Pro Audio, Music & Mac Blog

GML makes some of the finest audio gear on earth and George Massenburg’s contribution to the art and science of audio recording and production are deservedly legendary. A buddy recently turned me onto a GREAT long-form DVD style movie featuring George demonstrating the GML 8900. The links are below and you simply need to watch it.BUT, I snipped out this quote because I thought it was funny as hell.[wp_youtube]oFXCr3_9R7Y[/wp_youtube] George Massenburg Labs Support Page has a great in-depth video “white paper” on using the GML 8900 compressor, but it’s really a great lesson in itself about compression in general.Here’s the direct links to the Quicktime movies:Hi Res – 87.3MBLo Res – 12.5MB

I’ve been mixing with NS10’s for more than twenty years…

Poor me, right? Whatever! I know them. My mixes translate well because I am familiar with their particular sonic signature (read shortcomings). I feel comforted by the familiar white NS10 drivers moving in and out in front of me, alright?

Well, making a long story short, I’ve decided I want to get a pair of more “accurate” monitors and see how the other half live. I also want them to be active with the power amp(s) perfectly matched to the speakers.

I’ve been checking out a few different powered monitors and have decided on the Dynaudio BM5A.

Here’s the specs:

Active nearfield monitor with 6.9″ woofer and 1″ silk dome tweeter
Frequency response 50Hz – 21kHz (+/- 3 dB)
Maximum SPL at 1 meter, pair (IEC Long Term) – 115 dB peak
Maximum SPL at 2 meters, 5.1 (IEC Long Term) – 116 dB peak
Amplifier power – Tweeter: 50 watts Woofer: 50 watts
Bass reflex cabinet with radius edges on front baffle
1.1″ Esotec tweeter with soft dome, rear chamber, magnetic fluid cooled
6.9″ one-piece molded polypropylene cone woofer with 3″ pure aluminum wire voice coil
12.5″ h x 12.5″ w x 7.3″ d

You can download Dynaudio’s PDF Product Brochure to read up more about the BM5A, BM6A, and the tremendous geekery involved in their craft. I just know that I have always been very impressed by Dynaudio monitors and believe that this may be the very best active monitor value going!

Also close in the running were the Event Active Studio Precision powered monitors (the ASP6, in particular, because I don’t want a big 8″ woofer). Dynaudio has also announced a new, smaller form factor and slightly different sounding BM5A Compact. I’m not sure, but as of this writing I don’t think they are shipping yet (in any volume, anyway). The BM5A Compact only goes down to 55 Hz on their specs, while the BM5A gets down to 50, so they probably have a slight tonal difference. Not sure about the price differential either, but I AM sure that they will sound great, as does everything Dynaudio makes. They are true pro audio craftsmen.

Solid State Logic Duende DAW Plug in Platform

SSL’s new Duende DSP powered plug-in processor brings the legendary sound of an SSL console into your DAW via a single Firewire 400 cable.

You already know the sound of an SSL console – you’ve heard it on countless hit records from the last four decades. Now those superior mix characteristics are available within your Mac OSX digital audio workstation, seamlessly integrated as powerful plug-ins served up on a custom DSP platform.

Based on the digital technology behind SSL’s C-Series consoles, Duende delivers the complete SSL mix experience including SSL’s powerful channel and dynamics processing and the legendary Stereo Bus Compressor.

Duende offers 32 mono channels (stereo tracks count as two mono channels) at 44.1k and 48k and 16 channels of processing at 88.2k and 96k for just under $1600.

View a screenshot of the classic SSL channel EQ, filtering and dynamics:

View as screenshot of the legendary SSL stereo buss compressor:

For more info about Duende, check out the Solid State Logic site: Duende – SSL Console-Grade Processing for your DAW

Focusrite announced July 7th that Liquid Mix is now shipping worldwide for Mac OSX. The LiquidMix is a new multi-channel Firewire Mix Processor.

Liquid Mix’s onboard DSP hosts 32 classic EQs and 32 vintage compressors simultaneously in the mix. Each of Liquid Mix’s 32 channels provides Compressor and EQ emulations selected from a huge pool of high-quality vintage and modern day classics. 40 Compressors and 20 EQs are available straight out of the box, with an expanding library online. Even cooler, a totally unique hybrid 7-band ’super EQ’ can be built out of separate classic EQ sections in every one of the 32 channels.

Each channel appears as a separate VST/AU/RTAS effect within the sequencer and will work within all major applications, including Digital Performer, Pro Tools, and Logic.

Liquid Mix’s DSP is housed within a desktop control solution and connects to the computer via Firewire, which also provides bus-powering. An optional expansion card is available for Liquid Mix, allowing users to increase the number of available channels at higher sample rates. Liquid Mix is bundled with a VST to RTAS wrapper, allowing it to work with Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE.

Focusrite Liquid Mix ships for $799.

Check out the Liquid Mix Video at Focusrite’s site.

Or view these photos of the unit and the interface below: