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to the
AUGUST 2022
issue of

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9000
 Tracking Wilco’s Cruel Country ★ Top Studio Headphones ★ Classic Tracks: ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’

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> Dead & Company: Keeping It Live
> RiseNY Thrills In Times Square
> The Killers Rampage Across the U.K.
> DAS Lara Debuts
MUSIC PRODUCTION • LIVE SOUND • SOUND FOR PICTURE

CORE, MIX!
WRITE, S BE N JA M IN WA L L F IS C H’S D O L BY AT MO S P L AYP

REVIEWED
EN

Focal Alpha Twin Evo Monitor

PSP Impressor/Saturator Plug-ins
PreSonus DM-7 Drum Mic Set
GIK Acoustics Sound Blocks
 FEATURES

28 
Composer Benjamin
Wallfisch’s Dolby
Atmos Playpen
BY LILY MOAYERI

32 Wilco Live in
the Loft for
Cruel Country
BY BARBARA SCHULTZ

36 Tech Spotlight: Top

Studio Headphones
BY MIX STAFF

08.22
Contents
PHOTO: Jay Blakesberg

20 Volume 46, Number 8

TECHNOLOGY MUSIC LIVE SOUND PRESENTED BY

38 New Products: Studio 12 Mixer Jesse Ray 20 Tour Profile: Dead & Company: Keeping It Live
and Live Sound Ernster Builds Atmos BY CLIVE YOUNG

40 Review: Focal Alpha Studio With NS10s 24 Ticket To Rise: Sound Design Drives NYC Thrill Ride
BY SARAH JONES
Twin Evo Monitor BY CLIVE YOUNG
BY MIKE LEVINE 16 News & Notes: 26 News & Notes: The Killers Tour the U.K.; DAS Lara
42 Review: PreSonus … Trail of Dead in Makes Live Debut; Prince Mural Block Party
DM-7 Drum Mic Set Quad; The Village

26
BY ROB TAVAGLIONE
Studio F Now Atmos

44 Review: PSPaudioware 18 Classic Tracks: “Hungry

Impressor/Saturator Like the Wolf,” Duran
Plug-ins Duran’s Breakthrough Hit
BY ROBYN FLANS
BY MICHAEL COOPER

48 Review: GIK
Acoustics
Sound
Blocks DEPARTMENTS
BY BARRY
RUDOLPH
8 From the Editor: Why
We Call It ‘Immersive’
On the Cover: Composer Benjamin
Wallfisch has built The Mix Lab, a flexible
10 Current: T Bone
Dolby Atmos-certified studio within the and Bob Dylan; Bil
larger The Scoring Lab complex, Santa VornDick Passes
Monica, Calif. A dual-operator Avid S6
console provides control, with the full-
50 Open Channel: Warning, Mix, Volume 46, Number 8 (ISSN 0164-9957) is published monthly by Future US, Inc., 130 West 42nd Street, 7th Floor,
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Current
From the Editor
Why We Call It “Immersive”
Words matter. That seems like such a cliche way to lead off an editor’s
note that I’m just a half-beat away from hitting Delete myself before Clive
does it for me. But it’s true. And it has been particularly meaningful to me
throughout my life, especially this summer.
I first learned that words matter somewhere between the ages of 4 and 5,
when I was finally granted a seat at the pop-up card table to play a Scrabble
foursome with one of my many brothers and my paternal grandparents, James
Valentine and Ann Filz Kenny, the two funniest people alive. I quickly learned
that good letters and good words would lead to a good amount of points,
while big and clever words—especially those that used a 4-point H both ways
on a Triple Letter Score—would lead to even more points. By using the right
words, I could beat my older brother. Words meant victory! Words mattered!
Then I went to journalism school and learned that words really, really, really
matter. One wrong word in the newspaper could lead to a libel suit. When
reporting on a criminal trial, be sure to overuse the word “alleged,” just to
be safe—meanwhile, stick to the facts. If reviewing a record, film or book, be
honest, and don’t use bombastic words just for the sake of being bombastic. In
Peter Jacobi’s class on Magazine Feature Writing, it was an automatic F if you
misspelled a source’s name. No questions asked. Words have consequences, I
learned, and thereby words matter. Names matter, too.
Then I joined Mix, well-established in the trade press and part of an
“industry,” where I found that words can sometimes lead to sales! To
profits! I learned that marketing-speak and branding were sometimes
more effective than transparency and clear definition. The business world
uses different words, I found, and in the grand scheme of things, that’s as
it should be. On the flip side, I also found out in the first few months at
the magazine that if a new and still-industry-unaware copy editor changed
“lossy compression” to “lousy compression,” not even understanding his
mistake, Mix would still get an angry phone call. Words do matter.
All of which brings me to the word “immersive.” It’s one of those terms
that after a brief burst of acceptance and engagement falls just as quickly into
disfavor, like the word “community” in the first wave of what was then called
the World Wide Web and later became the Internet—a good word gone bad.
I happen to like the word immersive. It has three syllables, it sort of
glides and rolls across the tongue, and it means exactly what you think it
means when applied to audio. I’ve liked it since hearing it first whispered
back around 2012, initially out of Europe with “this guy Wilfried” talking
about his new company Auro, emerging from his recording studio in
Holland. Then came DTS and Dolby, nearly simultaneously if I remember
right. And I soon after learned from John Lancken at Fairlight that NHK
8 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
Japan was experimenting with broadcasts in 22.1.
Immersive was the buzzword. When Mix Presents Sound for Film debuted
in 2014 on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, the tagline was:
Immersive Audio Post-Production. At the time, only the William Holden
Theater (of the roughly 15 re-recording studios) featured immersive playback.
Our first three Tier 1 Sponsors were Dolby, DTS and Auro-3D.
The post industry certainly went through its trials, and Dolby emerged
dominant in North America, as it has before in other mediums, but today
Sony only has three non-immersive stages and nearly everything that
comes out of Hollywood features an immersive mix, and consumers don’t
have to go searching to find it. It’s just there, whether streaming through
Netflix or at a local Dolby Cinema. The customer doesn’t have to think
about it. It’s not that way in the music industry. Not even close.
Immersive music is different from immersive film and television. No
question. And I’ve been privy to every argument along the way, from the
use of the center channel, to the struggle with “binaural” (a word you rarely
hear in the post industry), to the small-room configuration, and ultimately
to the Holy Grail of consumer headphone playback. I get it. That’s why I
was so excited at the NAMM Show in June. Immersive was everywhere,
with George Massenburg and Michael Romanowski talking about Alicia in
the Sony booth, while Chuck Ainlay was talking about Lyle Lovett in the
Dolby booth, and Bob Clearmountain detailed his immersive mix on the
Joe Bonamassa album Time Clocks in the Apogee booth. It’s happening. We
are living through the beginning stages of the most significant advance in
audio playback since stereo. It’s frickin’ exciting!
Then I came back home, and during a call with a potential sponsor of
our upcoming August 6 immersive music event at Power Station Studios/
Berklee NYC, one of the first questions was: “Will the monitor system be
configured for Atmos or Sony 360 playback? Or both?” I let out a sigh as I
thought, “Oh, crap. We’ve had 10 years to prepare for this in music, and we
still have a long way to go.”
Then I paused and actually said, with an insider’s lament and a knowing
wink, “Well….it will be immersive.” Because words matter.
Tom Kenny
Co-Editor
Current // news & notes
Bob Dylan ‘Ionic
Original’ Recording
Sells for Nearly $1.8M
By Clive Young.
London, U.K.—A one-off recording of Bob Dylan performing his iconic
“Blowin’ in the Wind” on the experimental Ionic Original acetate format
sold at auction in early July at Christie’s in London for $1,769,508.
The recording is on a specially modified acetate disc, dubbed an Ionic
Original; the format was created by startup NeoFidelity, which is led by
mega-producer T Bone Burnett. The disc is the first release by the new
company and was sold by Christie’s with the express guarantee in its
auction listing, “This is the only copy of Bob Dylan’s 2021 recording of
‘Blowin in the Wind’ that will ever be manufactured. No other versions of
this recording will be released or sold.”
In May, Burnett spoke exclusively with Mix about the disc format,
explaining that while traditional acetate discs degrade quickly over
time, Ionic Original discs are acetates that are treated with a durable,
imperceptible coating that has a composition similar to quartz and
emerald, reportedly aiding the discs’ durability and longevity.
The 2021 recording is reportedly the first time Dylan has recorded the
song in the studio since 1962. The 3:50 track was produced by Burnett and
features a band comprising Greg Leisz on mandolin, Stuart Duncan on
Nashville Producer/Engineer Bil VornDick Passes at Age 72
Nashville producer and engineer Bil VornDick, whose clients included
Alison Krauss, Doc Watson and Charlie McCoy, among countless others,
died on July 5 at age 72, less than a week after being diagnosed with cancer.
Renowned for his recording studio skills, particularly in folk, bluegrass,
Americana and acoustic music circles, VornDick worked on albums that
10 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
The NeoFidelity Ionic Original acetate of Bob Dylan
performing “Blowin’ In The Wind,” seen here in Studio
A at BerkleeNYC at Power Station in New York City.
violin, Dennis Crouch on bass, Don Was on bass, and Burnett on electric
guitar. Recorded by Michael Piersante and Rachael Moore, and mixed by
Piersante, the final mix was mastered by Gavin Lurssen, and the acetate
was later cut by Jeff Powell of Take Out Vinyl in Memphis, Tenn.
In preparation of the auction sale, Christie’s held a listening session for
the press and potential buyers to hear the disc and performance at Power
Station Studios at BerkleeNYC in New York City in mid-June. As a personal
aside, this writer found the performance to be stellar, with the voice of
Dylan 60 years on from the original recording providing additional weight
and veritas to the now-familiar verses.
In a statement following the auction, Burnett noted, “Marshall McLuhan
said that a medium surrounds a previous medium and turns the previous
medium into an art form, as film did with novels, as television did with
film, as the Internet has done with television, and as digital has done
with analog. With Bob Dylan’s new version of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind,’ our
first Ionic Original archival analog disc, we have entered and aim to help
develop a music space in the fine arts market. I trust and hope it will mean
as much to whomever acquired it today at Christie’s Exceptional Sale as it
does to all of us who made it, and that they will consider it and care for it
as a painting or any other singular work of art.” n
earned more than 40 Grammy nominations and nine wins.
Raised in northern Virginia, VornDick sold some songs to Cedarwood
Publishing on Nashville’s Music Row while still a student and playing
guitar in rock bands. Chet Atkins urged him to move to Nashville and
helped him enroll in Belmont University. In the early 1970s, prior to
relocating, he worked at the Washington Star newspaper in Washington,
D.C., where he met his wife, Patricia.
Country superstar Marty Robbins heard VornDick working on demos
for Loretta Lynn’s publishing company and hired him as his studio’s chief
engineer. He subsequently became the chief engineer at Stargem Studio,
the founder of The Music Shop, and the owner of Music Row Audio and
Mountainside Music Group Productions.
In Nashville, VornDick campaigned to save RCA Studio A from
demolition, promoted popularity charts for roots music, championed
health insurance for music people and advocated for intellectual property
rights for audio engineers. He served two terms as chairman of the
Nashville chapter of the AES and worked with numerous other pro audio
organizations. n
—Robert K. Oermann/Music Row, with additions by Robert Clyne
Music

PHOTO: Michael James Flugelbinder

Mixer Jesse Ray Ernster at the sweet spot in his new Yamaha
NS10-based, Apogee-controlled, console-less, Dolby Atmos studio.

Mixing It Up With Jesse Ray Ernster

Grammy-Winning Engineer Builds Atmos Studio Around Beloved NS10s
By Sarah Jones

M
usic and recording are imprinted
in Jesse Ray Ernster’s DNA. Born in
Winnipeg and raised in the Twin
Cities, he inherited his deep love of music
and production from his father, a recording
engineer, and his mother, a singer-songwriter.
Ernster was all-in at an early age, bouncing
tracks on his cassette deck and building toy stages
outfitted with flashlights and tiny P.A.s built
from Logitech computer speakers. He spent his
high school years in his dad’s studio, recording
his rock bands and honing his production chops.
He went on to teach engineering and mixing
courses at the Minneapolis Media Institute, located
in the old Flyte Tyme Studios, recording bands in
his spare time in a rented lakefront cabin that he
transformed into a multiroom studio.
Ernster made the leap to Los Angeles in 2017.
Those first few years were a hustle, teaching
music lessons, performing in wedding bands,
offering editing and Auto-Tuning services, and
composing for film and TV (including work on
Ripley’s Believe It or Not!).
His trajectory took a turn when a chance
encounter with Kanye West led to a gig
engineering West’s Jesus Is King and Donda,
which earned Ernster his first Grammy Awards.
Since then, he’s become a first-call mixer of
A-list artists, winning a Grammy for his work on
Burna Boy’s Twice as Tall and gaining accolades
for his contributions to Doja Cat’s smash hit
“Woman” and other tracks from her Grammy-
winning album Planet Her. Between sessions, he
launched a plug-in company and built a one-of-
a-kind Dolby Atmos rig.
I’m just going to jump right in to the legendary
donut story. You had just landed in L.A., and
you were searching for a gig...
I applied at every studio in town, sent resumes
out, called multiple times. Nothing was working,
nobody was hiring. I thought, “I have to hone in

12 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
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Two key pieces of gear in Ernster’s studio, one
hardware and one software: The Apogee Symphony
MkII + Atmos remote, at left, and the Mixland Rubber
Band Compressor V2, which he co-developed.
on what I do, and I feel like I’m a bold, hyperactive
guy. I’ve got to do something quirky.”
I printed out these full-color resumes in comic
sans font and taped them to the tops of boxes of
donuts. I filled up my Jeep, floor to ceiling, with
boxes, and brought them to every single studio in
the valley. Finally, at the end of the day, it worked,
at NRG. Jillian, the manager there, said, “That’s
incredibly cool. When can you start?”
Fast-forward to a session at Nightbird. You
were working with Tgya.
I got a random call to go in and sub engineer a
session for Tyga. Then Kanye came in. He was
carrying his MacBook, and he was like, “I want to
play you guys some of the new album.”
He played us a bit of the unreleased material,
and I thought, “Man, these are great records.
I love it.” It was one of those “L.A. moments,”
the once-in-a-lifetime encounters that happen
in this city that I had always heard about. I kept
thinking, “I have to say something. I have to
work with this guy.” He hung out there for a few
hours while I worked up the courage to do the
unthinkable: leave my chair, overstep my role,
and approach the icon known as Kanye West. My
mind was racing with the insane dilemma: “Do I
say something? I shouldn’t say anything. I could
get blacklisted.”
Finally, I thought, “What the hell? I have to
go for it.” But he had already grabbed his laptop
and was leaving the studio. I impulsively jumped
up and followed him out of the room. I kind of
cornered him at the end of the hall and said, “Hey,
man, I loved what I heard in there. I really respect
what you do. I’d love to come work with you.”
He froze, he turned his head and looked at me
... I thought, “Man, I’m about to be decked, or he’s
going to call me out, and they’re going to get me
out of here.” Then he said, “Okay, cool. Give me
14 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
your number.”
They flew me to Chicago the next day. We
went to Uganda, we recorded on the Nile River.
We recorded in a tent; you could see hippos and
alligators down below our recording area. We
went on a safari with Kanye and his family. It was
an unbelievable experience.
Would you say that set your career on a new arc?
It was absolutely the first domino to fall, but it
wasn’t instantaneous. I had to work really hard
to leverage the Kanye opportunity into gaining
recognition and other work. I was under NDA,
and the album hadn’t yet come out, so I was quite
limited in the promotional reach I had to acquire
other clients and projects.
Ultimately, I met with the Bad Habit
management label and they placed me with UMI
and Burna Boy as clients right away. I mixed Burna
Boy’s Grammy-nominated African Giant LP, as well
as a bunch of UMI songs that have gone on to rack
up hundreds of millions of streams.
Let’s talk about your studio. It’s in your home.
Do you work mostly in the box?
I am all in the box now. And to my ear, that is not
a compromise in quality whatsoever. There are
no limitations to the sonic capabilities of plug-in
technology these days. In fact, there’s much more
flexibility than ever before, and it’s all recallable.
I understand that you designed the acoustic
treatment?
Yes. These are large 27-inch tube traps inspired
by the ASC isothermal tube traps. The design
features an absorptive front side, diffusive back
side, and an isothermal layer of loose batting
insulation on the inside. When the tubes are
assembled into an attack wall configuration,
it separates the listener from the subspace of
PHOTO: Michael James Flugelbinder
the room and creates an entirely new level
of monitoring accuracy. They neutralize and
control problematic sound waves all the way
down into the sub frequencies, while keeping the
room feeling natural and lively.
Tell me about your Atmos system. You’re a big
fan of Yamaha NS10s; you have something like
10 pairs in there.
I absolutely love NS10s. It’s the speaker I learned
on, so I’m quite familiar with the sonic stories they
tell. The microdynamics are just superb, and their
ability to reveal imbalances and resonances across
the spectrum is just astonishing to me. For Atmos,
the NS10s’ biggest strength is in their speaker-to-
speaker imaging; they really present a convincing
image when panning objects around. Plus, I’ve
been experimenting with modifying the crossovers
to help tame a bit of the resonances and distortion
around 1.6 kHz. The mod sounds amazing.
The entire system is being run with the Apogee
Symphony MkII + Atmos remote, allowing me
to customize speaker layouts, switch between
different monitoring and input sources, and
dial in the overall calculated delay from speaker
to speaker so everything stays locked in and
sounding great. It’s an absolute dream rig.
I’ve heard you talk about your “no-desk
movement.” How does this work?
Essentially, I have ditched the desk! Those
massive, clunky desk surfaces create incredibly
problematic reflections, cancellations and
comb-filtering effects that ultimately provide
the user with an inaccurate representation of
the sound source. I’ve spent some time in a
few hi-fi listening rooms where there’s nothing
between the listener and the speakers, and it’s
an unbelievably pure experience. I wanted to re-
create that. I wanted to minimize the guesswork
and translation issues I was encountering, so informing some of the CGI treatment in the for unbelievable fidelity and resolution. It’s an
I ditched the desk and adopted the “lapdesk,” music video. exceptionally bouncy and snappy-sounding
which is basically a keyboard and mouse that compressor/EQ/saturator/channel strip.
sit in my lap. The translation is a night-and-day Let’s talk about the Rubber Band Compressor.
difference, meaning that the choices I make in How did you get into the plug-in business? You’re really open when it comes to sharing
the studio sound the same when I check in the I’ve teamed up with Eddie Lucciola, the creator information.
car or on AirPods. of Kiive Audio. He codes the Mixland plug- Totally. I am a proponent of building up the next
ins, and I handle the conceptualizing, content generation of music-makers into a large-scale
Let’s switch to the right brain. How do you marketing, and the business side of it. We’ve support community with a strong mentality of
balance serving the artist’s creative vision and built six plug-ins together now, and have a bunch sharing knowledge. My colleagues, my peers,
your ideas? more coming out, including the Rubber Band they’re my friends. I don’t believe in competitors;
I definitely have an aesthetic that I go for, because Compressor V2, which just launched at NAMM. only friends and collaborators. There is enough
I am a fan of big, clean, classic recordings: Dire We completely rebuilt it from the ground up work to go around. n
Straits, James Taylor, The Wallflowers, Pink
Floyd. At the same time, I’m also quite obsessed
with harmonic texture, growling saturation,
and crunchy vibe when applied tastefully. It’s
the marriage of these two worlds—clean and
distorted—that creates a captivating aesthetic
experience for me as a listener and creator.
With that in mind, it’s not always my role to
make big decisions in the mixing stage; a lot of
the time, those sonic choices have already been
decided. It’s about what the artist wants, and I’m
ultimately happy to serve them in any creative
capacity.

Tell me about Doja Cat. Did the team approach

you?
I got a DM from Yeti Beats, her executive
producer. He said, “I’ve got this record for Doja
Cat that we need mixed. It’s kind of an Afrobeat
thing. We heard what you did on African Giant,
and we’re all about it. Would you like to try it
out on spec?” I said, “Yes! Let’s go!” I got the files
from him, we spoke about the direction and the
vision, and I went for it.
And yes, I absolutely took some liberties on
that one! [laughs] I completely swapped out the
kick drum and really brightened up the vocals
quite a bit. I also added some production to the
intro to provide more of a dynamic crescendo
transition into the first hook—which ended up

mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X
Music // news & notes
Quad Made
Easy
…Trail of Dead Mixes,
Masters With Free
QUARK Plug-in
By Steve Harvey
B
ack in the ’70s, rock bands from
Aerosmith to Frank Zappa would
regularly release a quadraphonic version
alongside their original stereo album. The trend
was relatively short-lived, however, with the
pioneering immersive format fading away due to
competing codecs and the playback challenges
faced by consumers.
Fast-forward 40 years, and Austin, Texas-
based …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of
Dead released XI: Bleed Here Now, a two-disc
quad vinyl album, on July 15. Unlike those early
4.0 releases, which were often a marketing
afterthought, the band’s new album, its 11th, was
conceived in quad from the get-go.
“You don’t necessarily record in quad; you
mix in quad,” the band’s front man, singer,
guitarist and occasional drummer Conrad Keely
comments. However, the quad mix was always
in mind. “We thought, when we get the strings
in, we could have four mics on them,” he offers
as an example. Guest vocals by Amanda Palmer
and Spoon’s Britt Daniel could also be separated
in the quad mix.
16 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
Mastering the new album in quad at Bernie Grundman Mastering
are (l-r) mastering engineer Scott Sedillo; Trail of Dead members AJ
Vincent, Ben Redman, Alec Padron John Dowey, Conrad Keely and
Jason Reece; and technologist KamranV.
“We didn’t know what it was going to sound
like until the day we threw the mix up and
separated it out with the four speakers,” Keely
continues. “I almost had a panic attack; it really
changed the possibilities of what we could do.”
Keeley, who co-produced XI: Bleed Here Now
with fellow band co-founder Jason Reece and
engineer and mixer Charles Godfrey, began the
production process by analyzing Trail of Dead’s
previous releases. “What bothered me was our
propensity to try and do so many layers and get
this ‘wall of mud’ sound, as I called it,” he says.
“Our challenge was, how are we going to fit all
this into a stereo spectrum? Quad addressed that
problem,” Keely says, noting that there are two
drummers in the six-piece outfit.
It was KamranV, a Los Angeles-based engineer
and arts technologist, who had recommended
quad when he called Keely on his birthday last
year. “I’ve known the band for over 20 years,”
he says, having first met them while working at
Interscope Records. “I told him about the creative
opportunities of quadraphonic; he immediately
got it.” Godfrey was more reticent, having been
put off by the demands of Dolby Atmos—more
monitors, extended speaker control, a rendering
computer, and so on, he says.
KamranV had an ace up his sleeve, however. In
2018, he helped revive quad vinyl with a release
on his own imprint by electronic music pioneer
Suzanne Ciani, which was packaged with a
hardware QS quad decoder. He subsequently
received funding from the National Endowment
PHOTO: David Goggin
for the Arts via dublab to develop, with coder
Brett Buddin, a free quad codec plug-in. QUARK
has been downloaded nearly 2,000 times from
his CyKiK.com website. “I want to make quad
easy for anyone to do for next to no money,”
he says.
Keely, too, did his research, listening to as
many classic quad releases as he could. He cites
Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Santana, Sly and the
Family Stone, the Doors and Miles Davis for
particular praise: “They really put some thought
into the mixes and how to separate everything.”
Quad, an audio-only format with no center
channel, frees the listener from having to face
forward, Keely observes. “I like listening to it in
the middle, facing one of the sides, with the front
speakers on my right or left and the rear speakers
on the opposite side,” he says.
For Trail of Dead’s new release, Keely says,
“I thought, why don’t we give it an all-around
immersive experience? You can go to any speaker
and get a different mix. So that’s what we pushed
for.”
KamranV has also created a Dolby Atmos
version of XI: Bleed Here Now. “I put objects
in the four corners, and that’s where the four
channels go,” he says.
Mastered by Scott Sedillo and KamranV at
Bernie Grundman Mastering, the new record
and quadraphonic digital streams are encoded
for both stereo and Regular Matrix quadraphonic
sound, and are QS, QUARK, Involve and Dolby
Pro Logic II–compatible. n
Music // news & notes
The Village Taps Kali Audio for Atmos Upgrade
T
he Village has upgraded Studio F for impressive,” he says of the new monitor setup. ‘Walk around inside the circle of 87s, and, as
Dolby Atmos work in response to the For the one-day tracking session, Kurlander you get closer, lean in like you’re whispering.’
growing demand for the immersive positioned seven Neumann mics to mimic the 7.0 That take, in that control room, was the most
format. The control room now sports a new monitor setup and recorded a musician playing impressive,” Kurlander says. “You could feel him
Kali Audio 7.1.4 speaker system, Dolby Atmos various tuned and percussion instruments. “He moving and the proximity effect.”
renderer and enhancements to the previously was playing a little flute, like an ocarina. I said, —Steve Harvey
installed Avid S6 mixing console.
Studio manager Tina Morris and the in-house
engineering team added an Avid MTRX and
DADman configuration and control software,
plus a Mac Pro render rig, during the upgrade.
The Kali Audio setup includes seven IN-8 8-inch
three-way coaxial speakers for the front, side
and rear channels, four IN-5 monitors for the
heights, plus three WS-12 subs, one under the S6
and two at the back of the room.
A team from Kali Audio assisted with
configuration and tuning. For added flexibility,
the Kali rig has been integrated into the room
using Triad-Omni mounting hardware that
enables the speaker system to be scaled up from
stereo to immersive monitoring.
Over the years, clients such as Lucinda
Williams, Nelly, Usher, Odesza, Lady Gaga and
Sir Anthony Hopkins have worked in Studio F
on a variety of projects, from music production
to audio books. Among the first to use the new
Dolby Atmos setup was multi-award-winning
film and game scoring mixer John Kurlander,
formerly of Abbey Road Studios. “It’s very
PHOTO: Nate Baglyos

Studio F at The Village, with Avid S6 console and

Kali Audio 7.1.4 monitoring system.

mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X
Classic Tracks
“Hungry Like the Wolf”
Duran Duran’s Remixed Track ‘Explodes’ in the States
By Robyn Flans
F
or Duran Duran, a different pair of ears
and hands provided the turning point
for its career. The body parts in question
belonged to producer David Kershenbaum,
whose remix of “Hungry Like the Wolf”—
and indeed the entire Side One of the group’s
sophomore album, Rio—ignited the British
band’s ascent up the American charts in 1983.
The success came after a year of the band’s
music not getting radio play in the States, even
as the group was scaling new heights of success
at home. Much like the band’s 1981 self-titled
debut, producer Colin Thurston had helmed Rio;
released in May 1982, the album rose to Number
5 on the U.K. charts, but sank without a trace
in the U.S. Capitol Records executives couldn’t
understand the disconnect between audiences.
Duran Duran founder and keyboardist Nick
Rhodes says that he actually did understand, as
there was a real disparity in musical tastes at the
time, which he explains in a chat from his home
in London via Zoom.
“The first time I came to America, in 1981,
18 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
we’d made our first album, and the single ‘Planet
Earth’ was out and later ‘Girls on Film,’ both
of which did okay on a college and cult level
in America, but neither of them became big
hits,” he recalls. “But when I listened to radio in
America, I realized this big FM sound was very
different than the sound in the U.K. because
our main national station, Radio One, was still
broadcasting in mono! [Laughs]
“It seems ridiculous to think about it now, but
we mixed our first and second album—which
had the song ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’—for British
radio,” he continues. “They were mixed on an
Auratone speaker, which was a small square, a
very simple speaker. Of course, we had stereo
speakers and the big monitors in the studio, but
in the center of the desk, right in the middle, was
one little Auratone speaker, and we always used
to check our mixes on that because we knew
it would be right for Radio One. It wasn’t just
us; I think a lot of the artists and engineers and
producers used to use this little speaker.
“So when I came to America, I was amazed
Duran Duran, circa 1982 (l-r): John
Taylor, Roger Taylor, Simon Le Bon,
Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor.
PHOTO: Andy Earl
at the sound of radio. When the option came
up to remix some tracks from the Rio album—
and specifically ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’—our
reaction was, ‘I understand, because your radio
is so different from ours.’ Our original version,
which still gets played all around the world,
sounds great on radio, but it didn’t have that big
FM sound.”
ADDING THE PUNCH
Kershenbaum had just returned to Los Angeles
after wrapping up Joe Jackson’s Night and Day for
A&M in New York, when he received a call from
Capitol Records VP of A&R Rupert Perry asking
him to come down to the Capitol Records Tower
so he could play him something.
As Kershenbaum recalls, he arrived and Perry
said, “Look, I’ve got this group; they’re doing
very, very well in the U.K., but we’re just not
getting any traction here. Can you listen to it
and see if you hear some things you can do to it?”
Perry put on “Hungry Like the Wolf” and the
producer soon spotted aspects that could be
enhanced for the American market, like placing
some different effects on Simon Le Bon’s vocal,
as well as adding guitars and keyboards, and
making the track punchier overall. Soon, he and
the band found themselves in the Mix Room at
Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, working with
in-house engineer George Tutko on the facility’s
Neve console.
The producer remembers the band as young
kids at the time, and recently, during the making
of a documentary, he and Rhodes reminisced
fondly about that period (including getting their
food at Greenblatt’s Deli, according to Rhodes).
Kershenbaum recalls the keyboardist stating that
the band members were in awe watching what
he was doing during the remix, relating, “We had
no idea what it was; we were just watching it.’”
Rhodes acknowledges that he was absolutely
fascinated and sat beside Kershenbaum like a
student. He remembers guitarist Andy Taylor
was there for much of the time as well, while
Le Bon was “in and out,” as were the other two
members. He also found that Kershenbaum was
extremely respectful of the work the band had
already put into the project.
“It’s not that he changed it hugely; he just
brought everything into focus for radio in
America,” Rhodes says, adding that he does not
believe they recorded new guitar and keyboard
parts on “Hungry Like The Wolf,” but they did
add some vocals on the last verse of the title-
track “Rio,” and possibly guitar on a different
track. “I don’t think we really messed with
‘Hungry’ much; it was mostly David pumping
it up.
“The thing that struck me in America
immediately was compression,” he continues.
“Everybody uses so much more compression,
which, as we know, is highly effective, but
our versions were a little more airy. Suddenly,
when you locked them down, that’s what gave
it a lot more punch, the drums particularly. He
put more sizzle on the vocal, so the vocal cut
through a little more. It was really fascinating,
and I’m really happy that we ended up with
David, because his intention was to keep the
authenticity of what we had done, but just tweak
it enough to give it that necessary sparkle.”
RE-EQ, RE-COMPRESS, RE-MIX
“There weren’t a lot of effects back then, but I
rode the knobs to get different kinds of effects
and things throughout the song to give it more
dimension,” Kershenbaum adds. “It all had to be
Duran Duran co-founder Nick Rhodes,
right, and producer David Kershenbaum
in Los Angeles, March 2022.
hand-mixed in those days, and I just remember
that board at Cherokee was extremely close to
some very tall monitors. I don’t remember what
the monitors were, but it was loud and it was
good! [Laughs] Loud doesn’t necessarily mean
good, but this was loud and good.”
He added compression and EQ to the bass and
drums to give them more attack, he remembers,
chuckling now at what was available back in the
day compared to the present.
“There were no samples back then, of course,
so it was a matter of re-EQing, re-compressing,”
Kershenbaum states. “There were some delay
effects and some reverb effects, but we were
very limited, so we had to get it all out of
compression.
“The first job was to equalize the drums
and the bass, and make that really hit hard and
work,” he continues. “Then you start to add the
elements, because if you listen to the record,
there was a lot of sequenced Roland all the way
mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X
through it, so if it didn’t have the foundation, it
wasn’t going to kick the way it should. We had
to build the foundation first, then re-EQ the
sequenced parts and put them back in. It was
really a matter of tearing it down and putting
some of the beef back into the parts, building
it back up.”
While the bandmembers had no idea whether
this new treatment of the song was going to
do the trick, they were happy to go along
for the ride. “We were always open-minded as
musicians and wanted to try out new things,”
Rhodes says, adding that they also always had a
good time doing it.
“They were fantastic people,” Kershenbaum
says. “As a side note, I have never, ever seen so
many pretty girls hanging around a band. When
you went into that studio, you had to go through
about 30 or 40 of them. They had style.”
The remix gambit worked. “They started to
get a lot of club play off of ‘Wolf,’ which they
hadn’t gotten before,” Kershenbaum says. “They
were able to use that club play to really propel
that song and finally get it on radio.”
The team ultimately remixed all five songs
on Rio’s first side, with three of those reworked
tracks—“Hungry Like The Wolf,” “My Own
Way” and “Hold Back The Rain”—landing on a
four-song EP, Carnival, released in September
1982, before the remixed Rio album and “Wolf”
single bowed three months later in December.
All the components worked in their favor,
but mostly, Rhodes notes, the release of the
remix and ensuing exposure on MTV caused
the single to “explode,” fueling its rise to
Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 by the end
of March 1983.
Now, nearly 40 years later, Duran Duran will
be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
on November 5, 2022. “It’s not something we
ever really thought about or expected; like most
artists, you just carry on doing things and then
suddenly you realize, ‘Oh, that was four decades
ago and they’re sticking us in a museum,’”
Rhodes says with a laugh. “They started giving
us Lifetime Achievement awards about 20 years
ago. I sensed they were trying to get rid of us
then, but it didn’t work!”
Hardly. The original band (sans Andy Taylor)
released a new studio album, Future Past, in
the fall of 2021, once again hitting the top of
the British charts and entering the Top 30 on
the Billboard 200 album chart as well—a fitting
showing for a band still hungry for success. n
19
Live
FOH engineer, tour manager and CEO of UltraSound
Derek Featherstone mans a custom 1992 Gamble EX66
console nightly on Dead & Company tours, as seen here
at the Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View, Calif.
Dead & Company: Keeping It Live
By Clive Young
I
t just isn’t summer unless Dead & Company
is coming to town. Founded in 2015, the
supergroup—featuring Grateful Dead
mainstays Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and
Mickey Hart; singer/guitarist John Mayer; former
Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge;
and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti—has
played every year since (yes, even 2020, thanks
to some early winter shows), grossing more
than $300 million in the process. Live sound
provider UltraSound has worked with the
Grateful Dead and its spinoffs since 1978, so this
year’s tour, which wrapped up in mid-July, found
the Petaluma, Calif., company’s CEO, Derek
Featherstone, once again mixing the band (and
20 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
PRESENTED BY
working as tour director), much as he has on
Dead live projects for decades.
The group’s music has always been based
around improvisation, so Featherstone in turn
has an ad-libbed approach to mixing its shows.
“You do a line check in the daytime, getting your
rough levels and tones on instruments, and you
can get 80 percent there without the band,” he
said. “The first 10 seconds of the first song is
where you get the other 20 percent in place—
and then you follow them. You’re definitely
reacting to what they’re doing, because they’re
going out on a limb to do something, so you’re
running there with them or maybe holding
them back a little bit because they went too far!
PHOTO: Jay Blakesberg
You have to take a very reactive approach to
mixing their improvisation—your brain gets 30
milliseconds to say, ‘Is this good or bad? Okay,
make that louder, it’s good.’”
If the musicians are forever exploring new
terrain, they have a familiar foundation of audio
gear and personnel to support their efforts.
Featherstone mixes nightly behind a custom
Gamble EX66 console—a mainstay on Dead
shows since 1992, except for a few years in the
late 2000s, when a digital desk was used for
spinoff Furthur. “I don’t know how many bands
out there these days are touring without any
sort of additional support, meaning electronics
or pitch correction and so on,” he said. “The fact
that I’m leaning on an analog console as Featherstone finds it helps glue
for so much of it has forced us to play hi-hat spill and a transparent snare
fair, too; you can’t cheat.” sound together in a more musical way.
That said, a digital Avid S6L-24D Elsewhere, John Mayer’s guitar was
console also lives at the house mix position, captured with both a Sennheiser MD
holding inputs 67-117 for the Gamble, but 421 and the discontinued MD 409. “The
it is additionally set up to replicate the 421 couples nicely with his speakers and
entire Gamble desk if necessary, complete helps create a signature Grateful Dead
with appropriate plug-ins emulating tone,” Featherstone explained.
the mostly analog outboard gear on- One of the more unlikely mics
hand. The outboard units in question? onstage, however, was a Schoeps MK 41,
“I’m leaning heavily on products from borrowed from UltraSound’s symphony
the 1980s,” says Featherstone. “It goes miking package and applied to the
from tc electronic M5000s to dbx 160 Hammond Leslie cabinet. “We don’t
compressors, some Summit Audio DCL- usually cross-pollinate the symphony
200s and TLA-100s, a couple of original microphones with the rock’n’roll stuff,”
UREI LA-3As, Empirical Labs Distressors, he said with a laugh, “but there was
Aphex Expressors and more. One of this idea to put that very directional,
the things I’ve just added on this tour is high-end microphone on there. We

PHOTO: Jay Blakesberg

the SSL G Bus+ Compressor, which I’m control its bleed with a gating system
using on the kick drum of all things; it’s that turns those mics off automatically,
an incredible compressor that I’m quite This summer’s Dead & Company tour was the so when the instrument comes on,
happy with.” first U.S. production to carry Meyer Sound’s it’s a big, very helpful, full-frequency
new flagship Panther line array system.
It’s not the only new addition, reproduction of it.”
however, as this year’s journey was While there were some monitor
the first U.S. tour to carry Meyer Sound’s new direction; it’s always gotten better and better.” speakers onstage—10 Meyer Sound MJF-210
flagship Panther P.A. system. The manufacturer As a result, Featherstone found himself and two MJF-212A stage monitors along with
is another entity with Grateful Dead connections discovering Panther’s abilities as the two JM-1P loudspeakers for side fill and two
reaching back to before the company began in tour progressed: “It’s got some different 1100-LFC elements as drum subs—the band
1979, as co-founder John Meyer was involved in characteristics. It’s a very reactive P.A., so you’re mostly listens to itself via in-ear monitors.
the development of the band’s legendary Wall of mixing a little more accurately; you don’t want Monitor engineer Lonnie Quinn tackled mixes
Sound P.A. system in 1974. to push something as hard as you might have in at stageside on an Avid S6L 32D console, with
With this year’s tour playing a mix of sports the past, because it’ll jump out at you. I’ve also fellow monitor man Ian Dubois mixing for
stadiums and larger sheds, UltraSound carried a noticed it allows you to get more precise with Hart on an Avid Profile. Most bandmembers
fair amount of Panther inventory to tackle the compression; on vocals, for instance, I have a wear two IEMs, while Mayer has been sporting
variety of venues. For stadiums, four identical bunch of tube compressors I use, and I can hear Audio-Technica headphones in recent times
arrays graced the stage, with two main front the characteristics of those compressors better to hear the house mix with his guitar on top.
and two side hangs, all sporting 14 Panther on this system. You do a tiny move with this Meanwhile, Chimenti and Weir each opt to
loudspeakers, with four Panther-W wide system EQ and you see it respond real quick— wear a single ear monitor. “It’s a real quiet stage
coverage versions flown under 14 Panther-L you make a move, you hear it, you move on. Its volume; Bob Weir has been an advocate of that
long-throw versions. They were supported by 18 high frequency is very full at decent distances, it forever,” said Featherstone.
flown 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements doesn’t trail off on the high end…it’s a full-range, With this year’s Dead & Company jaunt now
plus a dozen 700-HP subwoofers on the ground. smooth cabinet.” over, Featherstone has relinquished his tour
Also employed were 10 VLFC very low-frequency Below that P.A. were a bevy of mics capturing director and FOH engineer roles for a while,
control elements and 12 Leopard compact line every musical twist and turn on stage, including returning to “only” running an audio company
array loudspeakers used as front fill, all under the Featherstone’s go-to favorite for vocals—the with a slew of major tours out. Still, it won’t
control of eight Galaxy Network Platforms used Sennheiser e 935. “That allows a singer to lean be long before he’s back in the mix position,
for system drive and optimization. on or off the mic without their tone changing,” supporting the band’s improvisational flights
How new was the P.A.? “I was so busy putting he noted. “If you’ve got someone like Bob Weir of fancy, no matter where they lead. “It just
this tour together,” said Featherstone, “that I who sings very heavy on the mic, but then goes and you follow it,” he said. “It’s the same
never had a chance to even listen to it until I drifts off seven inches, you don’t get this tiny, mentality that the fans have: They’re going to
turned it on at Dodger Stadium! Take that as a little voice coming out; you get the same big the show not knowing what’s going to come
testament to our faith in Meyer. They’ve never voice but quieter.” Another Sennheiser put to out of it—and we’re doing the same thing with
made a brand-new product that went the wrong use was an MKH 8020 condenser on the snare, audio!” ■

22 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
Live // news & notes // presented by
Ticket to Rise: Sound Design Drives NYC Thrill Ride
By Clive Young
N
ew York City’s Times Square is a
thrilling place to be, but RiseNY aims
to take it higher—30 feet higher, to
be exact. The new thrill ride, which opened
this spring in the nerve center of Manhattan,
dangles 46 visitors at the center of a three-
story immersive flight-simulation theater.
Surrounded by a 180-degree, 40-foot projection
dome featuring 8K aerial footage of the Big
Apple, audiences are whisked through the city
to experience the metropolis in a whole new way
as their full-motion seats turn, dip and more. All
that visual overstimulation is supported by an
equally sense-tingling 7.1 sound design created
by Geoff Strasser, senior sound mixer at post
audio company Mr. Bronx Audio.
Audio for RiseNY is the latest in a string of
projects that Strasser and composer Sami Jano
have worked on for theme park media studio
Super 78, but while previous efforts like a 2017
dinosaur ride took Strasser to China, this one
found him merely heading uptown to 45th
Street. The mixer’s typical work days find him
tackling audio for commercials or HBO comedy
specials, so mixing a thrill ride is both similar and
entirely different from his usual efforts.
“With commercials and film, you respect the
fourth wall, but with something like this, you
break that fourth wall as much as possible,” said
Strasser. “There’s a lot of panning that has to
happen; that makes it so much more immersive,
supporting a natural effect of motion. There’s
this one shot that’s my favorite—two little birds
flying at you, through you and behind you. Every
time I did it, I felt like I could just reach out and
touch them, just because of the way that they
move across the screen and how, I guess, I mixed
it. That was just unreal.”
Creating that realistic sense of unreality was
no simple task. Super 78 spent weeks in 2019
filming New York City from helicopters and
drones. Once visuals were locked, Strasser began
sound design work, continuing until all the
creative stakeholders converged on the ride’s
construction site for mix installation.
24 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
Geoff Strasser, senior sound mixer at Mr. Bronx Audio,
discovered while mixing RiseNY that thrill ride audio
should break the fourth wall as much as possible.
“Mixing it was chaos,” Strasser said with a
laugh. “During the day, there were six different
construction teams in there, putting down carpet,
building walls and the rest of it, so we had to work
through the night. When I first got there, I said,
‘Can I go up on the ride to see how the mix sounds?’
And they’re all ‘Sure, but you’ll be the first person,’
and I’m ‘Hell no!’ They still had do tests where they
load the chairs up with sandbags and fly it around
to make sure none of them fall out.”
In the meantime, Strasser found a second-
floor vantage point of the screen and got to work.
“I set up my Mac Trash Can [Apple MacPro]
running Pro Tools, a Euphonix controller,
mouse, keyboard, then I ran Ethernet, HDMI
RiseNY is a new flight-simulation thrill ride
based in New York City’s Times Square.
and USB extenders down to their control room.
Their Brainsalt Media Server manages all eight
projectors, the 8K footage, the lighting and
audio. The mixing took four nights, and two
were just me doing my thing—getting the lay
of the land, ringing out the room, getting the
mix in place. Once the ride was approved to go
on, I got strapped in and had an iPad Pro with
the Avid Control Mixer app. When I was out
there, I’d make mental notes, but if there was
something that I could do easily, like a couple of
pan moves or some volume rides, I’d do it there.
“A couple of nights later, Brent Young, the
creative director of Super 78, and Sami came in,
got on the ride and rode it a few times. They’d
yell notes back to me and I’d take care of them.
That’s a super helpful process to have, because I
can depend on their ears a little bit more. They
hear things differently than I do, because they’re
really the storytellers.”
With the attraction now complete, RiseNY has
been getting raves since it opened this Spring, and
that’s turned out to be the most gratifying part
for Strasser. “When you go online, people don’t
post ‘this is amazing’ about a car commercial,” he
laughed, “but when you read people saying, ‘I had
the best time,’ you think, ‘Wow, I actually had an
impact on making somebody’s trip fun in New
York.’ That’s really cool.” ■
Live // news & notes // presented by
The Killers Tear Capital Audio recently provided sound for The Killers’
Imploding The Mirage stadium tour in the U.K. and Ireland.

Through U.K. With

Capital Sound
United Kingdom—Veteran alt-rockers The
Killers spent May and June slaying fans in the
U.K. and Ireland on the Imploding The Mirage
stadium tour. Along for the spree were FOH
engineer Kenny Kaiser, monitor engineer Marty
Beath and audio vendor Capital Sound (now part
of Solotech UK Group).
PHOTO: Med Rann

Capital fielded a sizable d&b audiotechnik

GSL P.A. system for the production, opting
for a design with main hangs of 16 GSL8 and
4 GSL12 cabinets left and right, plus 10 flown
SL-SUBs per side and 14 GSL8 and 2 GSL12 left
and right for side arrays. On the ground were
SL-GSUBs, stacked six-wide and two-high, their
arrangement of 21-inch speakers extending the
system’s cardioid pattern control down to 30 Hz.
“Low end is always an issue in stadiums,” said
Kaiser, “but the control here with the flown subs
and the G-SUBs, it’s just great.”
For delays, smaller KSL8s were deployed in
hangs of 16 cabinets per side. All arrays were
flown in compression mode, but smaller KSL8
arrays can be rigged from roof structures where
needed, in tension mode to save weight.
The system’s performance aided the sound
team, as the GSL employs a combination of
cardioid techniques that result in the rejection
of energy to the rear, providing a quieter
environment onstage and lower off-site sound
emissions. Kaiser commented, “The back end
is quiet and it’s really clean on stage, which
makes life easier for everyone. Marty can get
his mix out without fighting, so everyone’s
happy—and when everyone else is happy, I’m
happy. We’ve had comments from guests and
promoters on the tour, saying it’s some of the
best sound they’ve ever heard at their venue…
and the Solotech guys have been absolutely
amazing—great to work with.”
The Killers tour will continue with GSL
through the European festival season, and then
for its North American and Australasian shows
later in the year. ■

DAS Lara Makes Live Debut

Cologne, Germany—After a year of low-key, real-world testing at shows Alma software for the control and monitoring of the systems.
throughout Europe, DAS Audio spent this past spring launching Lara, its Frank Schmitz, TSL Production’s CEO, remarked afterward, “Lara perfectly
new self-powered cardioid line array, at trade shows like NAMM. Now meets the needs of a venue like the Lanxess Arena, with distances of up to 80
officially out in the touring world, Lara systems have been turning up at meters that can be covered without a delay line and a long reverberation time
venues like Lanxess Arena in Cologne (Germany), the Forum Barcelona and usual for this size. The cardioid concept paid off threefold: reflections and
the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia (Spain). noise were greatly reduced, and the sound was very clear and direct.” ■
More than 17,000 people heard the system’s European debut at a Brings
concert at Lanxess Arena. TSL Production and Fluge were in charge of DAS Audio’s Lara self-powered
installing the system, with the support of Michael Häck, technical director of cardioid line array made its
world debut at the Lanxess
the Lanxess Arena.
Arena in Cologne, Germany.
To cover the 84,000-square-meter venue, TSL used 18 Laras per side
for main hangs, bolstered by hangs of 16 Lara-Subs each side, hung at 45
degrees in relation to the Laras. In addition, 15 additional Lara-Sub units
were used below the front of the stage, forming an arc of about 35 degrees.
The configuration was completed with 28 Aero-40A as Outfill 1 and 12
Aero-20A as Outfill 2 in L/R, which covered the upper side stands, using

26 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
Live // news & notes // presented by
Slamhammer Glam Slams at Prince Mural Reveal
Minneapolis, MN—Prince was According to Slamhammer sales
Regional audio provider Slamhammer Audio
always a giant among musicians, tackled audio for the recent street party unveiling manager Cam Dickison, from a
but a new 100-foot-high mural a 100-foot-tall mural of Prince in Minneapolis. production perspective, the main
in his hometown of Minneapolis challenge was the small footprint
makes that a literal statement. The of the bandstand location, and
enormous artwork—a $500,000 the timing that they had to work
project known as “Crown Our within—since the street could not
Prince”—was under development be closed during the day.
for seven years, and was created by “With the stage itself needing
Florida street painter Hiero Veiga. to be constructed in a very small
For the mural’s unveiling, a full- area, we opted to build sound wing
on block party was held, complete platforms and mounted the P.A. on
with live music heard through a those instead of rigging from the
Martin Audio system provided by stage,” he said. “We love working
regional sound company Slamhammer Audio. Scocchera was on monitors, and Matt Fradley with the Prince Organization and honoring his
The reveal party was a free event, which mixed FOH for the rest of the show, which was legacy while showing the world that Minneapolis
brought several thousand people flocking to heard through a combination of eight Martin is more than just a fly-over city. We have done
downtown Minneapolis’ Ramp A. Both of Prince’s Audio W8LC Compacts, eight WS218X subs multiple events with the Organization and the
sisters made appearances, and the crowd was and a pair of W8LM Mini for front fills. For Minneapolis Downtown Council over the years,
entertained with performances from Prince cover delays—set at the FOH position and shooting including the ‘Prince Live on the Big Screen’
band Dr. Mambo’s Combo as well as DJ Mickey back toward the rear of the crowd—they turned events. These are the two main forces that
Breeze. While Dr. Mambo’s Combo brought in to a pair of Martin Audio CDD-LIVE and CSX- turned this Prince mural and block party dream
its own sound engineer, Slamhammer’s Brian LIVE118B subs. into a reality.” ■

Volume Streaming Service

Centers Around Mixer
Nashville, TN—Streaming live music has become the norm since the
pandemic began, but the technologies employed to make that happen
have been evolving at a blistering rate since March 2020. Every streaming
service has developed its own approaches, and for Nashville-based Volume,
that technological approach has come to center around an Allen & Heath
SQ-6 mixer.
Volume emerged early in the pandemic as a way for musicians to
continue performing and earning a living when live venues were shut
down. “One of the owners saw his musician friends struggling and
wondered how we could help,” recalled business development manager
The Volume streaming studio in Nashville.
Chris Austin. “We realized streaming wasn’t going away, so we dug in
further and started developing the platform.”
The current production setup makes use of the SQ-6 because, said built-in 32-channel 96kHz USB interface. “I hook up a laptop running Pro
Austin, who also works as the production director for Volume, “The SQ Tools and I can do full multitracking for the artists that want it,” added
does everything we need. We use the onboard effects, grouping, and Austin. “Everything is super easy to set up, and the artists gain deliverables
customization…even the default show file already sounds great.” SQ Series that they can distribute to fans.”
consoles feature 48 channels of 96 kHz digital audio processing, along with As Volume grows, Austin hopes to expand into more areas of entertainment.
36 buses and 8 stereo FX engines. “We’ve got boxing matches, comedy, and we’re looking to feature record
When multitrack recording is needed, Austin makes use of the SQ’s producers giving lessons on mixing to an online audience.” ■

mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X 27
on the cover

The Mix Lab is controlled by a 64-channel,

dual-operator Avid S6 console and includes
a full-range 9.1.6 ATC monitoring system.

28 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
 Benjamin
Wallfisch’s
Dolby Atmos Playpen
The flexibility
T
he very name “Santa Monica” conjures
of mixing music, up images of the beach, palm trees
and an iconic pier, but the Coastal
re-recording California town is also home to a significant
to picture, and number of sound studios, more than a handful
mastering it all of post-production houses and, of course, the
distinguished Remote Control, Hans Zimmer’s
home base and composer gestation tank.
By Lily Moayeri
Santa Monica is now able to brag about another
state-of-the-art facility: composer Benjamin
Wallfisch’s The Scoring Lab. The UK-born-and-
bred, L.A.-based Wallfisch has a solid amount of
composing credits to his name: Shazam!, Mortal
Kombat, It and It Chapter 2, The Invisible Man,
as well as the upcoming Flash (2023) and the
Ron Howard-directed film, Thirteen Lives. So he
was well-established in the scoring space when
Zimmer brought him to Remote Control, working
together on Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk and
Hidden Figures. Building a custom, high-level and
progressive studio like The Scoring Lab, however,
had been a dream of Wallfisch’s going back to his
teenage years.
“I grew up with musician parents, and they
would often invite me to recording sessions,”
says Wallfisch, sitting in The Mix Lab studio
of The Scoring Lab’s practical and aesthetically
pleasing layout. “They’re classical musicians,
so it was always with an orchestra. Sometimes
they’d be in churches, sometimes in dedicated
studios. I was fascinated with the process.
“When I was 15, a production music library
PHOTO: Taiyo Watanabe
gave me a chance to write some news idents,”
he continues. “My grandma smuggled me out
of high school and dropped me off at CTS
Studios in Wembley. This is the ’90s, so they
mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X
had huge tape machines and a very complex,
beautiful desk. For me, it was like walking into
Disneyland. That experience cemented my love
for the process of creating recorded music.”
Wallfisch is an accomplished pianist with
an impressive traditional music education
that includes degrees from London’s Guildhall
School, the Royal Northern College of Music (“I
went in a pianist and came out a composer”),
and a master’s from the Royal Academy of
Music. Prior to composing film scores, he was
conducting world-renowned orchestras. This
translated smoothly to scoring, which, in turn,
led to the conception of The Scoring Lab.
“The idea to build my own space came out
of the practical need for a bigger room,” says
Wallfisch. “For seven years, I was in a very small
room at Remote Control, trying to do playback
meetings with eight, nine clients. It got to the
point where you couldn’t fit the people in the
room. It’s very rare for bigger rooms to come
up at Remote Control, so I started looking for
a space.”
IN THE RIGHT SPACE
Wallfisch found a former art gallery in one of
Santa Monica’s pristine bow-truss warehouse
complexes. He snatched it up and enlisted Peter
Grueneisen of nonzero\architecture to design
the studio. Grueneisen has his fingerprints all
over Remote Control, as well as DreamWorks
Animation dub stages and Fox scoring stages, to
name just a few spots.
The initial impetus for The Scoring Lab was
as a writing space for Wallfisch, but once the
composer heard the Dolby Atmos mix of his
29
PHOTO: Taiyo Watanabe
Blade Runner 2049 score (for which sound mixer
Ron Bartlett was nominated for an Academy
Award), Wallfisch was determined to build a
Dolby Atmos-certified mix room from scratch,
while allowing for mixing in 7.1, 5.1 and stereo,
as well.
The vision for building his room proved a
lot easier than actually getting it completed.
The Mix Lab is centered around a 64-channel,
dual-operator Avid S6 console with two M40
Master Touch modules, surrounded by an array
of speakers: 12 ATC SCM45A Pro monitors for
height and surrounds, three ATC SCM150ASL
Pro for left, right and center, and three
JL Fathom f113v2 subwoofers for the low-
frequency effects.
Getting the City of Santa Monica to sign off
on this setup, and getting Dolby to sign off on
the studio’s Atmos certification, was another
story. “The city was saying we couldn’t get
a planning permit because we put too much
downward force on the framing and it was too
dangerous,” says Wallfisch, who spent 18 months
building the studio with Grueneisen. “Dolby
were incredibly tough and stringent about how
the room had to hit their standards, which was
great. It meant we were pushed really hard to not
cut any corners at all.
“Dolby required ATC SCM45 speakers because
of the full-range nature and the size of the
room,” he continues. “At that time, ATC didn’t
make speakers that can be flown on the ceiling.
SCM45s are normally active speakers, so they
30 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
A light, modern, airy style runs through the
common areas of The Scoring Lab facilities.
have very heavy amplifiers. I was adamant about
getting ATC speakers, so I talked to them about
making us customized speakers, and they did.
The ones they created for the studio are passive
SCM45s, which takes off most of the weight.”
The Mix Lab, which is floated on 14 inches
of sand to reduce transmission, is designed to
be adaptable to the user’s needs. As a studio for
hire since October 2020, it has seen clients such
as the Netflix documentary Operation Varsity
Blues: The College Admissions Scandal, scored
by Leopold Ross (brother to composer Atticus).
Mixed by Christopher Jenkins and Sal Ojeda, it
was the first project to be completed at The Mix
Lab. The two also mixed Billie Eilish’s music-
driven Happier Than Ever Disney+ film in The
Mixing Lab.
Some of the other projects mixed there
include episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi and The
Orville by Shawn Murphy and Erik Swanson,
who also mixed Yo-Yo Ma there. Niko Bolas has
mixed Neil Young, Rod Stewart and Lindsey
Buckingham in the room, while Alecks Von Korff
mixed Muse, Cam Trewin did Rüfüs du Sol and
Ari Morris mixed Moneybagg Yo. Mix engineers
Steve Genewick, Nick Rivas, Ryan Gilligan, Jon
Taylor, Scott Smith and Ken Caillat have also
spent time in The Mix Lab.
FLEXIBILITY BY DESIGN
More than a mix studio, The Mix Lab also
serves as a Dolby Atmos mastering space, a dub
stage and re-recording studio with an ADR/
PHOTO: Taiyo Watanabe
A small sampling of The Mix Lab’s quality outboard
offerings, from top-down: Manley Massive Passive
EQ, Shadow Hills compressor and Bricasti Design
M7M reverb.
overdub booth with top-of-the-line condenser
microphones and Grace Design M108 preamps.
Additionally, The Mix Lab has an extensive
collection of outboard gear, including a Bricasti
Design M7M reverb, Maag Audio EQ4M and
Manley Massive Passive equalizers, Shadow Hills
compressor and Focusrite 16R, A16R, HD32R and
D64R converters. In his technology selections,
Wallfisch’s intention was to encourage experi-
mentation by anyone who uses the space.
“Because this technology is still in its infancy,
everyone uses it slightly differently,” he says.
“What really excited me and motivated me to
make this place was the idea that it could become
a real hub for people to come through and
try things with this collective mentality, where
everyone’s still figuring out what it means. We
want it to feel like a private living room where
you can lock yourself away and do crazy things
musically. There are no limits. It’s all about that
laboratory kind of philosophy.”
Universal Music Publishing Group furnished

PHOTO: Taiyo Watanabe
Wallfisch with the masters of songs from some
of their top artists to serve as in-house demos.
These included The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”
and Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy.” These sound huge
and crystal clear when Wallfisch plays them
back through the ATCs. His reference for an
immersive “upmix” is Elton John’s “Rocket Man”
by Greg Penny, which he likes, in part, for its
simplicity.
“It is a powerful, emotional experience when
you hear non-film music mixed in Atmos,”
Wallfisch says. “The clarity of the vocal
performance because it’s completely isolated
on one speaker, the exact nuances of how the
percussionist might be performing—these make
you feel like you are in the room with them.
Hearing upmixes of The Beatles, you realize just
how pioneering the mixing was, how bold it
was. They were using the limitations of putting
everything left and center as a feature. Now,
when you’re able to do the exact opposite, it’s
almost like you’re checking yourself not to go
overboard, and to still start from that place
where the music is what is making the decisions,
not the technology.”
MIXING UP THE PROCESS
When writing and recording, Wallfisch keeps his
focus on the music and the performance, and
not on how it might be mixed immersively. His
conducting experience comes into play when
arranging the musicians, never approaching the
orchestra as a fixed entity with the traditional
placement of the instruments.
Says Wallfisch, “Depending on the project,
sometimes I have the violins opposite each other
and the bass in the middle, because it’s a score
where there’s a lot of melody in the strings and
The Scoring Lab’s writing room, set
up for 5.1 and 7.1 playback.
I don’t want it all to be coming from the left.
Sometimes I’ll record the brass separately and
have the horns in the middle. I may pan a little
bit to the left in the final just so the moments
when the horns are absolutely in the forefront of
the melody; you want them on the screen.
“Even though the combination of orchestral
instruments has been around for years,” he
continues, ”we’ve only gotten started with what
we can do with an orchestra. There’s still so
much uncharted territory, and that includes
how it’s recorded, for sure—but you don’t want
to get too tricks-y. You don’t want to distract.
It’s about using Atmos in a way where you’re
giving that performance of the orchestra its best
possible airing.”
To that end, Wallfisch works collaboratively
with engineers in the studio to determine
the best microphone placement. For Thirteen
Lives, which he recorded at Air Studios with
Peter Cobbin, they had an additional pair of
microphones exactly matched with the wide
microphones hung seven feet above. These
would go to the speakers on the outer part
of the Atmos bed. Another four microphones
were placed in a square around where the
surround microphone would be. An additional
four microphones were hung directly above the
orchestra, which would pick up certain parts
more so than others.
“Making an Atmos mix is not necessarily about
absolute realism,” Wallfisch says. “It’s about a
perceived immersion. That can be something
you create after the fact with processing and
panning and reverbs. In that mix, we used the
quad of surround microphones with a lot of
creative panning with reverbs and using slight
delays on the other microphones, sending them
mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X
PHOTO: Taiyo Watanabe
It was important to Wallfisch that he receive Dolby
Atmos certification, and he proudly displays the fact.
into the Atmos configuration like that.”
In contrast, for Blade Runner 2049, which was
scored entirely with electronics, the masters
were in 5.1 and the re-recording mixer, Ron
Bartlett, created the entire Atmos experience
and it worked perfectly. Wallfisch feels it’s best
to have a detailed version and one that is less
“channel-intensive” or “object-intensive.”
“I’ve always tried to not get in the way of the
re-recording mixer when it comes to Atmos
decision-making,” Wallfisch says. “What I’m
finding now, especially with the spatial audio
requirements of music releases, I’ll do an Atmos
mix and a 7.1 mix at the same time so there are
options. Then we do an album mix in full Atmos,
where we have time to really dial it in for the
listening experience. That’s probably going to
become more and more how we work. Maybe
eventually we’ll get away from the 7.1 part of that
process. It’s a transition right now.”
Wallfisch points out that composers have
the luxury of having their music presented to
audiences in a movie theater in Atmos, which
pushes him to embrace the musical storytelling
part of the experience, as well as the physical
three-dimensional experience of the music.
“The flip side of that is, it can be very tempting
to go overboard,” he acknowledges. “You’ve got
joysticks on the mixing board. You’ve got an
arpeggiated synth. The temptation is to fly that
all around the theater—but is that going to serve
that moment dramatically? Is it going to just be
distracting? It’s all about the context. It’s easy to
underestimate the raw power of an orchestra,
especially in film music. Capturing the power
of that live experience in as much detail as
possible, is what I’m trying to do when it comes
to Atmos.” ■
31
PHOTO: Anna Belmehran

32 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
 Wilco
live in
the loft
Return to the Stage Inspires Cruel Country Album
By Barbara Schultz
Wilco is, from left: Pat Sansone,
Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche, John
Stirratt, Mikael Jorgensen (seated on
the ground) and Nels Cline.
mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X
fter many months of solitary music making,
the members of Wilco resumed their Sky Blue
Sky music festival in Riviera Maya, Mexico, last
January. The band performed three headlining
sets with support from more than a dozen bands,
including Spoon, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Tank
and the Bangas, special guest Mavis Staples, and
others. Wilco’s return to the stage was extra
sweet, as they reunited with fans and musical
friends, including the band’s engineer/producer,
Tom Schick.
“I wasn’t working with them in Mexico, but
they were nice enough to invite me and my
family,” Schick says. “That was my first time
traveling in a couple of years, and to have
everybody together again was so much fun—
really a cathartic feeling. When we came back
home, everybody decided to get together in the
studio. They wanted to keep playing live, so I
set everything up in The Loft for a live record,
not really knowing what to expect. It was the
first time in two years that the guys were in the
room together.
“Jeff showed a song to everyone, and
everybody learned it and they did a few takes,”
Schick continues. “When we listened back,
it was so exciting—the emotion in the room
with everybody playing together and recording
together was amazing. So, we just kept going.”
That first song that the band tracked became
“I Am My Mother,” the first track on the album
Cruel Country (May 2022, dBpm Records). Like
33

At their stations in The Loft are (L-R): Jeff Tweedy, Nels Cline,
Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen. At the far left, engineer
Tom Schick’s silhouette can be seen in the “control room.”
so many post-pandemic releases, the album feels
like celebration and sadness in equal measure,
but the sound is vintage Wilco: country twang
meets moody tones meets Byrds-like vocal
harmonies and soulful rhythms.
“It was a live take, even a live vocal,” Schick
says. “The backing vocals were the only things
we overdubbed, and that song became the
template. After two years of everybody working
in their own rooms and passing around tracks,
we were just capturing the chemistry that these
guys have together—no worrying about bleed
Jeff Tweedy
34 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
PHOTO: Jamie Kelter Davis
and no worrying about mistakes.”
Whether Wilco are recording live or piece
by piece, Schick sets up stations for all the
musicians in the studio, each ready to go at any
time. When Mix spoke with him in June, he was
actually in The Loft, so he walked the studio
from station to station describing the setup:
“I’ll start with Jeff,” Schick says. “He was in
a corner with a Neumann 563 on his acoustic
guitar and an SM7 on his vocal. Those both
went through a Neve BCM10 with 1073 mic
pre’s. We had an 1176 on his vocal and a
PHOTO: Jamie Kelter Davis
A small sampling
of guitars
at-the-ready
in The Loft.
Chandler TG1 on the acoustic.
“Next to him was Nels [Cline’s] station. He
mainly had a Milkman amp with a 57. There was
also a LOMO 19a19 microphone that I would
use on Nels whenever he played an acoustic
instrument like a dobro, and I used that same
mic later when we did background vocals.
“Nels’ amp also went through a Neve BCM10
and into a Manley ELOP compressor, and the
LOMO was going through the Neve and an 1176.
“And then right next to Nels was John
[Stirratt’s] bass station; that was a B15 amp with
an [Electro-Voice] RE20 on it and a Somewhere
Sound Detroit Gearbox DI—that’s designed to
sound like Motown, and it sounded great.
“Right behind John is Glenn [Kotche] in our
drum booth, which is made of sliding scaffolds
on wheels, so the drums were somewhat isolated,
but not totally closed off. I used an AKG D112 on
kick, 57 on the snare, and a pair of Coles ribbon
mics for overheads, and a Neumann 563; the
PHOTO: Mark Greenberg
Glenn Kotche’s drum-miking setup seen from above.
The drum “booth” is created from sliding scaffolds on
wheels, so the kit can be more or less isolated.
one on acoustic guitar belongs to me, and this
one belongs to Jeff. It just just sits right in front
of the drum kit, and I use it to add a little bit
of brightness. Also, one 421 and one 441 would
float around for either a hi-hat or toms. I didn’t
mike each tom individually—just if something
needed it, I’d throw up one of those dynamic
floater mics.
“The drums are all going through API mic
pre’s. The Loft has a 500 Series rack, including
512c and 550b EQs, so it’s almost like having
another API console in addition to our Neve
Broadcast board. I love the sound of the guitars
going through the Neve and drums going
through the API. Kick and snare go through a
dbx 160 compressor, and overheads go through
the 2264s on the main console. The 563 kit mic
goes through a Distressor.
“Next to Glenn, we had Pat [Sansone’s] station,
with an amp line [miked via a Shure SM57] and
a DI line that he would mix and match. He had
a Wurly and a Mellotron, and most of the time, I
would just switch the cable to whichever he was
playing, but I also had a second DI because there
were a couple of tracks where he was doing two
Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansome.
things at once. He can be like an octopus!
“Next to Pat, there are three pianos: a baby
grand that’s miked up with a pair of 414s, an
upright with a 57 just on the back of it, and a
tack piano next to the upright, so we could just
move the 57 behind the tack piano. Pat’s gear
went through API pre’s, and his amp has another
Distressor. The baby grand piano also had a
Manley stereo Vari-mu compressor, and the tack
piano and the upright piano went through the
Chandler TG1.
Guitarist Nels Cline
PHOTO: Jamie Kelter Davis
PHOTO: Jamie Kelter Davis
“There’s something else we did that Mike
[Jorgensen] came up with: In the upright, he put
felt on the strings so that the hammers would hit
the felt, and it made a really cool sound that is
like a cross between a Wurly and a piano. On the
song ‘All Across the World,’ that sound is pretty
prominent.
“Speaking of Mike, his station was next to Pat.
He basically had his laptop, a couple of organs
and amplifiers, and a little mixer. I give him two
lines coming out of the mixer with a stereo DI,
and we have a couple of 57s that would move
around to whatever he needed: a pair of amps
if he was doing a stereo thing to the amps, or to
the Leslie cabinet.”
The band tracked in a couple of two-week
sessions in January and February, with Schick
capturing everything to Pro Tools and roughing
out mixes as they went. The album was complete
and mastered by Bob Ludwig by the end of
March.
“We often record to tape, but in this case,
tape would have slowed us down,” Schick says.
“We didn’t even do too many edits. It was a very
seamless process, just capturing the moment.” ■
AKG K371-BT Headphones
The K371-BT serves double-duty as a wired studio
headphone (like the AKG K371), while adding
Bluetooth (5.0) connectivity for engineers on
the go. The over-the-ear, closed-back model was
designed for maximum sound isolation and superior
bass response. AKG equipped the headphones with
hefty 50mm drivers, for an extended frequency range
of 5 Hz to 40 kHz. The ear cups are made of memory
foam–like material that contours to an individual’s ears
for maximum comfort over long periods. Both ear cups swivel by 90 degrees,
making the K371-BTs also suitable for DJ use. Three different connector
cables are included: 9.8-foot and 3.9-foot straight, and a 9.8-foot coiled.
NEW STUDIOHEA
KRK Systems KNS 8402
KRK Systems recently updated its KNS line of studio
headphone to the 6402 and 8402, Both models
are closed-back, circumaural (over and around the
ear) designs with the KNS 8402 updated for and
aimed at pro studio use. The KNS series phones use
40mm dynamic drivers with neodymium magnets
for a rated impedance of 36 ohms. They are rated
at 0.1% total harmonic distortion while handling
500mW per driver. Sensitivity on the KNS 8402
is 97 dBSPL @ 1mW, with maximum SPL of 124
dB. Frequency response is specified as 5 Hz – 23
kHz. All the KNS headphones come in matte black
only and are made using an impact-resistant plastic
material that makes them super lightweight. The
premium leatherette, memory-foam ear cups are
easily field-replaceable.
36 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
Audeze MM-500 Manny
Marroquin Series
Manny Marroquin has added another job on top of
being a Grammy-winning engineer/producer, restaurant
owner and owner of Larrabee Studios in Los Angeles. At
NAMM in June, Audeze announced that Marroquin would
serve as the company’s new Head of Professional Products,
introducing him on the show floor alongside the new MM-500
headphones that bear his signature. The MM-500’s 90mm planar magnetic
driver features a frequency range of 5 Hz - 50 kHz, with a max SPL of
>130 dB and THD+N of <0.1% @ 100 dB SPL, 1 kHz, providing lightning-
fast transients, accurate frequency response and trusted mix translation.
With premium leather earpads, an adjustable spring steel headband and a
machined aluminum structure, the MM-500s weigh a fraction over 1 pound.
Neumann NDH 30
In May, Neumann introduced the new NDH 30
open-back headphone as a reference-class
studio headphone for mixing and mastering
applications in both stereo and immersive
formats. While the headphone retains the
metal construction of the closed-back NDH
20, it features a new acoustic system design,
including optimized and positioned dynamic
drivers intended to recall planar magnetic
transducers. It is said to have a low harmonic
distortion and uses frequency-selective
absorbers to shape an even response across
the audio spectrum. Long-term comfort Røde NTH-100
was a consideration addressed with large, Australian microphone manufacturer Røde has released an
soft earpads, and aiding transportation, the increasing number of products aimed at podcasters and
headphone is foldable. The company also touts content creators. Earlier this year, the company introduced
the headphone’s spatial resolution, attributing its first-ever headphone: the NTH-100 professional over-ear
it to the fact that the drivers are made “to model. Built in Sydney and featuring a modular design, the
extremely low tolerances” and because it phones sport custom-matched 40mm dynamic drivers based
comes with an “internally balanced cable, which around a custom voice coil with a four-layer aluminum alloy as
improves channel separation.” its core, a stiff triple-layer Mylar diaphragm, and a rare-earth
neodymium magnet, aiming to provide low levels of distortion
and an accurate response across a broad frequency range.
The ergonomic ear cups and headband cushions are outfitted
with Alcantra-covered memory-foam for noise isolation; their
interiors contain a CoolTech gel which absorbs and dissipates
heat in an effort to lessen listening fatigue. In a nice touch,
both ear cups feature an input for the included dual-ended
TRRS cable.
Austrian Audio Hi-X65
Austrian Audio’s Hi-X65 headphones
incorporate the still-relatively-new (but on-
fire) company’s Hi-X Drive Technology that
begins with a 44mm (1.73 inches) diameter
driver, a ring magnet system and a copper-
plated aluminum voice coil. The Hi-X65 is
said to provide excellent stereo imaging
and low total harmonic distortion (measured
at <0.1% at 1 kHz, with up to a “three-times
better” measurement in the bass). Frequency range
is stated as 5 Hz – 28 kHz, with 110 dB SPL/V impedance.
Maximum comfort is provided through a flexible headband
and padded ear cups that swivel 180 degrees. The Hi-X65
comes with both 3-meter and 1.2-meter detachable cables,
with 3.5-mm connectors at both ends.
ADPHONES
Shure SRH840A
Shure has a long and rich legacy of providing quality
headphones for the studio and stage. The new
SRH840As follow that tradition in updating the
SRH840 with a new look, minor sonic improvements
and a couple of accessory changes.The SRH840A
features a circumaural (over-ear), closed-back design,
making them appropriate for tracking. Shure bills
them as “monitoring headphones.” Shure says the
SRH840A features some “nuanced” improvements
to the sound, resulting in lower harmonic distortion
and more precise left-right driver matching. The
frequency response of the 40mm driver is reported
as 10 Hz – 22 kHz; impedance is 38 ohms. The
SRH840A weighs in at 0.6 pounds, with plush ear
cushions, adjustable headband, and both
ear cups able to swivel. It comes with
a 9.8-foot straight cable.
beyerdynamic DT 700
PRO X , DT 900 PRO X
Late last year, beyerdynamic introduced its
new PRO X line, featuring DT 700 PRO X and
DT 900 PRO X headphones. The closed-back
DT 700 PRO X can be used for studio or mobile production, while the
circumaural, open-back DT 900 PRO X is aimed at professional monitoring,
mixing and mastering. Each model makes use of the new STELLAR.45 driver,
based around a strong neodymium magnet and a lightweight voice coil made
of copper-plated, high-tech wire. Used in conjunction with a newly developed
three-layer speaker cone with integrated attenuating layer, the new PRO X
headphones have an efficient driver system that has an impedance of 48
ohms. Smooth, gray velour ear pads are complemented by soft memory
foam in the spring-steel bracket construction headband.
Pro Audio’s Hottest
Product Category,
Two Years Running
By The Mix Staff
Sennheiser HD 400 PRO
Sennheiser makes a range of headphones—from
reference-quality to workhorse, affordable studio
models—that few manufacturers can match. The
company’s new HD 400 PRO studio reference
headphones fit right in for use in mixing, editing and
mastering applications. Built around a lightweight,
open-back design fitted with soft velour ear pads, they
are the first open studio headphones in Sennheiser’s
Focal Clear PRO line, and offer a wide frequency response of
6 Hz – 38 kHz. The Sennheiser-developed 120-
Mg Professional
ohm transducers include a diaphragm made from a
Focal’s new Clear Mg Professional (Clear Magnesium proprietary polymer blend that, when working with
Professional) Headphones differ from their the headphones’ driver magnets, is said to provide
namesake with the addition of a magnesium cone deeper bass. Distortion is below 0.05% (measured
for greater dynamics and tonal balance across the at 1 kHz, 90 dBSPL). The transducers sit at a slight
full audio spectrum. The circumaural, open-back angle, emulating the triangular listening position
design incorporates 1-5/8-inch (40mm) full-range common to a studio sweet spot.
speaker drivers with Magnesium M-shaped inverted
domes, combined with the frameless 1-inch (25mm)
diameter and ¼-inch (5.5mm) high copper voice coil.
The open grille inside the ear cup extends the high
frequencies and follows the ‘M’ profile of the cone
more closely to further reduce adverse effects. With
a 24 kHz breakup, the high frequencies are extremely
linear and the transient signals are respected.
mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X
Tech
Dangerous Music 2-BUS-XT Analog
Summing Mixer
Fully re-engineered from its predecessor, the
new single-rackspace 2-BUS-XT leverages
the six-layer board summing circuitry of the
2-BUS+, designed by company co-founder Chris
Muth, to produce super-wide stereo imaging
and ultra-high-resolution depth of field, with
tons of headroom. The 2-BUS-XT allows users
to dial in as little or as much complexity to
their tracks as they wish via two custom color
circuits. A variable Coherence control creates
dimensional asymmetry, by progressively
elevating the harmonic content by bringing up
the detail as the levels are reduced, then blending
the result with the source mix, in a similar
manner to parallel compression. The associated
switches offer a true hard-wire bypass of the
color circuitry. Multiple 16-channel 2-BUS-XT
units may be stacked to accommodate higher
channel counts through the external input.
The unit may additionally be paired with the
Dangerous 2-BUS+ to give users a total of five
different analog color circuit options or with the
D-BOX+ to add monitor control and 24 channels
of summing.
ASI Audio 3DME Gen 2 IEM System
ASI Audio x Sensaphonics has introduced the
3DME Gen2 Active Ambient Monitoring System,
38 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
offering new features based on user requests,
along with extended battery life. Among the
new features aimed at touring musicians, the
Monitor In signal can now bypass the limiting
and EQ stages to enable monitor engineers
to maintain full, unimpeded control over the
mix they deliver. Other new options address
listener comfort. The internal limiter’s lowest
Limiter Threshold setting is now down from
84 dB-SPL to 76 dB-SPL, along with subtle
improvements in the attack characteristic of
the limiter and the linearity of extremely high
frequencies. The 3DME Gen2 system consists of
Active Ambient earphones with embedded binaural
MEMS ambient microphones, a bodypack mixer/
controller/DSP processor/headphone amplifier,
and the Bluetooth-enabled ASI Audio App, which
allows untethered adjustment of the system’s
7-band stereo EQ and limiter threshold.
Empirical Labs Arousor LT Plug-in
This lower-cost version of the Arousor plug-
in, which provides an emulation of the famed
Distressor hardware unit, looks just like the top
portion of Arousor. The gain reduction meter
and the four main knobs—IN (input), ATT (attack
speed), REL (release speed) and OUT (output
level)—are all the same. One big difference is
that Arousor LT gives you considerably fewer
ratio choices. Where Arousor offers 12, Arousor
LT gives you four: 1:1, 3:1, 8:1 and 20:1. Arousor
LT also lacks the Attack Modification (AtMod)
knob, the Saturation knob, the Detector HP filter
knob, the Detector Sidechain EQ and the Blend
control (for dialing in parallel effects). Instead,
Empirical Labs set each of these parameters to
static values. According to the company, Arousor
LT uses the “identical processing” as Arousor.
new products
Lewitt Modular Mic System
The MTP W950 modular mic system from Lewitt
features a 1-inch true condenser capsule with
extreme rear rejection, making it appropriate for
getting live vocals to cut through a mix. With rear
rejection of greater than 90 percent throughout
its entire frequency range, the capsule maintains
its full potential while being safe from feedback
and reducing bleed. The microphone capsule can
be detached from the XLR-equipped handle and
is compatible with industry-standard wireless
systems of different brands. Two switchable
polar patterns are underneath the head basket
(cardioid and supercardioid), with a 120 Hz low-
cut filter and a 12 dB attenuation to deal with
loud singers or adapt the capsule to the rest of
the signal chain. Its dual-layer design makes the
MTP W950 immune to wind and pop noise and
protects the capsule from condensation with a
protective drip guard layer. The cupping-safe
design helps to avoid tonal coloration when
gripping the head basket. The MTP W950 system
will be available in Q4 2022.
Solid State Logic X-Gate Plug-in
SSL has introduced the new X-Gate plug-in,
making it the fourth new plug-in to be added
to the company’s Complete Bundle in recent
months. Featuring a rolling waveform graph,
mid/side processing options, and tweakable
hysteresis using independent open and closed
thresholds, X-Gate builds upon the company’s
knowledge of hardware gates and advanced
workflow interfaces. In addition to M1 processor
compatibility, X-Gate introduces variable lookahead
times and zero additional plug-in latency at
the lowest setting, making it a tool for tracking
situations where mic bleed can distract from the
primary source material. EXP and Duck modes
allow either transparent gating or ducking
options. The new X-Gate plug-in is available in
VST2, VST3, AAX and AU formats.
Cerwin-Vega VEGA Series
Studio Monitors
Cerwin-Vega has introduced its new VEGA
Series of studio monitors—VEGA4S, VEGA6S,
VEGA8S and VEGA10S—featuring a new custom
bi-amplifier on the first three models, while
the VEGA10S incorporates a custom triple-
amplifier, all based around Class D topology,
reportedly offering large headroom and low
noise amplification. The cabinets are all wood,
cut via CNC machines to ensure smooth, round
edges. An optional decorative grille makes use of
the company’s magnetic mounting system. The
DSP-controlled monitors come with embedded
Bluetooth 5.1 and SKAA Pro wireless technology,
in addition to traditional wired inputs. The
VEGA Series nearfield monitors are sold as a
pair-pack, consisting of a Hub and Satellite
monitor. An additional two VEGA satellite
monitors can be connected via SKAA wireless
technology without performance hindrance.
The VEGA Series speakers are expected to ship
in early Q4 2022.
Steinberg SpectraLayers Pro 9,
Elements 9
The updates to Steinberg’s spectral audio
processing software include an overall new
look that simplifies identifying features and
functions, but the big news is the addition of
“real-time audition” so that users can hear the
effects of spectral editing as changes are made,
aiming to increase the speed and efficiency of
the workflow. Also, dialog boxes are now non-
modal, allowing users to work freely anywhere
in the interface, even while a process dialog
is open. For example, the playhead can be
moved, selections changed, layers switched and
adjustments made, with all changes monitored
in real time. Speed of workflow is also at the
heart of the new Process and Tool presets. The
new Unmix Level process was a much-requested
feature that lets users divide one layer into
two, based on a user-selected amplitude split
point. Finally, an expanded, AI-assisted De-Bleed
process now shows the new Cursor Crosshair
view option for a more precise visual reference.
Allen & Heath Avantis Firmware V1.2
Allen & Heath has created a major update of its
Avantis firmware with the release of V1.2, adding
a next-generation RTA engine, Sennheiser
wireless integration and new additions to the
dPack bundle of DEEP processors. The new
RTA engine is built around a 61-band bar or
line display, which can be viewed behind the
PEQ curve for straightforward EQ decisions.
Additionally, a sonogram view helps to identify
room resonances or mix imbalances. All RTA
views are also visible on iPad and Director.
The dPack bundle includes three new DEEP
processors from the flagship dLive system:
Bus is modeled on a well-known hardware
compressor respected for its ability to glue
mixes together; Source Expander offers control
of threshold and depth for set-and-forget
operation; and Dual Threshold Expander is
intended for challenging environments. Finally,
Avantis’ wireless integration has been extended
to include Sennheiser’s 300/500, 2000 and 2050
wireless microphones, which can be monitored
from both the mixer and Director.
mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X
Ex Machina Ganymede 3-Way Monitor
The new coaxial, three-way Ganymede monitor,
which incorporates the same DSP and converters
as the company’s larger Pulsar and Quasar
speakers—includes a 7-inch LF driver, 5.5-inch
midrange and 1-inch tweeter, all using the same
Metamodal TX material as their larger siblings,
just,in a more compact footprint. The second-
generation DSP boards feature discrete AKM
AK5572EN and AK4493EQ AD/DA chips and
commensurately optimized clocking and analog
circuitry to improve the S/N ratio to 123 dBA. 5th
generation SHARC+ AD21565
DSPs provide up to four
times the available computing
power. The company says
Ganymede can maintain
phase linearity within ±15°
down to 30 Hz, and within
±5° from 80 Hz to 30 kHz.
Ganymede is expected to ship
by Q4 2022.
LEA Connect Series
1504 Amplifier
The new Connect Series 1504 four-channel
amplifier from LEA Professional, designed for
use in large installations, drives up to 1,500
watts per channel (into 2, 4 and 8 ohms, as well
as 70 Vrms and 100 Vrms) and is available in
Network Connect (1504) and Dante Connect
(1504D) versions. Both feature advanced DSP
that includes linear-phase FIR filters and up
to 4 seconds of delay. The Smart Power Bridge
feature allows for two Smart Power Bridge
channels that can turn the amp into a 2 x
3000–watt amplifier. Users can connect using
the amplifier’s built-in Wi-Fi Access Point, by
joining an existing Wi-Fi network, or using
a Local Area Network Ethernet connection.
The new Connect Series models also leverage
a built-in Amazon Web Services IoT Core that
provides systems integrators with secure remote
monitoring and control capabilities across LEA’s
entire lineup of IoT-enabled amplifiers through
the LEA Cloud. n
39
Tech // reviews
Focal Alpha Twin Evo
Breaking the Price Barrier for Quality Monitoring
By Mike Levine

W
hen I see or hear the name Focal, my first thought is
high-end monitors from France with prices to match,
but the manufacturer’s Alpha Evo range is surprisingly
affordable relative to its other professional monitors. Recently, the
company released a new flagship for the line: the Alpha Twin Evo.
Design-wise, it’s a departure from its siblings. Rather than a
biamplified configuration, the Alpha Twin Evo is triamplified. The
three drivers include two 6.5-inch woofers and a 1-inch tweeter that
sits above and between them. Focal equipped each monitor with
50 W amplifiers for each woofer and a 30 W amp for the tweeter.
The solidly built MDF cabinets were designed to be horizontally
oriented only. You’ll need enough room in your studio for the
22-inch width. Each monitor features two ports at the bottom—
one under each woofer. Focal manufactured the woofers with its
rigid composite Slatefiber material, designed for neutral frequency
response without distortion.
The 1-inch tweeter is Focal’s proprietary aluminum-inverted
dome type. According to the company, it exhibits lower directivity
than other tweeter types, making the sweet spot of the monitor
wider. In the box with each Alpha Twin Evo are protective metal
grilles for the woofers and the tweeter that snap in easily around
the drivers and have notches on the bottom and top, making
them easy to remove. To my ears, the grilles reduce the
monitor’s high-end response and output level ever
so slightly.
If you want to significantly adjust the
frequency response to fit your room, you can do
so with the built-in low- and high-shelving EQs.
The High knob offers ±3 dB between 4.5 kHz
and 35 kHz. The Low knob provides a whopping
±6 dB between 0 Hz and 250 Hz. These broad
EQs allow you to change the balance of the
tweeter and the woofers to compensate for
acoustic anomalies in your studio.
simultaneously.
The power switch resides on the rear panel, as does another
switch to turn on and off the Automatic Standby Mode. When it’s
engaged, the monitors go into Standby after 15 minutes of receiving
no signal, and the front panel LED turns from green to red. When
you next send a signal to the monitors, it takes a few seconds for
them to ramp back up, but it’s a small price to pay for the energy
savings it provides.
One of the other user-selectable options on the back is a
Sensitivity switch that toggles the operating level between 0 dB
and +6 dB, allowing you to adjust the monitors to fit your system.
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
A unique aspect of the Alpha Twin Evo is its twin-woofer design.
One of the woofers carries mainly bass frequencies (250 Hz and
below), the other handles the midrange, and you can control which
one does which. Because of the woofer’s horizontal orientation,
you can choose to have the midrange woofers toward the inside or
outside of your listening position.
To flip them, you only need to flick the Speaker switch on
each monitor to Left or Right. Focal recommends setting the left
The Alpha Twin Evo is designed to
be deployed horizontally.

THREE-WAY ACTION
Focal included three connectivity options on
each Alpha Twin Evo: XLR, balanced 1/4-inch,
and unbalanced RCA. Not only does this
arrangement give you options to fit almost any
system, but you can connect up to three sources

40 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
monitor to Right and the right
monitor to Left, which puts
the midrange woofers toward
the center and the bass on the
outside.
If you don’t read the manual,
you might assume the switches
are for designating the left and
right speaker rather than the
position of the bass and midrange
woofers. To avoid confusion,
Focal should have given the
control a more descriptive name,
like “Woofer Position.”
Regarding the manual, I have
good and bad news. The former
is that Focal includes a paper
manual and also posts a PDF
version on its site. The bad news The back panel offers three simultaneous input options and includes shelving filters, Auto Standby and more.
is that the manual is in multiple
languages, making it particularly hard to navigate loud levels, the most impressive aspect of the I also tried setting up the monitors in a 2.1
online. I understand the need to include the Alpha Twin Evos was their clarity and detail. system with my KRK S10.4 subwoofer. The result
various languages in the printed manual that goes Sources like acoustic guitars, hi-hats and hand was a big, full-range sound. I assume that with a
in the box. But for online, where printing costs percussion were vivid in the soundstage. I even matching Focal Sub, the results would be even
aren’t an issue, creating single-language manuals noticed some subtle high-end issues on one mix better. You might consider adding a sub if you’re
would be much more convenient. that I hadn’t heard on my regular monitors. producing hip-hop or EDM.
The manual not only combines languages I found the built-in shelving EQs well-voiced For the kind of music I produce—acoustic
but products, too. It covers the entire Alpha Evo and quite handy in my studio. I don’t usually instrumentals, rootsy rock and alt-country—I
line. This can lead to confusion over features need to adjust the high end on monitors, but the didn’t feel the need for a sub. I was extremely
(for example, the manual makes it sound like Alpha Twin Evos were so crisp and bright that I satisfied with the low-end response of the Alpha
the Alpha Twin Evos have mounting points, ended up turning the HF Shelving down by 2 dB Twin Evos on their own. The bass sounded
although they don’t). I’d like to see Focal create to take the edge off a little. impressively tight. I found it easier than with
product-specific manuals, particularly for the My studio tends to absorb bass, so I boosted my regular (8-inch) monitors to judge bass levels
online PDFs. the LF Shelving knobs by 2 dB. The result was and balance the kick drum versus the bass guitar.
bass frequencies that sounded fuller but never I credit the Alpha Twin Evos with inspiring
HEARING IS BELIEVING boomy or indistinct. me to finish some mixes for an instrumental
I set up the Alpha Twin Evos on monitor stands project of mine that had vexed me for a while. I
in my studio with heavy-duty monitor isolation PRODUCT SUMMARY was never satisfied with the results when mixing
pads underneath them. I used them as my COMPANY: Focal on my regular monitors, but the detail I heard
primary monitors for several weeks, doing PRODUCT: Alpha Twin Evo when using the Focals helped me produce mixes
several mixes and listening to various types of WEBSITE: www.focal.com that significantly surpassed my previous efforts.
recorded music. PRICE: $659 (each) Overall, I was extremely pleased with the
With a max SPL rating of 108 dB (peak at 1m), PROS: Extremely detailed in all frequency Alpha Twin Evos. Their clarity across the
the Alpha Twin Evos offer plenty of clean power. I ranges. Excellent value. Low- and high-shelving frequency spectrum is exceptional, and they
typically monitor at about 75 dB but occasionally filters helpful in compensating for room have plenty of power. The additional features
turn the volume up loud for comparison. When I acoustics. Three types of input formats. Up that Focal included, like the variety of input
did, the Focals stayed crisp and clean. to three simultaneous sources. Auto-Standby formats, shelving EQ and Auto Standby Mode,
In addition to monitoring from my normal feature saves energy. Metal speaker grilles are straightforward and useful.
near-field listening position, I tried moving back included. If you’re looking for professional-quality
a couple of feet and turning up the volume, and CONS: Supports horizontal positioning only. monitors for tracking and mixing music or
the sound quality remained excellent. With their “Speaker” switches are confusingly named. for post-production, and you’re okay with
power and size, you could probably use these Multi-language, multi-product manual horizontally oriented monitors, the Alpha Twin
monitors in a midfield configuration. inconvenient. Evos are an excellent choice at a surprisingly
Whether listening at soft, moderate or low cost. n

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Tech // reviews
PreSonus DM-7 Drum Mic Set
Remarkably Solid Sound for a Remarkably Low Price
By Rob Tavaglione
M
any manufacturers offer drum mic sets these days, with
many of them sounding good and quite affordable, too.
When I heard that Alan Parsons was an endorser of
PreSonus’ DM-7 (specifically as an end-user endorser, not a paid
endorser), I knew I had to hear this kit for myself.
A light-duty aluminum carrying case houses the entire DM-7
kit—one BD-1 dynamic kick drum mic, four ST-4 dynamics for snare
and tom-toms, two OH-2 pencil condenser mics for overheads, two
clips and windscreens for the OH-2s (the BD-1 and ST-4s have mic
stand adaptors built in)—which is only cables, a short stand and a
couple of overhead booms shy of a complete drum-kit recording
package. The four ST-4s come with drum-rim clips that use the
“European to American,” small-to-large thread adaptors.
THE KIT ON THE KIT
For some proper testing, I knew I needed a drummer with serious
chops, a wide range of styles, a good ear and a nice kit, too. I was
fortunate that Noel White was able to stop by. Noel has put in many
years and countless gigs drum-tech’ing and in-ear mixing for A-list
performers like Herbie Hancock, Sting, Josh Freese and Vinnie
Colaiuta. Noel has refined ears and skills for days from running a
studio business, as well.
We started out with my house kit, a five-piece mixed set of
oversized Ludwigs, Mapex and Premieres for a big-drum rock
sound. We set up in my A-room, a 16 x 12 x 9-foot room with
plenty of diffusion, absorption and corner bass trapping for a well-
42 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
balanced, small-room sound. Preamps were my typical Cranborne
Camden 500s (kick/snare, but without the use of any harmonic
enhancement), True Precision 8 (toms), and AMS Neve 4081
(overheads, with no EQ and just a little FET compression). I also
recorded with a few more mics—outside kick, snare bottom, hi-hat,
room ribbon—to see whether the DM-7 set could play well with
others and complete my usual drum sound.
Mounting the DM-7 set was quick, with no difficulties from
faulty accessories. The cardioid BD-1 screwed firmly onto my
kick stand and wasn’t too large or heavy, so getting through the
kick’s resonant head hole was easy and we got on-axis with beater
placement with little effort. The cardioid ST-4 mounted on snare
without much placement flexibility allowed by the clip/mount, but
in a spot that worked fine. Aimed more to my liking on tom-toms,
the ST-4’s clips don’t allow much range, but got the job done. The
OH-2’s clips weren’t as snug as I’d like (a little gaffer’s tape might be
wise for bouncy stages/risers), but they did hold firm through the
entire session.
All the mics had nice snug XLR connections, but the ST-4’s
proved to be a problem with my right-angle, tight-spot XLR mic
cables that I use for toms. It seems the ST-4’s connectors are
mounted upside-down, meaning that right-angle cables point
toward the drum center, not away from it like they should. Straight-
connector XLR cables are therefore recommended for the ST-4s and
will likely not be a problem, except for really tight drum kit setups
(i.e., jazz) with low-mounted cymbals.
BRING IN THE DRUMMER
Noel started laying down some
beats, and it was clear from the
start that this mic kit has plenty
of punch and an overall full/warm
presentation. Playback without
any EQ or processing showed a
largely neutral drum sound; tight
kick bottom with a nice little snap up-top
(reminiscent of a Shure Beta 52, but flatter); a
“definitely not a 57” snare tone that was a little
compressed, scooping some mid-mids out but
without a 57’s high-mid boost (reminiscent of
an sE V7); mid-focused toms with just enough
top-end definition but without cymbal bleed

PHOTO: Rob Tavaglione
Drummer Noel White at Crystal
Recording, near Charlotte, N.C.
problems (reminiscent of Sennheiser 604s); and
crisp and lean overheads that had some mids
artfully carved out and plenty way up-top, not
quite the “too much sizzle” as is often found with
budget small-diaphragm condensers.
There was quite a level difference between the
two OH-2s, right around 5 dB, which was a cause
for concern “matching-wise” but isn’t a real-
world problem. After all, that’s what input gain
pots are for. The OH-2s were plenty sensitive,
requiring only 20 dB of gain on overheads,
and sounded matched both frequency- and
dynamics-wise, so this isn’t much of a practical
issue.
I then applied all the usual techniques that you
would use on a rock drum sound (compression,
EQ, reverb, bus compression, saturation, and so
on) and found the kit sounding fabulous. I added
in the extra non-PreSonus mics, including the
room ribbon, snare bottom, kick out, and found
a totally finished sound that I could easily sell a
client on. I turned to Noel for his opinion, and
he was right there with me—satisfied with the
sound of the raw mics and more than pleasantly
surprised with the processed, “finished sound.”
We also tried out Noel’s Gretsch kit, which
produced similar results to my kit; the DM-7
sounds were natural, versatile and more than
adequate. Noel offered this about the overheads:
PRODUCT SUMMARY
COMPANY: PreSonus
PRODUCT: DM-7 drum mic set
WEBSITE: www.presonus.com
PRICE: $299
PROS: Very good sonic performance,
straightforward designs, low price
CONS: OH-2s not level-matched, ST-4
connectors are backward for right-angle mic
cables
PHOTO: Rob Tavaglione
The light-duty aluminum, foam-lined case
arrived, ready for review. Inset: A close-up of the
OH-2 pencil condenser mic, with included clip.
“Not remotely harsh and a very nice soft presence
above 4k. They sounded so nice I played cymbals
more than I normally do, feeling very inspired
how well the bells and softer, nuanced stuff just
sat so nicely with the rest of the kit mics.”
THE FINAL MIX
It was difficult, but I managed to do almost this
whole review without learning the cost of the
DM-7 set—that is, until I finished recording with
Noel and curiosity got the best of us. At $299, the
DM-7 set is definitely a steal, as I fully expected it
to cost double that and still be a really good deal.
Aside from two factors (the OH-2s not
matching in output level and the upside-down
ST-4 connectors), this is a completely satisfying
kit in-use that could capture a competent rock,
pop, country, hip-hop or jazz drum tone, live or
studio. Contained all in one small, portable case, mic and you’d have all the bases covered for
the DM-7 kit is a great solution for touring bands recording just about anything. For that matter…
on a budget, or home recordists with few funds Considering how well the DM-7 set performed
and big dreams. As Noel said, “If they hold up with the help of a few extra mics, I have to
on the road as well as they sounded at Catalyst, recommend that PreSonus make a deluxe DM-
I would recommend them for any studio or 10 kit, with two more OH-2s (room, ride, hat,
touring band on a budget.” snare bottom, etc.) and another BD-1 (double
It deserves mention that this mic kit offers kicks, extra floor toms, snare bottom, bass
versatility beyond drums, as I would expect good guitar, etc.). That would be a whole lot of drum
results with percussion, pianos, electric guitars, miking flexibility, sonic quality, affordability
basses and acoustic instruments, too. Throw and portability all in one package. I’ll bet Alan
in a large-diaphragm condenser and a ribbon Parsons would be pleased; I sure would be. n
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Tech // reviews
PSP Saturator and PSP Impressor
Monster Distortion Generator, Ultra-Smooth Dynamics Processor
By Michael Cooper
A
t the dawn of the Plug-in Age—if you’ll forgive my
coining an epoch just for we engineers—PSPaudioware
was one of the first developers to produce a convincing
emulation of the sonics produced by vacuum tubes. Two decades
later, the company’s new PSP Saturator plug-in lets you drive virtual
tubes and diodes, a digital clipper and—best of all—simulations
of magnetic tape and tape recorder responses that are so realistic
you’ll be wondering where they hid the metal reels.
But it gets even better. Place the Saturator in series with the
new super-smooth PSP Impressor dynamics plug-in, and you have
a killer combo for making individual tracks and full mixes sound
huge without blowing them up.
Walking both plug-ins up to the bleeding edge, I tested the Apple
Silicon-compatible AU versions in my M1 Max-loaded Mac Studio
running macOS Monterey 12.4 and the M1/Monterey-ready Digital
Performer 11.1.
PSP SATURATOR
PSP Saturator emulates our fave analog circuits by using three
independently operating (and separately bypassable) algorithms. As
you finesse three rotary controls in the left-center of the plug-in,
low-frequency processing adds bass harmonics and the iconic LF
“head bump” produced by analog tape recorders. Jockeying three
controls in the GUI’s right-center section processes high frequencies
to emulate—with high input-signal levels applied—analog tape’s
characteristic compression and related high-frequency loss, but
without increasing the level of distortion and aliasing.
Distortion is the domain of the main saturation algorithm,
which provides eight choices of nonlinearity curves to apply using
two controls—Saturation and Shape—at the GUI’s dead-center to
gently sweeten or crush your tracks.
Here’s how to work with Saturator: You activate controls
for LF processing by clicking the Low button to light it. Then
adjust the Freq control between 20 and 400 Hz to set the
frequency below which the algorithm applies processing. Turn up
the Warmth control to increase the head-bump effect (increasing
some unspecified low frequencies while attenuating others); the
virtual LED below the control illuminates yellow to orange to red
as processing depth increases, determined by your Level control’s
setting. “0.0,” the noon o’clock position, is the recommended
starting point for Level adjustments.
Most of the controls for high-frequency processing are analogous
44 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
to those for the LF processing. Illuminate the High switch to
activate the algorithm, then adjust the Freq control to set the cutoff
(adjustable from 1 to 20 kHz) above which processing takes place
at the depth determined by your Level setting. A separate virtual
LED lights, as in the LF-processing control section, to guide your
hand. The Softness control is unique; crank it clockwise to increase
soft-knee compression of high frequencies, just like analog tape
would impart.
At the center of the GUI, you can rotate the Shape control to
switch among eight different saturation curves (or “None,” which
bypasses the main saturator): Soft, Medium and Hard Valves
(emulated tube circuits); Warm (vintage) and Modern Tape; Soft
Clip (clipping like a driven diode would impart); Hard Clip (as
overloaded AD converters sound); and a “Ram” saturation curve
in the shape of a ram’s horn. (Yeah, I had to Google “ram image” to
fully conjure that one.)
Crank the Saturation control clockwise to drive your selected
saturation algorithm harder. There’s a separate virtual LED to
inform you if you’re ramming the saturation algorithm too hard
(pun, unfortunately, intended).
A phase-compensated Mix control lets you adjust the balance
of dry and processed signals before the inconspicuously important
Output control. Cranking the latter, you can drive a downstream
soft-knee limiter or soft-clip saturator—each with a ceiling level
fixed at 0 dBFS, and together bypassable—that can make a huge
difference in the plug-in’s sound.
Opening a hidden control panel reveals a sidechain highpass
filter (HPF) that affects what frequencies are dealt overall saturation.
Also accessed there are pre- and/or post-processing HPFs in the
audio path, “FAT” 4x-oversampling, and a smoothing effect for the
saturator (reducing aliasing).
PSP IMPRESSOR
A glance at PSP Impressor’s GUI only gives you a hint of the plug-
in’s power as a compressor, its raison d’être. (A separate saturator
and brick-wall limiter, both with fixed threshold and 0dbFS ceiling,
are also included.) By rotating the bypassable compressor’s Shape
control clockwise, you can select among six progressively harder
compression curves: Soft, Wide, Medium, Short, Sharp or Hard.
In practical terms, these run the gamut from extremely gentle,
mastering-style knees and ratios to soft- and hard-knee limiters;
toggling RMS and peak-detection modes (limiters by definition use

The controls for PSP Saturator’s two tape-emulation algorithms flank the Saturation and Shape controls used
by the main saturation algorithm. The latter offers eight styles of harmonics generation.
the latter) further refines those behaviors.
Select a feedback, feed-forward or combination
design for the level detector to metamorphose
the compressor’s sound from warm (like an
opto-electronic compressor) to transparent (like
a VCA-based one), or a mix of both. Attack
and release parameters have both wide-ranging
manual controls—including time multipliers—
and different auto settings. Adjust the Hold
control to maintain compression for up to 1
second in the absence of new peaks above
threshold, and engage Look(-ahead) mode to nip
any peaks in the bud.
Internal sidechain filters include highpass,
bell and equal-power types (with separately
adjustable frequency and Q controls for the bell,
and adjustable corner frequency for the HPF).
The filters can also be applied to an external
sidechain input, and you can mix internal and
external sidechain signals in any ratio.
A sidechain-listen function allows you to
hear the signal that’s conditioning the detector
as you work. Use manual or auto-makeup
gain to optimize the output level as you wish,
and the continuously variable Mix control for
parallel-compression effects. A hidden panel
includes controls for implementing “FAT”
16x-oversampling and other helpful goodies.
mixonline.com | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | M I X
PRODUCT SUMMARY
COMPANY: PSPaudioware
PRODUCT: PSP Saturator and PSP Impressor
WEBSITE: PSPaudioware.com
PRICE: PSP Saturator, $99; PSP Impressor,
$99
PROS: PSP Saturator’s tube- and (especially)
tape-emulation algorithms sound dynamite.
PSP Impressor sounds ultra-smooth on full
mixes and individual tracks, and is feature-rich,
including an outstanding limiter. Low-cost.
CONS: PSP Impressor isn’t an effective de-
esser or fast enough to produce FET-style
compression on drums. Both plug-ins are a
little buggy.
PSP Saturator and PSP Impressor both take
I/O VU metering to a sophisticated level. Not
only can you adjust the 0VU reference level in
dbFS (arguably de rigueur), each meter can also
show up to three levels at once—VU input,
VU output and peak—by means of as many
color-coded and shaded needles. VU and peak
levels are shown at once in peak-hold numerical
readouts that turn red—along with associated
virtual LEDs—to alert you if you’re risking crash-
and-burn output.
I encountered a few bugs common to both
plug-ins. The most serious, because it wasn’t
always obvious, was that they didn’t save their
“FAT” oversampling activations after a session
was closed. The plug-ins would also sometimes
open inside a much larger blank window with all
controls temporarily rendered inoperable. And
the names for my custom presets would often
revert (in the GUI’s main display, not the Finder)
to those for other presets I used as a starting
point in fashioning my own.
SERIAL KILLERS
I loved using both plug-ins in series, usually
with Impressor first in line. That way, I could
brake the levels of both dry signal and generated
harmonics at once.
Impressor was extremely effective at taming
a Nashville player’s overly bright electric guitar
track, playing arpeggios like stabbing knives.
Setting the plug-in for the fastest auto-attack
setting, peak-level detection and a Wide (fairly
gentle) knee, and—most important—using the
equal-power internal sidechain filter, the brittle
transients were smoothed beautifully without
45
Tech // reviews
ruining the underlying dynamics.
Following Impressor with Saturator made
the track sound better still: Adding low-
frequency (“head-bump”) processing below
278 Hz gave the track much-needed body, and
the Modern Tape algorithm, along with high-
frequency processing (compression) above 2.1
kHz, smoothed the digital track like it had
been recorded to tape. Fantastic!
The same plug-in combination totally
transformed an electric bass guitar track.
This time, I bypassed Impressor’s compressor
section and cranked its Input control to
drive the activated limiter stage slightly to
distortion. I then set up Saturator’s low-
frequency processor to deliver a hefty dose
of simulated head bump below 70 Hz, and
used its high-frequency processor to soften
frequencies above 2.2 kHz. ’Scuse me, did
someone print this track to 2-inch tape while
I wasn’t looking?
Slathering a kick drum track with Saturator’s
low-frequency processing below 52 Hz yielded
similarly amazing and analog-like results. I’d
be very hard-pressed to find another plug-in
that sounds so flattering on kick drum.
Impressor did an excellent job smoothing
PSP Impressor offers nearly every type of compressor feature under the sun, including
vocal levels. Meanwhile, used in moderation, feedback and feed-forward topologies, peak and RMS detection, six selectable knees, sidechain
especially with 4x-oversampling engaged, filters, and a limiter and saturator at its output.
Saturator’s Soft Valve algorithm sounded
exquisitely beautiful on digitally recorded male and female vocals Even choosing the hardest knee, and look-ahead and peak-level
alike, imparting a subtle, analog-like fullness, warmth and richness detection modes, the internal sidechain filter wasn’t powerful
to their sound. enough and the fastest attack time (0.10 ms) quick enough to de-
Both plug-ins—employing a light touch—sounded absolutely ess sibilants without also compressing loud vowel sounds. Using a
terrific on full mixes, this time with Saturator placed before radically equalized external sidechain input didn’t work, either. In
Impressor. Adding a little of Saturator’s head bump and Soft Valve my experience, a compressor must have a minimum attack time of
processing made the mix sound bigger and sweeter, respectively. around 60 microseconds to transparently de-ess vocals.
Impressor’s Soft knee and RMS settings compressed the mix But it’s also my experience that the best de-essers are plug-ins
transparently, and setting the sidechain’s HPF to around 100 Hz dedicated to that application. The main reason to buy Impressor is
kept the bottom couple octaves sounding punchy and full. for its deft ability to transparently compress full mixes and a wide
Impressor and Saturator, again used in series, gave good results variety of non-percussive tracks—applications in which it excels—
pumping up drum room mics’ ambience and punch, although and not so much to pump up the attack or ambience on drums like
not the best I’ve heard for this particular application. Impressor, you would with, for example, a UA 1176 FET compressor.
using the fastest attack times, enhanced the snare drum’s stick hits If you have only enough coin to buy one of the two plug-
slightly, and setting the internal sidechain’s HPF to 277 Hz lent ins reviewed here, Saturator is the clear standout because it is
beefier kick drum and tom-tom sounds. Slamming Saturator’s Hard so unique and will potentially have the greatest impact—even
Clip algorithm with high input gain, I then dialed back the Mix transformational—on your mixes. Its ability to fatten the low end,
and Output gain. The result made the sound a bit more aggressive. in particular, with analog beauty is par excellence and worth the
Impressor was not an effective, or shall I say selective, de-esser. price of admission alone. n

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Tech // reviews
GIK Acoustics Sound Blocks
Modular Absorption/Diffusion System
Instantly Improves a Room
By Barry Rudo lph

G
IK Acoustics’ Sound Blocks are the ceiling causes a first floor-to-ceiling room
company’s latest aftermarket acoustic mode node at about 68 Hz. While I have
treatment product, designed to offer an assortment of absorption and diffusion
powerful acoustic absorption in modular panels around the room and ceiling to lessen
“blocks,” with a range of (selectable) source- those reflections, they were not enough.
PHOTO: Barry Rudolph

facing diffusion plates mounted on the front. In the left and right corners of my front
The four Sound Blocks sent to me for wall, behind the monitors and starting
evaluation came in two versions: Two were basic- about an inch from the ceiling, I installed
looking, fabric-covered modules and two had two 4-inch-thick Alpha 4A panels stacked
front plates that matched my existing GIK Alpha on top of each other, then placed a single
4A panels already mounted in the corners of my The final GIK Acoustics Sound Block Sound Block below them. All the panels
setup, stacked below the GIK Alpha 4A
mix room. The 4-inch-thick Alpha panels have panels in each corner. straddled the corners, and I attached them
1D, binary-style diffusor plates with vertical slats to the front wall and L/R walls to keep
on the front that spread sound reflections out in a horizontal plane. them secure. The corner placement also allowed room for a PSI
A Sound Block is essentially a wood frame filled with Knauf Audio AVAA active bass trap positioned on the floor, directly
ECOSE, an environmentally friendly, fabric-wrapped, sound underneath the stack.
absorption insulation material. Because a Sound Block is nearly 11 If you’re starting fresh, you can choose from 15 different front
inches thick, it has a broadband absorptive effect on frequencies plates, as well as various 1D and 2D diffusive front surfaces and flat
down to 60 Hz. Although these are velocity absorbers that mostly (no patterns) plates. You can choose between 24 different fabric
absorb middle and high frequencies, you may order them with coverings/colors to match or contrast your studio style
GIK’s Range Limiter that “tilts” the absorption toward the bass, GIK Acoustics recommends Sound Blocks be mounted flush to
with less absorption in the treble range. front, back or side walls, just like conventional absorption panels.
Each Sound Block measures 23 x 23 x 10.5 inches (WxHxD),
weighs about 22 pounds, and can be stacked and used anywhere LISTENING TO MY ROOM
within a room. Before I started, I measured the room using REW as a starting point.
I removed all pressure traps that were misplaced and ineffective
INSTALLING SOUND BLOCKS and added the Sound Blocks. Two weeks later, after I was done,
My entire mix room measures 19.29 x 9.44 x 8.2 feet (LxWxH), I measured again. The improvements were measurable. I found a
while my Kali IN-8 three-way (front-ported) monitors sit on lower decay time in the 100Hz area, and the floor-to-ceiling room
Sound Anchor stands positioned on either side and in front of my node at 68 Hz was reduced.
42-inch-wide desktop and about 36 inches away from the front Between the Sound Blocks and the AVAA Active traps (the only low-
wall. The focus of all acoustic treatment frequency absorbers in the room) bass is flat
panels is the listening position in front of PRODUCT SUMMARY from about 60 Hz down to 30 Hz. I do not
my desktop. COMPANY: GIK Acoustics use a subwoofer because (so far) I haven’t
I prefer the liveliness of the hardwood PRODUCT: GIK Sound Blocks been able to get one to work correctly (I’ll
floor under my chair, but I cannot tolerate WEB: www.gikacoustics.com try again soon!) The bass is tighter, and that
the typical reflections present in rooms PRICE: $139 MSRP starting price for a single is hearable immediately. I like the stereo
this size. Short decay and flutter echoes wall-mounted model. imaging better, as I get a good feeling of the
coming from the ceiling, left and right PROS: Easy to stack and use to suit your needs stereo width and pan positioning. It was a
side walls, or the rear wall have to be CONS: Must allow room for them lot of work but worth it. I’m also in love with
controlled. The slightly over eight-foot the new look! n

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Open Channel
Warning: Stability Ahead
L
et’s talk about operational amplifiers. I know, I
know…you’re thinking, “Let’s not.” Still, that little
analog integrated circuit can teach us something.
An operational amplifier is all about producing huge
amounts of gain. Left to its own devices, even the tiniest
input will saturate the output. Worst case, it will oscillate
By Craig uncontrollably and produce chaos instead of gain.
Anderton Engineers figured out that applying negative feedback
could tame the gain, but at some frequencies, phase shifts
would occur, create positive feedback, and the op amp would do the equivalent
of sticking a mic in front of the P.A. at a concert—and we were back to chaos.
One solution was external compensation to reduce the gain at the
frequency where positive feedback occurred. Another solution was
putting internal compensation within the chip itself. Although that made
designing with op amps easier, it complicated tweaking the compensation
for optimum performance. In closed systems, everything has tradeoffs.
What matters here is that humans behave similarly. Social media—
and the music industry—are good examples, especially as they become
increasingly intertwined.
Social media is capable of huge amounts of gain. Even a tiny input signal
can blow up, go viral and saturate the medium. In forums, one person can
make one comment that initiates a flood of crazed responses that destabilize
the discussion. As op amps show us, not all feedback is “good” feedback.
So, social media mimics how op amps introduce stability. Algorithms
that flag objectionable posts are like internal compensation. External
compensation comes from the people who act like hall monitors, and make
judgment calls about appropriateness. These efforts try to prevent the
system from regenerating into an echo chamber of feedback hell, because
when feedback spirals out of control, chaos re-enters.
BUT WHAT ABOUT MUSIC?
Now consider the music industry’s feedback process. In the days of big studios,
there was a balance between musicians wanting to push the envelope, and
professional engineers and producers whose feedback kept artists from
running off the rails. The cost of studio time was external compensation that
kept sessions finite (usually). The labels and retailers also provided feedback,
so multiple mechanisms promoted stability within the industry. Then Napster
happened, ramped up the gain—and chaos ensued.
These days, the balance between uncontrolled, chaotic feedback and
keeping the system stable has tilted toward stability. Even seemingly
major changes, like TikTok becoming more important to musicians than
YouTube, retains stability from the consumer’s standpoint—it’s just a
different URL.
Meanwhile, many musicians and engineers apply internal compensation
that prioritizes following “best practices,” like quantizing, comping and
50 M I X | A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | mi x o n l i n e.co m
pitch correction. The system rewards music that fits into stable algorithms:
Be similar enough to what gets traction, and you’ll be rewarded for your
good behavior.
Music has gone from “no rules” to “follow the rules,” and the
compensation applied to making “perfect” recordings works against
making ground-breaking ones. Is the internal compensation of algorithms
that limit the listener’s ability to discover music outside of defined genres
doing us any favors?
Op amps teach us that a system with unlimited chaos is a problem—but
controlled chaos can serve us well. Today, the feedback applied to the music
industry has kept it stable. After the upheaval of the last several decades, it’s
understandable that stability is a relief. Streaming is the new distribution
medium. Stream numbers determine payments. Piracy of physical media
no longer exists, because physical media is becoming extinct. A handful of
companies control most music distribution. All is well in the kingdom…
In theory. But is that really what we want? Do we truly want our
mixes to sound like other mixes because an algorithm says we should? Do
listeners get excited about music, or do they just enjoy it?
AND WHAT ABOUT IMMERSIVE?
Music and popular culture thrive on change—our jobs depend on it. While
I doubt anyone wants something resembling Napster-fueled, all-out chaos,
surround (oh, sorry, I mean “immersive audio”) could be the element that
adds a tantalizing element of instability to music and recording.
Cirque du Soleil showed what surround can do with its The Beatles:
Love show. The Optima6 audio-video guide electronics brought surround
to immersive art exhibits. Installations from artists like Robert Henke (co-
creator of Ableton Live) and Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork turn surround into
art. And for movie surround, it’s hard to beat Gravity.
What about music? Surround is caught between the chaos of multiple
formats, and the stability labels seem to crave that comes from reissuing older
material in surround—hey, that model worked before, right?
Well, it’s not going to work again, because the industry has it backwards.
It’s the formats that need to become stable, and the art that needs to get
chaotic. I don’t want to be told I gotta hear Springsteen in surround. I want
to be told about musicians, engineers and producers who are creating a
sonic experience unlike anything I’ve experienced. I’m waiting for someone
to do the surround equivalent of taking a mic, putting it up against the
P.A.’s speaker, and unleashing uncontrollable feedback—just to see what
happens.
Surround beckons. After the failures of QS/SQ/CD-4 in the ’70s and
DVD-A SACD in the early 2000s, is the music industry going to blow the
promise of surround for a third time?
It sure looks like it.
Please, prove me wrong. ■
9000