Whilst we have had our youtube channel set up for some time now, we’ve not had the facilities to utilise it for anything other than software training videos. So, to reintroduce the human element into proceedings, we set up a video recording studio last week, complete with lighting desk, moving head lights, audio desk and wireless mics, autocue and HD camera.
Lights, camera, erm…Richard? You’re on…
After hours of careful scripting and rehersals (no really – we did rehearse this), the first training material was ready for (heavy) editing. And so our first Datasheet Live! edition was born.
Join us after the break, when we’ll have the weather forecast for the week ahead.
This one is on the DS8000 and the DS8000D and we reckon it’s turned out pretty well. The sound could do with a little NR due to undisableable (technical term) AGC on the camera (we’ve not gone quite as far as TC and separate AV tracks yet!), but you can watch it now and judge for yourselves here.
All comments gratefully received, and if you’ve any suggestions for topics to cover, we’d like to know. George Lucas has already been pestering us on the phone but we’ve politely said thanks but no thanks 😉
Things have been so busy here at XTA towers since Frankfurt, I didn’t even get a chance to do some debriefing about the show, and this has got to be a good thing, hasn’t it?
I had loads of cool pictures of crazy gear and interesting kit, plus the obligatory pre-during but no post stand shots (got a better one than that!), so here’s a quick round-up…
Things always look bad that this stage……and then it all comes together beautifully. Our Windows 8 inspired displays looked very fetching!
And the biggest amplifier (physically at least) goes to this monster, as seen in the new “International Procurement” hall 9.1 – so for that read “Chinese and Asian manufacturers” – a little unfair to dump them all in here and, judging by the feedback, I don’t think it will happen this way again. Anyway – that amp:
An “interesting” 1.5U chassis, which also happens to be about the same depth as an average double bed. Lovely build quality though..
Going a little more “off-piste” as far as pro-audio goes, I did also investigate the synth museum in hall 5, which housed mint examples of nearly every keyboard I could remember, and several oddities that I couldn’t. This shot shows an odd little device, which looks like a kid’s first computer from the Speak & Spell era, and unfortunately my phone’s camera didn’t get the best shot of it…if anyone knows what it is and its relevance in a synth museum, please let me know.
I don’t think the mini-traffic cone is relevant but, set against the black background, it almost looks like it’s CGI!
It was good to catch up with some old friends at the show, and it wasn’t long before Bill (Woods) was over to see us and fill us in on how things were going at Funktion One – we had a demo of the new DJ monitors which I did think were the best thing I had heard in a long time. Don’t know if there are plans to make them a production speaker, but they were certainly attracting attention and made their presence felt both sonically and visually!
They were only upstaged by this photo of Bill doing some real work on the Funktion One stand:
You missed a bit. Bill mops all the speakers away.
And finally, in a short but enduring series, this year’s favourite non-native English speaking typo, courtesy of, well, that would be telling (and possibly liabilous!) – see if you can spot it:
Say what you see: here’s a clue – it’s in the main banner. I do hope someone told them. You can click on the pic to examine it in more detail.
We had a great show and now it’s only a few days until the next big ones – InfoComm in Orlando, where you can catch up with Richard Fleming and John Austin in attendance with our US distributor Group One, and at the Palm Expo in Beijing with Thim and friends at ST-Audio.
So back to the main thrust of this post – the DS8000D – D for DIGITAL!
We debuted the AES version of the DS8000 in Frankfurt, connected up to a example application system that had two units synced together via their wordclock I/O and converted to a MADI stream to give 16 track recording to a laptop, as well as another set of transformer isolated AES outputs to feed other hardware. And all of this is on top of the standard 32 analogue outputs on the unit!
There are previous posts that go into this in more detail and there’s a datasheet if you want the whole story. A few things are worth mentioning here. We are stocking two versions of the unit, as opposed to offer the AES connectivity as an option. This just makes it less confusing for everyone! So there is the DS8000 and the DS8000D.
We have received some requests from distributors for D-sub breakout cables to support the DS8000D,
and we can source these if required:
1.5m length DB25 to 8 Neutrik XLRs
1.5m length DB25 to 4 Neutrik XLRs
1.5m length DB25 to DB25 (4 outs only wired – so one full set of outputs)
The best news of all is that both versions are shipping now!
Making its debut at ProLight+Sound next month will be the analogue to digital option card for our new DS8000 Audio Distribution System. The addition of a couple of extra connectors on the rear panel opens up a wealth of new facilities and possibilities for the DS8000, and the best part is they are all in addition to what’s already there – so you get even more splitting and distro options!
The comforting glow of knowing you’ll be able to see all the controls in the dark. It’s just like valves 😉
The micro-controlled card provides 8 channels of 24-bit XTA grade analogue to digital conversion with selectable sample rate up to 192kHz. Sample rate is adjusted via links on the board and indicated using a tri-colour LED next to the innocuous looking 25 pin D-type on the rear panel. This socket (wired to accept any Tascam format AES breakout cable) actually has another trick up its sleeve – each AES stream (of a pair of channels) is also split and offered on ‘A’ and ‘B’ positions, transformer isolated from each other.
So, each input now can split to 2 x transformer balanced analogue outputs, 2 x electronically balanced outputs AND 2 x AES outputs – and 8 channels of this!
But that’s not the end of the story…there is also a BNC socket for word clock sync. This can be used as an input, syncing from 32kHz up to 192k automatically, with an associated LED showing when the card has successfully locked to the incoming word clock signal. It can also be switched to provide a master clock output (adjustable via link on card) at 48/96/192k, to allow one unit in a system to synchronise any other DS8000s (or other digital gear).
We will have a unit at the show connected up to the max with AES outputs feeding one external system directly, as well as to an AES-MADI system for direct to disk recording, and of course the standard analogue outputs – come along and see it in action…we’re in Hall 8.0 with Atlantic Audio on stand F60.
…and I must not lose my passport this time.
I was intending to regale you with the tale of how, after a very chilly show in Amsterdam at ISE I managed to lose my passport on the day before I was due to leave which resulted in an entire day of trips to police stations, the British Consulate, lost property offices, banks, and finally the airport, all in a blizzard with 6 inches of snow, and no trains or taxis running.
I was going to tell you about it but I decided I wouldn’t 😉
Instead I’ll look forward to tomorrow and the pilgrimage to Pro Light and Sound in Frankfurt…
Our exciting news is two-fold – firstly – I got my hands on the beta version (due for imminent release) of the latest iPad app to control our gear and it is brilliant! I am allowed to say that as anyone who has been following this story will know, we didn’t write it. That in itself won’t make it brilliant (and if it did then I’d not being doing a great job at this company promotion thing!), but we finally scraped together all the spare change form the back of the drawers in the sales offices and bought an iPad so we could have a go with it and show it to you all properly.
It was duly connected to the sacred system of units that lives in the demo room (it’s the only place you can guarantee to get a full complement of 4 Series units along with everything else, as they’ve been tie-wrapped into the rack to prevent them “wandering” 🙂
This new version now scans for connected units and shows a virtual rack as they are found…very nice.
But it gets better – after everything has been located settings can be downloaded from the units and the metering on the units in the “rack” starts to work – in real-time and at a refresh rate that I would not have believed had I not seen it myself! Admittedly we only had 5 units connected, but that constitutes a pretty big system (40 outputs), but the speed of the metering was on a par with a wired connection through AudioCore.
I was impressed and I’d not even done anything yet! Taping on a unit then opens it for editing and this is where the iPad comes into it’s own with a big screen. Monitoring and little changes are OK on an iPhone, but having the benefit of full screen modes for both PEQ curve dragging and the Graphic EQ with the longest faders you’ve ever seen on a GEQ) makes it a pleasure to use.
The copy and paste features also allow for settings to be copied from any channel to any other on the system, and this is sub-divided into useful chunks such as PEQ, GEQ, limiter etc. dependant on what you’re editing – a quick double press at top of the edit window pops up the feature.
Now I could have added a load of screen shots in this, but I haven’t for two reasons.
Firstly – the iPad’s already left for Frankfurt so I missed my chance, and secondly, you should come along and see it for yourself at the show! Andi Zeh who has developed this has also informed me that in time for the new release, the will be a month-long sale on the app starting on the 21st of March when the new version goes live. It’ll be 60% off and so only cost £20.00 (or 23 Euro, $29.99).
Whilst you’re marvelling at that, we’ll also be revealing a brand new product at the show…all I can say right now is it’s 2U, lights up lovely in the dark and has lots of options!
Piqued your interest? Come along and see us then – there’s a free cup of tea in it for you, brewed by an MC2 E100 powering our kettle 🙂 We’re in hall 8.0 Stand F60.
