Recording - February 2016 - 12

Special Report: AMS Neve Opens New Showroom
There are some benefits to being the only Brit on Recording's staff. I recently took full advantage of one of
them by visiting the brand-new AMS Neve showroom in Burnley, Lancashire.
Consoles and signal processors used in some of the most glamorous studios in the world are made right
here, in a tiny town in England's North West. Modern but unassuming, the Burnley site is where most of AMS
Neve's work is done. The building houses not only the showroom, but also AMS Neve's R&D department and
world-renowned manufacturing facility.

The new showroom has been built for a number of reasons. Not only does it offer a setting to show off Neve's vintage and modern gear to
clients, but it serves as a great location for students to get their hands on the gear and actually see inside. AMS Neve has partnerships with five
universities and educational institutions, offering students master classes and gifts of equipment with the aim of helping them acquire the skills
they need to make it in the world of audio. It's a great way to perpetuate the craft and bring it to the next generation... as well as allowing students to use equipment that they would normally be unlikely to get their hands on at this stage in their life, even in their dreams.
It's still the gear that still takes center stage in the showroom, though-gear with a "used by" list that sounds more like a list of award nominations.
You can get your hands on the Genesys mixing consoles, created to offer everything the well-equipped studio might need... "just add mics, monitors
and music." I admit there's nothing quite like that wonderfully satisfying click from those iconic knobs. The displays of vintage gear were equally exciting; it's wonderful to look inside equipment you recognize so well and see what makes it tick. The showroom is definitely a hands-on experience!
Talking of hands on, taking a jet plane for a sonic spin via the Dolby Atmos® system was unforgettable. Dolby Atmos is a speaker system to
rival all other speaker systems-offering one of the most complete and lifelike surround sound experiences you are ever likely to hear. It can be
included in the feature set of AMS Neve's modular and highly configurable Digital Film Console (which was used to mix, among many other
blockbusters, the recent James Bond film Spectre). In my test run, I decided that the best technique a post-production novice needs when playing
with this console is not to think about how much it costs; I didn't hear a plane crash, so I guess I did fine.
In addition to seeing the new showroom, I also got a chance to tour the manufacturing facility, where the AMS Neve team was busy maintaining
clients' gear. The folks at AMS Neve pride themselves on their customer service, and they maintain and repair even their vintage equipment on site.
I asked my tour guide, Liz Wilkinson, how AMS Neve chooses what products to make next. "Our engineers have really close relationships
with all the studios," she explained. "They are always in touch with them to get their feedback.
We constantly ask, 'What is it that you need, really?', and then R&D do their best to produce a
solution."
Special thanks to Liz Wilkinson and Dave Critchley (whom Liz photographed giving me a tour
of the Digital Film Console) for their time and hospitality.-Diana Smethurst
More from: AMS Neve, www.ams-neve.com

KV331 Audio SynthMaster Player for iOS Now Massively Updated
In our January 2016 issue, I reviewed SynthMaster Player for iPad, a great-sounding and easyto-use iOS virtual instrument from Turkish software firm KV331 Audio with a huge variety of expressive sounds. I mentioned the somewhat primitive appearance of the app and several user interface
quirks that bothered me, but overall gave it a massive thumbs up.
About three days after the January issue went to press, I received a routine announcement of an
upgrade to SynthMaster Player. No sooner did I install it than I was completely knocked back on
my heels-as you can see from the screenshots, the latest "upgrade" is practically a new program.
It has a cleanly modernized user interface, a far more readable patch browser, new keyboard layouts like drum pads and a guitar fretboard, improved keyboard scale-locking (with the option to
mute or leave active any keys not in the chosen scale), and lots more. Oh, and it now runs on
iPhones, too!
The folks at KV331 apologized for not tipping me off about the upcoming changes before we
went to press, but I don't mind... they've made a great app even greater!-MM
Price: free (in-app purchases $2.99 to $9.99) * More from: KV331 Audio, www.kv331audio.com
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RECORDING February 2016

http://www.ams-neve.com http://www.kv331audio.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2016