FCP (Final Cut Plug-in) is the latest release from the folks at SmartSound, the creators Sonicfire Pro 5. The plug-in provides interoperability between Final Cut Pro and Sonicfire Pro 5 featuring the ability to set markers in Final Cut which in turn enables Sonicfire to calculate the exact amount of music needed. You can also click “Send” on any one of Sonicfire’s tracks and that track will be edited to fit within your markers and added directly to your Final Cut Pro project. I saw the booth demo and it is fast and makes music creation and editing within Final Cut a breeze.

Roland showed their new RH-PM5 in-ear monitors. The sharp looking buds are tuned for live stage and studio monitoring and are perfectly matched to use with the new RSS Personal Mixing System featuring M-48 Live Personal Mixers. The in-ears come with different types of ear adapters to fit a wide variety of ear canals (S/M/L/XL). Also included is a 7 ft extension cord, plug adaptor (gold-plated stereo mini plug to 1/4 inch stereo phone plug), cord clip, two filters, filter replacement tool and carrying case.

Avid’s big NAB news has to do with identity and structure. The parent company will now share its new audio/video centric logo with Digidesign, Pinnacle Systems, M-Audio and Sibelius. The company has circled its wagons around customer groups centered around various sectors of its broad user base. The new logo forms a visual connection to iconic shapes that represent “volume up, volume down, play, pause, record and forward,â€? signaling a unification of the company’s core audio and video offerings. The distinctive mark also spells out the company’s name in abstract letterforms.

Dave Lebolt, Avid’s Chief Technology Officer, said, “We are refining the way we define and develop our solutions, leveraging technology across all of our audio and video capabilities in ways that no other company can. Having unification across the breadth and depth of Avid’s portfolio allows us to accelerate interoperability between Avid systems – like Pro Tools® and Media Composer®.  These two systems now sync smoothly via Video Satellite, allowing users to connect a Pro Tools|HD® system to an Avid Media Composer system for synchronized playback and connect up to four Pro Tools|HD systems plus one Media Composer when adding the Satellite Link option – and all without requiring any rendering of complex video sequences.  We’re also in a better position to further explore integrated bundled offerings – and how these offerings work openly with third-party applications – in a way that meets new and emerging demands of today’s content creators. We look forward to working closely with our customers to define these next-generation solutions.�

I saw TASCAM’s slick and miniature M-164 analog mixer at the show. It features 6 mic inputs, EQ, built-in meter bridge plus digital reverb, delay and chorus. The sister to the 164, the M-164UF is the first compact mixer with a built-in USB 2.0 to deliver all 16 outputs to a computer for live or studio recording (Mac/PC). Other features include: 16-channel mixing, 6 XLR microphone inputs with phantom power and hipass filter, 5 stereo line inputs, 3-band EQ on mic channels, 2-band EQs on line channels 7-10 and main output, RIAA phono preamp on channels 9-10, sub and Main output busses plus two aux sends.

Yes it’s that time of year again when Broadcasters from all over the globe gather in Las Vegas for the annual NAB Convention. I’ll be on the floor scouring the exhibits for the best new products and bringing them to you here on this Blog. Stay tuned.

One of the things our review dinged the cool Apogee Duet on was the rat’s nest of cabling provided for I/O. Now a company aptly titled Duet Breakout.com has created two new I/O breakout boxes that solves the problem. I just received them via UPS this morning and will be reviewing them soon for the site. UPDATE! Click here to read the Duet Breakout review

Check out this interesting in-ear system from Sensaphonics. There are mics in the ear molds that you can mix in with the monitor feed for a more realistic view of what’s going on outside your head.

The new X-Desk from SSL recently bowed at Musik Messe in Frankfurt ($2899). The new desktop/rackmount unit features 16 mixdown channels (8 dual line input channels – no preamps), 8 channel inserts, 1 stereo/2 mono sends, Talkback w/Dim and Cut, 2 monitor outs, 2 stereo fx returns, inserts on the stereo bus and more. If you’re looking to expand, the X-Desk will cascade with X-Rack and other X-Desks for bigger setups.

Carl Lindeman recently took the Yamaha Pocketrak 2G recorder into the field at a local Austin club and was surprised at the quality of the recordings he got. Click here to read his review and download an audio clip. There’s also a product comparison chart where we picked the best recorders under $500 to hep you wade through the competition.

The SV-24V is Royer’s latest product. It’s a stereo ribbon tube mic that features the same engine as the original SF-24, but with new electronics. Click here to listen to an upright bass recorded in mono using one side of the mic through the new Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity preamp. The tone is rich, exhibiting plenty of bottom end and fat round transients. Click here to listen to an acoustic guitar in stereo through two Neve VR preamps. Because of the nature of the narrow lobes of a figure 8 mic, the stereo image is wide and the two channels well defined. What’s remarkable is the amount of top end coming out of a ribbon which is usually rolled off in the higher frequencies.