Category Archives: Gear & Reviews

my grain of salt

New Gear New News


I’d like to share that Zinc Media recently acquired a live recording console/mixer. The Allen & Heath Qu-16. This unit is capable of mixing 22 channels of audio with high quality onboard processors. As first of it’s kind, it can record up to 18 separate channels of audio direct to a formatted USB hard drive. We also have the option of running it with ProTools HD.


I’m also pleased to announce that the Film that went to festival earlier this month was well received. “The Wisdom To Know The Difference” sold out it’s first showing at the Manhattan Film Festival and is scheduled for a second showing 7/3/14. This film will also be at the San Antonio Film Festival on August 3rd at CityBase Cinema.


On the music side, Bekah Kelso & The Fellas released a live video from a recent performance at 502Bar. The show was 75% unreleased material we are working up and getting ready for the studio later this summer. This one gem is from Bekah’s second release, “Departures”. Enjoy “Say Something”


Thanks for listening!

Damian

www.zincmediapro.com

Preamp Choice for Acoustic Guitar

Today we’re listening to a few preamps for Acoustic Guitar (Taylor 414 GC). Digi 002 BLA Signature Mod, Universal Audio 4-710d, Universal Audio 4110, and Noetek Series 1E.

Download 16bit/44.1k files (.wav)

Each track is an individual performance of the same 6 bar riff. Levels were matched as close as possible using Waves’ PAZ-Analyzer so there is no post processing.

Signal chain was kept simple to avoid external factors. The Taylor was recorded using it’s Expression System directly in to the mic pres. Then AD was done by DIGI 002 BLA SigMod.

 

 

The Most Transparent(clean) was the 002. The rest have a “heavier” color giving them more weight.
Now, between the Tube and SolidState on the 4-710 there is a tonal change that is noticeable and can help expand the palette helping elements fit in the mix using the same box. The cool thing about this unit is it’s ability to mix both Tube and SS to make perfect blend for your track. The compressor was not engaged.

The 4110 to me, has a more tangible sound and also offers tonal variances by engaging it’s Shape Control Switch
From The Manual:
Position OFF
This position selects the purest signal path, and is called the Modern position; Clean, clear, full bandwidth that is distortion free.
Position 1
This position selects transformer loading, and is called the Vintage position. This setting changes the loading on the mic/line input transformer to provide more of that “iron” sound popular in vintage transformer-coupled preamps. This could be described as warmer and more present, with increased sensitivity to the microphone’s impedance curve; A bit of harmonic coloration enhancing mid- frequency tone and presence, or a more three dimensional character. Higher Gain settings will increase these characteristics.
Position 2
This position is the same as position 1 with the addition of a soft limiting circuit. We call this position Saturate. This setting uses the same transformer loading as Position 1, but also adds additional loading to the first stage preamp, which is perfect for smoothing out transients without clipping. When using this position the input signal is naturally lowered. Experiment with higher Gain settings to achieve greater “saturation” when using this mode.”

The Neotek sounded full and the closest to the 4110 in Position2.
Please download the files above and give a high quality listen.
I’d like to hear from you!

Pro Tools 10 with Complete Toolkit 2

Pro Tools 9.0.3 to Pro Tools 10, MacPro 2.8 GHz Quad-Core with 10GB RAM
Sure I was upset at the announcement of Pro Tools 10. It hadn’t even been a year since the release of PT9. I bit the bullet and upgraded anyway. I can understand some concerns such as compatibility and the nuances that come with a studio’s DAW and workflow until recently were mostly negative. I fearlessly, without backing up, upgraded. To my surprise the upgrade was painless. It was easy like a CS update. All my 3rd party plug-ins had no issues(Waves, Serato, Sony Oxford, Slate Digital VCC, Trigger, Tonelux). All my settings from PT9 were intact.
My previous sessions opened correctly and sounded good. I was pleased to find the Input Monitor button made available. That was only on HD systems before. Latency has been vastly improved. I was using 256 samples H/W Buffer and could not hear any. Once I tracked, I began to edit. I felt right at home with the gain adjustment from the “clip”(previously “region”). Being able to set”handles” for AudioSuite processing is also a time saver. You can now process and crossfade with out having to see that annoying warning, buh-bye. I used to process more area than I needed. Then I would Trim the region/clip back to the intended section and cross fade. Every second counts.

System 5 EQ is a great channel strip.  I’ll usually boost a shelf gradually from 4k up to see how the highs do. The sound was transparent and smooth. Dynamics section is usable but not what I would call “vibey”.  The gate gives Metric Halo’s Channel Strip a run for it’s money.

Behind the scenes Pro Tools just feels faster and leaner. Delay Compensation has been extended by 4X(16,383 samples@ 48k), making CPU intensive plug-ins like de-noising, easier to set up and not worry about hand aligning regions, oops, I mean clips.

Most non- Pro Tool users can probably say,”oh, my DAW has had that for awhile now.” like the Channel Strip and the Clip gain feature. That’s ok. I’ve been using Pro Tools for a long time and as a professional still see it as one of the most reliable platforms for digital recording. But by all means, don’t let me stop you. We will use the best equipment  we have at hand at the time.

Avid just brought PT9 users closer to HD.

Highlights:

Possible Audio Tracks(48k)- 768
Possible Aux Inputs- 512
In-application web browsers for AVID account, support et al.
New import and export features
New Control surface/worksurface features
Storage and dick performance enhanced
Avid Interoperability- AAF, OMF
Change session settings in the Session Set Up window

Want More Specs

Universal Audio 4-710D Review

It’s in my rack now and will not be going anywhere.

The 4-710D blends tube and solid state signals for”tone-blending” 4 channel microphone preamps with 1176-style compression. This unit also has 8 channels of Analog to Digital(A/D) conversion. 4 Channels of Mic Pres. 4 Line Ins. On every mic channel there are insert points that expand routing capabilities. The Inserts can be engaged from the front panel. Visit Universal Audio for specs and more info.

My go to mic pre, lately, has ben the UA 4110. So I am familiar with Universal Audio’s pedigree. My first concern with an all-in-one box was the A/D converters. My current set up is a Black Lion Audio Signature Mod DIGI 002. I recorded bass and vocals into the 4-710 pre and went out ADAT into the BLA 002 and Line out into the BLA converters. Well, there are no bad guys here. The 4-710D’s sound was “punchy”, “more tangible”, “upfront” while the BLA 002 seemed more open on the top end. I could see both getting used for different tasks. My concerns were immediately quelled. I compared the unit with GENEX and Apogee Rosetta 200 converters. The 4-710D sat nicely between the 2 with “punch” and “clarity”. This makes a great front end for any studio, project or professional.

I also ran a couple of recorded tracks through the 4-710D. I normally run track outs of Pro Tools(9) into hardware for that “special” something. In this regard, the 4-710D offers more still. Just running the track through the Tube side gave the track some depth. Being able to blend the Solid State signal in, I was able to “sit” that track in the mix almost immediately.Tip: a little tube saturation goes a long way when you’re stacking tracks. You should of seen the smile on my face when I realized I now had 4 1176-style compressors in my arsenal for mix-down. Listen To Audio Samples

This is an investment that will serve me well into retirement.

It’s not Neve or API, but nothing else is. It is 100% Universal Audio

Thanks for listening

Avid’s Pro Tools 9

So, 7 weeks into Pro Tools 9 with the Complete Production Tool Kit 2 and I’m loving it. I was using PT8 LE with the DV Toolkit 2 my workflow was as streamlined as I could get it, but ADC(automatic delay compensation) was always the biggest issue. I’m using the DIGI 002R with the Black Lion Audio Signature Mod. So really, the limits were in the software.

In brief, Pro Tools LE seemed always restrained to maintain a distinct separation from ProTools HD. Pro Tools HD’s power came from their dedicated DSP processing cards. Now that computers have achieved higher processing power, users have more options. There are plugins that only work on HD and as great as they might be, this upgrade is totally worth it. LE ceases to exist and non-HD users can achieve a better product. You can check out AVID for more details.

ADC is now available in PT9. As soon as I opened an existing session, I heard a difference. I work on both HD and LE systems and had found that although achievable, it always took a little longer in LE to get the sound just right. PT9 now has the space and clarity that helps make better decisions in the mix; inevitably increasing workflow. I then took a session(24bit/48k) with 24 tracks and copied in triplicate to make 72 tracks. All the tracks had at least 3 plugins and there were 3 (DSP hog) Mach Five Plugins. The session ran smooth as CPU usage read 32%.

I never really ran out of tracks in my previous system. Now I don’t even have to worry. Their audio record(simultaneous) track input count has jumped from 18 to 32. You can connect a third party Firewire interface to your computer and add more inputs. The playback track count has also increased to 192 from 64. That’s really nice!

These 2 upgrades alone have made PT9 and option for studios reluctant to go to Pro Tools because of limitations that are not an issue in other DAW(Digital Audio Workstation) like Cubase, Reaper, Logic, Digital Performer, et al. The ability to use a third party interface or none at all has re-invigorated this old Pro Tools fan. It might not be HD but I run mine like it is.

Thanks for listening!