AES Show New Gear Wrap Up - Part 2

Yesterday I discussed new loudspeakers and software from this year's AES show. Today we'll look at microphones and consoles (yes, they're back - in a way). Here we go.

Microphones

AKG Perception mics

AKG launched some new mics in its Perception series. First is the small diaphragm P170 ($80), then there are a 3 large diaphragm entries - the P820 based around a tube ($700), the P420 ($200) and P220 ($150). I wasn't able to listen to them (not that it would have told me anything) and there was no literature readily available, so can't say much more.

Advanced Audio CM1084

My friends at Advanced Audio released a KM84 style CM1084, which appears to be very versatile and is only $399. They also showed their 251 close, called the CM251, which sells for a very reasonable $995. I own a couple of AA U87 clones and they're great, so I can't wait to try these new ones.

Cathedral Pipes Mic

One of the coolest variation on the U47 comes from Cathedral Pipes. Owner and designer Charles Dickenson told me he put an LED beneath the grill as a joke when he was continually asked to make the mic brighter. It was only when people started to order it with different colored LEDs did he realize that was something that people really dug. These mics are very meticulously hand-built in Southern California and sell for around $1500. There's also a cool version of the RCA 77 as well for only $800.

Josephson C700

Josephson Engineering showed their very cool C700 series. It's been around for a while but it never caught my eye. It's a combination Blumlein (2 figure 8 capsules) and MS mic (with a third omni capsule) rolled into one so you can change the directional pattern of the mic after you've recorded. Price is around $8k.

Gefell KEM975

Another unique mic along the same lines was the Microtech Gefell KEM975 line array mic. Just like a line array sound system you see at concert venues everywhere, this mic has 8 capsule elements. The idea is to make the mic very directional in a vertical plane so the mic only picks up what's in front of it, not above or below. A 9th mic at the rear of the main body is to extend the frequency response below 200Hz. It's up for a Tech Award and costs around $11k.

Reissue Sony C38B

Sony showed its C38B, a reissue that's been around for a couple of years but also skipped my attention. This was the FET followup to the amazing C37A. Sony says it's an exact reproduction and sells it for around $2200.

Reissue Neumann U47FET

Speaking of exact reproductions, Neumann has reintroduced its famous U47FET. Once again, it's supposed to be identical to the original version. It's around $4k. There are other very good reproductions around, but none of them say Neumann on the body.

AT 5045

Audio Technica showed its brand new 5045, a side-address mic made especially for high SPL instrument capture. Despite its shape, AT says it has the largest diaphragm area of any mic it sells. The price is around $1600.

MXL Giga Mic

Here's an interesting mic from MXL called the Giga Mic. It has the largest body of any mic I've every seen; probably twice as long as the biggest U47. No info on the mic though.

Telefunken USA M60FET

Finally, Telefunken USA brought out a new small diaphragm condenser called the M60 FET. It's the company's first FET mic. No price yet.







Consoles

Trident Series 88

Recording consoles made a bit of a comeback at this show. Trident finally showed a shipping version of its Series 88. This one has 24 input strips with a 24 channel monitor section. The inputs are also dual inline so there's 72 inputs for your mix. All this for around $25k.

Daking Console

Geoff Daking showed his currently unnamed console, which was very cool indeed. It came complete with his Trident A-Range-style mic amps and EQ, plus dynamics on each channel and a cool routing with parallel compression in mind. It also has a very complete monitor section. Around $65k for the 24 input version.

Tree Audio The Roots Jr.

This Tree Audio The Roots Jr is basically The Roots console without the master section. Each channel has a direct out only. Around $16k for all tube retro audio.

SSL XL-Desk

Finally, SSL showed its XL console, which is basically a mixer attached to a 500 Series rack. It comes with 8 SSL mic pres, 16 input channels, 4 stereo channels, the famous SSL buss compressor, 18 500 series slots and much more. The price is only $20k with empty slots. It's one of the more brilliant things I've seen in a long time.


That's it for today. Tomorrow we'll look at outboard gear and miscellaneous audio stuff.

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NAMM 2013 Overview Part 2 - Audio Products.

When I go to a NAMM show or an other similar exhibition, I no longer go to see a specific item. I usually walk the floor waiting for something to jump out at me. Sometimes the product is obvious, and other times it's buried in the back of a booth, but if I see the need or use for it, you'll see it mentioned here. Sometimes it's a "why hadn't anyone thought of that before" product, while other times it's a new twist on an old problem solver. Here are some of the audio items that caught my eye at NAMM 2013 (in no particular order).







First comes the audio-technica AT5040, a new microphone that distinguishes itself by its unique quad capsule (seen in the upper left center in the back). This configuration provides more than twice the area of a normal one inch round diaphragm used in other large diaphragm mics. The result is extended highs and lows and lower noise. Looking forward to hearing this one.












The next item is the ME-1 Personal Monitor mixer by Allen & Heath. This is a CAT-5 based system that allows you to mix up to 40 input sources. It also has a couple of cool things like a built-in ambience mic and a simple two knob "me and everyone else" system to break it down to what's most important in the quickest amount of time. A&H have always built great sounding gear (their consoles have been consistently great for the money through the years), but for some reason sometimes get overlooked. The ME-1 could bring a lot of people into the fold that weren't A&H lovers previously.








Much has been written about Slate Pro Audio's Raven MTX mixer control surface that was shown at last year's AES show. That unit was back in a more refined state at NAMM, but a new entry was a baby version dubbed the MTi. It has the same unique display that toggles between the Slate mix and traditional Pro Tools mix and edit windows, along with some built-in hardware for monitoring and cue mixes. I was told that it will be about $3,500 and ship in April, about a month after the larger MTX.










As I wrote yesterday, Chinese mics have hit the floor in terms of price, so the only way to go is up. MXL has a new mic called the Genesis II that supposedly sounds like the venerable AKG C-12, only for $595. Who knows if it's even close, as you can't tell from a demo on the show floor, but it sure is a trend that's the wave of the future. The fact that it does have a hand-selected NOS Mullard 12AT7 tube weighs in its favor though.















I've been raving about the Monoprice 8323 headphones for about a year as the best phones you can get in the $25 range. Now Monoprice has decided to jump into the audio game with both feet with a full line of audio gear that ranges from mics to speakers to cables to mixers to guitars and more. All the gear is surprisingly good for the price, and the prices are astoundingly reasonable. Hopefully I can try out some of this gear soon and give you a report.










SM Pro Audio is another company with great products for great prices. At the show they introduced their 500 series modules and racks. The racks come from 1 to 8 spaces and have a unique feature in that they have internal audio routing built in as well. Also available for the 500 series was a unique dual band optical compressor, a 5 band parametric EQ that has 5 full spectrum overlapping bands, and a tube preamp. Big bang for the buck here.







Finally I stumbled upon an interesting company called acouStaCorp that had a number of unique temporary acoustic controllers including this big air-filled pillow called a AqFlex. This system is said to work on frequencies below 250Hz. It takes up a lot of room, which probably isn't that big of a deal in a theater, but is a unique approach to acoustic control that you don't see much.

That's it for the audio portion. Tomorrow we'll look at musical instruments.

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