Schertler – a specialist Swiss manufacturer of high-performance acoustic instrument preamps – has released their latest creation: the Yellow Blender  Class-A Preamp and Mixer/Blender.

The Schertler Yellow Blender provides musicians with up to three input channel options for connecting a range of microphones, pick-ups and other sources – plus up to four balanced/unbalanced output options for connection to active loudspeakers, mixers, headphones and recording devices.

The two main microphone and instrument channels include four-band EQ to allow performers to individually tailor their sound. In addition, the unit’s send and return sockets can also be used for an external effects loop. Finally, the Yellow’s lightweight yet robust aluminium housing has been engineered to withstand the rigours of regular live use. RRP: $899.

professional@ambertech.com.au or www.ambertech.com.au

Just spotted an Electric Factory advert in the Gotye issue where it’s putting up 5 Focusrite Scarlett 2i2s as a prize. All that’s required is an email to focusrite@elfa.com.au with ’2i2 Competition’ in the subject line. Yes, it’s a blatant email harvesting exercise… but who cares! It’s also an easy way of potentially getting yourself a great mini preamp/interface. Happy hunting.

Allen & Heath has added two new models to its ZED range of multi-purpose live sound and recording mixers. The new ZED-16FX and ZED-18 each have 10 fully-featured mono channels and three or four dual stereo channels, respectively, fulfilling the demand for increased channel counts in a compact format.

In keeping with the rest of the range, both mixers have a connection for USB send and return for recording, playback and effects. The 10 mono mic/line inputs feature Allen & Heath’s DuoPre two-stage preamp, three-band MusiQ EQ with swept mid frequency, and 100mm faders, all in a compact, rack mountable format. The stereo inputs have two-band EQ and inputs for extra sources, and there are four auxes accessible from each mono and stereo channel.

Additionally, the ZED-16FX has a built-in FX processor with tap tempo delay settings and a 24-bit/48kHz conversion rate, with access to a set of 16 in-house designed effects derived from Allen & Heath’s iLive pro touring digital mixing system.

Cakewalk’s Sonar X1 LE music production software is bundled with the ZED-18 and 16FX mixers, which means you can perform different tasks, for live performance, live recording, studio recording, or studio mixing. The combination of ZED and Sonar allows the user to capture a straightforward recording of a stereo mix, record tracks individually to build up a song, or insert an FX plug-in from Sonar.

Technical Audio Group: info@tag.com.au or www.tag.com.au

It’s now returned to the top echelon of European recording facilities following nearly a year and a half of extensive reconstruction and refurbishment — and the studio’s new owners have chosen PMC loudspeakers as their critical listening reference monitors.

Recording and mastering engineers Ronald Prent and Darcy Proper, who head the new board of directors at Wisseloord, were PMC users at their previous studio, Galaxy in Belgium, and wanted the two new main control rooms at Wisseloord to be capable of handling recording and film sound projects in 5.1 if required. With this in mind, Studios 1 and 2 each feature a state-of-the-art PMC 5.1 active monitoring system comprising three of PMC’s BB5-XBD-A speakers, the most powerful in the range, a pair of MB2S-XBD on the rear surrounds, and a set of the smaller active AML2 speakers for reference. AML2s are also used for critical reference listening in the new mastering suite built for Darcy Proper.

Just before the first mix session in the Studio 1 control room, the monitors were tuned by Maurice Patist, President of PMC USA, who has worked closely with German acoustician Jochen Veith to integrate the monitors with the studio acoustics; according to witnesses, several of those present became quite emotional while the system was being tested. Ronald Prent commented: “I have no words to describe it: I knew it was going to be good, because I know Jochen and Maurice work very well together… but here they have excelled themselves. It is a quite extraordinary-sounding room.”

www.wisseloord.nl 

www.neotec.com.au

Up until recently, Xils-Lab had been trawling the more ‘fulfilling’ vintage synth archives looking for candidates outside the realms of the Moog’s and Arp’s to bring back to life — forgotten gems like the EMS VCS 3 and RSF PolyKobol. But now Xils-Lab has released its first plug-in, turning its attention not only to things only a handful of people have heard before, but to something that no one has. Le Masque: Delay is a …wait for it… polymorphic, time-line driven delay. Basically it lets you define the bits of a sound that will assemble as the ‘dry’ signal, by their position in time and/or frequency content, setting locators that create a box or ‘mask’. When audio is under the mask it goes through a modulated filter into the delay, succumbing not only to typical delay features, but LFO and envelope settings that can modulate the filter and volume of the delay. You can apply up to eight masks, and it can either clock to your DAW, or to its own internal clock to get really crazy.

www.xils-lab.com

Is $10,000 the magic threshold for digital live console impulse buys? Like other live console makers, Allen & Heath is continuing its trend towards smaller and smaller digital mixers to contest the waters where previously only a 16-24 channel analogue desks would prevail. $10,000 is still quite a ways from the clams required for these analogue desks, but the flow down effect from Allen & Heath’s iLive professional series means the GLD system is more like a swiss army, as opposed to butter knife. The standard 32-input system features the 20 motorised fader GLD-80 console, which connects to the 24 XLR-input, 12 XLR-output stage rack via CAT5 over runs of 120m (there are 4 local XLR mic inputs on the back of the console too). There are also 4 RCA inputs to round out the 32, and digital outputs in S/PDIF and AES3.

If 32 inputs is not enough, up to two AR84 expander racks (8 XLR inputs, 4 XLR outputs) can be added, stretching it to a 44 mic input system. There’s plenty of other handy bits ‘n’ pieces, like drag ‘n’ drop layouts for quick and easy input and mix assignments, plug ‘n’ play input boxes, dSnake control for scene recallable remote controllable preamps, the ability to record and playback stereo files from a USB stick, personal monitoring connections on the stage rack, an 8.4-inch touch screen, eight stereo FX returns, and 30 buses. The idea was to take the complexity out of digital mixing for the occasional user — like at your local pub — picking up where analogue consoles like the GL series have been functioning so well for so long.

Technical Audio Group: (02) 9519 0900 or info@tag.com.au

Following strong global sales of its ASP8024 Dual Layer console, British manufacturer Audient announces ASP4816, a compact, cost-effective console that maintains the key benefits of the flagship ASP8024 recording console – without the large dimensions. Due to ship in February 2012, the ASP4816 takes many design cues from the ASP8024, with the same input and monitor design in a smaller frame size. Characterised by Audient’s renowned analogue circuitry designed by audio ‘guru’ David Dearden, the ASP4816 is the perfect centre piece for production studios and educational facilities. The main input channels feature Audient’s Class A preamp and 4 band EQ, a combination found in hundreds of ASP8024 equipped studios, where many users no longer feel the need to reach for their outboard preamps and EQ. The console features 40 faders, 16 bus routing, 6 auxes, 2 dedicated cue sends, 4 stereo returns, stereo bus compressor and a comprehensive monitor section.

www.nationalaudio.com.au

SSL’s new RTAS versions of the acclaimed SSL Duende Native plug-in collection are available now from the SSL website. Existing plug-in owners can download new software installers free of charge and the new installer will be supplied as standard to all new customers.

“Although The Duende Native plug-in collection has always been available with an included RTAS wrapper, which has worked very well for most users, some users reported limitations when using the wrapped plug-ins within ProTools DAW architecture in conjunction with DAW Controller hardware. These new native RTAS versions completely address those concerns and make the superb sound of SSL plug-ins even more appealing to ProTools users worldwide.” says Niall Feldman, Director Of New Products at SSL.

The release of the new RTAS versions of the plug-ins coincides with the availability of a new set of Duende Native Tour/Tutorial Videos on the SSL website and YouTube.

The foundations of the Duende Native collection are plug-in adaptations of two SSL console classics: the EQ and Dynamics Channel plug-in provides an EQ & Dynamics processing solution with all the power, precision, flexibility and signature tone of an SSL console channel strip… the legendary Stereo Bus Compressor plug-in gives you the classic SSL stereo master bus compressor that brings power and punch to your mix without compromising clarity. In addition to these SSL classics Duende Native includes Drumstrip and Vocalstrip which are ‘task specific’ plug-ins that each gather together a set of carefully selected and lovingly crafted processing tools to get you straight to outstanding Drum and Vocal sounds quickly and easily. X-EQ and X-Comp are both mastering grade processors that deliver superb balance of precision and tonal character. X-Verb is an incredibly powerful and flexible processor which brings beautiful hardware standard Reverb to your DAW.

All Duende Native Plug-ins are available for a free, fully functional initial 30-day demo and for ongoing periodic free demos. Duende Native plug-ins are available to purchase individually from the SSL web store. Two boxed product bundles: Duende Native Essentials (includes: EQ and Dynamics Channel and Stereo Bus Compressor) and the Duende Native Studio Pack (includes: EQ and Dynamics Channel, Stereo Bus Compressor, Drumstrip, Vocalstrip, X-EQ and X-Comp) are available from hi-tech resellers.

Duende Native is fully 64-bit capable in suitable Mac and Windows Operating Systems.

www.solidstatelogic.com/duende or professional@ambertech.com.au

C200 used for mixing live events for TV, radio, internet and DVD delivery

Remote Recorders, a high-end mixing facility based in Sydney, has recently stepped up its control room with a new Solid State Logic C200 HD Digital Production Console. The studio, which features a large, well-equipped control room with associated overdub/vocal booth, mixes live presentations for content providers including iTunes Australia, Abbey Road Studios’ Abbey Road Live Here Now, and music television channels such as Channel [V], Music Max and the Country Music Channel. The C200 allows the studio to handle all post production duties, while delivering a digital version of SSL’s industry standard ergonomic interface.

“The C200 gives us the digital console version of Total Recall, so recalling the settings of a project is very fast. We have the familiar SSL automation and channel layout our engineers have been used to with the 4000, plus we continue to be able to offer SSL’s sonic heritage to our clients. As a bonus, we have a console we can easily upgrade and expand at a later date. The C200 covers all bases for what we do.”

Remote Recorders has worked with a raft of top acts including everyone from Kanye West, Coldplay, Mia and Muse to The Pixies, Chemical Brothers, Moby, Iggy Pop and Blondie, to name a few. Some other recent projects include live DVD’s for the Powderfinger ‘Sunsets’ tour and the ARIA iTunes countdown for Live Nation.

“The integrated features on the C200 are a lifesaver in terms of workflow efficiency,”  states McCauley. “We can control our DAW from the desk and offer multiple 5.1 and stereo mixes to our clients. In every way, the C200 helps us to accomplish more in less time, while maintaining the highest quality levels, allowing us to participate in services like instant delivery.”

www.ambertech.com.au or professional@ambertech.com.au

Tascam has launched the PCM Recorder Application for the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. Available as a free download, the PCM Recorder app is designed to work hand in glove with Tascam’s iOS products such as the iM2 stereo microphone and iXZ mic and guitar interface. The PCM Recorder app has input and output level faders with an ‘on-screen’ meter to help you check levels. High and low EQ are built-in, as well as stereo limiting and a low-cut filter to prevent overload. In the application, record mono or stereo files at CD-quality for up to 12 hours. After recording, files can be accessed through iTunes or uploaded to SoundCloud right from the iPhone.

www.cmi.com.au