This week’s “Mix of the Week” is from Moritz and comes within the type of his combine for Chronicles Curates. Based in Liverpool, he’s an artist that has been solidifying his presence as an eclectic selector for the higher half of the previous decade.
Over time, his Productions have turn into synonymous with these deep hypnotic journeys. With releases on Applied Magic, Diynamic, Running Back, and lots of extra within the pipeline, he constantly strives for revolutionary development.
As a DJ having held down a number of residencies, together with with Melodic Distraction and Melodic Diggers; he has turn into a well-known face at cloth, London.
Tracklist:
01. The Obsession Project – Untitled – Part 3
02. Benjamin Fröhlich & Cooper Saver – The Infinte Source
03. JOBE – Dream sequence (Yør Kultura Remix)
04. JOBE – Off Script
05. Tech Support – ID
06. Yet More & Son of Shiva – Amoro
07. Whitesquare – Motron Sting
08. Redshape – Off Screen
09. Anoesis – Heavy Water
10. Roy Heyman – Parabéns
11. Moritz – ID
12. Declan Burke – ID
13. Everything But The Girl – Nothing Left To Lose (Dub)
THE TAKEAWAY: “If you’re unhappy along with your mixes or wish to velocity up your workflow, I like to recommend attempting it out.”
COMPANY: Ayaic • www.ayaicinc.com PRICE: $199 PROS:
• Unique and well-executed plug-in.
• Automatically creates a balanced tough combine.
• Drums and bass are persistently well-balanced with one another and within the combine.
• Ducking, increasing and mute teams.
• Fine Trim fader options helpful “level-plane” shortcuts.
• Create and save presets.
• Tutorial movies obtainable. CONS:
• Each plug-in have to be individually configured earlier than “studying” and mixing your audio.
• The handbook lacks depth.
Music manufacturing software program has turn out to be so subtle that it’s now not novel to have a plug-in that may analyze your monitor or combine and create computerized settings for an EQ, compressor, reverb or mastering limiter. So you won’t be stunned to find Mix Monolith (Mac/PC), a plug-in billed as an “Automatic Mixing System.”
Its developer, Ayaic (pronounced “Ay-yi-yic”), says its goal is to not create a completed combine robotically, however to set the elemental achieve relationships between tracks and guarantee correct achieve staging. The thought is to get you “90 % there,” comparatively rapidly, and assist you to spend extra time on the artistic elements of the combination. Unlike different “sensible” plug-ins, it does all this with out AI.
The Mix Monolith plug-in is available in mono and stereo situations, and you place one on each channel of your combine. Each occasion works independently however communicates (“syncs”) with the others.
If you might have a DAW with post-fader inserts (for instance, Cubase or Nuendo), Ayaic recommends utilizing these as insert factors for the Mix Monolith plug-in. That manner, the plug-ins will regulate the achieve after all of the pre-fader inserts, fader settings and any automation you will have written. It additionally means you should utilize Mix Monolith to wash up an current combine the place you wish to hold every little thing however the achieve relationships.
For DAWs with out post-fader inserts, Ayaic suggests inserting Mix Monolith within the final insert slot on every monitor and setting all the amount faders to 0 dB earlier than beginning. If you might have any quantity automation already in your monitor, you’ll must take away that. You don’t need to reset your panning, as Mix Monolith solely offers with achieve.
Mix Monolith creates the equal of a tough combine with appropriate gain-staging.
LEVEL ASSIGNMENTS
Mix Monolith makes use of Integrated LUFS to measure the typical loudness of every monitor. The plug-in provides in depth presets for various devices, vocal varieties, buses (each sub and grasp) and aux results.
A achieve stage has been assigned for every preset between 22 LUFS and 40 LUFS, relying on the supply kind. Within the preset classes for every supply kind, Ayaic offers choices that function LUFS targets akin to their roles within the association. For instance, on vocals, decisions embody Lead, Background and Doubled Lead, every with a unique achieve setting. For multitrack drums, there are separate presets for every equipment piece, together with overhead and room-mic tracks.
These stage relationships are important to Mix Monolith’s success, as every occasion of the plug-in matches the achieve of its monitor to its preset LUFS goal, placing the combination into relative stability. The quantity settings for every preset are primarily based on what the corporate calls “stage planes,” that are increments of 5 dB (equal to five LUFS).
Ayaic’s Menno Froese explains, “If you simply make strikes of 5 dB and also you don’t fiddle with anything in between, every little thing can be on a level-plane—25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 LUFS—and your mixes can be excellent. It sounds odd, however that’s the best way issues work.”
Indeed, it does sound odd, particularly contemplating that a rise of 6 dB doubles a sound’s stage. After enjoying with Mix Monolith, I’ll say that the level-plane idea appears to work.
OPEN PLUG-IN, HIT PLAY
The Mix Monolith workflow is fairly easy. After instantiating every monitor with the plug-in and setting the suitable preset, you’re prepared to start out what Ayaic calls the “two-step course of.”
First, open one of many plug-ins, press the Learn All Channels button and play the music from begin to end. Each plug-in then measures the Integrated LUFS on its monitor. When the music ends, you hit the Mix All Channels button, and it robotically calculates an “Applied Gain” setting to match the monitor’s output to its LUFS goal.
The Applied Gain discipline on the GUI reveals you ways a lot you’re boosting or slicing on that monitor. You can lock in that worth to make sure the achieve doesn’t change on subsequent studying passes.
The second step is to repeat the educational course of, however this time for any bus (subgroup) channels you might have in your combine. This will solely work appropriately after the person tracks have been “discovered” first. If you wish to use Mix Monolith in your aux results, Froese suggests “studying” these tracks once you add them to the combination, so long as it’s after the preliminary two-step course of.
You also can put an occasion on the final insert slot in your grasp bus, and the plug-in comes with a number of grasp bus presets for setting the general quantity of the combination. It is sensible to study these final.
Each preset class options variations of supply varieties.
UPS AND DOWNS
After finishing the 2 preliminary passes, your music can be roughly balanced, with every instrument or vocal audible and the gain-staging set appropriately.
From a stage standpoint, you’ll doubtless wish to make adjustments to suit your artistic imaginative and prescient. If you want, you possibly can proceed utilizing the Mix Monolith plug-in, which helps you to modify the amount for any monitor utilizing the Fine Trim slider, a regular fader with one-click shortcuts on both aspect for enhancing or slicing a monitor by level-plane increments. (The shortcuts additionally supply a ±3 dB choice.)
At this level within the course of, you possibly can return to utilizing your DAW’s mixer in order for you. For simplicity’s sake, I discovered it best to depart the DAW faders at 0 dB and make any further quantity changes, together with automated ones, from Mix Monolith.
The presets additionally embody assignments to Mute Groups that may be automated. The Mute button on every Mix Monolith GUI will act on all of the tracks that share the identical group project.
The ducking and enlargement options assist you to set off attenuation or boosts primarily based on sidechain indicators from one (or a number of) tracks. You can set every Mix Monolith occasion to ship or obtain from particular channels or monitor teams. You also can set the Threshold and Range that management the ducking or enlargement, and the Attack and Release, of the incoming sidechain sign.
With some presets, ducking will get arrange robotically. For instance, for those who use the electrical bass setting, the bass will robotically get ducked by the kick drum. All of those settings are totally adjustable.
MONOLITHIC MIXING
Primarily utilizing Pro Tools, I attempted Mix Monolith on numerous mixes over a number of weeks. I discovered that when configured and used appropriately, it really works as marketed. Inserting it on each monitor and setting all of the presets makes it considerably time-consuming on the entrance finish.
But even with the additional setup time, Mix Monolith was a time-saver and at all times yielded wonderful achieve staging. I used to be persistently impressed with the stability between sources within the mixes it created. The drums and bass have been at all times at an applicable stage and sat effectively collectively.
The rhythm devices, like guitars and keyboards, have been additionally well-balanced, so long as I picked applicable presets. That’s to not say that I by no means adjusted them afterward—there have been at all times loads of tweaks to make earlier than a mixture was completed—however the tracks at all times sounded balanced after Mix Monolith made its achieve settings, offering a strong begin for the combination.
The sources I most frequently needed to modify afterward have been the lead vocals and lead devices, which is sensible, as their ranges in relation to the opposite devices are extra subjective than for another monitor kind.
Mix Monolith ought to enchantment to each beginner mixers and skilled ones. For the previous, it rapidly ranges a mixture to the purpose that’s doubtless far past what they may obtain with out it. For the latter, it accelerates workflow and offers constant achieve staging.
One gripe I’ve is with the handbook. It’s well-written however might use considerably extra element. Thankfully, there are wonderful tutorial movies on the Ayaic web site, which I availed myself of when studying the plug-in.
I even have blended emotions (no pun meant) in regards to the “computerized” side of Mix Monolith. If I apply it to all my future mixes (which is kind of tempting), will my talents to stage and gain-stage a mixture stagnate or atrophy over time? And will it inhibit novice mixers from studying the fundamentals? To be truthful, I felt related reservations about different “sensible” plug-ins that I now use repeatedly.
Those considerations apart, Mix Monolith is a powerful piece of software program that’s conceptually modern and delivers what it guarantees. If you’re unhappy along with your mixes or wish to velocity up your workflow, I like to recommend attempting it out.
Mix Nashville: Immersive Music Production, to be held on May 20, 2023, alongside Music Row and in close by Berry Hill, has introduced that high-end pro-audio retailers Vintage King and Westlake Pro, together with top-level producers Avid, Grace Design and ADAM Audio, will probably be on-site as sponsors for the all-day occasion targeted on the rising applied sciences, strategies and inventive alternatives driving the surge in Dolby Atmos and Sony RA360 music content material.
“It’s been so encouraging to speak with the individuals at these firms over the previous few weeks,” says Tom Kenny, co-editor of Mix. “They’re those driving this speedy improvement in immersive music manufacturing—from a studio design perspective, a workflow perspective, and in serving to to teach engineers, producers and artists about what is feasible, each creatively and technologically. Next week we’ll be saying panelists and last programming, so it’s all coming collectively. As the expertise and expertise come collectively, it simply retains getting extra thrilling as we lead as much as May 20.”
The new spherical of sponsors are:
Vintage King: Pro audio retailer and design consultants on dozens of immersive music studios in Nashville, together with the famed Blackbird Studio C, the place they are going to be internet hosting listening classes within the night after the day on Music Row.
Avid: With the S6 and Pro Tools, Avid has been on the forefront of immersive music manufacturing from the start and can showcase its expertise in Blackbird Studio and alongside Music Row.
ADAM Audio: With a full immersive monitor system now in place, ADAM could have items readily available in the course of the day, then showcase the setup in its Berry Hill facility as a part of the nighttime Studio Crawl and Listening Sessions.
Westlake Pro: Backed by practically a decade of expertise working with engineers on immersive audio setups, the professional audio retailer and studio design consultants will arrange in Starstruck Studios in the course of the day and in their very own Berry Hill showroom at night time as a part of the Studio Crawl and Listening Sessions.
Grace Design: Eben and Michael Grace convey their intensive experience in all encompass and immersive codecs, together with their versatile, high-end and newly up to date M908 monitor controller, to Music Row.
The occasion, which is able to happen alongside a one-block stretch of Nashville’s Music Row, adopted by a nighttime networking get together and listening classes in close by Berry Hill, will open with a Keynote Conversation within the historic Columbia Studio A, adopted by a sequence of professional panels.
Mix Nashville: Immersive Music Production is produced along side Host Partners Curb Studios, Belmont University and Blackbird Studio.
During the day, Host Partner Curb Studios, together with Quonset Hut, Starstruck Studios, and Front Stage/Back Stage Studios, will characteristic a sequence of professional panels, undertaking profiles, expertise exhibitions and demonstrations, interviews with prime engineers and producers, immersive listening classes, and rather more.
At night time, the occasion strikes to the close by Berry Hill neighborhood for a celebration at world-renowned Blackbird Studio, along side a Studio Crawl that includes immersive music Listening Sessions at plenty of close by studios.
Las Vegas, NV (March 31, 2023)—The deadline for exhibitors coming into merchandise in Future’s Best of Show Awards 2023 has been prolonged to April 7, 2023. The window for coming into merchandise being exhibited at this yr’s NAB Show will shut completely that day.
The Best of Show 2023 awards are for these merchandise which might be being exhibited on the NAB Show for the primary time, thus acknowledging the perfect technological advances on show at this yr’s conference. These awards, bestowed by the industry-leading manufacturers of Future plc, present an important alternative for firms to face out at some of the attended reveals. There is a spread of advantages, from totally licensed winner’s badges to bodily trophies for show, a collection of winner’s advertising and marketing property to editorial protection from our award manufacturers, which embody not solely Mix, but in addition TV Tech, Radio World, Sound & Video Contractor, Next TV, TVBEurope and Broadcasting+Cable.
PRODUCT AWARENESS—All entries will obtain a ‘nominee’ package deal which incorporates social posts and a fully-licensed badge for in-house advertising and marketing to advertise your entry.
INCLUDED PRINT ADS—Nominees and winners will obtain a free full-page press advert in an official post-awards eGuide, distributed to over 100k subscribed readers from collaborating manufacturers.
BRAND EXPOSURE—Winners shall be introduced on the official awards web site and thru press releases, and can obtain additional promotion in our collaborating manufacturers’ subscriber-facing content material.
DISPLAY YOUR SUCCESS—All our winners will obtain a placard to show at their sales space. What’s extra, after the present, all winners will obtain a further trophy for show at their workplace.
Between the number of Future manufacturers, the Best of Show awards are for all merchandise being launched or on show at 2023 NAB Show. If you’re an exhibitor, you may make your product or answer stand out in post-show items by coming into the Best of Show awards. These merchandise shall be judged by each distant and on-site judges, offering you with an opportunity to exhibit what they’re all about.
Immersive Audio, a once-in-a-generation, format-shifting technology platform that debuted a decade ago in sound for film and television, is conquering the music and recording industries—and Nashville is at the epicenter of that change, with the highest concentration of immersive music mix facilities in the country.
Join us for the immersive music industry’s premiere all-day event:
Host Partner Curb Records, along with Columbia Studio A, Quonset Hut, Starstruck Studios, Curb Studio and Front Stage/Back Stage Studios, will feature a series of expert panels, project profiles, tech demos, Listening Sessions, and much more!
Then at night, the event moves to the nearby Berry Hill neighborhood for a party at world-renowned Blackbird Studio, in conjunction with a one-of-a-kind Studio Crawl featuring immersive music Listening Sessions at a number of nearby studios.
Mix Immersive Music Production, Nashville follows up on the launch NYC edition, the first industry event to focus entirely on Immersive Music Production, held in August 2021 at the world-class facilities of Power Station at BerkleeNYC. Book your early bird pass today – ends April 22, 2023.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Music Producers · Recording Studio Engineers · Mix Engineers · Live Sound Engineers · Musicians/Artists · Composers/Songwriters · Podcasters · Music Supervisors · Music Editors · Studio Owners · Chief Engineers · Record Label Executives · Studio Designers · Audio Educators/Students · Systems Techs · Systems Integrators · Streaming Audio Techs · Pro Audio Manufacturers · Product Designers
Immersive music was the talk of 2022 in both pro audio production and consumer distribution, which led to a wealth of new creative tools, both studio and live sound, and a renewed focus on playback systems, both speakers and headphones. There is no sign of that slowing down in 2023.
The past 12 months also saw the release of plenty of new, affordable microphones, high-end outboard gear, AI-infused plug-ins and advanced means of control. With all that in mind, we present the second half of Mix’s 23 pro audio companies to keep an eye on in 2023; don’t forget to check out Part 1!
It would be hard not to include Meyer Sound on any Companies to Watch list, in any year, even a year following the introduction of a new flagship, large-format, linear line array loudspeaker called Panther, where the mandate was to provide the power of Leo in a package closer to the size of Lyon.
That would seem like enough to sit back and take it easy, and sell a few systems, but that’s not going to happen. There’s too much knowledge at the company to sit still, and with a well-deserved position at the high end of post-production, live sound and control systems, it’s a safe bet that 2023 will be another banner year. Don’t count out Constellation, where the possibilities for immersive playback are endless.
On that same trip to Nashville this past fall, just a half-block from Jeff Balding’s studio, Mix stopped in at Ryan Hewitt’s new 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos mix room, Stratmosphere, featuring a crazy-good-sounding PMC monitor system built around PMC 6-2 Active Monitors with 8-2 subs in an XBD array up front and PMC ci45 and ci90 speakers hidden in the walls. A few blocks away, two flagship PMC immersive systems fill out the two immersive studios at UMG/Capitol’s Berry Hill facility. PMC was a founding member of the immersive music club, and with the introduction in late 2021 of the new, more affordable PMC6, PMC6-2 and PMC8-2, along with associated subwoofers, the company’s name will only spread wider.
Mix reviewer Michael Cooper has long been a fan of PSP Audioware’s plug-ins, most recently diving in to take a look at Impressor and Saturator. “It’s these two guys from Poland,” he said in pitching the review to a Mix editor, “and they make fantastic products. I would like to play with these two.”
In the same month, at the Mix immersive music event in NYC, noted mixer Ronald Prent casually remarked about “this little company in Poland, PSP,” that was about to come out with a new, simple immersive plug-in that was going to have a huge impact on immersive workflow. That product, we now know, is PSP auralControl, and it just came out to rave reviews. We’re keeping an eye on those two guys from Poland.
Sennheiser and Neumann have been so deeply involved in pioneering research involving immersive audio capture and playback, most notably through its AMBEO development team, that it can become easy to look past the fact that they had released new products. Not so in 2022, when Neumann released its new NDH 30 open-back, reference-class headphone for mixing and mastering, in both stereo and immersive formats, along with the KH 150 DSP-powered studio monitor. Both received instant acclaim.
Meanwhile, at the Mix immersive music event in NYC, Sennheiser showed off the latest iteration of its Dear Reality dearVR immersive headphone mixing plug-in and its AMBEO 2-channel renderer. Headphones and binaural matter. This is very cool stuff. Very cutting-edge. Stay tuned.
Shure pretty much exploded out of the gate at the start of 2022 and didn’t let up all year, unveiling product after product aimed at every corner of pro audio. January saw the company release the second generation of its SRH440A and SRH840A headphones, while the long-awaited Shure KSM11 wireless vocal mic capsule came out in April, having already hit the road as Dua Lipa’s live mic capsule of choice. For integrators, MXA920 ceiling array microphones arrived in May, while content creators got a limited edition of the MV7 broadcast mic in August. October saw the company unleash a one-two punch: its UniPlex cardioid subminiature lavalier mic for AV conference pros, and the AD600 Axient Digital Spectrum Manager for the touring, broadcast, location sound, theater and HOW markets. It’s a safe bet that Shure has another round of must-have tools in its back pocket, just waiting to be unleashed at the right moment in 2023, so keep an eye on those pros from Chicago.
The number and range of new products coming out of SSL over the past few years have been staggering, with everything from audio interfaces and plug-ins to brand-new and updated consoles, big and small. There’s no sign of slowing down following the fall release of Origin 16 at AES 2022.
What grabs our attention, however, is the fact that Phil Wagner, head of U.S. operations, spent much of the past year touting the capabilities of the SSL System T console for immersive music production, despite the fact that it was originally designed for broadcast. That means the technology behind the immersive audio control package is in place, and we’re likely to see much more of it in the year to come, spread across a multitude of products. Can’t wait!
Where the heck did Sony come from? Sure, through its various pro and consumer divisions, the company has put a lot of backing behind the development of the RA360 format, and it’s making inroads in both gaming and music. Elsewhere, behind the scenes, the company has done extensive research into the binaural simulation of immersive spaces and released a few creative tools for high-end mixers. Then in the past couple of years, Sony Professional started releasing some pretty nice microphones (the C-100 and C-80), and most recently, a high-end wireless transmitter. We didn’t see this coming from a company that had largely disappeared from pro audio over the past decade, but it’s sure nice to see. Bring on more!
You can read much more about this relatively recent Portuguese plug-in startup in this month’s View From the Top, interviewing company founder Nuno Fonseca. Just a few years back, Fonseca was an academic, teaching CGI, coding and software-based technologies when he saw that what he was teaching in visuals could be applied to audio. He named his first product, a randomization plug-in that created rich and full soundscapes, Sound Particles. The timing was right, and he found instant acceptance from high-end studios and engineers in sound for film and television. A flurry of new products emerged, and now the company has set its sights on immersive music production. Good things are happening here, where high technology delivers easy-to-use tools.
Who could have predicted that a small online and phone-based audio retailer from Fort Wayne, Ind., would emerge over the course of the past decade as one of the audio industry’s most prominent success stories, with annual revenues topping $1 billion a year?
Those inside the company likely saw it coming, because the way Sweetwater does business— fairly and with a personal touch—provides a throwback model for the modern age that should be taught in MBA programs across the country. Provide a reliable resource, treat your employees and customers right, and deliver what you say you will. It sounds simple, we know, but founder Chuck Surack and his team have turned it into an art form— and it’s only getting bigger and better.
The much-beloved Universal Audio, founded by one of the music industry’s original engineer’s engineers, Bill Putnam, and still in the family, has been on a tear lately, releasing a flood of new products, both hardware and software. From the introduction of its Spark subscription plan, to the launch of its first native audio interface, the new Volt 476P, to the recently released Hitsville Reverb Chambers emulation plug-in, there’s been no breaks. It’s easy to forget how central UA was to the introduction and acceptance of realistic emulations and models of vintage gear in software so many years ago. That’s because the company has remained the leader, and there’s no sign that it’s giving up the title.
If there is any company that has a right to challenge the claim of UA’s market-leading plug-ins, it would be Waves, as we could make the same claim for the longtime Isreal-based software developer. Heck, it was Waves that led the way to its celebrity engineer and producer signature plug-ins, dating back to Jack Joseph Puig and many others. However, Waves does so much more, extending its reach successfully into live sound through its hardware stage racks, integrated plug-ins and mixing/control surfaces. It’s hard to fathom that one company has such a solid footprint in both worlds. But Waves does. Now let’s see what the company does when it seriously dives into immersive music. It should be fun!
New York, NY (January 6, 2023)—Every year, the editorial team of Mix looks back at the most recent amazing advancements in pro-audio technology with its annual Gear of the Year summary. Some incredible tools were released in 2022, so we’re taking the opportunity to gather up just a few of the must-haves, new aspirational choices and updates that came our way over the previous 12 months. Peruse through and see if you overlooked something crucial, or even whether you agree with us as we take in the Gear of the Year 2022. Don’t miss Gear of the Year 2022 Part 1!
Michael Cooper writes: PSPaudioware was one of the first developers to produce a convincing emulation of the sonics produced by vacuum tubes. Two decades later, the company’s new PSP Saturator plug-in lets you drive virtual tubes and diodes, a digital clipper and—best of all—simulations of magnetic tape and tape recorder responses that are so realistic you’ll be wondering where they hid the metal reels. But it gets even better: Place the Saturator in series with the new super-smooth PSP Impressor dynamics plug-in, and you have a killer combo for making individual tracks and full mixes sound huge without blowing them up.
Keeping the future of wireless in mind, Shure designed the AD600’s tuning range to support frequency bands from 174 MHz to 2 GHz, which includes and expands on the frequencies where AXT600, its predecessor, is operable. Compared to AXT600, AD600 boasts faster scanning that finds available frequencies and analyzes RF spectrum in real-time, streamlining site surveys and spectrum management. AD600 also provides the ability to listen to analog signals as well as Axient Digital standard and HD Modes, a new DC power option for remote production, USB connections for external data storage of scans, event logs and other data, as well as Dante connectivity for advanced audio monitoring.
SSL has released a number of quality products in the past couple of years, both hardware and software. Origin 16, introduced in October at AES, offers the same features, hybrid workflows and SSL sound quality as its larger 32-channel predecessor, including a simple signal flow and layout, while also providing features such as channel direct outputs, a fully balanced electronic architecture and precision bar-graph meters. Other features include SSL’s PureDrive mic preamplifier and classic SSL E-Series “242-type” 4-band parametric EQ design. There is also a built-in classic SSL bus compressor with sidechain access and HP filter.
This deluxe version of SSL’s iconic hardware bus compressor maintains the circuitry and controls that have made previous versions of the product so influential, popular and often imitated, while adding modern features and more control. For example, although the signal path is all-analog, the Bus+ knobs are digitally controlled. Also new: D-EQ, an analog dynamic equalizer with low- and high-frequency bands and compression and expansion modes for each channel. Unlike its predecessors, Bus+ offers four different working modes, giving the unit the flexibility customarily found only on plug-in emulations. Classic Stereo; ∑ S/C Stereo (Sigma Sidechain); Dual Mono mode; and Mid-Side.
Rational Acoustics has provided a major version upgrade to the acoustic measurement software platform, with Smaart v9 incorporating a number of new features and improvements. The release also marks a shift to an edition-based product structure. The four editions are Smaart Suite, Smaart RT, Smaart LE and Smaart SPL. Designed for professional users, Smaart Suite is the flagship edition and includes all three Smaart measurement modes: Real-Time, Impulse Response and SPL, all with no functional limitations. Also, for the first time, Smaart will be available in a subscription-based model.
A “Content-Aware” peak limiter plug-in, Smart:Limit is infused with AI, and it lets you master your music to comply with loudness targets for streaming music and video services and broadcast. Smart:Limit’s intelligent limiter analyzes your song as it plays and creates a custom setting. You can then alter the results with its four-parameter Sound-shaping Panel. The Style knob adjusts the aggressiveness of the limiter’s behavior. Saturation increases the perceived loudness while maintaining the peak levels. You get loudness readings in True Peak and LUFS, and you can adjust the main Limit and Gain controls to tweak your master where needed to get in compliance.
Barry Rudolph explains: ListenHub is analysis software to measure, compare or reference an in-progress stereo mix in your DAW to any other stereo source, all in real-time. It can measure an Internet stream or a .wav file playing in your computer, but its primary task is to measure and monitor two critical audio specifications: Loudness in LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) and PSR (Peak to Short-Term Loudness Ratio). The plug-in measures your music’s dynamics with an approximate rating in preparation for streaming services that apply loudness normalization to uploaded, mastered audio files.
Sony has been getting back into the mic market. The C-80 is a unidirectional (cardioid) condenser mic that combines the capsule used in the C-100 with the same diaphragm material used in the iconic C-800G. The dual-diaphragm configuration is designed to tame proximity effect, providing consistent low-frequency response even when used up close, or when a singer does not maintain a consistent distance from the mic. While the C-80 is intended for vocal and voice recording, it can also be used on a range of acoustic instruments, as well as for podcasting, webcasting and vlogging applications.
This innovative plug-in uses the intensity of a sound to control its movement automatically, providing any sound professional with a tool that combines dynamics with spatial definition. Key features include: Stereo, Surround, Ambisonics, Immersive and Binaural Outputs; Dynamic Movement, to set how the sounds move, from custom points, speaker positions or to specific directions; Sidechain, for using external signals to control the effect of the plug-in; Visualization Dome, for tracking every movement the sounds are making; Randomization, an option that outputs new results each time you click; and Timing, where you can use attack and release to control how fast you want the movement to happen.
Mike Levine writes: With its four inputs and outputs (and compressor and vintage mode for added spice), you could use the 476P as a killer standalone preamp feeding another interface in a multi-input session. The headline here is that the 476P, the new Volt flagship—and the Volt line in general—offer UAD’s analog modeling and interface technology for a lower cost per channel than you’d have to pay for an Apollo. If you want UAD plug-ins to go along with it, you can get a subset of them via a Spark subscription. Between Volt and Spark, the price of entry into the UAD world has dropped significantly.
Rob Tavaglione writes: The V13 gen2 is simply a fantastic mic with smart design, quality construction, nearly limitless versatility and a balanced tone that seems to slightly flatter just about any source. I can recommend the V13 as “your first top-shelf mic” for its price/ performance ratio, or as an addition to “complete mic closets.” It might soon be your favorite vocal mic, bar none. Vanguard has hit the bullseye with this one, as the V13 gen2 checks all the boxes of performance, affordability and quality in what might just be the best overall workhorse-of-a-mic that I’ve tested to date.
This hybrid analog-digital second-order ambisonic microphone builds on the success of the company’s Spatial Mic USB, but brings with it a premium rugged design with a locking Neutrik etherCON connection. With Dante audio networking built-in, there is no need for complex multi-microphone and preamp setups—plug in an ethernet cable and focus on recording immersive audio for VR, surround sound, Atmos, spatial and stereo music, concerts and live broadcasts. Included is the new MicNet control app that lets you remotely adjust connected microphones on the network. The Spatial Mic Converter plugin (VST & AAX) now works for post-processing the entire Spatial Mic family.
New York, NY (January 5, 2023)—Every year, the editorial team of Mix looks back at the most-recent amazing advancements in pro-audio technology with its annual Gear of the Year summary. Some incredible tools were released in 2022, so we’re taking the opportunity to gather up just a few of the must-haves, new aspirational choices and updates that came our way over the previous 12 months. Peruse through and see if you overlooked something crucial, or even whether you agree with us as we take in the Gear of the Year 2022.
Michael Cooper writes: On the face of it, the plug-in includes four broadband processing modules placed in parallel configuration in the audio path, but there’s a helluva lot more to this plug-in than meets the eye. Sculpt is not a “character” plug-in; transparency is its hallmark, and it’s primarily intended for use on your mix or master bus. [Its] new algorithm analyzes incoming audio for each processor like a human ear would (for example, distinguishing between increased bass energy and a simple level increase) and then applies to it gain changes on a sample-by-sample basis in each of its processors, producing almost zero harmonic distortion. The results can sound amazing.
At NAMM in June, Audeze announced that Manny Marroquin would serve as the company’s new Head of Professional Products, introducing him on the show floor alongside the new MM-500 headphones that bear his signature. The MM-500’s 90mm planar magnetic driver features a frequency range of5Hz–50kHz, with a max SPL of >130 dB and THD+N of <0.1% @ 100 dB SPL, 1 kHz, providing lightning-fast transients, accurate frequency response and trusted mix translation. With premium leather earpads, an adjustable spring steel headband and a machined aluminum structure, the MM-500s weigh a fraction over 1 pound.
The AT2020USB-X cardioid condenser microphone is a reimagining of the popular AT2020USB+, upgraded to 24-bit/96 kHz sampling rate with the convenience of plug-and-play USB-C operation. Other improvements include a soft-touch capacitive mute button on the body of the mic, high-resolution A/D converter at 24/96 for clear and natural sound production, two-state LED indicator ring lights for when the microphone is powered on or muted, and an improved custom desk stand for a stable and secure base. It also features a built-in headphone jack with volume and mix control to let you directly monitor with no delay, as well as blend your microphone signal with computer audio.
Pro Tools | Carbon Pre, introduced along with MBOX Studio at AES in October, was designed as a means for users to easily expand their studio setups to capture large tracking sessions. Existing Pro Tools | HD systems needing more mic preamps can add an eight-channel ADAT preamp expansion unit to scale up I/O. Users can control up to nine Pro Tools | Carbon Pre units in a Pro Tools | HD system, while also tapping into the Pro Tools Hybrid Engine for low-latency input processing. Operating at 32-bit resolution to maximize dynamic range, Carbon Pre uses stacked AD converters on each input, while also providing double-precision clocking.
At the October AES Show, Avid brought back its popular MBOX desktop audio interface with the new MBOX Studio, powered by Pro Tools software. MBOX Studio operates on both Mac and Windows OS and includes a bundled Pro Tools Studio subscription (one year). The 21-in/22-out device can easily connect mics, instruments, studio monitors, Bluetooth devices, and other analog, digital and MIDI gear. MBOX Studio relies on the same mic preamps found in Avid’s S6L and Pro Tools Carbon system.
Mike Levine writes: IK Multimedia has a history of producing DSP-assisted studio monitors, and its new Precision Series takes that technology to a new level. The Precision MTM (midwoofer-tweeter-midwoofer configuration) features a pair of 5-inch woofers and 1.5-inch tweeter, and incorporates the company’s ARC (Automatic Room Correction) technology. Once the calibration process was complete, I could open the X-Monitor app and see a color-coded readout of the frequency curve from the calibration. My studio had a considerable boost that peaked around 150 Hz and a dip between 1 kHz and 2 kHz. The ARC-processed response flattened both of those out.
Joining the flagship VTX line array series, the VTX A6 subcompact dual 6.5-inch passive line array element and the B15 compact, arrayable 15-inch subwoofer sport compact form factors for small- to medium-size touring and fixed installations. The A6 houses two custom 6.5-inch woofers and a 3-inch annular-diaphragm compression driver, with a reported low-frequency extension to 67 Hz and 134 dB max SPL. The companion VTX B15 15-inch subwoofer features SlipStream double- flared exponential ports and a Differential Drive dual-voice coil design, and is based on JBL’s new 2285H 15-inch woofer. Both the A6 and B15 are designed for rigging and system integration.
In early November, JH Audio released its latest ambient in-ear monitors—Ambient Pro—allowing users to hear both a monitor mix and the real-world POV sounds around them. The new IEMs are designed with built-in Core omnidirectional capsules from DPA Microphones; audio from the capsules is sent in stereo to the monitor console and back to the artist via a Lectrosonics system. Ambient Pro features eight balanced armatures per side with a four-way crossover and is modeled around the RDU Dual Supertweeter. The subminiature Core by DPA capsule technology aids with durability and can tolerate high temperatures, while being resilient to impacts and resistant to abrasion.
Rob Tavaglione writes: I’ve reviewed other plug-ins with similar postmodern, frequency-taming goals, but as with all complicated tasks, methods will vary. Mastering the Mix, I found, has crafted a unique feel and operation to its handling of rogue frequencies grown a little too powerful for their own good. In the background, Reso brings an intelligent algorithm to a dynamic equalizer that tackles the multi-pronged task of searching around the frequency spectrum to find excessive energy bands, applying filters of various widths, and variably attenuating them as necessary.
Moog no longer makes its Moogerfooger effects pedals, but the company now has a collection of plug-ins (Mac/PC) featuring emulations of seven Moogerfooger models. All seven pedals feature Drive and Output knobs, input-level LEDs and on/off switches labeled Active. Most have Envelope or LFO LEDs to monitor the strength of those signals. What’s more, each has a virtual CV section that allows users to modulate various parameters using a variety of sources, including the left or right audio input or the signals from the Envelope, LFO or other parameters of any Moogerfooger plug-in open in the session.
First manufactured in 1951, the Neumann M 49 has long been considered a classic, one of the “Big Five” among vintage condenser microphones and the first with continuously variable, remote pattern switching. Based on the latest version of the M 49 (the “c” revision), the M 49 V employs the same circuitry as the original but replaces the now-unavailable AC701k vacuum tube with a low-noise, hand-selected, subminiature triode tube. The capsule is the K 49, which Neumann has manufactured since the late 1950s, and the three-stage head basket remains faithful to the original. Power for the M 49 V is provided by the newly designed NM V power supply.
Everyone seems to love these. In May, Neumann introduced the new NDH 30 open-back headphone as a reference-class studio headphone for mixing and mastering in both stereo and immersive formats. While the headphone retains the metal construction of the closed-back NDH 20, it features a new acoustic system design, including optimized and positioned dynamic drivers intended to recall planar magnetic transducers. It is said to have a low harmonic distortion and uses frequency-selective absorbers to shape an even response across the audio spectrum. The company also touts the headphones’ spatial resolution, attributing it to the fact that the drivers are made “to extremely low tolerances.”
Neve launched the 88M, its first Dual Mic Preamp and USB Audio Interface, at the NAMM show in early June 2022. Using the same transformer-balanced technology as Neve’s flagship, large-format 88RS, the 88M brings the legendary sound of AIR, Abbey Road and Capitol Studios into home and portable studio setups. The robust front-end recording system, with plug-and-play connectivity, is complemented with mastering- grade AD/DA conversion, producing high-end fidelity. Analog and digital components are incorporated at every stage, ensuring quality throughout the entire signal path.
COME BACK TOMORROW FOR THE CONCLUSION — GEAR OF THE YEAR, PART 2!
New York, NY (December 23, 2022)—Join us as we look back at our most popular articles of 2022, according to Google Analytics. The Mix Top 20 of 2022 lists our most-read news stories, reviews, blog posts, profiles and interviews of the year, so this Top 20 was chosen by YOU, our readers (Don’t miss Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4)! Have a happy and safe holiday break, and we’ll see you here on Tuesday, January 3, 2023 with all the latest pro-audio news!
By Clive Young. Legendary producer T Bone Burnett revealed the tech behind his new Ionic Original discs—a format, he says, that offers the greatest fidelity and durability ever on an analog record.
By Clive Young.Dead & Company FOH engineer/tour director Derek Featherstone discussed the band’s 2022 summer tour, its new Meyer Sound Panther P.A. and his methods for mixing the famously improvisational act.
By Robyn Flans. We went deep with our five-part coverage on how the Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ hit Unlimited Love album was recorded, kicking things off with guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith sharing how the band mended fences and got back in the studio together.
New York, NY (December 21, 2022)—Join us as we look back at our most popular articles of 2022, according to Google Analytics. The Mix Top 20 of 2022 lists our most-read news stories, reviews, blog posts, profiles and interviews of the year, so this Top 20 was chosen by YOU, our readers (Don’t miss Part 1 and Part 2)! We’ll see you tomorrow with Mix’s Top 20 Articles of 2022, Part 4!
By Clive Young. Director Peter Jackson explains how modern AI technology was used to restore 53-year-old mono recordings, creating the audio of his documentary series, The Beatles: Get Back.
By Clive Young. The immersive audio tech slated for the $1.8B MSG Sphere in Las Vegas has been installed in New York City’s Beacon Theatre and debuted in August with two Trey Anastasio concerts.
