British loudspeaker drive unit and system manufacturer ATC has announced the SCM12 Pro, an all-new, high-performance, two-way compact passive close-field monitor.

As an all-new design, the SCM12 Pro offers a compact, installation-friendly footprint suited to close-field critical listening, multichannel music and postproduction applications. The monitor uses the company’s drive units for both mid/bass and HF, both hand-built at its UK facility.

The tweeter is a 25mm/1-inch soft-dome unit, designed around ATC’s dual-suspension technology. Unlike conventional tweeters, this employs two suspensions, for greater control of the voice coil and dome motion – especially at higher sound pressure levels. The result is an extended high-frequency response with greater clarity and definition due to the reduction in disturbing enharmonic distortion. Listener fatigue is also greatly reduced.

Mid/bass reproduction is handled by ATC’s 150mm/6-inch proprietary CLD driver. Using a 45mm/1.75-inch diameter voice coil, and employing an FEA (Finite Element Analysis) optimised high-energy symmetric gap motor system, the driver is capable of wide dynamic range with minimal power compression. Cone construction employs proprietary Constrained Layer Damping (CLD), a process that uses multiple laminated fabric cones to form a stiff, light, and tremendously well-damped structure. Acoustically, this construction creates a smoother on- and off-axis frequency response and also a reduction in distortion leading to a more lifelike reproduction of source material.

The passive crossover uses the minimum number of components in a second-order implementation. Capacitors are all 250V DC metallised polypropylene and all the inductors are air-cored for minimal signal distortion. Additionally, all of the inductors are wound in-house with very high-purity copper while large-gauge wire is used for the bass components to minimise signal losses.

Beyond the release of the SCM12 Pro, an install-specific model, the SCM12i, will be available as of Q1 2017. This will feature threaded mounting points to mate with widely-available wall and ceiling brackets from K&M and Adaptive Technologies to simplify installation in complex multichannel systems, such as those required by Auro 3-D, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

The SCM12 Pro is designed to be partnered with ATC’s own range of stereo power amplifiers, such as the 150W/channel P1 Pro dual-mono power amplifier.

‘Anyone who has been waiting for an ATC nearfield with a smaller footprint, that is more easily installed, or that is more affordable, yet still delivers undiminished ATC performance, then the SCM12 Pro could be for them.’ says ATC Technical Sales Manager, Ben Lilly. ‘ATC R&D Manager Richard Newman has poured the same knowhow, time, and passion into this new model that has made the rest of the professional product line so successful. Users will find that productions completed using the SCM12 Pro will translate beautifully to other systems and that their incredibly low distortion makes listening to them a pleasure – even after long hours in the studio. At under £1,150.00 per pair, they may prove an ideal upgrade from ageing, hard-to-repair passive studio monitors.’

More: www.atcloudspeakers.co.uk

ATC has announced the SCM12i Pro passive monitor, an adaptation of its SCM12 Pro compact, high-performance, two-way passive studio monitor released in 2016.

Intended for simple installation into recording, postproduction, broadcast, and film studios, the SCM12i is aimed at facilities moving into immersive audio working such as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro 3D, or upgrading an existing monitor system.

Weighing in at 15kg/33lbs per cabinet, the SCM12i Pro provides 80Hz-16kHz (±2dB) response with dispersion of ±80° coherent horizontal and ±10° coherent vertical, and a maximum continuous SPL of 108dB (per pair @ 1m). To facilitate simple installation, the cabinet features mounting points compatible with popular wall/ceiling brackets, such as those offered by Adaptive Technologies Group and König & Meyer (K&M).

The SCM12i Pro is designed around the same philosophy as ATC’s two- and three-way active monitor loudspeakers, and also employs driver components and technology found in those larger models, resulting in consistency across the product range. The tweeter is a 25mm/1-inch soft dome designed around ATC’s dual-suspension technology – two suspensions offering greater control of the voice coil and dome motion especially at high sound pressure levels.

Mid/bass reproduction is handled by ATC’s 150mm/six-inch proprietary CLD drive unit. Using a 45mm/1.75-inch diameter voice coil, and employing an FEA (Finite Element Analysis) optimised high-energy symmetric gap motor system, the driver is capable of high dynamic range with minimal power compression. Cone construction uses Constrained Layer Damping (CLD) – multiple laminated fabric cones forming a stiff, light and well-damped structure for smooth on- and off-axis response. Capacitors are all 250Vdc metallised polypropylene and all the inductors are air-cored types for minimal signal distortion. Additionally, all of the inductors are very high-purity copper while large- gauge wire is used for the bass components to minimise signal losses.

The SCM12i Pro retails in for £1,604(plus VAT) per pair.

More: www.atcloudspeakers.co.uk

With songwriter/artist Janie Bird (aka Bird), producer/engineer Al Lawson has recently their Southwest London Pop Fiction studio space ‘a general revamp’ prompted by the purchase of an Audient ASP880 8-channel preamplifier.

‘I love working in big studios, and that’s what I find myself doing a lot of the time when I’m engineering for other producers,’ Lawson says, who works anywhere from Kore Studios and Lynchmob to any of the Miloco rooms, and on records by KT Tunstall, Lower Than Atlantis and whenyoung.

Tending toward working on rock and pop records in the main, Lawson will turn his hand to hip-hop, metal or jazz. 

‘Our studio is great for certain records – there are a lot of toys – guitars, amps, pedals, synths, tape delays, spring reverbs. Stuff for musicians to get their hands on and it’s very homely – going somewhere else is now more a choice than a necessity.’

Pop Fiction studio comprises a large control room and a live room, and Lawson and Bird were already aware that it sounded great for acoustic guitar and her cello. Then they discovered it had even more potential. 

‘Janie’s 60s Premier drum kit was in there, and we’d do little tom overdubs or demo drums with a couple of mics, and it turned out that the room sounds really cool for drums; plenty of air around the kit but not too clattery or boxy,’ Lawson explains. ‘It felt like a wasted opportunity not to be able to record drums properly, if they sounded that good. My first thought was an Audient ASP880 to add the extra inputs that we needed and I knew from working on ASP8024s that it had proper professional mic preamps in it.’

He seems to have the balance right, as the phone is ringing constantly: ‘I guess after 12 years enough people trust me to make their record – either engineering or producing. Long may it last,’ he says, listing some of the diverse array of projects he’s been working on recently. ‘I just finished a solo record with Wendy James from Transvision Vamp, a library music album for Audio Network, ongoing work on Janie’s new Bird record (with Mike Hedges producing), soundtrack for a new TV series Two Wolves and right now I’m doing additional production and mix for UK hip-hop artist Apex Zero’s new album.

‘You guys brought over an iD44 for the day a few weeks ago and now I’m thinking what I probably need is one of those and another ASP880,’ he adds.

More: www.audient.com

The first Audient ASP8024 Heritage Edition console to arrive in China has been installed at Shanghai’s Music King Studio.

Part of an upgrade to the studio complex, the 24-channel analogue console completes an upgrade to the facility, which has been used by TV shows Sing! China and The Voice of China, as well as an impressive list of engineers and clients. Comprising a live room, control room and vocal booth, the upgraded studio and its new addition have already had the seal of approval from Music King Studio’s Mr Ming, who says, ‘The Audient ASP8024-HE is the dream piece of all the producers. Not only is it great-looking and easy to use, but the master section is outstanding.’

‘Among the artists who have used our studio or are affiliated with our engineers are Luca Bignardi, Anthony Kilhoffer, Kanye West, Jay Chou, James Li, Vicki Zhao, Jeno Liu, Della, Darren Wang and lots more,’ says Marketing Manager, Mr Lin.

One of the champions of the flagship desk with was mix engineer Weiwei Jin, who used Music King Studio for recording and mastering the sound effects for the opening ceremony of Shanghai Disney Resort. ‘Disney is now turning into a regular client,’ says Lin.

Originally designed to be a mastering studio operating in the digital domain, the installation of the Heritage with Dual Layer Control (DLC) has transformed it into a hybrid set-up: ‘It has improved the sound quality hugely and is very easy to work with,’ Lin says.

This is confirmed by on of Music King Studio’s engineers: ‘The layout is really user-friendly, which can actually reduce the burden of recording and mastering,’ Red, says.

The studio is housed in an old-style building in a leafy area in the heart of Shanghai near the French colonial area.

More: www.audient.com

Following its iD14, Audient has announced the iD4 compact and affordable bus-powered audio interface.

With a view to maintaining the quality expected of Audient, iD4’s features include one Audient console mic preand, high-performance AD converters, a JFET DI, dual headphone outputs, console-style monitor control and Audient’s ScrollControl virtual scroll wheel technology, housed in compact, ergonomic casing.

‘iD4 puts Audient’s renowned sound into the hands of budding producers as well as singer songwriters wanting release-quality recordings from the start,’ says Audient Technical Director, Tom Waterman. ‘Even when you only need one mic pre, you still get to use the same class-A mic pre technology found in our flagship ASP8024 Heritage Edition mixing console, so you know you’re getting an accurate translation of your source.

‘Alongside superlative quality at its price point, the beauty of iD4 is how simple it is to use,’ he continues, highlighting the ScrollControl facility. ‘With a touch of a button the volume encoder becomes a virtual scroll wheel, which means you can use the iD knob to manually adjust DAW hosts, plug-in parameters, write automation and even scroll through your iTunes library – just like using a piece of hardware’

‘You can just plug in and play too. Having both a mic pre and a DI lets you lay down ideas quickly – whenever they come to you, wherever you happen to be.’

iD4 comes with two new features designed to make the recording process even easier for users: Monitor Mix and Monitor Pan. ‘The Monitor Mix feature lets you monitor a blend of both iD4s inputs and your DAW playback, providing near-zero latency monitoring whilst recording,’ explains Waterman. ‘Also, if you’re recording an acoustic guitar and vocal, the Monitor Pan feature enables you to pan both the mic pre input and DI input from left to right, making it easy to create a balanced headphone mix that suits.’

iD4 features a class-A/B headphone amplifier with dual outputs. ‘This allows you to use them in a classroom as independent teacher – student outputs, share the music with a friend or bandmate, or just use either one depending on the last time you lost your large headphone jack adapter. Let’s face it, we’ve all been there.

‘It might be the smallest audio interface we’ve made, but it’s definitely built to last.’

The iD4 retails at £119.99 inc VAT, US$199 MAP, €149.99 inc VAT, and is shipping now.

More: www.audient.com

Having lived for centuries in Southern China maintaining the singing tradition developed and maintained by the Dong people is slowly being eroded by the ingress of mainstream Chinese culture. In an effort to preserve this oral record of the Dong history and legend, a project has been launched to record and preserve their music. Key to this effort is Audient’s iD14 portable USB audio interface.

‘As young people leave Dong villages to find work in larger cities, traditional Dong song is at serious risk of extinction,’ explains Noah Krieg, a cultural anthropologist with a background in pro audio sales, who has undertaken this extraordinary project. Joining local musicians and singers with support from concerned international partners, he aims to record the traditional Dong songs, and make them accessible to the wider world.

‘The Audient iD14 is the perfect tool for such an endeavour,’ Krieg reports. ‘It answers the questions of portability and professionalism. We’re mostly working with a single vocal or two-mic vocal/instrument set-up, and the iD14 is just right to capture those core elements. The I/O is brilliant and the preamp quality guarantees a track that won’t need a lot of production.’

Krieg is in the ideal position of being immersed in the community, having moved to a Dong village upon completion of graduate studies in Dong culture at Hunan University in 2015. Currently a grass-roots endeavour, he anticipates this to be a long-term project that will gain traction and support as recordings are assessed and collated.

‘We will work with the local government to publish and distribute these songs throughout the Dong areas, and post them online to be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike,’ he says.

Krieg is also keen to give some of the recordings a more modern twist: ‘We will work with the raw audio and integrate modern musical elements to make the Dong songs more accessible for a generation of ethnic Dong who might feel the traditional music is out of touch.’

Traditionally, song has been integral to every aspect of Dong life: singing at meals, singing in courting, and especially singing for education. The entirety of Dong history, legends, moral teaching, and folk religion practices has been passed down from generation to generation orally through song.

Legend has it that long ago the Dong were unable to sing. When a villager named Xi Ai heard a mountain bird tell of a singing tree in heaven, he decided to go up and steal some songs that grew as fruit on the tree. The songs were taken back to the village and planted in the ground, where they grew up into a new singing tree. The Dong people gathered with the mountain birds to learn the beautiful songs, and ever since the sound of singing has filled the hills where the Dong people live.

If the recording duties have been simplified by his choice of equipment, organising recordings in a distant corner of China isn’t as straightforward, as Krieg has found out: ‘I tried to schedule the first singer, but it was market day and no one had time.’

The first Audient ASP8024 Heritage desk to be installed in Germany can be found in Freiburg, where Markus Heinzel has recently upgraded his Liquidstudio recording and music production studio.

Wishing to ‘rely on my technology, so that I can get on with making music’, Heinzel organised the finances necessary for the improvements to his space in 2016 – the largest single investment being the console. It took him the best part of a year to find the desk that suited both his needs and his budget. ‘The combination of a well processed and proven, big analogue desk with DAW integration is perfect for me,’ he says. ‘I use the DLC module mostly to make automations, it’s great to play with that.

‘After working with a digital console for ten years, I wanted to come back to analogue,’ he explains. ‘I wanted to record using the excellent analogue EQs and shape the incoming signals directly. When I mix, I create stems and sum through the desk which gives me the option to fine tune things with the Audient channel EQs. I then use the Retro Iron and the Low Bump/High Lift EQs on the mix bus when printing a mix, as they lift everything up a bit and add power and clarity. Another great feature is the mix bus compressor, which adds a nice glue to the final mix.’

The new console joins Liquidstudio’s Event TR8 Tuned main studio monitors, and Cubase 9 DAW software and Waveleab 9 editing and mastering software. Conversion is handled by RME ADI 8 DS MkIII and RME ADI 2 converters, which are clocked by an RME WCM HDSP 9632. Recording is supported by a Universal Audio UAD-2 Quad Nevana 128 system running a range of channel strips, processors and effects, as well as a well-stocked mic cupboard.

Evenings see Liquidstudio double up as a non-commercial live venue called The Slow Club. Th this end, Heinzel has designed the whole space to flip between its two distinct roles, while managing to use every inch of space. When he’s not running the live shows – of which there are upwards of ten each month – the function room is the recording room. ‘I work with a couple of sonic walls with diffusers, damping elements, bass traps and so on, and the stage also turns into the vocal chamber when you close the sonic curtain,’ he says. He even built frames for the portable acoustic elements out of the wooden crate that the Audient desk arrived in, continuing to ensure that nothing goes to waste.

When asked, he suggests that it’s his latest work that he’s most proud of. ‘It’s not been released yet, but it was all produced using my new set-up. I have to say the change in my studio has definitely been worth it,’ he reflects.

The first Audient Heritage console to be commissioned in Austria is now up and running in Stefan Sobolak’s Eastendrecords studio inVienna.

‘I used to work with a big analogue console and a whole host of outboard gear in a large suburban room in Vienna back in the noughties, but that place was razed to the ground. At the time I capitalised on the situation, changing my approach of producing to working in the box – and freelance. It was no substitute though, and I always wanted to go back to working with a desk.’

The large-format ASP8024 Heritage Edition analogue desk now sits at the centre of rgw facility: ‘For me the Audient ASP8024-HE is a step up, as well as a step back in time to the way consoles used to be: offering great audio with enough routing to be the centre of the studio. I like the desk very much,’ Sobolak says.

‘The most powerful feature is the quality of the signal chains, which are incredibly clean and give me a platform to build something great. It’s still so much easier mixing on a solid, large format desk when trying to deal with dynamics.’

Sobolak’s opinion is shared by a friend who works on classic broadcasts at national radio station ORF Ö1, who was ‘just as amazed as I was by the quality of the sound’, and a producer colleague has already expressed an interest in mixing his latest release at Eastendrecords.

Having finally found a home for all his writing and production work after years of outsourcing, improvising and being flexible, Sobolak says: ‘It was a great learning curve, but I wanted a stable working environment which would give me top signal chain and an easy, reliable workflow, with a perfect listening environment in a chilled place. The Audient ASP8024-HE certainly plays a very big factor in that, giving me the reliable sound and flexibility of a large format desk at a reasonable price.’

He is now eager to get on ‘writing and producing great music’, including some songs which are to be pitched in LA this year and a German pop production for release on his own label.

Audient has released a further series of ‘educational and informative’ videos, this time with multi award-winning mixer Cenzo Townshend.

Recorded at Decoy Studios in the UK and now available online, the tutorials give an insight into the workings of a professional studio. Townshend talks freely about some of his mixing techniques and walks viewers through the studio that has seen the likes of Ed Sheeran, Christine and the Queens, the Kaiser Chiefs and Tom Jones pass through his doors.

‘There is something for everyone in the series, whether beginner or professional audio enthusiast,’ says Audient’s Harry Lewis, who was responsible for shooting and editing the five videos, which last between five and 11 minutes each. ‘We were honoured that Cenzo gave so freely of his time and expertise. We toured the studio, he explained his mixing workflow, gave us some excellent advice and mix tricks, and we learnt lots about his history in the industry – as well as with Audient.’

More: http://audient.com/tutorials

With many of the world’s best dressage riders relying on productions and compositions by Michael Erdmann, his Exclusive Sound Suite – a leading production studio for equestrian dressage freestyle music located in Germany – has added an Audient ASP800 eight-channel mic preamp to its inventory.

‘We arrange the music in a similar way to scoring a film,’ Erdmann explains. ‘I receive a video of the ride or the choreography, then we create the pre-arrangement and if necessary, the orchestral arrangement. The recordings can be up to 140 tracks and are mixed in the Exclusive Sound Suite by Manni [Struck] and myself.’

This arrangement was established in 1995, when Erdmann and sound engineer Struck revolutionised the equestrian freestyle music, which can be anything from pop to classical music. Their first foray into the genre helped Isabell Werth and her horse Gigolo win a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, Now, Erdmann has every intention that Exclusive Sound Suite music will strike gold again at the forthcoming Olympics in Tokyo 2020 – this time with Audient’s help.

After a test run, Erdmann decided to keep the ASP800. As a percussionist he is particularly well versed in drum recording: ‘We achieved excellent results in just a few steps with the standard set-up,’ he says. ‘Kick in (Audix D6), snare top (Shure SM57), rack (EV PL35), floor (EV PL35), overhead (ribbon pair), kick out (Røde NTK) and room mono (Aston Spirit). ‘I am a fan of devices that are easy to handle and sound right. This is absolutely the case with the ASP800.’

As well as producing other music – including dance productions and film music for German crime series Tatort – Erdmann intends to carry on with the dressage freestyle music. ‘We hope to continue to set the trends there,’ he confirms. ‘That, and the further technical expansion of the studio, of course which is a project in itself.’

More: www.audient.com

Audio effects developer Audified has released the MixChecker ‘mixing assistant’ plug-in, allowing DAWs to model different monitor loudspeaker types.

With music being listened to on a wider range of reproduction systems than ever before – desktop speakers, tablets and smartphones, joining TV and radio, and home and in-car music systems – there is an unprecedented need for mix checking.

MixChecker’s functions are presented in two sections. Simulation accesses acoustic models of consumer devices and classic reference monitors –selecting a device is achieved with a single button (clearly labelled with an instantly-recognisable icon), and cycling through the buttons a simple operation. Not all studio monitors deliver a flat frequency response, so the Compensation control section offers four more clearly-labelled buttons to tell MixChecker that you are using average 5-inch or 8-inch speakers or headphones, and presents the resulting sound change accordingly.

The Bypassbutton turns off all processing, passing the signal through MixChecker without being treated.

More: www.audified.com

Audified has updated its U73b Compressor with some significant improvements, including a new GUI – an almost photo-realistic rendering of the hardware on which the plug-in is modelled and an area to display numerically editable parameters or menu functions.

Functions include Load (for selecting presets) and Store (for saving presets), HPF (High-Pass Filter) on/off (to switch off the high-pass filter mode – with around 100Hz cut-off frequency and 6dB slope that helps characterise the sound of the U37b Compressor.

The U73b now features true side-chaining to control the compression via an independent signal (always accessible via the Side-chaining menu with Individual, Left, Right, Left +Right, and External settings); improved processing with added adjustable Oversampling (which, when turned on, enables the internal plug-in processing to run at a higher sample rate than is set in the DAW to help reduced aliasing distortion that is always produced by nonlinear effect processing and also improve high frequency processing); an automatic gain control option (Auto) with Ein (on) and Aus (off) settings; and -9dB default Kalib. (calibration) setting with an added value mechanism – note that the software model works with real voltages that are the same as those found in the original hardware circuitry (related to the dBu scale), but the DSP in DAWs works with dBFS (relative to full scale).

More: https://shop.audified.com

Asked to specify a microphone rig for use by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) and Ex Cathedra, Richard Meredith has delivered a system based around a selection of DPA mics.

Director of London-based pro audio and live sound specialists The Audio Dept, Meredith devised a portable set-up to travel between several venues used by the three groups, including Birmingham’s Town Hall, Symphony Hall and The CBSO Centre, and used for other recording duties in the venues, too.

At the heart of the rig is a stereo pair of d:dicate 2011A Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Microphones. These are mounted on flown DPA UA0387 stereo bars, chosen to provide visual markings for differing stereo set-ups. The pool of recording equipment available to the three groups includes eight d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones with clips to suit different orchestral instruments, four d:screet 4060 Miniature Microphones for recording instruments or speech and another pair of 2011As that can be used as a secondary pair.

‘The three bodies involved wanted an audio and video recording set up that would allow them to capture behind the scenes interviews, rehearsals and performances for their archives and for online content,’ Meredith explains. ‘I was charged with delivering the audio component and my main criteria was to ensure consistently high quality sound, regardless of which venue they were using.’

He chose DPA microphones for their ability to deliver sonic quality and as a trusted and respected brand, particularly amongst the classical fraternity. ‘With DPA, you know that the audio quality will always be exceptional and that everyone will be happy with the results they deliver,’ he says. ‘This was especially important because the rig is shared, and will be used by a number of different house and visiting engineers.’

Designing the hardware to mount the d:dicate 2011A Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Microphones proved quite a challenge as each venue had different dimensions and several stage layouts.

‘Apart from ensuring the microphones were in the right place to capture the best possible sound, for differing sizes of ensembles, I also had to make sure the whole rig was simple and quick to install so that anyone could use it,’ Meredith says. ‘There were a number of health and safety issues to overcome in terms of weight loading and so on, but what I devised was a system of wire drops that could be easily adjusted depending on where they were positioned in each auditorium. Getting the wire lengths correct from the room dimensions and differing rigging points required some careful mathematics but I am delighted to say they worked perfectly first time.’

The recording rig is now in regular use and has already been used to capture a number of performances.

Audio-Technica has released the ATH-M50xBB Professional Monitor Headphone, a limited-edition blue/black version of the ATH-M50x and part of its M-Series line of headphones for critical audio applications including recording, live sound, broadcast, DJing and personal listening

The headphones feature metallic blue earcups and black accents including distinctive trimming, earpads and headband. The 45mm large-aperture drivers and sound-isolating earcups are part of the headphones’ robust construction, which incorporates technology drawn from Audio-Technica’s history in the field of high-performance professional audio, providing power handling, very high SPL capability. With professional-grade earpad and headband material and a collapsible design with detachable cable, the ATH-M50xBB headphones remain comfortable throughout long monitoring sessions and transport easily.

Audio-Technica’s limited-edition ATH-M50xBB are available at US$169 MAP. They join the currently available ATH-M50x models in black (ATH-M50x) and white (ATH-M50xWH).

More: www.audio-technica.com

Audio-Technica has appointed Ertekin Elektronik as its professional audio products distributor for Turkey.

Established in 1967 and based in Istanbul, Ertekin Elektronik company has distributed international brands to the pro audio, lighting, hi-fi and consumer electronics industries since 1990. The company’s extensive portfolio presently includes Panasonic, Celestion, Yamaha and Denon.

‘We are proud to have signed a distribution agreement with Audio-Technica to bring its high-quality, technically-innovative products to our domestic market,’ says Sales & Marketing Manger, Yurder Ertekin. ‘We look forward to developing a strong co-operative relationship with the brand and strengthening Audio-Technica’s profile in Turkey.’

‘The agreement with Ertekin Elektronik is an exciting move for Audio-Technica, and will enable us to strengthen our position in this key market,’ says Audio-Technica Director of Sales & Marketing EMEA, Matthias Exner. ‘The company’s proven track record, with full coverage of the country and involvement in all our market segments including conferencing, makes it an ideal partner. I look forward to building a mutually beneficial strategic alliance with Ertekin.’

US manufacturer API has added AudioLab to its international network of representatives.

The Tel Aviv-based dealer specialises in supplying pro audio gear and computer systems to production and recording studios and sound editing facilities. The dedicated pro audio team at understands the needs of musicians and producers and offers the highest quality audio gear and solutions to their customers.

‘We at AudioLab have made it our goal to bring the best high-end brands to the Israeli pro audio market,’ says company owner Oren Alsheich. ‘We are excited about representing API, a company we have always had tremendous respect for, as well as faith in, its products.’

More: www.APIaudio.com

Audix has appointed Bardy Hayes and Alex Schloesser of Global Market Management (GMM) as its exclusive representatives in the Asia-Pacific region.

Hayes is a veteran of the pro-audio industry with experience in regional touring, sound contracting, retail and distribution. He has managed export sales for top pro audio brands for 20 years. He is based in the company’s San Diego office.

Based in Singapore, Schloesser owned a major rental, broadcast and sound installation company in Cologne, Germany for 28 years. His professional background includes live sound touring, broadcast engineering, systems integration and product development.

‘This is a really exciting opportunity and the timing is just right,’ he says. ‘I have known and used Audix microphones for the last 25 years and I truly love the sound they give me, even in challenging environments.’

‘We are excited about the addition of Bardy and Alex to the Audix team,’ says Audix VP of Sales & Marketing, Chris Doss. ‘Their industry experience and knowledge of the Asia-Pacific market is ideal to foster growth of the Audix brand in the region.’

Hayes and Schloesser are supported by Jesse Hayes in the GMM San Diego office.

Powered by its MediaCentral Platform, Avid has announced the fully cloud-enabled Pro Tools 12.7.

The system promises new music creation workflows, plus improvements in artists’ connection and collaboration anywhere in the world via the cloud. Pro Tools 12.7 is the seventh consecutive quarterly Pro Tools release since Avid introduced Avid All Access Plans and Cloud Subscriptions.

‘With music creation tools being so accessible, there’s more independent talent competing to be heard, so artists and producers need a creative edge to break through,’ says Tim Claman, VP of Platform & Solutions. ‘With this latest version of Pro Tools, we’re continuing to deliver innovations that give our preeminent community of customers – from artists, songwriters, musicians and producers to sound designers, editors and mixers – the tools they need to create without bounds and cut through the noise in a crowded market.’

Pro Tools 12.7 dramatically improves searching and creative exploration of loop and sound effect libraries with Soundbase. This tag-based search complements the existing Workspace Browser by enabling users to browse content using the standard metadata tags embedded in nearly every sound library. Libraries can be searched by instrument, genre, tempo, key, time signature or custom tags, and content auditioned in sync with a project.

To complement the Soundbase capabilities, Pro Tools 12.7 comes with a 2GB high-quality sample library from Loopmasters. The sample library features a newly curated selection of content created by some of the industry’s leading producers and sound designers, and is thoroughly tagged for easy browsing in Soundbase.

Revision History enables artists and audio professionals to create and manage multiple versions of projects, as well as backups, media and descriptive project metadata, all powered by the cloud. This makes it easy to explore new versions of a song or soundtrack, make notes, share ideas with others, and quickly jump back to any previous state from anywhere.

Pro Tools 12.7 is available now with flexible use models and licencing options, including cloud-based subscriptions or traditional licence options.

More: www.avid.com/pro-tools

Avid Pro Tools Dock is a portable surface providing studio control on Avid Everywhere through a combination of touch and tactile control working with an iPad running the free Pro Tools Control app.

Powered by the Avid MediaCentral Platform, Pro Tools Dock is based on the advanced touchscreen workflows of the Pro Tools S6 and the hybrid touchscreen/hardware control of the Artist Control surface. It can be used with any EuCon-enabled DAW or video editing tools, including Pro Tools, Media Composer, Logic Pro X, Cubase and Premiere Pro.

When paired with Pro Tools S3, it offers timesaving touch workflows and custom control for mixing music and post projects – and is particularly suited to use in small spaces.

In more detail, Pro Tools Dock gives extensive touchscreen control, connecting with an iPad and the Pro Tools Control iOS app for intelligent control of audio and video projects. The app offers a host of customisable touch controls and visual feedback, allowing users to efficiently navigate large sessions. EuCon is a high-speed Ethernet-based technology that enables the hardware to communicate directly with EuCon-enabled applications. This allows Pro Tools projects to be moved to other EuCon-compatible audio software, including Logic Pro X and Cubase.

When paired with Pro Tools or Pro Tools HD, Pro Tools Dock is an extension of the software providing hundreds of key commands, shortcuts, functions and UI elements without requring a mouse. Users can create custom softkeys to perform practically any Pro Tools function, and recall layouts with a single button press.

Pairing Pro Tools Dock with a Pro Tools S3 control surface delivers even more timesaving workflows and enhanced control. Users can also view additional visual feedback to enhance their mixing experience, like the S6 surface.

Pro Tools Dock provides eight touch-sensitive Soft Knobs that extend the functionality of Pro Tools Control. These push-top rotary controls enable interaction with whatever knob is selected in the app, such as panning, EQ, dynamics and sends. Users can also click through frequently performed editing and mixing tasks or adapt the Dock to their workflow by programming macros to perform more complex tasks.

Multiple tracks can be worked on in Pro Tools Control, with a single ‘attention’ channel available to maps a selected channel directly to the Dock’s surface controls.

With 12 dedicated automation switches, users can toggle modes and write automation directly from the surface.

More: www.avid.com

Avid hasintroduced the Pro Tools MTRX audio interface for Pro Tools HDX and HD Native.

Developed by Digital Audio Denmark, Pro Tools MTRX offers the sonic quality of DAD’s A/D and D/A converters along with incredibly flexible monitoring, I/O, and routing capabilities. Powered by the MediaCentral Platform, it integrates with Pro Tools S6 and Pro Tools S3 control surfaces.

‘The Pro Tools MTRX gives audio professionals amazing sonic quality and the power to customise the interface, giving them the control and flexibility needed to create high-quality content,’ says Tim Carroll, VP of Product Management for audio at Avid. ‘Through Avid Everywhere, we’re continuing to deliver powerful new solutions to help audio professionals deliver the most demanding audio post and pro mixing projects.’

Pro Tools MTRX will be available in Q4 2016.

More: www.avid.com