API price increase may raise JDK sales

Just a theory here, but if you were trying to decide between the legendary API gear, and their more affordable brand JDK, then the recent API price increase may help you make your decision. I'm in the market for a stereo compressor and been strongly considering the JDK R22, and giving the API 2500 a light consideration. Before yesterday these two compressors where separated by $1,500.  Few days ago some API gear got a price increase. The API 2500 has gone up to $2,800. With more distance between these two brands people who were considering API may now try the JDK, Its hard to pay more for something you've been looking at a certain price for so long. People who really want API will buy API, so I don't think the price increase will hurt  their sales. But for those who were struggling between the two brands may find a pleasant surprise in the lesser known JDK audio gear. I still use my JDK R24 every mix I do. Hopefully the JDK stuff doesn't go up to because I will likely be adding more to my rack. 

Sweetwater Gearfest 2012

Gearfest 2012 was another great experience for me, once attended with my friend D. Lyles. This was my third time attending the event and I had just as much fun as the last two years. I got to see a lot of familiar faces, chat with some important people, and drool at sale prices at every tent. I noticed some products weren’t on sale for as low as they were the previous year. Sales were still were still good and you’d have to be a fool to come and not buy anything. I always put together a wishlist of what I want but after seeing other products on sale it makes it hard to make a final decision. Though I’m not in the market for a new mic the Miktek C7 was on sale for $749! Thats $150 off regular price. Another great sale was the Radial Q3 for $529, down from the regular price of $599 (which I actually ordered last night). The workshops last year I think were “ok” but this year they were good. Though I spent most my time in the tents with manufactures, I got to check out seminars from George Massenburg, Fab Dupont, Mike Wells, and one from Mojave showing off their mics in different configurations on acoustic guitars. Gearfest isn’t a place where new products are introduced, but It caught me off guard to see the new Daking Hybird compressor for the 500 series in Geoffe Daking’s lunchbox. Geoffe told me last year he was working on it but I didn’t expect to see until NAMM or maybe AES later this year. He said its called a hybird compressor because its VCA that acts like a FET. He said it was shipping now (though I haven’t seen on it any sites yet, including Daking’s) and he actually offered to sell me the one right out of his lunchbox. Dave HIll gave us a demo of his Europa mic pre and Titan compressor. I was blown away at what the Europa could do. You really could hear a difference with each knob twist. I ended up leaving gearfest with a API 6 slot lunchbox, Chandler Little Devil Pre, and tascam pr-10. People I noticed I didn’t see this year were Waves, Slate audio (and digital), and McDSP. Overall though another successful event for Sweetwater and I look forward to next year. Gearfest, unlike other similar events, is completely free. All you need to do is get there. With events like NAMM in LA and AES in NY out of reach for me, Fort Wayne is a tolerable 6 hour drive for me from Nashville. If you're like me and can get to Indiana faster than NY or LA I highly recommend checking out Gearfest next year. I forgot my digital camera so I had to take pics with my galaxy nexus, but here is a link to some photos I took. https://plus.google.com/b/113269535296910365369/113269535296910365369/posts/FLbNQUfxLGG

Sweetwater Gearfest 2012 Wishlist

Sweetwater's Gearfest 2012 is coming up and of course I will be in attendance. Last year picked up the JDK R24 and couldn't be happier with my purchase. Here is whats on my wishlist for this year. Its hard to decide on what to purchase next but I don't feel I really need anything, but also don't want to buy gear that won't see regular use. Depending on deals going on I'll be leaving with an order placed for on the following. 

1. tonelux V4 roadster w/ little devil pre
2. tonelux V4 roadster w/ tonelux mp5a
3. Miktek C7
4. dangerous bax eq

After researching all the 500 series racks on the market I've decided on the tonelux V4, and the little devil pre has been on my wishlist since it was announced. If the little devil is not on sale and the mp5a is then I'll likely go with that. If Tonelux isn't running any specials thenJDK R22 can fill my want for a new stereo compressor, especially one thats good on vocals. Also haven't ruled out the Miktek C7, I have some projects coming up this summer and Miktek makes some of best mics I've heard. Lastly the Bax eq on sale I would consider it. 

You've Just Lost A Sale

I tell people over and over how engineering is more than  just running a recording a session, its also about personal communication. I've met millionaire's in this industry andwhile there are some assholes out there, the majority I've met are humble, down to earth, and the nicest people you will ever meet. Keep being a douche and see how many clients you attract. I bring this up because I had emailing a pro audio sales rep back and forth a while  about 500 series gear. I've been interested in it but not fully committed to it yet, and of course I won't spend my money until I'm 100% sure thats what I want. I have been strongly considering the API 6 slot lunchbox, but after attending Nashville Recording Workshop few months ago I became drawn to the Tonelux brand. So I emailed the rep about his thoughts about the Tonelux gear and this was his reply. 

" Thanks for your email. It's been a bit over a year now that we've been going back and forth over and I've been offering insight and advice to you. Are you nearing readiness to make a purchase with us? "

There are 3 things I took from this. 

1. He's annoyed with me
2. I'm wasting his time if I'm not spending any money
3. He didn't answer my question in the reply therefore he is done answering until I spend some money

Now I understand his point, but back to what I was saying there are ways to talking to people. There are better ways to get his point across. For example he could of said

 "I think Tonelux stuff is great etc, etc. We've been going back and forth about a lot of 500 series gear foe awhile, have you narrowed them down to any? We still have some deals going on."

I think you would agree that sounds better then the "your wasting my time" attitude he gave off. And to answer his question yes I am ready to make to a purchase now, but because of this I won't be making it with him and his company. I'll take my money to Sweetwater, who is my usual dealer who sells the same gear and has never me feel like I was wasting their time. If you help I will gladly spend money with you because I know most of these sales people get commission. I don't blame the company for this but the person, and that's why he will not be getting this sale. I'm curious to know if he would of known I've spent over $10,000 with Sweetwater would he still come at me like that. I understand we are all out to make money, but one thing I realized about being in audio is that people won't spend money until they are ready to. That goes from booking studio time, to mixing fees, to gear. So don't ever treat someone like they are wasting your time. Because most times when that happens, just like in this case, thats the time that person is ready to spend money. Again, personal communication and how you talk to people is huge in this business. And thats why this sales rep has lost a sale. 

Apple Buys Redmatica!

many have not heard of Redmatica but to me this is a big deal. I bought all of redmatica products about 5 years ago and they are basically steroids for Logic. Keymap Pro adds incredible useful features to the EXS24, pro manager lets you arrange all your sounds for Logic, and auto sampler samples hardware and automatically maps it as an exs24 instrument. I sampled all my favorite korg triton sounds with it. I thought this company was dead because its been many years since I received a update to any of the programs. If Apple ties this into Logic it will be a huge step in the right direction for them to show they are still serious about Logic. With other daws like Studio one and Pro Tools updating to new versions on an annual cycle Logic is way over due for a new version. But if they tie this into the next version of Logic now, how much longer will we have to wait for Logic 10? Check out the videos on Redmatica's site to see what it does and why I am excited about this. http://redmatica.com/Redmatica/Videos.html

SPL De-esser Collection Review

I know I said I was done with buying plugins unless they were a game changer, unique enough, or something I didn’t already have. The SPL de-esser collection fits two of three,  the unique and something I don’t already have. The first reason I purchased this is because it does m/s. I’ve been doing a lot of mastering lately and this would be perfect if I needed to de-ess vocals while mastering. The second is that it only has two frequency settings (male and female) unlike most de-essers which allow you to dial in the exact frequency you want. So why would I want a de-esser with “less” options? Because it will either simply work, or not. Instead of spending time dialing in the frequency, I try the two chosen for me. If it doesn’t work, then I go to a different de-esser that's more precise.

The de-esser collection comes with two plugins, the SPL classic de-esser, and dual band de-esser. The latter being a de-esser that has a lower band of 1.44k. On the SPL classic de-esser the male frequency is 6.4k, and female is 7.2k. In the dual band de-esser male is the same 6.4k, but female is set to 7.6k. The dual band is interesting to me because I never thought sibilance to be as low as 1.44k. What makes this more interesting is the bands interact with each other. If using both bands together the signal is processed by the low band first and then by the high band. Kind of like using a compressor in series. Because of this the low band affects how the high band processes the signal.

Another great feature is the auto threshold. On the dual band it's always on, on the classic de-esser you have a button to engage it. What this does is automatically change the de-essers threshold depending on how the input signal varies allowing for the best performance. Without this feature you’d spend time dialing in the right threshold to cover a whole vocal take, or even automating the threshold for louder and softer parts for smooth de-essing.

One thing I noticed with these de-essers is there is no way to audition what the de-esser is seeing. Most de-essers have this and it's helpful for getting the de-esser set just right. By listening to what the de-esser is seeing you can easily adjust the frequency until you hear strong sibilance coming through. This is isn’t a deal breaker but I find it odd this feature was not included.

In use I found it quicker to get dialed in than any other de-esser with just having male or female settings to choose from. With the dual band I figured the low band would remove some presence from vocals being so close to that 2-4k range but it didn’t. If you don’t have any other de-esser plugins I wouldn’t recommend this one because you may need to get precise with it, however if you have others this is a great addition, especially if you mix and master. I have not had to use it in m/s mode yet but when the time comes I’ll be ready. For more information visit www.plugin-alliance.com

My Favorite Saturation Plugins

After softube released a free saturation AAX plugin for Pro Tools 10 users, I realized just how much I use saturation plugins. They do a great job of adding some bite and thickening up anything I need them to. They also help tracks cut through in a mix.  So here are my favorite saturation plugins and how I use them when mixing. 

1. McDsp Analog Channel - This was my first saturation plugin. It didn’t get love from me until I read the manual and really understood how to use it. Analog Channel is two different plugins. The AC101 emulates class A amplifier circuits like preamps, and the AC202 emulates tape machines. I use AC202 more than AC101 but both are great and extremely versatile. AC202 in vintage mode thickens up thin vocals. Sometimes its too much, but when it is the more subtle modern mode will do the job. I also use AC202 on strings to give some attitude. Most strings I get to mix sound boring and thin, and eq most times will not fully do the job. Sometimes the AC202 is the only plugin that I put on strings in a mix. It sees action for me on drum bus as well. Being able to shape the eq curve really come in handy as well.
2. Decapitator - Another extremely versatile saturation plugin, and arguably the most popular. SoundToys gives you 5 different analog modeling styles. My favorite is E, followed by P and N. I use decapitator on my mix buss, strings, and sometimes drum buss. One of my favorite features is the tone knob, which allows you to make the signal darker or brighter. Its what really makes this a coloring tool for me. That knob can sometimes replace an eq for me. I never  used the punish the button before, but I can think of some cools ways to use it for effects.
3. Softube Saturation Knob - Even though I’ve only been using it for a week I have to list this as one of my favorites. At first I thought this was just the saturation taken from the focusing equalizer, but a quick shootout with the two quickly proved me wrong. The focusing eq can be pushed a lot harder before it starts to distort. So far this plugin has seen use on vocals and mix buss for me. Next time I get some strings I will try them there to.