from the editors of and

FROM THE
EDITORS OF
AND
SOFTWARE
ESSENTIALS
WARNING: The use of these plug-ins maybe illegal in some countries.
Spl-Izer™
Detailer™
3 band 24db per octave FIR
frequency splitter that allows
the three bands to be isolated
and routed to aux or instrument
tracks for separate processing.
This is the ultimate stereo
mastering tool and final mix
plug-in for a DAW’s master
fader. Magically, it increases
the clarity in a mix while still
allowing increased loudness.
Uniquel-Izer™
Frequal-Izer™
Why work within the confines of
an EQ configuration? This plug-in
lets you determine your ideal EQ.
And if you ever need more bands
or filters, they’re just a click away.
This plug-in builds a complex
FIR (Finite Impulse Response)
filter to your specifications.
Draw and edit your own EQ
curves.
Inspector XL™
A collection of six individual,
powerful audio analysis tools
designed to fulfill a number
of familiar analysis tasks with
professionalism, style and
finesse.
Dynam-Izer™
Uniquel-IzerLE™
Why always apply the same
compression to all audio levels?
This plug-in lets you break your
audio levels up into zones so you
can control them exactly how
you want.
Uniquel-izer LE uses the same
advanced algorithms as its big
brother Uniquel-izer, but with
a fixed number of 7 filters.
Finis™
This plug-in employs the most
advanced limiting algorithms we
know of. Great Tools don’t need
to have complicated user interfaces. There’s nothing else to do
after Finis.
www.RogerNicholsDigital.com
phone 727.230-1603
RND™, DETAILER™, DYNAM-IZER™, FREQUAL-IZER™, UNIQUEL-IZER™, SPL-IZER™, PRO BUNDLE™ and SIGNATURE BUNDLE™ are trademarks of Roger Nichols Digital, Inc. All other trademarks and
registered trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. Design ©2006 RND
SOFTWARE
ESSENTIALS
PUBLISHER
MARGARET SEKELSKY
[email protected]
EDITORIAL
FRANK WELLS EDITOR
615-848-1769, [email protected]
FRED GOODMAN MANAGING EDITOR
212-378-0423, [email protected]
CHRISTOPHER WALSH, JANICE BROWN
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
ADVERTISING
TARA PRESTON ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
212-378-0456, [email protected]
MATT RUBENSTEIN
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER,
PRO AUDIO REVIEW/AUDIO MEDIA
914-524-5045, [email protected]
KAREN GODGART ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
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MARKETING & SALES COORDINATOR
212-378-0467, [email protected]
ART & PRODUCTION
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NEWBAY MEDIA L.L.C.
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& EDITORIAL OFFICES
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COPYRIGHT ©2007 NEWBAY MEDIA
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without
permission is prohibited. Software Essentials is
published by NewBay Media L.L.C. All product
information is subject to change; publisher
assumes no responsibility for such change. All
listed model numbers and product names are
manufacturers’ registered trademark. The
publisher does not take responsibility for any of
the products advertised within.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Software: The New Hardware . . . . . . . 4
Crane Song Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Peterson Tuners’ StroboSoft 2.0 . . . . 7
Steinberg Nuendo 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Glyph: Reliability And Support. . . . . 11
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
Minnetonka Audio Software . . . . . . . 12
SOFTWARE ESSENTIALS| 3
SOFTWARE:
Hardware
The
New
BY JANICE BROWN
Whether migrating from hardware to
software tools, or integrating the best
analog-and-digital hybrid system in
their studio, producer/engineers with
their sights set on optimization keep a
close eye on software development. The
digital audio workstation is in a constant state of upgrade, and software
tools—whether used exclusively or
alongside analog equipment—make
working “in the box” a more appealing
proposition with every new version
update. With ever-unfolding developments in software platforms, plug-ins
and peripherals, engineers can accomplish more in less studio time than ever,
an essential matter for lower-budget
projects, yet increasingly important
across the board.
From major platform releases such as
Steinberg Nuendo 4 and Pro Tools 7.4,
to new plug-in processors aimed at the
high-end, high-performance DAW from
software devel-
Bob Power
4| SOFTWARE ESSENTIALS
opers like Waves, McDSP and Sonnox,
Universal Audio, Roger Nichols Digital
and SSL, the software market has
brought significantly increased flexibility, power and efficiency in workflow to
producer/engineers in the last year.
Peripherals mentioned in this magazine,
such as Minnetonka’s AWE batch processing tool, Glyph’s latest-generation
GT 062 two-drive tabletop hard drive
and Peterson’s StroboSoft, a software
strobe tuner now available as an
AU/VST plug-in, bring added capability to the desktop.
NYC-based producer/engineer Bob
Power (A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah
Badu, Pharoah Monch) upgraded his
workstation recently with Pro Tools 7.4,
Logic 8, McDSP and Sonnox plug-ins
and the Crane Song Phoenix plug-in.
Power, one of a cross-section of mixers
surveyed about the transition to in-thebox mixing, cites the McDSP compressor
bank, Sonnox dynamics and limiter plugins, and Bomb Factory 1176 and Waves
plug-ins as instrumental in his work.
“I picked up the mantle of becoming
a better ITB mixer several years ago,
mostly as a natural progression, and
looking at the reality of technology and
art,” Power shares. “By now, much of
my work is primarily ITB, although I
have a very high-end stereo bus analog
chain. When I do mix analog, I get it
pretty far along digitally first, and then
take it over to analog.”
For Power, transitioning into the box
is about much more than cutting corners in terms of budget. “I can work on
several mixes at the same time, and I
stay fresher and more objective on
them,” he says of ITB mixing. “Also,
my monitoring at my mix room is so
Jason Goldst
ein
stable, so my work is
much more consistent.” On the latest
additions to his rig, Power notes, “Both
the Sonnox Limiter and the McDSP ML
series limiters are new to me and both
are amazing in their own way. I find
that you can use pieces like these on
things other than the mix bus: big
vocals, funky guitars, etc.”
Another NYC-based engineer, Jason
Goldstein, mixer of Beyonce’s B-Day,
The Roots’ Game Theory, and various
cuts off the latest Jill Scott album, has
recently begun mixing 100 percent of his
projects in the box. Goldstein’s transition occurred gradually, as he identified
plug-ins that could perform in the place
of his choice outboard gear. “I started
with de-essers, then as the plug-ins got
better, I simply started trying them on
mixes and using them more and more,”
Goldstein explains.
In the past year, Goldstein has added
the final key plug-ins to his rig to
(continued on page 6)
www.cranesong.com715.398.3627
ADVERTORIAL
Crane Song Phoenix
Crane Song is known for making high-quality analog hardware and converters with
choices of color that are musically pleasing.
STC-8, the compressor, followed by HEDD,
the A/D and D/A converter with tube and
tape color emulation, started the revolution
of making hardware with the flexibility to
have color choices in a given piece of equipment. HEDD 192, which does tube and tape
emulation in the digital domain, is the forerunner of Phoenix.
Phoenix is a suite of TDM plug-ins
designed to emulate the unique properties of
a magnetic tape machine. Designer Dave
Hill has crafted this software with the same
attention to detail he used to create the electronics for ATR Service’s much-heralded
“Aria” discrete tape electronics. His intimate
knowledge of analog electronics, as well as
decades of experience as a recording engi-
neer, has spawned a very useful, musical
suite of plug-ins.
The Phoenix process not only incorporates the nonlinear saturation characteristics created by the magnetic tape itself,
but also includes the interrelation of an
analog tape recorder’s record/reproduce
electronics and equalization curves. The
Phoenix suite is not merely a downscaled
version of the Crane Song HEDD processor, but a ground-up application derived
from HEDD technology, and specifically
engineered and optimized for Digidesign’s
TDM architecture.
Phoenix’s five different TDM plug-ins
emulate different tape characteristics, each
one incorporating a color change button
allowing three choices to modify the
process. The Gold button is the position
where the color is approximately flat in frequency response, with Sapphire being a
brighter, and Opal being a warmer tonality. A
level control determines the amount of the
Phoenix process integrated into the audio
signal, and an input trim determines “how
hard you hit the tape.” Because the DSP
process is level-dependent, reducing the
input level will also cause a change in sound.
Phoenix is very DSP-efficient—approximately 20 instances of the plug-in are
possible on a single DSP chip. Phoenix will
run on MIX, HD and VENUE, with all current
operating systems and computer types that
support Pro Tools in a TDM environment.
Tony Shepperd
( continued from page 4 )
complete his full migration into the digital realm. “I’ve added URS (Unique
Recording Software) EQs for vibe,
Sonnox plug-ins for precision and ADSR
(Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release)
shaping, TC Electronic for reverb, and
Sound Toys for harmonizing, delay,
etc.,” he shares. In terms of the corresponding outboard gear, Goldstein notes
that the Sonnox Trans Mod plug-in
works as his SPL Transient Designer, the
TC VSS3 plug-in as his TC M4000 and
the URS Fulltec EQ stands in for the
Manley Massive Passive. He also mentions the latest plug-in to make the cut:
“The Massey [L2000] Limiter is amazing
sounding, and allows me to give clients
louder mixes without distortion.”
Like Power, Goldstein identifies multiple benefits to mixing in the box: “The
repeatability of settings, instant recall of
mix, and ability to move from one song
to another and back throughout the day
without recalls—this helps to minimize
‘mixers block’ and tunnel vision in mixing,” Goldstein points out.
Los Angeles-based engineer Tony
Shepperd (Whitney Houston, Cheetah
Girls, Kenny Loggins) has been mixing
100 percent in the box for several years.
“I actually prefer it over mixing on a
console,” he says. “I find ITB mixing
more creative and a lot more fun.
Sonically, since I have been working ITB
6| SOFTWARE ESSENTIALS
for seven years, I have learned how to get
the big console sound out of Pro Tools.”
Over the past year, Shepperd has
upgraded his system with Pro Tools 7.4,
and several new plug-ins including the
Massey L2007 Limiter, Digidesign’s
Structure sampler and McDSP’s Emerald
bundle,
which
includes
the
CompressorBank and Revolver convolution reverb along with several other
plug-ins. Shepperd also added Crane
Song’s Phoenix, a suite of TDM plug-ins
that emulate the properties of a magnetic tape machine, Overloud’s Breverb,
and Source Elements’ Source Connect
Pro, a plug-in that enables audio connections between digital audio systems
anywhere in the world, allowing directto-the-timeline recording via internet
connection. With a system so frequently
evolving with new plug-ins and updates,
Shepperd’s workflow evolves as well.
“Source Connect Live and Source
Connect Pro have permanently changed
the way I work,” Shepperd notes, as an
example. “Essentially, when I’m done
mixing in the box, I bring up Source
Live and I stream the mix in a MP4 at
320k live to the clients. It comes straight
off the Pro Tools mix bus. Last month, I
had an A&R executive from Disney and
the producers of the song listening to the
mix all at the same time. I made a threeway call and everyone could not only
hear the mix at the same time, but we
could put the song to bed without hav-
ing to burn the song, upload the song,
and wait for feedback.”
Shepperd calls the new Breverb algorithmic reverb his favorite most recently
discovered plug-in. “It reminds me of a
480L,” he shares. “Breverb runs in
RTAS mode, and I love the details in the
amount of parameters—it’s sonically
outstanding.”
At Red Rock Recording, in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, producer/
engineer Kent Heckman (Phil Woods,
Benjy King, Galactic) has been mixing
totally inside of Pro Tools as well. “I am
generally mixing what I’ve recorded
myself,” he explains, “so I have it sounding how I want it to sound from the start.
I do any analog compression and EQ’ing
in the recording stage. From the basic
tracks to the final overdub, I am thinking
and working on the mix.”
Heckman’s go-to plug-ins include
Audio Ease AltiVerb, Sound Toys’ Echo
Boys and Massey plug-ins. “I use
AltiVerb for room sounds and Echo Boy
for delays,” Heckman explains. “For
EQs, I mainly use the Sony Oxford GML
or URS API plug-ins. I don’t use much
compression in Pro Tools, but if I do, it’s
the Massey CT4. If the project doesn’t go
to a mastering engineer, I will hit it with
the Massey L2007 Mastering Limiter.”
Heckman’s software essentials help
save his clients valuable time. “This year
(continued on page 10)
www.petersontuners.com/strobosoft708.388.3311
ADVERTORIAL
Peterson Tuners’ StroboSoft 2.0
Since its release in mid-2005, StroboSoft
users have ranged from professional studios
to high-profile backline techs to bedroom
producers when they have required
precision tuning software. While the
standalone version has held its own,
the natural progression towards a
plug-in was inevitable. That being said,
StroboSoft 2.0 (available in January
2008) adds the long-awaited VST/AU
support as well as a few exclusive features not found in other software or even
hardware tuners.
StroboSoft 2.0 also adds a tap tune
feature that can be used while tap tuning
woods for instrument construction.
StroboSoft 2.0 takes a sample of the most
dominant frequency and loops it automatically for ease of measurement. The tap tune
feature can also be employed as an assist
while tuning percussion instruments due to
its “Average Taps” function that takes an
average of user selected hits and displays
the note/octave reading.
A pitch graph is also included in this
release that visually displays the duration of
the played note in real time with its
note/octave location. The graph can be par-
ticularly useful when used by students trying
to improve their vocal intonation or those
practicing embouchure with woodwind/brass
instruments. A user can set the graph to
auto-scroll during a performance and measure their effectiveness at the end of a session or just measure a portion.
The strobe display can also be resized in
this version, allowing a user to maximize the display pattern for easy
viewing across a classroom, studio
or stage. A simple click breaks the
strobe display away from the rest of
the interface to allow repositioning and
custom sizing. A new mini-mode
reduces the amount of screen real
estate the program takes up as well,
making it easier to have multiple
instances open at the same time.
StroboSoft 2.0 will be a free upgrade
to Suite (boxed) users. There will be an
upgrade path available to download version users at a minimal fee. Please visit:
www.petersontuners.com/strobosoft for
more details on pricing and availability.
www.steinberg.net714.522.9011
ADVERTORIAL
Steinberg Nuendo 4
New Advanced Audio and
Post Production System
with innovations and dedicated new features for
audio post, studio production and live recording
“Nuendo 4 empowers audio professionals by
elevating both creativity and productivity to
new heights,” comments Steinberg’s general
manager Andreas Stelling. “The new functionality accelerates and enhances workflows by increasing efficiency and speed,
retrieves and searches media
offering probably the most valuable com-
files across any connected drive.
modity in today’s deadline-driven world:
Utilizing intelligent database tech-
more time. And because Nuendo 4 caters
nology, user-definable tags and other fea-
audio post, and features special options to
directly to audio post and studio production,
tures, MediaBay allows instant pulling up
remove unwanted noises from audio materi-
Steinberg is now in the unique position of
and filtering of search results, smart file
al, for example from location recording.
being able to offer dedicated products for
management and much more.
Flexible new recording and routing
four different target groups: Nuendo for the
Nuendo 4 sees a vastly upgraded set of
options offer creative new ways to route and
post and pro audio community, Cubase for
38 new first-class surround and side-chain-
manipulate audio, with any track now able to
musicians,
producers,
ing capable VST3 audio effect plug-ins that
record audio from any summing object such
WaveLab for audio editors and mastering
cover dynamics, spatial FX and filtering for
as groups or FX returns. Common recording
engineers, and Sequel for entry-level music
almost any situation. Standard on each
configurations such as stems and print mas-
creation enthusiasts.”
channel is a brand new VST3 Channel EQ,
ter recording are now extremely easy to set
Among the new functionality in Nuendo 4
with an audio quality that can replace many
up, obviating the need to route audio outside
is a state-of-the-art new automation system
expensive additional third-party EQ plug-ins.
the system for recording on external
on par with the world’s best. Preview mode,
Drag and drop and copy/paste for plug-ins
recorders.
Fill commands, Punch Logs, Virgin Terri-
make using plug-ins in Nuendo 4 even faster
tories and the unique new Touch Collect
and more efficient.
composers
and
NUENDO EXPANSION KIT: CUBASE
MUSIC TOOLS FOR NUENDO 4
Assistant are only some of the new functions
Nuendo 4 offers a range of features
which unite the best functionality found on
designed specifically to accelerate and
Together with the launch of Nuendo 4,
traditional hardware mixing consoles with
enhance workflows in audio post production.
Steinberg also introduces an additional
the flexibility inherent in Nuendo 4 as a mod-
Advanced post pro editing commands allow
product: Nuendo Expansion Kit: Cubase
ern DAW environment.
even faster editing workflows, including
Music Tools for Nuendo 4 (NEK). This add-
The new MediaBay file management sys-
many new options to move, place and trim
on module to Nuendo 4 contains optional
tem for audio, video and other media files
audio faster and with outstanding precision
music compositional functionality, including
can replace many external FX database
to save valuable time. The highly flexible
full Cubase scoring and notation, the
solutions. MediaBay browses, archives,
Post Filter is engineered specifically for
Cubase MIDI Drum Editor, four integrated
VST instruments as well as support
for the MusicXML standard.
Nuendo 4 is compatible with
Windows XP, Windows Vista and
both Intel and PPC-based Macintosh
computers running Mac OS10.4.
8| SOFTWARE ESSENTIALS
New automation system
New Plug-in set
New routing and recording engine
New MediaBay and editing commands
It’s About Time
Anyone who works in post knows the constant pressure to get more work done under
tighter and tighter deadlines. At Steinberg, we know that every extra key stroke and edit
move adds up, costing both time and money. That’s why Nuendo 4 has been specifically
tailored to audio post professionals and gives you back something priceless: time to be creative.
The ultra-smooth workflow built around a brand new routing and recording engine includes
stunning new native processing tools specifically designed to streamline repetitive tasks and free
you up to try new things. Nuendo 4 lets you work faster, be more creative and still deliver on
schedule, no matter how crazy the deadline. It’s about time.
Nuendo has grown through
a dedication to the post community, which is
fantastic. The rethinking of the automation has
been incredible, especially the Write-To-Punch feature,
which is an extremely powerful tool for our type of work.
Nuendo is absolutely world-class at this point.
John Ross,
Sound Supervisor and Re-Recording Mixer
Steinberg is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
Yamaha Corporation of America is the exclusive distributor for Steinberg in the
United States. ©2007 Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights reserved.
Mitch Dane
( continued from page 6 )
I recorded Nellie McKay’s third album,
Obligatory Villagers, which involved
lots of vocals, horns, percussion and
strings, and we were constantly working
on the sound throughout,” he offers.
“At the end of the project she asked me,
‘Do we have to mix?’ And I said, ‘How
does it sound now?’ We never had a
‘mixing session’ on the whole project. I
love working this way and can’t imagine doing it any other way.”
Producer/engineer Steve Bishir
(Whiskey Falls, Amy Grant) recently
produced and recorded/mixed a DVD
project for Amy Grant completely
inside
Steinberg
Nuendo.
Like
Heckman, Bishir notes, “I love the
instant repeatability of software and
how it sort of smears the line between
recording and mixing. If I am recording
a project I am going to mix, then I am
always looking ahead with plug-ins.
Nuendo allows me to use high-latency
plug-ins at all times without having to
worry about timing issues.”
Bishir mentions his Waves Diamond
bundle, TC reverbs, UAD card and
onboard Nuendo plug-ins at the top of
his “essentials” list, noting, “I love the
Steinberg Magneto plug-in and the
Nuendo noise removal plug-in. The
Magneto is one of the best at analog saturation emulations that I’ve used.”
The time-saving factor of mixing in
the box has more and more engineers
working on at least portions of their
projects this way, or a percentage of the
albums they work on in a year.
Nashville-based producer/engineer Mitch
Dane (Jars of Clay, Bebo Norman)
recently added a vintage Neve 8014 console to his Sputnik Studio, but relies on
software tools for much of his work. “I
mix about half of my projects in the
box, mostly out of convenience,” he
reports. “When I can, I’ll stem out
to my console. Even while in the
box, however, I use some outboard
equipment to supplement.”
The fully integrated hybrid studio blends the best of vintage and
modern analog equipment with the
high-performance DAW, a production scenario in which software tools
are, perhaps, no less essential at the
mix stage. Says Dane, “I use the Line
6 Echo Farm plug-in a lot in mixing,
10| SOFTWARE ESSENTIALS
though when I track, I still use my
Echoplex or two Space Echos; I also use
the SansAmp a lot.” As for recently
added tools to his software arsenal,
Dane mentions, “The SoundToys’ plugins are amazing—EchoBoy, Tremolator,
and FilterFreak are very versatile and
sound amazing. I use the FilterFreak to
muck up a keyboard pad or guitar, and
the Tremolator is very cool on drums.”
NYC-based producer/engineer Geoff
Sanoff (Michael Stipe, The Secret
Machines, A Camp) also mixes about
half of his projects in the box, and uses
analog processing where possible. “In
the past year, I have added the latest
UAD plug-ins, including the LA-3 and
Helios 69EQ, the Neve 1073/1081EQ’s
and 33609 Compressor as well as their
Precision Maximizer,” Sanoff shares. “I
also recently purchased the Brainworx
BX-Control, which is an M/S encoder/
decoder that allows you to tweak the
stereo field of your mixes.”
Sanoff also entered the world of VST
plug-ins this year, introducing a VSTRTAS wrapper to his Pro Tools HD system. “There are so many
oddball free plugins that people make on their own that
you can use to add specialized color to
your mixes,” Sanoff says, “It reminds me
of the way people collect guitar pedals for
mixing. You can’t use them on everything, but they do help add a unique flavor here and there. And that is a huge
improvement in my mind from where we
were 5+ years ago where it seemed like
everybody had the same set of plug-ins.”
Producer/engineers working on the
Steinberg Nuendo platform have native
access to that wide world of VST plugins. Steinberg debuted version 4 of its
Nuendo workstation at the AES
Convention in October, an update that
incorporates new VST3 surround effects
plug-ins, routing and recording enhancements, an advanced automation system
and the new MediaBay file management
system. A dedicated Nuendo user, producer/engineer Chuck Ainlay (Mark
Knopfler, Vince Gill, George Strait) calls
some of his software tools invaluable,
though he still mixes on the SSL 9000 J
console that is the centerpiece of his
room at SoundStage Studios
in Nashville. “Perhaps it’s
just a matter of comfort
from years of developing the
techniques I use, but I find
that I can achieve a larger,
more expansive mix using
a traditional style of mixing,” Ainlay comments.
That said, Ainlay allows,
“With Steinberg’s capacity to time-align analog
(continued on page 14)
Geoff Sanoff
www.glyphtech.com800.335.0345
ADVERTORIAL
Glyph: Reliability And Support
Glyph opened its doors in 1993
just as early DAWs, requiring fast,
dedicated storage solutions, were
gaining a foothold in the analog
recording world. We answered
that need by providing rock-solid, rackmountable and hot-swappable storage subsystems with features aimed directly at the
pro audio market. Along with building
extremely durable products, we were successful by providing the most comprehensive service and support policy in the business: a 24-hour Advance Replacement program with 48-hour turnaround time on inhouse repairs.
Our mission has changed little since we
started: Service and support is still our
number one goal. We offer three-year warranties on all GT Series products while our
competitors offer one or two years. Our
Overnight Advance Replacement policy on
GT 050, GT 050Q, GT 062 and GT Keys
guarantees that if your drive fails in the first
year of its warranty, we’ll send you a
replacement
drive
overnight, for FREE.
We also offer FREE
basic Data Recovery in
the first two years of warranty. Using one or more
software applications, we are
able to retrieve data with a very high success
rate. We can’t guarantee that we’ll get your
data back, but we’ll give it our best attempt,
for FREE. Most drive vendors simply erase
returned drives because they don’t want to
be held responsible for the data. If you have
valuable data on a Glyph drive being sent in
for repair, we make securing your data our
first concern.
Our newest product, the GT 062 offers
additional ways to keep your data safe with
RAID 1 mirroring technology. RAID 1 offers
data redundancy and real-time backup by
writing the same data to the two internal
hard drives at the same time. Should a
drive failure happen, data is still on the
remaining drive.
Our attitude is like yours—your art is
what matters the most. You want your gear
to “just work,” so that you can concentrate
on your project. We feel the same way, and
we’re not satisfied until our products are
good enough that we’d want to own and
use them ourselves.
The Glyph GT Series.
Running at FireWire 800.
New FireWire 800 versions of the GT Key, GT 051, and GT 103 include
everything you’ve come to expect in the GT Series, but are updated to use
Oxford’s 924 chip which bridges the faster FW800 bus to the latest Seagate
SATA drive mechanisms. In an audio environment, this boils down to more
tracks per drive, more edits per track, less spreading tracks across multiple
drives, and fewer headaches trying to reassemble sessions from multiple
drives.
Store in a cool place..
GT Series FW800
GT Key, GT 051, and GT 103
Seagate SATA drives with NCQ
Oxford 924 chipset
15-20% faster than FW400 versions
Interchangeable with FW400 versions
3-Year Warranties
2-Year Free Basic Data Recovery
1-Year Overnight Advance Replacement
800-335-0345 glyphtech.com
www.minnetonkaaudio.com952.449.6481
ADVERTORIAL
Minnetonka Audio Software
Minnetonka Audio Software, Inc. is a
company of musicians and engineers
with a passion for music and quality.
From the SurCode™ product line of surround encoders to the discWelder™
family of DVD-Audio authoring tools, our
products are in use by top professionals
all over the world for video, broadcast,
games and CD/DVD production.
Experience and interaction with our
clients clearly demonstrates that
Digital Audio Workstations were
inherently designed for the creation
of content. Processing, conversion,
transcoding, encoding and authoring
have either been added as afterthoughts or not at all.
That’s why we created AudioTools™ AWE.
AudioTools AWE is the automated
audio workflow engine for editing, format conversion, encoding, plug-in
processing and processing through external
I/O devices. Processing chains can be auditioned and saved as templates. Advanced
job management features include Hot
Folders, a Job Queue that manages any
number of sequential jobs, robust failure
recovery, and job logs.
Batch Processing is not enough.
Doing the same inefficient process to a
large number of files in a batch mode can
automate the step, but still leaves room for
improvement. Like much of today’s technology, innovation is less about new ways of
performing individual tasks, and more about
maximizing time, resources, and quality. In
audio production, many individual tasks can
already be solved in many ways, but these
steps often lack innovation.
In addition, managing audio content efficiently and effectively is a growing problem
among media organizations large and small.
For audio producers and users, the challenge centers on managing the growth of
digital audio assets through the pipeline of
editing, processing, versioning, collaboration, distribution and archiving.
How can AWE solve these problems?
How can AWE maximize your time?
• Mastering: If you are a mastering engineer creating Redbook CDs from high-resolution audio (24-bit/192 kHz), you might add EQ
then a multiband compressor—a brickwall limiter then normalize—output to aiff—downsample to 44.1 kHz and dither to 16-bit; then send
that output through AWE to generate MP3s for
reference and publication to the Web.
• Game Audio: If you were processing
voiceover audio for games, you might want to
12| SOFTWARE ESSENTIALS
process the audio through a VST EQ—then a
reverb—then a compressor—then a samplerate converter, before finally encoding the files
in Dolby Pro Logic II. You might have as many
as 50,000 files in a complex directory structure. With AWE, you can process the entire
50,000 in one job automatically, unattended
while maintaining the directory structure and
placing them in a FTP directory for delivery.
• Film or Jingles: If you were doing a job
in film or working on jingles, you might want
to drop time trim to make all the files the
same length; then concatenate the files to
insert a 2-pop at the head of each file. Next,
add a file name modifier to add the date to
each file processed. Then, sample-rate convert and or change the output to aiff and output the files to a specific directory.
• DVD: If you author DVD-Videos, you
would need to encode audio with Dolby
Digital. AudioTools AWE will allow you to set
up one job and Dolby Digital-encode 20
DVDs or more without any additional intervention. Our Hot Folders watch for and
process audio as it appears.
AWE will do all of these things automatically. Think about it. Work smarter. AWE is
the essential DAW extension.
The choice is clear. AudioTools AWE will
save you countless hours of processing time
and free up your workstation.
AudioTools—AWE.
The essential DAW extension.
Automate your workflow.
DAW
AWE Hot Folder
Auto Processing
External
Processor
VST Plugin
Support
DAW
AWE Hot Folder
Auto Processing
mp3 Encoding
mp3
DAW
AWE Hot Folder
Auto Processing
SurCode
Encoders
AC3
PLII
DTS
Do More. Bill More. Make More.
“From high resolution sample rate conversion to simply cutting mp3’s, AWE’s unique ability to drop a file
in a hot folder saves me lots of setup time. I can focus on my work while having the confidence that the
Bob Boyd
files are being processed in the background exactly as I want them to be.”
Ambient Digital, Houston
WAVE
AIFF
Minnetonka
Audio Software
17113 Minnetonka Blvd., Suite 300
Minnetonka, MN 55345 U.S.A.
Phone: 1-952-449-6481
Fax: 1-952-449-0318
www.MinnnetonkaAudio.com
[email protected]
Allen Morgan
( continued from page 10 )
insert paths and Nuendo 4’s
new automation and routing
functionality, I’m sure with time
I’d be able to develop techniques to mix in the box and
feel that I’ve not sacrificed the
integrity of the project.”
Ainlay’s AMD-powered PC
running Cubase/Nuendo 4 is
loaded with Waves, Antares,
PSP, URS, Universal Audiopowered plug-ins, SSL Duende and
the recently added Focusrite Liquid mix.
Ainlay uses a combination of outboard
equipment and plug-ins following this
typical breakdown: “Most all of my
reverb is outboard, but I’ll occasionally
use the UA plate and Wave IR-1 plug-in
reverbs for ‘real’ type spaces. EQ is most
often done in the analog domain, but on
occasion I’ll use the SSL EQ from
Duende and Waves, Pultec EQ from UA
and some of the unique EQ from Liquid
mix. Compression plug-ins that I lean
on include the Waves Lin MB,
Renaissance DeEsser and L2, UA
Fairchild and LA 2A. PSP, URS, SSL
Duende, Focusrite and Steinberg also
have some great compression plug-ins
that I go to from time to time.” The
most recent additions to Ainlay’s rig are
the Waves GTR processor bundle and
the Focusrite Liquid mix. “I’ve found
great uses for both,” he adds.
Another Nuendo user, producer/engineer Allen Morgan (Dolly
Chuck Ainlay (left)
r
with Mark Knopfle
14| SOFTWARE ESSENTIALS
Parton, Steve Virginia, Nine Inch Nails;
www.allenmorganaudio. com), also
recently added the Focusrite Liquid Mix
to his system. “By far, the biggest
advancement for EQ and compression in
my rig has come with the addition of the
Liquid Mix,” says Morgan, who works
between Nashville and Los Angeles on a
mobile Nuendo rig. “Not only do I love
the emulations, but I appreciate the fact
that it is portable and can be used on several different computers. Since it operates
on its own DSP, it also allows me the luxury of more processing power for other
processor-intense plug-ins. The idea of
having 20 EQs and 40 compressors literally at your fingertips is amazing. Not
only is this good for the engineer but the
artist as well, if the budget doesn’t allow
for a large-format console or studio with
tons of outboard gear.”
Morgan also runs Ableton Live on
his laptop, replacing any exter-
nal sequencers and samplers
from his mobile production
rig. “I have been running Live
through ReWire straight to
Nuendo for a Dolly Parton
project I am producing, and it
works great,” he reports. “All
the sequenced tracks in Live
pipe straight into Nuendo,
which contains all the live
instrumentation and vocals.”
Live is helpful in Morgan’s production and remixing work,
where he also notes soft synths
and amp modeling tools have been huge.
“I especially like the M-Audio virtual
synths and signal processing plug-ins
such as Izotope Trash,” Morgan adds.
“Some of my favorite plug-ins, whether
for a vocal, guitar, synth or really anything, are the IK Multimedia AmpliTube
plug-ins. I am currently producing a
great, innovative country artist, Steve
Virginia. Some of the music has called
for a Mellotron, filter effects, heavy distortion, etc. and I have been using MAudio’s M-Tron, Tascam GigaStudio for
strings and AmpliTube/Trash for all the
amp modeling.”
Though Morgan prefers to keep the
dance and hip-hop projects he takes on
in the box, he’s ready to employ a
broader arsenal of equipment when
possible.
“I just finished a project for an
Australian artist, Shereen, at Henson
Recording in Los Angeles,” Morgan
shares. “I used a laptop Nuendo system
running 24 channels through an RME
Digiface straight through an SSL 9000
then printed back to Pro Tools and
MasterLink simultaneously. This was
really the best of both worlds—the
advancements of both software and
computer hardware developers has
allowed us engineers and producers to
do things we once dreamed of doing.”
Software is replacing studio-essential
processors and allowing new functionality like acoustical testing and
fundamental studio tools like tuners to
be ensconced in a personal computer.
Hardware isn’t gone completely, but
now new hardware concerns come
into focus, like audio-productionfriendly hard drives and computers.
For the core of audio production, software is indeed the new hardware. ■
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www.solid-state-logic.com
Duende
DSP plug-ins for grown ups
NEW: X-EQ
Mastering grade 10-band parametric EQ
NEW: X-COMP
Powerful, versatile, frequency dependant compression
Stereo Bus Compressor
The legendary route to
bigger, stronger mixes
Drumstrip
Clarity, punch and power for your drums
EQ & Dynamics Channel Strip
The SSL console channel strip for your DAW
*Duende includes Channel Strip and Stereo Bus Compressor plug-ins - other plug-ins optional
Designed by the engineers who craft the DSP inside our C Series digital consoles, the SSL Duende is console-grade
processing with total PC/Mac DAW integration. To drive your mixes to record-release standards, Duende’s powerful
hardware DSP delivers superior plug-ins, from the Classic SSL EQ & Dynamics Channel Strip and legendary Stereo
Bus Compressor to advanced sound shaping tools; Drumstrip, X-EQ and X-COMP. With a single FireWire connection,
up to 32 channels of processing are available - or connect two Duendes for 64 channel support.
Find out more about bringing the hit-making sound of SSL to your DAW at www.solid-state-logic.com/duende
Duende. This is SSL.
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