It’s not often I feel sorry for Uli Behringer but I have to confess the release of the X32 has plucked a slightly sympathetic chord from my otherwise stony heart. Having acquired Midas and KT it seemed to me that the Behringer ‘Midas Lite‘ digital desk would attract an awful lot of attention, a quiverful of poison arrows from the …
DiGiCo UB Madi AES10 USB digital audio interface review
I hope Lemmy isn’t on Twitter, or if he is I hope it is really a spotty 18 year old Motorhead intern who tweets for the great man. I say this because years ago I read a piece by Lemmy in which he berated modern rock bands for spending all their spare time on laptops, turning their back on the …
Transformer based mic splitters – Radial JS3, MMStudioz Allegro, Palmer PMS-02 review
Live sound is a bit like binge drinking, tiring, expensive, messy and often you end up doing things your mother warned against. Like splitting your mics. Everyone knows that mics are naturally monogamous, one mic, one lead, one channel. That’s how it’s supposed to be. But one is never enough in the world of live, FOH has to have a …
Shure R Series Radio Mics – Pro wireless system review
Shure have been a big name in the world of wireless for quite some time now. When handhelds were needed that could work across Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Mr. Shure got the business, because his handhelds did the business. However one area that Shure haven’t been so active in is that of location sound. From ENG and documentaries to drama and …
AudioRoot eSmart Location Battery System Review
Can there be any truth in stereotypes? Are all directors spoiled children? Do all camera operators suffer from Ansel Adams syndrome? Are all sound operators really, really boring people? Consider this cautionary tale. A good friend of mine was returning from a transatlantic shoot on the west coast. Drawing the shorter of the straws he was seated next to the …
Royer Labs R-101- Review
How many ribbon mics does it take to equip a simple interview studio? It’s not a trick question – well, not really. Most ribbon mics have a figure-ofeight response (STC 4033A anyone?), and if you want to record a simple one-plus-one you can get away with one mic and a bit of careful mic placement. In fact I remember Roger …
HHB UDP 89 Review
I have five silver disk players in my life. At work an Alesis Masterlink a Fostex CR-500 and a Denon DN-C640. At home a Pioneer 656A and a Sony XE597. Every one of these I bought because it does a little more. So I should be a sucker for HHB’s UDP-89, which promises more, more and more. Hence U for …
Sonodyne SM 100AK loudspeaker review
In the words of Cliff – ‘I like tall speakers’ enormous cabs with earth shaking bass, and late at night I log on to dodgy websites and ogle Isobariks, Harbeth Monitor 40s and hey big Spendors. But practicalities being what they are “I like small accurate monitors well suited to my room”. It just doesn’t scan as neatly as “I …
RME RayDat HDSPe review
On RME’s new web site there’s no sign of a feature I used to enjoy on their older much less swish version. There was a menu item labled “competitors” which when selected spun a little bar for ever or until you pressed OK at which point it replied “none found”. Cheeky monkeys. A few months ago I accepted a lift …
Tascam SSR-1 SS-CDR1 Tascam Audio Recorders review
If dear reader you are eager to get to grips with Compact Flash let me assure you that you have come to the right place, but for the moment excerise a modicum of patience as we first consider the rotating silver medium that we have come to know and love so well. Like the baddie in a cheap horror flick …