In a world, where high-end consoles dominate the floor, one company stands alone for the needs of the struggling budget producer. That company, Mackie, has introduced four new small format mixers, all of which serve the needs of live sound, as well as computer-based recording. The ProFX8 ($230 MAP) and ProFX12 ($280 MAP) both feature 3-band EQ per channel, as well as a 7-band graphic EQ on the master output and a built-in 32-bit effect processor with 16 gig-ready effects. Their USB ports provide stereo I/O for recording and playback.

Two even more compact mixers, the U.420 ($299 MSRP) and the U.420d ($359 MSRP), come with 24-bit 96 kHz FireWire connectivity for recording and playback. Both are 4-channel mixers, but whereas the U.420 offer 4 stereo line inputs and a phono input, the U420.d includes 2 premium Mackie preamp mic/line inputs, two stereo line/phono inputs. The U420.d also adds faders on channels 1 & 2 and a crossfader between channels 3 and 4.

Both mixers also include 3-band “full kill” EQ per channel and Mackie Tracktion 3 production software.

With five new mic introductions, Audio-Technica has focused on the field recording and broadcast industries. Two stereo condenser mics, the AT8022 ($499 MSRP) and BP4025 ($749 MSRP) will be availale later this month. They are both X/Y stereo microphones with 80 Hz highpass filter switches. The balanced or unbalanced AT8022 runs on battery power (1 AA) or phantom power, while the balanced BP4025 is phantom power only. The BP4025 also adds a 10 dB pad and large diaphragm capsules for pristine, low-noise sound.

A-T’s three new shotgun mics, the BP4073 ($999 MSRP), BP4071 ($1,169 MSRP) and BP4071L ($1,299 MSRP) are set for January 2009 availability. These Line + Gradient condenser mics provide focused pickup throughout the frequency range for greater distance recording, a switchable 150 Hz highpass filter and rugged aluminum alloy housings. The 21.2-inch long BP4071L is one of the longest shotgun mics you could find and offers a very narrow polar pattern. All three shotgun mics require phantom power.

The new Waves MV2 dynamics processing plug-in makes it fantastically simple to maximize the volume of a track, thereby cutting it through a mix, without screwing up your levels. MV2′s stripped-down interface includes only three faders: high and low compression and output level. Minimal controls, but copious results. In the demo I saw, it was quick and intuitive to use MV2 to bring a wide variety of tracks, including kicks, hi-hats and synth loops, to the forefront of a mix, all while keeping the track levels in check.

MV2 comes as part of the Waves Gold, Platinum, Diamond or Mercury bundles, but unfortunately is not available as a stand-alone purchase at this time.

Hot off Youtube, Ichi from UA walks through their new LA610mkII in two languages. It sports a larger meter, hotter output and a true bypass. Congrats go out to the UA team on their TEC award.

In a brilliant stroke of “gee why not!” Focusrite has brought their Liquid Mix into the TDM world. I got the tour from Gabe Whyel and it was impressive. The system lets you mix and match modeled processors across a Pro Tools session.

Brandon Ryan from Cakewalk gives the crowd a run-through of their new hardware interface that tightly integrates with SONAR and even brings EDIROL video gear into the mix.

Here’s a view of what went on at the Digidesign booth at AES 2008. Phil Jackson takes the new software around the block for showgoers.

As a rule I generally don’t comment on audio quality from the show floor because its impossible to critically listen in a train station, however, first impressions of the new PRO900 headphones from Ultrasone were good. They were very comfortable, closed out the show din for the most part and provided a nice smooth top without harshness and plenty of bottom. Michael Willberg took me through the product’s features and explained Ultrasone‘s new US distribution arrangement. If you get a chance, these are worth a listen. You can sign up for their newsletter from their website.

Art Constantine from ATI showed me their ADAC-2, two-channel, 24-bit, 192kHz analog-to-digital, digital-to-analog and sample-rate converter. The 1RU device does it all from the front panel allowing users to toggle between all three options with a single pushbutton. All three processes can be performed simultaneously making this a time-saving problem solver in the studio.

Pardon the language barrier in the vid but this was the coolest reference I could find on Korg’s new MR-2000S DSD rackmountable recorder. Richard Formindoni from Korg took me through its paces and it goes more than one step beyond Korg’s previous 1-bit efforts. The MR-2000S sports a number of great new features including rack mountability, lots of pro I/O, 24 stage LED metering and an 80GB hard drive. Turn down the sound and enjoy the movie, unless of course you speak Japanese.