Apple's New Mac Pro

Apple's announcement of a new MacPro at yesterday's WWDC 2013 Conference took many by surprise. It sports a radical new design and vastly increased performance.

"The next generation Mac Pro is the most expandable Mac® ever built. With six Thunderbolt 2 ports that can deliver up to 20Gbps of bandwidth to each external device, Mac Pro is perfect for connecting to external storage, multiple PCI expansion chassis, audio and video breakout boxes, and the latest external displays, including 4K desktop displays. Each of the six Thunderbolt 2 ports supports up to six daisy-chained devices, giving you the ability to connect up to 36 high-performance peripherals. Thunderbolt 2 is completely backwards compatible with existing Thunderbolt peripherals, and allows you to transfer data between Macs faster and easier than ever."

Video and pics from Engadget showing the new MacPro prototype:

The next generation Mac Pro will be available later this year.

Visit www.apple.com/mac-pro for more details.

Barefoot Sound's MM27 & MM35 Gen2 Studio Monitors

Thomas Barefoot has taken his world renown studio monitors and dramatically raised the bar with the Gen2 versions of the MicroMain27's and MicroMain35's. The Gen2s have new drivers, amplification and speaker emulation.

I had the pleasure of breaking in a pair of MM35's recently (Thanks Giandre) and was extremely pleased with the outcome of the projects which consisted of mixes of various genres including reggae/pop, hip-hop/R&B, and Electronica.

All the mixes translated well to other systems. The original MM27/35's are  outstanding speakers with an exceptionally detailed, full-bodied sound so I am very excited to hear the Gen2s.

Here's some info from Barefoot Sound's website:
"The MicroMain27 Gen2 is a 3.5-way active system with 5 drive units housed in sealed enclosures spanning 30Hz to 45kHz with vanishingly low distortion, breathtaking dynamic range and ultra-fast transient response. The ring radiator tweeter is incredibly detailed and produces very wide dispersion out to its highest frequencies. The new 5.25" midbass features a phalanx of advanced technology, yielding midrange detail that rivals any driver on the planet. Barefoot has teamed up with the brilliant Bruno Putzeys of Hypex to develop the powerful and completely transparent amplifier stage of the MM27 Gen2...."

MicroMain27 Gen2 features:

• 3.5-way active studio monitor with integral subwoofers
• Four-setting DSP voice emulation
• Analog and AES3 digital inputs
• Hypex amplification
• Tweeter - 1" ring radiator with Advanced neodymium motor
• Rear waveguide chamber. Amplifier: 250W Hypex
• Midbass 1 - 5.25" poly/paper cone with Advanced neodymium motor , +/- 5 mm linear excursion. Amplifier: 250W Hypex
• Midbass 2 - 5.25" poly/paper cone with Advanced neodymium motor, +/- 5 mm linear excursion. Amplifier: 250W Hypex
• Subwoofers - 2 x 10" aluminum cone with high linearity motor, +/- 13 mm linear excursion. Amplifier: 500W Hypex
• Crossover Frequencies: 100 / 600 / 3000 Hz
• Cabinet Dimensions: 20.5" x 9.5" x 15.5"
• Overall Dimensions: 20.5" x 10.4" x. 17.4"

Get the full specs on the MM27's here.

And here's some info on the MM35's:

Similar to the MM27 but with a smaller footprint and just as great sounding "the MicroMain35 Gen2 is a 3-way active system with 4 drive units housed in sealed enclosures spanning 35Hz to 45kHz....."

MicroMain35 Gen2 features:

• 3-way active studio monitor with integral subwoofers
• Four-setting DSP voice emulation
• Analog and AES3 digital inputs
• Hypex amplification
• Tweeter - 1" ring radiator with Advanced neodymium motor
• Rear waveguide chamber. Amplifier: 180W Hypex
• Midbass - 5.25" poly/paper cone with Advanced neodymium motor , +/- 5 mm linear excursion. Amplifier: 180W Hypex
• Subwoofers - 2 x 7" aluminum cone with high linearity motor, +/- 9.5 mm linear excursion. Amplifier: 250W Hypex
• Crossover Frequencies: 100 / 3000 Hz
• Cabinet Dimensions: 14.25" x 9.5" x 15.5"
• Overall Dimensions: 14.25" x 10.4" x. 17.4"

Get more details on the MM35s here. 

I like that Thomas has included speaker emulation with the Gen2s and even made a remote for easy switching.The original MM35s have a "voicing" switch on the rear of the speaker that goes from "flat" which has a very revealing midrange to "forgiving" which sounds more like conventional monitors. 

The remote pictured above seems very straightforward to operate:

 "With the turn of a knob one can switch from the MicroMain27's/35's brutally revealing "Flat" response to the warmer and sweeter "Hi-Fi" setting, generically emulating the sound of some high end consumer audio gear. More specifically the "Old School" setting closely emulates the sound of the NS10M nearfield, while the "Cube" setting emulates the mid-centric sound of classic mix cubes The idea is not to perfectly replicate every subtle quirk of these venerable old speakers. That would be impossible. But the MM27/35 Gen2 can capture the essence of how they behave and translate, modeling their frequency, phase and transient responses, dynamic compression and even specific distortion components. If you know how to work on these speakers you will feel very comfortable working on the new MM27/35's emulation settings."

Available at various dealers worldwide 

SampleMagic's MAGIC AB mixing/production reference plugin

When I mix I often use similar tracks in the same genre as a reference by importing, level matching and then manually switching between the tracks and the current mix.
SampleMagic's MAGIC AB is going to make things a lot easier. It's is a new reference tool that's "an easy-to-use but powerful utility plugin which allows you to switch between the audio you are working on in your DAW and up to nine reference tracks with the click of a mouse." The plugin is available for both Mac and Windows in VST/Audio Unit (Mac only) and RTAS/AAX formats. Magic AB uses virtually no CPU resources and can be placed on the stereo buss or individual tracks as needed.

FEATURES:

• Perform instant AB references: to compare the track you are working on in your DAW with any commercially produced reference track in a variety of audio formats (mp3, aiff, wav, m4a etc).
• Like the sound of a reference? No problems – import your chosen reference track/s into Magic AB and then flick between them and your own in-progress track using a single mouse click.
• Hone in on the details: play/cue the reference track from the precise point you want to hear and loop the section you want to focus on – there’s no need for tiresome rewinding and endless internal waveform navigation.
• Compare multiple mixes quickly and simply: create and save your own ‘go-to’ playlists to radically speed up mixing and mastering.
• Balance the relative volume of mixes with extensive, accurate, easy-to-read metering – particularly useful for ciritical mastering sessions. The clear, ergonomically designed GUI with bold waveform display means you’re always comparing like with like.
• Give your ears a chance to recalibrate with manually changeable crossfade times. Flip in an instant, or allow a transitions of up to 2000ms.

Take a look at the introductory video:

Cost £19.90/$30.51 at SampleMagic.com

Flux Epure v3 5 Band Eq with M/S processing now 30% off

Flux sent me an email announcing version 3 of their Epure Eq plugin. It's a great tool for sonic surgery and transparent enhancement. Along with it's excellent transparent sound the Epure has a ton of great features including the ability to morph (which can be automated) between 2 different settings.

FEATURES:

Filter type selection-available on all 5 bands:

• low cut
• low shelving
• peak
• hi shelving
• hi cut


• Frequency range covering the whole bandwidth
• Q factor adjustable (from 1.00 to 100.00)
• Gain control (ranged -24 dB to +24 dB)
• Bypass

• Multiply gain (x2) affecting the gain value of the band-section.
• Divide gain (/2) affecting the gain value of the band-section.
• Invert, converting the band-section positive values to negative and vice versa.
• up to 8 band group

• Master gain control.
• full I/O routing matrix
• up to 4 MS encoder / decoder
• Bypass routes the incoming signal direct to the output for a true smooth transition between processed and clean signal.

Here's the email:

Hello Gary, Today, we have the pleasure to announce the release of Epure v3, one of our most appreciated software plug-in processors, in AAX (Native & DSP) and 64-bit compatible versions built on our latest 64-bit version 3 (v3) framework. The v3 framework improves the performance dramatically, and for the graphic rendering it includes our GPU-efficient 2D/3D graphic engine, first introduced in the Pure Analyzer System, based on the OpenGL standard optimizing the audio-to-visual experience utilizing the GPU on the computer's built in graphics card. Availability  Epure v3 is available in Native version (AU/VST/AAX Native) and in AAX DSP/Native version (the DSP licence includes licences for AAX DSP and Native). The update to the Native version (AU/VST/AAX Native) is Free of charge for all current owners of Epure Native, and the upgrade to the Epure DSP (AAX DSP/Native) isFree of charge for all current owners of Epure  TDM, and can be downloaded when logged in to the customer download area on our website. If you're not using Epure yet, a dongle free trial version is available on our download page as well.  Flux:: Download Page   https://www.fluxhome.com/download Introduction Special   During the release period, starting today with the last day of availability July 1st 2013, we offer you all an introduction special with 30% Off on Epure v3!   Find a dealer through our distributors  http://www.fluxhome.com/company/distributors.html Flux:: online store  https://www.fluxhome.com/store

 

Harrison MixBus v2.3 ($39) and 3 new XTools plugins

Harrison Consoles in partnership with DontCrack.com has announced v2.3 of their MixBus DAW application for only $39 until June 12. The upgrade is free to previous owners.

3 new XTools plugins have also been announced at special introductory prices:

1. XT-EQ Equalizer  ($39)
2. XT-MC Multiband Compressor  ($79)
3. XT-ME Mastering Equalizer  ($79)

Here's a video of the XTools Plugins:

You can purchase the MixBus for only $39 on the website here and the XTools plugins here.

Here's a link to my previous post on how to route ProTools into the Harrison MixBus which contains more in depth videos of the DAW.

http://garynobleshow.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-to-route-audio-from-protools-to.html

Music Mondays - Lucian "Sheepish" and the MH HaloVerb

Here's the official video of a song I mixed for Lucian Sawyer. He's a talented singer/songwriter I met with Kev of Black Violin. (He performed on their current album on the song "Virtuoso".)
I like the vibe of the song and it has a strong message and great arrangement. 

You can follow Lucian and Fernando (video director) on Twitter: @IamLucian @FernandoLugoo

The main reverb used on the music is Metric Halo's HaloVerb which is part of their Production bundle. I was looking for a reverb that would enhance the sound without taking up too much space in the mix and it fit the bill perfectly.

Here is the actual setting I used:

The HaloVerb rates a 10 on sonics and ease of use.

From the website:

"HaloVerb is a plug-in that allows you to add ambience and depth to your recordings. Based on the original HaloVerb for 2d Expanded Metric Halo interfaces, the AAX and AU versions expand on the great algorithmic sound to give you more flexibilty and control. Use the reverb impulse to see the reverberant field as you make adjustments, or hide the graphics and let your ears be your guide."

HaloVerb MSRP $199 or buy the Production Bundle for $699 which consists of seven great plugins.

IGS S-Type Mix Buss Compressor and Panzer 500 Power Supply

IGS Audio is a Poland based company known for making great gear just announced their brand new 500 series S-Type Buss Compressor. I'm going to see if I can get my hands on one of these units and put it to use on this project I'm currently mixing. I like the fact that all the controls are stepped which makes it very easy to do a precise recall if needed.

Features:

Stereo compressor,
Double space unit,
All stepped manipulators (exc. Mix),
London/New York modes,
Sidechain HPF,
20 points GR LED bar,
Low power consumption,
Affordable price, 495 Euro, exc. VAT. (approx. $650 USD)

If you don't already have 500 series rack consider their 10 slot Panzer 500 power supply:

The website states it is fully compliant with any 500 series modules (Output current is 420mA per slot).

Cost: 645 Euro (approx. $848 USD)

UA's Ocean Way Studios Dynamic Room Modeling Plug-In

Universal Audio has released the Ocean Way Studios Plugin which emulates rooms/spaces.

"Developed by Universal Audio and Allen Sides, the Ocean Way Studios plug-in rewrites the book on what’s possible with acoustic space emulation. By combining elements of room, microphone, and source modeling, Ocean Way Studios moves far beyond standard impulse response players and reverbs — giving you an authentic replication of one of the world’s most famous recording studios."

The Ocean Way Studios Plugin is available with the the new v7 Software which also includes the SPL TwinTube, Sony Oxford Inflator and newly enhanced Apollo Interface software features.
I've used the TwinTube and Inflator plugins and it's great to see them available on the UAD-2
platform.

Here's a video review  of the Ocean Way plugin by Russ of pro-tools-expert.com:

Features

• Breakthrough acoustic emulations of Ocean Way Recording’s legendary Studio A and Studio B
• Dynamic Room Modeling combines room, microphone, and source models for unprecedented realism
• Incorporates sonic profiles of vintage microphones from Allen Side’s world-renowned collection
• Includes mic bleed and mic proximity effects for stunning accuracy
• Choose from eight instrument / vocal source types with unique dispersion patterns
• Position and blend between three vintage mic pairs (Near / Mid / Far) in real time
• Use in “Reverb” mode, mixing wet and dry signal; or “Re-Mic” mode, replacing your original room and mic sounds altogether
• Preset mic selections, placements and creative direction by Ocean Way’s Allen Sides
• Requires UAD-2 DSP Accelerator Card or Apollo Interface, available from authorized dealers worldwide

Price $349

Gobblerama! - Win $10K in gear

Gobbler's Andrew Reinfeld sent me an email about their Gobblerama! contest where you can win great prizes just for referring people to Gobbler. I've been using Gobbler since it was in beta and find it a great way to backup and share files with clients.

Gobbler is offering over $10,000 in prizes from Universal Audio, Telefunken, Focusrite and others, just for inviting your friends! Throughout the month of May, Gobbler customers who get the greatest number of friends to sign up for Gobbler will win audio hardware and software prizes every week. The grand prize, a Universal Audio 1176LN Classic Limiting Amplifier, will be awarded when the contest ends, May 28th. Daily prizes from Groove3, Slate Digital, Softube, and others will also be given away randomly - just for entering!

Grand Prize

1176LN Classic Limiting Amplifier

http://www.uaudio.com/hardware/compressors/1176ln.html

2nd place monthly prize 500GB lifetime

3rd place monthly prize 250GB lifetime

Weekly Prizes

Week 1 Prize: UAD-2 Satellite DUO Core

http://www.uaudio.com/press/releases/2011/uad2_satellite

2nd place weekly prize = 250GB 1 year account

3rd place weekly prize = 100GB 1 year account

Week 2 Prize: Telefunken M80 Dynamic Mic Chrome

http://www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com/products/mics/m-80chrome.php

2nd place weekly prize = 250GB 1 year account

3rd place weekly prize = 100GB 1 year account

Week 3 Prize: Focusrite OctoPre MkII  

http://us.focusrite.com/mic-pres/octopre-mkii

2nd place weekly prize = 250GB 1 year account

3rd place weekly prize = 100GB 1 year account

Week 4 Prize: Focusrite Forte

http://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/forte

2nd place weekly prize = 250GB 1 year account

3rd place weekly prize = 100GB 1 year account

Daily Plugin/Subscription Prizes

25GB Gobbler 1-year accounts

SONiVOX

Air

Softube  

FabFilter

Groove3

Audio Raiders

Slate Digital

To participate, go to www.gobbler.com/gobblerama.

If you don't have a Gobbler account sign up here.

How to route audio from ProTools to the Harrison MixBus

Ben Loftis (Director and Product Developer at Harrison Consoles) posted this YouTube link as a comment to one of my LinkedIn posts.

It shows how to route audio from Protools into the Harrison MixBus application for mixing or additional processing. The MixBus is based on Harrison Consoles world renown analog consoles.

(Michael Jackson's Thriller was mixed on a Harrison by Bruce Swedien. I think he still owns the console)

Courtesy of Sound On Sound

Mixbus Features:

• Straightforward “knob per function” mixer layout based on Harrison's renowned 32-series and MR-series music consoles.
• DSP sounds based on Harrison's world-renowned analog and digital mixing console experience.
• Precision algorithms for EQ, Filter, Compression, Analog Tape Saturation, and Summing.
• Unlimited stereo or mono input channels, each with unlimited plugins, sends, and hardware inserts. (limited only by CPU speed)
• Phase, Input trim, High-pass Filter, Sweepable 3-band EQ, Compression, and 8 Mix Bus sends on every track.
• 8 Stereo Mix Buses featuring Tone controls, Compression, Sidechaining, and Analog Tape Saturation.
• Stereo Master Bus that features Tone controls, Analog Tape Saturation, K-meter, Stereo Correlation Meter, and Limiter.
• Automatic plugin delay compensation to support effects such as parallel compression without time misalignment.
• Comprehensive "at-a-glance" metering with peak, peak hold, and compressor gain reduction visible on every track and bus.
• Extensive DAW features via the Ardour Digital Audio Workstation, refined by Harrison engineers to be smooth and stable.
• Industry standard plugin support: Mixbus loads VST plugins on Windows, AudioUnit plugins on OSX, and LV2 plugins on all platforms.
• Industry standard audio I/O support: Mixbus uses ASIO/Directsound on Windows, CoreAudio on OSX, and JACK on Linux.

Here's another video on the Harrison Console Mixbus that shows more in-depth its capabilities:

You can purchase the Harrison MixBus for $149 or do a subscription plan for $49 plus $9 a month.

http://www.harrisonconsoles.com/mixbus/website/purchase.html

Propellerhead Reason 7

Propellerhead has made some major changes in their recently released Reason 7 including grouping, parallel channels and emulating the classic SSL sound with eq/dynamics on every channel and even the Stereo Buss Compressor. There's also MIDI out, a built in Spectrum analyzer and new "Audiomatic Retro Transformer"

From the website:

"Reason 7 brings tons of new improvements for the mixer, the rack and the sequencer. Integrate your instruments into Reason with MIDI out, audio slicing and audio quantize. Turn your recordings into REX loops. For mixing, we're introducing a spectrum analyzer with visual EQ, group and parallel channels and workflow improvements. To inspire, Reason 7 imports audio from your music library and web formats, the enhanced Factory Sound Bank comes fully loaded with tons of new loops and drum kits and the new Audiomatic Retro Transformer effect adds a futuristic-vintage sound to any tracks."

Here's a video showing the new mixing features:

and here's another video showing the Reason 7 improvements to "inspire" you to create your next hit:

Price: $449 USD or upgrade for $129 USD

Download the demo

30% off_Flux Pure Analyzer System - Now 64-bit & SampleGrabber AAX

Flux announced 64 bit versions of their Pure Analyzer System,  and SampleGrabber which is now available for AAX. The new versions of 
Elixir Brick Wall Limiter and the free BitterSweet (transient designer style) plugins are also now 64 bit.

Here's the email I received from them:


Hello Gary, 

Today we release the Pure Analyzer System sp3, introducing AAX and 64-bit compatibility. The stand alone Pure Analyzer application is now 64-bit compatible on both MAC OS X and Windows, and the SampleGrabber plug-in now supports AU/VST 32/64-bit, AAX Native (32-bit only) as well as AAX DSP 64-bit (requires ProTools 11).

During the release period we offer an introduction special of the Pure Analyzer Essential and the Pure Analyzer add-on options with 30% Off from the MSRP*

* (This offer can not be combined with any other discounts or offers, Last day of availability June 1st)

Important note!!

Due to compatibility issues the Sample Grabber plugin installation has been removed from the Pure Analyzer setup file, and from now on instead is to be installed separately. 

     

Main New Features

• Essential:
  RTA: Real Time waterfall; see "slide" option in spectrum setup.  
• Live:
  SnapShot: Invert ("Iv" button) function available on Transfer Function Magnitude.   

Main Enhancements 

• Mac OS X: The binary is now 64 bit.
• Windows: 32 & 64 bit version available with independent installers.
• Windows: No more Python installation needed, a python distribution is now instead included in the installer.  
• Auto adjust Sweep time for sweep snapshot according to the analyze time windows.
• Sweep time increase up to 15 seconds.
• Independent use of coherence for Magnitude and Phase curve transparency.
• Freeze function with return key now working on all layout and enhanced on live layout (will hide all RT curves). 

Main Fixes

• Mac OS X: Fix - Installer was not installing all required files on a fresh install.
• Mac OS X: Fix - Copy, cut, past in edit fields.
• Mac OS X: Fix - Folder renaming.
• Mac OS X: Fix - 96k only choice in I/O settings when using default sound card on MacBookPro.
• Windows: Fix - Setup problems.
• Windows: Fix - Security/Auth problems.
• Mac OS X & Windows: Fix - Crash or freeze when switching "Pure spectrum" button in main settings.
• Mac OS X & Windows: Fix - Auto Pause not working properly  
• Overall: Additional minor fixes. 

Main changes, SampleGrabber  

• New - VST 64 bit version, MAC OS X & Windows.
• New - AU 64 bit version, MAC OS X.
• New - AAX Native 32 bit version, MAC OS X & Windows.
• New - AAX DSP 64 bit version for ProTools 11, MAC OS X & Windows.   

Availability

For current owners of Pure Analyzer System the upgrade is free of charge. The new versions are available for download Now on our website, as are dongle-free trial versions for testing Pure Analyzer System. 

https://www.fluxhome.com/download/ 


Purchase
You can purchase the Pure Analyzer System sp3 Now, from your local dealer or from the Flux:: online store.

Find your local dealer through our distributors
http://www.fluxhome.com/company/distributors.html 

Flux:: Online Store
https://www.fluxhome.com/store/  

Music Mondays - Black Violin

Some years ago I was introduced to the group Black Violin by my friend and fellow engineer/producer Adrian "Drop" Santalla. They asked me to mix some songs for their upcoming album and after listening to a few of their songs I immediately said yes. I've been a fan ever since.

Black Violin is a classically trained violinist duo consisting of Kevin "Kev Marcus" Sylvester and William "Will B" Baptiste. They have collaborated/played with many artists and even performed on Broadway at the new Victory Theater in Times Square last November. They were voted Top 5 Bands at SXSW and played for the President at the 2013 Presidential Inauguration,

I recently mixed some songs for their new album aptly named "Classically Trained" including the single "A Flat ":

Visit their website at http://blackviolin.net for more music and info on this amazing duo.

The 8 best budget MIDI controller keyboards

I use a JP8000 (pictured above) as my main keyboard/controller in the studio but I need a compact controller for my portable setup. So I started doing some research online and found this article on MusicRadar. They have a list of 8 keyboards that fit the bill. I'm familiar with some of them and they are all under $150. Click the names to read the reviews on each keyboard.


1.  M-Audio Keystation Mini 32

2. Korg microKey

3. Acorn Instruments Masterkey 49

4. Alesis Q25

5. Behringer U-Control UMA25S

6. Line 6 Mobile Keys

7. IK Multimedia iRig Keys

8. Akai MPK Mini

Feel free to comment or offer suggestions/advice.