Simon McLean is the very happy recipient of AudioTechnology’s Issue 75 subscription prize – an FC500 compressor and power supply courtesy of JLM Audio. A very large thanks to JLM Audio for the excellent prize, and we hope you enjoy the compressor Simon.

Congratulations from all of us at AudioTechnology!   Read the full story

Recently were were over the moon to present a lucky subscriber with a fantastic prize; namely a Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2 digital console.

Scott Smith, an avid KISS fan and guitar shredder extraordinaire, was more than stoked to be picking up such an awesomely versatile mixing console, simply by subscribing to AudioTechnology.

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Long time AudioTechnology contributor, Gavin Hammond, has been cooling his boots in London for the last few years. Never content to stay away from penning a tune or two, his latest musical excursion is a collaboration with sultry songstress, Fleurtini. Check out this sweet tune and clip from Sweet Tooth.

It’s not that often you hear of a birthday party for a microphone, but we’re holding one here in the AT office for the Sennheiser MD 421. You see, this year is actually the 50th anniversary of the MD 421-U large diaphragm, cardioid, dynamic microphone. The venerable MD 421, which is still in production as the MD 421 II, has been one of Sennheiser’s best-selling dynamic microphones an entire half century – it’s an essential component of any microphone arsenal – both in the studio and on the road.

Of course the ‘421’ has appeared in various incarnations over the years, with upgrades to the housing, output connector, basket, and capsule assembly. It’s come a long way from the beige MD 421-N, MD 421-2, and the MD 421-U, and the rarely seen in-the-wild Telefunken branded MD421/5 – the one without a bass roll-off filter that sounds as if it’s permanently set to the ‘Speech’ filter setting found on other 421 designs.

These days you’re better off with the MD 421 II, which includes a metal inner chassis for better weight distribution and, with the contour-fitted bass roll-off control, a shorter, sleeker housing. Servicing is also easier with the new design, since individual components can be more easily replaced and the self-sealing acoustic connections mean adhesives and sealing compounds are no longer required. If you’ve ever pulled apart an older style 421 you’ll appreciate this aspect of the newer design

Like the original design, the MD 421 II provides sound reproduction across a frequency range of 30Hz to 17kHz, plus a hum-compensating coil. The five-position bass roll-off switch tailors the microphone’s performance for diverse applications – from radio voice broadcasting, as well as high SPL instruments such as brass, amplified guitar and bass, Leslie cabinets, and drums. Plus, as we all know, toms and kick drum. Hear’s to another 50 years of the MD 421.

For info on previous design MD 421 mics, head over to http://www.coutant.org/md421u4/index.html

For information about the MD 421 II, contact Syntec International on 1800 648 628 or sales@syntec.com.au

Designed and coded by ‘our very own’ Grammy Award winning engineer, Tony David Cray, AudioToolkit is an iPhone application offering a compendium of tools for audio and music industry professionals. Tony developed the application based on session requirements at the Sydney Opera House recording studios – where he’s Chief Engineer.

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Issue 74 sees seminal Australian electronica act, Itch-E & Scratch-E, featuring in Home Grown.

Paul Mac and Andy Rantzen fill us in on the creative process behind just one of the tracks from the duo’s first album in years, Other Planets (feat. MDNA).

The track is wildly progressive and lyrically quite subversive – check out how the collaboration turned out.

In Issue 74 of AudioTechnology, Brad Watts reviews the Korg SV-1 stage piano. There was a touch of contention in the AT editorial office about the look of this vintage-vibe keyboard, but Brad thought it was a nice piece of kit. Frankly, you could write ‘Korg’ on a house brick and Brad would take it out to dinner, but we thought we’d put this up so you can draw your own conclusions. Alternatively, have a listen to the SV-1 here.