Christine Hall of the Houston Business Journal wrote a story today about our new SSL Console! Click the image to download a PDF of the clip and read the article.

Tierra Studios article in Houston Business Journal

Tierra Studios this month became the first music recording studio in Houston to install a Solid State Logic Duality, a highly sought-after mixing console that produces music with the sound that fans expect from world-class artists.

The studio will record its first project on the new console during the first week of June.

“This will enhance the production value of our work and it will be an attraction for various artists who look for studios with SSL Consoles,” said Tierra Studios Sound Engineer Glenn Wheeler. “It means a higher level of quality, and it offers features that accommodate today’s workflow in audio production.”

In the past, sound engineers recorded music as analog waveforms, the natural format processed by the human ear. Now they work with computer software that digitally records unlimited numbers of tracks. The new SSL Duality console blends both worlds by integrating fully with Tierra Studios’ digital system, while simultaneously enabling audio producers to work in the analog format. This changes the sound dramatically and allows engineers to make powerful enhancements.

Tierra Studios will christen on the new console during the week of June 1 while recording country singer-songwriter Bryan Harkness, who recently signed a recording contract with Tierra Records. Harkness releases his debut album this fall.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to really make Bryan’s music pop,” Wheeler said. “The console will add a lot of weight and strength to his music, and many shades of tonal color.”

Tierra Studios is an innovative three-in-one music company that includes a studio, record label and music publishing business under one roof. Tierra can complete all stages of the music production business, and has released albums in multiple genres including electronic, rock, jazz and Christian.

Glenn, Traey, Aaron and Larry worked hard in May to rewire Studio A. They prepped the room for the installation of our new Solid State Logic Duality mixing console. Photos by Angela Grant and Aaron Morris.

The EQ1 is available in four different configurations. All of them work at 24/96. The basic model is the EQ1-MK2, the linear phase model is the EQ1-LP, the dynamic model the EQ1-DYN. The EQ1-DYN-LP incorporates both LP and DYN versions in one unit. The mode of operation (LP or DYN) can be chosen after power-up. All models are user-upgradeable to any other version.

Here are the main features common to all four models:

• Seven identical parametric bands. All seven bands cover the entire audio frequency range. Each band has Boost/Cut, Frequency and Q/Slope knobs. Each band operates in any of the following modes: High shelving, low shelving, peaking, high cut, low cut, bypass.
• One parameter per knob operation. Seven sets of controls for seven operating bands. Knobs are touch sensitive. LCD display shows detailed parameters of the touched band.
• Large, backlit Liquid Crystal Display which shows the overall frequency response (calculated in real time) and the detailed parameter values in dB, Hz and Q.
• A/B compare memory, 128 snapshot bank with two additional banks for back-up.
• Digital input / output in AES/EBU format on XLR connectors.
• Dithering to 16, 20 or 24 bits. POW-R dithering in the LP, DYN and DYN-LP models.
• 128 steps for boost/cut, frequency and Q parameters.
• Variable slope shelving filters.
• Very high Q (up to 650) for notching out offending frequencies.
• M/S mode for independent equalization of M and S channels. M/S encoder / decoder can be configured separately. Also see the article Stereo Shuffling: New Approach – Old Technique by Michael Gerzon
• Peak meter, over indicators.
• MIDI control for each parameter.
• Bypass, overall gain, CH1/2 independent or ganged.

Although many plug-ins and hardware effects boxes purport to deliver the “classic sound” and “analog warmth” of old favorites, few of them can begin to match the delight I felt when I first heard a bass guitar track brought to life by a Pultec EQP 1A-3. The Sintefex FX2000 analog sample digital stereo equalizer/compressor uses “dynamic convolution” to provide retro warmth with modern digital precision and maximum control. While lacking the big knobs (chicken heads on the Pultec) and heavy chassis, it’s the closest thing to a Pultec 1A-3, Fairchild 660 or Urei 1176 that I’ve used in recording and mixing.

The FX2000 is a stereo “spin-off” of the more full-featured FX8000. The FX8000 uses dynamic convolution to sample an analog process and digitally reproduce it with a highly accurate simulation of the original’s frequency response and distortion characteristics. While the concept of convolution is not simple (mathematically or empirically), one may think of the process as using audio samples to scale filter impulse responses. For those who have worked with Sonic Foundry’s Acoustic Mirror, the characteristics of an impulse response in audio will be quite familiar. (For a simple

graphical approach to convolution check out the java applet at http://plaza.harmonix.ne.jp/~tosiwata/cnv.html.)

Michael J. Kemp, co-founder of Sintefex with Mike Eden, designed the FX8000 (as well as its stereo “children” the

FX2000 and CX2000). Kemp gives an operational definition and overview of the dynamic convolution process in his

AES Pre-print, “Analysis and Simulation of Analog Dynamic Compressors and Limiters in the Digital Domain.” He

describes it as using non-linear synthesis to analyze and simulate classic hardware compressors and equalizers. This

involves using level-dependent impulse responses, measurements of attenuation characteristics against various signal

amplitudes and applying these in simulation via bilateral dynamic convolution on a sample by sample basis. It’s

immediately apparent that these Sintefex boxes require a lot of horsepower under the hood.