”

So, here’s to all the 2021 nominees. The Resolution Awards have always looked to recognise innovation and excellence in Pro Audio, so every product here deserves praise. As my predecessor was fond of saying: “nomination is our accolade”. That continues to be true this year.

All the best, John Moore (Editor & Content Manager) john@resolutionmag.com

44 / November/December 2021

A N A LO G U E O U TB OA R D

Winner: SSL 500 UV EQ Given the popularity of its Fusion 1U processing rack, it’s little surprise that when SSL decided to begin pulling out elements from it for discreet 500 Series units, it would have a winner on its hands — and the 500 UV EQ proves that point.

Specifically, the UV EQ is the ‘Voilet’ four-band Stereo EQ from Fusion, with its high and low shelving bands, high pass filter, and ‘minimum-phase’ design. However, ‘Ultra Violet’ augments the original with dual fully-parametric mid bands, and 'Focus' mode, which can be used to create much tighter notch filtering curves for precision shaping. A great way to access a modern SSL EQ sound in an affordable and versatile package. www.solidstatelogic.com

Also nominated: API Select T25; Little Labs LL2A; Audio Digital Technologies Olympic 500 series Mic EQ A notable element of the new Select range, the API Select T25 is a classic two-channel tube compressor that has caught many an eye as part of the company's new outboard line. Though not a name as associated with vacuum tubes as some out there, API has nevertheless produced a bit of a winner in the shape of a 2U, blue rackmount unit. Little Labs' LL2A is a diminutive, seemingly simple compressor/limiter with a lot of interesting electronics going on within its half-rack-sized enclosure, and a new way of doing things. Rather than light-sensitive resistors (optical), valves or any of the other compression methods we’re used to seeing, it uses a signal processor dubbed the ‘four‑quadrant analogue multiplier’.

Finally, the Audio Digital Technology Olympic 500 EQ, reviewed in (Resolution V21.4), is an impressive attempt to recreate the magic of the Olympic Studios Helios desks of yore — recreating the circuitry of the units used in Studio One there. www.apiaudio.com | www.audiodigitaltechnology.com www.littlelabs.com

D AW/ S O F T WA R E S U I T E

Winner: AVID Pro Tools 2021.6 HDX hardware could support 2048 voices (streams of data from the hard drive), and up to 256 7.1 audio tracks in one session via a mixture of native and hardware processing, making single-card HDX systems (or Pro Tools | Carbon-equipped studios — see below) viable for even the biggest of projects. www.avid.com Also nominated: Nuendo 11; UAD Luna; L’Acoustics L-ISA Studio

It’s little surprise, perhaps, that the ever-popular and somewhat ubiquitous Pro Tools came out on top of our poll in this category, but that does not mean that the 2021.6 update (assessed by Rob Speight in his column in Resolution V21.5) simply won on reputation alone. The big update to Pro Tool’s functionality and the addition of the Hybrid Engine in this year’s June update has made a massive difference to the platform for pro users, and enhanced the appeal of the HDX-enabled hardware and its AAX-DSP plug-in format — which offers near-zero latency processing when tracking and mixing. The real key was that, following the update,

Also nominated were Nuendo 11, which added a significant raft of features to its well-known, well established DAW platform — including in-the-box Atmos support and ADM authoring, Spectral editing, and enhanced Intelligibility and Loudness monitoring features. UAD's Luna stepped into the ring to compete with the established DAWs by taking an analogueinspired approach to in-the-box recording, leveraging its creator’s expertise in modelling and hardware-supported processing, while L’Acoustics’ L-ISA Studio offered a software suite dedicated to emulating immersive audio environments for headphone mixing, bringing the power of the L-ISA processing to desktop and laptop computers. www.steinberg.net | www.uaudio.com | www.l-isa-immersive.com November/December 2021 / 45

I N T E R FA C E ( A - D / D - A )

Winner: Prism Sound Dream ADA-128

The Prism Sound Dream ADA-128 represents five years of research from a company synonymous with transparent, high-quality digital conversion. It operates as a modular, expandable, high-performance A/D that can accommodate up to 128 channels and be tailored to almost any requirement via its four modular host slots (supporting AES, HDX and Dante currently) alongside 16 modular I/O slots for eight-channel line/out or mic/line cards. Internally, its QCLOCK system provides independent synchronization of I/O cards, enabling operation with up to four different clock domains. Control comes via network-connected desktop remote software, or via the front-panel touchscreen. It represents a significant investment to acquire this unit and get it kitted out with cards, but considering it’s inheriting the mantle of a unit that some consider to have been the flagship A-D/D-A system for nigh-on two decades — and its modular nature lends itself to moving with the times — Prism has done all it can to make that investment a wise one. www.prismsound.com

Also nominated: Antelope Galaxy 32 Synergy Core; AVID Pro Tools | Carbon; Focusrite Red8Line The Antelope Galaxy 32 Synergy Core (reviewed in V21.6) further develops the company's bespoke FGPA chipset ecosystem and makes a powerful platform for its low-latency plug-in range with Dante, HDX and Thunderbolt connectivity. Released prior to the 2021.6 update of the DAW — but probably with it in mind — the Avid Pro Tools | Carbon pairs wonderfully with its changes to the Pro Tools with the Hybrid Engine for those looking to move towards HDX in high-end project, and small professional, studio settings. The Focusrite Red8Line is a powerhouse 58-In, 64-Out Thunderbolt interface with a wide gamut of connectivity options (analogue line-level, DigiLink, Dante, ADAT and S/PDIF) along with two Red Evolution mic pres. www.antelopeaudio.com | www.avid.com | www.focusrite.com

MICROPHONE

Winner: Scope Labs Periscope

A real left-field winner here, but no less worthy for it!

The Scope Labs periscope undoubtedly charmed us when we reviewed it earlier in the year, as a ‘character’ mic that is perfect when you’re looking for something a little bit different. Eye-catching in looks and sound, this steampunk-inspired copper-enclosed mic offers an omni patterned electret capsule twinned with a built-in, pre-set compressor designed by audio engineering team Matt Sartori (formerly a tech a London’s Mayfair Studios) and Paavo Kurkela — and it’s hand-built in Finland. Despite lacking any control over the compressor operation, we found it surprisingly versatile. The qualities of the capsule and the compressor’s attack and release, made its unique sound easy to shape with attention to axis and distance placement (and thus input volume — with attention to the raised noise floor). It was especially adept at providing drum ambience, and ideal to have on hand at all times for adding colour. www.scopelabs.eu 46 / November/December 2021

Also nominated: DPA 4097 CORE micro shotgun; JZ BB29 Signature; Telefunken TF11 FET With its highly directional supercardioid pattern, the DPA 4097 CORE Micro Shotgun (Resolution V19.4) proved to be a rugged performer in our tests last year, greatly impressing Simon Clarke with its ability to handle high-SPLs and just how great it was for discreet placements — in fact, the review described it as “mindblowingly miniscule” given its performance for its size. Our reviewer Jay Dean also loved the JZ BB29 Signature (Resolution V21.4), not only for its eye-catching design and looks — though they are to be appreciated — but also for its excellent handling of vocals and acoustic instruments, concluding that: “It’s actually refreshing to use a microphone that is carving its own niche and isn’t trying to replicate any of the famous vintage models.”

By contrast, the beautiful but classic design of the Telefunken TF11 FET hits the retro itch that the company is so good at scratching by melding a CK12-style capsule design with modern circuitry, build quality and style. www.dpamicrophones.com | www.jzmic.com www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com

/ Resolution Awards 2021

M I X E R / C O N T R O L L E R ( A N A L O G U E O R D I G I TA L )

Winner: SSL UF-8

Solid State Logic UF-8 (Resolution V21.3) provides a modular, expandable controller option for DAW users. What’s notable, though, is that it does it marrying the kind of functionality you expect from SSL to that company’s eye for building quality tactile control. Our review described it as “a solidly built, elegant and modern looking fader unit,” that features 79 siliconrubberised multi-colour illuminating buttons, and eight motorised faders.

George Shilling found it had all the feel and quality we’d expect from Solid State Logic, and described it as a “very fine unit.” www.solidstatelogic.com

Also nominated: Calrec Brio Medley; Lawo MC236 48-fader; Rupert Neve Designs 5057 Orbit Also recognised in this category was the Calrec Brio Medley, a package built around the company’s excellent Brio 36 Compact console, with 96-Input channel upgrade, a Dante or MADI expansion card and a Br.IO I/O to form a powerful integrated system for broadcast that’s ready to go right out of the box. Launched at the end of 2020, Lawo's MC236 48-fader delivers extra faders and control options to the firm's compact desk, along with in-built A-UHD Core processing that is centred around the 21.5” full HD touchscreens and touch-sensitive colour-illuminated rotary encoders, it offers 256 DSP channels and up to 896 channels of I/O. Finally, but by no means last, was that the Rupert Neve Designs 5057 Orbit; an ultra-stripped back, quality summing option for DAWbased studios looking to add analogue flavour to tracks or final mixes. www.calrec.com | www.lawo.com | www.rupertneve.com

MONITORING

Winner: Genelec GLM4.1 Software Though the Genelec GLM software concept has recently celebrated its 15th birthday (we looked at a previous incarnation in Resolution V19.4), the 4.1 software update completely overhauls its extremely userfriendly room optimisation system with a brand new, top-to-bottom rewrite of the room analysis engine, and adds a whole host of functionality and accessibility options. In conjunction with its GLM reference microphone kit, the 4.1 software allows the user’s room acoustics to be accurately analysed, after which each monitor and subwoofer can be automatically calibrated for relative level and relative distance delay, plus subwoofer crossover phase and frequency response.

At that point, additional customisations can be made, including the calibration of absolute listening level in dB SPL. www.genelec.com

Also nominated: Focal Alpha 65 Evo; Grace Designs m908; Trinnov D-Mon and La Remote Also in the running in this category were the two-way, bi-amped Focal Alpha 65 EVO active nearfield monitors.

These served to bring the French company’s notable sonic panache to a very competitive price point. Focal has won Resolution Awards in the past, and we wouldn’t have been surprised had that been the case here. They were joined in the running by the Grace Designs m908 (Resolution V19.6), which proved to be an extremely capable, super-flexible monitor controller in our tests. Jon Thornton concluded his review by saying that, if he was “building a new multi-channel studio from scratch, I’d give m908 serious consideration”. In the same spirit, the Trinnov D-Mon also presented an attractive technology-driven option for controlling and perfecting the sound of your room thanks not only to its powerful rackmount unit and its optimisation processing, but also thanks to the addition of the smart, stylish La Remote. That’s a combo that greatly impressed mic Aition and his post-production pals back in Resolution V21.3. www.focal.com | www.gracedesign.com | www.trinnov.com November/December 2021 / 47

PLUG -IN

Winner: UAD API Vision Console “integral summing and tape options… make this the most analoguesounding [DAW] platform I’ve worked on,” and that “the variety of colour and glue available is a pure joy.” www.uaudio.com Also nominated: Bettermaker EQ232D; Leapwing Al Schmitt; SynchroArts VocAlign

Coming out on top of an ultra-competitive field in this category is the UAD API Vision Console. In many ways more than ‘just’ a plug-in, the Vision Console fundamentally changes the look, feel and workflow of UAD’s rapidly developing Luna DAW, turning, delivering an end-to-end emulation of an API desk, meaning users can track in real-time through API preamp and channel modules, then mix via models of API's analogue summing and bus compression. Tim Oliver’s review said of it that its

Also in the running for the plug-in pize was Bettermaker’s EQ232D, a perfect plug-in representation of the company’s very powerful piece of outboard Mastering EQ hardware. It’s a piece of software we couldn't really have been more impressed by the than we were in Resolution V21.2’s review. Alongside it stood, Leapwing’s equally pleasing Al Schmitt Signature plug-in, which managed to perfectly capture the late engineer’s impeccable taste and light touch in the control room while still delivering a good range of sounds and options. The final contender was SynchroArts' VocAlign Ultra (Resolution V21.3); a wonderful no-frills tool for aligning audio and performing basic pitch correction that represents a real time-saver for those that need it. www.bettermaker.com | www.leapwingaudio.comw | ww.synchroarts.com

PREAMP

Winner: AMS Neve 1073OPX The AMS Neve 1073OPX presents as the perfect partner to the company’s 8424 desk for providing the additional mic preamps that some users will need to augment its stripped-back but flexible configuration. However, it’s also a great addition to almost any rig. Reviewed in Resolution V19.3, it melds eight-channels of the company’s much-appreciated 1073 preamp circuitry — including the Marinair transformers — with a flexible, network controllable, rackmount enclosure that allows a mic, line and DI input for each channel. These take the form of both front and rear input connections with independent switching, allowing for integration into a studio rack and augmented by a simple direct link via the front of the unit.

These inputs all have separate gain controls paired with an analogue summing and monitoring matrix. The addition of a digital card can also provide A-D conversion up to 192kHz, with USB2.0 connectively or Dante integration via dual redundant Ethernet ports. The digital add-on also provides stereo digital monitor return — making it every bit the modern studio tool. This is especially so when the fact that up to eight of the units — which adds up to a total of 64 mic/line channels — can be network controlled via the OPX app is taken into account, which means it can add placement flexibility to its admirable list of attributes. www.ams-neve.com 48 / November/December 2021

Also nominated: API Select T12; Cranborne Audio EC1; RME 12Mic Also nominated was the API Select T12, and pretty un-API (but excellent) 2-channel, all-tube, Class-A mic pre in a 2U rack. Part of the new Select line (we reviewed the SR22 and SE24 units in Resolution V21.6) in leverages its AP2516 transformer in the input stage and a custom API transformer on the output stage. The Cranborne Audio Camden EC1 interface offers a diminutive 1/2 rack option for musicians and podcasters who need a compact portable preamp, while still delivering excellent quality pre-amp circuitry in multiple flavours, headphone monitoring and access to the company’s C.A.S.T. CAT5 cable audio distribution system, which can be further added to with headphone amps (N22H) or basic I/O option (N22). Finally, the RME 12Mic (Resolution V21.4) is a network controllable, reliable, reat-sounding workhorse set of mic pres that with MADI and AVB connections. It greatly impressed during our tests, as system that “in concept and operation… is an extremely capable, flexible and great-sounding mic pre-amp.” www.apiaudio.com | www.cranborne-audio.com | www.rme-audio.de

/ Resolution Awards 2021

PROCESSOR

Winner: Flock Audio PATCH LT including recordists, live engineers, mixers, broadcast and mastering engineers will enjoy the power of this marvellous system.” www.flockaudio.com

Every now and then a product comes along that, while far from what you would describe as ‘exciting’, is something that opens up a ton of possibilities. Such is the Flock Audio Patch systems — the latest of which, the 16-in/16-out LT, we reviewed earlier this year. In that review, George Shilling described it as “revelatory”, and our voters agreed that the prospect of a software-driven, superb sounding “completely transparent” analogue, completely configurable, patchbay was something worth their praise. George’s review concluded that “the neat Patch app makes routing and patching a breeze compared to the old-fashioned tangle of a conventional patchbay,” and that “all kinds of audio professionals

Also nominated: Lawo A_UHD CORE; Lawo Home; Studio Technologies Model 5422A Also nominated was the Lawo A_UHD CORE, the new heart of the company's MC2 mixers. It offers up to 1,024 channels of flexible DSP processing that can be shared between consoles, as well as extensive IP Audio capabilities. Also from the same company, was a very different proposition in the form of Lawo Home, a system that provides a highly flexible, cloud-based portal for management and connection of IP-based media infrastructure. Finally, the Studio Technologies Model 5422A Dante Intercom Audio Engine builds on and expands the 5422's reputation for providing IP-based Intercom facilities and broadcast-related mixing. www.lawo.com | www.studio-tech.com

RECORDER

Winner: Lectrosonics SPDR Ideal as a rugged, aluminium-cased, full stereo recorder, that can be employed when a wireless system cannot be used, the Stereo Personal Digital Recorder (SPDR) also doubles as a compact backup recorder to keep in the kitbag, could be a reliable part of a low-profile interview kit for journalists or documentarians, and part of a plant mic system. With a temperature compensating clock accurate to 1ppm at all temperatures, and strong build quality, it’s also geared up for extreme sports or extreme conditions, and the company says it was launched to fill demand for binaural VR recording. It utilises the same high-def display as the PDR, and can be started and stopped with dweedle tone commands via the PDRRemote app. It stores audio in the Broadcast Wave Format (iXML metadata) on microSDHC memory card, with mic and line-level inputs that utilise Lectrosonics’ ‘servo bias’ input preamp, alongside an AES in for digital signals and a high-quality headphone output for monitoring. It can deliver 20 hours or more of operation on dual AA lithium batteries, while a 32GB memory card can potentially hold 30hrs of recording at 48kHz. A true workhorse piece of kit, that’s also a potential lifesaver to boot. www.lectrosonics.com

Also nominated: TASCAM DR-10L; iZotope Spire Studio; Zoom PodTrack P8 Also competing in the category were the Tascam DR-10L, another a compact discreet recorder — but this time twinned with a lavalier mic to make it ideal for videographers, content creators or reporters to use out in the field. On a distinctly more musical bent, iZotope's Spire Studio provides a wireless, portable, musicianfriendly recording system that twins an internal mic with additional connectivity options, along with appdriven effects and AI cloud processing to create a powerful, portable musical notepad for ideas and collaboration. As a great addition to the ever-growing toolkit aimed at the burgeoning podcast market, the Zoom PodTrack P8 delivers an easy-to-use, portable and powerful option for podcasters with six mic inputs and a multitude of other connection options. www.izotope.com | www.tascam.com | www.zoomcorp.com November/December 2021 / 49

Technology

Affordable acoustic analysis – finding NIRO NIGEL JOPSON gets his ultimate room REDI

Y

ou want to build a mixing or criticallistening room and your experience as a production pro means you’ve already selected a monitoring system and equipment, and you also have a good wiring team and trustworthy builders. You want the optimum design within the limitations of your structure, but the thought of hiring an architect, and ‘buying into’ someone else’s vision conjures up rather too many £££ signs. Alternatively… you’re an installer, acoustician or system implementer; you know all the constraints you face with a client’s building, what you’d really love is a black box to feed all the information in, to receive an assessment of the optimum splay of the walls, angle of the ceiling and the ideal complement and tuning of absorbers. These 50 / November/December 2021

are perennial problems in our industry, and now some very well-respected names in audio have come up with an innovative acoustic analysis service. REDIacoustics have designed some cool software, and named it NIRO (Non-cuboid Iterative Room Optimization).

The faces behind REDI certainly have the experience to inspire confidence in whatever NIRO finds. Dr. Peter D’Antonio pioneered the recording studio diffusor industry and invented a wide range of novel fractal and optimised diffusing and absorbing surfaces, for which he holds many trademarks and patents. There can be few engineers and producers from the ’90s who haven’t sat in a great control room with an RPG diffusor on the back wall. D’Antonio was the brains behind RPG, and has teamed up with

/ From left: Dr. Peter D’Antonio and John Storyk

John Storyk, founding partner of WSDG, a global architectural acoustic consulting and design firm, and PK Pandey, founder of Guitar Center’s GCPro B2B division, Symphonic

Acoustics, and Boston’s Mad Oak Studios.

Architect Storyk is a legend, having started his career designing Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios, with subsequent credits ranging from NY’s Jazz at Lincoln Center performance complex to studios for Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, Green Day and Paul Epworth (The Church Studios, Resolution V13.8). “The NIRO process is by far the most robust tool we have identified for accurately predicting acoustic anomalies in a small environment and at the same time optimising the most correct geometric arrangement of boundaries and listener/speaker configuration — particularly for low frequency behaviour!” he told Resolution.

D’Antonio continues the story: “John Storyk has always been supportive of my research, so when I had more time after I sold RPG, I wanted to focus on the projects that I’d never quite fully finished — one of them being to finally make a design system for critical listening rooms. When I started RPG in 1983 control rooms were really not very well scientifically designed. Different producers had hit records and then everybody would copy their rooms. Around a decade or so ago, we developed an image model called the ‘room sizer and the room optimizer’, which does something like NIRO (but not to the same extent) on a rectangular room, not taking into account the impedance of the wall surfaces and not taking into account the low frequency absorbers that were necessary.”

To address the modal resonances and speaker boundary interference at low frequencies, a wave acoustics solution, the Boundary Element Method (BEM) is used. At mid and high frequencies, geometrical acoustics will control interfering reflections.

“You can divide the control room into two frequency domains,” reveals D’Antonio.

“There's a transition point where the modal aspects of the room transition into statistical reflections and we call that the Schroeder frequency, after Manfred Schroeder, one of the greatest acousticians. In order to deal with problems below that transition frequency, you have to use wave acoustics because the audio wavelengths are so long.”

Indeed, the 17 metre wavelength of sound in air at 20Hz is considerably longer than any control room most of us have worked in.

“With loudspeaker-tuning approaches, all they are doing is essentially ruining the frequency response to accommodate problems in the room. So that may work alright if you've only got a project studio and you can't make any modifications to the room — it gets you a little closer — but the ‘holy grail’ is to make the room neutral and then allow people to adjust the room to suit their taste.”

Over the years acoustic designers have used a simple square root equation for cuboid rooms — but that only really works when you have perfectly reflecting boundaries, all the modes are excited and all the modes are

/ NIRO Process: Architecture, Acoustics, Audio & ‘Auralization’

/ Frequency plots, before and after acoustic treatment

heard. This occurs with a speaker and listener in opposite diagonal corners. Unfortunately, this is not how we listen to music! It’s necessary to use wave acoustics to solve low frequency modal issues. Additionally, as long ago as 1948 it was shown that when you have a loudspeaker in a particular location, you have the equivalent of another imaginary loudspeaker across every boundary. As D’Antonio explains, what you're ultimately hearing in a listening room is the coherent information from both sources.

“Not only do you have modes, but you have speaker boundary interference. Then there's another issue, which is the uniformity of the temporal decay — most audio pros have seen the loudspeaker waterfall plots. Together… all these form a monster problem for acousticians to solve.”

The ‘black box’ studio designers dream of

The software for NIRO was written in Python, an open-source computer language, with REDIacoustics’ senior acoustic engineer Rinaldi Petrolli handling the coding. Petrolli has a degree in acoustic engineering and is a

collaborator for PyTTa (Python in Technical Acoustics), an open-source library that allows users to make and evaluate acoustic measurements within a Python language interpreted framework. NIRO has three main modules: an iterative Geometry Module that relies on BEM (Boundary Element Method) to predict a room’s modal response, and an iterative genetic algorithm to simultaneously determine the optimal room geometry and positions of speakers and listeners.

“We have an animation on the REDIacoustics website that gives you some idea of these hundreds of changes,” explains D’Antonio. “As the geometry changes, we monitor the steady-state frequency response, and we monitor the speaker boundary interference. The geometry module only affects those frequencies below the Schroeder frequency, because that's where the room modes are, and that's where the speaker boundary interference is. The principal goal of the geometry module is to eliminate dips in the frequency response, which cannot be mitigated with acoustical treatment.”

NIRO’s ‘Damper Module’ operates to minimise the influence of interfering specular November/December 2021 / 51

/ Acoustic research centre, containing the 24’ long, 7 ton, 2’x2’ impedance tube used to verify resonators

reflections and to further minimise modal emphasis and temporal ringing, using new Acoustical Parametric EQualizer (APEQ) modules — fine-tuned acoustic treatments specific for each problematic frequency. Their complex surface impedances are calculated, using the Transfer Matrix Method and validated by impedance tube measurements.

D’Antonio explains the parametric metaphor: “Everybody's familiar with an electronic parametric EQ. You can adjust the Q, the gain and frequency. We wanted to

develop a sort of acoustical parametric equalizer, so you add an acoustic absorber that removes energy at the various frequencies of interest. In the damper module we use a predictive approach and an experimental approach. The predictive approach uses a procedure called the Transfer Matrix Method, with which you can predict the frequency, the absorption and the impedance of a resonator, which can then be manufactured. I’ve just finished completing the design and the fabrication of an Acoustic Research Centre at

/ Abbott Road Studio, Boston, showing treatment panels (inset)

52 / November/December 2021

RPG,” reveals D’Antonio. “We have a 24ft long impedance tube, 2ft by 2ft. We can test these resonators that our software predicts, and we can verify if they actually resonate with predicted performance.”

The final NIRO module is a geometric acoustics reflection module, to identify interfering reflections at the listening positions.

While there are several software suites already in use by acousticians to perform such calculations, Peter emphasised to us that the unique aspect of NIRO was its ability to perform hundreds and hundreds of iterations of room shape, to deliver the optimum result for each project.

“Having the ability to predict the performance of the room before it's built is quite unique. One of the things that the boundary element program gives you is a pressure plot of the room. It shows you where the nulls are, where the high-pressure regions are, so you know exactly from the calculation where to put all of the absorbing elements. An acoustician will receive a very extensive report.

They get the results of every single module.

So, if they can change the geometry [of their room], we provide them with architectural drawings.”

Who can benefit from the service?

The NIRO predictive design service will benefit a range of clients who need to commission high-end listening environments, including musicians, engineers, audiophiles and home theatre owners. A sample 41-page report is

/ Technology

/ Temporal decay successfully controlled without introducing dips in the frequency response

/ Predicted vs. measured for the Abbott Road subwoofer

available to download from the REDIacoustics website, and very comprehensive it is too. The positioning and construction of wall elements, traps and absorbers is specified in great detail, along with treatment recommendations and construction details for each item. Predicted frequency response charts and decay spectrum responses for the mix position are illustrated, together with pressure distribution at listener ear-level for the entire room. This allows an experienced acoustician or designer to further expand the report into a fully developed set of construction documents — or at the same time, permits a DIY approach for production pros interested in tackling the fabrication of their own custom damping modules. In future, the plan is for there to be several ‘certified manufacturers’, providing treatments that can be integrated with NIRO designs.

In fact, the information was so detailed, I began to think that the NIRO report must be rather expensive. Not a bit of it.

“REDIacoustics offers this analysis as a fixed-fee service and delivers a detailed analysis and recommendations report.

Turnaround time for this service is usually within a week or so after all the critical information for a project is obtained. Fee

FORWARD THINKING AUDIO GEAR

structure depends upon the exact nature of the project variables, but to date has never exceeded $5,500USD. REDIacosutics is continuing to optimise this software as well as explore multiple solution sets for APEQ's (Acoustic Parametric EQualizers) — in other COMPRESSOR LIMITER words applied surface treatments. Stay tuned for more research and development on that front!”

REDIacoustics’ NIRO is, effectively, the ‘black www.davehilldesigns.com box’ that ordinary studio-builders have dreamed of for many years. The NIRO program has been successfully utilised in nearly 80 projects over the past two years, several Dave Hill Designs SHW 0914.indd 1 14/08/2014 already completed and installed. An early example of NIRO’s success is illustrated by the renovation of Abbott Road Studio in Boston, owned by engineer Rob Jaczko, whose credits include Warren Zevon, Don Henley, Bruce Springsteen and James Taylor. The fact that REDIacoustics is helmed by two respected Sign up at www.resolutionmag.com/newsletter pioneers of acoustic design is reassuring, and for the all-new, fortnightly Resolution email NIRO is sure to take its place as an answer to newsletter, featuring exclusive Resolution features one of audio’s most bothersome questions: “I and content, news and competitions, and more! basically know what I want with my new room — can you recommend someone good who can sort out the acoustics — for a reasonable budget?” www.rediacoustics.com

TITAN

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November/December 2021 / 53

09:04

Playlist

Bond, James Bond...

These Diamonds are Forever, as we look at some great Bond and Bond-inspired tunes.

We Have All The Time In The World

LOUIS ARMSTRONG From: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service John Barry’s orchestration of this classic tune gets a reprise early on in No Time To Die, just to give the proper heads a kick of nostalgia for one of the finest soundtracks Bond has produced.

The only outing of Aussie George Lazenby as Fleming’s main man features the sung version of Barry’s tune, with lyrics by Hal David and performed by the peerless Louis Armstrong.

Produced by Phil Ramone, arranged and conducted by Barry for United Artists, the song was Satchmo’s last recorded work as he died just two weeks after the recording session (he was too ill to play the now-famous trumpet solo). The track barely caused a ripple outside of cinemas in 1969, failing to chart either side of the Atlantic, and only became a hit in the UK in 1994, when it was used in a commercial. It’s been covered many times over the years — perhaps most weirdly by Iggy Pop — but also by My Bloody Valentine for a 1993 Island Records charity LP, Peace Together.

007: A Fantasy Bond Theme

BARRY ADAMSON From: his Soul Murder LP Not actually from a Bond film you can watch in this universe, this tune was created by the former member of post-punkers Magazine, Barry Adamson — who forged a career as a composer, artist and solo musician through the mid-late 80s, into the 90s and beyond (the band would eventually reform for shows in 2011). 1992 saw the release of his cinematic Soul Murder LP, on Mute Records — recorded at the label’s own Worldwide International Studios, produced by Adamson himself and engineered by long-time Mute (and Wire — see Resolution V21.3) collaborator Paul Kendall. The track takes Monty Norman’s classic guitar line, or a version of it, and pulls it kicking and screaming into a ska track that imagines a black Bond. It’s a sheer joy, a standout on a truly wonderful LP, and quite the perspective changer. Check it out.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

John Barry From: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Perhaps the most famous Bond theme that’s not the Bond theme, John Barry’s OHMSS soundtrack has the booming brass and bluster that has become synonymous with the series’ sound — as part of a score that the composer admitted he was trying to make “more Bondian 54 / November/December 2021

than Bondian”, whatever that means. It also features the tones of a Moog synthesiser, which at the time was de rigeur thanks to its prominence on The Beatles’ recording swansong, Abbey Road. More than a novelty, though, it sits beautifully here and fits the theme of progress and change that befitted the times and the new Bond. Of course, synthesiser use would become a soundtrack staple through the next decade, but accounts attribute Barry and producer Phil Ramone’s choice to apply it here as its first use on a major film score. The track would later be a standout of David Arnold’s Shaken and Stirred Bond LP project in 1997, when it was remixed by Propellerheads — who would later go on to have a hit with none-other than Dame Shirley Bassey…

Goldfinger

Shirley Bassey From: Goldfinger …Talking of which… It’s this tune, and this soundtrack — John Barry’s second for the series — that sets the reference tones by which all others are judged to this day. Barry wrote the title song, with lyrics from Anthony Newly and Leslie Bricusse, with the sessions overseen by George Martin at CTS Studios in Bayswater, London. Quite apart from Bassey’s barnstorming delivery, which according to legend was achieved after she retreated behind a gobo in the studio and removed her bra upon Martin’s advice, the Goldfinger tune reappears throughout the soundtrack, a trick that would come to define the Bond score style — what’s more, the instrumental take of the tune, bolstered by Vic Flick’s twanging guitar, is a perfect mid-sixties spy soundtrack, that it’s self-evident was a blueprint for many that followed. Sample spotters will also perhaps enjoy Golden Girl from the film, which would later be woven into the Sneaker Pimps’ Six Underground.

Live and Let Die

Paul McCartney and Wings (and George Martin) From: Live and Let Die With John Barry otherwise engaged in the run-up to Live and Let Die, the hunt was on for a new team to create the soundtrack, with the Broccolis apparently favouring the ex-Beatle and his band Wings as the choice to perform the title song. However, it took McCartney’s recruitment of George Martin to orchestrate and produce that — and a little bit of light persuasion from the well-spoken ex-naval man — to convince the other producer, Harry Salzmann, to get on board with the choice.

However, all were so impressed by the world that Martin et al had done on the bombastic title track,

they kept him on to compose the whole score.

The cod-reggae none-more-Macca classic they produced to kick off the movie was perfect for the time, and the film. What’s more, Martin’s soundtrack perfectly fits the new look Bond, for better and worse. Whatever you think of how Live and Let Die’s aged, both the film and its title tune are fondly remembered by many.

Man of War & Spectre

Radiohead Not from: Spectre When Radiohead was asked to submit a theme for the 2015 Bond outing Spectre, the group initially submitted the track Man of War; however, this was rejected when producers found out it was not written specifically for the film (it was, in fact, a reject from the group’s 1995 LP, The Bends) and thus ineligible for Oscar consideration. Thus, the story goes, the band stopped recording their LP A Moon Shaped Pool, and retreated to their Oxford studio to begin work on a bespoke tune for the project. What emerged, Spectre, was a string-led ballad orchestrated by Johnny Greenwood that is every inch the maudlin Radiohead affair you would expect — though beautifully produced and put together by the band and Nigel Godrich. It too would eventually be rejected as too melancholy by the production team, much to the annoyance of the producer and musicians who believed the process had somewhat derailed their ongoing project. It was eventually released for free by the band via Soundcloud on Christmas Day 2015, while Man of War wouldn’t get an official release until nearly two years later. Side note: if rejected Bond themes from British indie bands is your bag, seek out Pulp’s re-titled Tomorrow Never Lies. That was rejected for a film that could have as many as seven other possible title tunes, after the producers decided to create their own battle of the bands that Sheryl Crow eventually won. Pulp also covered John Barry’s All Time High as well.

Millennium

Robbie Williams From: his I’ve Been Expecting You LP Not actually a sample of Barry’s You Only Live Twice theme, the loop underpinning Millenium was actually re-orchestrated by Nick Ingmann and re-recorded at Angel Studios in London — at about 1/10th of the cost of licensing the original, according to producers Guy Chambers and Steve Power. Still, it was designed to be a recognisable pastiche, according to the pair, and it certainly was that.

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