Sine Language

This episode, Doc and I chat about shelf EQ, and how to use it (pun intended) the wrongest! 🙂 We also discuss cleaning up intros and outros, and the use of high- and low-pass filters. We also chat about audio over ethernet, during which Doc mentioned BSS Audio. Plus Doc has shared his ProTools mix … Continue reading "Episode 180 – Shelf EQ, you’re doing it wrong"

In this episode, Doc and I discuss analogue vs digital workflows.

After our Christmas/New Year break, Doc and I catch up to talk about the (hopefully, only temporary) death of my API 5500 4 band parametric EQ. Since recording this episode, I have tested the right channel and found the same issue, so it’s not just one channel that’s playing up. Doc mentioned the Furman power … Continue reading "Episode 178 – The William LaForge inquisition- volume 2"

This week, I caught up with John Brandt, an acoustician now living in Indonesia. John contracts out his services for studio and acoustic design via his website, John H Brandt Acoustic Designs. From his site, you can access his Resources page, which is full of useful info, articles and tools.

We’re back with some more audio-related chit chat!We have finally got around to William LaForge’s questions from about… oh, I dunno… a thousand years ago. Apologies for the delay!We talk about harmonic distortion (tube/transformer), and about how microphones work.But I now realise we didn’t really discuss how to use them. Too easy to assume that … Continue reading "Episode 176 – The William LaForge Inquisition: Volume 1"

This episode, Doc and I catch up on all that has transpired over the last 3 months.One of the things Doc has been doing has been recording and mixing large wind ensembles, like Symphonic Winds of the Pacific. We talk about the approaches to both miking and mixing these types of performances.

And we’re back! Again! Didn’t plan on that long a break, but sometimes, life happens. Doc has been mixing a couple of L.A. artists out of his home studio, while I have been plugging away with various paid work through my studio (radio production and podcasts for other people). The teaching gig I was meant … Continue reading "Episode 174 – A long time between drinks"

This week, I am about to start teaching at a local community college on the Central Coast of New South Wales. And Doc has picked up a second college! One-upmanship at its finest! We answer Theo’s question about EQ smearing, which involves putting Doc on the spot talking resistors, inductors and so forth! I found … Continue reading "Episode 173 – A bit of everything"

This week, part 2 of our discussion on compression. Greg Anderson sent us a link to this youtube video… the Falcon Heavy launch, as viewed from the top of the Vehicle Assembly Building by a bunch of photographers, all captured in glorious binaural! Grab your favourite set of cans, sit back and enjoy! In the … Continue reading "Episode 172 – Compression part 2"

This week, the first of two (or maybe three?) episodes on dynamic compression. Also, I came across this article about the future of audio and the blockchain. Whilst I’m only just dipping my toes in the waters of cryptocurrencies, I believe blockchain technology IS going to revolutionise copyright ownership in the future. Watch this space. … Continue reading "Episode 171 – Compression part 1"

This week, we’re on the chicken scratch tour… a.k.a. we ramble on about just about every topic under the console! But first, a shout out for my man, Mick Rooney, who’s just released an update to AA Translator. If you’ve ever had the need to exchange multitrack session files with someone who uses a different … Continue reading "Episode 170 – The chicken scratch tour"

This week, Bruce got retrenched, and Doc is giving his Rode NT1A a crack on the podcast (sounds good!). We discuss recording hand claps, signal flow in a console (3 paths), how you cope with clients who come to the studio with bad ideas, and we address some listener e-mail. On the subject of EQ, … Continue reading "Episode 169 – Back from the dead"

The silence is deafening. Tell us what you’d like this podcast to focus on, because right now, we’re unsure as to why we’re not getting any feedback. We love talking about pro audio recording, mixing, mastering and what-not, but we want to know that there is an audience for it. Drop us an e-mail, hit … Continue reading "Episode 168 – We’re on life support"

This episode, we talk all about equalizers, filter shapes, and all that other tonal-adjustment type stuff. A couple of links I came up with (if you don’t mind some technical reading) are these: The Rane page on Operator Adjustable Equalizers, and this frequency bandwidth calculator. If you want to follow my European travels, I’m on … Continue reading "Episode 167 – EQ"

This episode, Doc dives into the hardware specs of some of his favourite pieces of gear. Sennheiser MD421 (product page | pdf specs) API 550B (product page | pdf specs) Bock 47 (product page | pdf specs) AKG C414 XLii (product page | pdf specs) AKG C414 XLS (product page | pdf specs) Neve 1073DPA … Continue reading "Episode 166 – Audio hardware specifications"

This episode, we’re going to dive into different stereo miking techniques, with samples for you to listen to, AND to download and play with! But first, some follow up from ep#164. WHY would you flip the polarity on the bottom mic of a snare? Which somehow led off to a short discussion about room acoustics … Continue reading "Episode 165 – Stereo miking techniques"

Apologies on this one being a little late out of the gate. We had some minor technical issues which pushed recording back to Sunday morning! This week, a quick explanation of why we’re NOT doing the stereo miking techniques episode right now, plus Doc talks about AF (audio frequency) transformers in pre-amps versus the power … Continue reading "Episode 164 – Microphone technique"

This episode, Doc and I answer more of Dave King’s questions from ep #161. Then, it’s on to a discussion of Proximity Effect, the PiSound add-on for Raspberry Pi, and microphone preamps. Along the way, I found this concise preamp buying guide at Sweetwater, which is certainly worth a look when you’re next in the … Continue reading "Episode 163 – Microphone preamps"

This episode, Doc and I go right back to square one to discuss microphones. The different transduction types: – dynamic – condensor – electret-condensor (used in cell phones etc) – ribbon – pzm (didn’t really get to go into these… another time!) Polar patterns – omnidirectional (completely closed on one side, relies on air PRESSURE) … Continue reading "Episode 162 – Microphones"

This episode, we welcome Doc Goldstein on board as co-host! Doc and I chat about his background, and where we see this podcast going from here on out. We also got a great question from Dave King about PC noise in a recording environment. I also came across this handy infographic which explains the difference … Continue reading "Episode 161 – Welcome aboard, Doc!"

This week, Ernie wrote in to follow up on last episode’s e-mail. Rob wrote to me to thank me for an e-mail I’d sent him a couple of weeks back. He also included a link to this Italian song, which is pure gibberish intended to sound like English. And then it’s on to another Dissection. … Continue reading "Episode 160 – Manga-inspired audio"

This week, Ernie wrote asking about gain staging. And Steve wrote to say: a) he loved the Dissection (that’s good… there’s another on this ep!), b) like Rob, he also hated the Pono, and c) to ask my opinion on what’s driving the renewed interest in vinyl. Rob also wrote to say he was impressed … Continue reading "Episode 159 – Gain staging"

This week, Rob wrote to discuss the high fidelity audio needs (or lack thereof) of the smartphone media-consuming market. And I introduce a new segment to the podcast called The Dissection. If you find this of value, let me know. Each episode, I will take a commercial I’ve made, and pull it apart, let you … Continue reading "Episode 158 – The initial Dissection"

This week, Izotope has set up a training ground for audio engineers called the Pro Audio Essentials. Even as a 30 year veteran of this stuff, it makes for a good refresher/reality check! I highly recommend you check it out if you are interested in any form of recording or mixing. Rob weighs in with … Continue reading "Episode 157 – The value of music"

This episode, a little late now, but still worth a read… Rupert Neve’s touching tribute to Sir George Martin. I get on my soapbox about the (in my opinion) incorrectly-referred-to “phase switch”. This week, I was alerted to this unbelievably amazing video, which you need know nothing about. Just click the freakin’ link and be … Continue reading "Episode 156 – The benefits of distortion"

This week, a company called Nervana plan to bring you some headphones which will promote the release of dopamine in the body, whilst you’re enjoying your toons. Some guy with waaaay too much time on his hands built this amazing hand-cranked marble-powered music machine, which he calls the Wintergaten. Mobile phone manufacturer HTC in conjunction … Continue reading "Episode 155 – From Nervana to MQA"

This week, I had a follow up e-mail from Ernie re: location recording for his video naturescapes, Rob wrote another epic titled “False Surround Dictatorships” about the disparity between the R&D dollars spent on 3D video as opposed to any kind of 3D audio (links at the end of this post), Steve Hope asked the … Continue reading "Episode 154 – False Surround Dictatorships"

Happy New Year! This week, I came across this blog post, highlighting the 50 best free VST plugins of 2015. Along the way, I talked about the plugin Ambience from smartelectronix. One of the best algorithm-based reverbs I’ve come across (not that I use them much these days; I mostly stick to convolution reverbs). Plus … Continue reading "Episode 153 – Who’s responsible for the Loudness War?"

This week, a “just-in-time” e-mail from Rob Bettla reveals his difficulties with deciphering Aussie slang, his interpretation of the sound of a piece of 4″x2″ (via his soundcloud account), the Japanese engineer with a few patents to his name, including how to make speaker cones out of wood (see the pic), and the Top 25 … Continue reading "Episode 152 – Compressor design topologies"

This week, I answer a couple of e-mails from both Rob Bettla and Greg Anderson, regarding the move to audio for motion picture. I WAS going to cover the compression discussion as well, but decided at the end that I’d leave it until the next episode. Comments will be closed after 30 days. Love the … Continue reading "Episode 151 – Questions about ‘audio for motion picture’"

This week, iZotope is teasing the forthcoming release of Ozone 7, plus RX5 (their awesome noise reduction suite) is out now. Ever wondered what a close-up view of a needle tracking on a piece of vinyl might look like? Well,  wonder no more! Interestingly, during this video, the guy talks about a format I’d not … Continue reading "Episode 150 – Working on a movie"

This week, Rob Bettla sent me a link to an interesting product designed to augment our audio reality in real time. You can see the company website or their promo video. The quote I was trying to remember was from Benjamin Franklin… “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, … Continue reading "Episode 149 – Learning new stuff"

I have seen, over the last week or two, a couple of different references to an issue which pivots on the holy trinity of Windows 10, FAT32-formatted removable media, and files with a .wav extension. One instance was at Pro Tools Expert, and the other was at Sound-on-Sound. Seems that the issue is not affecting … Continue reading "Episode 148 – Stoic audio donkeys"

This week, I’ve just returned from a 3 week holiday in Borneo (photos are here if you’re interested). While I was there, I had a couple of interesting acoustic experiences which I ended up recording on my trusty little Tascam DR-05 handheld recorder. After I recorded the podcast, I got an e-mail back from Gunung … Continue reading "Episode 147 – The sounds of Borneo"

This week, the reasons behind the month-long break, further discussion on the pyramids, dimensions of the King’s Chamber, musical acoustics, the speed of sound, the Golden Ratio in music, part 4 of Rob’s epic e-mail concerning binaural recording and playback, the video that Rob referenced from The Verge, a discussion on the use of binaural … Continue reading "Episode 146 – Zombie binaural ears & ASMR fetish tribes"

Apologies for the late post. This whole Easter thing has got my days all mixed up! This week, Alan Blumlein honoured (somewhat belatedly) for his contributions to audio and various technologies. To this day, the Blumlein Pair is still my favourite mode for recording stereo. So, think you can tell the difference between 16 bit … Continue reading "Episode 145 – Our unbearable incredulity about the future"

This week, I start off with an apology re: the sound of the last episode, why it happened, and what I’ve done to fix it. Steve Hope sent me off to look at Jaguar Audio Design, I saw a musical instrument project on Kickstarter which I thought was an interesting twist on a few different … Continue reading "Episode 144 – The Toy on Stage Effect"

This week, Bill Vencil wrote to tell us about his tape vs digital shootout. The videos he put together are available right here. Did you hear the one about the guy who placed his iPhone inside an acoustic guitar body and shot video of the resonance of the strings? No? Well, check out the cool … Continue reading "Episode 143 – Speech-to-text conversion"

This week, fun and games on two wheels. Feedback on episode 141 from Rowan Matthews, who mentioned Cloudlifters, a DIY kit from Seventh Circle Audio called the J99, and the Warm Audio WA76 compressor/limiter. Karel Weis chimed in about voiceover recording and wanted to know my approach. This was the image that Karel sent me … Continue reading "Episode 142 – Voice recording, and hi-res mobile audio"

I’m baaaaack! This week, re-launch #2, why re-launch #1 failed, my plans for SL and recording projects in 2015, gear lust, and the yumminess of analogue hardware. Some of the gear I’m talking about it this episode: AEA R84 AEA TRP AEA RPQ API 5500 Safe Sound Audio Dynamics Toolbox (discontinued) Focusrite VoiceMaster Pro (discontinued) Drawmer 1960 … Continue reading "Episode 141 – The state of play"

This episode, the guys at MIT have managed to reconstruct audio from nothing more than video footage! Infrasonic sound, what it is, how it affects us, and its use in cinema, which got me talking about Mount Yassur, Izotope have just announced the forthcoming RX4, an update to their Emmy Award-winning audio restoration software, and … Continue reading "Episode 140 – Infrasonic sound"

This episode, Tom Ferguson (who is looking to digitise his vinyl collection) wrote to ask my thoughts on 19″ rack mountable flash recorders. He’s been looking at the Gemini DRP-1, which doesn’t look too bad (from the specs), although I did have a couple of concerns. Some alternate products I suggested he look at included: … Continue reading "Episode 139 – Flash recorders and Ozone"

This episode, a long-overdue response (and apology!) to an e-mail I received from Greg Anderson a couple of months ago, Greg mentioned Dolby Atmos, and Headphone:x, I also saw this a couple of weeks back: a guy who took a slice of a tree and played it like a piece of vinyl! I also received … Continue reading "Episode 138 – Channels, channels and more channels"

This week, Sine Language is brought to you by Bill Vencil! Bill asked me to talk about Crest Factor, what is it and what is its importance? He also wanted to know my thoughts on technologies like SoundCheck, which iTunes is now using to create playback-managed volume levelling. Will technolgies like this bring about the … Continue reading "Episode 137 – Crest factor"

This week, I’ve musing over some things that crossed my radar over the last couple of weeks. Joel, one of the Broadcast Tech’s at work recently posted about the Orban Omnia 9 on his facebook timeline. The Omnia 9 is designed to undo the damage done by excessive peak limiting at the mastering stage. Probably … Continue reading "Episode 136 – Loudness"

This week, Rob Bettla opened a huge can of worms regarding the apparently never-ending quest for improved video, while almost no progress seems to be hapeening in the area of improved audio quality. This led to a discussion of (count ’em!) 22.2 channel audio reproduction systems, ultra high def TV, Occulus Rift, these strange video … Continue reading "Episode 135 – The future of audio"

Happy new year, one and all! This week, an e-mail from Carlos in Venezula, asking about the state of the pro-audio industry in Australia, more hilarity from Rob Bettla, and Karel Weis (via Facebook) asked me to discuss mid-side decoding…. what it is, when and why we’d use it, and how to do it. As … Continue reading "Episode 134 – Mid-side processing"

This week, a follow-up e-mail from Rob Bettla, a quick discussion on televsiion audio levels (plus, here’s a few useful links for those who are interested…) ITU BS.1770 EBU R128 ATSC A/85 Wikipedia article on LKFS plus a whole page of useful links. Then, I discussed the video that made the rounds over the week … Continue reading "Episode 133 – Sidechain compression"

First off, thanks for all the love! It’s good to be back! After ep #131, I received an epic e-mail from Rob Bettla, who pointed me toward (amongst other things), this awesome video of balls of red hot nickel being dropped into water. The sound it makes is fascinating! I came across an article on … Continue reading "Episode 132 – Outdoor dialogue in the studio"

Yeah baby… I’m baaack! This week, WHY I’m back, why we should stay on the bus (here’s the link that inspired this episode’s title), and an invitation for topics.   All contributions gratefully received!

To quote Jim Morrison, “This is the end”. Size: 4793575 bytes Duration: 4:20