AES Show New Gear Wrap Up - Part 3

Here we are at the last of the AES Show wrap up reports. Today I'll look at outboard gear and miscellaneous cool stuff that defies a category. First up, outboard gear.

dbx show its 676 tube channel. It's a really good looking box with a tube mic pre, a 3 band parametric EQ and 162 compressor built in. The price is a reasonable $999.

Pulse Techniques has brought back the entire Pultec line. If you always wanted to own a particular Pultec piece but didn't want to pay the vintage prices, here's a way to get a brand new one. Pulse Techniques claims these are all built to the original design specs. Prices go from $2500 to around $4500.

One of the more unusual 500 Series line of products comes from the Awesome Transistor Amplifier Company. The pieces have a very unique graphic design, have are all discrete circuitry and use very high quality parts. You get the normal mic amp, EQ and compressor, but also a pretty cool way to turn it into a mixer with an external mixing controller.

Miscellaneous

If you ever wanted to record a live show without dragging a full DAW with you, the Cymatic Audio Live Recorder is the answer. There are two models - the 16 track LR 16 that retails for $399 (a playback only version is also available) and the 24 track uTrack 24, which is a recorder/player and sells for $999.

I'm a huge fan of Hearback and own one of their personal monitoring systems. Now the company has introduced the Hearback Pro which provides 16 channels with individual level controls, as well as an intercom to talk to various stations, aux, pan, presets and even a lockout to keep that mix from being changed.

Radial is fantastic company that always has some new tool that solves a problem. At AES they introduced the Headload, which is an amplifier attenuator with a few twists. The box has tunable resonance, speaker cabinet voicing, a DI out and even a phase shift control. Of course, there's also a headphone out for late night rocking out in your bedroom.

Nagra was once the king of field recording and its trying to get back to where it once was with the introduction of a number of hand-held recorders that range from $975 on down. There are three models, the SD with its built-in high-quality mic, the mid-priced Lino and the Pico. These are built like tanks (like other Nagras actually) and definitely a step up from most others on the market.

Finally, I've written about this before, but Triad-Orbit stands are just the bomb! Finally, the mic stand re-envisioned. These are built to last a lifetime and have more small great ideas that a mere mic stand should have. The company has been building auto parts for a long time and this is a sideline, so they're not going away anytime soon. Definitely worth checking out.

That's it. I'm sure I missed a few things, but these are the highlights that caught my eye.

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The 5 Best Audio Products of 2013

As we take a final look back at 2013, I thought I'd pick the 5 audio products that struck me as the most innovative from the last year. This was actually pretty difficult since there were so many great products, but at least to me, the following 5 stood out.

1. Triad Orbit Mic Stands: Mic stand technology has remained pretty stagnant for 50 years or so until the Triad Orbit articulating mic stands were introduced. What makes the Triad-Orbit stands different is that each leg of the base has four ratcheted positions that provide up to 65 degrees of pitch. The Orbital boom is built around a stainless steel ball swivel mechanism to deliver a very wide range of motion (360 x 220 degrees), and the Orbital 2 boom is also way different than anything you've seen since it's basically 2 booms on one stand. Triad Orbit stands aren't cheap at $179 for a standard stand, $139 for the standard arm boom and $259 for the dual boom, but they're built like tanks and very well may last a lifetime.

2. SoundRadix SurferEQ: Here's an idea that could totally change the way we think about equalization. The SoundRadix SurferEQ plugin is different from other equalizers in that it tracks the pitch of an instrument or vocal and changes the EQ on the fly, staying relevant to the music or program.

SurferEQ uses a real-time pitch detection engine that triggers a low pass, high pass, bell, shape or harmonic filter (that's a new one) to make sure that the EQ is working at the right frequency during the song. It's available for Mac or PC in RTAS, VST and AU, and retails for $199.

3. Apple Logic Pro X: The latest version of Logic may not overtake Pro Tools in the pro world, but there not much that can beat it when it comes to creating music. There's a lot to like in this new version, including a new streamlined look, a new collection of virtual instruments (including the incredible virtual Drummer, with sounds from Bob Clearmountain), built-in pitch correction and remote control from an iPad. Best of all, Logic Pro X is only $199.

4. Sennheiser Laser Drum Mics: This isn't actually a product yet, but just the idea of it gets points for innovation. Actually, the laser mic is a misnomer. It's actually a laser mic clip for Sennheiser's e904 and e604 clip-on mics that's the innovative piece. By placing a laser and a sensor in the mic clip, the laser can then precisely measure when the drum head is struck and open up a noise gate, so what you're actually hearing is a laser-controlled mic (we'll get to those real "laser mics" someday soon, as this is the just a glimpse into the future).

The laser drum clips are still in the prototype stage, so there's no pricing yet, but you can see and hear how well they work in this video.

5. UAD Ocean Way Studios Plugin: The Ocean Way Studios plugin takes room simulation to the next step by modeling the sound of two of the studio's famous Bill Putnum-designed tracking rooms (Putnam was the original owner of both United Studios (now Ocean Way) and Universal Audio when it manufactured hardware starting back in the 1960s. Bill Putnam jr. runs Universal Audio today). You're able to choose from a number of Ocean Way owner Allen Sides' great vintage mic emulations and place them any distance in the room, as well as mix and EQ multiple combination of mics.

This could be a great addition to a home studio owner who only has a small room to record in, but wants it to realistically sound like a larger one - and with the Ocean Way sound to boot. The Universal Audio Ocean Way Studios plugin works on the UAD platform and can be purchased for $279.

Winter NAMM is coming up in less than a month, and I'll probably have a new list afterward, but for now, this list above are the products that caught my attention in 2013.

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New Music Gear Monday: Triad-Orbit Mic Stands

One of the most important tools of any engineer or musician is the simple mic stand. It's an essential part of our music creation process, but it's also so mundane that we take it for granted. It doesn't help that we've been using stands with the same basic design for more than 50 years. That's all about to change with the new Triad-Orbit articulating mic stands, the first really new idea in stands since the creation of the boom arm.

What makes the Triad-Orbit stands different is that each leg of the base has four ratcheted positions that provide up to 65 degrees of pitch. That means that booms are no longer needed for the front line of a stage, the stand can easily be used on uneven surfaces, and the stand can be more easily placed in tight spaces, among other things.

The Orbital boom is also much different that the standard boom that we've been using forever. It's built around a stainless steel ball swivel mechanism to deliver a very wide range of motion (360 x 220 degrees). The Orbital 2 boom is also way different than anything you've seen since it's basically 2 booms on one stand, solving the many problems normally run into when stereo miking, now with using an iPad during a performance.

Triad Orbit stands aren't cheap at $229 for a standard stand, $139 for the standard arm boom and $259 for the dual boom, but they're built like tanks and very well may last a lifetime. Check out the video below to see a lot more about how different these stands are.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.