Sonnox Announces 64-Bit Support For Oxford Plug-Ins

The noted plugins developer Sonnox has announced the release of 64-bit versions of native Oxford Plug-ins.

The update now allows Sonnox to provide full native 64-bit support for DAWs such as Logic and Cubase. In addition to 64-bit compatibility, the new versions also have updated graphic interfaces.

Updates can be obtained from the Sonnox website starting at $23.00 per plug-in. The company will also be adding AAX native plug-ins for Pro Tools 10, free of charge to license holders of the new native versions.

 

Sonnox Releases Fraunhofer Pro-Codec Plug-In

Sonnox, previously known as Sony Oxford, is a company with quite the history in its critical role in the development of digital audio.  The company is most commonly known for its conception of the popular OXF-R3 digital mixing console which was completely designed by the engineers in Oxford as well as the development of DSD format for SACDs – knowledge is power!

The super minds behind Sonnox have now taken into consideration the painstaking process of doing offline encoding/decoding and auditioning of an audio file from your favorite DAW.  Now with the release of the Fraunhofer Pro-Codec Plug-In (originally announced in January), it is a snap to do realtime auditioning of encoding inside of your host DAW – Mix Engineers and Mastering Engineers rejoice!

The plug-in is available for download now for Mac OS X 10.5 or later, Windows XP and Windows 7  as RTAS, VST or AU for MSRP $495.

Here is what Sonnox has to say about their new plug-in:

“Overview
The Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec Plug-In is designed for the real-time auditioning, encoding and decoding of audio signals using Fraunhofer codecs.

In the past it has not been possible to critically audition and then encode multiple formats in real time within a host DAW environment. The revolutionary Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec now makes this possible, and includes extensive monitoring tools and built-in encoding/decoding features.

Using this plug-in mix engineers may produce mixes optimised towards specific target codecs, thereby ensuring maximum fidelity. Similarly, Mastering engineers may audition in the final format and produce compensated masters for final encoding and distribution.

Features
Supported Codecs:
mp3, mp3 Surround, AAC-LC, HE-AAC, and HE-AAC v2
mp3-HD and HD-AAC (Lossless Codecs)
Ability to select up to five codecs for simultaneous export, in real time, to encoded files
Comprehensive auditioning with glitchless switching
Ability to audition the difference between input signal and codec output
AB auditioning in real time between codecs, or between codec and input signal
ABX mode for blind statistical testing
Graphical displays include:
High resolution display of the Input signal and Diff signal.
Indication of the audibility of audio removed by the encoding process
Bitstream levels and ability to compensate for overloads
Indication of filesize or datastream compression
Phase metering
Off-line encoding and decoding
Compatible with many digital audio workstation applications, such as:
Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Nuendo, Sequoia and Wavelab. (Mac and PC)”

Get an in-depth down low here:

Psyched on Sonics: Recording Voices in Challenging Locations

Every month, Matt McCorkle of EqualSonics.com brings you a day in the life of a New York City recording engineer.

The Mission: Recording Voices In An Unconventional Recording Space
In October of last year I was contacted by Whitney Bryant of the Tuesdays at Four company, inquiring about mobile recording services. She heads an intergenerational class held on Tuesdays at 4pm inside the The Hallmark of Battery Park Senior Residence. The class’ mission is to promote healthy aging via means of movement, community and the arts.

Her concept was to record the members of her class, who vary in age from 18 to 101, as they answered broad life questions and shared their stories. The idea was to later arrange these monologues and dialogues in a sequence that tells a bigger story. “I Was I Am We Are” was the name for the project and the recording and the questions to which the participants would attempt to answer.

After communicating via e-mail about the process for recording and the eventual editing necessary to create the desired cohesive spoken word recording, it was time to meet the class and scope out the room in which I would be recording.

Analyzing The Hallmark
Whenever I have the opportunity to scope a location prior to recording, I take advantage of that to obtain a clear perspective of what I’m walking into so that I can troubleshoot ahead of time and maximize efficiency come recording time. Upon my initial arrival at The Hallmark, I met Whitney and she gave me a tour of the space. Quickly, I was able to get a good sense of what I was dealing with.

It was a large room with florescent lights. The lights sparked immediate concern due to the noise they often generate, however, even up close, the lights were relatively quiet. The central air, however, which came on periodically, was loud! I asked Whitney about this and she said the central air can be turned off for each room, easy enough.

I walked around the room whistling short bursts of air. This particular exercise helps me determine the acoustics of the room:

• I whistle one note and then listen to the decay on the echo, the timbre of my whistle and the sound of my whistle in the room.
• I whistle one a little lower in pitch, then listen.
• Finally I whistle a couple more pitches to know how the room responds to various frequencies.

The ceilings were about 13 feet high, high enough to avoid ugly reflections from bouncing around, so I was confident that the space wouldn’t be an issue. The great thing about this approach is that I always have my whistling with me!

Each resident will be speaking into the same mic, one at a time. Three groups of 8-10 people for one hour each.

My plan was to setup a cardioid condenser mic in the central-most part of the room. The room sounded clearest and most neutral in the center without the ugly reflections that were generated closer to the walls. I felt good about the location and confident that my setup would yield great results having been able to take this initial inventory of the space.

Establish Homebase

Arriving a few days after my initial scope out of the room, it was time to record. I setup Equal Sonics Mobile in a far corner away from the center of the room.

After booting up my hard drives, laptop and Pro Tools I was ready to go. I setup a Neumann U87 in the center of the room and switched the polar pattern to cardioid. I ran an XLR cable from the mic to the rig, tucking it under tables, to keep the area clear.

The last thing to do was to set up headphones beside the mic for each speaker to use. I ran a HearBack mixer to the center of the room and placed a pair of cans around it. If they wanted to use it, great. If not, I had control on the digital mixer so I could turn it off if not in use.

Get Busy
The first group arrived and it was time to begin. Whitney had the first individual step up to the microphone. I hit record. She asked them a question, and they responded. Some people had their responses to these questions well rehearsed, while others were not so prepared. There were some hangups for those who were not as prepared, such as stalling between words, not phrasing an answer in an understandable manner and unnecessary pauses.

Whitney was good about coaching her class through these small setbacks, but with my recorder running throughout anyway. I didn’t want to throw off the group’s flow with stopping and starting, nor miss the golden take. All the extra material recorded could quickly be taken out in the editing process. In its entirety, this vocal tracking session took three hours to capture everyone’s voice.

Clean Up
After the recording was complete it was time to enter the first phase of post-production: editing. I chopped up each vocal take to start with the answer of the question, leaving out Whitney’s questions. Then I chopped off the end of the vocal take before Whitney’s next question.

This left me just the answer to the question in its own audio region. I put fades of varying lengths on the start and end of each vocal take. Labeling each audio region with a few snippets of the answer for easy recall later when putting all these takes together.

Step 2: Editing
I met with Whitney and Jamie Yasgur a week later to cut, chop, splice and dice the three hours of audio into a cohesive and poetic hole. Armed with my laptop, a hard drive, a Pro Tools interface and active monitors for listening we got to work editing.

She had created and typed out a story-line of how she wanted the vocals placed which was a helpful guide, sort of her post production, pre-production. On my end, as I mentioned, I had already organized the answers and labeled all my regions which made it easy to find all the necessary pieces with the help of Pro Tools’ region display. After some crafty arranging and well-placed fades we were working our way to a powerful finished product.

Special FX
There were two spots in the recording that Whitney had asked for a special effect. She wanted one of the phrases to start out while others started to wrap themselves around the first one. Essentially layered on top of one another, to create a chaotic moment in the recording.

I copied numerous vocal takes of various lengths and placed them on top of the original. I then panned each of the takes around the panorama spectrum, while EQ-ing each take to give it a bit of distinctive depth.

This created a mesh of vocals, seemingly coming from every direction. A sort of dreamy disorientation of space and time. After the final vocal take from this chaotic moment was finished, the track resolved back to the original singular spoken word.

The Mix

Once the entire vocal recording was laid out, syllables were clarified by chopping up the words into each syllable and moving them closer or further apart to create a more natural flow. Next, breaths were reduced in volume or taken out, long pauses were shortened, and the final fades were placed.

It was now time to sweeten the sound. I put a Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor on the track with about 4-5 dB of gain reduction. I set the attack and release to both be relatively slow to get a nice smooth, flowing sound.

After the compression I added a bit of EQ to add some brilliance in the top end, around 10 kHz, and cut some sub frequencies out of the bottom end of the spectrum, at 60 kHz.

Once the EQ was sitting nicely, the Oxford Inflator from Sonnox was added to the equation. This is a great plug-in to use to create some warmth on a track. Using the curve control slider, which varies from negative fifty to positive fifty, you can flavor the warmth on your track. Negative fifty is very dark, positive fifty is very bright. Because this was a spoken word piece I wanted a more neutral warmth; I stuck with positive ten on the curve control slider.

Now that the tone was established, I wanted to add some depth to the recording. This was achieved by loading a reverb plug-in on an aux track and mixing the vocals with it slightly.

The effect created some slight space around the vocals, while refraining from drowning them in a sea of echos. Finally, I used the infamous Waves L3 to boost the overall level of the track and glue together the vocals with the reverb.

The Handoff
The track was recorded, edited, pieced together and mixed. I burnt the .WAV files on a few CDs for Whitney and was on my way.

It was a great tracking and mixing session, but there’s a surprise that came my way a few months later with this project: Whitney contacted me yet again to ask if there was any way I could turn this vocal recording into a dance track.

Check out the next installment of Psyched On Sonics where we will continue this story!

As the owner and operator of his own mobile recording studio, Matt McCorkle of EqualSonics.com is capable of bringing professional audio to anyone, anywhere, anytime. His specialties involves acoustic instrumental recordings, vocal productions, live tracking sessions, electronic music production and mixing. Whether in the studio or out in the field, Matt’s goal is simple: To create new music and sounds with passionate artists. To contact Matt please visit EqualSonics.com.

The Spirit of NYC Mastering: Get Inside the Ears of James Cruz and Zeitgeist Sound Studios

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS: Scratch below the surface of any of today’s independent masring engineers, and most likely you’ll find a team player there. There are a lot of one-person shops dotting the NYC landscape, but these individual practitioners weren’t always flying solo.

Case in point: James Cruz, founder and sole proprietor of Zeitgiest Sound Studios in Long Island City. In another dimension – circa 2004 – Cruz was a young addition to a mastering dream team operating within the dearly departed Sony Studios. His collaborators there were some of the heaviest hitters – then and now – in the industry: Vic Anesini, Vlado Meller, Joseph M. Palmaccio, Darcy Proper, and Mark Wilder. The late, great technical genius Dave Smith, VP of Sony Music Engineering, oversaw it all.

Change being the constant that it is, in 2007, Sony Studios closed to make way for something else deemed more useful. The All Stars are now scattered across the planet, but Cruz, a longtime resident of Astoria, made it just across the river to Long Island City to found scenic Zeitgeist. Since settling in, his credits have included the last three Calle 13 albums (winners of a total of seven Latin GRAMMYS and two GRAMMYS), Mary Mary, Cee Lo, Three-6 Mafia, Natasha Bedingfield, and more.

Here, Cruz cues us in on many things mastering – why he stays in the box, how artists can make the most of their session, and the beauty of being your own boss.

Tell us about the “signal path” that got you into mastering.
Ha! If you want me to start at the top…Just about out of college I sent resumes all over town — I wanted to be a record or mix engineer. Troy Germano at the Hit Factory called me for an interview and hired me as a GA (General Assistant) in the mastering department. At the time I had never heard of mastering and knew nothing about it, but he said to give it a try and eventually I can move over to “the other side.”

This was at the time The Hit Factory was at its peak: The engineering staff consisted of Herb Powers, Tom Coyne, Chris Gehringer and Roger Talkov. At the time Roger was one of the few people in New York with a new workstation called Sonic Solutions, and he was betting on it being “the future of the business.” Roger needed to move on, I decided that I would learn the system, and I was literally learning trial-by-fire style doing sessions for Celine Dion and Jim Steinman two days later.

Soon after that Tom went over to Sterling Sound so I picked up the computer, put it in his room and said “mine.” I was doing Toni Braxton sessions with LA Reid the next week. All while still making coffee and running the library. Then I learned how to cut records from Herbie – one of the best vinyl cutters ever and learned my EQ chops from Gehringer. It was a pretty special time. I liked it so much that here I am 20 years later. I never went to “the other side.”

That sounds a little like how I got started writing about pro audio! Your mastering career led you to a nice distinction – one of the final group that made up Sony Mastering: What do you feel was special about the people that were there? And the facility, for that matter, at the time that it got shut down in 2007?
Sony was amazing. The Hit Factory was great for many reasons but Sony was amazing. It was one of the most underappreciated and under-used facilities ever. Never again will there be a place like it: You could walk in with nothing, book a production room, record, mix, master and duplicate your album. Then you could go down the hall and shoot and edit your video and do artwork, and even do a live broadcast from the soundstage.

Another thing about it was the technical staff. By far the best in the business. I could ask them for the most bizarre setups you could think of and it would be done in 30 minutes, without ever having to rent gear. The mic locker was epic.

Then there were the engineers. Of course everyone knows the juggernaut that is Vlado Meller, but on top of that was Mark Wilder, a pair of golden ears if there ever was one, and Vic Anesini who did fantastic work. It was a place where we all worked on making each other better and it was always great to have these guys to give an opinion on an EQ or compressor setting. I feel like The Hit Factory was a long training session and Sony is really where I came into myself as an engineer.

I always wondered why it was so quiet every time I was at Sony. After that, why did you decide to go solo and set up Zeitgeist, rather than joining another mastering facility?
Honestly, Sony shut down and I had no interest in working for someone else anymore. I couldn’t really see myself at Sterling or Masterdisk so I didn’t even pursue it. I figured I had already worked in two of the best spots ever and now it was time to do my own thing. I also like the idea of being completely responsible for myself and not having to answer to anyone.

So how would you describe what you’ve created in Zeitgeist – what were your objectives for the room? How did you set it up?

The most important thing for me was the vibe. Even though I’ve worked in these amazing studios, all the rooms always felt very cold and sterile – there’s really only so much you can do with a black couch and lava lamps. So first and foremost I wanted sunlight.

I also went in the complete opposite direction of the “modern mastering room” and went back to what it was originally intended to be, and that’s the best-sounding living room stereo in the world. So I did just that: I built a giant living room with tons of comfort and a front window that’s 20’ long by 8 ½’ high — I barely even need to use electric lighting anymore.

Zeitgeist is the Comfort Zone. You also mentioned to me that you master virtually 100% in the box. Why is it that?
Pristine signal flow — mastering rule Number One. When I started everything was on tape. It came in on ½” (sometimes DAT) and ended up on lacquer and/or UMatic. There was always a physical medium so there was always multiple pieces of gear, a bunch of feet of wire, patch bays etc…

Even though everything was as high quality as possible, it always imparted a sound. Sometimes it was good, sometimes it was bad. Along the way I noticed everything started to go all-digital — started with DAT then recordable CD. So I started to back off on the analog gear. I didn’t want to convert to analog, go through a bunch of stuff, then have to go back to digital. Eventually it went to all WAV files so I found no reason to ever leave the box.

I’m using very high quality mastering grade plug-ins and my signal flow is as short as possible. Do I miss analog stuff? Yes. Very much. I would much prefer to turn a knob then adjust a trackball! There are definitely some advantages to doing it this way, though, besides the signal flow. It allows me to work much faster, which benefits the client in the end. I also have a lot more flexibility than I ever had with analog stuff.

There’s always a tradeoff, in either direction. How is your workstation configured?
My workstation is the Sequoia by Magix and my main EQ is the Orange Linear Phase by Algorithmix. I can’t live without them. It runs on Windows XP and the computer was custom built by Sony’s computer genius Jim Yates.

It’s a powerhouse of a system and extremely stable. It’s so over-engineered I have seen no reason to update it yet, to be very honest. My next batch of plug-ins will probably be the Sonnox Oxford stuff – it’s not new but it is some great-sounding stuff. Universal Audio is also doing some very cool stuff with all their emulations.

Turning around to what’s coming into your system, what would you say are the trends you’re seeing in terms of the recording techniques and audio quality of the music you’re getting? How are projects evolving, and how is that affecting the way you approach your job?
Let me start here, and this is as diplomatic as possible: owning Pro Tools doesn’t make you a recording engineer, in the same way that owning a frying pan doesn’t make you a chef. That being said there are more and more projects being done in smaller project studios and fewer people are actually involved in the process. There is actually a very good article in a current magazine about the engineer becoming a loner, where in the days of the larger studios there were always other people around to give opinions and push you to be better.

That’s a major change that’s affecting the way things are done. As far as audio quality, it’s always been hit or miss. There have always been bad engineers and great engineers. As technology gets cheaper there do seem to be more and more engineers though.

On that topic, you said that client education is something you’re a big proponent of. What’s an example of a correctable mistake you often hear on the projects you get – something that people could easily fix so that you can deliver a better master?
I love for new clients to call me before the session and ask as many questions as they want. I am a big believer in one-on-one communication with the client. It benefits everybody.

The biggest mistakes I get are too much compression/limiting – see “level wars” discussions in every audio publication and message board written in the last 10 years — and the tops and tails of the tracks not being right. If your mix engineer is adding a limiter on the two-mix just to make it loud, tell him to remove it before sending it to mastering. Your mastering engineer should be able to make your track loud without wrecking all the wonderful dynamic range that makes music connect on an emotional level.

It’s also helpful to leave a second or two of air before your song. Don’t start your WAV right on the music, let it breathe a bit. Your mastering person can trim it for you. And lastly, that applies to the end of the track too: Leave some air at the end so your mastering engineer has some room to work, especially when sequencing an album. The worst, and costly, mistake is not being prepared. Call your engineer before the session and get in detail the way that things should be done, if you have any questions.

That’s some super-solid advice! Things are pretty competitive here in the NYC mastering scene, right? How are things evolving for you and your competition?
I think the smaller guys are making a pretty serious play. To be very honest, and I mean this with the utmost of respect, I don’t really see how the giant muti-room places can survive with that business model much longer. The overhead is just too high. As budgets continue to shrink and the web continues to shut down labels it’s going to be the boutique studios that will be able to keep up.

On another tip, who are some music innovators that have inspired you – be they engineers, artists, business people, chefs…?
Wow. Good one — there are so many. In no particular order: Jimmy Page, Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Pete Townsend, Geoff Emerick, George Martin, Brendan O’ Brien, Jim Thirwell, Jon Brion, Joe Strummer, The Talking Heads and XTC. Just to name a few.

That’s a heady mix! Finally, when you sit down to master a record – whether it’s an indie artist or major label hit – what’s the big payoff?
I love doing an attended session and playing the before-and-after for a client and seeing their face light up. That’s a lot of fun for me. When everything is complete, the client sits down and listens to the complete product, and says “YES!” that makes me very happy.

File under “What a Feeeeeeeling!” Anything else to add?
I need a vacation. It’s been way too long.

Amen!

NAMM News: Sonnox and Fraunhofer Co-Develop Solution to Streamline Mastering for Online Distribution

A collaboration between the creators of the MP3, Germany-based Fraunhofer IIS, and plug-in designer/manufacturer Sonnox Ltd., has resulted in a new plug-in the companies expect “to revolutionize the way audio is mastered for online distribution.”

The new Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec plug-in is a mastering solution that makes it possible for the first time to precisely audition codecs in real time. This breaks away from the current time-consuming cycle of having to encode the mix to mp3/AAC, preview it, tweak it and then go back and re-render. The entire process can now be accomplished ‘on the fly,’ freeing the engineer to focus on producing a compensated, optimized mix.

The Pro-Codec plug-in enables mix and mastering engineers to audition up to five codecs in real time within a DAW environment, produce an optimized mix and batch encode to multiple formats simultaneously.

All major codecs, including mp3, mp3 Surround, AAC-LC and HE-AAC are supported, as are lossless codecs such as mp3 HD and HD-AAC.

Sonnox has developed an intuitive FFT display to illustrate the input signal, output difference signal and a unique graphical indication of the audibility of codec-induced noise. Bit-stream integrity meters reveal potential decode overloads. Instant A-B auditioning enables engineers to glitchlessly switch between codecs. A ‘blind listening mode’ (ABX) augments codec comparisons.

The Pro-Codec plug-in is compatible with all popular DAWs — Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Nuendo, Sonar, Sequoia and Wavelab. Both Mac and Windows are supported.

The Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec plug-in will be introduced at this week’s NAMM Show, (Sonnox Booth # 6278), and will be available shortly thereafter at a price of $499.

For more information on Sonnox Oxford plug-ins please visit: http://www.sonnoxplugins.com

Endless Ear and Eye Candy At AES 2010: Tech Highlights + Party Down

Well phew! We’re back from one slammin’ AES Convention — and still reeling from all the awesome audio technologies and technologists we encountered on the show floor and after-hours.

If we do say so ourselves, one of the most memorable AES parties we’ve ever attended was the one we actually co-sponsored, put on by some top-flight audio brands including Burl, PMI Audio Group, KuSh Audio, Audio Power Tools, Empirical Labs, Mojave, Audio Agent, Wave Distribution, Elysia and Cutting Edge.

The bash, held at the legendary Great American Music Hall, was all about mind-blowing music and dance featuring the totally thrilling afro-samba-funk band SambaDá who paraded around the venue Brazilian Carnival-style and then played an amazing set on stage. Not your typical AES party, and just one more reminder that it’s the people and the events that make AES such a soulful experience year in and year out.

The days were packed with demos and conversation and the show floor was happening, as exhibitors across the Moscone expressed sincere satisfaction at the amount of foot traffic. Pro Tools 9 was the big splash — they even had Butch Vig doing a demo at the booth one day — but a real abundance of hardware interfaces, controllers, consoles, microphones, outboard gear, loudspeakers and software pulled us in every direction. Discoveries abounded down every aisle, so without further ado we share with you…

The SonicScoop Buzz Worthy List

Pro Tools 9 – The mother of all debuts from the 129th AES Convention. Available on November 12th for $599, Pro Tools 9 replaces LE in the product line and is available for the first time as software-only.

Focal Monitors – the Focal SM9 Monitoring System turned heads and ears at AES listening events. It houses two independent monitoring systems within the same speaker cabinet.

The first configuration is a 3-way monitor equipped with a 1″ pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeter, a 6.5″ midrange driver, 8″ bass driver and an 11″ passive radiator. Flip a switch, and the same cabinet includes a 2-way monitor utilizing the same inverted dome tweeter and a 6.5″ midbass driver. The point of the latter is to more effectively allow mixers to check their work on a bass-challenged system for iPod, computer, TV, etc… consumer playback systems. Estimated street price upon their early 2011 release is $3595.

Universal Audio Becomes RTAS Plug-In Developer – Pro Tools users can look forward to a muuuuuch better workflow with their UAD-2 cards. UA announced that they are now an Avid RTAS developer. By combining the new Pro Tools|HD Native PCIe card and UAD-2 DSP Accelerator PCIe cards, Pro Tools|HD Native users can now run Pro Tools HD on the power of the host CPU and a library of classic analog emulation plug-ins developed by UA in partnership with Neve, Manley, Roland, Empirical Labs, Fairchild, Pultec, Teletronix, dbx, Studer, Lexicon and more.

SSL – The UK-based console maker showed it has plenty of new tricks up its sleeve at this show. At times, the new 48-input version of their AWS board, the AWS 948, was completely mobbed as attendees got their heads/hands around the versatile new board. There was also plenty of attention paid to the spankin’ new Nucleus controller, which provides a great deal of advanced DAW control options, SSL analog mic pres, Duende plug-ins and other goodies into its relatively compact footprint. Available December 2010 for $4999.

TASCAM – We got our first look at the DR-08 portable recorder. This affordable 96/24 unit is incredibly light and should be a strong asset to anyone with field recording in their job description.

Mix Sensei – One of the serious class acts of the industry, GRAMMY-winning LA producer/mixer Dave Isaac’s Mix Sensei has rolled out his series of tutorial videos including “Mixing Marcus Miller”, “Enter the Dynamics” and “Return of the Dynamics”. The new “Master Audio Concepts” downloadable lessons were scheduled to debut online during the show.

iZotope – The new Nectar vocal suite was the latest development. Highly customizable, Nectar offers dozens of vocal production styles powered by eleven processing modules.

Shadow Hills – Among the many hot products at the always-packed Vintage King booth, the upcoming Oculus monitoring system from Shadow Hills was drawing plenty of interest. For those who can keep up with the mystical genius of Shadow Hills founder Peter Reardon, it’s clear that this will be an extremely versatile monitoring tool when it hits the market in the next few months.

Neumann – Another eye-raiser was the introduction of the KH120, a small-format studio monitor from none other than Neumann. Designed to work primarily as near-fields or as the rears in a multi-channel system, the new Neumann’s were a must-see reference monitor throughout AES. For those surprised by this brand extension, the company pointed out that over its 80-year history their name has also stood for mastering lathes to consoles and digital mics – it will be interesting to see how the industry responds to Neumann’s new addition.

Sonnox – this group of smart guys from the UK had no new product at the show, but are confident that their soon-to-come plug-in – still under wraps — will be a game-changer of some sort. For now, they will say only that the product is something “unique” and will be an enabler. Based on Sonnox’ track record so far, we can safely say that we believe them.

SoundToys – between Mitch’s pink hair and the preview of Juice, the upcoming analog input channel modeler, traffic was healthy at the SoundToys booth. Also, they announced the pending release of Artist Series preset expanders from Tchad Blake, Peter Wade and Morgan Page.

Audient – We got our first hands-on experience with the Audient ASP2802 eight-channel console, introduced earlier this year by the UK manufacturer and also on display at the Vintage King booth. It combines classic analog features with advanced DAW integration and control, putting a great deal of functionality and sound quality into a relatively compact package.

Burl Audio – The B80 Mothership from Burl was a true presence at AES, a multi-channel version of their B2 Bomber ADC and DAC. This motha offers up 80-channel capability, with a vast amount of AD/DA configuration options available within its card-based, 4U chassis.

BeesNeez Microphones - buzzzzzzzzz was appropriately everywhere for Australian mic manufacturer Bees Neez. The eye-catching craftsmanship and brass construction of their product line made their booth a steady center of attention throughout AES.

Cloud Microphones – The RCA-inspired microphones from Arizona-based Cloud were notable for the company’s fascinating story, beautiful look and luxurious powers of sound reproduction. The company also earns kudos for its attention to environmentally-friendly practices throughout their manufacturing and distribution processes.

Lavry Engineering – Lavry Engineering provided the first hands-on look at their LavryBlack AD11 A/D converter, which also includes a mic pre with phantom power. This cost-effective unit is ideal for portable recording as well as standard studio setups.

Two Notes Audio Engineering – people from far and yon came to the booth of Montreal-based Two Notes to check out their Torpedo VM-202 dual processor guitar/bass cabinet simulator. Designed with an exclusive tube stage simulator, the 1RU unit allows users to play two cab + microphone simulations simultaneously, and reproduce a multi microphone miking process. We found the solution to be highly intuitive in our showfloor experiments.

JBL – We appreciated getting up close and personal with JBL’s MSC1 Monitor System Controller, introduced earlier this year. A highly useful monitoring hub for the monitoring of three input stereo sources, the MSC1 provides a host of features and controls to ensure that monitoring will be as accurate as possible in your space of choice – or necessity. Now available with Mac software!

Cartec Audio – The Cartec program EQP-1A makes no bones about its inspiration, in look and sound, from the classic Pultec of the same name. On display at the Professional Audio Design booth, the hand-wired units would fit nicely into the rack of anyone who doesn’t happen to have an original Pultec available.

Telefunken – Connecticut-based Telefunken showed off the subject of their “Name the Mic” contest, the sharply titled CU-29 Copperhead. Based on a circuit that features a New Old Stock (NOS) TELEFUNKEN vacuum tube, custom audio transformer and a fixed cardioid large diaphragm capsule, the Copperhead sounded positively sumptuous in our show-room floor listening session.

D.W. Fearn – The hugely respected D.W. Fearn showed off the new 70dB VT-12 Vacuum Tube Mic Pre, designed to accommodate the low output level of ribbon and dynamic microphones. In the bigger picture, Fearn told SonicScoop that the company has had a banner year that could stand as his best in business – a strong harbinger of hope and optimism for the industry at large.

Check out some more product and fun photos below!

– Janice Brown and David Weiss

Sonnox Oxford SuprEsser Review By Jason Goldstein

Unfortunately, poorly recorded vocals and instruments are all too commonplace, given today’s do-it yourself production mentality. Poor microphone choice and placement, over-compression, and room noise can wreak havoc on the quality of a recording. The job of cleaning up after a bad recording can be very tedious.

Enter the SuprEsser from Sonnox: a plug-in aimed at making the modern day mix engineer’s janitorial duties, an easier one.

TECHNICAL STUFF

The SuprEsser is a native only plug-in, that comes in RTAS, AU, and VST formats and is available for both the Mac and PC. It comes in three flavors, each adding a higher degree of resolution but at the cost of higher latency. Anywhere from 500 to an astounding 12,000 samples of delay! Soooo, unless you like doing lots of math, this plug-in should be reserved for use only on systems capable of ADC (automatic delay compensation).

WHAT IT IS/WHAT IT DOES

In a nutshell, the SuprEsser is a very sophisticated frequency specific compressor, which allows the user to target only those areas of the audio spectrum where a problem is occurring. This means it can be used as a de-esser, de-popper, or when used in wide band mode, as a more traditional, all-purpose compressor.

THE INTERFACE

In a word, awesome! Although the GUI has a lot going on and may seem confusing at first, in reality it is actually very easy and intuitive to use (there’s even an “easy“ view which simplifies the interface, leaving only the most basic and useful features visible).

The target frequency, threshold and amount of compression are represented both numerically, and visually on an FFT display, making the process of identifying and eliminating unwanted artifacts both quick and simple. Unlike your average de-esser, you will also find controls for attack and release as well as an auto function, which allows the amount of gain reduction to remain consistent regardless of the input level.

As if that weren’t enough you can also choose from two types of “listen” modes. One, called “inside” which is the standard mode found on most de-essers as well as an “outside” mode which allows you to hear which frequencies are NOT being affected by the processing.

SuprEsser IN USE

I was able to test drive the SuprEsser on both Pro Tools native and TDM systems as well as Logic Pro running on my laptop. As a straightforward de-esser, this one ranks among the best I have used. Dialing in just the right amount of compression was quick and easy and there was no dulling of the sound that one normally finds with this type of processor. Plosives, or pops, as they are also called, were also handled with ease.

One of the cooler uses that I have found for a de-esser is for removing unwanted hi hat leakage from snares and toms. I find it sounds much more natural than trying to using a noise gate, which tends to cut off the attack of the drum.

The SuprEsser excelled in this application as well. Being able to vary the attack and release of the compressor and not just the frequency and threshold meant I was able to remove just the right amount of hi-hat without overly affecting the sound of the snare.

Another cool feature found on the SuprEsser is the ability to mix the amount of wet and dry signals being sent to the output. This is similar to parallel compression, allowing you to apply drastic amount of gain reduction to a signal and then blending to taste.

CONCLUSION

The only drawback I could find with this plugin was the aforementioned processing delay. Other than that, the SuprEsser is a veritable Swiss army knife of compression and a welcome addition to my plugin folder.

For more information and to purchase the Sonnox SuprEsser, visit: www.sonnoxplugins.com/supresser.

Jason Goldstein is a NYC-based Grammy-winning mix engineer who’s worked with Beyonce, Jay-Z, The Roots, Ludacris, Jill Scott, R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, Mary J. Blige and more. For more on Goldstein and to get in touch, visit www.jasongoldsteinmixer.com.

Beat 360: Much More than Just a Music Studio for Mark Saunders

HELL’S KITCHEN: Dig Art Deco? Most definitely, and we could always do worse than to be in the majestic polychromed lobby of The Film Center Building on Ninth Avenue – especially if we’re visiting Beat360.

Evolution is the solution at this extra-comfy facility founded by the busy English music producer Mark Saunders in 1997. He was in town then to produce Cyndi Lauper’s Sisters of Avalon, and never really left. With a production/mixing/programming discography that includes The Cure, Neneh Cherry, Shiny Toy Guns, David Byrne, Tricky, and A-Ha, Manhattan has been more than happy to take him.

The addition of Ollie Hammett as Director came in 2007, and Beat360 has grown out beyond just being a great place to track and mix. Today, this flexible sound concern takes on everything that touches artists and producers – management, synch, publishing, distribution and more. Corporate clients have been attracted too, including Nike, Reebok, L’Oreal, Chevy, Motorola and Microsoft.

With all that going on, they seem as eager as any of us to see what’s next, as Hammett made abundantly clear in a recent convo.

What kind of group are you and Mark working with at Beat360?
It’s essentially just the two of us, and we have a pool of assistants who help with the day-to-day running of projects. As a small team we cover as much as we can in-house and for larger projects we outsource to additional engineers as and when needed.

Mark came up in the industry as an engineer, producer and mixer. Recently he has been establishing a name for himself as an exceptional co-writer working with artists/writers such as Teddy Geiger, Cathy Dennis and PNAU (production duo behind Empire Of The Sun).

My time is equally split between studio work as an engineer/mixer and project management/business development. Projects I’ve worked on include Idris Elba’s High Class problems v1 (engineer/mixed), The Sounds’ Crossing the Rubicon (engineer), A-Ha’s upcoming Farewell single (engineer & additional production), and So So Glos‘ self-titled debut album (mix engineer).

That’s a small but diversified and accomplished core team. From there, how would you explain Beat360 as a business today? Is it a recording facility? Mix facility? Producer/songwriter haven? All of the above, or is it something else entirely?
I would say we’re all of the above. We market ourselves as a “full service music and audio solutions company.” It was originally established as a private recording, production and mixing facility for Mark’s projects. We now work with a whole array of different clients – bands, brands, digital interactive agencies, management companies, record labels — less and less — and independent artists more and more.

While diversifying, it’s really important for us to continue to try and bridge the artist development gap we now see in the music industry, so I think this is something that’s integral to everything we do. We’re always looking for opportunities for the artists we work with through our network of contacts and relationships.

I’ve had a couple visits to your studio HQ in the landmark Film Center Building, and it seems like a very productive place to work. Can you fill us in on the design philosophy, plus the hardware and software goodies?

Beat360 is a 2000 sq. ft. facility with two mix/production suites, one live room, a kitchen, lounge and chill out area. Our philosophy is for artists/clients to feel as comfortable and creative as possible.

Our main production/suite is a hybrid system – no mixing board in sight. The main DAW is an Apple Quad Core/Logic/Apogee symphony system with X series converters, and a Mackie Control. We have a Dangerous 2-Bus summer and a selection of outboard gear that can be integrated into Logic sessions as insert plugins. We both use Pro Tools but prefer Logic so we have a Pro Tools LE system for converting projects that come to us in that format.

We have software, hardware and musical instrument toys in serious supply. See the full list here. But here’s a taste: Logic 9, Waves Platinum v7 bundles, Sonnox plugins, Arturia Collection, a Ludwig 1968 Drumkit, Soundelux U95S, Neumann U67 (1960’s), Telefunken SM2 stereo (1960’s), Urei 1176, Manley ELOP leveling amp/compressor, Night Nt3 mastering EQ, Telefunken V72 (2 channels) racked by Dave Marquette, John Hardy M-1 (4 channels), Neve 33122 (2 channels), Neve 33115 (2 channels) and API 312 (5 channels) racked by Brent Averill.

Ooooo, tasty. So what niche does Beat360 fill in the NYC spectrum of facilities? And globally for that matter, since you’re doing international services like FTP mixing.
I would characterize our studio as a full-service professional recording, production and mixing facility. In addition to the hiring the studio and services out to NYC clients, we also offer remote mixing and mastering solutions for independent artists all over the world through www.beat360-master-mixing.com.

Clients upload sessions to our server and we mix/master the tracks working closely with them on revisions to make sure they’re 100% happy with the end results. More than just an online service, it’s an artist development vehicle. A number of these artists we have gone on to help find management, legal representation, sync placements, TV show appearances, etc…

Our niche is that we are centrally-NYC-located with a great-sized space by today’s standards, have a diverse client base and work with both high-profile established clients, as well as helping to build the careers of indie artists.

I think that sounds like a real indication of where “music companies” are going. The model is comprehensive but light on its feet. But would you say you’ve been high-profile or under the radar? Is this by accident, by design, or a little bit of both?

I would say we’re in the process of establishing ourselves. As of September, I will be managing a small producer/writer management division of a new international music group, rocketmusic.com. The starting roster in the US is Mark Saunders, Dan Romer and a couple of others to be determined — if you’re the next Quincy Jones feel free to get in touch! This exciting new venture will be integrally linked to BEAT360 and will no doubt help to put us more on the radar. I think the next few years should see our business become a more visible part of the New York studio facility and music production landscape.

Ambitious – we LIKE. Can you tell us a few projects you’ve got in the hopper right now?

We have been working with phenomenal talent Teddy Geiger for the last few months, Mark is producing his new album. I can’t tell you how excited I get when I hear his work. It reminds me why I followed a career in music. He really is a prodigious talent.

Mark is in the process of mixing music in surround sound for a forthcoming Luc Besson film. We’re beginning production of French singer/songwriter Emilie Gassin’s debut E.P this month. We’ve been recording Idris Elba’s features for several UK artists including Ty and recent XL signing Giggs. Also, we’ve been producing/recording audio assets for a multinational brand website.

That sounds like a solid spread. Would you agree you have to be a constant innovator in this business today?
Yes, I think you have to be creative with how you approach business and you have to pay attention to the market forces/technological advances that affect us all and try to stay one step ahead. Technology aside I think there’s something to be said for consistency: If you do something consistently really well, people will hopefully pay attention.

I’m a big believer in good old-fashioned customer service, the value of genuine win-win relationships and being proactive.

Aye! On the growth tip, how do you strive to publicize/promote Beat360, and successfully diversify your revenue streams?
A lot of our business is word of mouth and referrals. Luckily we get to work with some very cool talent that automatically creates visibility and awareness for what we’re doing in the right circles.

We promote our facility and services through various mediums, the obvious ones being Google/Facebook and relevant local business and directory listings. We normally attend events such as SXSW, NMS, Billboard and CMJ helping us keep up-to-date, hearing great new music and building relationships with potential partners and clients.

What or who is keeping you motivated right now?

I’m inspired that the music industry — as unstable and tough as it is seems to be – is moving towards a more transparent place where there is less room for monopolies. It’s more about passionate people doing stuff really well and building authentic relationships around it.

I’m inspired by independent artists doing it for themselves without record label backing. April Smith just made an awesome album independently and has had several significant TV placements after raising $13,000 through Kickstarter.com, and Jenny Owen Youngs has raised over $30,000 through the same platform to record her next album. Wow!!

I’m inspired by tech companies such as Pandora, Echospin and SoundExchange who create great digital services and platforms for artists and fans alike.

Some key influences for me are entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson, and Chris Blackwell who have managed to enrich lives through brilliant music and art-based ventures. Thought-provoking writers/bloggers such as Chris Anderson, Seth Godin and Bob Lefsetz help me get perspective and try to stay on top of what’s relevant to the ever-changing business we’re in.

How would you characterize the overall studio scene in NYC today? What’s making you determined to be a part of it?
It’s difficult for me to characterize the scene in NYC today, actually, but it’s certainly great to see a website like SonicScoop helping to build a community around the facilities and professionals who work in them. I just try to stay in the loop with people, companies, technologies and music that excites me.

Thanks for those props, Ollie! Last off, what makes Beat360 an only-in NYC story?
I think we’re probably one of the only 100%-British-run music studios in NYC – I could be wrong! — and as you would expect we make a killer cuppa tea!

The advantages of being in NYC surrounded by so much talent, ambition and competition is that it drives us to constantly better ourselves. The main disadvantage is that there are not enough hours in the day to stay on top of any reasonably sized to-do list.

We know how you feel, OLD CHAP.

– David Weiss

Sonnox Launches iPhone Tutorial App

Sonnox Oxford Plug-ins users can now view demos and tutorials directly on their iPhone with the release of a new Sonnox iPhone App.

Tutorial videos on the entire range of Oxford Plug-ins are available, plus an informative collection of demos by such top producer/mixers as Fab Dupont, Nils Hahman and many others, sharing their pro mixing tips and tricks.

The Sonnox App also features user stories, from a host of successful professionals who use Oxford plug-ins daily in their work, whether music recording or mixing, and in both live and post applications.