In this Podcast Extra interview Paul chats with Bobby Owsinski to talk about the music industry, and his work as an author, producer and mix engineer. Bobby’s 101 mixing tricks program is on sale in the Pro Tools Expert Deals page for 50% off the normal price.
Paul sat down with the legend that is Bobby Owsinski and started by asking how he started in the music industry, before moving on to discuss Bobby’s very popular books the Mixing Engineer’s Handbook and Recording Engineer’s Handbook. He shares his views about where the music industry is going.
Bobby speaks about his journey as a music producer and how he is largely self taught, before moving on to talk about surround mixing and the direction of surround in the domestic market..
Do check out Bobby’s own podcasts where he regularly shares his take on the latest news in the music industry and Paul asks Bobby about a subject he covered recently – the resurgence of valves in audio equipment.
Bobby also writes for Forbes but prefers to call himself a commentator rather than a journalist and he shares how that all came about.
We have Bobby’s 101 Mixing Tricks Program on a very special offer on our deals page this month, Paul asked Bobby to explain what his 101 Mixing Tricks Program is all about.
At the end of his podcasts, Bobby often asks the guest what is the best piece of business advice that they have learned or someone imparted to them during their career so at the end of this podcast extra interview Paul turns the table on Bobby and we hear what Bobby’s answer to this question.
One of the hardest elements to fit neatly into a mix is a big reverb as it takes up so much space. In this free video tutorial, Paul Drew gives his tip on how to neatly fit a large plate reverb into a Mix.
In this Podcast Extra Interview, Paul Drew talks to Bjoen and Gerhard from Prime Studio about the fantastic facility, services and plug-ins.
Bjoern and Gerhard both have fascinating stories how they both came to be in the music industry.
During the interview Bjoern and Gerhard talk about their consoles and high end analog gear, and explain how you can have your tracks put through these sort after units with their Sparkle service.
The Prime Studio guys explain why they would choose one console to mix over another depending on what type of material they are mixing.
Paul ask’s Bjoern and Gerhard about how they came across Acustica Audio and why the plugins were made.
You can pick up the Fantastic sounding Caribou Bundle for 25% off until the end of the month here.
I have been thinking about buying some secondary monitors to go with my Amphion One8’s, someone recommend that I look at the PreSonus Sceptre S6’s. Some time ago I owned a pair of Dual concentric Tannoy’s that I loved and regret selling to this day.
According to PreSonus;
“The Sceptre S6 speakers are 6.5-inch CoActual® 2-way Studio Monitors, where the horn is mounted in the woofer, The single point source provided by coaxial designs offers unique advantages, thanks to their consistent acoustic centre and symmetrical dispersion pattern. The proprietary CoActual design in the Sceptre S6 relies on custom coaxial drivers and advanced onboard DSP to create a seamless crossover transition and an even frequency response, the net result is exceptional 3D imaging and a natural listening experience that reveals the subtlest details. the result is a crisper stereo image, greater soundstage depth, more separation between components in a complex mix, and a less fatiguing listening experience.”
To handle the necessary time alignment between the HF and LF sections of the driver, PreSonus teamed up with speaker-design expert Dave Gunness, of Fulcrum Acoustic, whose algorithms have been integrated into the Sceptre’s onboard DSP to get the best result from the drivers and cabinet. PreSonus have eliminated any speaker pop, and when you switch them on the Presonus badge on the front switches from red to blue to show when they are ready to use.
On first listening I was very impressed with the sound of these speakers, they sound very hi-fi, but I don’t mean that in a bad way, the monitors are actually quite flat in there response but they have a good amount of bottom end and a nice revealing top end that won’t leave you with fatigue after your listening experience.
At the back of the Sceptre speakers you can change some of the processing to suit your mixing environment. The first button controls the acoustic space, This is useful if your speakers are to close to a corner or to the back wall. The second button controls the High frequency where you can boost 1dB or cut up to -4 dB. To be honest I can’t imagine anyone wanting to boost the top end on these speakers. The last button is a High pass filter where you can filter off 60/ 80/100 Hz. Again, I wouldn’t say these speakers are over extended in the bottom end, but I guess if you have a room that is giving you some bass problems you can at least try to ease that here. The speakers sounded great in the linear settings so for my room I left the controls at the default factory settings.
Technical Specifications
Inputs
1- Balanced XLR
1- Balanced ¼” TRS
Performance
Frequency Response (-3 dB) 52 Hz – 20 kHz
Frequency Response (-10 dB) 42 Hz – 23 kHz
Crossover Frequency 2.2 kHz
LF Amplifier Power (@ 4Ω) 90W
HF Amplifier Power (@ 4Ω) 90W
Peak SPL (@ 1 meter) 109 dB
LF Driver 6.25” glass-reinforced paper
HF Driver 1” diaphragm compression driver
Input Impedance 10 kΩ
User Controls
Volume Range A-type taper
HF Control Flat, +1, -1.5, -4 dB
Low Cut Flat, 60, 80 Hz, 100 Hz
Acoustic Space Flat, -1.5, -3, -6 dB
Summary
My Amphion’s with the amplifier retail at about £3500 so I was a little apprehensive at using these as a benchmark, but I’ve got to say the Scepter’s hold up really well in comparison. I’m not saying that you cant hear the difference between the 2 sets, but the Scepter’s are fantastic for the money and the performance belies their price tag.
The sweet spot is incredibly wide due to the coaxial design and although I’m not a fan of ported monitors, the bottom end is not mushy at all. I have placed them on the outside of the Amphion’s and its great being able to switch to the Scepter’s to listen to a very wide stereo image.
In Closing
In the UK you can pickup these monitors for well under a thousand pounds and I can’t recall having heard speakers for that price that sound this good and so revealing.
If you are looking for a pair of fantastic studio monitors at this price point (or even more) then I would definitely recommend that you demo a pair. Thumbs up!
Presonus released the Studiolive CS18AI some time ago now, so we are launching this poll to see how community members are getting on with it.
The great thing about the Studiolive CS18AI is that it not only works with Studio one software it also works their StudioLive AVB Mix Systems. In this poll we are interested how Studio One users are finding the Studio one integration with the unit.
Take our poll, there won’t be an answer to cover every eventuality so sorry if you feel missed. Of course as well as taking the poll please leave your comment about your experiences at the bottom.
Courtesy of our sister site, Pro Tools Expert, check out this fantastic video review of the Orion Studio from Antelope Audio.
In this video James Ivey from Pro Tools Expert takes a look at the Orion Studio, a 1U rack USB and Thunderbolt audio interface from Antelope. The Orion Studio houses 12 class A mic pres along side built in effects processing for realtime tracking. This is a class act of an interface. Watch and see how there is nothing else in the market that has the routing flexibility of the Orion Studio. For it’s sonic quality, it’s connectivity and it’s routing options James has given the Antelope Orion Studio the Pro Tools Expert Editors Choice.
Orion Studio Audio Interface
Orion Studio fits Thunderbolt™ and USB connectivity, 12 mic pres and our signature clocking technology in just 1U rack space. A centerpiece for any studio or live show environment.
Most Mic/Line Channels
Orion Studio is the latest addition to Antelope Audio’s new breed of ThunderboltTM & USB audio interfaces. Its 12 Class-A Mic Pres make it the one and only piece of gear you need to record a full band like a pro. Orion Studio features our traditionally stunning AD/DA conversion, powered by our acclaimed 64-bit Acoustically Focused Clocking (AFC) technology.
Lowest Sound Latency
Orion Studio’s secret weapon is the extremely powerful Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device. Its massive parallel processing capabilities are far ahead of DSP chips used in similar devices. Through smart algorithms, oversampling and custom-tweeked models, the FPGA provides the lowest latency possible, giving the Antelope audio effects a real hardware-like behavior and feel.
Pro Guitar Interface
Antelope Audio and Overloud made Orion Studio the #1 audio interface for professional guitarists by creating the integrated vintage and contemporary guitar amp & cab simulations. The hardware-based FPGA effects bring precision and audio realism to a whole new level, allowing artists to experiment with multiple speaker configurations, mic placement and EQ settings.
Advanced Remote Apps
Orion Studio features an exciting new approach to control, allowing convenient device management from various access points. The interface is fully controllable via user-friendly desktop and mobile applications. You can now manage all functions of the device from multiple computers. An intuitive iOS / Android mobile app gives you even greater freedom by granting full mic pres control from a smartphone or tablet.
Realistic Vintage FX
With Orion Studio’s extremely low latency, playing and recording guitars has never felt so real. Thanks to our love for both analog detail and digital perfection you can now capture the true sound of legendary guitar amps through a unique sampling technique for vintage gear modeling. Orion Studio offers an array of hardware-quality audio effects, among which the legendary Pultec EQ emulation and the extremely versatile AuraVerb reverb.
Monitoring Revolutionized
With Orion Studio you can create up to four independent, zero latency mixes. Those can be easily assigned to any output including the two separate headphone outs. Now the musicians and the engineer can monitor the session in their preferred manner. Thanks to the convenient Orion Studio software you can quickly switch between two pairs of monitors and easily control the two independent headphone outputs.
FPGA Thunderbolt & Custom USB
Orion Studio’s FPGA powered ThunderboltTM and custom USB are Antelope’s guarantee for the lowest sound latency on the market. The massive parallel processing capabilities of the interface allow fast, simultaneous streaming of multiple audio channels and instant effects processing.
Connectivity Gone Wild
Orion Studio works with any Windows or OS X DAW on the market. The variety of digital and analog I/O combined with the flexible routing matrix make the device easily interconnectable to various outboard gear. Orion Studio offers two pairs of monitoring outputs, 16 analog outs, 2 reamp outputs, plus 16 channels I/O via ADAT and 2 channels I/O on S/PDIF.
Waves have announced the H-Series Bundle, a collection of all the Hybrid H-Series plug-ins, the Waves H-Comp, H-EQ, H-Reverb and H-Delay. Normally the 4 plug-ins are priced separately at $886, the H-Series Bundle will be $599 but until April 30th the bundle will be $349.
This is a great addition to the Waves’ range as the H-Series plug-in are in the team’s favourite plug-ins. So in case you haven’t come across these plug-ins here is some more on each of the plug-ins….
Waves H-Reverb
In this extended show & tell review, team member Marcus Huyskens takes an in depth look at H-Reverb using Pro Tools. H-Reverb is the latest in waves’ hybrid line, featuring their ‘finite Impulse Response reverberation technology’.
When asked about his thoughts on the plugin, Marcus had this to say:
“Quite often I find myself reaching for separate reverbs to get the vibe and space I’m looking for in a mix. The great thing about this plugin, is that there is so much power under the hood. So if you If you like to tweak, then this is a reverb for you. Once you familiarize yourself with the controls, and what they do, the unique combination of parameters combined with the ease of use offers an endless sonic palette. In addition, there’s also loads of control over shaping the eq of the ER’s, the tail, and dynamics eliminating the need for extra eq’s, compressors, or de-essers. Also, if you are in a pinch, you can dial in a great sound in no time just working with the basic controls. 2 thumbs up from me.”
Waves H-Delay
Arguably one of the best delay plug-in’s around is Waves H-Delay. If you want to know what it can do then Russ shows 3 ways to use the Waves H Delay echo plug-in for mixing pop tracks in Pro Tools. In this free video tutorial he shows 3 completely different uses for it on piano, guitar and vocal and shows the power of automation in a mix.
From real old school PCM42-style effects like filtering, flanging, and phasing, to slap-back echo, ping-pong delay, and tempo-sync with modulation, H-Delay offers something different in a delay plug-in.
Eli Krantzberg demonstrates how the US Modern type and the tilt style EQ in the Digital 1 type are used on different bands on a fretless electric bass part.
“Waves H-EQ is a hybrid equalizer, featuring vintage and modern EQ inspired by the finest British and American consoles; seven different filter types per band, including a ‘one-of-a-kind’ asymmetrical bell filter; an intuitive keyboard graphic that lets you choose frequencies by clicking on notes; an MS Mode so you can apply different EQ to the sum of a stereo signal and its difference; and a flexible real-time frequency spectrum analyzer with multiple display options.”
Eli Krantzberg shows how to use the punch control on the Waves H-Comp plug-in to handle transient control.
“Waves have designed the H-Comp to combine the modeled behavior of transformers, tubes, and transistors, together with the power and precision that only a plugin can provide. The result is a compressor with capabilities that engineers could only dream about back in the day. H-Comp lends a whole new meaning to the concept of THD: Total Harmonic Distinction.”
In video 8 from the series, paul Drew looks at compression, panning, reverb and parallel compression on the backing vocals for the song Whats The Time in Tokyo by Marcella Detroit.
The recent addition of the new Smart Arrow tools in Studio One 3 was designed to speed up workflow by reducing the need to switch between tools when editing and mixing.
It has been a big winner with those moving from other DAWs like Pro Tools as the Smart Tool has been part of the Pro Tools workflow for a long time.
Here’s a quick poll to see how widely this new Smart Arrow Tool workflow has been adopted.
Of course please use the comments to add any of your own thoughts.
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