LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MAY 2009: SoundField, the UK-based manufacturer and supplier of multi-capsule mic systems for stereo and surround audio capture in the broadcast and audio recording markets, has begun shipping the first quantities of its latest product, the UPM-1 stereo-to-5.1 converter, to satisfy international pre-orders.
Aimed at the broadcast market, the UPM-1 is a 19-inch rack processor designed to create 5.1 content from old program material that only has a stereo soundtrack. Such ‘legacy’ programming is a problem for companies broadcasting in high-definition with 5.1 surround audio, because listeners find it distracting when modern HD shows are broadcast in 5.1 surround and then the audio narrows to a very ‘flat-sounding’ two channels for older material. This kind of distracting switch can occur even within one show. All the modern content in an HD sports show will be in 5.1, but older clips of past sporting events usually have only a stereo soundtrack. To modern HD broadcasters, this kind of repeated expansion and contraction of the audio soundscape is unacceptable. The UPM-1 provides a fast, easy-to-use solution.
The UPM-1 distinguishes itself from other available stereo-to-surround processes in several ways. It works not by adding reverb or using phase shifts to generate new material for the rear channels in a 5.1 soundscape. In fact, the UPM-1 adds nothing ‘new’ to the audio at all. All of the material in the 5.1 mix that appears at the processor’s outputs is derived from spatial information present in the original stereo signal. What’s more, the UPM-1’s processing is adaptive, changing with the input signal, rather than remaining constant irrespective of input.
The UPM-1 generates 5.1 from two channels by analyzing the original stereo audio using a patented algorithm that separates the audio into its so-called Direct and Ambient components. The former encompasses the ‘dryer,’ less reverberant components in the original sound (for example those elements that would have been close to the microphone when the audio was recorded), while the latter refers to the more reverberant components (like those sound sources that would have been further away at the time of recording). These elements can then be processed separately and routed in different proportions to the 5.1 mix if required, using the UPM-1’s simple front-panel rotary controls. In addition to discrete controls for the input level and individual 5.1 output channels, the level of the direct sound component in the original signal may be adjusted independently from that of the Ambient sound in the rear channels, and the Ambient component in the front three channels. The UPM-1 also offers control over the perceived width of the front three channels, and over whether the material appearing at the front center of the 5.1 soundscape will be routed only to the center channel or equally to the left and right channels (’phantom center’).
To take a practical example, if an archive clip of a sports broadcast in stereo is put through the UPM-1, it will be possible to alter the level of the acoustically dry commentary found in the phantom center of the stereo mix without affecting the reverberant crowd ambience. Similarly, sending some of the reverberant crowd noise to the rear channels of the 5.1 mix is possible without also routing the sound of the ball being kicked on the pitch or the voice of the commentator to the surround speakers.
“There have been solutions for broadcasters who want to use archive stereo material on 5.1 HD transmissions before,” comments Ken Giles, managing director of SoundField, “but the UPM-1 really has something to offer broadcasters in terms of its unique approach, operational speed and simplicity. You plug it in, put stereo into it, and immediately you have broadcast-ready digital 5.1 audio that still sounds like the original signal, not swamped with extra reverb and processing. We’re certain this ease of use has been a key factor in the high level of interest and the healthy pre-orders the UPM-1 has generated.”
The first UPM-1s began shipping from SoundField’s head office in early May, following pre-orders to Canada, the USA, Germany, Scandinavia, Italy, and within the UK, to the international satellite broadcaster Sky.
ABOUT TRANSAUDIO GROUP TransAudio Group, founded by industry veteran Brad Lunde, has quickly become the premier U.S. importer/distributor and/or U.S. sales and marketing representative for high-end audio. Success hinges on TransAudio providing dealers and end users with a higher standard of product expertise and support far beyond the norm.
HAMBURG, GERMANY - MAY 2009: The compact size of Metric Halo’s eight-channel Mobile I/O 2882+DSP and two-channel ULN-2+DSP interfaces has been of significant benefit to Andrew Levine, a location recording engineer based in Hamburg, Germany, who frequently uses public transportation, or even a bicycle, to travel to local jobs. Levine, who is founder of blumlein records, is making use of Metric Halo’s powerful new 2d upgrade to record, monitor and mix stereo and surround sound projects, several of which use his unique XYtri microphone setup.
Having been using Metric Halo equipment for about seven years, Levine, who owns a 2882+DSP, two ULN-2+DSP interfaces, and, as he can officially state as of the AES Munich introduction, two flagship ULN-8s, comments, “It’s essential to my work because I’m doing mobile recording, so my studio has to travel with me, usually on my back. For small jobs needing two to four channels in Hamburg, if the weather permits, I go there on a bike. Bigger jobs I travel to by train, with my gear in a metal box mounted on a sack barrow. So it’s environmentally friendly!”
Levine records everything from orchestras, small ensembles and vocal groups, to more avant-garde music, jazz and spoken word. Even on the occasion of his first professional location recording - of the Argentinean tango ensemble, Sexteto Mayor, in Berlin in 2003 - he not only tracked stereo (an AB pair before and above the musicians), but also two tracks of ambience from behind the stage. He says that he has always had the idea of recording in surround in the back of his mind, leading to the development of the XYtri mic setup.
His XYtri method not only solves the problem of reliably monitoring multichannel surround with headphones, but it also maps discretely to a 7.1 monitoring environment by extracting sum-and-difference information in the front-most channels, and folds down nicely to 5.1, stereo and directed mono, he says. “Most people doing location work don’t have a separate room where they can set up a monitoring system, and I can’t lug around that much stuff. So I was thinking of what I can do to make surround recordings that I can monitor with more confidence. I thought, maybe I could have a Decca tree but using three 45-degree XY pairs. You have three XY perspectives, and you also have these runtime stereophonic perspectives, one facing frontal left, one frontal right.”
He continues, “This is where the Metric Halo interface and the 2d mixer come in. It’s so flexible to set up a matrix while you’re auditioning stuff, even if you do it from scratch, and also while you do a down mix. While you’re setting up or recording you can monitor each microphone pair separately. This way you can listen to all the different angles and you know that every angle is okay, which you can’t do for setups that are not based entirely on traditional stereophonic configurations.”
The improved, flexible routing matrix functionality in the new 2d upgrade also allows a stereo down mix to be generated and recorded alongside the individual mic inputs, he says, although sometimes a little rebalancing is required after the fact. “I use Metric Halo’s SpectraFoo [analysis software] as an extra aid. There are some things like power balance that you can’t judge reliably with headphones - really small things where I pull down one side by a decibel or half a decibel in the studio. But on more than half of the recordings that I do, I already have the stereo mix finished at the end of the performance.”
He adds, “Even if I tweak the mix at the beginning, the only thing I have to do, while I’m tearing down after the concert has finished, is bounce the first few minutes with the settings I established after the start of the concert. Then I just splice that together with the rest of the recording. So 2d has been an amazing time saver for me.”
Symmetry is very important to his recording technique, says Levine, which aids the surround sound mix. “If I have a mic thirty degrees on the left I might have an equidistant spot mic thirty degrees on the right side of the axis. So the positions and runtime delays are symmetrical to the central setup. That enables me to usually do orchestral recordings even of big works with no more than eight microphones. If the acoustic space is less than ideal I feed the back facing pair of microphones on the left and right of the XYtri to Altiverb and generate a very nice reverb to fill in the back.”
The routing matrix within the Metric Halo software additionally streamlines the workflow when Levine brings the recordings back to his 5.1 mix room, which he plans to upgrade to 7.1 shortly. “The monitor controller within Metric Halo maps my analog line-level outputs onto the physical studio layout, controlling inter-channel gain with 0.5 dB accuracy and all DSP-processing occurs with nearly no latency. It’s very, very easy to use,” he says. “I have templates to do mixes from the XYtri to stereo or 5.1 or quadraphonic. If I place the XYtri setup inside a curved ensemble, I can then unfold the soundstage then pull it out, and this maps into a 7.0 or 7.1 setup.”
Levine believes that Metric Halo’s level of support may be unique. “I think it’s the only company with support that goes back so far and so deep,” Levine adds. “They came out with the 2d card that you can put into a box that’s seven years old and improves it. No one else does that. It’s amazing!”
Recalling his initial experiences when editing a recording of Debussy’s 24 Préludes for piano after receiving his 2d-enabled ULN-8s at the end of 2006, he says, “I always mark the beginning and ends of recordings. The end is always the point where I can’t hear any sound anymore. It’s gone beyond the noise floor. Suddenly I noticed I was able to hear four more seconds beyond that. I thought I’d made a mistake, but it was the same for all the takes. Stuff came out of the noise floor like Atlantis!”
ABOUT METRIC HALO Based New York’s Hudson Valley, Metric Halo provides the world with high-resolution metering, analysis, recording and processing solutions with award-winning software and hardware.
PHOTO CAPTION Andrew Levine, a Hamburg, Germany-based location recording engineer and beta tester for the new Metric Halo ULN-2+DSP has successfully used MH gear for years to record stereo mixes, surround sound and his unique new XYtri microphone setup.
WEBSTER, NEW YORK - MAY 2009: Ashly Audio, Inc. is introducing two new speaker processors for live sound and fixed installation applications to its line of Protea DSP products at InfoComm in Orlando, Florida, June 17-19. The Protea 4.8SP four-input/eight-output and Protea 3.6SP three-input/six-output 1RU digital signal processors offer an extremely intuitive user interface, plus PC control software, and comprehensive DSP, including crossover, equalization, delay and limiter functions.
Gain, delay and six filters (each a choice of parametric, low or high-shelf) may be applied to every input, each of which employs 24-bit, 48 kHz delta-sigma A/D converters with 128x over sampling. Outputs may be assigned from one or a combination of inputs. Butterworth, Bessel and Linkwitz-Riley crossover filters with up to 48 dB/octave slopes are available on the outputs, along with four parametric, low or high-shelf filters plus compressor/limiters to control feedback problems. Time delay adjustments, output gain and polarity reverse may also be applied to the outputs, which include limiters for speaker protection.
Ashly’s Protea Software Suite is provided for remote PC control via USB (one is located on the front panel and another on the rear, and a six-foot cable is provided) or RS-232 port. The software provides a very intuitive visual representation of the audio routing and control process as well as greater preset capacity. Both units store up to thirty presets, which are snapshots of all current settings. Existing .pcc files from previous Ashly units such as the Protea 4.24C may be loaded into the new units.
Front panel buttons on both units provide direct control of all audio functions and system tools without the need to access sub-menus. A backlit, two-line, twenty-character LCD displays all channel and function settings.
Inputs and outputs are balanced and on XLR connectors. There is front panel metering of all individual inputs and outputs.
ABOUT ASHLY AUDIO INC. With over a thirty-five year history, Ashly Audio Inc. is recognized as a world leader in designing and manufacturing quality signal processing equipment and power amplification for use in the commercial sound contracting and professional audio markets.
Pictured (L-R) during mastering sessions at Bernie Grundman Mastering are Dante Santiago, A&R creative executive producer; will.i.am, artist/executive producer; Dylan “3D” Dresdow, mixer; Padraic “Padlock”Kerin, recording engineer; Chris Bellman, mastering engineer. Photo by David Goggin.
Renowned rapper/producer will.i.am booked Bernie Grundman Mastering for sessions with mastering engineer Chris Bellman to finalize the new Black Eyed Peas album for manufacturing and distribution. The Interscope album, The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies), is set for June 9 release on the Interscope label.
Will.i.am rose to fame as frontman and founder of the hit rap group The Black Eyed Peas, with pop singer Fergie, and rappers Taboo and apl.de.ap. After the 2008 U.S. presidential election, will.i.am released “It’s a New Day.” The video depicts historical events that led to the election of the first African-American President of the United States and features celebrities such as Fergie, Olivia Wilde, Kanye West, Harold Perrineau, Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick. It first debuted on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and appears on the 2009 compilation album, Change is Now: Renewing America’s Promise.
In honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States, will.i.am collaborated with producer David Foster on the patriotic song “America’s Song”, with contributing vocals from Seal, Bono, Mary J. Blige, and Faith Hill.
In the just-released film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, will.i.am plays Wraith, a teleporter who befriends Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) during a mutant military mission to Africa. Years later, Wolverine tracks down his pal at a nondescript boxing gym in Las Vegas and the two take off on a fact-finding adventure.
“Boom Boom Pow,” the first single from the new Black Eyed Peas album, is now available. For more information about The E.N.D.,
HOLLYWOOD — Summer is coming and EASTWEST is heating things up by offering a Buy One Get One Free Promotionfor its top-selling PLAY-powered products. Included in this offer are some of its most popular PLAY-powered products, such as Quantum Leap SILK, EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP Symphonic Choirs PLAY Edition, EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP Symphonic Orchestra PLAY Edition, EASTWEST FAB FOUR and QUANTUM LEAP Goliath. more
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MAY 2009: SoundField, the UK-based manufacturer and supplier of multi-capsule mic systems for stereo and surround audio capture in the broadcast and audio recording markets, has begun shipping the first quantities of its latest product, the UPM-1 stereo-to-5.1 converter, to satisfy international pre-orders.
