Recording - December 2013 - 20

The new Royer Sling-Shock falls into both
of the last camps, being both boutique in
build and purposely designed for use with
the company's 1-inch diameter ribbon microphone models. This includes the R-121, R122, R-122V, SF-1 and SF-12. It will also
work with other manufacturers' mics with a
similar body diameter. As we went to press,
we learned that a larger version for the larger SF Series mics has just been released for
$375, and an adjustable/universal model
for mics by other makers is in the works.
The outer mount is a V-shaped firm metal
design with a high-quality tension nut on a
threaded mic-stand mount. This assembly
holds the inner mic clamp in place by way
of a 6-point suspension system of nylon
cords and nylon-damped metal springs.

The inner mic clamp is fully felt-lined and
clamps together with a large textured
metal screw. Each of the cords is attached
with a small screw-on compression clamp
for maintenance, adjustment, or replacement, and tension is easily adjustable.
There is also a small metal clip on the side
for holding the mic cable and reducing tension and pull on the mic. The design (just
patented, I'm told) uses no rubber or elastic anywhere, because that's what wears
out or gets brittle over time and makes
other shockmounts fail.
When I put the Sling-Shock into use
and compared it to the older third-party
nylon-style shockmount on my beloved R121, there was a marked difference in
performance. When clomping around the

room with my heaviest shoes I noticed
fewer low-mid resonances traveling up
the stand and into the mic. When tapping
the mic stand with my finger, the old
shockmount let slip a loud, dull, bassheavy boom. When doing the same with
the Sling-Shock, the sound was a tighter
percussive thump that sounded more like
my finger tapping a mic stand than a kick
drum. It was also 7 dB quieter according
to my DAW. In other words, the SlingShock does its job exceptionally!
With a street price of $275, the SlingShock is not cheap. But considering the
investment implicit in owning a Royer
mic, doesn't it make sense to put it in a
shockmount that will help it sound its
best?-PV

Sonnox Codec Toolbox
35 pounds (about $59); www.sonnox.com/ctb

The Codec Toolbox from Sonnox is both a plug-in
and standalone software application that allows you
to audition your finished mixes through various audio
compression codecs such as MP3 and AAC in real
time, and then encode them for Internet distribution.
Developed in conjunction with the folks at
Fraunhofer IIS-otherwise known as "the guys who invented MP3 and (in conjunction with Apple) AAC"-the Codec Toolbox is an affordable baby brother of the Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec which we reviewed back in November
of 2011. Even more so now than 2011, MP3 and AAC are here to stay, and
I don't think it's a stretch to say that all of us, whether musician or audio engineer, will have our music eventually end up in one of these formats.
The original Fraunhofer Pro-Codec plug-in is one of the first of its kind to
allow you to take control of the process and allow you to listen to your mix
through multiple lossy and lossless formats. It also includes a feature to
allow you to do your auditions with an ABX multiple-choice blind taste test.
Since it is a plug-in that could be placed on your master bus, you could
make informed sonic decisions with respect to your mix and then choose
the best bit rate and codec.
Another huge feature of the Fraunhofer Pro-Codec is the ability to make sure
that no digital clipping would occur as a result of the encoding process. I should
also note that included in last year's version 2 update of the Pro-Codec was the
ability to produce Mastered For iTunes-ready renders. Good stuff... but there's one
small hitch, and that's the price. While the Fraunhofer Pro-Codec plug-in is an indispensable tool for mastering engineers, at $499 it is a bit out of reach of the average studio and home hobbyist... and that's where the Codec Toolbox comes in!
The Toolbox plug-in, like its big brother, allows you to choose and audition your mix in real time through one of the following codecs: MP3, AACLC, HE-AAC, HE-AAC v2, MPEG Surround, and Apple AAC (iTunes Plus;
Mastered for iTunes) (Mac only). The Codec Toolbox supports mono, stereo
and even 5.1 depending on the codec.
20

RECORDING December 2013

In the main plug-in window you can choose your
codec, its mode (Constant or Variable bitrate) and
the actual bit rate, up to 320 kbps (or lossless when
using HD-AAC). Unlike its big brother, the Codec
Toolbox will only work with and support sample rates
of 32, 44.1, or 48 kHz, so if you are working with
high-sample-rate audio you will need to downsample
first. It can input data from both 16- and 24-bit files,
but dithers 24-bit files to 16 before processing them.
There are three main tools in the plug-in. First is a -40
to 0 dBFS input meter, calibrated to -12 to 0 dBFS for
higher resolution. Sonnox is quick to
point out that since the plug-in dithers
to 16-bit, the red clip light indicates
hard clipping at the input stage.
Two other meters on the interface
are post-encoding. The first is
labeled NMR, which stands for
Noise-to-Mask Ratio and is a light
version of the full scale FFT meter in
the Fraunhofer Pro-Codec. This
meter lets you know when the highend or low-end information of your
recording is being affected by the processing. The
last meter is the Overs meter, which lets you know
when the processing is inducing overs and clipping
so you can turn your mix down accordingly.
Unlike the plug-in-only Fraunhofer Pro-Codec, the
Codec Toolbox features two parts... not only the Toolbox
plug-in discussed above, but also a standalone program
called the Toolbox Manager. This is where the file
encoding happens and where you choose, tag and
encode your file or files. Yes, I said "files"! This is exciting, as unlike the original Fraunhofer Pro-Codec, the
Codec Toolbox can do full-on batch processing.
Other handy features include the ability to see what
the final encoded size of your file will be prior to encoding, as well as a feature called Clip Safe that when
active pre-scans your file for encoded overs and then
auto-compensates the volume in the rendering pass.
Like all of Sonnox's wares, Codec Toolbox requires
a PACE iLok account. However, thanks to the latest
iLok software, you do not need an actual iLok USB
key-you can use one if you have it, or authorize the
software for a specific computer. It's your choice.
Sure, Codec Toolbox doesn't handle direct processing and encoding of hi-rez audio, and it lacks the
detailed metering, analysis and ABX comparisons of


http://www.sonnox.com/ctb

Recording - December 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2013

Contents
Recording - December 2013 - Cover1
Recording - December 2013 - Cover2
Recording - December 2013 - 1
Recording - December 2013 - 2
Recording - December 2013 - 3
Recording - December 2013 - 4
Recording - December 2013 - 5
Recording - December 2013 - Contents
Recording - December 2013 - 7
Recording - December 2013 - 8
Recording - December 2013 - 9
Recording - December 2013 - 10
Recording - December 2013 - 11
Recording - December 2013 - 12
Recording - December 2013 - 13
Recording - December 2013 - 14
Recording - December 2013 - 15
Recording - December 2013 - 16
Recording - December 2013 - 17
Recording - December 2013 - 18
Recording - December 2013 - 19
Recording - December 2013 - 20
Recording - December 2013 - 21
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Recording - December 2013 - 24
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Recording - December 2013 - 26
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Recording - December 2013 - 28
Recording - December 2013 - 29
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Recording - December 2013 - 71
Recording - December 2013 - 72
Recording - December 2013 - Cover3
Recording - December 2013 - Cover4
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