Editors' Blogs

I should note that some of my favorite experiences at AES have been visiting with people I don't get to see as often as I'd like to, even (especially?) those who aren't showing gear at the show. I got to hang with Malcolm Doak of Korg, who is the mastermind behind the new SV-1 digital keyboard -- which, by the way, is just too cool for words -- and Denis Labrecque of Analog Devices, who's a mover and shaker with audio development for the SHARC and Blackfin DSP chips. Both great guys with wonderful stories to share.

It also helps that there are some very cool people selling the gear, so looking at the machines is leavened with nice chats and getting reacquainted with old friends and making new ones. Of note:

Our neighbors in Boulder, the Brothers Grace of Grace Design, have not one but two cool products on the way: a 500-Series version of their crystal-clear m101 preamp, and a new channel strip called the 103. Can't wait to play with them. Hi Michael and Eben!

I caught a look at the newest headphones from Ultrasone, the HFI-2400, courtesy of Michael Willberg. We'll have a review of the Zino portable phones from Ultrasone in our December issue as part of our gift guide... watch for it!

Among the many cool things I saw at the TransAudio Group booth, led around by Brad Lunde, were some new 500-Series preamps by True Systems, a new module-based signal processor line from Tube-Tech (representing a new entry pricepoint for the brand), new gear from Geoff Daking (also a very pleasant fellow) whose Mic Pre One will be reviewed in an upcoming issue, and a very musical and easy to use 5.1 upmix box from Soundfield, demonstrated by the very gracious Pieter Schillebeeckx.

FDW Worldwide has amassed distribution for a very impressive lineup of gear companies, including Audient (hello to Chris Walsh), Sontronics (hello to Trevor Coley), and well-liked mics from Violet Design and Nevaton. But the newest addition to the lineup is the Swedish company Milab, whose unusual and beautiful-sounding microphones are available again in the USA after a long hiatus. Thanks go out to Buzz Goodwin for hosting me at the FDW booth, and to Mattias Stromberg of Milab for a lovely chat about his line, and thanks in advance to Shawn McLoughlin of FDW for getting a whole BUNCH of cool reviews started for us.

Joan Myers of DPA Microphones gave me a tour of the new 4099-G miniature guitar-mounted mic, a very flexible and configurable system that we're looking to review soon. Between the Myers and the Graces, I have to wonder why we don't take more time to visit with our neighbors while we're actually at home, and only see one another at tradeshows a thousand miles away? Funny...

Jonathan Little of Little Labs demoed a new 500-Series module called the vog, which is a high-pass resonant filter designed to grab a resonance that you want to emphasize in the low end of a signal, and clean up everything below that. You get boom where you want it, and no rumble and muck underneath. It sounds severely cool on kick, and I can't wait to hear it on other stuff too!

At the iZotope booth, the software maker (newly independent once more after amicably ending its association with Avid) was showing off Alloy, a new and affordable set of six software tools that covers much of what their Ozone 4 mastering suite can do, but optimized for use in the tracking process. I found it very easy to use and follow, and expect the sound to be fantastic. A big shout out to old friends Brian McQuoid and Nick Dika, and to new iZotope team members Bruce Bartone and Hart Shafer (formerly our contact at Adobe for reviews of Audition). Good luck to all at iZotope in its exciting new future!

Matt Derbyshire of Novation is probably ready to kill me with all my questions about the new Launchpad, but he's been very patient and friendly, and hopefully the end result will be a very cool review. (I mentioned him yesterday but didn't have his last name handy.)

New from sE Electronics, which is now being distributed by Rupert Neve Design: the sE4400A, a multipattern mic with a similar look and application set to a certain famous Austrian mic, and the T2, a titanium-diaphragm mic that replaces the Titan. Also new: sE's Sales and Marketing rep, Steffenee Copley, who left the pro audio world after a stint with Ultrasone and is now back to much rejoicing from all of us.

Also back in the game and having a blast: the brilliant and bubbly Sarah Jones, formerly of MIX Magazine and now the Associate Director of the Women's Audio Mission, a fantastic San Francisco-based education and outreach organization for women in pro audio engineering careers.

I stopped by the Cakewalk booth to chat with Steve Thomas (the SONAR V-Studio 700 review is about to reach subscribers) and was interrupted by the arrival of DMC of Run-DMC, who's setting up a new studio. It seemed like a good idea to reschedule our meeting. :)

Genelec has issued a new speaker, the utterly gorgeous 8260A, a three-way speaker design with a dual concentric tweeter and midrange and DSP tweaks galore. Will Eggleston's enthusiasm for the new system's glorious sound was infectious, and I hope to get back there for a proper listen later in the show.

That's all I have room for this time around... more tomorrow if all goes well. Oh, and if you're wondering who the gentleman in the photo is, that's Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Ratdog, who stopped by the API booth to thank them for his new Legacy console. I was going to pose for a photo with him, but didn't want Paul Vnuk Jr. dying of jealousy, so I let Brent Heintz get in the photo instead and settled for a handshake and a short chat. Bob was very gracious, especially when chatting with a young man who was rattling off stock questions like "What's your favorite song of what you've done" while also admitting that he had never heard of the Grateful Dead but assumed from all the hullabaloo that they were someone famous...

Bedtime... more tomorrow from AES New York!