L-ISA Studio is the latest version of L-Acoustics’ immersive audio platform that requires no external hardware and can be used with headphones—or speakers—to create and develop immersive audio experiences.

What’s great?
L-ISA Studio enhances the flexibility and the creative possibilities of the technology. The software has excellent room simulation and binaural rendering capabilities that allow you to create immersive experiences for headphones or for external speakers, all without recourse to external DSP hardware. The interface is intuitive and greatly simplifies the creation of immersive audio.

What’s not?
Inevitably, L-ISA studio is a complex piece of software—but it really rewards exploration. It’s Mac only and requires some hefty computing power (Quad-core i7 or better).

The bottom line:
If you are creating immersive experiences, L-ISA makes it easier than ever to make sure your work is transferrable to the real world.

Equipment: Review
Since its introduction, L-Acoustics’ L-ISA has been used to create immersive applications that range from small scale installations to concerts with audiences in their thousands. L-ISA Studio runs a version of the company’s hardware-based 3D rendering engine in software and this, along with its binaural capabilities and room simulation modes, allow users to create flexible immersive content using just a computer and a pair of headphones. 

Equipment: Build quality
The software comes in two parts. The L-ISA Processor provides the DSP-based 3D rendering capabilities, while the L-ISA Controller is where the creative action happens. The Processor needs to be run first as this provides the link between your DAW and the L-ISA Controller software. The L-ISA Controller’s most used parameters, Source list, Group settings, Snapshots, and Monitoring levels are available from icons on the main screen alongside toggles for the Soundscape, Reverbs, Snapshots, Groups, Sources and Settings panes It’s a nice way to keep everything on a single screen, and you can use keyboard commands to open or close panes.

The Reverbs pane is where you define your virtual space—which could be a recreation of a real room—with a flexible range of parameters to tweak the reflections. The Soundscape pane provides direct control over the positioning of your audio in your three-dimensional space. Sources (audio derived from a DAW) can be dragged to the desired location on-screen and auditioned in real-time using headphones or a surround speaker array.

Audio from these Sources can be modified in various ways, including adjusting the ‘width’ of the sound coming from a specific location, the distance of the sound from the listener and its elevation. I found it useful to think of the virtual room as a ‘space’ rather than a series of speaker locations (as you might when mixing for surround in a DAW) and the software makes the spatial positioning of audio an incredibly intuitive process.

Sources can be grouped together, and you can grab snapshots of the current state of your spatial positioning. You can record movements of objects (or groups of objects) as automation in your DAW via the (supplied) plug-ins in, which are provided in all of the usual formats. L-ISA studio can be synced to MIDI Timecode and features integration with several major mixing consoles from the likes of SSL, AVID and DiGiCo. The software also supports OSC connectivity and can be used with a head tracker, which can be useful for improved verisimilitude.

Equipment: Sound
L-ISA studio is highly effective in creating a simulation of a three—dimensional physical space. Sonically, I can’t fault the software, with no evidence of any strange phase effects, unfocussed positioning or other acoustic anomalies you often get from binaural simulations. I’ve used MAX/MSP and third-party binaural software to create immersive audio, but the combination of the ability to position audio alongside the binaural rendering in a single package really helps in creating predictable real-world translations.

The Scale Simulation feature, which allows you to create virtual listening positions, really helps you to gauge the aural experience a real audience member would have wherever they were located in a space. The software works in formats up to 7.4.1 and up to 96kHz and there are 96 available input audio objects available via the supplied Audio Bridge software.

Equipment: daily use
Each Source can be solo’d so you can easily keep track of individual placements. My studio surround system is 5.1-based, and L-Acoustics happily supply templates for this type of system. Because this room is also a teaching space, the speakers are not all on the same horizontal plane, so being able to use the elevation feature to position them in a reasonable facsimile of their location in your headphones was brilliant—and it translated to the real system very well. Because L-ISA Studio can also generate room reflections, you can be reasonably sure that your binaural rendering will prove an acceptable simulation of any actual space. I already had some idea of the acoustic properties of my room and creating a simulation for it was a relatively painless experience.

Equipment: The Bottom Line
A short review such as this can’t really give you a full overview of the power of L-ISA studio, but being able to simulate a large-scale immersive environment that can be translated into real-world speaker systems is a game changer—especially as you can work on your installation without being on site. We’ve come a long way from using quadrophonic joysticks and diffusion systems to create immersive audio experiences and the object-orientated nature of L-ISA studio make it ideal for the pre-preparation of both large-scale installations and the creation of binaural audio for VR games. 

Equipment:
L-Acoustics L-ISA Studio is available now via monthly subscriptions. Educational discounts available.

Enterprise:

One Year: £679/$964
Three months: £204/$289
Monthly: £68/$96

Individual:

One Year: £249/$354
Three months: £75/$106
Monthly: £25/$35

The post L-Acoustics L-ISA Studio review appeared first on Audio Media International.

What is it?
Avid Pro Tools | Carbon is a DSP-based audio interface/DAW system that brings many of the advantages of Pro Tools HDX at a lower price point.

What’s great?
Latency-free recording. Seamless integration into Pro Tools. Mix and match DSP and Native plugins. All preamplifier, monitoring and other interface parameters are stored in the Pro Tools session. Excellent quality pre- and headphone amplifiers.

What’s not?
Might be too expensive for some. Mac only (for now) and requires MacOS Catalina or better. No separate control panel/mixer for use with other DAWs.

The bottom line:
A welcome return by Avid hardware to the project studio market with a system that avoids all that mucking about with separate mixer software.

Equipment: Review

While Avid has often dabbled in the project studio interface market, these products have never really provided the advantages that a full Pro Tools HDX system brings—namely, predictable DSP usage and latency-free recording built right into the software. Pro Tools | Carbon’s ‘hybrid’ system finally delivers HDX-style workflows in a more affordable package. You can also use the hardware as a CoreAudio device, but as there is no separate software for configuration, its usefulness might be limited.

Equipment: Build quality
The 1U high Pro Tools | Carbon interface is powered by an internal Power supply via an IEC mains cable. It’s beautifully built and feels extremely sturdy. The first thing you notice is the four (!) independently assignable headphone jacks on the front panel—which is a clear indication of the applications Carbon is for. It’s a network-based system using the Audio Video Bridging (AVB) protocol, so your Mac will need either an inbuilt Ethernet port or an Apple-certified Thunderbolt adapter—not all third-party ones will work.

Tantalisingly, there is a second port on the back of the interface that hints at expansion, but for now, this is limited to two ADAT connections. On the rear there are eight analog inputs/microphone preamplifiers on XLR/TRS combo sockets with phase swap and phantom powering abilities, four of which have variable input impedance. Outputs are on a DB25 socket and another of these provides eight ‘alternate’ inputs—and you can mix and match how you connect these up. The main Monitor outputs are on TRS sockets, while the front panel features an on/off switch with indicators for network connections, clocking security and a brace of nine- segment level meters.

Two unbalanced variable impedance instrument inputs are located here and there’s a talkback microphone with a momentary button—which can also be activated from a footswitch connected to a socket on the rear panel. Three sets of monitors can be selected from the front panel and there’s a programmable Dim button. The unit can also be controlled via the Hardware setup section of Pro Tools and I suspect most users will use this in preference to fiddling about with the hardware—and some parameters can only be accessed from there.

Equipment: Sound 

The preamplifiers on the Pro Tools | Carbon are excellent and easily up to the standards of my go to network-based interface, the Metric Halo ULN-2. Like UAD’s Thunderbolt-based Apollo system (when using the Luna DAW), you don’t need a separate mixer application with Pro Tools. Both Apollo and Pro Tools | Carbon can process latency-free plug-ins on DSP hardware but it’s much easier to engage low-latency recording in the latter system, as engaging DSP mode cascades any processing ‘downstream’ if the Track has multiple sends and auxes. When DSP and Native versions of plug-ins are available, Pro Tools will utilise the correct versions depending on if you have selected DSP processing or not. DSP resources are assigned only when required—you don’t ‘eat them up’, so they are always available for recording at whatever stage you are in a project.

Equipment: daily use

To get the system up and running, all that is required is to connect the Pro Tools | Carbon unit to the Mac via the supplied Ethernet cable and set it as the audio system in Pro Tools. To assign a Track (Audio, Auxiliary Input, Instrument, Routing Folder or Master Fader) to the DSP chips, you just engage a small ‘lightning bolt’ icon, so it turns green. Once this is done, all processing and routing on that Track is undertaken on Pro Tools | Carbon hardware. This allows for latency free monitoring and plug-in processing—which is perfect for ‘printing’ effects when recording. Only specially configured DSP-ready AAX plug-ins can be assigned to hardware resources, but you can freely utilise ‘native’ plug-ins as well.

Pro Tools | Carbon has fewer DSP ‘slots’ available than a HDX system, but in practice I didn’t find this a limitation for recording a typical band and undertaking some small ensemble orchestral overdubs. The input/output latency time using DSP Mode is 1ms or less, so there’s no more messing about with buffers or disabling plug-ins when you want to add one more guitar solo. The variable impedance inputs are a brilliant addition, allowing you to dial in just the right tones for guitar and bass.

Equipment: The Bottom Line
Pro Tools | Carbon is the system that many Pro Tools users have been eagerly awaiting, bringing the advantages of the more expensive HDX rigs to project studio pockets. The implementation of latency free monitoring and DSP plug-in use is very simple to use and doesn’t get in the way of a recording workflow. Being able to set up latency free monitoring directly within Pro Tools emphasises how clumsy working with most audio interfaces is, and the quality of the interfaces’ inputs doesn’t get in the way—though you can easily drop in eight channels of 500 series preamplifiers via DB25 if you wish! If you’re a Pro Tools user looking for an audio interface, this is the one you’ll want to get.

Equipment:
Available now – Pro Tools | Carbon Interface £2999 including a one year Pro Tools subscription.

Pro Tools:
£249/$352 One year subscription
£499/$705 Perpetual licence

Pro Tools Ultimate:
£669/$945 One year subscription
£2199/$3107 Perpetual licence

Additional (non-DSP) software included:
Arturia Rev PLATE-140
Brainworx bx_console N
Brainworx bx_rockrack
Brainworx bx_masterdesk
Brainworx Purple Audio MC77
Embody Immerse Virtual Studio
McDSP 6050 Ultimate Channel Strip HD
Native Instruments Vintage Organs
UVI Model D

The post Avid Pro Tools Carbon review appeared first on Audio Media International.

Can virtual immersive recreations of classic studios really help you mix and master on headphones?

What is it?
Immerse Virtual Studio is a plug-in that offers binaural recreations of several great studios in the USA.

What’s great?
Incredibly useful when mixing and mastering. Simple to set up and use. Personalised HTRF processing.

What’s not?
Multiple versions are a tad confusing.

The bottom line:
If you’re working on headphones, Immerse Virtual Studio will help you create mixes that translate into the so-called ‘real world’.

Equipment: Review

The range of software tools that are designed to overcome the limitations when mixing and mastering on headphones has blossomed over the last decade and, as more of us are forced into working in less-than-ideal conditions at home, these developments are welcome. Embody has partnered with several headphone and DAW companies to produce Immerse Virtual Studio (or IMV from now on) so it comes in four ‘flavours. There’s a special version designed for Avid’s Pro Tools, while other plug-ins work with Audio Technica or Audize Headphones along with most other audio software and DAWs on the market. The All Access version is compatible with all studio headphones, but is also specifically tuned for many of the common ‘phones used in studios. IMV uses a mixture of equalization for specific headphones and algorithmic binaural processing tools to both avoid the lack of crosstalk issues that you get with headphones and to simulate actual three-dimensional listening environments.

Immerse Virtual Studio: Build quality

Once installed, you are asked on running the plug-in, to capture a photograph of your right ear. This is then loaded up to Embody’s website and processed. The resultant correction is incorporated into the plug-in, so each instance is unique to the user. The software itself consists of emulations of five famous studios—Echo Bar A and B (in North Hollywood), the Diamond control room at SAE in Emeryville, California, and the Spitfire and the Music Friends studios in Los Angeles. Each studio has multiple monitors you can choose from, systems that run from the soffit mounted Mayer 185 and free-standing Augspurger Solo 15 (plus sub) to nearfields such as Focal Trios and PMC AML 2. The visuals are very nice, with photo-realistic views from the engineer’s chair and other parts of the studios, alongside links and other information about the ‘virtual’ workplaces.

Immerse Virtual Studio: Sound

Companies who have tackled the task of improving the usability of headphones have either attempted to ‘correct’ the frequency response of named headphones (Sonarworks Reference) or utilised binaural and/or Impulse response technology to emulate specific recording spaces (Wave’s Abbey Road Studios). Genelec’s Aural ID software uses head-related transfer function (HRTF) technology to generate a .SOFA file—via the capture of a full video of the user’s head—which is then loaded into a compatible plug-in. In some ways, IMV provides the best of both worlds by ‘personalising’ the immersive experience alongside a bespoke plug-in. All these systems sound quite different and deciding which is ‘best’ is just as difficult as choosing which is the ‘best’ monitor system or control room! What I can say though is that IMV provides a really nice listening experience (not to be sniffed at) whilst providing enough information to make mix and master decisions that transfer outside the studio. I found after a while that I was defaulting to a single preferred studio and using the two monitor systems emulated therein—but it was extremely useful to use the other systems as references.

Immerse Virtual Studio: daily use

The plug-in itself is very easy to use. Just instance it, choose a studio and a speaker system by clicking on its image and you’re good to go. You can modify the ‘ambience’ and ‘clarity’ of your selected studio, the level of the audio and the centre position if you’re finding your that your centre image is off piste. After tweaking, I left most of these at the default values—but some might find it useful to change these parameters to taste. There’s a useful and flexible limiter in there too, while the plug-in can usefully be set to defeat itself automatically on bouncing out a mix with some DAWs—though this doesn’t work for real-time mixes if you’re working in a hybrid format.

Immerse Virtual Studio: Verdict

Does this plug-in reproduce the exact same experience of working in these studios? Frankly, I have no idea. But what IMV does do is to give you something of the experience of listening to your work via high-quality speakers in a nicely treated room. You effectively get a choice of eight monitoring systems and my only real criticism about IMV is that some of the monitors shown in the plug-in the were not emulated—I really wanted to turn on those NS10s in the SAE control room!

Available now

Immerse Virtual Studio with AVID £219, $299. (Tuned for Audeze, Audio-Technica, Sennheiser, AKG and BeyerDynamic and generic headphones.)

Audize Reveal+ £146, $199. (Tuned for all Audeze headphones and compatible with all DAWs and media players.)

Immerse Virtual Sudio with Audio Technica £146, $199. (Tuned for Audio-Technica M50X, M70X and R70x headphones and compatible with all DAWs and media players).

Immerse Virtual Studio All Access £15/$19.99 per month for 24 months or £290/$399 one off payment.

The post Immerse Virtual Studio plug-in review appeared first on Audio Media International.

Can Sennheiser’s new entry into the IEM marketplace really cover on-stage and general listening duties?

What is it?
Sennheiser IE 100 PRO in-ear monitor and wireless (Bluetooth) headphones

What’s great?
The Price. A balanced sound without distortion. Enough acoustic isolation to be useful on stage. Comfy fit. Everything is replaceable and interchangeable between IE models.

What’s not?
Might not suit some ears shapes.

The bottom line:
A great value IEM that’s also useable as a monitor reference and for casual listening.

Sennheiser IE 100 PRO Wireless: Review
Before the development of In Ear Monitoring (IEM) the lot of a vocalist on stage with a band wasn’t a happy one. Using traditional wedge and side monitors, crosstalk from on-stage amplification and the battering from the drummer (often just behind the singer’s head) made it almost impossible to hear themselves sing. The obvious solution was to wear some kind of headphone but being cut off from the rest of the performers—not to mention having a long wire snaking to the monitor engineer’s desk—is really going to cramp a performer’s style. Early IEMs required bulky wireless/battery packs to be secreted down the back of the singer’s pants, while high-quality miniature headphones were numbingly expensive. However, as in-ear (earbud) headphones have probably become the de-facto way people listen to music these days and almost every digital device now has a Bluetooth capability, the costs have come down and quality has taken a step change upwards. The Sennheiser IE 100 PRO Wireless IEMs look a little like the headphones you’ll see runners wearing but as they come from one of the world’s premier headphone developers, these are very high-quality devices. They are also designed to be used onstage as personal IEMs.

Sennheiser IE 100 PRO Wireless: Build quality
The headphones themselves consist of two detachable transducers that are shaped to sit snugly in the ear ‘s concha. This, along with a range of supplied silicone and foam adapters, means that the headphones should fit most ears. The transducers themselves are sturdily built for such miniature devices—I can’t see them being easily crushed under a roadie’s boot. The IE PRO wireless kit includes Sennheiser’s sturdy patent-pending ‘internal duct’ wired cable terminated with a standard 3.5mm jack and the IE PRO BT Bluetooth-enabled cable. The latter is a ‘round the neck’ type, with the battery pack and Bluetooth device fixed in line. The IE PRO BT cable features volume and track control buttons as well as MEMS microphone and a call answer feature. It’s swappable between Sennheiser’s 400 and 400 IEMs and charging is via USB-C. Sennheiser’s claim of 10 hours use from a 1.5-hour charge was verified by me after a marathon listening session to the Complete Art Ensemble of Chicago Box set of recordings. The headphones are available in red, black or clear finishes, the latter of which would be the most useful for stage use. The IE 100 PRO feature a 10mm dynamic broadband driver with a stated frequency response of 20 Hz to 18 kHz, a maximum SPL of 115dB, 26dB of external noise attenuation and a THD of less than 0,1 % when measured at 1 kHz and 94 dB. The use of a single driver precludes phase issues and other problems inherent in multi-driver designs. The ‘phones come with a small leatherette carry case and there’s also a nifty cleaning tool included.

Sennheiser IE 100 PRO Wireless: Sound
Once fitted with the correct ear adapter, the IE 100 PRO are a really comfortable fit that provided quite a bit of separation from the outside world whilst not feeling too ‘closed in’. Like most over ear designs, they can be fiddly to get on, but once on they stay there! Sonically, I can’t fault them at this price point. They present a reasonably balanced non-fatiguing sound and I enjoyed listening to some of my favorite well-recorded music through them. I preferred them to my Apple Earpods and, perhaps predictably, to the OEM ear buds I use (and abuse) when running. Swapping between the wired and Bluetooth cables is a simple matter of disconnecting and reconnecting them and you can even do it when the phones are in your ears if you’re are particularly dexterous. Many IEMs I’ve used were very effective on stage, but pretty horrible for generalist use, so it was nice to hear that the IE 100 PROs are also excellent as a day-to-day listening device. Connected to a Sennheiser wireless system, the ‘phones were effective as IEMs, shutting out just enough of the outside world whilst providing a clear undistorted feed that should enable a singer to hear themselves above the din. The fit was surprisingly good on my lugs, and the over-the-ear design means you won’t lose them on a wig-out on the encore.

Sennheiser IE 100 PRO Wireless: The Bottom Line
IEMs like the IE 100 PRO will never provide quite the level of performance that bespoke systems specifically modelled for an individual’s ear shape do. But Sennheiser’s latest can be very effective and come at a cost that might tempt other members of the band to join the IEM revolution. What’s nice about them is that you can use them for listening to music, calling, video conferencing, Podcasting, on stage and listening back to the recording of the gig afterwards—all on a pair of phones you can stick in your pocket. You can spend a lot more on IEMs—including some of Sennheiser’s own models—but the IE 100 can be extremely effective if you’re on a tight budget. And the fact they also work as really nice Bluetooth headphones is just the icing on the cake.

Available now – £129.00, $180

The post Sennheiser IE 100 PRO Wireless review appeared first on Audio Media International.

Will Ableton Live 11 be the version that tempts composers away from other music-based software? Music technology lecturer and author Stephen Bennett delivers the Audio Media International verdict…

What is it?
Live 11 is Ableton’s latest version of their music creation and performance software.

What’s great?
Some useful improvements for performance and recording. Live is still as unique a tool as ever. Spitfire’s orchestral packs are great.

What’s not?
MPE not available on all Live’s Instrument—yet. It’s a steep learning curve for the new user, but patience reaps rewards.

The bottom line
Live 11 is an essential upgrade for all Live users, while improvements in the ‘linear’ elements of the software might tempt others to join the Live community.

Equipment
Although a process of convergent evolution has taken place in the world of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), Ableton Live has always stood out from the crowd. Eschewing the ‘tape recorder’ paradigm of most DAWS, Live‘s Session view allows the musician to create and manipulate audio and MIDI clips without the constraint of a linear timeline.

The addition of Max for Live, an Ableton-specific offshoot of Cycling 74’ Max/MSP DSP software, took the software into areas that other DAWs cannot follow. Over the years, Live has also developed into a fully functional recording and mixing environment while retaining the unique features that make it popular amongst performers. and EDM and experimental music makers.

Build quality
Happily, Live 11 looks and feels very similar to earlier versions, so old hands should have no problems finding their way around. But there are many improvements under the hood, many of which have been requested by the Live users community. The most welcome (to me at least) is the new Comping feature. In the Arrangement view, you can now record audio or MIDI ‘take lines’ into Live and then swipe across the parts of the recordings you wish to keep, thus creating a composite ‘perfect’ track.

Two or more Tracks can be linked together for phase-locked Comping which is essential for editing drum and percussion tracks. Live has always been a useful tool for real-time performance, so the new Chance Tools offer ways to add some randomness to velocity or probability of the note playing. Each note can have its own Chance value and velocity ranges. It’s a powerful tool that could ensue each night’s performance isn’t a clone of the previous one. Speaking of performance, Live 11 can now follow an external Tempo in real time, which should make working live with so-called ‘real musicians’ easier as well as allowing you to add to synchronise Clips to previously recorded material.

You may also be interested in:

• A godsend for labels? What the return of live music could mean for the rest of the industry
• Katie Tavini answers your questions on all things audio
• We Make Events study: 43 per cent of live events businesses to close by June
• ‘Songs are as good as gold or oil’: Merck Mercuriadis on the future of publishing
• How does live come back? Frank Turner, Music Venue Trust and Concert Promoters Association speak out
• ‘If COVID hadn’t stopped European touring, Brexit would have’: Inside UK’s first live music industry body

The Follow actions feature has been improved to allow you to fix the playback of Clips and jump to Scenes. Collections of effects in Live can be grouped into Racks and Macros can be set up to group together the most commonly used parameters. Previously, Live offered eight Macros but I found this quite a limitation, so it’s nice to see this upgraded to sixteen in Live 11.

There’s also a new ‘variation’ randomisation function that can be applied to the Macro controls. Live now supports the MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) protocol which allows the capture of many different MIDI data at the same time using MPE-enabled controllers such as the ROLI Seaboard. As I write, only Sampler and Wavetable support this relativity new protocol, but I suspect more of Live’s Instruments capable of multichannel expression will be updated over time.

Sound
Many of Live’s audio effects have been updated (though older versions remain in the Legacy folder) Some have been consolidated into a single effect, such as the Phaser-Flanger, and many have been expanded with more options and extra graphical elements. There is also a brace of new effects. The Hybrid reverb is a convolution/algorithmic reverberator where both processing options can be used in series or parallel.

The Spectral effects consist of a Resonator, which generates harmonics from incoming audio and Time which uses pitch shifting and delay to modify time-frozen audio. Some really nice glassy/bell and granular sounds can be coaxed from these. PitchLoop89 is a Max for Live Device inspired by the classic 1970s effects processor, the Publison DHM 89. It’s an unusual delay-based effect and I found it really useful for developing ambient textures. Spitfire Audio, the respected UK-based creator of some of the best orchestral libraries around, has developed Strings, Brass and Piano packs for use in Live’s Sampler.

These sound as beautiful and playable as Spitfire’s other libraries and are really the icing on the cake of Live 11. Also included with the Live 11 suite is the ‘Inspired by Nature’ collection of visual Max for Live Devices, developed in collaboration with Dillon Bastan. For creators of experimental and ambient music, these can be used to produce generative and evolving soundscapes. They’re certainly going to be handy if you are doing sound creation for video games.

Logic Pro now has a feature called ‘Live Loops’ which works in a similar fashion to Live’s Session view, so it’s a kind of a payback that the latter programme’s new Comping feature is very similar to that found in Apple’s software—it’s that convergent evolution in action again. But programmes like Logic Pro and Pro Tools are really different beasts to Live and many composers use Ableton’s software alongside a more ‘traditional’ DAW.

The latest version features improvements for those using Live for performance, while there are some also many upgrades in the software’s useability as a general digital DAW. I can’t imagine why any Live user would not want to update to version 11, but even if you are ‘embedded’ in another DAWs ecosystem, Live is a complimentary program that can help inspiration strike—long live Live!

Available now

Live Intro, £71/$99
Live Standard £323/$449
Live Suite £539/$749

“We have great new ideas to launch, we need to tell our story”
Read the Audio Media International partner plan.

The post REVIEW: Ableton Live 11 appeared first on Audio Media International.

The JZ Microphones BB29 features a bespoke capsule design and some serious electronics under its crinkly black exterior. Music technology lecturer and author Stephen Bennett delivers the Audio Media International verdict…

What is it?
The JZ Microphones BB29 is a large diaphragm condenser microphone with Class-A electronics and a transformer coupled output.

What’s great?
It’s a serious hand-built large condenser microphone with a sound quality to match. A transformer coupled output too I like transformers.

What’s not?
The shock mount, though effective, isn’t that easy to attach to the microphone. It’s also only available at extra cost.

The bottom line
The JZ Microphones BB29 is a great performer, features a unique capsule and a physical appearance that sticks out from the crowd.

It’s often said that you can’t have too many microphones. Even if your studio is equipped with a dozen of the most revered transducers ever created, there’ll always be a time when none of your cache is quite right for the task in hand. JZ are a Latvian company, established in Riga back in 2007, and since then, they have released an increasing range of intriguing microphones to help the engineer solve this problem! The microphone under review here is part of the company’s Signature Series, the JZ Microphones BB29.

Build quality
The JZ Microphones BB29 is a hand-built cardioid-only condenser microphone, finished in a black crinkle coating. The microphone is shaped as a rectangular box with a basket covering the capsule, while the base features an XLR female connector alongside a threaded hole, so you can affix the microphone directly onto a microphone stand—which can be useful in applications where space is restricted.

The microphone has four mounts on the side for a neat suspension cradle. It weighs in at 330 grammes and has enough physical presence to make any singer feel comfortable. The capsule itself is a 1” diameter design, created using JZ’s unique ‘Gold Drop’ technology, which the company say makes the transducer lighter and thus faster moving and reduces colourations and distortions. The electronics are a Class-A, discrete design with transformer output coupling and a nominal frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz, a dynamic range of 131dB and a 140dB maximum SPL.

Looking at the supplied frequency curve, the microphone has a gentle lift of a few dB from about 5kHz up until 15kHz, suggesting the microphone might be ideal for vocal duties or where clarity and sparkle is needed in the upper frequency range. The microphone is supplied in a foam lined cardboard box, but I suspect any owner would move it to a more secure location as soon as possible.

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• Katie Tavini answers your questions on all things audio
• We Make Events study: 43 per cent of live events businesses to close by June
• ‘Songs are as good as gold or oil’: Merck Mercuriadis on the future of publishing
• How does live come back? Frank Turner, Music Venue Trust and Concert Promoters Association speak out
• ‘If COVID hadn’t stopped European touring, Brexit would have’: Inside UK’s first live music industry body

Sound
I compared the BB29 with a 1970s U87, a 1990s U87i, a AKG ULS II and a Neumann TLM 107. As was predictable, perhaps, the JZ sounded quite different to the other microphones when fed through a Neve 1073 preamplifier—as did all the microphones from each other! The JZ was noticeably brighter than my vintage U87 and much closer in sound to the newer Neumanns and the AKG. However, the upper frequencies did not exhibit the ‘brittleness’ you find on some microphones in this price range and the transformer definitely adds a certain ‘roundness’ of tone that I also find in my U87s—but not at the expense of clarity.

Daily use
Fitting the cradle was a bit of a faff as you need to pull the bands really hard to get them stretched across the circular ‘lugs’. But once fitted, it proved effective in isolating the microphone from stand-borne noise. The microphone is as sensitive to plosives as any of the others I’ve tried, but the shape of the microphone worked well in the upside-down position which I find really helps avoid these problems. I didn’t find any issues with sibilance on a range of male and female vocals. I tried recording some backing vocals alongside some U87-recorded leads and the result sat very nicely indeed.

The BB29 has that quality many excellent microphones have that, with the right voice, very little processing is required to get a vocal to ‘sit in the mix’. I tried the BB29 on acoustic guitar and as a mono overhead on drums and produced very useable results. As I’m doing a lot of podcasting and the production of online teaching material these days, I tried the BB29 when creating a voice-over video. I actually got some compliments from students on the quality of the voice, so the BB29 must have been doing something right!

The verdict
It’s always nice to use a microphone that isn’t a retro clone of a ‘classic’. The BB29 didn’t disappoint when placed next to some serious microphonic competition, while the overall sonic nature is bright and forward, but not excessively so—it’s a very ‘modern’ sounding microphone. The BB29 has enough differences in electronics and physical design to make it stand out in a market dominated by re-badged and re-tweaked Chinese capsules and electronics. If you can’t record great vocals with this microphone, you really do have problems elsewhere in your recording chain.

Available now – £1,123 / $1,821

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Is the new PreSonus microphone all the transducer you need to make quality voice recordings? Music technology lecturer and author Stephen Bennett delivers the Audio Media International finds out…

What is it?
The Revelator USB is a multi-pattern condenser microphone that comes with a few software tricks up its metal sleeve.

What’s great?
The loopback feature is fantastic. The multiple polar patterns make the microphone useful in many environments. Great sound quality on voices and a fun and useful effects section.

What’s not?
Short USB cable. It’s not as acoustically isolated from the tabletop as much as I would like.

The bottom line:
If you are podcasting or undertaking any kind on Internet streaming, the PreSonus Revelator is a simple solution that’ll make your voice sound great. It also has enough ingest and monitoring features to create sophisticated radio and video broadcasts.

Although podcasting has seen a great upsurge in popularity in recent times, there are many other areas where a simple-to-use high quality microphone/preamplifier combo makes sense—even if you have a studio full of classic transducers and preamplifiers. Those making live streaming and gameplay videos, doing equipment reviews, producing videocasts and audiobooks or videoconferencing all could make use of an easily portable high-quality microphone. The PreSonus Revelator is such a product.

It’s a USB-powered condenser, about the size of a Coke bottle, and the supplied desktop stand gives it something of the look of a Star Wars Droid. Connectivity is via a USB-C socket on the microphones’ bottom—a short C to A lead is included—and there’s a 3.5mm Headphone monitor output there too. The level for this is controlled by the Volume knob on the front of the microphone, while this same control is also used to set the input level by simply pressing the Monitor button.

The microphone can be set to Cardioid, Figure of Eight or Omnidirectional patterns, making it an extremely flexible device. The Preset button on the front of the microphone hints at the extra features that the Revelator offers, and you’ll not be surprised to find there is a software package you need to download to make use of these.

Equipment: Build quality
The microphone itself sports some decent specifications—up to 96kHz 24 bit recording, a 20 Hz to 20 kHz plus or minus 3dB frequency range, a sensitivity of 1mV/Pa and a maximum SPL of 110 dB <3% THD.  The PreSonus software used to control the Revelator is where you define user presets and check input and output levels—the microphone is actually a fully-fledged USB interface and can provide a monitor output from the computer as well as latency-free input monitoring. Mute and monitor levels are on sliders, while a Pan control places the sound across the stereo field, assuming you’re recording in stereo.

The Loopback audio feature is really useful. It allows you to bring into the monitor stream up to three inputs alongside the mic itself. You could, for example, mix an incoming videoconference call, some added background music and a guest speaker all at the same time, so I could see the Revelator finding a lot of friends in the Internet radio world. Apropos of this, it’s more obvious then why there is an effects section present in the software.

There are fully featured filters, gates, compressors, EQs and Limiters that can be applied to the microphone input in real time. The Voice effect is a section where you can change the incoming pitch, add distortion and mangle the audio in myriads of ways while a nice sounding reverb completes the DSP effects. How much use this section will get really depends on how you plan to use the Revelator—but I did surprise my students by accidentally engaging the ‘Space Overlord’ preset mid-online class!

Equipment: Sound
The microphone itself sounds very good. It reproduced my voice with the gravitas expected from a seasoned academic—with a bit of judicious use of the effects section! I’d say the quality was easily as good as other microphones in a similar price range and better than most. It has advantages in this application over my go-to Jim Williams modded Rode NT1 with its multi pattern abilities and I also preferred the sound of the Revelator to the Aston Origin I had available. If you want to do more than just recording unprocessed voice, the Revelator is more useful than the Audio-Technica AT2020USB PLUS or Rode NT-USB. The Blue Yeti also has multiple polar patterns, but with less flexible software control—but I felt that the Presonus microphone had the edge on the sound.

Equipment: Daily use
Though the desktop stand is weighty and fitted with a soft base, it didn’t sufficiently protect the sound from knocks and bangs on my cardboard table—though it was more successful on a glass and steel one. As it was, I used the supplied adapter and attached it to a microphone stand. Otherwise, the microphone could not have been any easier to use—just plug it in, select it as your input microphone and you are good to go.

Equipment: The Bottom Line
If you are podcasting or engaging in any voice-based Internet shenanigans, the PreSonus Revelator should be high on your shopping list—especially if you’re going portable. The three polar patters will enable you to take advantage of whatever space you are recording in, while the multi-input mixing features and audio effects turn it into a flexible and functional real-time streaming device.

Equipment:
Available now – £169, $231 (with Studio One Artist and Studio Magic Plugins).

The post REVIEW: PreSonus Revelator USB microphone appeared first on Audio Media International.

Are the HD 300 PROs from Sennheiser worth an upgrade from your current cans? Music technology lecturer and author Stephen Bennett delivers the Audio Media International verdict…

What is it?
The HD 300 PRO headphones are designed to meet the needs of studio. live and broadcast engineers who require ambient noise isolation.

What’s great?
Excellent acoustic isolation for their weight. Superb, detailed sound. Replaceable cable and other parts.

What’s not?
The cable is a tad short.

The bottom line:
The HD 300 PRO headphones from Sennheiser continue the company’s tradition of producing high-quality headphones for studio, live or broadcasting use.

Headphones used to be used mostly for recording or to check those little annoying noises that leak into even the most carefully treated studios. However, as engineers have fled these bespoke spaces for home-based environments, headphones have become important tools in both mixing and mastering, as well as becoming the preferred ‘listening environment’ for consumers. Sennheiser have a long and impressive history in headphone design and it’d be surprising to find a professional facility without a pair of venerable HD 650 ‘phones hanging off a microphone stand. While open backed headphones are usually more comfortable in use, when you’re working in less than desirable environments, you’ll need to suppress ambient noise— which is where something like the HD 300 PRO comes in.

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Build quality
As you might, expect, the HD 300 PRO ‘phones are extremely well built. I’ve had issues with headphones with captive cables in the past, so it’s great to see that the Sennheiser’s have a replaceable, albeit quite short, cable with a neat little coil near the earpiece which works well in supressing mechanical cable noise. Another issue that has plagued me is broken ‘Alice bands’— the part that stretches over the head and keeps the transducers in place. The HD 300 PRO feel extremely durable and should prove more than adequate for the applications they are designed for. Sennhesier say that the ‘phones feature ‘completely field replaceable’ components— which is excellent news as, once you find your ‘perfect’ pair of headphones, they’re likely to live with you for a long time! Sennheiser’s ‘circumaural—or ‘around the ears’—viscoelastic earpads’ fit nicely over the lugholes and do not feel too weighty—coming in at just a tad under 300g—compared with the 350g of my Beyer Dynamic closed-back DT100 and the 250g of my open-backed HD 650.

Sound
As expected, the HD 300 PRO sound, when used with my Metric Halo ULN-2 interface, was detailed with low distortion, even at high volumes. Of course, all headphones suffer from a lack of stereo crosstalk, but software tools such as Sonarworks’ Reference and Wave’s Abbey road are getting better and better at simulating the acoustic effects of studio monitors and work well here. The Sennheiser’s offer around 32dB of ambient noise attenuation (compared with @20dB for the DT100) which is impressive for their weight. The HD 300 PRO sound quite different to my HD 650s, but appear a lot more balanced across the frequency range. My Bayer DT100 again provide a different sonic character to the HD 300 PRO, but also make me feel more isolated from the surroundings without an appreciable difference in acoustic isolation.

Daily use
The HD 300 PRO ‘phones were a joy to use and fitted my head very well indeed. They don’t weigh on the ear like many closed-back phones but are just as likely to make you jump when someone taps you on the shoulder. I actually prefer these headphones to my go-to HD 650 and Beyer Dynamic DT990, as the suppression of ambient sounds allows me to focus in on the audio. I used them for some dialogue recording for a film and, in this application, the ambient noise suppression was extremely useful to help me understand what was being captured through the microphone and what might be leaking in from the set.

The verdict:
When you think of it, headphones are a bargain compared to studio monitors and a properly treated studio. In the past, they’ve been a kind of poor cousin, but with advances in both headphone design and new digital tools, it’s not impossible to find work that was recorded, mixed and mastered on something like the HD 300. Sennheiser also produce a version of these headphones— the HD 300 PROtect—with a switchable ‘Active Gard’ hearing protection feature that the company say satisfies international directives on industrial safety and noise control. If you spend long hours in the studio using headphones, a pair of these might just save your precious hearing.

HD 300 PRO:
Available now – £179, $242

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The post REVIEW: Sennheiser HD 300 PRO headphones appeared first on Audio Media International.