Interesting audio technology news for August
Six mixers
Featuring a 96 kilohertz XCVI core and convertible bit resolution, Allen & Heath’s new Qu digital mixer range promises power and performance.
All six new Qu mixer models (Qu-5, Qu-6 and Qu-7 and their Dante versions) are built on a single platform that provides 32 mono and 3 stereo channels, 12 mixing outputs, 4 matrices, 6 effects processors and a SLink port for connection to most remote Everything I/O system extensions. With a dedicated Dante edition available for each mixer, there should be an option to suit most applications.
The design language is familiar from the original Qu series, but beneath the surface there are significant innovations, such as updated microphone preamps and high-quality 96 kHz AD/DA converters that promise to improve both sound quality and the mixing experience.
In addition, the new Qu range supports Allen & Heath’s deep processing, bringing for the first time the manufacturer’s acclaimed dLive flagship model add-on processors to the lower price range. Depending on size and model, the price will be in the range of 2000-3600 euros.
Aggression and articulation
The dual-channel MT 15-V2 is an amplifier that combines aggression and articulation, according to manufacturer Paul Reed Smith. According to PRS, the MT15-V2 Tremonti Head, named after American guitarist Mark Tremonti, offers a big, powerful sound that serves both heavy riffing and singing solos – whether recording, rehearsing, songwriting or performing in a small space. The amp power can be halved to seven watts by switching, and the amp has five gain stages before the Master control, which is described as producing a full-bodied and rich distortion sound.
Priced at around a thousand euros, the all-tube amplifier offers an Overdrive distortion channel alongside a Boost channel with a Clean channel – both with independent volume and frequency controls.
Although the design of the device was inspired by the needs of heavier musicians like Tremonti, the end result is promised to serve guitarists of other genres.
Double the sound
According to SE Electronics, the SE7 SideFire, sold as a matched pair, is a high-quality small-diaphragm condenser microphone that delivers clear and natural sound across all frequency ranges without any glaring brightness or low-frequency attenuation. The microphone model’s 90-degree cardioid capsule allows close miking of instruments even in tight spaces.
The capsule is described as being suitable for mixing acoustic guitar, choir, string orchestra and percussion instruments, for example, and the 80 hertz bass cut-off allows for the removal of excessive low frequencies, further enhancing the SE7 SideFire’s potential for close miking of guitar speakers, brass and drums.
Costing around 290 euros, the all-metal microphone pair is described as having a wide dynamic range, exceptionally high sound pressure level and very low noise floor.
The wonders of sound
The Boss VG-800 is a modeling amp and effects processor for electric guitar and bass that opens new doors to the world of music.
For example, as an electric guitar extension, the VG-800 not only models different types of guitars (such as the Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul and Rickenbacker), but also banjo, sitar, various basses – and even organ and synths. For example, you can even build a “hybrid guitar” from two different guitar sounds, or play guitar and bass sounds simultaneously in different guitar strings.
The Taica requires a Serial GK microphone that listens to each language signal separately, processing the strings in near real time so that the player does not sense the latency that distances them from the music. Microphones are available in the form of the external GK-5 for guitar and GK-5B for bass, and the Serial GK kit for permanent installation inside the instrument.
The Boss VG-800 costs around 720 euros, and the GK-5 costs around 290 euros.
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Interesting new instruments
