AudioMedia - March 2009 - (Page 45) LIQUIDMIX HD before compression. On the far right sits an EQ/ Output Meter that displays the overall level of the signal post EQ – even when the Compressor Post EQ is active. The EQ graph sits above seven EQ bands, all of which are available in every instance. Note that depending on which EQ (or Compressor) is selected, certain bands will not be active and will be grayed out. It’s cool that you can also choose to build a sevenband hybrid EQ, using a mixture of seven different emulations. wonder why I heard no effect – just something you quickly get used to. There are also Limit and Clip lights that indicate a hard limit overload and an output level clip. The small floppy disk icon above the Clip light is used for saving Snapshots, which are transferable settings files. At the bottom of the GUI sits a row of switches that can be turned on or off. The Free switch can be used to activate all the compressor controls, whether they were available on the original emulation or not. The Compressor Post EQ switch does what it states, as does the Sidechain Monitor and Compressor On switches. The Link switch will allow for both sides to be compressed equally when using a stereo instance. Each of the seven bands of EQ must be turned on to be used, along with the master EQ on switch, which I found useful as a master On/Off to do instant comparative listening. The same applies for the Bypass On/Off, which disables all processing. Sometimes I would forget to Qtr:Layout 1 DK_MSD100C_Audio Media turn the band on, and would Down B elow “To me, the true indication of a useful product though is whether it makes my mixes sound good, and is easy enough to use that I’ll return to it when needed. That is certainly the case here with LMHD.” LiquidMix HD is well engineered. Optimised specifically for Pro Tools|HD, users can get over mono instances at once, depending on your system. For example, up to stereo instances can be had on an HD ( Core Accel and Accel PCIe) at up to kHz, with at up to kHz. That’s a serious amount of power considering how good these things sound. While I didn’t use nearly that many, I found they barely put a dent into my cards – always a welcome thing on large, DSP intensive mixes. LMHD is supported by a nice variety of control surfaces, including Pro Control, Control , Command , C , D-Control & D-Command, Venue (D-Show), Mackie HUI, and Novation Automap. Up For The Count To me, the true indication of a useful product though is whether it makes my mixes sound good, and is easy enough to use that I’ll return to it when needed. That is certainly the case here with LiquidMix HD. It got a good workout on my sessions because it’s flexible and easy on the processor. Using it over time, I’ve developed my favourite ‘go to’ models and settings, but sometimes I’ll try something new and see where it takes me. It’s nice to have that option available. If I did have a complaint, it’s not about the sound. It would only be in the mouse operation of the knobs. I found them to be a little ‘loose’, and using the command key reset them to default instead of offering fine control, as is standard on many plug-ins. Sure, you can enter in the values, but it would be great to tighten them up a little in future versions. Overall, LiquidMix HD is a good sounding, well-engineered piece of software that I highly recommend. With a street price of GB , it’s excellent value for all the power that it provides. Listen for yourself: Focusrite provides a free day trial of LMHD on its website at www.focusrite.com. ∫ I N F O R MAT I O N 6/2/08 Any convolution-based product is only as good as the software inside, and Focusrite has done an admirable job of sampling a decent selection here. While I can’t tell you I’ve used every piece of hardware they ’ve modelled, the ones I have used (and can recognise!) s e e m a c c u r a t e l y re f l e c t e d. It’s nice that it’s also an openended platform with additional 16:26 Page 1 emulations. downloadable Final Thoughts £ GB£299.00 (inc.VAT) A Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd., Windsor House, Turnpike Road, Cressex Business Park, High Wycombe, HP12 3FX, UK T +44 (0) 1494 462246 F +44 (0) 1494 459920 W www.focusrite.com E sales@focusrite.com AB t N 3235 K a er N it D umb Vis ooth n B “Solutions in Audio & Video” Features • Economical, dedicated loudness meter • AES3 & Stereo Analogue Inputs • Meets Loudness Standard ITU BS1770 & 1771 • Software upgrade also available for MSD600m++ including graphical display and PC interface. Email: info@dk-technologies.com • Web: www.dk-technologies.com • Tel: +45 4485 0255 • Fax: +45 4485 0250 DK-Technologies A/S, Marielundvej 37D, Herlev DK-2730, Denmark. AUDIO MEDIA MARCH 2009 45 http://www.focusrite.com http://www.focusrite.com http://www.dk-technologies.com http://www.dk-technologies.com
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