ProAudio Review - February 2009 - (Page 34)

studio review by Strother Bullins FMR Audio Really Nice Series Its name is no joke: the Really Nice Series is really nice with a really nice price. FMR Audio is an Austin, Texas-based pro audio manufacturer that specializes in DSP-controlled, interestingly plain-looking, low-cost yet high-quality 1/3-rack space mic/line amplifiers and dynamics processors. The small company’s playful nomenclature for its three currently available products—the Really Nice Preamp (RNP8380, $499), the Really Nice Compressor (RNC1773, $199), and the Really Nice Levelling Amplifier (RNLA7239, $249)—isn’t just cute, it’s accurate. These three boxes are great specimens of well-conceived studio gear at the most affordable prices possible. ‘Log/Lin’ control on the classic Valley People Gain Brain II”). Five 1/4-inch jacks reside on back: left and right unbalanced inputs, left and right unbalanced outputs, and a sidechain insert. Each component of the Really Nice Series uses a “wall wart” power supply and is built by FMR Audio in Austin. In Use — RNP8380 During this evaluation period, I immediately discovered that the RNP8380 is an impressively clean and accurate preamplifier. Regardless of microphone, input, or source, the RNP simply gave me what it amplified with plenty of gain. While some users would understandably prefer to have smaller jumps than 6 dB in gain via its 12-position knob, it was hardly an imposition for me; gain settings for lead vocal tracks, for instance, spread over multiple sessions were easily repeatable. Also, the gain knob’s switches feel higher-end than many pres costing far more. All in all, the RNP8380 worked very well in every application where we simply wanted to capture what was going on. In Use — RNC1773 and RNLA7239 As someone involved in the recording of musical performances for nearly half of his life, I have grown to love and fear compression— especially on the drum kit. As most of us would agree, applied incorrectly, an engineer—within a few twiddles of a knob—can absolutely kill the fidelity of a mix with compression on, say, overhead microphones. More specifically, you can rein in the dynamics, Top to bottom: Really Nice Preamp, Really Nice Levelling Amplifier, and two Really Nice Compressors by FMR Audio Features The RNP8380 is comprised of the essentials needed in a flexible and professional studio preamp: two channels, two XLR mic inputs, two Hi-Z front-panel inputs, a 1/4-inch insert and outputs per channel (TRS/TS, balanced or unbalanced operation), slowramp +48V phantom power with LED, polarity invert button with LED, three LED-per-channel metering, and a 12-position/6 dB stepped preamp gain knob. The RNP offers high headroom (clip point of +28 dBu at unity gain) and is built around a fully Class A amp; its internal microprocessor controls and monitors power supply operation, source selection, metering, push-button control, and phantom voltage control. Similarly designed (on the exterior, at least), the stereo RNC1773 and RNLA 7239 each offer five rotary knobs per front panel that control Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, and Gain parameters underneath an eight LED Gain Reduction meter and bypass button with LED. The RNC uniquely features a “Super Nice” button and LED (see sidebar for more about Super Nice), while the RNLA has a “Log Rel” and LED in the same spot (according to FMR documentation, Log Rel is “loosely based upon the Strother Bullins is the reviews and features editor for Pro Audio Review and a regular contributor to Audio Media. 34 ProAudioReview | February 2009 www.proaudioreview.com http://www.proaudioreview.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - February 2009

ProAudio Review - February 2009 Contents From Razor Slice To Mouse Click Hot Gear At Winter NAMM ’09: Studio Prioritizing Good Acoustics In Tough Times Digidesign Pro Tools 8 Allen & Heath ZED-R16 Analog Mixing Console Mike Rivers Nevaton MC Series Studio Condenser Microphones FMR Audio Really Nice Series Pre-Amp and Dynamics Modules Mojave Audio MA-201 FET Condenser Microphone Genelec 6010A and 5040A Powered Loudspeaker and Subwoofer Massey Plug-Ins De:Esser Hot Gear At Winter NAMM ’09: Live White Space Regulation: What It Means To Us Recording Live Sound Summit Church in Fort Myers, Florida Bag End P-Crystal R Loudspeaker Mark Olson & Gary Louris’ “Turn Your Pretty Name Around”

ProAudio Review - February 2009

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