AudioMedia - July 2008 - (Page 48)

Powered Plug-Ins > not be your first choice if you’re trying to turn a mix into clip-heavy grunged-up analogue mud, but you can still use them to digitally bulk up the sound, which will make them popular for post. Visually, there’s a mix of interface approaches, from retro-TC styling, to virtual rack panels, to experimental interfaces, to minimalist M5000 and M6000 numerical layouts. This can feel confusing. It’s hard to see how TC could enforce interface standards on third party plug-ins, but TC’s own interfaces could be more consistent and approachable – and the channel strip is the only plug-in I’ve seen where you push a virtual button to turn off an effect. The optional plug-ins extend the range considerably. Prices vary from €215 for the simpler plug-ins like the Assimilator EQ curve matcher, to €995 for the MD3 stereo mastering tool, and €1,495 for the restoration suite. A complete set including the Powercore hardware will bring the total to around €9,000/£6,500. Of the optional extras, the Fabrik C compressor scores points for sounding good and having a quirky but intuitive interface, and Harmony 4 is one of the better multi-part vocal harmonisers. I was less convinced by MD3 or by the Restoration Suite because similar features are available elsewhere. There were occasional communication failures between the card and the PC, and one or two other distractive quirks. If you boot your DAW without Powercore connected, the installed plug-ins complain in the status window. The window isn’t cleared between s e s s i o n s, w h i c h c re ate s a p i l e - u p o f useless messages – an unapologetic nitpick, because it’s something the competition manages to avoid. I also had problems with the Virus softsynth demo, although TC’s tech support quickly worked out a fix. Overall I was left feeling slightlyperplexed about Powercore. The best plug-ins are industry leading and offer a unique sound, but the less successful ones may not give you much that your DAW can’t. More of the former and less of the latter would be good, because this isn’t a budget product, and it seems to be aiming for the lower end of the ProTools DSP farm market. It’s certainly a different take on the powered plug-in market and has a lot to offer, especially for high end users – but it could do with being a little less quirky. £ Hardware: £850+VAT £ Plugins: £130-£1000+VAT Information Waves Waves plug-in accelerators are a relatively recent arrival – they started shipping three years ago – and are available in two form factors. There’s the APA32, which is a very noisy 19” rack mount box designed to go in a machine room, and the quieter half-rack APA-44M, which you can park on your desk. Although the APA32 is the bigger of the two, it’s also the cheaper and less powerful alternative.You can run up to eight of either from a host. They can also be networked together via an Ethernet switch, so processing power can be shared out among a suite of hosts. Because the connections rely on Gigabit Ethernet there’s no Firewire overhead. The APA32’s plug-ins look exactly like the standard Waves plug-ins – as with this IR-1 reverb. W www.tcelectronic.com Distributor T Call 0800 917 8926 for info Only a selection of the Waves plug-in range is available in APA format. According to Waves there’s no reason to produce APA versions of plug-ins that barely tax the host – although this isn’t entirely convincing, because the host can always spend its time doing other things, and 32 > NTG-3 THE EXTREME LOCATION MICROPHONE All The Performance. Half The Price. Like the current high-end shotgun mic of choice among professional sound recordists, the new Røde NTG-3 is almost entirely moisture resistant, and equipped to deliver impeccable results in the most extreme conditions. The difference is, it’s half the price. True Condenser (Externally RF biased) 50% less noise than most shotgun microphones Extremely low handling noise Weighs in at just 163g High level of immunity to RF interference 100% designed and manufactured in Australia UK distribution by Source • Find a dealer at www.sourcedistribution.co.uk/rode • T: 020 8962 5080 £449 T SSP INC VA 48 audio media july 2008 http://www.tcelectronic.com http://www.sourcedistribution.co.uk/rode http://www.sourcedistribution.co.uk/rode

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AudioMedia - July 2008

AudioMedia - July 2008 Contents Recording Post Broadcast What's Up UK Geofocus: France For the Record Special Report: Develop Preview SE Electronics 4400 Sennheiser MKH800 Twin Tubetech Club Final Cut: Wanted Smart AV Tango Doctor Who Made in America DSP Roundup Product Sampler: Summer Hits Edirol R44 Video Guide AMSR Fame - Le Musical Waves MaxxBCL Yamaha AD8HR Special Supplement

AudioMedia - July 2008

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