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Friday, October 29, 2010
Royer Labs Adds New European Distribution Partner
The new strengthens Royer's presence within Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Royer Labs has announced that the company has reached a new distribution agreement with the German company S.E.A. Vertrieb & Consulting GmbH.
The new distribution agreement enables Royer Labs to strengthen the presence of its premium microphone products among musicians and audio professionals throughout the key European countries of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Headquartered in Emsbüren, Germany, S.E.A. Vertrieb & Consulting carries a wide range of products for today’s audio professional, including microphones, signal processors, mixing consoles, digital audio networking equipment, and sound reinforcement systems.
Guided by Managing Director Uwe Kirchfeld, the team of fifteen employees provides rapid order processing and shipping, along with full consultation and support services.
“We are very pleased to be representing Royer Labs,” said Uwe Kirchfeld. “Royer is one of the world’s premium microphone companies and is a perfect fit with our existing line card.”
“The microphone is one of the most important components in terms of ensuring a quality recording or true to the source sound acquisition for live sound reinforcement purposes and Royer Labs is a first-tier choice among today’s discriminating audio pros.”
“Royer microphones stand at the forefront of ribbon microphone technology. Their ability to add a rich, warm sound makes Royer microphones the ideal complement to the digital recording process and their robust build quality and ability to handle high SPLs makes them equally well suited to miking applications for today’s touring professionals. We are positively delighted to represent the line.”
John Jennings, VP of Sales and Marketing for Royer Labs, is also excited about the new arrangement. “We believe Royer Labs fits in perfectly with the brands represented by S.E.A.,” said Jennings.
“The addition of Royer Labs microphones brings a much sought after, and previously elusive, brand to S.E.A.’s product offerings and I believe Royer makes a great fit with their other lines. S.E.A. has a solid reputation among the professional audio community and I believe the addition of the Royer line makes a great fit for both firms. I look forward to working with them and have full confidence in their ability to represent our company.”
Do they offer a lower entry cost for an entire system?
For years, when you thought of active speakers, often the image was of studio monitors.
However, now when you pick up a catalog it’s obvious that nearly every speaker manufacture has an active loudspeaker line.
I often hear people ask, “What’s so special about active speakers? Why would you want to put all of your eggs in one basket?”
“What are the advantages of active speakers? Aren’t active speakers overpriced?”
Read on, let’s find out!
Active Or Powered
What’s the difference? Active speakers are also known as powered speakers.
I refer to them as “active”, because there is much more happening inside the box besides amplification. An active speaker includes of a box, drivers, electronic crossover, compressor/limiters, delay, equalization and amplifiers.
The truth is powered speakers should sound better than conventional speaker designs.
All of the crossover points, equalization, time alignment, compression, limiting and amplification matching are fine tuned to meet the manufacturer’s intended sound.
The key here is the intended sound quality!
We all feel that we can do a better job tweaking the speaker than the manufacture, right? What most people don’t understand is where the break point is.
Today, speaker processors give speaker manufactures more control over crossover points and equalization but certainly not with power amplification to speaker component matching.
Proper gain or power (wattage) matching is one of the most important elements of making a speaker sound good and insuring the longevity of speaker components.
I come from the old audio school of thought that there is no such thing as too much “available” power.
There is, however, such a thing as wasting money on power. You don’t need 5KW power amps for the high frequencies.
Don’t forget though, that under powering any speaker can be as harmful as overpowering. The key to success is controlling or harnessing amp power.
Quality active loudspeakers match amplifier power (wattage) to component need (i.e. power handling). The manufacturer already did the math for you.
Bold, But True
Powered speakers, as a total sound system design, cost less than equivalent conventional component PA systems.
For this bold statement to be true, one must consider everything that makes up a PA such as: crossovers, equalizers, compressor/limiters, speaker processors, amplifiers, rack space and cabling.
Material cost of an active speaker remains the same when compared to a passive type box.
Further, active and passive designs both require crossover networks, equalization, compressor/limiting, time alignment and power. Don’t under estimate this reduction in required space.
With powered speakers there is much less gear to install and store. Most importantly, once your loudspeaker system goes “active”, the total system cost is reduced. Lets break this down into fundamentals, and see how this is achieved.
The audio phrase “front-end” refers to the first part of the signal path. In this case, it is the input. Depending on the speaker application, this input will be at line level, mic level, or both.
A good front-end design is essential to prevent those nasty RF signals from bleeding in the audio signal. It is pretty embarrassing to be sitting in church to hear a local trucker, on his CB radio, bled thru the sound system during the sermon saying “Some Smoky is on his a—-“. Not good…so why not use technology which prevents this issue?
For many small jobs, an obvious cost savings comes when no mixer is required. Still, every advantage comes at a price. As such, from a design and material cost viewpoint, quality front-end design is one of the few areas where of active speakers add direct cost.
Back-End Electronics
The back end of the electronics in an active speaker are where processing, such as active crossovers, EQ points, compressor/limiters and delay, takes place.
These multiple functions are why considerable savings can be via internal processing compared to external digital speaker processing.
With an active speaker, electrical parameters are pre-determined by the manufacturer. This is not all digital processing wizardry either. Precise filtering can be implemented using low cost analog components. In fact, it is still cheaper to use analog components compared to operating in the digital domain.
As soon as there is a need to have external processing adjustments, this may no longer be true. However, if tweaking is ever allowed, the main purpose of an out-of-the-box, acoustically aligned speaker would be effectively eliminated
Eventually, the digital domain will become more cost effective over analog, especially when audio signal remains all-digital from the mixer to the loudspeaker front-end. The high cost of digital is the conversion from analog to digital and from digital back to analog.
DSP and the microprocessor are the inexpensive part of a digital audio design. As of today, it is still more cost effective to use analog components, for active speakers, rather than digital.
Power Supplies
The essential difference between stand-alone amplifiers and active speakers is the required wattage the power supply has to deliver.
Traditional component amplifiers must be designed to handle various external loads. This requirement inevitably causes component amplifiers to be overbuilt.
With active speakers, speaker load is predetermined, as is the maximum current load. If current load is predetermined, you can reduce the requirements of the supply thus, reducing the design cost.
As soon as the external elements faced by stand-alone amplifiers are removed, a designer needs only to implement the exact amount of circuitry required.
Maximum current requirements are then fixed and cannot be altered from an outside source.
Once you know this, the need for short circuit protection, additional output transistors, larger pre-drivers and massive heatsinks are practically eliminated.
Another advantage active speakers have over stand-alone amplifiers is weight loss (i.e. less metal). The elimination of large heavy heatsinks and power supply transformer seriously reduces overall system weight.
The need for an expensive, heavy rack mount chassis is also eliminated, and should yield further cost reductions, right? One could only hope!
Looking Forward
I am certainly not trying to say that active speakers are the solution to every audio application as there will always remain a need for traditional PA systems.
My point is that anyone designing a new system should always consider active speakers as a total system option, especially if your needs often require occasional portability.
I suspect you will find discover some extra cash in your budget and fewer headaches down-the-road if you choose active speakers over passive.
Jeff Kuells is an audio engineer and audio manufacturing consultant and was previously director of engineering for a major amplifier manufacturer.
The line source array system takes top prize this year in category of “Indispensable Technology – Audio”
L-ACOUSTICS has announce that its K1 stadium line array system was recognized with the award for “Indispensable Technology – Audio” at the 10th annual Parnelli Awards ceremony held at the Rio All Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on October 22nd.
“We are very thankful and humbled by this recognition of our innovative K1 system,” said Stéphane Ecalle, L-ACOUSTICS’ marketing director.
“But much of the honor should also be extended to those K1/KUDO/LA8 Rental Network owners, sound designers, and touring engineers that have collaborated with us during the product’s Pilot Phase because their contributions truly helped hone K1 into the remarkable system that it is today.”
These early adopters of K1 include:
Adlib Audio (UK), Agora (Italy)
Arpege Son Lumiere (France)
Black Box Music (Germany)
Britannia Row Productions (UK)
Clearwing Productions (US)
Dispatch (France)
Euroshow (Russia)
Firehouse Productions (US)
Hibino (Japan)
Jands Production Services (Australia)
Loud and Clear (US)
Loudness (Brazil)
Mid-America Sound (US)
MSI Japan, Music & Lights (Sweden)
Potar Hurlant (France)
Rat Sound (US)
Rent-All (Netherlands)
Satis&fy (Germany)
Sirius Showequipment (Germany)
Solotech (Canada)
Sound Image (US)
SSE Audio Group (UK)
Tokyo Sanko (Japan)
In related news, Sound Image of Escondido, California was honored with the award for Sound Company of the Year, while six-time TEC Award winner Robert Scovill took the prize for FOH Mixer of the Year.
Sound Image was one of the first North American sound companies to purchase L-ACOUSTICS’ K1 system, putting it into the hands of Scovill early this year for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ highly-successful Mojo tour.
Also, A1 Audio’s Al Siniscal – who previously installed one of the world’s largest V-DOSC systems into Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood (formerly Aladdin) Theatre of the Performing Arts – was honored for his technical contributions with the Audio Innovator of the Year award.
And Miami Gardens, Florida-based Beach Sound – a longtime member of L-ACOUSTICS’ Rental Network – was also presented with an award for Hometown Hero Sound.
Recording Guitarists: How To Recreate The Setups Of Classic Guitar Gods
An excerpt from Jon Chappell's book which highlights classic guitar setups and how to dial in that sought after sound.
Guitarists are constantly seeking their own sound or unique voice.
However, producers often resort to giving instructions like, “Give me a raunchy blues sound à la Stevie Ray Vaughan,” rather than “Give me something wholly original that I’ve never imagined before.”
It’s not that producers are unimaginative or that they deliberately want to mimic another guitarist’s sound; it’s just that categorizing sounds saves a lot of time and gives you a point of departure.
Often you’ll hear producers requesting that a guitarist get an “early Van Halen sound,” or a “Hendrix rhythm sound à la ‘Little Wing,’” or a “Dimebag Darrell over-the-top-solid-state-distortion” sound.
These are perfectly legitimate requests, and will come as often as the ones involving instruments and amps—as in, “Give me that Les-Paulthrough- a-Marshall sound, will ya?”
With that in mind, here are the setups of 14 well-known guitarists, from slide master Sonny Landreth to neoclassical god Yngwie Malmsteen. Keep in mind that these are only guides to one guitarist’s particular sound.
This is not the only sound that a particular guitarist produces, but the one he has used for a significant portion of his recorded work, and the one we associate with his “classic” sound.
Dimebag Darrell
The late Dimebag Darrell was the poster boy for the heavy metal ethos, and never made any apologies for his piercing solid-state distortion sound.
Like Hendrix, Darrell went first into a wah pedal (either the Dunlop or the DigiTech were on, but not at the same time), and then into another pitch shifter (the PS-3) before hitting the gain-shaping distortion box, the Boss DS-2.
After going into an MXR pedal–based graphic EQ (set in a “V” shape, as all good metal guitarists do), Darrell passed his signal through a rack containing a parametric EQ (for any final tone shaping before the amp stage), an MXR Flanger/ Doubler (his only time-based effect), and then through the Rocktron Guitar Silencer as his noise gate.
Dimebad Darrell. Click to enlarge.
The gain on Darrell’s amp was rarely set to anything but 10, and the presence and bass were goosed while the treble and mids were cut, which kept the sound from becoming too brittle.
Kirk Hammett
The unique setup of Kirk Hammett’s wah pedals is the result of Metallica’s performing logistics.
The band usually sets up different “performing stations” when they play, and at various times during the concert they simply rotate around to the next area. But this presents a problem when you have to have access to your effects at all the various locations. So
Hammett devised a rig where the wah pedals act as mere controllers (allowing for longer low-impedance lines to run between them), while the brains of the wah sit in the rack offstage.
Kirk Hammett. Click to enlarge.
Hammett uses two preamps, the Marshall JMP-1 and the Mesa/Boogie TriAxis. These feed Mesa power amps, which drive three Boogie 4✕12 cabinets.
Hammett also uses a Mesa Dual Rectifier, but instead of relying on one head to drive three cabs (or employing three amp heads), he will load down the speaker out with a 300- watt speaker (which is buried offstage somewhere), while a load box takes the line-level signal and delivers that to the three power amps.
This has the effect of normalizing the amp output with the preamps’ output and gives a relatively consistent signal to all three tone-shaping devices.
Jimi Hendrix (Then and Now)
Jimi Hendrix’s tone is possibly the most emulated of all time, so many manufacturers have devoted considerable resources to recreating the gear that helped shape Hendrix’s tone, but is no longer available (or is too rare and expensive to come by easily).
First, a look at Hendrix’s original setup. Hendrix went first into a Cry Baby or Vox wah and then into a fuzz.
He used primarily two: an Axis Fuzz and the Roger Mayer–designed Fuzz Face.
From there he went into a Dunlop Uni-Vibe and Mayer Octavia before going into a 6550-equipped Marshall.
For the modern Hendrix sound, the Dunlop Cry Baby is the wah of choice, and then distortion units by Fulltone (Fuzz) or Prescription Electronics (Experience Fuzz) are considered de rigueur.
Fulltone makes the DejáVibe that closely emulates the original for a fraction of the price. For that square-wave octave sound, the Boss OC-2 does a nice job.
Much has been made of the fact that Hendrix played a right-handed guitar flipped upside down and strung left-handed.
This means that as a left-hander himself, Hendrix played the guitar conventionally, but there were several key differences in the imposition of his instrument:
Jimi Hendrix: Then (above) and Now (below). Click to enlarge.
1. The string tensions were all different, because Strats normally have the first string as the longest.
By reversing the strings on the Strat’s inline tuner configuration, the sixth string became the longest, and the increased tension on the thickest string significantly changed the resonant properties of the guitar.
2. The pickups were angled the “wrong” way, with the bridge pickup slanted toward the neck instead of the bridge.
This placed the first-string pole piece well up from the bridge instead of right next to it, as on a normally strung guitar. (The pole-piece heights were all different as well.)
3. The bar and the controls were above the right hand. While this may not affect the guitar’s tone per se, it affects the way a performer approaches the instrument, and we know from listening to Hendrix’s music that this was perhaps the most influential element on his tone.
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson is a tone purist and therefore runs a fairly straightforward setup.
He gets almost all of his tone from the amp, invoking a Chandler Tube Driver judiciously and mostly for increased sustain rather than distortion.
Johnson employs two A/B boxes, which gives him three separate audio paths to choose from.
The first path goes to a tapedriven Echoplex and then into the Chandler Tube Driver and into a 100-watt Marshall head and cab.
The second path goes to a Mayer Fuzz Face and then to an MXR Digital Delay before also going to a 100-watt Marshall head and cab.
The third path begins with an Echoplex (like path #1), but is then split by a TC Electronic Stereo Chorus (mono in/stereo out) and output to two Fender Vibrolux amps.
Sonny Landreth
Slide guitarist Sonny Landreth has one of the most unique sounds going, partly because he employs an actual miked speaker in his setup.
Eric Johnson. Click to enlarge.
He isolates and encloses the speaker and mic, and often works an honest-to-goodness Leslie cabinet into his rig (no simulators here!). A healthy overdrive and a mature and evolved vibrato technique round out this singular slide artist’s setup.
Known for his monstrous slide chops and widely varied repertoire, Landreth is also a purist when it comes to sound. He goes through an old red MXR Dyna Comp to get a smooth, sustained sound, and then into either a Demeter TGA- 3 or a 1954 Fender Deluxe amp.
From there, things get interesting. The speaker out goes to a Demeter Silent Speaker Chamber, which is an iso-cab housing a Celestion Vintage 30 or Classic 80 speaker and a mic.
The mic is either an SM57 or a custom-specified mic supplied by Demeter. From there the signal gets treated to an API mic pre with EQ and delivered straight to analog tape.
Sonny Landreth. Click to enlarge.
Yngwie Malmsteen
Much of Yngwie Malmsteen’s expressive phrasing technique can be attributed to his scalloped-fretboard Strat.
The increased distance between the string and the fretboard that the scallop creates allows him to control his vibrato to a great degree. By pushing down on the string and pulling it from side to side, Malmsteen creates some of the most expressive notes around—especially when he employs nearinfinite sustain.
Yngwie Malmsteen. Click to enlarge.
That sustain is created by two maxed-out 50-watt Marshall heads, one outputting a dry sound, the other outputting the effected sound.
Note that one amp feeds a cabinet wired at 16 ohms, while the other feeds two 8-ohm cabs in series, so that the speaker output is equivalent.
Malmsteen is one of the only guitarists to use a sonic enhancer (a BBE Sonic Maximizer) in creating his sound, which he credits with adding a little more sizzle and definition to his top end.
Steve Morse
With his three-pickup Ernie Ball Strat hybrid and an arsenal of effects and amps, Steve Morse is ready for any kind of sound—fusion, new age, blues rock, hot country, and classic metal (for when he plays with Deep Purple).
Morse first goes into a pedalboard, which has two boost switches: one feeds his Peavey VTM-100 amp, and the other goes into his Mesa/Boogie TriAxis preamp.
Steve Morse. Click to enlarge.
He uses a series of volume pedals to bring various elements in and out, such as the synth guitar volume, the delayed sounds generated by the various Lexicon devices in his rack, and an arpeggiator or clock from his Lexicon PCM42.
Morse favors Peavey 4✕12 cabs for his straight guitar sound, but also has two full-range three-way speakers for his acoustic and synth outputs.
Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani sets up his signal chain in a fairly orthodox manner: wah first, distortion second, and time-based effects after that, before finally going into the front end of a Marshall 6100 head, with 6550 power tubes substituting for the more common EL34s.
Joe Satriani. Click to enlarge.
Satch’s setup is suspiciously Hendrix-like, having the wah in front and then a Fulltone Ultimate Octave later on in the chain.
But Satriani also makes expert use of delay (something Hendrix didn’t experiment with much), using three different delays.
First is the Boss DD-3, which feeds into two Chandler Digital Delays in series.
Steve Vai. Click to enlarge.
Steve Vai
Everything starts out normally enough in Steve Vai’s rig, with a distortion pedal, wah, and whammy pedal, but a switching controller steps in to turn this setup into something ingenious and unconventional.
The switching system selects between the various time-based effects in the rack while sending the pedaldriven signal to the amps’ inputs.
The amps’ effects loops bring in the effects via the send and return jacks, and the amps’ slave outputs go into two VHT power amps.
Eddie Van Halen
He’s come a long way from the days when he would just plug a “Frankenstein Strat” into an MXR Distortion+ and a Phase 90. Actually, the Phase 90 is still in his rig, but Eddie’s setup has become a little more sophisticated.
He gets all of his distortion from the amps, whether Marshalls or Peavey 5150s.
The amp switcher can select the path between the Marshall and Peavey, and the timebased effects (which include Eventides, Rolands, and Lexicons) all come via the amps’ effects sends.
After going from the amp preamps to the effects sends to the effects rack, the signals are not returned, so the power amp section of the Marshalls and Peaveys never gets used.
Instead the signals are sent to three pedals (a Cry Baby wah, a Boss OC-2 octaver, and the abovementioned Phase 90) before going into a rack containing speaker simulators and power amps.
The speaker simulators are necessary to take the high-end edge off of the line-level signals from the Marshalls’ and Peaveys’ preamp sections.
Eddie Van Halen. Click to enlarge.
After being simulated, the line-level signal is delivered to the power amps and sent to three 4✕12 cabinets.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
He was a little bit blues and a little bit rock and roll. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s setup gave a nod to Hendrix, with the Vox wah in front and the Diaz Square Fuzz and Tycobrahe Octavia in the chain.
Vaughan also employed a Boss chorus pedal and a real Leslie before driving an armada of Fender-made amps.
Vaughan also played through a Marshall configured with 6550 power tubes instead of EL34s.
Stevie Ray Vaughan. Click to enlarge.
Carl Verheyen
Studio ace Carl Verheyen uses a combination of devices from pedals to rack-mount gear, but he essentially runs two paths: clean and distorted.
For his distorted sound, he goes through his pedalboard (which contains such front-end devices as a Cry Baby wah and an Ibanez Tube Screamer) and then into either a Marshall head or a THD modded Plexi.
The speaker outs of both heads are run through a load box (the THD Hot Plate) to convert them to line level.
At this point the signals are carrying all that wonderful amp distortion, both from the preamp and power amp stages, but are at line level, where they can be further processed by a Lexicon PCM41 before being amped up by a solid-state power amp to drive the speaker cab.
Carl Verheyen. Click to enlarge.
Verheyen approaches his clean sound a little differently. After the pedalboard, Verheyen first goes through a tube-driven
Fender reverb unit, which provides a gain boost. He then puts the signal in mono through a Chandler Digital Delay and takes the output through a stereo delay (mono in/stereo out).
The right and left outputs each go to matched Vox AC30s. Verheyen considers his clean sound, as outlined here, to be one of his trademarks.
StagePro Provided JBL VERTEC Line Arrays & Crown VRACK For LDI Show Awards Ceremony
The response to the Awards Ceremony was very positive and the audio system performed admirably..
Rental sound, lighting and staging production company StagePro provided the live sound reinforcement system for the LDI Awards Ceremony, held at the recent LDI trade show in Las Vegas.
The Awards recognized excellence in a variety of categories related to the live design, events and staging industry, including lighting, audio and video.
The audio system featured a comprehensive range of products from Harman Professional, highlighted by JBL’s subcompact VERTEC line arrays.
For the event, StagePro supplied the audio reinforcement system as part of its Apex Mobile Stage.
The main PA system included left/right hangs of four VERTEC VT4886 subcompact line array loudspeakers and two VT4883 subcompact arrayable subwoofers per side, supplemented by an additional four VT4886 loudspeakers placed along the center edge of the stage for front fill.
“The response to the Awards Ceremony was very positive and the audio system performed wonderfully,” said Jay Waller, Owner of StagePro.
“The subcompact VERTEC line arrays were a terrific solution for this event, which provided an opportunity to expose this relatively new product line to a variety of potential clients.”
A new Crown VRACK loaded with I-Tech HD amplifiers powered the system, which also included a Soundcraft Vi4 digital mixing console along with AKG wireless microphones.
“The Vi4 console performed flawlessly,” Waller said. “We received a lot of comments that the effects package incorporating other Harman technologies like Lexicon is very impressive, and it truly is.”
“Of all the digital consoles on the market, it has one of the nicest sounding effects packages available.”
“The LDI Awards are a great way for the show to recognize excellence in the industry, from the Wally Award in memory of Wally Russell honoring a veteran in the lighting industry, to the Redden Awards in memory of Craig Redden and presented by Epic Production Technologies to honor excellence in lighting in theater, concerts, and corporate events,” said Ellen Lampert-Greaux, Consulting Editor and Conference Director, Live Design/LDI.
“The awards also include the ESTA Members Choice Product Awards and LDI’s Best Debuting Product Awards, which honor technical innovation. The LDI booth awards accented the excitement on the show floor.”
“The final award, sponsored by Showman Fabricators, was for the best Green Product Award in recognition of the greening of our industry. We appreciate the support of StagePro and Harman/JBL in making the awards ceremony a successful event.”
Q: I’ve been recording some acoustic guitar lately and have been having some difficulty.
The problem is that I just don’t seem to be getting the low-end reproduction I was hoping for.
I know I can probably boost this later with EQ, but is there something I can do?
Maybe a different mic technique?
A: There’s no doubt about it, recording an acoustic guitar can be tricky.
There are several ways to bring out more of the bottom end fullness you’re looking for.
One solution — assuming your guitar has a pickup — is to record the pickup output via a DI at the same time as you record the microphones.
When it is time for mixdown, filter the pickup signal with a lowpass filter, so that all that is left is the low-end.
Shape this further with EQ, perhaps add a dash of compression, and blend to taste with the miked-up guitar tracks.
Go lightly; you’ll find that it doesn’t take much of this acoustic guitar “subwoofer” track to fill out the bottom end.
This trick is especially useful with detuned, alternate-tuned, and drop-tuned acoustics.
However, if you use this method you should double-check that you aren’t creating phase issues by mixing the direct pickup signal in with the miked signals.
In many cases the DI will arrive slightly before the mic signals; use your ears to check whether this is affecting the mix or not. If so, slide the DI track slightly in time until the phasiness clears up.
As you mention, changing the microphone is another possibility. You’re best bed in that instance is to compare the frequency responses between the prospective microphones.
Those which offer a more of a low-end boost are likely what you’re looking for in this instance.
As always, we welcome input from the PSW community and would love to know how you would handle the situation at hand. Feel free to let us know in the comments below.
The matrix supports output from ultra high resolution computer systems
Gefen has announced the availability of its 10x4 DVI DL Matrix, a new addition to the recently introduced GefenPRO product line.
GefenPRO offers integrators and end users professional products with advanced 24/7 technical support for broadcast, rental/staging and post-production environments.
With the 10x4 DVI DL Matrix, any ten computers can be switched to any four professional monitors with full cross-point routing.
Users have the flexibility to create one or two extended desktops or send sources to individual displays.
High resolutions are supported up to 3840x2400, accommodating both single and dual link DVI formats.
Built-in EDID management ensures the stability of pre-settings throughout switching. RS-232 serial control and front panel buttons offer easy access and control.
An internal power supply further strengthens performance, eliminating potential disconnects. The black metallic enclosure is rack mountable and rugged enough to withstand high performance environments.
Auralex To Present Class A Fire-Rated StudioFoam Pro At AES 2010
StudioFoam is the first melamine-free Class A fire-rated acoustical foam in the indusrty.
Auralex Acoustics is showcasing its new Studiofoam Pro, the industry’s first melamine-free Class A fire-rated acoustical foam, at the upcoming 2010 AES Convention in San Francisco (Booth 729).
Studiofoam Pro presents a low-cost option for sound absorption in studios, churches, restaurants, clubs and any other venues that requires a Class A fire-rated acoustical treatment.
The absorption level has not been tainted by creating acoustical foam that is Class A fire-rated. In fact, the foam maintains the same cell structure, but the cells are smaller, condensing the thickness of the panel and provides superior performance to a standard 1-inch thick fiberglass panel.
Studiofoam Pro is available in two sizes: 2-foot x 2-foot and 2-foot x 4-foot, both 1.5 inches thick. It is available in charcoal gray and features beveled edges and provides a Noise Coefficient Rating (NRC) of 0.90.
“Auralex is proud to expand on our Studiofoam product line and to introduce another industry landmark by bringing melamine–free Class A fire-retardant acoustical foam to market,” says Eric Smith, founder and president of Auralex Acoustics. “Studiofoam Pro is the perfect combination of appearance, pricing, flame retardancy and the renowned physical characteristics of Auralex’s best-selling Studiofoam.”
Many public buildings and local fire codes require that acoustical materials be Class A fire-retardant. Until now, Class A rated acoustical treatments included basic cloth-covered fiberglass and a special flame-retardant type of foam called melamine. Melamine can serve as an absorber, but it is not only expensive, its physical attributes make it very sensitive to physical damage.
Due to Auralex’s proprietary chemical formulation, Studiofoam Pro has all the traditional benefits of Auralex’s industry-leading Studiofoam, including outstanding durability due to reduced oxidation. Studiofoam Pro will not rot, crumble or suffer surface harm from normal use like other reported Class A alternatives.
Studiofoam Pro is Class A rated according to ASTM-E84, which evaluates flame spread and smoke density. It passed the UL 94 HF1,2, which is a fire-rating test specifically for nonstructural foam materials like acoustical foam.
It also passed MVSS 302, a fire test requirement for materials installed in motor vehicles. Passing the MVSS 302 is significant for product installation in RVs and media vehicles. The last test that Studiofoam Pro passed is the California Technical Bulletin 117 (Cal 117), which contains an open flame test and a smoldering cigarette test.
Sound Devices USBPre 2 Is Now Shipping Just In Time For AES 2010
Balanced XLR outputs are switch-selectable between mic or line level; consumer RCA-type output is available for connection to unbalanced input.
Sound Devices USBPre 2 is now shipping just in time for AES 2010.
The two-channel USBPre 2 offers a powerful, easy-to-use portable interface to interconnect audio sources to Mac OS and Windows computers over USB.
Featuring an entirely new electronic design, it uses the same extended-bandwidth, low-noise microphone preamplifiers and digital converters as Sound Devices 7-Series digital recorders.
The USBPre 2 fits a broad range of applications, including voiceover recording, reference playback and monitoring, and test and measurement.
The class-compliant, plug-and-play device accepts mic level, line level, consumer line level and SPDIF digital (coaxial or TOSLINK) inputs. Its microphone preamplifiers have selectable analog limiters, high-pass filters, 48 V phantom power, and high-resolution LED meters. Because the USBPre 2 draws its power solely from the computer’s USB port, no additional power source is required.
Sound Devices designed the USBPre 2 for both reference quality input and output. Its balanced XLR outputs offer superior rejection to interference and are switch-selectable between mic or line level. Additionally, a consumer RCA-type output is available for connection to unbalanced inputs. Its headphone amplifier easily drives full-sized headphones with extensive, clean gain.
With its unique stand-alone mode, the USBPre 2 functions as a two-channel microphone preamplifier with analog, digital and headphone outputs. Stand-alone mode is perfect for applications that require an easy-to-use, quality microphone preamplifier. A built-in high-resolution LED level meter helps further facilitate these types of applications.
“The original Sound Devices USBPre was the very first bus-powered USB interface with phantom-powered mic inputs. The convenience and flexibility it offered proved quite popular with sound engineers,” says Jon Tatooles, managing director for Sound Devices.
“The USBPre 2 is an all-new update of that original, with powerful new features and superior audio performance. It is the perfect portable audio interface for Avid, Apple Final Cut Pro, and Adobe Premiere Pro editing systems. System engineers will also appreciate its ability to output full line level signals on XLR connectors.”
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