Large recording facilities are a complex assembly of components, networks, cables and patch bays. It can take months to learn all the ropes in a major studio. However — with the trend toward smaller, more compact recording spaces — complexity can slow the user down. Let’s look at how to simplify the small facility.
In today’s digital world, audio recordings can sound too sterile. It is often necessary to manipulate that super clean sound and give it a more colorful, analog flavor. How to accomplish this is wide open to experimentation, but it can be surprisingly affordable for engineers with the right skills.
Focusrite has introduced the third generation line of Scarlett audio interfaces, adding new higher-quality mic preamps, additional fixed line inputs, refined monitoring features and enhanced performance.
Wild variations in the levels of program audio has long been a problem for broadcast outlets. Due to controversy over varying audio levels, governments have forced broadcasters to specify specific loudness levels for all programming. In this article, we’ll look at how audio has moved beyond traditional types of level monitoring to a new method.
Most audio engineers know the purpose of a microphone preamplifier is to increase the gain of the mic. Beyond that basic task, mic preamps can color the sound and help skilled users create a signature sound. In this article, we’ll look deeper at microphone preamps and examine the many choices available today.
Audio normalization is the application of a constant amount of gain to a recording with the goal of bringing the amplitude to a target level. The signal-to-noise ratio and relative dynamics of the audio remain unchanged in the process because the same amount of gain is applied across the entire recording. Is it a good practice to normalize audio? The answer is: sometimes.
