By Rip Rowan on Tuesday, February 29, 2000 6:00 PM

Yes, it's possible to make a great-sounding vocal mic for under $1000, but a lot of companies have tried and failed. Shure, however, has a reputation for producing industry-standard mics, like the SM57, SM58, SM81, and SM7, and their entry into this busy market space has been eagerly awaited.

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By Bob Lichty on Tuesday, February 29, 2000 6:00 PM

We all ended up behind the console for our own reasons. For some, it was a chance to record our legacy, our music that we would share with family and friends forever (and maybe even sell some). For some, once the drugs wore off, the sex became dangerous and the rock and roll a little loud and a little old, it seemed a good alternative to a real job. And there are even some of us who have known all along that our dream job would involve long days, little money, ear fatigue, serious relationship issues and a basic lack of a life for this thing called audio.

Idealism in the Real World

I knew at age sixteen that I wanted to be George Martin. Maybe with some Daniel Lanois, Hugh Padgham, Prince and Jam and Lewis thrown in for good measure. I have always been amazed at the emotional impact music can have on a person. Any genre, if I can feel it, I'll like it. So to have the ability to craft a song and get a performance out that gives goose bumps, well it just seemed to be the perfect career (bes ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Tuesday, February 29, 2000 6:00 PM

Ultimately this is a review about a microphone: the new, shockingly low-priced Marshall MXL2001P. But the review process on this microphone demands a look at some larger issues as well.

Large-diaphragm condenser microphones are everywhere these days, and for good reason. Due to the different response of a larger and heavier transducer, these mics capture a different "photo," if you will, of the air around them. Large-diaphragm condensers flatter the natural range of vocals in a mix.

As more musicians begin to blur the lines between performer and producer, a huge market has opened up for microphone manufacturers. New manufacturers have stepped in to provide a wider array of products to more consumers... with less experience.

Welcome to the microphone market of the twenty-first century. At no time in history have so many musicians recorded their own music, and at no time have their been so many bewildering choices for these musicians to make. Engineers used to mak ... Read More »

By Jim Roseberry on Tuesday, February 29, 2000 6:00 PM

When working with digital audio, your system's analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) converters will ultimately determine the fidelity with which you can capture and play back audio.

This is an area where many people getting started with digital audio get confused. "My converters are the latest 24/96 converters," they say. "Isn't 24/96 what I want?"

Converters: What Goes In Must Come Out

The simple fact is that not all converters are created equal.

True, inexpensive 24-bit converters are improving all the time. True, many newer audio interfaces like MIDIMan's Delta 1010 provide very respectable performance (109dB dynamic range). True, for most purposes, this is more than adequate. However, if you wish to attain top performance, you'll have to go with a dedicated set of A/D D/A converters.

So what's available? Many studio owners want world-class performance, but can't justify spending $3000 for a pair converters - especially when their e ... Read More »

By Robin Hood Brians on Tuesday, February 29, 2000 6:00 PM

The Manley Massive Passive EQ is a perfect example of recognizing that the old way of doing something was the best way. The passive circuitry by which they accomplish the EQ is made up of very stable components. Since they are not active (containing neither tubes or transistors) they generate no noise and generate less phase problems than active EQ. Manley has added a tube amplification section to then build the gain back to its original level (+4) The unit is stereo and each channel has low pass filters which can be set at 18kHz, 12kHz, 9kHz, 7.5kHz, & 6kHz, high pass filters that are switchable from 22Hz, 39Hz, 68Hz, 120Hz, & 220Hz, 4 EQ bands can be set to either shelf or bell curves, boost or cut, a gain control, bandwidth contol, frequency control and an in/out switch.

The Massive Passive has both balanced (XLR) input and output plugs as well as phone jacks which are set at the factory to unbalanced +4. There are provisions internally to change those plugs to -10 and for reversi ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

There are a couple of orchestral libraries, both by EastWest, that don't really fit the mold of the traditional sample library.Scoring Tools and Symphonic Adventures provide users with a set of fully orchestrated phrase components that can be used in loops, or cobbled together into larger structures. Once these basic structures have been built, one only needs to fill in with some melodic content, and presto, instant score.

In many ways these libraries are more akin to loop collections than to the more common "note per key" GigaSampler libraries. As such, if you used them long enough you could easily construct pieces that would sound similar to those another user might build. Maybe exactly like it.

So, do they actually have value? Is there real work to be achieved with these collections?

Of course. You could just string together combinations of what's on the discs themselves, and make several hours o ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

Peter Siedlaczek's Advanced Orchestra for GigaSampler (distributed in the US by EastWest) may well be the most-used set of orchestral samples on the planet. Thanks to its wide-ranging palette and reasonable asking price, this is a product that easily qualifies for ProRec's more-for-less club.

Burned onto a five-CD collection, you'll find an extensive set of samples (5455 to be exact) covering the instrumentation of the modern large orchestra. Particularly valuable are the orchestral mallet instruments, including a well-recorded vibraphone. You also get a good collection of woodwind esoterica such as contrabassoon and alto flute. One won't lack for variety.

The Siedlaczek collection, like the Vitous, was originally released for hardware sampler formats, and similarly has received a complete refurbishing to take advantage of GigaSampler's strengths. You'll find an extensive key-switching scheme that allows instant access to standard articula ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

The Peter Ewers Symphonic Organ Samples are yet another example of the incredible toolset GigaSampler brings to orchestral composers.

The Peter Ewers Symphonic Organ Samples library serves up three different perspectives on one of the most significant pipe organs in the world, the Grand Cavaille-Coll Organ at the Eglise de la Sainte Madeleine in Paris. This organ was at the forefront of the transition to the modern pipe organ. But it is no dinosaur. To this day, it is widely recognized as one of the finest instruments ever constructed.

Folks, take a moment and really consider this. We can have the authentic sound of a 150 year-old pipe organ come alive in our studios and in our performances. And if that weren't enough, we get the sound of its build and decay into the cathedral itself.< ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

Here's a library that got extraordinary amounts of airplay on A Christmas Carol. The GigaHarp and Christmas go together like cabernet sauvignon, chocolate, and naughty supermodels. Classic winning combos.

This is a first-class library. Starting with KM-84s and Neve preamps through top shelf 24-bit converters, the path has never been shorter to a well recorded harp that's ready for serious programming. Each string has been sampled at four pluck levels, two harmonics, and a damping / muffling release trigger by a world-renowned, innovative harpist. You can easily control these sounds in realtime, and produce an absolutely genuine harp track in a single pass. The mapping is excellent, on par with the quality of the sounds themselves.

For instance, the melodic harp comes in two levels of sensitivity to velocity. You take your pi ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

I've got to admit, there's a couple of things that made this particular review meaningful to me.

One was testing these samples in a real-world situation, rather than just casually playing through them. Most reviews, frankly, are written as a result of a couple days' tinkering on the workbench. That's just the way it is. If I have an article due on 12/20, and I get the material on 12/6 - and between that time I must write and the webmeisters must edit and publish... well, you can imagine how much time there is to actually explore possibilities. It makes a huge difference when you're actually on the front line, rather than just imagining how this or that sample MIGHT work out. When you've got to end up with a world class product, there's no gray area. Things either work or they don't.

Anyone who has even dabbled in orchestral samples knows about the Miroslav Vitous collection (available at http://www.marcati.com). From Hollywood to New York, and ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

There are a couple of orchestral libraries, both by EastWest, that don't really fit the mold of the traditional sample library. Scoring Tools and Symphonic Adventures provide users with a set of fully orchestrated phrase components that can be used in loops, or cobbled together into larger structures. Once these basic structures have been built, one only needs to fill in with some melodic content, and presto, instant score.

In many ways these libraries are more akin to loop collections than to the more common "note per key" GigaSampler libraries. As such, if you used them long enough you could easily construct pie ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

Advanced samplers have facilitated the creation of advanced orchestral sample libraries. In my opinion, these new libraries are extremely important to anyone producing music today.

Before and during this review, I read user forums across the internet, attempting to do two things. First, I needed a context in which to judge my own impressions of the orchestral sample libraries I would be using for A Christmas Carol, since this is subjective stuff. Second, I wanted to get feel for how users were incorporating these collections into their work. Part of my exploration included listening to some of the work that's been distributed online.

Obvious patterns emerged.

1. People making amazing music with these tools are generally satisfied and complimentary of them.

2. People that are making less than amazing music with these tools are generally critical of the tools themselves.

... Read More »

By Rip Rowan on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

PreSonus has been the surprise of the audio industry since the company first popped up on the radar screen a few years ago. The company's 2 and 8 channel mic preamps have received excellent press, and their unique (if slightly simplistic) Blue Max compressor is both innovative and good-sounding.

I was therefore excited to review the VXP voice processor. The VXP is a feature-packed preamp offering a mic preamp, harmonic saturator, noise-reducing downward expander, de-esser, four-band parametric EQ, and peak limiter in a single unit. There's a lot to describe about this unit so let's do a quick run-down of the features.

Features

The mic preamp is simple and straightforward. If you're familiar with PreSonus' other preamps then you're already familiar with the preamp in the VXP. The preamp offers a gain knob, phantom power, and - ... Read More »

By Bob Lichty on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

"What a waste" and "what a shame" are two phrases I've heard a lot lately.

My father, John Lichty, after 20 clean and sober years, decided to fall off the wagon a few years back. Despite the best efforts of a family who has, quite frankly, seen enough alcohol related problems to fill an entire season of "The Young and the Restless", he has been unrelenting in his pursuit of distilled spirits. A few brief stays in detox did little to quench his thirst and a month ago he was finally arrested while driving under the influence of alcohol. This was his second time and he had no insurance and an expired license. The State of Michigan is not very tolerant toward these things (thankfully), so he is currently spending his days in a correctional facility located in the middle of the state.

Okay, so what does any of this have to do with audio? Well, to me, almost everything.

I have very few memories of the days when my parents were together and my dad was drinking. They divorced when I w ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

Sound design for theater was once very clean cut. Either you were working on a musical, which had songs, or a play which had only sound effects. Now, directors want a sonic experience on par with modern film scores. Audiences are accustomed to a full-bore listening experience, and the day of the mostly-bare soundscape in theater is long gone. It's a huge job.

Before computers, you went in with your sound cues, and worked with the stage manager and board operator to coordinate them with the play. When something didn't work, you went back to the studio and tried again. A play usually had 50 or less cues. It was not possible to do many more than that. There was just not enough time.

Enter DAW

The computer-based DAW has certainly helped along this revolution in theater composing and sound design.A Christmas Carol weighed in at a healthy 84 music cues, mostly components of scene-length sections. A play is a living object that changes and grows from night to ... Read More »

By Bruce Richardson on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

The Big Experiment

Something I really made a point of doing for this edition was using GigaSampler's S-Converter utility. It converts Akai S1000 and S3000 libraries to GigaSampler format.

I was curious about it, and I knew the only way I'd ever make myself get into it would be to force my own hand. This came in the form of the Denny Jaeger Master Violin Library, from Reflective Arts International (http://www.quparts.com).

This is an extensive sample set of a studio violin section, with an overwhelming variety of detail. There are samples covering numerous intensities of section playing, with variations in volume and intensity of vibrato. Also covered are attacks from hard to soft and a complete array of effects, trems, trills, presses. You name it, if it can be done on a violin, there is some of it here.

My job: To get it out of the Akai format and into GigaSampler, while maintaining the mappings. All in less than an hour, ... Read More »

By Rip Rowan on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

The ART Pro Channel is a tube-based mic preamp, compressor / limiter, and four-band parametric EQ. It combines the essentials from ART's tube preamp, optical compressor, and EQ into a single, 2U package.

Features

The preamp section is a hybrid tube / solid-state preamp, incorporating a solid-state variable front end feeding a fixed-gain tube circuit. A variable (15 Hz - 150 Hz) low-cut control is provided. The preamp is controlled by two gain knobs and a +20 dB gain switch. The first gain knob and the switch control the solid-state amplification that feeds the tube circuit. The other gain knob is post-tube. The layout allows the user to control the amount of signal hitting the tube circuit.


A calibrated LED VU meter (labeled "Tube Character") monitors the signal coming off the tube circuit. The Tube Character indicates whethe ... Read More »

By Rip Rowan on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

If 1998 was the year of the large-diaphragm condenser mic, then 1999 was the year of the multi-function mic preamp. Companies are bundling tons of features into these new units, vying for the premium position in your gear rack.

But do these units perform? Is there really any benefit to be gained by these units, often costing as much as a small studio mixing console with 8 or more mic preamps? How important is it to have tons of features in a unit designed to facilitate tracking? And, more importantly, is it really possible to pack all those features into a $600 unit?

I set out to answer these questions and arrived at some interesting conclusions.

I reviewed five mic preamps in the under-$1000 price range. To be considered for this review, the units had to have at least a mic preamp, a compressor, and some kind of EQ circuit. Three of ths units I reviewed were solid-state units: the Focusrite VoiceMaster Platinum, the PreSonus VXP, and the Joemeek VC6Q. The other two uni ... Read More »

By Rip Rowan on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

The Bellari RP533 is a tube-based mic preamp featuring compression and exciter circuits.

Like other units in Bellari's line of tube products, the RP533 is built into a two rack space enclosure with an "antiqued" gold front panel, utilitarian black knobs, and lighted analog meter. The unit has a very utilitarian vintage look - appealing if you like the look, which I do.

Features

The preamp is controlled with a simple gain knob that offers about 30 dB of gain. A phantom power switch is provided on the front panel. Inconveniently, the preamp's 30 dB pad and phase reverse switches are located on the back of the unit. The location of these switches left me scratching my head, wondering, "what were they thinking?" The RP533 does not offer a low-cut switch.

The preamp feeds an optocompressor with variable threshold, attack, re ... Read More »

By Rip Rowan on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

The Joemeek VC6Q is a one rack space unit that includes a mic preamplifier, optical compressor, and three-band EQ.

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By Rip Rowan on Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM

The Voicemaster Platinum from Focusrite is a multifunctional mic preamp featuring a discrete mic preamp, noise-reducing downward expander, vocal saturator, optocompressor, EQ, and de-esser in a single-space rack unit.

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