I never thought I’d be reviewing a mic stand. But then again, Triad-Orbit’s Advanced Microphone Stand Systems aren’t ordinary mic stands. Actually, the real point here is whether I need another (or several) more mic stands. After all, I have a ton of them that I’ve bought over the years, ranging from cast base models to various folding versions.
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Sometimes, it’s all about the look. There are literally thousands of live performance vocal mics to choose from for stage applications, ranging from large side-address condensers to handheld dynamics to ultra-miniature headworn microphones. So is there really a place for a new live vocal mic that emulates the appearance of a classic 1920’s Western Electric double button carbon microphone? For the right artist, in the right setting, the answer would be absolutely.
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Allen & Heath has built a good reputation and become popular with their larger digital consoles. Now they have taken a lot of the technology that has served them well with their iLive and GLD series mixing boards and incorporated it into the Qu-16 (and recently introduced 24-channel Qu-24) consoles.
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Well-known in studio circles, but perhaps less familiar to sound reinforcement users, Focusrite has a long and distinguished legacy in professional audio. The company was founded 29 years ago by audio legend Rupert Neve (whose circuit designs still grace a number of Focusrite’s products) and four years later, it was acquired by Soundcraft co-founder Phil Dudderidge. After a short bout in the large console market, Focusrite began expanding its world-class signal processing series with a successful line of audio interfaces that were on-time and in-step with the burgeoning studio market.
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Whether aging a fine wine or tweaking a speaker design, good things often take a while to develop. During the InfoComm show back in 2012, I stopped by the Alto Professional booth and was taken aback by a preview of the company’s just-unveiled Black Series loudspeakers. I had been aware of Alto Professional since 2000, when the company was first launched. That young company had ambition and good ideas, but seemed unfocused and often embarked on products which, I suppose, had great appeal to overseas customers, yet weren’t always quite in sync with the needs of pro users in North America.
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Like so many of you, I’m a self-confessed mic junkie. And when an interesting new mic comes along, I’m hooked. So last year, at summer NAMM, when MXL unveiled its CR-77 live sound vocal mic, I was definitely interested.
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The V75-40V is the latest digital wireless microphone from Line 6. It transmits in the 2.4 GHz band and features an Earthworks WL40V hypercardioid capsule. It’s made to be used with Line 6’s 2.4 GHz receivers, the XD-V75, XD-V55 and XD-V35, running v2.0 firmware or later. The V75-40V equipped with the Earthworks WL40V capsule is sold a la carte and is not packaged with any particular wireless receiver system.
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CEDAR Audio is no stranger to noise reduction systems. The company pretty much wrote the book on state-of-the-art hardware- and software-based solutions for all types type of unwanted audio artifacts, ranging from pops and crackling on vintage 78 records to wind, rain and nearly every other type of sound that could creep onto an audio channel. In fact, CEDAR received an Academy Award for its original DNS (Dialogue Noise Supressor) system.
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The much-anticipated next generation of StudioLive consoles has finally arrived. The new StudioLive AI line is offered in 16-, 24- and 32-channel versions. And the numbers refer to full channels with mic preamps — there’s none of that “24 input board with 16 mic inputs and four stereo line inputs” business. All are four-bus designs.
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Maybe it’s because I’m also a drummer, but whenever a company introduces a new microphone designed for kick drum, I’m all ears. So earlier this year, when Telefunken Eletroakustik announced its new M82, I was definitely interested and even more so because the M82 also has onboard tone shaping switches to tailor the response to the job at hand.
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The Si Expression comes in three models, the 16-input Si Expression 1, the 24-input Si Expression 2 and the 32-input Si Expression 3. For my review, I took the Si Expression 2, (the 24 mic pre version) for a test drive.
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Over the past few years, Point Source Audio has gained a reputation for supplying tough, good-sounding miniature microphones in headset, earworn and lavalier styles. Now, with its new flagship SERIES8 line, the company is poised to take things up a notch — or two.
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