Recording - November 2011 - 26

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

Roll Music Systems RMS216 Folcrom
The RMS216 Folcrom is a 16-channel passive analog summing box by Minneapolis-based Roll Music Systems. It’s been around for a while, but for this special issue on mixing it deserves an introduction to our readership. In 2003, when the Folcrom debuted, the analog-summing paradigm was in its infancy; since then it has grown into its own industry, with a plethora of multi-featured boxes with the goal of putting the “analog” back into your otherwise digital DAW mixes. Countless tedious Internet debates ensued, second only to the discussion of politics or religion in their fervor. Interestingly, amidst both the competition and the hullabaloo, the Folcrom is one of the few fully passive options in the field; most of the other passive units are of the homebrew variety, often nothing more than masses of snaked wires. Small, solid and unmistakable The Folcrom is a shallow 19" single-space rack unit styled in a 1950s seafoam green and cream exterior with dark brown lettering and 32 alternating red and white push buttons across its face. On its rear panel are a pair of DB25 input jacks for 16 balanced inputs, and a pair of balanced male XLR outputs. From stem to stern, this unit is solid and built to last. Some quotable specs: 10 kOhm input impedance, max input level +42 dB RMS, 150 ohm output impedance, –35 dB nominal output level, –90 dB crosstalk at 1 kHz, and a frequency response from DC to 500 kHz. 35 dB to lose, everything to gain You may have noticed the Folcrom’s –35 dB output level. This is because, being passive, it does not have its own built-in amplifier circuit for makeup gain. By design the Folcrom is intended to use a standard 2-channel microphone preamp for this task; the resulting “flavor” is up to you and your preamp collection. This straight-ahead passive design also extends into the Folcrom’s limited feature set. Unlike the competition (from Neve, SSL, SPL, Dangerous Music, etc.), many of which provide panning, channel inserts, sends, returns, and even faders, the Folcrom’s designers took the opposite approach and chose a signal path free from extra circuitry, and created a unit that “passes signals “from DC to daylight” without coloration”. Routing, connections, planning Pressing the white button for a given channel sends its signal to the left output; the red button sends it to the right; both buttons pressed sends to center or mono; both buttons unpressed mutes that channel. Hookup requires two DB25 snakes with your choice of ends from channels 1–16 of your DAW’s D/A converters, and two XLR cables to your preamp (and then to your DAW or mix recorder). That’s the simple part; how the Folcrom then integrates into your system will take some thought and planning.
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Analog summing—pure and simple
If you are strictly an in-the-box engineer with little to no outboard gear, the above setup will get you all the benefits of analog summing along with DAW benefits like plug-ins and automation. On the output side you can add a good bus compressor and analog eq for more out-of-the-box fun. Or you can also place hardware equalizers and compressors inline between your converters and the Folcrom’s inputs and essentially build your own faux channel strips and mixer. If you are at this level, it’s best to include a full-featured half-normalling patch bay into your setup, to give you channel inserts and mults. Also, just as importantly, you will need to plan which DAW channels will go where. Which channels will come directly into the Folcrom, which ones will come out in subgroups, which ones need be mono or stereo? Remember all panning and volume adjustment needs to take place in the DAW. My Folcrom adventure I tried the Folcrom both ways on a few in-the-box-only mixes, as well as by placing some of my favorite hardware eq units from Chandler and Great River in line. I used Millennia Media HV3, Chandler TG-2, and Blue Robbie preamps for my makeup gain. The biggest bit of advice I can give is that you cannot just take a finished mix and slap on some analog summing! Just like with 2-buss compression, you need to choose your sound (preamp) and mix into it from the start. Also be aware that when using hardware eq and compression, it is not the same as using hardware inserts in your DAW: Your hardware will always follow the plug-ins in your DAW. This sounds simple, but will take some getting used to. As you might guess, each preamp was suited for a different style of music. I often use the TG-2 as a 2-bus sweetener for indie-rock mixes, but when I used it with the Folcrom I heard a touch more width and depth. Overall, though, I was most blown away by the sound of the Folcrom with my Blue Robbies. The Robbie is a very clean tube mic pre, and for a modern ECM-style jazz session I was mixing, the Folcrom /Robbie combo just sounded phenomenal. Summing up I am still a centrist on the whole summing debate. My usual setup is a hybrid blend of hardware inserts in my DAW (Cubase/Nuendo) sent out into a hardware bus compressor. This is not my first time with a summing box, either, and in every instance I do hear a difference. What appeals to me the most about the Folcrom experience is its sonic flexibility and its price—it is one of the most affordable summing options around, and well worth a closer listen for engineers who are curious about what summing can do for them. Price: $775 More from: Roll Music Systems, www.rollmusic.com.

http://www.rollmusic.com

Recording - November 2011

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