Veteran engineer Danny Leake has upgraded the SADiE editing system at his Urban Guerrilla Engineers mastering facility in Chicago to incorporate the latest SADiE 6 software. The upgrade has enabled the facility to turn mastering projects around with much greater speed, and significantly improved accuracy.

With more than 40 years’ experience as a recording, mastering and live sound engineer, Danny Leake has worked with some of the best known artists in the world including Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Destiny’s Child, Placido Domingo, Janet Jackson, Lupe Fiasco, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross and The Police. During his tenure as a member of the Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees he helped facilitate the Recording Engineer/Mixer Grammy, the Mastering Engineer Grammy and the Dance Music and Remixer of the Year categories to the Grammy Awards process.

Although Danny Leake believes that ‘music should never be a slave to technology’, he does insist on having the very best that technology can offer in his Urban Guerrilla Engineers facility. He has been a SADiE user since 1996 and says that, despite owning other digital audio workstations, SADiE remains his favourite.

“For me, it is one of the fastest and most accurate editing systems out there,” he explains. “It is equally good for classical and pop music editing, and the CD Mastering section is excellent. With the new SADiE 6 software, editing and PQ coding CDs is probably three times as fast as most systems out there and sonically it is beyond accurate. Also, the VST implementation is bulletproof. With SADiE 6, project revisions become non-problematic, while making radio and clean versions from album versions has become much easier.”

As well as upgrading to SADiE 6, Urban Guerrilla Engineers has also invested in a Prism Sound/Maselec MEA-2 stereo mastering equalizer.

“The MEA-2 is doing a magnificent job and providing a range of features that I really like,” Danny Leake says. “The frequency selection is great. I haven’t found anything I can’t do with it. I am also using it during mixing to add some weight to the drums or anything else that needs it. It has already been used on a number of projects, including mastering Styx’s Grand Illusion/Pieces of Eight Live DVD.”

Danny Leake adds that one of the advantages of buying Prism Sound and SADiE equipment is that it comes with excellent aftersales support.

“SADiE has always had the best follow through when help is needed and it hasn’t changed since Prism Sound acquired it,” he says. “I’d like to thank Frank Oglethorpe and Janice Norton in Prism Sound’s US office for all of their help with my SADiE and now my MEA-2.”

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About Prism Sound
Founded in 1987, Prism Sound manufacture high-quality professional digital audio equipment for the International broadcast, film, music production, manufacturing and telecommunications sectors. The range now includes SADiE digital audio workstations and location recorders. Prism Sound also manufactures audio test and measurement products such as the DSA-1 and the dScope Series III audio analyzer.

For more information please visit www.sadie.com or www.prismsound.com

OLD LYME, Conn. – May 9, 2012 – Audio specialist Sennheiser announced that LEAP OF FAITH, Broadway’s latest roof-raising Tony-nominated musical, is the first Broadway production to utilize digital microphone technology from Neumann. The musical, which features a score by eight-time Oscar® winner Alan Menken, opened late last month at the St. James Theater on 44th Street and features no less than 12 Neumann digital microphones in the orchestra pits.

Broadway is widely recognized as maintaining the “gold standard” when it comes to live sound production quality; its sound designers routinely specify Sennheiser and Neumann microphones and wireless equipment for their unrivalled sonic performance on both the stage and in the orchestra pit. For LEAP OF FAITH, Sound Designer John Shivers and Associate Sound Designer/Mixer David Patridge specified Neumann digital mics on the brass and woodwind sections of the orchestra, which were then fed into a Neumann DMI before reaching the DiGiCo SD7 digital console.

LEAP OF FAITH has two separate orchestra pits, both of which use the digital microphones. The pit below the stage and directly in front of the audience contain the woodwind section, which uses four Neumann KM 184 Ds as overheads and four TLM 103 Ds in a low position, approximately 15 inches off the floor and resting at a 120-degree angle towards the instrument. The other pit was situated below and to the rear of the stage and contained the brass section, which was miked with four TLM 103 Ds in a low position similar to that of the woodwinds.

An exquisitely pristine sound character
“We had already specified the analog versions of these microphones when Masque Sound brought up the possibility of our using digital microphones on this show,” Shivers recalls. “We jumped at the chance to use them since I am always interested in increasing the overall sound quality of the production. We didn’t get a chance to A/B these against their analog counterparts in a controlled environment, but my sense is that there is an increased clarity and transparency to these microphones.”

“These microphones exhibit an open, detailed sound,” Patridge adds. “I think additional clarity is evident in the high frequency range and the microphones themselves require less EQ. As for the noise floor, it is non-existent: these microphones are absolutely pristine.”

Realizing the benefits of remote control
According to Patridge, the benefits of using Neumann digital mics in the theater extend well beyond just the pristine sound, since many parameters such as shelving, padding and even polar patterns can be remote controlled from the FOH position*: “The pit can be a difficult area to access, and during sound checks I often have to send somebody in there to ensure there is no shelving or padding on the mics,” he observes. “With the Neumann digital mics, I can control all these settings from software interface on the console, which saves time and gives my production team one less thing to worry about.”

Shivers agrees that being able to control the microphones from a remote location is beneficial: “If a musician is playing particularly loud, having the ability to go to a control panel and adjust the padding could be very helpful. Also, having the capability to remotely switch to a hyper-cardioid from a cardioid pattern could give you a tighter sound and more rejection without having to move the microphone position. But for me, the audio quality is always most important.”

Prior to its official opening on Broadway on April 26th, LEAP OF FAITH was in previews for three straight weeks, during which time the Neumann digital microphones were put through their paces. “We were very impressed with how they sounded right out of the box,” Shivers says. “We knew from the reputation of the company that it would be an improved product, and now we can assuredly say that it is. The quality of these microphones is of a very, very high standard and I would love to use them again.”

*(available in the Neumann D-01 microphone, which features 15-switchable polar patterns at the click of a mouse).

Photo captions:

Greg Thymium of the LEAP OF FAITH woodwinds section plays into Neumann TLM 103 D digital microphone in the low position and a Neumann KM 184 D digital microphone in the overhead position (photo: Cheryl Fleming).
The Neumann KM 184 D is among the digital microphones currently being used in the LEAP OF FAITH musical production on Broadway (photo: Cheryl Fleming).
The Neumann TLM 103 D digital microphone was used in the low position on both woodwinds and brass during LEAP OF FAITH.

Venice, FL – May 2012… With three services each Sunday—two of which are contemporary in nature— First Christian Church has a vibrant worship program that caters to a diverse congregation. After enduring lackluster performance from their sound reinforcement system for far too long, the decision was made to upgrade their sanctuary’s facilities. Seeking a new system capable of delivering a high level of speech intelligibility and first-rate music reproduction, they ultimately resolved their sound system shortcomings by installing a new setup drawn from the TrueLine catalog of Greensboro, NC-based WorxAudio Technologies. more

New York, NY – May 2012 … The Latin Quarter—commonly known these days as LQ Nightclub—has a storied history that dates back to 1942 when Lou Walters, father of renowned TV journalist Barbara Walters, first founded the popular nightspot. While much has changed over the years, there remain two constants: the desire to have superior sound quality and vibrant entertainment. Recently, the popular club upgraded its sound reinforcement capabilities and, to ensure world-class audio quality for both the performers and the clientele, a new loudspeaker system drawn from the Aero Series 2 catalog of D.A.S. Audio was installed. more

Andover, MA––In recent years, Fishman has been growing at a phenomenal rate while expanding into new categories beyond the acoustic amplification products they’re know for with industry breakthroughs such as the Triple Play™ Wireless Guitar Controller, first introduced at Winter NAMM.

To do this successfully, the company has had to devise new ways to shorten the R&D and time-to-market process without compromising the high standards of quality they’re known for. A major part of this initiative is Fishman’s acquisition of an Objet 3D desktop printer so that it can rapidly create fully functional and true-to-life three-dimensional prototypes and parts.

The printer uses patented PolyJet Matrix 3D printing technology which works by jetting special photopolymer materials in ultra-thin layers (16µ) layer by layer onto a build tray in a process managed by the company’s studio™ software until the part is completed. Each layer is then cured (dried) by UV light immediately after jetting, which produces models that can be handled and used immediately.

Having their own in-house desktop 3D printer allows Fishman to go through multiple design iterations in a single day so their R&D department can quickly and efficiently finish new designs without missing windows of opportunity within the guitar market sales cycle.

According to Fishman’s Director of Product Development Ian Popken, “The Objet printer has had an incredible impact on our ability to be more predictable on time to market. It’s very exciting for mechanical engineers and others involved with the product to realize their ideas a few hours later.

“The fit and finish we’re able to achieve with these resins from the Objet is just remarkable,” Popken continues. “They so closely resemble the final product that we once took them to a trade show and no one could distinguish that they were final prototypes!

“So not only do we have the amazing cosmetics and the way that it looks on the outside, but also complete inside works and functionality of the product. When it comes time to do our pilot run, it goes very smoothly because we’ve already demonstrated that we can build the product exactly the way we want to instead of waiting for every part to come off tool. We are already ahead of the game because of the printer.”

In addition to shortening the R&D and production cycle, the Objet printer has proved to be an invaluable tool for optimizing Fishman’s relationship with its customers.

As VP of OEM Sales Rob Ketch points out, “The parts we get from the Objet printer are of such good quality, we’re able to send them to customers after our shop has applied paint and graphics and they look very close to actual production parts. In the past, there would be such a long time between a drawing, stereolithography and a molded part; we would often miss a cycle for one of our customers.

“With Objet,” Ketch concludes, “they have a real example of the product, which can be very powerful in closing the sale. The Objet printer’s impact on the timeline and the impression that it makes in terms of parts and products has been really valuable to us at Fishman.”

For more information about Fishman, go to www.fishman.com.

Rio Rancho, NM – May 2012… Meeting the demand for reliable network audio transport, Lectrosonics has developed the SPNDNT network processor to expand the ASPEN digital matrix processor family. The new network processor is much more than a simple network interface. Instead, it is a full featured DSP processor that can address both the ASPEN and Dante matrices and add mixing, gain, and delay functions to the digital audio signals. Any of the 48 final mixes in the ASPEN matrix can be assigned to any one or more of the Dante channels for transport to other endpoints in the network. Dante signals can also be imported into the ASPEN matrix in a local processor sub-system for mixing with other local and network signals, and then routed onward to other local or network devices. more

Old Lyme, CT – May 2, 2012: Audio specialist Sennheiser announced that Alexander Schek has been promoted to vice president sales, Latin America, effective immediately. In his new position, Schek will be responsible for Sennheiser’s sales strategy across each of its business lines, as well as managing the company’s area sales managers within the Latin American region. He will report directly to Markus Warlitz, general manager, Latin America.

Schek began his career with Sennheiser in 2009 as area sales manager for Central America and the Caribbean, where he was responsible for managing Sennheiser’s business across each of its divisions. In this role, he was very successful in increasing the overall distribution of Sennheiser products across Central America. As Vice President Sales, Latin America, Schek replaces Oliver Baumann who left Sennheiser in March.

“As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the Latin American region represents a very important part of Sennheiser’s international growth strategy,” commented Markus Warlitz. “During his tenure at Sennheiser, Alexander has achieved remarkable sales performance while also possessing drive to take our business to the next level in Latin America. I congratulate him on this well deserved promotion.”

A German citizen who grew up in Brazil and Chile, Schek has an acute understanding of the Latin American market and business culture in addition to over a decade of executive level sales experience in the Consumer Electronics and Audio Industry. He holds a degree in Marketing from the University de las Américas, Santiago de Chile. Alexander is located in Miami, FL and will travel to the Latin American region on a frequent basis.

Peavey® proudly announces the availability of the revolutionary IPR™ 1600 DSP and IPR 3000 DSP power amplifiers. Loaded with an exclusive digital signal processing suite, IPR DSP Series amps are innovative, high-powered live production tools for both front-of-house and monitors.

The IPR 1600 DSP and IPR 3000 DSP power amplifiers combine user-friendly loudspeaker management with the award-winning, lightweight power and performance of the original Peavey IPR power amplifiers. The onboard digital signal processing system includes preset banks for popular loudspeaker types and configurations, as well as Waves® MaxxBass® psycho-acoustic processing for the first time in any power amplifier. more

Prism Sound, manufacturer of premium-quality test and measurement instruments, audio interfaces and processors and for the recording and broadcast markets, has opened a European Sales and Distribution office in Munich, Germany.

Operating under the Prism Media Products Ltd banner and covering the territories of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the new office will handle all Prism Sound test and measurement, music recording and production products including the dScope Series III audio test instrument, ADA-8XR multichannel converters and the Orpheus FireWire interface.

Bernard Nocker, formerly Sales Manager for Prism Sound products at DIME Medientechnik GmbH, has been appointed to head the Munich office.

He says: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to develop Prism Sound’s business in these territories. Audio is my passion and I have hands-on experience of using Prism Sound’s products, which makes it much easier to explain their features and benefits to potential customers. I also believe that this new arrangement will allow me to concentrate on developing much closer relationships with existing customers and explore new markets for Prism Sound, particularly in the test and measurement arena.”

The new structure will enable Prism Sound to more effectively develop resellers and representatives in the German-speaking market and the company is now actively seeking retailer partnerships for its music recording and production products, as well as closer relationships with industrial test system integrators and supply chain companies.

Graham Boswell, Sales Director for Prism Sound, says: “In 2011, Prism Sound’s sustained export performance won the company the prestigious UK Queens Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category. The German speaking market was a significant factor in winning this award and has been important to the company for 20 years, having first been developed by FFD GmbH in the early 1990’s. More recently distribution has been handled by DIME Medientechnik GmbH and the business has grown considerably over the period.

“Our decision to open the Munich office was based on a desire to conduct closer relationships with our key customers and to be more responsive to local market conditions. The change will bring immediate benefits to our customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the form of a new Euro price structure. Former inter-company pricing has been replaced with a simpler structure and, despite the recent gains in the GBP/EUR rate, the new Euro pricing will be slightly lower than previously.”

Prism Sound and DIME have agreed a swift and amicable handover, with DIME now completing only specific orders already in hand. All new orders will be handled directly by Prism Sound. Warranty and service for all products formerly sold by DIME or by its predecessor SDI will be handled directly by Prism Sound through the Munich office.

Sales of Prism Sound’s SADiE product line continue to be handled by For-Tune GmbH. The new arrangements in Germany will mean closer co-operation between the two companies and offer a range of new marketing opportunities for the SADiE and Prism Sound brands.

Bernhard Nocker can be contacted at Tel: +49 176 27927901. Email: Bernhard.Nocker@prismsound.com. Prism Sound’s Munich office is located at Trappentreustr. 5, 80339 München, Germany.

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About Prism Sound
Founded in 1987 in Cambridge, UK, Prism Sound manufactures a range of high quality professional test equipment for audio applications. The company is organized in three divisions and in addition to audio test equipment, Prism Sound also manufactures equipment for high-quality recording and production for music and sound applications and for voice-logging recorders used in law enforcement, legislative and business applications. Prism Sound audio test equipment is used by many major consumer electronics brands in automotive, home entertainment, personal mobile, communications and other market sectors as well as most of the world’s leading broadcasters including the BBC. Prism Sound’s music recording products are widely used by leading professionals in music and film sound such as the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London.

For more information: www.prismsound.com

Buena Park, CA – April 2012… Hosa Technology, the leading innovator of analog and digital connectivity solutions for the modern musician and audio/video professional, is pleased to announce the introduction of the CBT-500 Cable Tester. Designed to quickly and easily check a variety of cable types, the new CBT-500 Cable Tester enables one to verify the integrity of a cable before interconnecting equipment. The CBT-500 makes an invaluable addition to one’s ‘tools of the trade’ and is ideal for use when preparing for a concert, a studio recording session, or an installation as well as checking cables afterwards in order to ensure working operation the next time. more