Download Report

No. 287 z November 2014
www.audiomedia.com
Mastering the art
The techniques and technologies
to succeed in mastering p22
IN THIS ISSUE
SHOW
NEWS
FINAL
CUT
The highlights from AES
and PLASA London
STUDIO
PROFILE
We take a look around
all four studios in
London’s RAK complex
p6
Behind the scenes of new
ﬁlm Kingsman: The
p20
Secret Service
p26
TECH
FOCUS
Headphones
p28
WELCOME
Meet the team
“The monitors are an integral
part of any listening room,
almost as important as the
ears of the engineer.”
Managing Editor – Jo Ruddock
jruddock@nbmedia.com
Deputy Editor – Jake Young
jyoung@nbmedia.com
Commercial Director – Darrell Carter
dcarter@nbmedia.com
Account Manager – Karma Bertelsen
kbertelsen@nbmedia.com
Production Executive – Jason Dowie
jdowie@nbmedia.com
Designer – Jat Garcha
jgarcha@nbmedia.com
Press releases to:
ukpressreleases@nbmedia.com
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permission of the copyright owners.
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I
t’s been another busy month for trade
shows, with AES returning to LA after 12
years, and PLASA looking to build on its
move to east London last year – find out
about the latest product launches from
both shows starting on page 6.
There seemed to be an air of positivity on
both sides of the Atlantic. According to AES, the
137th gathering was ‘officially the best attended
West Coast convention in AES history’, while the
mood on the ExCeL show floor was decidedly
more positive than in 2013. Comments were
made about the quality of the visitors as well as
the technology on show – and the presence of a
Star Wars Convention in an adjacent hall in east
London did nothing to dampen spirits!
Both shows also served to highlight the
continued demand for high-quality training,
education, and debate on all things audio. Over
in the US, AES executive director Bob Moses
highlighted “the standing-room-only crowd for
Thursday’s opening ceremonies and keynote,
along with popular technical programme
sessions all day. The exhibitor aisles are crowded,
the Project Studio Expo and Live Sound Expo
Exhibits-Plus sessions are drawing attendees
to their exhibits floor stages, and the technical
programme sessions are still packed.”
The situation in London was similar with
many audio sessions standing room only and
a good level of healthy debate and discussion
on a range of topics. One session that stayed in
my mind was ‘Point Source. Line Array. What
Do These Terms Really Mean?’ with FunktionOne and Soulsound. In what became quite an
impassioned debate, the panel and the audience
agreed that the only way to improve the quality
of the audio we hear – be that live or recorded –
was to remind the next generation of what good
audio is and encourage them to listen, rather
than rely entirely on what a computer screen
tells them.
Jim Evans received a similar message when he
investigated the world of mastering (page 22).
Relying on a certain brand or a certain setup
simply isn’t enough to achieve the sonic clarity
and performance necessary. So what techniques
did our experts recommend for getting the
best results? Step one, according to Darius van
Helfteren, owner of Amsterdam Mastering,
is “to listen to, say, 20 of your favourite songs
– songs that you’ve always considered to have
great sound. Do most of them sound ‘right’ to
you?” If they don’t sound right, that’s when
you can get technical and solve the issues,
be that room treatment, or even a room
optimisation processor.
So trust your ears, take time to listen, and
learn from those around you. And, as Abbey
Road Studios’ Geoff Pesche, says, remember:
“The monitors are an integral part of any
listening room, almost as important as the ears
of the engineer.”
Elsewhere in this issue we learn the
importance of collaboration and teamwork as
we go behind the scenes of Matthew Vaughn’s
new film, Kingsman: The Secret Service in this
month’s Final Cut feature (p20). We find out that
DPA’s necklace mic is more than just a solution
for reality TV stars, and Will Strauss and Colin
Birch look at whether the European house of
worship market will ever match that of the
United States.
Joanne Ruddock, Managing editor
@audiomediamag
November 2014 3
CONTENTS
MASTERING
Jim Evans delves into the world
of monitors for mastering and
ﬁnds out how to get the most
from your room p22
20
FEATURES
Pa
ge
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Broadcast Focus ..................................18
Colin Birch and Will Strauss analyse the
state of the European house of worship
market and how it compares to its
counterpart in the US
Audio-Technica debuts handbuilt
mic at AES .................................................6
Harrison 32cs coming soon ............... 7
XTA brings APA to PLASA ....................8
INDUSTRY NEWS
Studio Proﬁle ...................................... 26
Jake Young takes a trip around the
RAK Studios complex and explores the RAK
Singles Club
TECHNOLOGY
Focus:
Headphones........................................... 28
Reviews:
DPA Necklace mic..................................34
Aphex USB 500 Rack............................. 36
Allen & Heath Qu-32 ........................ 38
Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 .......................40
Pa
ge
BBC Music launches with God Only
Knows production .................................10
Tonmeistertagung programme
released ................................................... 11
First London renovation
for WSDG ................................................12
14
Final Cut ............................................... 20
Jerry Ibbotsen looks at the close
relationship between production and post
on new Colin Firth movie Kingsman: The
Secret Service
ALSO INSIDE
PRO SOUND AWARDS:
All the winners from the second
PSAs at Ministry of Sound.....................14
GEO FOCUS: Germany.......................... 16
INTERVIEW: Anastasios Brakis,
creator of game sound tool Fabric........42
ADVERTISERSINDEX
AMS Neve
Cedar Audio
CES
Genelec
IBC
Lawo
4 November 2014
2
9
17
13
29
39
Lynx Studio Technology
Mogami
NewBay Connect
Nordoff Robbins
Prism Sound
Radial
32
11
19
37
25
43
Richmond Film Services
Sennheiser
Steinberg
Universal Audio
27
5
44
24
www.audiomedia.com
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Handbuilt Mic Debuts on
Audio-Technica Stand
Audio-Technica showcased its AT5045 hand-built,
large-diaphragm, stick-design side-address condenser
instrument microphone in LA.
The AT5045 employs a large rectangular element,
crafted by Audio-Technica engineers to improve
transient response and increase response bandwidth.
Discrete components were selected to maximise
performance and its two-micron-thick, vapourdeposited gold diaphragm has been aged to achieve
optimum sonic characteristics that are said to remain
constant over years of use.
With fast transient response, low noise, high SPL
handling (149dB SPL) and a dynamic range of
141dB, the AT5045 is designed to be an ideal
instrument microphone, particularly suited to use on
overheads, percussion, acoustic guitar, strings, and
other acoustic instruments requiring the capture of
dynamic, detailed sound.
www.eu.audio-technica.com
Genelec Adds to SAM Range
The 8351 acoustically
coaxial three-way Smart
Active Monitor system
from Genelec was
developed in response to
the need for increasing
audio perfection in
acoustically challenging
production environments.
It is the same size as
Genelec’s 8050, with
dimensions of 17.75in
x 11.25in x 11in. The
centre of the 8351’s
enclosure is where a
Minimum Diffraction
coaxial midrange/tweeter
driver evolved from the
8260 can be found. This
is said to provide accurate
imaging and improved
sound quality, with clear
accuracy, both on and offaxis, vertically as well as
horizontally. Aesthetically,
the woofers are concealed
beneath the Maximised
Directivity Controlled
Waveguide. The lips on the
perimeter of the waveguide
form the acoustic openings
for the Genelec-designed
Acoustically Concealed
Woofers (ACW).
The 8351 is capable of
delivering 110dB at 1m
through a combination of
Genelec-designed Class D
amplifiers for the woofer
(150W) and midrange
(120W) drivers, while
a discrete-components
(90W) Genelec-designed
Class A-B amplifier applies
power to the tweeter.
The 8351 has a system
frequency response of
32Hz to 40kHz (-6dB),
±1.5dB (38Hz to 21kHz)
with very low distortion.
www.genelec.com
iZotope Releases New
Mastering Software
Ne
w
Compact Live
Console from SSL
at
AE
S
SSL has expanded its Live console range
with the SSL Live.L300 and V2.5 software.
The L300 is a more compact version of the other
desk in the family, the L500.
Both are said to be suitable for applications including
touring, installation, and theatre. The L300 offers up to
568 input/outputs, 128 processing paths (96 full, 32 dry), a
32 x 36 matrix, 36 VCAs, and 48 FX slots.
It ships with V2.5 software, which brings advanced
effects optimisation and 27 new features and updates to the
SSL Live console platform.
www.solidstatelogic.com
International Launch
for PMC’s QB1-A
The QB1 Active (QB1-A), a large-scale, ultra-highresolution main studio monitor, took centre stage on the
PMC stand at AES.
Designed for either soffit-mounted or free-standing
use, each QB1-A incorporates analogue and digital (up
to 192kHz) inputs, Class D amplification, Advanced
Transmission Line (ATL) bass-loading technology, DSP
control, and a quartet of 10in carbon fibre/Nomex piston
bass drivers.
The unit has a maximum SPL of 132dB at 1m and each
channel has an expansive 4,825W of Class D amplification
at its disposal (275W on the HF driver, 550W on the midrange, and 4,000W on the four bass drivers).
“We saw that there was a gap at the high end of the
market,” explained Oliver Thomas, R&D project manager
at PMC. “In the main, the current products on the market
don’t offer the flexibility of analogue and digital inputs, and
suffer from giving listeners an insufficient sense of resolution,
compared to what can now be attained with good Class D
amp design and DSP-aided crossover management.”
www.pmc-speakers.com
iZotope has announced Ozone 6 – the latest version of its complete mastering system. For
the first time, the mastering workflow is centred around creativity: Ozone 6’s modern visual
paradigm guides users of all experience levels, so they can experiment with ease – or dial in
signature sounds in a few clicks.
www.izotope.com
6 November 2014
www.audiomedia.com
w
e
N
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
S
E
A
t
a First FET Mic Harrison 32cs Production
from Telefunken
With over a year and a half of development and
beta testing with recording engineers, the newlydesigned M60 FET (Field Effect Transistor) smalldiaphragm microphone is Telefunken Elektroakustik’s first
non-vacuum tube, FET-based solid-state condenser mic.
Components are hand-plugged into gold-plated circuit
board traces to provide a Class A discrete amplifier with a
frequency response of +/-2dB from 20Hz to 50KHz.
The output is matched with a custom transformer
that offers low self-noise and a typical THD+N of 0.015%
or better.
Designed to utilise the same interchangeable TK6X
capsule systems as the ELA M 260 small-diaphragm
tube mic, the M60 FET is suitable for acoustic and
percussive sources.
www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com
Avid Extends
Artist Suite
Two new audio plug-ins were added to Avid’s Artist
Suite in LA.
Pro Multiband Dynamics and Pro Subharmonic, part of the
newly expanded Pro Series, are compatible with AAX Native
64, AAX DSP 64, and AudioSuite 64 formats for Pro Tools
HDX, Pro Tools Native, and other systems running Pro Tools
11 and higher.
Pro Multiband Dynamics enables quick and easy mixing
by selectively compressing or expanding individual tracks or
audio groups in up to four separate frequency ranges. It also
offers control by applying upward expansion and downward
compression only to signals that go below or above the
threshold.
Pro Subharmonic is the only subharmonic synth that
supports surround and the AAX DSP 64-bit format for Pro
Tools HDX users, providing ultra-low latency performance to
enhance low-frequency instruments and sounds while recording
and mixing. Pro Subharmonic generates low-frequency signals
an octave lower than the source, enabling users to punch up
bass and percussive sounds for creative music applications, or
add power to audio post soundtracks by feeding signals into
L/R and LFE (low-frequency effects) channels.
www.avid.com
www.audiomedia.com
Units Coming Soon
US manufacturer Harrison used the AES
Convention to show its 32cs channel strip
– and announced that production units will
be available in December. The 32cs provides
one channel of the Harrison 32-Series
console sound in a 1U rackspace.
The input section offers a Lundahl input
transformer and Harrison’s classic mic
preamp design with more than 70dB of
gain. Switchable selections include a frontpanel input jack, hi-z instrument loading,
phase-invert, -20dB pad, and true 48V
phantom power.
The insert switches enable the rear
insert jacks for pre- or post-filter external
processing. Insert sends are always active,
while the switch enables the return path either
pre-filter or pre-EQ. This allows the mic
preamp to be used separately from the EQ.
The filter section provides separate on/
off switches for the high- and low-pass
filters. The filters use the wide overlapping
ranges that were pioneered by Harrison in
the 32-Series consoles. The high-pass filter
features a switch for Harrison’s ‘Bump’
feature, which provides a resonant boost
above the selected frequency. This helps
keep instruments from sounding too thin
when low-end energy is rolled off.
The analogue monitoring section provides
true zero-latency monitoring of the 32cs
output blended with a stereo 2mix. This
allows DAW users to take the 32cs on the
road and track directly into their computer
without an external mixer. The ‘Blend’ knob
controls the mix between the 32cs output
and the 2mix input. A mute switch and level
knob feed the high-powered headphone
amp and rear line-level speaker connections;
you can work with headphones or small
powered speakers.
www.analog.harrisonconsoles.com
ViSi Connect Addition
Aids Flexibility
Soundcraft announced the MADI-USB
Combo Card, a new option card in the
ViSi Connect series of expansions for the Si
Expression, Si Performer, and Si Compact
consoles.
The card provides users of the console
with a single-slot option card that has a
Cat5 MADI stream for use with Soundcraft
Stageboxes and other MADI devices as well
as an ultra-low latency multichannel USB
interface for live and studio recording to
DAWs and other recording systems.
The 64 x 64 card comes configured to
provide 32 x 32 via MADI and 32 x 32 via
USB. The 32 MADI input channels can
be fed from Soundcraft
stageboxes, another
console, or other MADI
feeds, while the 32 MADI
output channels can be
used for the console’s
output busses, channel
direct outputs, or other
feeds. The 32 USB input
channels can be used for
playback/monitoring from
the recording system, while the 32 USB
output channels can send channel directoutputs or other outputs for multitrack
recordings.
“We recognise that in addition to
pristine audio quality and ease of use,
flexibility is a top priority for sound
engineers when it comes to their mixing
consoles,” said Sean Karpowicz, product
manager, Soundcraft. “The MADI-USB
Combo option card gives our users great
flexibility with a single slot option card that
provides Stagebox connectivity via MADI
and multichannel USB recording.”
www.harman.com
November 2014 7
Ne
wa
tP
LA
XTA Adds APA Series
SA
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Following its launch at InfoComm
earlier in the year, XTA brought its
APA Series of Class D amplifiers to
London last month.
The first model in the APA
(Adaptive Processing Amplification)
family is the APA-4E8. The unit
offers four channels of power
totalling 20kW peak output into 4R,
and continuous power available of
3,400W per channel into 4R. Four
audio inputs allow all four amplifier
channels to be individually utilised if
required, with a full suite of XTA’s
DSP, including dynamic EQ, FIR
filtering and phase linearisation,
ultra-transparent limiting, and all the
classic crossover and EQ components
traditionally used to set up a system.
“We have included the same
A-D converters that we use in
the DS8000D [XTA’s Audio
Distribution System], which allows
us to monitor the outgoing audio
PreSonus and
WorxAudio
Make PLASA
Debuts
WorxAudio was officially
welcomed into the PreSonus
fold at this year’s PLASA
London, on the stand of UK
distributor Source.
PreSonus CEO Jim Mack
said: “The acquisition of
WorxAudio significantly
extends our product line to
provide advanced networked
loudspeaker systems to
a much larger audience.
Further, this acquisition
brings us extremely valuable
engineering system design
expertise and technology,
as well as loudspeaker
manufacturing expertise.”
WorxAudio also used the
show to announce that its
new TrueLine X2i-P/D, X3iP/D and X5i-P/D (pictured)
line array systems and X115iP/D and X118i-P/D subs
will incorporate PreSonus’
Active Integration technology
and SL-Dante-SPK card.
The TrueLine units will be
the first line arrays to offer
Audinate’s Dante technology
with PreSonus Active
Integration.
New from PreSonus,
meanwhile, were cabinet
versions and companion
8 November 2014
accessories designed for
installation. Available in
white and black, StudioLive
328i cabinets are built for
flown installations without
handles and pole mounts.
Internal grille cloth masks
the drivers so that they blend
into their environments. A
companion yoke mount is
also available, as is an update
to PreSonus’ SL Room
Control speaker-management
software that allows the user
to turn off the front-panel
blue power-status LED.
www.presonus.com
voltages and currents to the same
degree of accuracy as we do when
digitising incoming analogue audio
prior to processing,” commented
XTA technical director John Austin.
“These outgoing signals can
then be fed back into the
DSP [responsible for all
the user adjustable EQ and
protection] so that it can
make adjustments to ensure
that any connected speaker
driver is being utilised
to the best of its abilities,
without undue stress to the driver,
or the amp for that matter.”
www.audiocore.co.uk
d&b Shows Y-Series
The Y-Series from d&b
audiotechnik is said
to provide flexible and
configurable solutions for
small to medium-sized
sound reinforcement
requirements. The Y7P
and Y10P loudspeakers
cover point source duties,
while the B6-SUB provides
extended frequency response,
and two line source
loudspeakers and a matched
cardioid subwoofer, the Y8,
Y12, and Y-SUB, tackle line
array tasks.
The Y7P and Y10P share
the same dipolar 8in driver
arrangement centred on a
1.4in compression driver
fitted to a rotatable CD
horn, facilitating deployment
horizontally or vertically.
With dispersion
characteristics of 75° x
40° and 110° x 40° (h x
v) respectively, the Y7P
units offer a multitude
of deployment options,
individually as a full range
system or in combination
with other elements from
the Y-Series, either ground
stacked or flown.
The B6-SUB
complements the Y7P and
Y10P, with a single 18in
driver built into a bassreflex design, extending the
frequency response down to
37Hz.
The Y8 and Y12, which
utilise the same rigging
design as their bigger
brothers from the J- and
V-Series, share the same
80° and 120° horizontal
dispersion characteristics.
They can be suspended
in columns of up to 24
loudspeakers with splay
angles from 0 to 14º with a
1º resolution. The Y-SUB
houses a forward-facing
18in driver and a 12in
driver radiating towards the
rear, producing a cardioid
dispersion pattern. Driven
by a single amplifier channel,
the compact Y-SUB can be
ground stacked or flown at
the top of a Y8/Y12 array.
www.dbaudio.com
Shure Brings QLX-D to UK
The QLX-D Digital Wireless system made
its UK debut on the Shure stand. QLX-D
transmits accurate audio with extended, flat
frequency response. Automatic channel scan
and IR sync are said to make finding and
assigning an open frequency quick and easy.
According to the company: “It offers the
performance of a top-end touring system
packaged into a smaller system for under
£1,000.”
www.shuredistribution.co.uk
www.audiomedia.com
INDUSTRY NEWS
Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com
RECORDING
Artists and Studios Collaborate
for BBC Music Launch
By Kevin Hilton
The BBC restated its commitment
to promoting and supporting
music of all kinds last month by
launching a new initiative that will
include television and radio shows,
partnerships, and projects. BBC
Music was given a high-profile
launch on 7 October with the debut
of a new recording of The Beach
Boys’ God Only Knows on all the
broadcaster’s channels, from the
BBC One, Two, Three and Four TV
services to its national and local radio
stations, iPlayer and iPlayer Radio.
The single and video bring
together a range of artists of
different styles and genres – some
well established, others more
contemporary or on the rise. This
echoes another BBC promo, the
1997 version of Lou Reed’s Perfect
Day, which also pulled together
seemingly disparate performers who
recorded their parts individually in
different studios.
God Only Knows begins with
the BBC Concert Orchestra – in
the video playing in the Alexandra
Palace Theatre, the original home
of BBC TV – followed by an array
of singers and instrumentalists,
including Pharrell Williams, Emeli
Sandé, Elton John (the only person
to also appear on Perfect Day),
Lorde, Chris Martin from Coldplay,
Kylie Minogue, Stevie Wonder,
Queen’s Brian May, Baaba Maal,
Dave Grohl, and Sam Smith. The
song’s composer, Brian Wilson, sings
two lines, including the closing “God
only knows what I’d be without you”.
The track was produced and mixed
by Ethan Johns – an artist in his own
right, who has worked with the likes
of Paul McCartney, Kaiser Chiefs,
Tom Jones, and Kings of Leon – and
Ken Nelson, whose credits include
Badly Drawn Boy, The Charlatans,
and Coldplay.
Explaining his reason for taking
on the task, Johns said: “One of the
things that interested me most about
this project was the idea of bringing
together so many different styles of
music. To make so much diversity
work within one piece of music was
quite a challenge. I feel like I’ve taken
a 1,000-piece puzzle and just thrown
it in the air. I’m standing there trying
to grab them as they come down and
put them into place.”
The tracks were recorded mainly
in the UK at AIR Studios – home
to a Neve 88R and AMS Neve
DFC – Stockton Parish Church
(for the Tees Valley Youth Choir),
Abbey Road, Real World Studios,
Rocket Music’s Management
Offices, RAK, Olympic Studios,
Sarm Studios, Reservoir Studios,
and Helicon Mountain Studios, with
One Direction at Doppler Studios,
Atlanta, and Brian Wilson in Ocean
Way Studios, Hollywood.
The video had its own sound
design, put together and mixed by
Munzie Thind at Grand Central
post production in Soho. “I was
supplied with various elements from
the official mix – orchestral tracks,
choral tracks, vocal tracks – and my
challenge was to create a seamless
TV mix,” he explained.
God Only Knows and its array of
talent is also part of this month’s
Children in Need charity appeal,
which takes over BBC One on the
evening of 14 November. Its main
purpose, though, is to promote the
three objectives of the BBC Music
campaign: to support emerging
talent by bringing classical music
into schools, offering new training
initiatives for young people, and
breaking more new artists; pushing
further digital innovation involving
BBC Music Playlister and iPlayer;
and producing new programming,
including the BBC Music Awards.
www.ams-neve.com
www.gcrs.com
RECORDING
Heard Around Town
The Retreat recording studios near
Brighton is now specialising in
tracking, and has invested in seven
bespoke EMI preamps, a stereo 1073,
as well as a Neve PSM.
The score for the new Nick Cave
documentary 20,000 Days on Earth
was composed and tracked at Retreat.
It follows a day in the life of the
enigmatic Bad Seeds frontman.
The film was also partly shot at La
Fabrique Studio in France.
Session drummer Ash Soan has
invested in two ASP880 eightchannel mic pres from Audient for
his Norfolk-based studio housed in a
converted windmill. “The new Rumer
10 November 2014
album due for release in November
has my drums on, and I recorded the
percussion at my place. I sent the
tracks to the producer in New York.
I’m working on a Jeff Lorber project
at the moment too.”
At Alchemy Mastering, Barry
Grint has been busy with some work
for Jeff Wayne and The Vamps, and
in the vinyl world he cut at half speed
the new Thom Yorke release and half
speed masters of all the Jesus and
Mary Chain studio albums.
AIR Mastering’s John Webber has
been working on various audiophile
vinyl releases including AIR Studios’
first ever direct-to-disc recording of
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for the Chasing
the Dragon label. Other recent
projects include a Clean Bandit live
album and cutting the vinyl version
of George Michael’s latest album
Symphonica.
Also at AIR, Ray Staff has just
mastered the soon-to-be-released
David Bowie box set Nothing Has
Changed, plus other projects.
At Abbey Road Studios, Geoff
Pesche’s recent projects include Kylie
Minogue’s Kiss Me Once, Katherine
Jenkins’ upcoming album Home Sweet
Home, plus cutting releases as part of
the Back to Black Series for
Universal Music.
Recorded in Abbey Road’s
Studio One and Studio Two,
Paul McCartney’s Hope has been
confirmed for release later this year.
Produced by Giles Martin, Hope is
taken from the video game Destiny.
Globe Audio Mastering’s Alexis
Bardinet has remastered six albums
for French band Noir Desir in highresolution (24/96) and for vinyl. He
has also mastered the new LP for
rock band Les Wampas.
Albums completed by Darius van
Helfteren at Amsterdam Mastering
include titles from Tangarine, Epica,
Reverse, Wende, The Upsessions, and
Alamo Race Track.
www.audiomedia.com
INDUSTRY NEWS
RECORDING
EVENT
From the
Cutting Room
Tonmeistertagung
Programme Released
Verband Deutscher
Tonmeister (VDT) has
announced details of the
28th Tonmeistertagung
seminar programme.
The VDT team has
organised sessions to discuss
trends such as networked
audio, object-based
recording, and live recording.
A series of lectures,
workshops, and tutorials will
examine all aspects of these
subjects and more.
The programme starts on
Tuesday 21 November with
a themed day entitled Der
gute Ton in der Trimedialität
(Good Sound in Trimedia),
arranged by Institut für
Rundfunktechnik (IRT).
It will highlight the
requirements in training,
room and architectural
acoustics, as well as recording
www.audiomedia.com
and playback technology
in a time of cross-media
production methods.
From Thursday afternoon
on, there will be a live mixing
workshop organised by VDT
sustaining members d&b,
Sennheiser, and Yamaha.
All in all, the programme
consists of around 100
lectures, 30 poster
presentations, 35
workshops, 10 round tables,
one lecture-back series
to discuss extraordinary
recordings, a TMT Academy
aimed at young talent, and
several tutorials.
“This time our programme
is particularly comprehensive,
and we have gained an
extraordinary number of
international speakers,” said
Günther Theile, who has
headed programme planning
for the Tonmeistertagung for
many years.
“Another area of focus
is 3D audio, for which we
have arranged plenty of
demonstrations in rooms
equipped with excellent
technology. Loudness
normalisation is another
core topic; this year we are
looking at its introduction
to radio, and matters of
practical implementation.”
This year’s event runs
from 20-23 November at
the Congress-Centrum
Nord in Cologne, Germany.
In addition to the seminar
programme, around 120
main and 80 sub-exhibitors
will be showcasing their
latest developments on the
show floor.
www.tonmeister.de
Phitz Hearne has been promoted to head of audio at Prime
Focus. She will work alongside Katie Kemp who has taken
up the new role of head of picture. Rowan Bray, managing
director, post production, said: “Katie and Phitz are both
award-winning creatives. We wanted to reinforce the
importance of our creative teams building a closer relationship
with our clients to ensure that every project enjoys a successful
relationship with Prime Focus.”
It has been a busy month for the team at Jungle. Owen
Griffiths designed the sound for the much-talked-about AMV
BBDO ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ Snickers
campaign featuring Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean, while Allan
Johnston and Alex Wilson-Thame completed the casting,
recording, and mix for the first 12 episodes of new Nick Jr.
series Wallykazam. Native also secured a new TV commercial
for Lloyds Bank, where they reworked their theme music for
the ‘More From Life’ spot.
Scrub, a division of HHB Communications specialising in
post production, has supplied three Avid S6 control surfaces
and the latest Pro Tools systems for Smoke & Mirrors’ new
London audio department.
November 2014 11
INDUSTRY NEWS
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POST PRODUCTION
RECORDING
WSDG Completes First
London Renovation
After an almost year-long
reconstruction project, Paul
Epworth has announced the
completion of stage one of
a massive renovation of The
Church Studios.
Reconfiguring the Studio 2
Live and Control Rooms, and
creating a new Writing
Room engaged the design
skills of the Walters-Storyk
Design Group (WSDG) and
Miloco Builds.
“After building hundreds of
idiosyncratic studios around
the globe over the past 45
years, The Church marks our
first footprint in London,”
architect/acoustician John
Storyk of WSDG remarked.
“Paul Epworth’s technical
expertise and design instincts
are as inspired as his hit
record productions. Paul
also worked closely with my
business (and life) partner
Beth Walters on an LED
mood lighting system with a
vastly programmable colour
palatte. Installed in the totally
white Studio 2 Control
Room and Studio 3 Writing
Room, the system provides
infinite mood enhancing
colour options.
Picture: Dirk Noy
“We were especially pleased
that Paul retained Miloco to
supervise construction and
operations. They’ve been
on our radar for years, and
working with them has been
an extraordinary experience.”
The ultra-modern 961sqft
Studio 2 features a
completely recapped classic
SSL 4000G console,
custom WSDG/Augspurger
Monitors and an array of
outboard gear. The 267sqft
Writing Room, meanwhile,
was designed from the
ground up by WSDG. It is
distinguished by an Equinox
summing mixer, a 20-channel
Neve Sidecar, and complete
access to The Church vintage
gear collection.
Commenting on The
Church renovation, Epworth
said: “I wanted to be the
first to build a WSDG/
Augspurger room in London
to meet the needs of both
British and international
artists, producers, and
engineers. Bringing WSDG
in to design two of their
world-renowned rooms
was the first step, and the
collaboration with Miloco has
been an incredibly successful
team effort.
“The Church provides
nearly 8,000sqft of recording
space over three very
different rooms, including
rare and vintage recording
gear married to the most
modern digital and analogue
equipment to give users the
freedom to indulge their
creative impulses instantly.”
www.thechurchstudios.com
LIVE
Studiomaster Plays it Cool
Studiomaster supplied a PA system for the
world’s first gig on an iceberg recently.
The Studiomaster Horizon 2012 powered
mixer was partnered with a pair of XPX 12
moulded cabinets on stands for the session
by UK metal band The Defiled – part of the
Jägermeister Ice Cold Gig. The power-toweight ratio of the equipment was a critical
consideration in not tipping the band and
all their equipment into the freezing sea.
Studiomaster KM92 mics were also used.
“As far as stage backdrops go, I don’t
think you’ll find anything more impressive
12 November 2014
The Importance of Diversiﬁcation
than this,” commented Jägermeister’s
music manager Tom Carson.
“The Studiomaster gear more than
met the environmental challenges of
this unique ‘venue’.”
www.studiomaster.com
Over the course of his
20-year career in music
mixing, Jan ‘Stan’ Kybert
has worked with some of
the greatest legends in the
business – including Mark
‘Spike’ Stent. As Stent’s
Pro Tools operator, Kybert
worked on classic records
by Massive Attack, Björk
and Oasis, including Oasis’
Standing On The Shoulder
Of Giants (2000). Although
Kybert went freelance in
1999, he spent most of the
next eight years as in-house
engineer at Oasis’s Wheeler
End studio, where Noel
Gallagher introduced him
to Paul Weller. Kybert has
collaborated with Weller on
records including his latest,
Sonik Kicks. In addition,
He has worked with
New Order, the Prodigy,
UNKLE, the Draytones,
and Noel Gallagher’s High
Flying Birds.
He has been working as
a mix engineer since the
early 2000s: “I’ve seen a
lot of changes in the music
business and the audio
technology landscape.
With the decline of the
traditional studio recording
model, fewer records are
being made, which has led
many music professionals
to explore broader career
options. For me, moving
more into audio post
production has been a
natural transition and one
that offers the opportunity
to work with some of the
most cutting-edge tools and
technologies available.”
Nowadays Kybert is
just as likely to be creating
audio for film or television
projects as making records,
but when it comes to the
latter he relies heavily
on Stereopack from
Nugen Audio. The toolset
consists of three plug-ins:
Stereoplacer, Steroizer, and
Monofilter. “I use all three
extensively when working
on a music mix, and each
plug-in gives me incredible
automated capabilities
for working with and
manipulating the stereo
image,” he explained.
“In many ways, audio
is audio – so the mixing
expertise I’ve developed
through my music career
translates easily to the postproduction field.”
One area that Kybert
had to learn about is audio
loudness. To help keep up
with loudness regulations
around the world, he relies
on the VisLM loudness
meter plug-in, which he
believes “is truly head and
shoulders above any other
measurement tool available
today; I would even go so
far as to say that anyone
working without VisLM in
the audio post world is at a
real disadvantage.
“By letting the tools do
the work of making sure
the mix is within correct
loudness parameters,
I can mix to dynamic
range – infinitely more
satisfying than mixing to
peak loudness.”
www.nugenaudio.com
www.audiomedia.com
PRO SOUND AWARDS
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PROSOUND
DAWARDS
In association with:
Thursday, 25th September 2014, Ministry Of Sound, London
On a Roll
London’s Ministry of Sound hosted the second annual Pro Sound Awards back in September, and new for this year
was the Pre-Roll – two hours of questions and conversation with leading industry ﬁgures.
T
he great and the good of pro
audio were out in force at
Ministry of Sound in London
on 25 September for the triumphant
return of the Pro Sound Awards.
This year’s winners included Sound
by Design, recipient of both the
Permanent Installation Project of
the Year and Installed Audio Team
of the Year awards; Capital Sound,
recognised for its contribution to the
2013 British Summer Time concert
at Hyde Park; and Andrew Dudman,
who recorded the Oscar-winning
score for Gravity – also a winner in
the Best Sound in Post-Production
category – at Abbey Road.
Paloma Faith’s A Perfect
Contradiction won Best Recording
Production, while Metropolis
completed the list of winners in the
studio category, taking home the prize
for Best Studio. Although she couldn’t
be there in person, Faith showed her
appreciation via a specially recorded
video message.
The event also marked the debut
of The Pre-Roll, which saw early
attendees treated to a series of talks
with legendary producers Andre
Jacquemin, Ben Hillier, and Stephen
Street (pictured, R–L, with host Phil
Ward), before engineers Dave Swallow,
Matt Kanaris, Jon Burton, and Charles
“Chicky” Reeves took to the stage for a
well-received (and frequently hilarious)
live sound panel session.
Other highlights were AIR Studios’
John Webber picking up the Rising
Star Award before the evening’s major
accolades, Lifetime Achievement and
Grand Prix, were presented to John
Pellowe and Miloco, respectively.
www.prosoundawards.com
STUDIO
Engineer of the Year Andrew Dudman
Avid’s Ben Nemes collected the
Best Sound in Post-Production for
the Gravity team
Metropolis’ Sam Wheat and
Nina Jackson took home the
Best Studio accolade
Sony A&R Nikki Affleck picked
up the Best Recording Production
prize on behalf of Paloma Faith for
A Perfect Contradiction
14 November 2014
www.audiomedia.com
PRO SOUND AWARDS
LIVE/TOURING SOUND (sponsored by Allen & Heath)
Allen & Heath’s Glenn
Rogers hands over the
Engineer of the Year
Award to Reay Grant
BROADCAST AUDIO
Paul Timmins celebrated Capital
Sound winning Best Tour Sound
Production for British Summer Time
Best Theatre
Sound went to
Chris Mace for
I Can’t Sing!
(sponsored by Sony)
James Rutherford picks
up the Broadcast Event of
the Year gong on behalf of
Channel 4 and its Sochi
Paralympics broadcasting
Philip Burwell (L) and Neil Pemberton
receive the Team of the Year award for
the BBC Proms
INSTALLED AUDIO
SPECIAL AWARD
Team of the Year went to
Sound by Design for the Royal
Albert Hall. Pictured L-R:
Phill Chapman, Elaine Duffy,
and Griff Hewis
Source Distribution/
Genelec won
Best Temporary
Installation Project.
Pictured: Andy
Bensley of Source
SPECIAL AWARD
The Miloco team
with their Grand
Prix prize
SPECIAL AWARD
John Pellowe was
this year’s Lifetime
Achievement winner
SPECIAL AWARD
Paul Crognale
accepted Shure’s
Marketing
Campaign of the
Year Award
Audio Pro International
editor Adam Savage
presented the Rising
Star Award to John
Webber of AIR Studios
www.audiomedia.com
November 2014 15
GEO FOCUS GERMANY
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On the Rekord
With a strong TV landscape, divided into public broadcasting and the private
sector, which also reﬂects on the studio business, the German recording
industry is pretty distinctive. Jake Young takes a look at the current situation.
POPULATION: 80.6M
T
imo Wildenhain, senior
marketing manager for proaudio at Steinberg, thinks
the number of professionals working
‘in the box’ is the most significant
way the German studio market has
changed in the past five-to-ten years.
“Apart from very rare and highquality devices, many studios have
sold their outboard equipment over
the past decade, as working inside a
DAW is so much more comfortable
and efficient,” he says. “In general,
producing audio today means being
able to deliver the content in several
formats, in compliance with different
technical standards and in various
multichannel configurations. This is
linked to the variety of broadcasting
audio content, be it via online
music portals, streaming services,
classic CD, as part of a film, for TV
broadcast, website animations, for
computer games, or the creation of
advertising spots. Broadcasters and
media distributors need to service
many old and new channels with
tailored content, requiring studios
to deliver in various formats. On
the business side, audio budgets are
still tremendously low compared to
picture budgets.”
The market has recovered slightly,
from a period where studios were
forced to close, however there is
no secret ingredient for success.
“Traditional music production
studios now offer a broader range
of services, especially in areas where
16 November 2014
picture plays a role: post-production,
advertising, game audio, and ADR/
speech recording stand a better
chance of coping with rapidly
changing market demands, compared
with those studios only offering
music services,” explains Wildenhain.
“On the other hand there are also
advantages for studios specialising
in a certain field. Investments in
modern studio infrastructures, as
well as more efficient production
techniques, are still happening.”
There is always a demand for
studios providing quality services
and modern production techniques.
Although the need for new, large
commercial spaces might be limited in
Germany, it’s not only real estate that
makes the difference, but the people
and their expertise.
Wildenhain continues: “Producing,
especially in an audio-to-picture
context for the various channels and
industries, still offers a chance to start
off well within this business. But
one has to be very flexible, one has
to be at the pulse of the market by
understanding the latest trends and
production techniques.”
Management of rights is still
a major topic. “The position of
collecting societies is very strong
in Germany, which is good for the
owners of rights, but it needs to
be considered when audio is sold
or distributed over the increasing
number of media channels,”
comments Wildenhain.
He believes industry-inherent
regulations, such as the EBU
standard, are affecting production
techniques in the day-to-day
production business much more.
According to Olaf Stepputat,
director of 3D audio solutions
provider Barco Audio Technologies,
the market for post-production
studios in Germany is in good
condition. “The large public and
private broadcasters are providing
a healthy environment, mainly for
TV post production,” he reveals.
“In terms of cinema post, Munich
and Berlin are especially strong with
many studios based there.”
There have been some changes
to the market, though. Cost
pressure has increased, for example.
“Creatives have shown strong
commitment to innovation, for
example in the field of surround
sound or the role of sound in
storytelling,” explains Stepputat.
“They had to adopt a high degree of
flexibility as structures have become
more decentralised.
“The role of copyright law has
become more important in the past
few years. Also, multi-platform
compatibility has become a topic for
broadcast, internet, cinema,
and other fields. Broadcast is
also faced with new standards for
loudness regulation.”
Looking ahead, Stepputat’s goal is
to make Barco Audio Technologies
Barco’s portal to new sound
dimensions. “We want to further
enhance and customise our objectbased immersive sound technology
offerings together with Barco and
our partners at Auro 3D,” he says.
“In the long term, we want to
spread the use of our technologies
from cinema and entertainment to
other applications in which Barco
is already successfully providing
visualisation products.”
Recording
According to Johann Scheerer,
owner and producer at Clouds
Hill Recordings, the market for
recording studios in Germany is not
so healthy.
“During the past 10 years, many
studios in Germany closed down.
Just a few survived,” he reports. “As
equipment is affordable for almost
anyone, many small studios opened
up to compete with the smaller
professional studios. That isn’t
possible because nowadays you can
easily build your own nice studio
environment while investing less
than £10,000 for OK quality,
which is enough for the consumers
these days.”
Scheerer predicts that there will be
a need for quality recording studios
in the future. “The big spaces will
close. Only a very special few will
survive. The rest will be personal
producer studios,” he predicts. “Tape
and good quality will survive or come
back. Like vinyl did.”
www.audiomedia.com
BROADCAST FOCUS
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Spreading the Audio Word
Colin Birch and Will Strauss take a look at the current state of the European house of worship market
and highlight the speciﬁc requirements of religious venues.
T
o the uninitiated, supplying
audio technology to a house
of worship (HoW) might
not seem hugely lucrative. But in the
United States, amplifying the word of
God is big business.
There, the larger churches and other
religious meeting places have spent
decades developing sophisticated
AV systems to the point that now, to
facilitate time-shifted rejoicing, they
feature state-of-the art recording,
post-production, and broadcast
capabilities that would shame many a
regional US TV station.
In Europe, the demand is there, but
on a much smaller scale.
“The UK church market is very
much still a low-end area,” says James
Baker, Avid Technology’s live sound
territory sales manager for Europe.
“A lot [of them] are local community
churches that don’t have the budget
for professional mixing consoles.
[Instead] they’re mostly using lowend desks. We do see sales into this
business sector increasing, however the
curve of this is not as big or as fast as
you would expect.”
The majority of Baker’s business in
the HoW market is for arena-sized
religious events, and this is being done
via rental companies.
For Caleb Hill, marketing manager
of Sound Network, DPA’s UK
distributor, HoW is a niche but
occasionally surprising market. “It
quietly ticks along,” he says. “But,
through our channel partners, we
probably supply more than we think.”
Of course, even today’s state-of-theart HoW installations began life as
simple public address systems.
As the technology became more
affordable and accessible, churches
would add some lighting, cameras, a
simple vision mixer, and a projector, or
strategically-located monitors if the
venue was particularly large.
Many of these analogue systems
are still in use today, in smaller or
less well-funded venues. The more
cavernous, often purpose-built,
multimedia-enabled houses of
worship – colloquially referred to
as megachurches or superchurches
– are now all-digital, with wireless
18 November 2014
Aviom monitoring systems
are increasingly being used
in worship environments
microphone and digital loudspeaker
control systems, multichannel mixing
consoles, digital audio workstations,
video and audio web streaming
capabilities and even, in some cases,
wholly-owned dedicated cable
television channels.
Those British and European
churches that are unable to simply
continue to rely on a medieval or
gothic building’s impressive acoustics
are, at the very least, investing in evermore-affordable professional-quality
microphones, sound reinforcement,
and front-of-house systems to provide
the best possible listening experience
for their congregations.
Sound Considerations
A house of worship is not most
people’s idea of a hostile environment
for a simple microphone and speaker
system, but harsh surfaces, obtrusive
stone pillars, pulpits, choir stalls,
religious icons, and vast stained glass
windows create huge challenges for
systems designers and operators whose
job it is to make sure churchgoers
enjoy every sermon, prayer, and hymn.
Unlike theatres or music venues,
which tend to stick to tried-and-tested
design conventions, every church
is different, from the layout of the
building to the individual style of a
particular ministry.
The art of audio system design
and integration in this market is to
understand how the building is used,
and blend the technology into the way
each church conducts its services.
Integrators focus a great deal of
their attention on pattern control,
digital signal processing and stored,
optimised settings, to enhance and
enrich the congregation’s experiences.
The technology must also be
unobtrusive and in no way interfere
with the building’s aesthetic or how
services are conducted.
Ease-of-use in HoW AV systems
is also really important, since many
churches rely on volunteers to operate
them on the day of a service. To
help, suppliers and integrators have
designed special workflows and
simple, intuitive touchscreen interfaces
to reduce the chances of operator
error interfering with the delivery of a
rousing sermon.
That said, the people responsible
for using and maintaining these
systems are quickly learning how to
get the most out of them. Indeed, in
many cases, volunteers nowadays are
members of the congregation
with a professional audio and/or
video background.
Examples of technologies that
have been embraced by the house of
worship market include:
JBL’s HiQnet Performance
Manager – a software application
used for configuring networked audio
systems that was created to cut down
on design time, simplify networking
and automate the configuring of
control interfaces.
The Virtual Soundcheck feature
of Digidesign’s Venue console – this
allows operators to use recorded
performance audio to fine-tune
console settings for future use; adjust
gain structure, build snapshots, and
even refine PA system settings with
the click of a mouse, using the next
best thing to an actual service as
source material.
The Aviom monitoring system – for
musicians performing during a service
to control their own mixes, so they
don’t have to solely rely on a volunteer
audio operator for what they hear,
meaning they play better and sound
better together.
A new entrant into the US house
of worship audio market is broadcast
console manufacturer Calrec Audio.
One of its Artemis consoles was used
for the live online broadcast of Billy
Graham’s Festival of Hope in El Paso,
Texas, which was attended by more
than 16,000 people. Signals were
fed from sister company DiGiCo’s
front of house desk to the nearby
OB truck housing the Artemis using
MADI over coax. Calrec is hoping its
involvement in this major event will
be a stepping stone into more of these
large-scale projects.
To see the future of audio and video
in houses of worship, perhaps the best
places to visit are youth groups.
Here, musical instruments,
recording technology, cameras, and
lighting jostle for space with high-end
computers loaded with the state-ofthe-art content-creation technology
that tomorrow’s church leaders are
using to create and distribute their
deeply-held beliefs.
www.audiomedia.com
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FEATURE FINAL CUT
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Colin Firth finds
himself with a new,
street-wise sidekick
in the film Kingsman:
The Secret Service
The Secret Service
A dislike of ADR encouraged production and post to work incredibly
closely on the new Matthew Vaughn ﬁlm, writes Jerry Ibbotsen.
I
t speaks volumes about the
relationship between a director
and his team when you learn that
several key members have worked
with him on all his feature films.
Simon Hayes, production sound mixer,
has recorded every single
movie from producer and director
Matthew Vaughn.
“Matthew Vaughn has a unique
understanding of sound and
how important it is for original
performances to make it onto the
screen so that the audience can
connect with the characters,” says
Hayes. It’s just the tip of the iceberg,
as far as the amount of praise he can
heap on the British director behind
productions including Kick-Ass and
Stardust. His latest film is action
movie Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Due for release early next year,
The Secret Service follows British spy
agency MI5, which has decided that
its Oxbridge-educated methodology
of choosing operatives is old fashioned,
so they find somone who’s a little bit
more street wise and train him up. He’s
brought into the fold and is placed
with an experienced operative (Colin
Firth) who teaches the new recruit
how to be a proper gentleman agent.
The film is based on a graphic novel
by Scottish comic writer Mark Millar,
who collaborated on Kick-Ass with Jane
Goldman and one Matthew Vaughn.
20 November 2014
Celebrating Collaboration
From an audio perspective, The
Secret Service demonstrates a strong
collaborative approach, where the lines
between production and post are not
so much blurred as smashed with a
sledgehammer. At the heart of it lies a
dislike for one particular technique.
“Matthew found out early on in
his career that he doesn’t like ADR,
and in fact one of the reasons why
Matthew and I have collaborated for
so many years is that he will not ADR
anything unless it’s a line change,”
Hayes explains. “When you see
someone’s lips moving in a Matthew
Vaughn film, that is the recording
that has been made on the day, on the
set with the cameras running, not six
months later in a voice booth.”
That’s a pretty bold boast. So
how does Vaughn do this? “He has
assembled a group of production
sound and post-production sound
technicians around him. They
have been with him since the very
beginning,” Hayes reveals. “They
include Arthur Fenn and Robin
Johnson, my two first assistants, who
swing booms and rig radio mics. But
it’s also the dialogue editor Danny
Sheehan who has also done every
single one of Matthew’s movies.
Danny isn’t just a dialogue editor, he’s
also a supervising sound editor but he
cuts most of the dialogue himself –
he’s a perfectionist like myself.
“His colleague is Matt Colling
who’s also been with Vaughn since the
beginning. We did Lock, Stock together
and have also done Layer Cake,
Stardust, Kick-Ass… the list goes on.
“So Matthew has assembled a
sound team in production and postproduction sound who understand
how to deliver his vision of a
movie which focuses 100% on live
performances. They’re also a sound
team who don’t see each other as
different parts of the engine. We
collaborate from the very beginning of
a movie, when we start talking about
the film, all the way to the end of post
production. For example, I’m talking
to the post-production sound team
almost every day until they finish their
final mix.”
Hayes normally goes into the final
mix on a Vaughn movie, although he
couldn’t do this with The Secret Service
due to other commitments. But he did
communicate a lot with the post-team
while shooting. The aim is clear – to
nail problems before they become
serious issues.
“If I’m having trouble on a set I may
send Danny test recordings to be sure
that any issues are going to be useable
for him afterwards,” Hayes continues.
“For instance if I’m presented with a
situation that needs a wind machine,
we’ll discuss how we’re going to rig
the wind machine with the special
effects department. I’ll do test
recordings and send them to Danny
to make sure that what we’re going
to present him in the production
sound track is going to be useable. It’s
so he’s not going to have to commit
something to ADR afterwards.
“He’s able to say, ‘That wind
machine is a little bit too broadband, is
there any way of giving us something
lower than we can get a notch into?’
We’re evaluating problems before they
happen and making sure that when
we present Matthew with a solution
on the set that will give him what he
needs visually and be able to retain the
original performances of the actors.
We know that what we are presenting
him with will not lead him into an
ADR booth.”
Emotional Engagement
So is this all about preserving the
quality of the production dialogue?
Hayes says it’s not about science or
engineering. It’s about emotions.
“We all know that as human beings
we’re constantly evaluating every
single person we meet on a day-to-day
basis to decide if we trust them or not.
So cinema audiences are constantly
looking at a performance and deciding
whether they detect an acoustic in
a voice or a vocal performance that
doesn’t match what they see. They
have a subconscious alarm bell that
goes off, thinking ‘I’m not sure I
connected with that.’”
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FEATURE FINAL CUT
The dialogue is recorded to be as
powerful and emotive as possible. For
this, close miking is crucial.
“It’s not just about saying we want
a film that isn’t ADR’d,” he adds. “We
want a film that has the rich textural
quality of sound that an action movie
should have, so that you can build up
the music and effects. You need to
have the dialogue closely miked and
sounding rich so you have enough
signal to noise so you can push the
music and effects afterwards – to get
a world-class action movie soundtrack
around those original recordings.
“If you’re recording with loads of
space and room acoustic, you’re backing
the post-production mixer and director
into a corner in the dub. If they want to
start driving music and sound effects,
they’ll need to turn to an ADR track
which is more closely miked.”
Another technique Hayes uses,
which involves liaison with the postproduction team, is to strip away other
Foley noise on-set.
“I am a massive fan of original
dialogue; I am not a fan of recording
natural Foley on a set,” he states.
“You end up with footsteps and prop
noise that can start to get in the way
of building up the sound design and
score. Whenever possible we will hang
sound blankets in a room to get a
drier acoustic. If we can’t see an actor’s
feet in a shot, we will always have the
whole room carpeted. If we see the
floor in the wide we will have to go
with the footsteps but otherwise the
whole room will be carpeted.”
Hayes then relies on the talents of
the sound design team to go to work,
with as clean a slate as possible. And
he believes the approach to recording
production dialogue plays a key role.
“What that does for the audience is
it gives them a huge confidence in the
sound track as a whole. They recognise
that the vocals are real and not rerecorded and it makes them feel the
extremely well-designed sound effects
are real too: which they aren’t.”
Microphone Choice
To reach this end result, where the post
team are handed dialogue that is spoton for the final mix, does he use booms
or personal mics? Both, as it happens.
“We have multiple tracks on our
Zaxcom Deva recorder so we don’t
have to choose,” remarks Hayes. “A
good production sound mixer now
has to give his post-production sound
team choices. With those choices, we
need to give booms and radio mics.
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With Matthew’s support, we use two
boom operators at the same time –
one is doing one half of the characters,
the other doing the rest. That means
both booms can work tighter and
get better, richer dialogue, and when
we get in close to dialogue, the other
boom can record the off-lines.”
The latter point is key for Hayes
and the audio team, right through to
post. “If there’s a syllable on a selected
take with a car door slam or a dragged
footstep on it, Danny Sheehan has a
whole library of outtakes: completely
on-mic off-lines,” he says. “That gives
him a huge confidence not to have to
commit a scene to ADR because of a
couple of misdemeanours.
“We also radio mic everyone on
every scene. With 16 tracks on a
Zaxcom Deva, why wouldn’t you? It
gives the director more choice.”
Having worked with Matthew
Vaughn on so many features and
understanding his tastes and style,
Hayes tries to keep one step ahead.
“In my mix tracks, which is what the
picture editor cuts with, that is what
I think is best. But let’s say I think
the booms sound lovely and natural,
but afterwards Matthew wants an
aggressive skate-rock sound design
under it. He then has the ability to
make that choice with the DPA and
Lectrosonics radio mics.”
“Vaughn has a love of rich
dialogues. He was the first director I
worked with who asked me outright
how I managed to record vocals with
such a great bottom end. The answer
to that is firstly because I use Schoeps
mics, which have such an excellent
low frequency response. However the
really important point is that I am able
to use them on the booms without
having to EQ any of the bottom
end or use low pass filters because of
the Cinela microphone mounts we
use. The Cinela’s have been a game
changer and isolate so much vibration
between the mic and the pole that the
boom ops can work without having to
temper their movements because of
the fear of potential handling noise,
and I don’t have to erode the dialogue
quality of the Schoeps by having to
use any filters or EQ.”
In the quest for as perfect (and
flexible) production audio as possible,
he was leant a helping hand by the
overall artistic direction. Hayes’
previous project was Guardians of The
Galaxy (see Audio Media November),
which was shot on multiple cameras.
That threw up specific challenges
for close miking. But with The
Secret Service, Vaughn and director
of photography George Richmond
went down a different route, as Hayes
explains: “While all our other big
recent action movies were multicamera, Matthew and George decided
that they wanted to make it look
beautiful in an old school way by
shooting one camera. This meant they
could light the close-ups intricately.
That gave us a real positive effect when
recording – when you’re shooting one
camera you can always have the boom
on edge of frame.
“If you’re shooting a wide while
someone else is shooting a closeup (in a multiple camera shoot)
that commits a lot of performances
to radio mics. But this film was a
step back to movies like Layer Cake
and Lock, Stock. The majority of the
dialogue that made its way into this
film wasn’t recorded on radio mics or
even the Schoeps Super Scenic Gun
mics that we use a lot on action films.
We went really old school and 80% of
the dialogue was recorded on a hyper-
cardoid Schoeps CMC NK41 which
really has a very beautiful sound.”
This approach – of production and
post audio relying on each other and
working together – clearly works for
Vaughn and his team. Driven by a
dislike for replacing actors’ dialogue,
they’ve developed a way to circumvent
the ADR studio. But would it work for
everyone? Hayes thinks it already is.
“I think that in the past 10 years
directors have started moving away
from ADR. When we started making
big action movies, directors were
pushed into using it. But anyone who’s
had to ADR a whole movie realises
the performance suffers in the end.
“I think directors have started
supporting production sound teams
a lot more and are expecting to have
useable vocals, even in demanding
environments. It means audio teams
are getting more support in their quest
for recording good production sound
on set.”
www.dpamicrophones.com
www.schoeps.de
www.zaxcom.com
November 2014 21
FEATURE MASTERING
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PMC is the preferred monitor
system at 360 Mastering
Mastering the Art
Finding the monitors that work best for your room and investing in good
acoustics are crucial in this demanding market, writes Jim Evans.
M
astering requires critical
listening and – rightly
so – has been labelled the
crucial gateway between production
and consumption. The various
approaches to the mastering process
have been debated since records
began. Developments in the means
of delivery – from vinyl to CD to
digital downloads – have necessitated
changes in the way recordings are
mastered, but there remain two vital
constants – accurate monitor
speakers and the acoustics of the
mastering environment.
Before investing not
inconsiderable sums in a set of
monitors – and they can run up to
many thousands of pounds a pair –
first get your room right.
As well as recording studios and
broadcast facilities, acoustician and
studio designer Andy Munro has
built many mastering rooms and has
forthright views on the key elements to
consider when setting up a room.
“The first thing is the room format
because there are two basic camps
when it comes to mastering,” says
22 November 2014
Munro. “The traditional format is a
large free-standing speaker system
in a neutral but fairly lively room by
current control room standards. I
would call this the London-New York
standard as that is where it evolved.
“The other and more common
format these days is a dry room with
either close-up monitors or a larger
soffit-mounted system, which is
basically an extrapolation of the West
Coast-LA style of control room.
“The former was intended
to represent a hi-fi living room
experience, so the speakers were often
from that genre, although as things
got louder and rap came along the
trend moved to larger, less purist
systems, hence the second format
becoming more prevalent.
“All monitors worthy of mastering
must be essentially neutral in timbre
and that rule should be followed
without exception. Needless to say it
is not.”
Munro continues: “The room
acoustics totally dominate the low
frequency response that is experienced
by the mastering engineer. At two
metres from a free-standing speaker
the LF wave-front is 50sqm and the
ear is 0.04sqm so more than 90% of
the energy hits the room and then
your ears.
“The ideal mid-frequency
reverberation time is nominally 0.25s
for mastering, but classical and old
school people prefer longer, maybe
0.35s, whereas new school goes for
near zero. Each mastering engineer
develops a way of working, which
sometimes is difficult to rationalise in
purely acoustic terms, but I am certain
that absolute neutrality is the only way
to go.”
Alchemy Mastering recently
relocated to new premises in west
London. Owner/director Barry Grint
has worked in more than a few cutting
rooms and mastering suites over the
years and, not surprisingly, has a good
idea of what’s involved in setting up a
room. “There are two types of monitor
– active and passive. Active monitors
have the amps built in and passive
speakers require a separate amp,”
explains Grint. “It really is a question
of preference, whether to mix and
match amp to speaker, or accept the
amp in-built.
“All monitors worthy
of mastering must be
essentially neutral in
timbre and that rule
should be followed
without exception.
Needless to say it is not.”
Andy Munro
“There are many different makes
of speakers and amps, because people
prefer a different type of sound to
each other. For mastering, the speakers
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FEATURE MASTERING
must tell the truth. A flattering
monitor system will make a large
range of songs sound fantastic, even
though they may have imperfections.
When mastering, those imperfections
need to be heard and addressed.”
Why address them if flattering
speakers disguise the faults anyway?
“Because the engineer cannot predict
what the result will be across a
range of speakers,” Grint comments.
“Identify the issue, manage it, and
achieve a more consistent result over a
larger range of speakers. One engineer
may use speakers that are more
punchy in the mids than another,
for example, which is perfectly fine
provided that engineer has a good
understanding of what is being
presented to him.”
As to specific marques of speaker,
Grint reports: “In Matt Colton’s room
he has a pair of ATC SCM150s,
which are active. Physically, they are
a good size for the room (cabinets)
with enough power to deliver a good
volume without being over-demanding
on the amps. The bass driver can move
the air well to deliver an accurate
representation of the low frequencies.
“We are currently trying a range
of different monitors in my room to
decide what we feel best suits the
room. Personally, I don’t believe you
can make a hard and fast rule of ‘we
only use blah blah monitors’. The room
interacts with the monitors – find the
speakers that work the best and finesse
their positioning to the best result.”
At AIR Mastering, John Webber
suggests: “It’s about ensuring that all
supplied audio is fully represented
with the lowest amount of distortion
and coloration. You want a clear and
detailed soundstage and not one that is
smeared. It’s also important that main
monitors are not fatiguing and still
sound good at a lower listening level.
“You must make sure you deliver
the truest sonic representation to
your monitors as possible. Creating
a neutral acoustic is vital. You won’t
know how effective any gear is unless
you’ve created an excellent listening
environment. It sounds simple but we
don’t live in an ideal world, the basics
in terms of monitoring and acoustics
are extremely tricky/expensive to
achieve the standards we expect.
“We’ve taken the top-end hi-fi
approach as opposed to the studio
monitoring approach. We were very
lucky to get Europe’s first set of TAD
Reference One loudspeakers. These
are biamped with Class-D Tricord
www.audiomedia.com
Cutting it for the Vinyl Revival
The room at AIR Mastering
was originally set up for vinyl
Vinyl sales are at their highest level for 15 years, according
to figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI)
and the Official Charts Company. Just over 780,000 vinyl
albums were sold in 2013 – the largest number since
817,000 were sold in 1997. The 2013 figure is likely to be
overtaken when 2014’s statistics are revealed at the yearend. It’s all good news for the noble order of disc cutters.
“The upsurge in mastering vinyl is fantastic,” enthuses
Barry Grint. We [at Alchemy] have recently bought a
second VMS80 lathe, which is quite something as they are
pretty rare – Neumann stopped making lathes in the late
80s, I think. I was a young mastering engineer when vinyl
was the main release format and Matt [Colton] has won
the Music Producers Guild Mastering Engineer of The
Year Award for his mastering and cutting skill.
“Vinyl demands a musical approach to mastering –
centring the EQ on the top end of the kit and adding
gain gives a brashness that doesn’t sound good and
translates poorly to vinyl. Mastering engineers with a
vinyl background can always master for digital; that is not
always the case the other way around.
“Phil Kinrade masters for digital here, but has a wealth
of experience, so there are no issues with cutting anything
he has put together. I guess vinyl sorts the men from the
boys; sticking a limiter in and cranking up the gain won’t
research mono blocks. The speakers
were tested with different amps and
cables before arriving at this combo.”
Abbey Road’s Geoff Pesche
has worked in the studio industry
for many years, including time at
Utopia, Tape One, Masterpiece, and
Townhouse Studios. In that time he
has built an enviable portfolio. At
Tape One, for example, he cut the
vinyl lacquers for the best-selling 12in
record of all time, New Order’s Blue
Monday, and Dire Straits’ platinumselling Brothers In Arms.
cut it for vinyl – excuse the pun.”
John Webber comments: “Our room [at AIR
Mastering] was originally built with vinyl very much in
mind. Vinyl mastering is a different approach from CD/
digital mastering because often CD masters don’t translate
well to vinyl.”
Alexis Bardinet at Globe Audio Mastering reports:
“Actually I almost do at least one vinyl mastering per week.
I use the same monitoring system but the approach is
radically different. We decided to change our mastering
desk and go for a Maselec MTC-1X to better respond to
the vinyl demand.”
“The mastering engineer really started to be recognised
when he was able to cut vinyl discs at a higher level than
his anonymous predecessors,” says David Hawkins. “When
a record was played on juke-boxes or on radio programmes,
if it was louder than the rest, it stood out. Levels which
almost – but not quite – made the pickup needle jump out
of the groove were highly prized.”
Andy Munro sums up: “Vinyl has a special requirement
for groove modulation control and track capacity so there
are special skills needed to cut a great disc. In my opinion
a true mastering engineer should have acquired cutting
expertise because it enforces habits which translate well to
digital formats. Frankly, it is more skilful by a mile.”
As to choice of monitor systems,
Pesche’s priorities are “sonic clarity
and performance at both high and
low levels”. He adds: “We use B&W
Nautilus, because these suit our room
characteristics. I also use Yamaha
NS10s as near-fields. The three key
elements are the stereo image, voicing
of the room and the listening position.
There’s no point having the best
monitors in the world and listening in
a shed. Our rooms are all on a floating
floor, with baffled acoustic treatment.
The monitors are an integral part
of any listening room – almost as
important as the ears of the engineer.
Globe Audio Mastering in
Bordeaux will shortly celebrate its
15th year in business and co-owner
Alexis Bardinet reports that business
at his south-west France complex
is buoyant. Like others, he stresses
the importance of “getting the room
right. It’s important to have almost
half of the room with absorption,” he
explains. “When we first embarked on
this project, our major investment – in
time and money – was in the acoustics.
November 2014 23
FEATURE MASTERING
And 15 years later we have no regrets
– it’s one of the reasons we’re in good
health in a difficult market.
“We’re always looking at new
technologies – and keeping a lookout
for suitable vintage gear. I’ve always
been a big fan of Dynaudio and our
main monitoring system is an M3
Dynaudio in 5.1 with XTA crossover
and Crest amplication.”
Darius van Helfteren honed
his mastering skills at Wisseloord
Studios before setting up Amsterdam
Mastering, where, again, the room
acoustics were the key factor.
“Basically, the room is an integral
part of the system,” he says. “When I
listen to a song I have to master, I can
decide (in a general way) within a few
seconds what I need to do. Because
my room isn’t foggy or clouding the
issue, it’s letting me hear the music
in a very pure way. When you master
or mix in a great room with great
monitoring, you don’t need to listen to
it anywhere else – because you know
exactly how it sounds.
“You can get as technical as you
like when setting up speakers, but for
me it has to pass the ‘enjoyment’ test
24 November 2014
first. And that test is: to listen to, say,
20 of your favourite songs – ones that
you’ve always considered to have great
sound. Do most of them sound ‘right’
to you? Do you like how they sound in
terms of frequency response and stereo
image? If not, then something needs
to be tweaked. This is especially true
when calibrating a subwoofer. It’s all
very well to do it technically, but do
your favourite bass-heavy songs sound
‘right’ to you, with enough weight
or thump. Or is there too much? So,
once you’ve got that sorted out, then
you can start to get into the details
and the technical stuff, like applying
more room treating or even a room
optimisation processor, for example.
“When I was in the market
for new speakers (around 2005)
I went to check out all the most
popular speakers for mastering at
the time – PMC, B&W, Dunlavy,
ProAc, etc – and the ones that I felt
most comfortable with were B&W
Nautilus. I think it’s important that
you choose a speaker you like and that
fits your taste.”
Eastlake Audio has designed and
built recording and mastering studios
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Alchemy Mastering has
recently relocated to new
premises in west London
www.audiomedia.com
FEATURE MASTERING
across the world – and has seen some
changes. “As the independent studios
emerged a generation ago, totally
independent mastering facilities are
now established,” states MD David
Hawkins. “They generally employ
highly specific mastering-related
EQ and dynamic control outboard
not always found in music recording
environments – such as Maselec and
others – and use transmission-linetype monitoring loudspeakers such
as PMC, which are more biased
to ‘forensic rather than visceral’
examination of the recorded material.
Remote Working
“Mastering facilities now both
digitally receive from – and digitally
return to – their clients the work sent
to them. Physical location has become
almost irrelevant as client attendance
has faded, and this is exemplified by
Simon Heywood and Dick Beetham,
who each moved central London
operations to the west of England
and Sussex respectively. The palette of
specific mastering requirements also
broadened some time ago with iTunes
and other developments.
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“In Eastlake Audio’s recent
design work for 360 Mastering in
Hastings we were required to cater
for astonishingly high sub-40Hz LF
energy, as well as provide exceptional
levels of sound isolation to adjoining
properties at all hours of the day and
night, as 360 Mastering’s clients are
spread over worldwide time-zones.”
At 360, PMC is the preferred
monitor system. The UK-based
designer/manufacturer’s systems are
found in facilities worldwide – its
most recent release, the QB1-A, is
already installed at Capitol Studios in
Los Angeles.
“Our mastering clients are
extremely demanding as they look for
so many attributes in a monitor, i.e.
transparency, defined image placement,
high level (when required), and the
really tricky one, an identical balance
at all levels,” remarks PMC’s Keith
Tonge. “Designing a monitor to excel
in every region is certainly a challenge
but it comes down to having that
holistic view of what is required rather
than focusing on an individual aspect
of performance to the detriment of
everything else.
“Mastering requires an extremely
natural, neutral, open balance so it’s
vital that the monitors have a very
wide, even dispersion so any reflected
audio is as close in frequency response
to that direct from the drivers. The ear/
brain is extremely clever at identifying
reflections that differ in response from
those direct from the drivers, and when
they do vary it makes for an unnatural
and fatiguing session.
“Keeping coloration to an absolute
minimum is paramount so we would
preclude reflex designs and horn
loading, and avoid elements that could
create a ‘character’. It’s also essential
that all electronics and driver designs
are very much audiophile quality with
enormous headroom so everything is
working well within their limits.”
www.abbeyroad.com
www.airstudiosmastering.com
www.amsterdammastering.com
www.alchemymastering.com
www.bowers-wilkins.com
www.dynaudioprofessional.com
www.eastlake-audio.co.uk
www.globe-audio.com
www.munro.co.uk
www.pmc-speakers.com
November 2014 25
FEATURE STUDIO PROFILE
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Picture: Andrew Brooks
RAK STUDIOS
RAK It Up
Jake Young goes down to one of the UK’s best-known recording spots to see all four of its studios.
W
ith a selection of
commercial studios,
RAK Publishing and
its rich back catalogue and four other
companies in the St John’s Wood,
London building that are renting
space, RAK Studios has much to offer.
“A lot of deals that we do inside
the publishing company are now
predominantly involving the studios,”
explains Andy Leese, general
manager. “So we are essentially doing
production deals using the studios we
have rather than paying large advances
and hoping that the record company
does a great job.”
When legendary producer Mickie
Most founded RAK in 1976 it
consisted of Studio 1 and Studio 2.
The other part of the building that
now holds Studio 3 and Studio 4 was
a schoolhouse, which he subsequently
purchased.
26 November 2014
Studio 1 and Studio 2 are virtually
as they were; both rooms still contain
the original API desks.
“The multitrack is still up and
running and we still use it on
occasions when demanded if we can
ever find tape, which is very hard,”
says Trisha Wegg, studio manager.
“Obviously we’ve added elements
like Pro Tools and various bits of
outboard gear that have been bought
over the years.”
The machine room houses
multitracks and Pro Tools rigs for both
Studio 2 and Studio 3. “Something
that was quite great was getting the
multitracks and the Pro Tools out,”
Wegg continues. “Especially in 2
because it gives a nice area for bands
and relaxation.”
Studio 3 was built in 1984, and
now contains a Neve that came out
of Abbey Road Studio Two. The
Dynaudio Acoustics M3As get
turned on occasionally to blast the
place out, but people tend to monitor
on the mids.
Keeping it Unique
Studio 4 was built more or less for
in-house. “We’re looking at that
room in terms of re-tweaking because
there are six areas where there’s what
they call ‘acoustic chaos’,” says Leese.
“Albums have been mixed in there very
successfully on nearfields. Gil Norton
mixed a Gomez album in there. This
room is ‘jack of all trades, master of
none’. It’s not really a mix room, it’s not
really a writing room, and it’s not really
a tracking room. So we’re going to try
to reconfigure it in certain respects.”
The SSL 4056 E desk is probably
going to be replaced. “We even
looked at an old API but it could be
anything,” adds Leese. “The strength
of RAK is the space itself and the
things we have here that you just
simply can’t get in a plug-in. It’s a
unique experience and we want to
keep to that tradition so whatever
happens with this room it’s going to
be something interesting and creative,
and hopefully something better than
you’re going to be able to get your
hands on at home. Obviously, home
studios are taking large amounts of
business away from every commercial
studio in the world. So you have to do
something differently and I think this
is what we’re focused on at RAK –
giving our clients a special experience.”
RAK houses two additional writing
rooms and another independent
music publishing company Touch
Tones Music, which works as
consultants to help promote and
market RAK Publishing’s catalogue.
“They’re going after the syncs
in the area of film, TV, games,
advertisements, etc,” reports Leese.
“So we work very closely with them.”
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FEATURE STUDIO PROFILE
RAK Singles Club Launched
Picture: Andrew Brooks
The RAK Singles Club, releases set to revive the
RAK Records label, are available as 7in vinyl and
download. Each artist created an original A-side
of their choice and a B-side cover from RAK’s
back catalogue. Jake Young talks with senior
engineer/producer Richard Woodcraft about his
work on a new record from Beautiful Boy.
Let’s talk about your
session with Beautiful
Boy. What project were
you working on?
The session I produced was for
one of the first RAK Singles
Club releases, where the bands
involved do an original A-side
and a cover version from the
RAK Publishing catalogue for
the B-side (in this case Bodies
by Beautiful Boy and Kids
In America originally by Kim
Wilde, written by her dad
Marty Wilde, and produced
by Mickie in 1981). The band’s
take on it is very interesting.
The releases will be primarily
on 7in vinyl and resurrect
the RAK Records label with
the intention of looking as
original as possible.
Richard Woodcraft
Projects
Highlights from the studios so far
this year include Steve Fitzmaurice
celebrating a number one with the
Sam Smith album he recorded in
Studio 1, and returning to RAK with
Eliza and the Bear and Mary J Blige;
along with Neil Cowley Trio’s album
Touch and Flee and Labrinth recording
forthcoming material.
Max Dingel has been at RAK for
much of the year in Studio 4 with both
Kate Boy and David Otero, following
the success of the James album La
Petite Mort he made in Studio 3 last
year. Royal Blood went into Studio 3
with producer Tom Dalgety to finish
the album released in August, while
Jerry Boys has been in multiple times
with Olivia Chaney, Toumani Diabete,
and Ali Farka Touré.
Instrument-wise, the studios have
purchased a Black Beauty snare drum
and a 1969 Ludwig Hollywood kit,
while RAK’s grand piano in Studio 1
has been for a complete overhaul with
David Fry at Renner.
www.rakstudios.co.uk
What was the vocal chain
set-up?
I used a Shure SM7 for
the A-side, as that track is quite dense arrangement-wise and the SM7
sits well when there’s a lot of information to compete with. It sort of
compresses itself and flattens out the nuances that can get lost when using
something else that specialises in super detail. The mic pre was an original
API 512b with some Blackface 1176 compression.
For the cover version it was the same chain, but using a valve 47 as there
was the space in tempo and instrumentation to let it shine.
The backing vocals were mainly done by Dane (lead singer and writer)
on the SM7 as they were sat a bit behind, so needed to hold their own at
that level in the mix.
Were there any challenges or special technical
skills you had to rely on during the session?
The challenge was mainly to get everything recorded in two days to do
justice to both songs. The band had spent more time with the original so
had it pretty much formatted for their sound, but there were still a few
parts to get down, whereas with the cover we had more of an open-minded
approach to see where it could go.
What was the atmosphere like during the session?
Fantastic. It was heads-down but good fun. The band were great – focused
and ambitious. Everybody was aware of the importance and significance of
the project and wanted to get it right. The cover was treated with respect
too, and not just something that had to be done to order. Also, everyone
was keen to make it an original version that was true to the band, held its
own, and was also valid for syncing opportunities.
www.audiomedia.com
November 2014 27
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS HEADPHONES
Expert Witness
Jamey Warren, CEO of specialist headphone retailer HeadRoom,
gives us the whys and wherefores of headphone purchasing.
H
eadphones are an essential
tool for recording studios.
Having spoken with a variety
of recording engineers, producers,
mastering engineers, and musicians,
I’ve learned a few key aspects about
headphones, and there are questions I
always ask when somebody is looking
for their first pair or for a pile to fit
their needs. I’ll start off by covering
what I consider to be the three main
concerns when choosing headphones
for your studio.
1. Open vs. Closed Headphones?
This is the first big question to answer
and it’s a relatively simple one. If
you will be using a microphone to
record sounds such as an acoustic
guitar, voice, or drums you’ll likely
want closed headphones. Closed
headphones help to keep sound from
leaking out and getting into your
microphone feed. If you’re recording
or producing music using direct input
or software-based instruments this is
not an issue.
If you’re only mixing or mastering
music and don’t need isolation
then you can use open headphones.
It is usually easier to get more
natural, accurate sound from an
open headphone than from a closed
headphone of similar design. This is
not always the case, as we have heard
a few open design headphones that
sound worse than good quality closed
headphones. Ultimately it depends on
how much attention the manufacturer
paid to sound quality versus cost/style/
comfort, etc.
as the first criteria but the truth is if
your headphones don’t work or break
often you’ll be making less music.
The quality of sound you get from a
headphone depends on many
different factors, including design
and price. Once you’ve settled on
your needs and budget we can narrow
down your options.
Entry-level or Low-cost
Headphones
When outfitting a studio with
headphones for the whole band it’s
helpful to keep the cost per unit down.
Our best recommendation is to keep
it affordable, but don’t skimp to the
point where you’re buying something
disposable.
The Shure SRH440’s are greatsounding headphones, providing
plenty of isolation for recording with
microphones. They also sound good
enough to be the only headphones for
those on a budget.
For a small increase in price,
stepping up to the Audio-Technica
M50x will get you a little more natural
and accurate sound and a few extra
cables included in the package.
At the higher end of entry-level
headphones we often recommend
the Shure SRH840, which provides
more comfortable ear cups, fuller bass
response and an extra set of earpads.
2. Durability
Studio headphones need to be
durable and repairable. Many wellrespected studio cans these days have
removable cables and replaceable
ear pads and headbands. Some
manufacturers, such as Sennheiser,
go so far as to make almost all parts
replaceable. All of the headphones
we have listed in this guide offer
replaceable cables and parts.
Mid-priced Headphones
If you’re wanting the best bang for
your buck without compromising
your mixing or mastering abilities
we recommend the Sennheiser
HD600 and HD650, as well as the
AKG K712. These are open-style
headphones providing very natural
and accurate sound. Remember, open
headphones are best used when a
microphone is not in use.
A nice mid-priced closed option is
the Shure SRH1540. While they leak
a little more sound than your standard
closed headphones, they isolate
enough to be our top recommendation
for tracking in the studio.
3. Sound Quality
You would think I would have put this
High-end Headphones
On the extreme end of the spectrum
28 November 2014
we are seeing a lot of new products
from all the known manufacturers.
From Sennheiser we have the HD800,
possibly the world’s best headphones
– their open design with angled driver
and proprietary ‘ring radiator’ driver
yield the widest soundstage and
precise details of anything we’ve heard.
AKG released the K812 this year,
offering its signature sound in a more
refined package.
A newcomer to the audio world,
Audeze released its LCD-X in
2013, delivering planar magnetic
headphones with a luscious, dynamic,
and very linear bass response.
If you’re looking for the top of the
line in closed headphones, the Fostex
TH-900 and Audeze LCD-XC
are sure to delight the ears of any
musician or engineer.
Headphone Amps
A word on headphone amps. Why
would you need such a thing? Behind
every headphone jack is a miniature
power amplifier to drive headphones.
Sometimes the manufacturers put this
in as an afterthought, or simply don’t
pay much attention to the headphone
output. If you’re considering investing
in high-end headphones you should
consider pairing them with a
dedicated headphone amp.
High on our recommended list of
headphone amps is the Grace Design
m920. While it costs more than any
headphone we’ve mentioned, this
could be the centre of your production.
The m920 includes a digital-toanalogue converter with all standard
connections, switchable inputs to act
as the heart of your monitoring centre,
and it can be used as a preamp for
your main speakers. Also included
with the m920 is a Crossfeed setting,
which is meant to more closely
simulate the sound of speakers,
reducing listening fatigue.
If the idea of Crossfeed is
appealing to you, also consider the
SPL Phonitor, which offers a very
customisable crossfeed to suit your
own listening tastes.
Expert witness
Jamey Warren
is the CEO/president of HeadRoom, a dedicated
headphone retailer for over 20 years.
www.headphone.com
www.audiomedia.com
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Headphones
Bring up the subject of headphones with any producer, engineer, or recording professional and you’re
bound to get more than an earful back. That’s because our ears are only as good as the sound they are
receiving. That’s where this Technology Focus comes in.
AKG
K712 PRO
The K712 PROs are open, over-ear reference headphones
for precise listening, mixing, and mastering. The over-ear
design guarantees maximum wearing comfort for fatiguefree mixing and mastering, while providing spacious and
airy sound without any compromise. Their precise powerful
sound results from improved low-end performance by 3dB.
• Over-ear design: maximum wearing
comfort for long work sessions
• Sophisticated open technology:
for spacious and airy sound
without compromise
• Improved low-end performance
by 3dB: for more powerful
sound imaging
• Flat wire voice coil:
for added impulse and
treble response
• Equipped with a professional
mini XLR connector for
quick replacement of
the cable
www.akg.com
BEHRINGER
HPX6000
Behringer HPX6000
Professional DJ
Headphones are said
to deliver clear sound,
comfort, and value. Users
enjoy loud, clean sound
with deep and powerful
bass. On top of their
rugged construction,
these headphones have a
classic look and feel, from
the soft touch rubberised
coating to the leather ear
cushions and headband
pad. The headband and ear cups are fully articulated and
adjustable, as well as foldable, with a detachable cable
allowing for easy carrying and storage.
AUDIO-TECHNICA
M50X
Audio-Technica’s M50x is the company’s ﬂagship M
Series model, designed for demanding professional
monitoring and mixing applications. Widely praised
for its full, accurate tone and comfort, the M50x is
said to be ideal for critical audio situations from studio
recording to location broadcast audio.
•
•
•
•
45mm large-aperture drivers with rare earth magnets
Exceptional clarity and extended frequency range
90º swivelling ear-cups for one-ear monitoring
Detachable cable – 1.2m and 3m straight, and
1.2-3m coiled cables included
• Circumaural design contours around the ears for
excellent sound isolation
www.audio-technica.com
FLARE AUDIO
REFERENCE R1
Flare Audio has launched what it believes to be the world’s ﬁrst ‘fully’ open back
headphones. The Reference R1, aimed at the pro-audio and audiophile market, uses
Flare’s new approach to produce distortion-free sound, even at full volume, enabling
true transfer and transmission of source material. Look out for our full review of the
headphones in Audio Media December.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Distortion free sound, even at full volume
Highlights details previously masked in tracks
True transfer/transmission of source material
Sonic immersion with precise stereo imaging
Natural, open sound with true timbre detail
Believed to reduce hearing fatigue
Detail awareness may improve with continued use
• Superior sound quality with wide frequency
response and enhanced bass
• Ultra-high dynamic range
• 50mm high-output neodymium drivers
• Single-sided removable cable with 0.125in jack and
0.25in gold plated adapter
• Adjustable headband with foldable, swivelling ear cups
• High-quality components and rugged construction
www.behringer.com
30 November 2014
www.audiomedia.com
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
FOCAL
SPIRIT PROFESSIONAL
Spirit Professional headphones beneﬁt from Focal’s
years of expertise, and have been designed for sound
engineers and musicians. According to the company,
the neutrality of the sound, combined with the dynamics
of the transducers, will enable users to work with
great precision.
• Acoustic transparency and ease of use
• Precise and detailed sound reproduction
without distortion
• Excellent isolation and acoustic coupling to
the ear
• Total control of the audio band
• Optimal comfort
www.focalprofessional.com
SENNHEISER
HD 380 PRO
These collapsible, high-end headphones are
ideal for professional monitoring use. The HD
380 Pros offer a closed, circumaural design,
which provides excellent passive attenuation of
ambient noise, while Sennheiser’s Eargonomic
Acoustic Reﬁnement (E.A.R) technology channels
the audio signal directly into the user’s ears. They
also provide an extended frequency response,
with increased sound pressure levels (up to
110dB) for accurate sound reproduction in all
types of demanding usage.
• Collapsible, high-end headphones ideal for
professional monitoring
• Extended frequency response for accurate,
reliable sound reproduction
• Increased sound pressure level (110dB) for
demanding use
• Closed circumaural design for passive
attenuation of ambient noise (up to 32dB)
• Exceptional comfort for extended listening
www.sennheiser.com
SHURE
SRH1840
The SRH1840s are the ﬂagship open-back
headphones from Shure for mixing, mastering,
and audiophile listening. They feature
individually-matched 40mm neodymium drivers,
so users can expect a detailed and honest sound,
wide stereo imaging, smooth, extended highs,
and accurate bass.
• Super-lightweight construction, featuring
aircraft-grade aluminium alloy yoke and stainless
steel grilles for enhanced durability
• Lightweight, dual-frame, padded headband for
hours of listening comfort
• Replaceable velour ear pads with high density,
slow recovery foam
• Oxygen-free copper cable (OFC) with Kevlar
reinforced jacket for great performance
and durability
• Individually tested and serialised
www.shure.co.uk
www.audiomedia.com
KRK SYSTEMS
KNS8400
Building on the reputation
of its studio monitors,
KRK Systems’ KNS Series
KNS8400 Professional
Headphones provide
a consistent voicing
philosophy and
honest reproduction
that is trusted by top
producers, studio
musicians, performers,
and engineers around
the globe. Along
with accurate sound
reproduction and wide
frequency response,
the KNS’ lightweight,
foldable design allows
for long sessions with high
comfort and great isolation.
They offer large dynamic range
with extremely low-distortion – ideal for
mixing and mastering in the studio, or
when travelling on the road.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Conﬁguration: closed back, circumaural
Frequency response: 5Hz to 23kHz
Sensitivity (1mW): 97dB SPL
Calculated max SPL: 124dB SPL
Ambient noise isolation: up to 30dBA
Dimensions: 3.7in (94mm) x 10.5in (267mm) x 9.6in
(244mm), 0.5lb (0.23kg)
• Replaceable ear and head cushions utilise advanced
memory foam
www.krksys.com
FOSTEX
TH500RP
The TH500RPs are
based on Fostex’s
T-series studio
monitor headphones,
which the company
claims are the ﬁrst
premium planar-type
headphones designed
for hi-ﬁ audio listening.
Fostex has employed
RP (Regular Phase)
diaphragm technology
in its professional
studio headphones,
such as the T20RPmk2
and recent T-series
models. The TH500RP
model now combines
this RP technology with the design philosophy and
ﬂair of the TH900, resulting in a set of premium
headphones which deliver an impressive highresolution sound.
• Employs the uniquely developed RP (Regular Phase)
diaphragm
• Newly-tuned driver unit
• Proprietary gravity resin baffle plates
• Soft leather ear pads
• Connecting cable made of HiFC
• Leather texture carrying pouch
www.fostexinternational.com
November 2014 31
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
SONY
MDR 7510
Said to provide optimum
aural clarity and wearer
comfort, the MDR Series of
professional headphones is
precision manufactured using
the highest-grade materials.
Consisting of the MDR-7510
(pictured) and the MDR7506/1, the headphones are
engineered for a
combination of strength,
comfort, and practicality. They
are used daily in broadcast
and recording studios
worldwide. The headphones
come complete with
protective carry pouch
and gold-plated UniMatch
3.5mm/6.3mm adaptor.
• 50mm driver unit with PET
diaphragm
• Closed-ear design
• Wide frequency response
• High power handling
capacity 2,000mW
• Stereo UniMatch plug
• Gold connectors and
OFC cord
www.sony.co.uk
32 November 2014
TELEFUNKEN
THP-29 EXTREME
ISOLATION
Telefunken Elektroakustik
has introduced the THP-29
Extreme Isolation headphones,
designed for studio and live
sound environments. Ultra high
ﬁdelity, high-input 40mm speaker
drivers featuring TruSound Tonal
Accuracy are integrated with
29dB of eco-friendly natural
passive isolation. According to
Telefunken, the headphones,
which were developed in
partnership with Direct Sound,
are suitable for use by live mixers
who need to block out monitor
speakers, or by drummers who
need to be able to hear the mix
without setting their volume at
an unreasonably high level.
• Extreme Isolation headphones
come with padded adjustable
headband
• Ultra-high-ﬁdelity high-input
40mm speakers
• 29dB isolation
• Jack adaptor
• Storage pouch
www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com
www.audiomedia.com
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
DPA d:screet Omni Necklace
NECK-WORN MICROPHONE
Alistair McGhee gets his hands on a mic that’s simple enough for
reality TV contestants to use, but still offers excellent sound quality.
I
n the topsy-turvy world
of global capitalism you
can never take anything
for granted. Take personal
mics, for instance. When
I was a nipper Sony ruled
the roost, the ECM was the
Hoover or the Kodak of the
market, synonymous with
the very idea of a personal
mic. I spent many a happy
hour fiddling with ECMs,
clips and ties back in the day,
and I jokingly used to say:
“I wish Sony would make a
tie with a built in mic, make
my life much easier.” Sadly,
Sony wasn’t listening and the
world was spared the literal
‘tie-mic’. However, many
moons later, DPA, (which
is now synonymous with
high-quality personal mics)
has come up with an idea not
a million miles away from a
‘neck-worn’ microphone. The
DPA d:screet Omni Necklace
– yes, a microphone as a
fashion accessory.
Reality Check
So what has driven this
innovative new take on the
34 November 2014
personal microphone? Well,
the rise of Big Brother-driven
reality TV. The idea is that on
some gigs you won’t have a
tame SA2 to fit mics properly
and your talent may not have
enough experience (or indeed
intelligence) to fit a mic with
a clip or cage. And in reality
TV there probably won’t even
be a tie or handy lapel to fit it
to. So you need a system that
lets the talent fit their own
microphones but in a way
that is not as fiddly as a clip
and still gets good sound,
and just as important,
repeatable sound.
With the necklace you
have one thing to remember
– the wire goes down your
back. If the wire is down your
front, like a tie, you have it
on back to front. What could
possibly go wrong?
So reality TV, or maybe
radio roundtables, corporate
workshops or churches spring
to mind as possible markets.
The concept is simple – a
well-proven DPA capsule
embedded in a necklace-style
fitting, which is both robust,
discrete, and easy to fit.
The model I tried is a nice
Bauhaus black with a silvercoloured clip. The finish is
smooth black plastic of good
quality. I guess you want to
be able to wipe this down
easily, and white and brown
versions are both available.
The clip is magnetic, which
helps middle-aged men
fumbling behind themselves
for a clasp – not something
we are used to doing and an
image I don’t recommend
you hold on to. Once seated,
a simple rotation locks it in.
It’s pretty much fool proof,
until a gorilla stands on it,
but then rule number one,
don’t put your mics on the
floor. You know that, I know
that, but the talent will
never remember it. Keep the
gorillas off your clips and, of
course, your capsules.
And talking of gorillas, I
have an 18in neck and the
necklace was an easy fit with
an inch or so to spare. I had
the 47cm version, which
is notionally about 18.5in.
However if you are working
on ‘The Munster front row
reads the works of Louis
“There’s no doubt you’re getting top
drawer audio quality when you buy a DPA
miniature microphone and the necklace is
no different.”
Alistair McGhee
MacNeice’, you may want to
check out the 53cm version
that will fit collar sizes up
to about 21in. Beyond that
I suppose they could always
wear it as a bicep mic.
Sound Quality
The sound quality is – as
you would expect from a
DPA – excellent. Mine came
with the high boost grid,
which helps cut through the
natural muffliness of being
fitted at the neck. There’s
no doubt you’re getting top
drawer audio quality when
you buy a DPA miniature
microphone and the necklace
is no different. You don’t have
a huge choice of capsules – I
suppose there’s no point in a
directional mic given where it
is fitted so it is only available
with low sensitivity versions
of the 4061.
If your talent is wearing
something open-necked I
found no problems with
physical noise, though you do
have to watch it doesn’t ride
around a bit under exertion.
You might want to tape the
‘tail’ down to hold the capsule
in the desired position (DPA
also supplies a clothing clip
with the product). I did
try the Necklace under a
buttoned-up shirt or high
collar and in this position
it will be prone to material
rubbing and the usual
compromise in sound quality
depending on the fabric.
And now to the vexed
question of interfacing the
DPA to your radio system.
You have a few choices.
DPA supplies the mics
with MicroDot connectors.
They seem to be much more
reliable than their small size
www.audiomedia.com
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
would indicate and because they are teeny
tiny they’re ideally suited for the wide range
of adapters that enable you to fit a MicroDot
connector into just about any radio system.
DPA has a bucket load of converters, and
if you take advantage of that approach then
you can have MicroDots on all your mics
and converters to fit any radio system for
maximum flexibility. As you might expect the
converters are not cheap but they are very
well made and there is one that enables the
Necklace to be plugged into a standard XLR.
But what if you view tiny connectors with
suspicion and consider converters as yet
another connection to fail? I rang my local
DPA supplier, Martyn at SoundKit, and he
assured me that you can have your Necklace
supplied with a custom connector hard wired
if that is what you require. And the fact
that connectors get a whole paragraph just
underlines the fact that we should have at
most two standard fittings for radio mics, big
and small. The current profusion is a joke.
Gets off hobby horse, slightly red in face.
So do you need one? Well the necklace is a
one-trick pony, but it’s a good trick. You are
getting the highest quality personal mic in a
simple-to-fit package. If I was getting booked
for 12 weeks of reality TV with eight radios
and no provision for audio staff ‘on the floor’
for the whole shoot, I would be ordering
mine now.
Joanne Ruddock speaks to Mikkel Nymand, DPA
product manager, about the design and construction
of the Necklace mic.
The Reviewer
Alistair McGhee
began audio life in Hi-Fi before joining the BBC as an
audio engineer. After 10 years in radio and TV, he
moved to production. When BBC Choice started, he
pioneered personal digital production in television.
Most recently, Alistair was assistant editor, BBC
Radio Wales and has been helping the UN with
broadcast operations in Juba.
INFORMATION
Feature Set
• Includes DPA’s 4061 omnidirectional
miniature capsule
• Capable of handling up to 144dB peak before clipping
• Available in black, white, and brown and in lengths of
either 47cm or 53cm
• Supplied with MicroDot connectors from TE California
• RRP: €495 + VAT
www.dpamicrophones.com
The clothing clip will further attach the cable
to clothes. Also, the necklace is constructed in
a way so that it stays in place, but if it sticks to
something, it should open so it does not strangle
the performer. The magnetic lock with securing
twist is our solution.
What are the advantages/disadvantages
of necklace mics compared with
headworn/lavalier mics?
Headsets come closer to the mouth and will allow
for even higher separation and gain-to-feedback
ratio. Also, the position below the chin lacks quite
a bit of high frequency clarity. This is why the
d:screet Necklace comes pre-fitted with our high
boost grid to compensate for the high frequency
loss (see chart, below).
How important was it that non-technical
personnel would feel comfortable using
this mic? Does it require any training/skills
at all to mount/remove?
Very important. It was one of the basic principles
of the construction. The idea came from one of
our long-term users who was producing reality
shows such as Big Brother. He realised that a lot
of the time the ‘actors’ should mount the mics
themselves on many different clothes – or when
wearing no clothes at all. Later in the pre-study
we found that the mic solution was also relevant
for traditional headset use, such as conference
presenters, house of worship pastors, and more.
Other than ease of use, what were the
primary considerations when designing
the Necklace microphone?
The physical balance of the product was taken
care of by the cable junction in the neck. It is
www.audiomedia.com
carried out by a specially designed T-angled
junction (see image, above). This part ensures
that the cable out of the microphone will always
go straight down the back. As long as this part
is in the middle of the neck, the mic capsule is
at the same time in the middle under your chin.
The mic has already been used in a reality
TV setting. Is it robust enough to handle
more strenuous ﬁlming environments?
The microphone is designed with a Mogami
cable jacket around the miniature microphone
cable. This approach has been used and fieldtested for years on numerous stages. The
microphone cable inside is Kevlar-reinforced and
uses our latest improvement in the microphone
housing with strain
reliefs.
Are any more
additions to the
d:screet series
being planned?
We are currently
doing some very
interesting prestudies on flatheaded and even
smaller design for
concealed use.
November 2014 35
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Aphex USB 500 Rack
500 SERIES COMPUTER AUDIO INTERFACE
Sam and Dave, Morecombe and Wise, corned beef and cabbage. There are some combinations that just
work. And others – Donnie and Marie, lager and lime – that make your heart sink. So now that Aphex
has released its 500 USB frame combining 500 module ﬂexibility with USB connectivity, the question on
everyone’s lips is, “Lennon and McCartney or John and Yoko?” Alistair McGhee has the answer.
T
he Aphex USB 500
Rack is built into a
sturdy well-finished
steel frame and is made in
America. The unit has slots
for four 500 series devices and
a frontpanel control section
two slots wide. The Aphex
takes an IEC mains lead and
has a frontpanel power switch.
Power it up and the Aphex
logo above will be illuminated
in tasteful green.
Above the power section
are two 0.25in jacks for
headphone outputs, each
with an independent volume
control and at the top of the
section a monitoring volume
control with associated mono
and dim push buttons. These
buttons share the Aphex green
illumination when engaged.
The twin headphone
outputs carry the same
signal but have independent
level control, watch out as
you reach to move your
headphones from one socket
to the other; I managed to
switch the rack off while
doing so. You, of course, will
be more careful.
Using the 500 USB with
OSX is easy – plug it into a
Mac and away you go. On
an ageing iPad 2, plug it in
via the USB camera kit and
fire up GarageBand and
hey presto it works. Beware
though, a couple of other
iPad apps didn’t work so
well. For Windows you need
a driver – download it from
the Aphex site, install and
then plug in the rack and all
should be peachy. I had two
Windows systems to hand
– one running 7 64-bit and
the other running Windows
36 November 2014
8.1. Plugging into 7 64-bit
brought an interesting issue
into focus. Windows mapped
the Aphex’s multiple outputs
in terms of speakers, so my
headphones were centre and
sub. This is because the Aphex
allows you to work with the
main outputs separately from
the headphone outputs. I also
found that my foobar media
player preferred using Asio.
My Windows 8 system has
Pro Tools 11 on board and
I was half expecting a bit of
hardware wrestling to get the
Aphex to work. As it turned
out, reading the note in the
manual about leaving your
existing hardware plugged
in did the trick and once the
driver was loaded it worked
first time without a hitch.
Routing
As you have a combined
USB interface and 500 rack,
your routing is a little more
complex and indeed more
flexible than your average
standalone rack.
Each module (apart from
slot 1) has a choice of three
inputs – the XLR on the
back of the device itself, the
neighbouring module to the
left, or a USB input from
the computer. So you plug
something in to the XLR,
you take the output from
the previous module in the
rack or you take a feed from
your DAW.
We’ll start with the last
of those options. One of the
really nice features of a 500
system is using the modules
as inserts in your software
mix. My USB 500 came
from MSL Professional and
they kindly included some of
the Aphex 500 modules to
garnish the basic rack dish.
I began with the EQF 500
– a 21st century take on an
Aphex classic from the 70s.
Aphex provided some basic
instructions on how to do this
in Pro Tools and I followed
along without too much
trouble. If you don’t want to
bother with adding a bus then
just add an aux track to your
mix. Then route the output
of your original track to the
module input in the rack and
route the module output to
your Aux track. Don’t forget
to switch your module to
USB input, and that’s it. In
Reaper why not avail yourself
of the glories of ReaInsert,
which allows you to do proper
send and return insertion on
your track without using any
more screen ReaLestate. Sorry
about that.
I should say that I found
the EQF 500 a very musical
equaliser. It’s three band and
the top and bottom sections
are switchable between shelf
and bell functionality.
You also get sweepable high
and low pass filters. The EQs
offer plus and minus 12dB.
It’s probably symptomatic of
being a certain age but I do
enjoy the physical process of
fingertip processing; I know
that in itself adds nothing to
the result but I can’t help it,
there will always be a place in
my heart for the physicality
of audio.
Having worked through
the insert process you begin
to see the power of melding
your USB interface with a
500 rack. All the routing and
plugging takes place down
your standard USB cable. This
allows you to make the most
of digital flexibility while
enjoying the analogue benefits
of external processing.
Of course, the other big
deal is on the input side. If
you can afford the choicest
plums from the likes of
Prism Sound or Metric Halo
then maybe you don’t worry
too much about the quality of
your mic amps, but for
the rest of us the chance to
pick and choose our mic
amps is an opportunity not to
be missed.
I had the choice of three
Aphex units: the A Pre 500;
the dual RPA 500, replete
with valve technology and the
J Pre 500, with Cinemag and
Jensen transformers on board.
My 500 preamp of choice
is the Grace Design M501,
but this is hardly the place to
start a mic preamp punch-up
beyond saying that Aphex’s
500 series gear is tidy, as we
say in Wales. Hopefully we
can do them more justice
when space allows, especially
when the new Project 500
module arrives.
Conclusion
So, in summation, the Aphex
is definitely a Jagger/Richards
sort of combination. In terms
of convenience, flexibility, and
usability it is a hard product
to beat.
The boards are awash with
demands for bigger models
and there’s a real buzz around
the product. I’m just sorry
now that the French didn’t get
more of a grip on the USA
back in the day. Pourquoi?
Well, because losing rack
screws, like death and taxes, is
a certainty, and while metric
options abound the 4-40
screws found in the Aphex
are very hard to find. [MSL
Professional assure us they
would be able to source them
from the factory without too
much trouble - Ed].
INFORMATION
Feature Set
• Combines a 500 series rack and a USB 2.0 audio interface
• Monitor section with Mono and Dim
• High output headphone amps
• Up to 96k operation
• RRP: £749
www.aphex.com
www.audiomedia.com
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Allen & Heath Qu-32
DIGITAL MIXER
Andy Coules takes at look at Allen & Heath’s foray into the increasingly crowded
marketplace of the 32-channel self-contained digital live sound console.
A
llen & Heath’s
Qu-32 desk
follows fast on
the heels of the Qu-16 and
Qu-24 and thus benefits from
a 1.5 firmware version which
has already addressed most
of the minor niggles in the
operating system (such as the
ability to name channels).
A key selling point is that
it features 33 fully automated
faders and thus is one of
the few digital consoles, of
any size, that has a fader for
every input channel (with a
preamp). This means fewer
layers are required and thus
helps prevents layeritis – that
affliction which blights users
of digital consoles where you
get lost in layers.
My first impression of the
Qu-32 is that it is functional
without being flashy – the
front panel is straightforward
and unexciting in the way
that tools should be. The body
is relatively slim and curves
round in a pleasing J curve,
the back of which houses all
the I/O. The button LEDs
illuminate in a way that
makes them viewable in both
bright and dim light and the
16 x 10cm touchscreen is
bright and responsive (a quick
poke with a Sharpie suggests
that it is capacitative rather
than resistive).
Basic operation is very
intuitive; I was able to execute
all fundamental mix functions
(i.e. EQ, gate, comp, FX,
aux sends, DCAs, short cut
keys) within minutes of first
turning it on. The workflow
is well thought out and quite
analogue in its feel – I didn’t
need to spend any time
scrolling through menus or
reading the manual to do
what I needed to do.
38 November 2014
Taking a look around the
back there are no surprises.
There are 32 mic/line inputs
(on balanced XLR and 0.25in
jack respectively), a talk back
XLR and three stereo inputs
(two 0.25in jack pairs on
the back panel and a stereo
mini jack on the front panel).
For outputs there are 24
XLRs (divided into L/R,
Mix, Group, and Matrix), an
alternate stereo main output
(on 0.25in jacks with a level
control on the front panel), a
two-track 0.25in jack output,
and an AES XLR. Then
there’s the usual USB and
network (RJ45) connections as
well as a dSNAKE connector.
The 32 jack line inputs are a
nice touch as so many desks of
this size cut costs by providing
only XLRs.
There are no individual
channel name displays, which
seems a valid cost-cutting
choice on a desk of this
nature. There is a facility for
naming channels but this is
only really of use if you plan
to use the Qu-Pad iPad app.
I was pleased to find
that the default scene was
configured very intelligently,
which helped me put my mix
together quickly and without
any fuss. All the bus masters
and FX returns are up and the
busses are enabled by default,
so as soon as you start sending
level to effects or mixes you
can hear it coming back/going
through – a simple enough
thing but it saves time and
minimises layer flipping.
Mix, Group and FX sends
can be accessed via dedicated
buttons to the right of the
master fader, which, when
pressed, automatically put you
in sends on fader mode and
the master fader becomes the
master bus level. The seven
mix (four mono and three
stereo) and four group sends
(all stereo) have 28-band
graphic EQs set up and ready
to go (via the GEQ button)
– they’ve done away with the
top and bottom 25Hz and
20kHz filters, which I doubt
anyone will miss. One very
neat feature of GEQ mode is
that the LED channel level
meters become a basic RTA
showing the level at each
filter – quite helpful when
chasing down that elusive
burst of feedback.
Despite the generous
complement of faders there
is still the need for layers,
and the Qu-32 has three.
The primary layer is the 32
input channels; the secondary
layer is all the stereo inputs,
FX returns, group masters,
FX sends, mix sends, matrix
and DCAs – all laid out and
labelled on a single layer – and
the third is a custom layer,
which can be configured into
any combination of input or
output channels (with a nifty
‘+1’ function that makes setting
it up a breeze). Once the
custom layer is set up it can be
locked in using the ‘Custom
Layer Only’ function so that
it’s the only layer available.
Effects
The Qu-32 boasts four stereo
iLive effects engines, featuring
a selection of familiar and
proven effects; the only thing
missing is an amp simulator
(which is not something I
ever missed on the iLive but I
feel would be useful on a desk
of this size). The FX returns
are stereo but conveniently
only occupy one fader.
Another feature that I’ve
yet to see on any other console
of this size is the Qu-Drive,
which enables the recording
and playback of 18 channels
of 48kHz 24-bit audio direct
to a USB stick. This can be
any combination of input
and output channels or just
the humble stereo out – you
just need to ensure your USB
stick supports high sustained
transfer rates. And if that isn’t
enough you can connect the
console to a Mac or PC for
32 x 32 channel recording
and playback via USB (i.e. the
desk acts as a combined mixer
and sound card).
So how does it sound?
The preamps are transparent
without being too clean and
clinical – I particularly liked
the warmth imparted by the
channel compressor.
One aspect I found pleasing
is that the Qu-32 is the top
of its range. So often desks of
this size are the bottom of the
range and thus are really just
scaled down versions of the
desk you want to be operating.
Allen & Heath has
managed to strike that difficult
balance between including
all the advanced features that
professional engineers demand
while also making it accessible
for non-expert operators. Its
intuitive and straightforward
interface makes it a pleasure to
use for all.
The Reviewer
Andy Coules
started his career in the music industry as a tea boy
in a recording studio, working his way up to studio
sound engineer before developing a taste for live
music and transferring his skills to the arena of
live sound. This enabled him to combine his love of
travelling and hotel rooms and tour the world with a
diverse array of acts, often in the dual role of sound
engineer/tour manager.
www.andycoules.co.uk
INFORMATION
Feature Set
• Thirty-two mic/line inputs (TRS + XLR)
• Thirty-three motor faders
• Qu-Drive direct multitrack recording/playback
on USB drives
• Recallable AnaLOGIQ preamps
• UK SRP: £3,118.80
www.allen-heath.com
www.audiomedia.com
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Focusrite Saffire PRO 26
AUDIO INTERFACE
With the robust and solid feel expected of
Focusrite interfaces, the Saffire PRO 26 FireWire/
Thunderbolt-compatible unit is suitable for both
studio and live use, writes Simon Tillbrook.
W
hen it comes to
portable flexible
audio interfaces,
Focusrite has a long and
well-established reputation
for being right at the top of
manufacturers offering this
type of device.
The Focusrite Saffire range
of units are well known to us,
and the latest to join this lineup is the Saffire PRO 26.
Overview
This is a desktop/portable
interface, not a rack
mountable one, which is
319mm x 192mm x 43mm,
weighing just under 3kg.
As you would expect,
Focusrite has shoehorned
in a comprehensive range of
input/output options in this
compact package.
The Focusrite Saffire PRO
26 offers 18 inputs and
eight outputs with a 24-bit
resolution and sample rates of
44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96kHz.
Connection to your host
Windows or Mac computer/
DAW is via FireWire or
Thunderbolt connection,
which also provides bus
power to the interface, and
a mains power supply is also
supplied. The rear of the
Focusrite Saffire PRO 26
has a single FireWire 400
port, but the unit is supplied
with a FireWire 400 to 800
cable, and a FireWire 400
to Thunderbolt cable is an
optional extra.
Also supplied is the
Focusrite MixControl
routing software, as well as a
software package made up of
Ableton Live Lite, Novation
BassStation, and Focusrite
40 November 2014
Midnight and Scarlett plugins. You also get 1GB of
Loopmaster samples to get
you up and running.
The 18 inputs are made
up of six analogue inputs
comprising four mic/line and
two additional line inputs.
We then have 10 digital
inputs – eight via ADAT
optical and two S/PDIF. The
eight outputs comprise six
balanced line outputs and an
S/PDIF output.
The Ins and Outs
The Focusrite Saffire PRO
26 front panel starts with two
TRS sockets for inputs 1 and
2. These can accept either a
line input or instrument input
based on the selection switch
associated with these two
channel inputs. On the rear
panel are the XLR sockets for
mic input 1 and 2; these have
associated gain controls, along
with mic inputs 3 and 4, on
the front panel.
Phantom power can be
applied to microphone inputs
by two selection buttons. This
is done in pairs – one button
for channels 1 and 2, and
then the same for 3 and 4.
Next up we have a pad switch
for channels 1 and 2 only.
Each of the six analogue
input levels can be monitored
in the meter section. Each
channel has a five-segment
LED meter -42, -18, -6, -3,
and 0dBFS.
A monitor output level
control, along with dim
and mute switches, sits next
to two stereo headphone
outputs, each with its socket
and associated level control.
The power switch (power
can come from either the
FireWire bus, or the supplied
power adapter) completes the
front of the Saffire PRO 26.
On the rear, alongside
mic input 1 and 2 XLRs,
there are mic/line XLR/
TRS combination sockets for
channels 3 and 4. Line input
TRS sockets for channels 5
and 6 complete the analogue
input connections for the
Focusrite Saffire PRO 26.
The 10 digital inputs are
supplied via ADAT optical,
and S/PDIF RCA. MIDI
input and output are via the
usual five-pin Din sockets,
and the Saffire PRO 26
outputs complete the lineup – six balanced line outputs
and two via S/PDIF RCA.
MixControl
It is worth a quick mention
of the MixControl software
supplied with the Focusrite
Saffire PRO 26.
Users of Focusrite
interfaces will be familiar
with this, but in brief this is
the supplied comprehensive
routing system you can
configure and save templates
for a wide variety of scenarios
and applications.
I know that some will not
see the need as the routing
through their chosen DAW
would be all they felt they
required. In live scenarios
or specific recording setup
situations this can save a
great deal of time when you
may want or need to use the
Focusrite Saffire PRO 26 on
another unfamiliar DAW
system, for example.
This software is
straightforward to configure,
and I can see the value
of it.
The Test
I have used a number of
Focusrite interfaces in the
past and always found them
simple to use, robust and
solid in look and feel; the
Saffire PRO 26 fits perfectly
into the range.
The mic preamplifiers
are crisp with a touch of
character and with the
ADAT optical input I was
able to expand the input
preamplifier setup for a
session by connecting
through a Focusrite OctoPre
unit with ease, leading to
great sonic results.
Metering is simple but
clear, and combined with
the MixControl software I
was able to quickly generate
multiple independentlycontrolled monitor mixes.
Like others in the range,
the Saffire PRO 26 provides
good flexibility, ease of use,
great sound quality, robust
feel, and total dependability.
It is a portable device in my
eyes – there are smaller units
in the range for those who
do not need such an array of
connectivity and functionality,
but given the capabilities of
the Focusrite Saffire PRO
26, it is compact and light
enough for me.
Conclusion
The Saffire PRO 26 is a
welcome addition to an
already excellent range of
FireWire audio interfaces
from Focusrite.
A solid range of greatsounding and easily accessible
features with excellent
supporting software to use
as your requirements dictate
prove that it is at a very
attractive price point – this
should be on your shortlist of
units to audition.
The Reviewer
Simon Tilbrook
is a freelance sound designer/engineer, and training
designer working principally with US clients on
music, movies, and games.
INFORMATION
Feature Set
• A total of 18 inputs and eight outputs
• Four XLR/TRS line inputs with 48V phantom power
and two optional front panel Instrument inputs
• Two rear panel TRS line inputs
• Eight channels of ADAT digital input provide
connectivity for external multichannel preamps
• Two channels of digital S/PDIF inputs enable
connections to additional digital-equipped
outboard equipment
• Stereo ‘loopback’ allows two channels of audio to be
routed from software applications directly into
your DAW
• RRP: £279.99
uk.focusrite.com
www.audiomedia.com
The International
Audio Guide series
from Audio Media
Each International Audio Guide focuses on an important
pro-audio product line, giving independent articles followed
by in depth advertorials, covering the history and current
range from the leading manufacturers in their field.
Available now:
2014 International Console Guide
2014 International DAW & plugins Guide
2014 Live Sound & Theatre Guide
2014 International Monitors & Headphone Guide
2014 International Microphone Guide
2014 Broadcast Audio Guide
2015 International Console Guide
Contact me today to discuss
your requirements and to make
sure your company is represented.
Darrell Carter
Tel:+44 (0) 20 7226 7246
e-mail: dcarter@nbmedia.com
INTERVIEW
Sign up for your digital AM at www.audiomedia.com
Game Audio To Go
John Broomhall talks to Anastasios Brakis, creator of game sound tool Fabric, about the ever-changing
world of audio development for tablet and mobile games.
T
he rapid uptake of
smartphone and tablet
technology has led to an
explosion of software development.
The term ‘app’ has slipped effortlessly
into common parlance and it
seems there’s one for everything. A
blossoming indie games sector now
pumps out mind-boggling numbers
of titles, enjoying a heady mixture
of publishing control and artistic
autonomy. Anastasios Brakis supports
multiple developers via Fabric,
his smart audio plug-in for game
middleware, Unity.
How would you describe
the audio content of these
productions?
It’s becoming increasingly
sophisticated thanks to surprisingly
powerful tools, technologies, greater
memory storage, and sheer CPU
grunt. The capability for a game audio
experience on the latest Samsung or
HTC smartphone in your pocket
is described by some as being
comparable with Playstation 3
[Sony’s only recently superceded
previous generation games console].
However, you can’t store huge
amounts of layered interactive music
or 20,000 lines of dialogue like a
big console title. Nor will you be
running much run-time DSP – so
forget multiple instances of filtering,
and consider baking in reverb for the
cavern footsteps.
Designers have to think smart with
a game audio mindset, reminiscent of
former days of console development
– for instance you’ll want to construct
complex sounds from smaller
elements, which can be repurposed
and recomposed on the fly to create
other FX. And intelligent assessment
of priorities means asking what
does the player really need to hear?
What won’t be heard much? Where
can you cheat and scrimp without
compromising the overall wow factor
while conserving your precious CPU
processing power, RAM and voicecount for the really important audio
elements that will give maximum
bang for your buck.
42 November 2014
To be clear – are you saying
that the quality of an audio
experience on a games
machine which sat under the
HD television in my living room
fewer than two years ago can
now be approximated on a
tablet or mobile phone in my
hand on the Tube?
Basically, yes – dozens of high-fidelity
sound FX and speech clips, plus
fantastic-sounding music played back
via a virtual digital mixer.
But there is more to it than that.
For starters, huge technical strides
come with each device iteration – a
Samsung S2 may appear very much
the poor audio relation compared
to the new S5. And that’s a real
challenge for developers when
deciding which hardware they’ll
support and what size memory realestate footprint is acceptable for an
installed game. Again, generational
jumps (eg, from 16GB to 32GB)
move the goalposts substantially.
What strategies are there for
dealing with the wide range of
speakers and ear buds people
are listening on?
Because of the massive differences
between, say, iPad and iPhone
speakers, if you want to hear
impactful audio, you’ve got to use
headphones. As to mixing strategies –
well, for example, Monument Valley’s
audio creator Stafford Bawler says he
deploys an EQ cut on his playback
system and for MV, assumed the
general rule ‘nothing under 600Hz
or over 12kHz’. Where he did use
real bass, he ensured there were
higher harmonic elements to provide
player feedback on small speakers. In
general, he flattened dynamic range
and the game also used dynamics/
side-chaining to make, for example,
stings stand out.
over the wall’ with no hands-on
integration by them. This often
comes down to audio considerations
being left way too late and
insufficient budget, scheduling
and technical resourcing, which
invariably leads to a sub-standard
aural experience. But I guess fighting
the good fight for the value of audio
is nothing new to game sound
designers and composers – actually,
evangelisation is an important part of
their role.
What’s the most signiﬁcant
challenge audio designers face
in mobile and tablet game
development?
For many, I think it’s simply
developer commitment. Sound
people don’t like ‘throwing sounds
Presumably today’s powerful
sound ‘engines’ and middleware
are vital in that ﬁght?
For sure. Where audio people are
brought in sooner rather than later
and given access to the right tools,
it’s a different picture because hands-
“As sound designers set the bar for mobile and tablet
game audio ever higher, and as games makers see
their titles nominated for BAFTAs as a consequence,
the future looks rosy.”
Anastasios Brakis
on control of implementation allows
for more creative experimentation
and optimisation of resources by
the designer. And where this goes
arm-in-arm with artistic freedom
in smaller teams where individual
expression is valued and encouraged,
the results can be very inspiring.
As sound designers set the bar
for mobile and tablet game audio
ever higher, and as games makers see
their titles nominated for BAFTAs as
a consequence, the future looks
rosy. As with PC and console games
before them, it may take time, but an
appreciation of the value of
high-quality sound, music, and
dialogue will eventually become
ubiquitous. And that can only be a
good thing for both gamers and audio
creators alike.
www.audiomedia.com