When new audio gear arrives, the box is opened, the manual briefly scanned, but then many people just start making noise. Even the most meticulous reader of manuals will typically skip the preamble and “declaration of conformity” pages at the front of the manual. Yet locked within these pages are much of the blood, sweat and engineering tears shed during the design of your favorite pro audio products.
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How to Set Up Your Own Private Wireless Network
The majority of digital console manufacturers offer one or more ways to control your console remotely. In some cases, this can be done from a laptop running an offline/online editor, and in other cases, it can be done from a tablet or smartphone application.
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To say that the now-murky future of wireless audio for pro applications is somewhat clouded is somewhat of an understatement. With constantly changing Federal Communications Commission rulings, proceedings and a constant barrage of legalese of every type, what seemed clear yesterday is a completely different picture today. And at risk are not just frequency bands for RF microphones, but also those used on wireless rigs for musical instruments, in-ear monitors, production intercoms and now even systems such as Alto Professional’s Stealth series and AirNetix AiRocks Pro, designed to wirelessly transmit console feeds to mains or delay towers.
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For years, Yamaha’s digital mixers seem to set a standard by which other consoles are judged. There is no question that the PM1D, PM5D and M7CL are legendary consoles that defined their respective time periods and market segments. The CL and QL series consoles are no exception, and the PM10 Rivage is poised to be another staple of large-scale productions, much like its predecessor the PM1D.
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Sennheiser’s latest addition to its robust wireless line is the evolution wireless D1 (ew D1) digital wireless microphone system. Utilizing the 2.4 GHz transmission range (2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz), it comes in configurations for handheld vocal, headset mic, lavalier and musical instrument applications. For this review, I checked out a handheld set and a beltpack/headet mic package.
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Founded by Mark Kaltman in 2006, Kaltman Creations was never about doing things the usual way or creating “me-too” knockoffs. But perhaps that’s the way of many innovators who shape the direction of an industry. Now his latest product, RF-ResQ™ continues Kaltman’s tradition of coming up with something that redefines the way many of us will work in the future, just as he did with earlier inventions, like the Invisible Waves RF Command Center, the RF-id SOLO and Station, RF-intermodPro and RF-Vue.
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DPA Microphones continues to expand and improve upon its microphone solutions for pro audio users. This time around, the company sent me the d:screet 4071 omnidirectional miniature microphone to run through its paces. The 4071 is an update to DPA’s 4061 model, a workhorse praised for its sound quality that gets a lot of use on higher-end theatrical productions.
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It’s a familiar story that happens to a lot of churches. A congregation starts off in a smaller facility, eventually outgrows the sanctuary and moves to larger space, which may not have the warm, intimate acoustics of the original church. And so it was with the Clinton Frame Mennonite Church of Goshen, Indiana.
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Developments in loudspeaker technology don’t seem to come along very often. Yet every day we witness new products, new materials and new approaches advancing the art and science of loudspeaker design. A good example of that kind of forward-thinking comes in the form of the Trinity system from Calgary, Canada-based PK Sound. (The system is pictured here in use at the Safe in Sound festival at Club Cinema in Pompano Beach, FL).
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My good friend, Professor Ken Lopez, often asks me to appear as a guest lecturer for his classes at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. In his music production classes, Ken and I customarily discuss career path vectors, both in my specific case and for employment in the music business in general.
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The recent crash of a German airliner — a disaster brought about, apparently, by the willful act of one of its pilots — triggered a predictable discussion about the role that automation might play in avoiding such catastrophes in the future. But it also underscores just how much robotic automation — i.e., machines that can adaptively reconfigure their actions to changing circumstances — we already have in our daily lives.
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Once upon a time on these very pages, we discussed the procedure and benefits of using Real Time Analysis (RTA) as a tool for revealing problems in a live sound system. RTA or spectrum analysis can help expose room anomalies, problems with a P.A. or to help ring out monitor mixes (“Interpreting RTA Measurement Techniques,” March 2013, and “Ten Tips for Better Monitor Mixes,” Jan. 2014).
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