Road Tests

Way back in 1998, I reviewed the R-121, the first microphone from a startup company called Royer Labs. This mic sparked a revival in ribbon mics that continues to this day, not only from Royer, but other manufacturers as well. But the R-121, and its patented (U.S. #6,434,252) proprietary offset ribbon technology with a pure aluminum ribbon and neodymium magnet structure proved to be a hit even to this day (and earning a Technical Grammy Award in 2013), offering a warm, smooth sound from a transducer that was more compact and rugged than previous ribbon designs.

A lot of what we do in sound reinforcement involves attempting to do what amounts to a seemingly impossible task. This may come in the form of mixing in some acoustically horrible environment with glass walls and marble floors. Another vexing issue comes when you need a long cable run of up to a half mile across rough terrain, crowds, a body of water, a stadium, an alligator pit or other obstacles — or simply do a gig in a museum, theme park, convention center or historic building/site, where extended cable runs are either impractical or simply prohibited.

Representing a significant departure from what the company has done over the past 10 years is the S21 — the latest offering from DiGiCo. In an effort to reach a new set of customers that can’t afford its higher-end desks, DiGiCo went back to the drawing board to create a console that they hope will redefine the industry’s expectations of what a sub-$10,000 console is capable of. My demo system consisted of an S21 surface in a custom road case, as well as a D-Rack for remote I/O and a Cat-5 snake for connecting the two together. In the time I spent with the S21, it was clear that DiGiCo has something new and special that isn’t just another digital console.

Lectrosonics, long a staple of the broadcast, film and theater industries, has introduced the SSM (Super Slight Micro) UHF beltpack transmitter. To say this thing is small is an understatement. It measures 2.52 by 1.48 by 0.57 inches and weighs only 2.3 ounces. And even referring to this a beltpack transmitter is somewhat of a misnomer, as it could easily be placed in hats, costumes or a performer’s wig. It’s the ideal solution in many film and theater applications — essentially, wherever you need to conceal that you are wearing a transmitter.

KLANG Technologies is small, up-and-coming company located in Aachen, Germany. I’ve spent the last month with its flagship product, the KLANG:fabrik, which is described on its website as “3D In-Ear Monitoring.” My first exposure to KLANG actually came by way of one of my students, who showed me the Fabrik online. At the time, I checked out KLANG’s website and watched one of their videos. I have to admit that when I first heard the term “3D In-Ear Monitoring,” it struck me as a clever marketing phrase, and I quickly dismissed the Fabrik as all hype. In retrospect, having now used the Fabrik for myself, I don’t think I really understood it at the time. Fabrik truly is one of those products that you have to hear to believe.

When I was asked to write a review of KS Audio’s CPD 14, I have to admit that I had never heard of the company before. In fact, most of my colleagues that I asked hadn’t heard of KS Audio either. I only found one person who knew the name KS Audio, and when I mentioned their name, his response was that they “make amazing studio monitors.” For a company that has been around for over 30 years, it seemed no one really knew much about them, so I spent the past few weeks getting familiar with their product line, including the speakers that I’ve reviewed here, the CPD 14.