Editors' Blogs

There's still one more day of the AES Convention here in New York City, but I may not have a chance to blog about it for a while since I have to run to catch a plane after it's over. Let me send some more shout-outs and talk about some fun gear I saw on Day 3.

The mixer in the picture may not have an official name yet; the folks at PMI Audio Group are calling it the "pony mixer". It's a fully functional 4-channel/2-group version of the Malcolm Toft ATB console. Originally developed for dealer demos, it's garnered a lot of attention from end users who would like some of that Toft magic in a small format. We're chatting with PMI about a possible review. Thanks a heap to Brent Casey for showing me around the PMI booth and its other new products and prototypes, including a very cool little XLR/USB mic that will be premiering soon.

Brad Avenson of Avenson Audio walked me through his two newest creations, a pair of half-rack processors with unique functions. One is a bidirectional Mid-Side/Left-Right translator with adjustable width control and some other cool functions; the other is a very nifty 2 x 2 mixer with a large Blend control fader on the front panel. I can think of about a dozen uses for that little gizmo!

Jon Ulrigg, gracious as always, showed me around the Shinybox booth and gave me a sneak peek of the four-channel rack version of his Si preamp, which we hope to review soon in its original 500-Series format. Also on view: the Guillotine 500-Series filter module.

Tristan Rhodes of Rupert Neve Designs showed me a prototype of the new Portico II rack channel, with some interesting innovations and electronics taken from the company's analog modular console. Very slick stuff.

A big shout out to Larry Vilella of ADK Microphones, who was injured in an automobile accident and couldn't make it to the show; his booth was covered ably by ADK rep Mike Sarro of Mascom Inc. and Steve Seropian of AccuSound Cables, who chatted with us about the new 3Zigma microphones... look for a review soon.

Lynx Studio Technology has a new MADI option card and AES50 compatibility on offer (more on this new studio connection standard soon), and we had a great conversation with Phil Moon, David Hoatson, and Bob Baumann about all the cool places the Aurora converters have been turning up.

We wrapped up the day with a visit to the Summit Audio booth, with Damon, Erik, and Paul of Summit watching in mixed amusement and horror as the Bryce and Metlay Show made one of its rare live appearances. David Bryce, product evangelist for Summit's family of brands, is an old friend and a frequent comedy-routine partner, but we got serious long enough to talk about reviewing the company's new Everest rack processor and the Bricasti M7 reverb (I learned that the "Ti" in Bricasti is my friend Tim Thompson, which was a delightful surprise!).

There was lots more to talk about and see, but that will have to wait for another blog and our show wrapup for the magazine. For now, I have a plane to catch. Thank you for a lovely visit, New York, and thank you for a very cool show, AES.