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Audio-Technica unveils the new ATM350a instrument microphone systems.
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Waves Tune Real-Time detects and corrects pitch flawlessly.
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The new Genelec 8351 nearfield monitor offers a coaxial midrange-tweeter and hidden dual woofers.
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Yamaha's new TF-Rack packs the guts of a 16+1 input x 16 output TF mixer into a 3U rackspace, with control via iPad app.
Over the past few years, the annual meetings of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) have been scheduled in close proximity to the WFX conference, which means that church tech teams often must choose to attend one or the other. If you chose WFX – or couldn't make either – here's a quick rundown on what this year's AES conclave had to offer in realms related to worship sound.
Immersed in AVAR
The theme for this year's convention was “Immersed in Audio”, and the AES also sponsored a parallel conference (with separate and pricey registration) entitled “Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality.” For those of us whose calling is “Audio for Ultimate Reality” it's hard to say whether this is a trend to be embraced to or a potential distraction to communicating the essential message. We'll see.
That said, variations on 5.1 surround sound have been appropriately integrated into worship at a few cutting-edge churches. In their AES demo room, Neumann upped the ante with a very impressive demonstration of a 9/1 system, with lower and upper surrounds. They switched back and forth between standard stereo playback and a 9.1 remix of The Staples Singers soul-gospel classic “Respect Yourself.” The difference was revelatory, and easily the highlight of the show for me.
Monitor World
AES is always a great show for listening to incredibly good loudspeakers of varying size and (alas) affordability. Genelec featured its nifty 8351 nearfield, a sleek design with a coaxial midrange-tweeter and hidden (behind the waveguide) dual woofers with lows exiting via slots. JBL had the spotlight on its new 7 Series Master Reference Monitors, featuring a smooth and sweet new HF driver. And Allen Sides, founder of the fabled Ocean Way studios in L.A. and Nashville, introduced a new line of stand-alone or soffit mount monitors under the same name.
Live Sound Expo
AES is a recording-focused show, but this year they engaged noted live sound engineer and journalist Mark Frink to develop and host the Live Sound Expo. These informative, 45-minute sessions covered a host of topics vital to worship sound at all levels, including audio networking (principally AES-67 developments); mic'ing of pianos and orchestras; console layout and workflow; and strategies for mono, stereo and LCR mixing. I could have spent most of my time there, but our fearless editor insisted that I check out…
New (or Nearly New) Product Highlights
Not surprisingly, most new product announcements targeted high-end studio recording, but a few were of note for live worship sound. Some highlights:
Audio-Technica unveiled its new and exceptionally well-thought-out ATM350a microphone systems. The microphone itself – an update of the popular ATM350 miniature cardioid condenser – it noteworthy for handling 159 dB maximum SPL, but what really stands out is the wide selection of flexible and sturdily engineered mounts for just about every instrument. Goosenecks are easily removable so you can leave the clamps in place while securely storing the mics.
Sometimes handy solutions come in small sizes, as with the inexpensive new LX2 passive line splitter from Radial. It allows you to send a line level signal to two destinations with the option to attenuate one output signal. Very handy for those big, expanded services when you have to improvise.
For the church market, Yamaha's most significant unveiling was the TF-RACK, which packs the guts of a 16+1 input x 16 output TF mixer into a 3U rackspace, with control via iPad app. The same core features are onboard, including fast set-up, microphone specific presets, and Nuendo Live recording software. Yamaha also announced that new Dante network cards for the CL/CQ Series digital mixers will be AES-67 compliant, making them compatible with other networks such as Ravenna and Q-LAN.
QSC launched a new, larger version of their TouchMix Series of compact digital mixers, the TouchMix-30 Pro. The new version offers control of 32 channels, a larger touchscreen, more processing power and effects and more sophisticated signal routing capabilities.
Finally, if your mixing console is set up for Waves plug-ins, you can take full advantage of the new Wave Tune Real-Time. It detects and corrects pitch flawlessly, retaining a completely open and natural vocal sound. Whether or not you notify the “pitch challenged” singer(s) that you really need to use this plug-in – well, that's a moral issue. If necessary, seek pastoral guidance before patching in.
