Recording - November 2015 - 4

PUBLISHER: Thomas Hawley
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Brent Heintz

EDITORIAL

EDITOR: Mike Metlay
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR: Lorenz Rychner
TECHNICAL CONSULTANT: Paul Vnuk Jr.
EDITOR AT LARGE: Beto Hale
COPY EDITOR: Diana Smethurst
MÚSICO PRO EDITOR: Fernando Curiel

CONTRIBUTORS
Paul Vnuk Jr., James Lindenschmidt,
Alex Hawley, Scott Dorsey,
Paul J. Stamler, Marty Peters

Acoustics-what's the big deal?
One topic we return to again and again in Recording is that of room acoustics and
monitoring. We offer a sprinkling of acoustics articles, DIY guides, and Q&A pieces
throughout the year, not to mention full issues dedicated to the subject. Why do we keep
coming back to this? Why do we strive to find new ways to present these ideas and
keep them fresh?
It's simple-music is meant to be heard, and if you can't hear your music accurately
as you track and mix it, nothing else you do matters. Let me repeat that for emphasis:
nothing else you do matters. Mics are inspiring, racks and modules are sexy, DAWs are
powerful, plug-ins are fun... and you can easily spend fifty grand on them and produce
music that sounds unlistenably bad.
People come up with all kinds of reasons not to spend money (and more importantly,
time) on the drab details of getting their rooms to sound right and making sure their monitors are giving them what they need to hear. Some argue that it's pointless, considering
that no one will be listening to their music in treated rooms; others shake their heads at
the profusion of sometimes-contradictory acoustics advice out there and just give up; others say that their rooms are fine because they pushed a button on a whizbang desktop
box that says it's corrected their room, and if the box says so, who are they to argue?...
...and some just shrug, smile, and say, "To heck with that... I'd rather spend my
money on new gear." Which is fine if you want to build a studio that will look very
impressive to your clients, your bandmates, or your mom. It's too bad that people don't
listen to photos of your studio.
Look, I get it. Acoustics is slowly becoming more "sexy" (I wrote about this in our
March issue), but it's still not at the level of things like boutique preamps and vintage
ribbon mics. Hanging all that stuff on your walls, doing carpentry work, suffering
through down time while you tweak and adjust and tweak again-unless you're an
acoustics designer, it's not the stuff of dreams.
But I'll tell you what is: when you sit down in the sweet spot in that room you worked
so hard to get exactly right, fire up your monitors, and suddenly what you're hearing is
audio you can truly work with. That feeling of accomplishment, and the understanding
that now you can do better work and have happier clients, is hard to beat.
In this issue, we help you realize that dream. LA-based studio guru Jay Kaufman talks
to us about issues of room acoustics and isolation when building a room (if it sounds
great but the neighbors are calling the police on you every night, you're going to have
trouble enjoying it). Scott Dorsey examines exactly what those EQ boxes that "correct
your room" can and cannot do, and when they are and are not handy. And in a centerpiece article that's more interesting than many episodes of Mythbusters, James
Lindenschmidt takes apart a baker's dozen acoustics myths and uncovers the pearls of
truth that got them started. Cool, useful stuff all around.
Also in this issue, we look at two sets of world-class, no-compromise monitors:
Barefoot Sound's groundbreaking MicroMain45 and Genelec's utterly unique 8351A.
Our Once Over column has reviews of acoustic products from Auralex, Primacoustic,
and sE Electronics. And then there's AKG's newest mic, two interfaces from Audient, the
screaming-fast Clarett 8Pre from Focusrite... great new products from names we know
and respect in this industry.
But even with those stalwarts so well represented, I do have a soft spot in my grumpy
old heart for the brand-new little firms that are just getting started, bringing out great
products that our readers will love. In that spirit, please take a moment to read our
reviews of the Locomotive Audio 286A dual preamp and H2 Designs' MIYO miniature
audio interface. When someone with a dream has both the means to make it happen
and the ability to inspire those who will benefit from it, everyone wins.
Enjoy the issue.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Brent Heintz, Paul Vnuk Jr.
ART & PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR: Scott Simmonds
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Colin Courtney
WEB GOALIE: Colin Courtney

PLAYBACK PLATINUM SERIES
Lorenz Rychner

EDITOR/PRODUCER:

CIRCULATION
Tiffany Sepe

CIRCULATION MANAGER:

ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING
DIRECTOR: Brent Heintz
CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER: Colin Courtney
ADMINISTRATION
Thomas Hawley

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE:

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

PRESIDENT: Thomas Hawley
VICE PRESIDENT: Brent Heintz

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RECORDING November 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - November 2015