Recording - February 2011 - 12

Novation (novationmusic.com) demonstrated the new UltraNova ($699.99), an analog modeling synthesizer with built-in USB audio interface, performance controls, and an Automap-enabled control surface for use with DAWs. PMI Audio Group (pmiaudio.com) showed a variety of lines, including the A-Range dual mic preamp/channel strip ($4299) from Trident (tridentaudiodevelopments.com), and the latest additions to the Series ATB consoles from Toft Audio Designs (toftaudio designs.com), the 4-input ATB04M and 8input ATB08M ($2499 and $3499). While the ATB04M is primarily intended for showroom use and has two rather than six Aux buses, the ATB08M has the full feature set of the larger ATB consoles in a very compact form factor. Radial Engineering (radialeng .com) continues to march toward the release of its Workhorse rack/mixer for 500 Series modules, and its own line of 500 Series processors; on the Primacoustic side, new IsoTools were on display, including the CrashGuard 421 ($50), a Sennheiser MD421-specific version of the CrashGuard mic isolator that protects mics from stray hits and helps block out cymbal leakage, the SplashGuard ($80), a small portable foam gobo that mounts directly on a mic stand behind the mic, and the ShowPad ($50), a rotating micstand mount for the Apple iPad. Roll Music Systems (rollmusic.com) demonstrated its new 500 Series mic preamp, the RMS5A7 Tubule ($1000). This tube preamp is a true transformer-coupled high-voltage design that fits into a single 500 Series space, with adjustable tube gain and a custom power management circuit to generate high plate voltage and high current for tube heating without violating the power restrictions of the 500 Series format. Rupert Neve Designs (rupertneve.com) debuted the Portico 5024 ($3295), a 1U rackmount quad mic preamp. Two of the four channels offer Hi-Z instrument DI inputs with Thru jacks, and the other two feature internal Mid/Side decoding; all four inputs offer highpass filtering, mute, polarity invert, phantom power, LED metering, and the Silk button, which subtly alters the tonal characteristic of each channel for ‘classic’ sounds. ShinyBox (shinybox.com) demonstrated the Guillotine ($500), a 500 Series module sporting two discrete 12 dB/octave filters, one highpass and one lowpass, with 32 selectable corner frequencies for each filter band, per-band and full bypass, and a unique LED display to display the selected corner frequencies. Shure (www.shure.com) showed new and improved additions to its Beta microphone line. The Beta 98A miniature cardioid condenser instrument mic is sold as the 98AD/C with a gooseneck drum mount ($286) or as the Beta 98A/C with a stand mount ($249), and the
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Beta 98AMP miniature drum mic ($336), a new variation of the Beta 98A that combines the new cartridge with a flexible gooseneck and integrated XLR preamplifier. Shure also introduced the Beta 181 ($624), an ultra-compact, side-address condenser that comes in four versions—Beta 181/C (cardioid), Beta 181/S (supercardioid), Beta 181/O (omnidirectional), and Beta 181/BI (bidirectional)— and the Beta 91A half-cardioid boundary mic ($299). Solid State Logic (solidstatelogic.com) featured the Nucleus ($4999), a DAW control surface and USB 2.0 audio interface. Features include SuperAnalogue outputs with zero-latency monitoring, two mic/line/instrument inputs with SuperAnalogue mic preamps, an extra input monitor path for a second interface, S/PDIF I/O, quick switching between up to three DAWs, 16 channel control sets plus a center section, digital scribble strips with assignable pots and keys, and a built-in USB hub. Sony (pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio) showed two new electret condenser shotgun mics, the battery- or plug-in powered ECMCG50BP for small camcorders ($179) and the phantom-powered ECM-VG1 ($199) for XLRequipped professional camcorders. Sound Devices (www.sounddevices.com) displayed the two-channel USBPre 2 ($649.95), an all-new version of its popular USBPre computer audio interface. The class-compliant, plug-and-play, bus-powered device accepts mic level, line level, consumer line level and S/PDIF digital (coaxial or optical) inputs. Its mic preamps have selectable analog limiters, high-pass filters, 48 V phantom power and high-resolution LED meters. Look for a review soon.

SoundToys (soundtoys.com) offered a sneak peek at Juice ($TBA), its new analog input channel modeling plug-in. Juice will feature emulations of input channels from well-known gear and consoles, and is entering the public beta stage of development as of the end of 2010. SoundToys also announced new free preset expansion sets for its plug-ins, created by noted engineers Peter Wade, Morgan Page, and Tchad Blake. StudioBlade Electronics (redwoodcoastmusic.com/studio blade) is a new gear maker whose first product is the MA-10A tube mic preamp ($TBA, around $2500). It offers selectable input and output transformer ratios, up to 75 dB of gain in a 2stage triode amplifier configuration, VU level metering, and inputs for XLR and DPA HV microphones. Top to bottom: Avid Mbox interfaces and Pro Tools HD9, Shure Beta 98AMP, Sound Devices USBPre 2

http://www.novationmusic.com http://www.pmiaudio.com http://www.tridentaudiodevelopments.com http://www.toftaudiodesigns.com http://www.solidstatelogic.com http://www.toftaudiodesigns.com http://www.radialeng.com http://www.radialeng.com http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio http://www.sounddevices.com http://www.rollmusic.com http://www.rupertneve.com http://www.soundtoys.com http://www.shinybox.com http://www.redwoodcoastmusic.com/studioblade.html http://www.redwoodcoastmusic.com/studioblade.html http://www.shure.com

Recording - February 2011

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