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Let The Feeding Frenzy Begin…
By BakerLee
The AES convention is the
feeding frenzy of the audio
world. Like sharks to chum,
audiophiles from the world over
descend upon the caucus and devour
the newest, the latest and the
yet-to-come of the best that audio
manufacturers can offer. It is a
feeding frenzy catering to the most
basic needs of any gear-head. As
exhilarating as it is overwhelming
in its enormity, the experience of
AES truly has the feel of a school of
sharks gorging themselves on the
massive body of a whale until they
are overly satiated by their own
gluttony and can do nothing but
float belly-up in a stupor. Each year
seems to bring more vendors, newer
products and, in short, more bells
and whistles. While many products
are just the same old offerings in a
new package, there are always the
new designs, add-ons and plug-ins
that make the convention exciting
and worthwhile.
As a vendor for a rental house,
I am prone to stick with the items
that tend to be the most requested
on any given rider. As much as
I would like to have everybody’s
first-choice item, it is almost impossible
to stock everything that
everyone wants or needs. It is
imperative for us to make our choices based
upon our own buying budget and what we
think will bring us the best return for the dollar.
Whereas I, for example, am a big fan of the
Joe Meek compressor, the unit is not necessarily
an item that I would stock as a rental
piece. However, it would make for a nice
piece of gear in my personal effects rack.
COMING NEXT
MONTH...
Installation:
The Jersey Boys
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transform a historic
theatre.
Production Profile:
Umbrellas to
the ready — it’s
time for Seattle’s
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AES
As a vendor for a rental house, I am prone
to stick with the items that tend to be the
most requested on any given rider. As much
as I would like to have everybody’s firstchoice
item, it is almost impossible to stock
everything that everyone wants or needs.
The Avalon 737, on the other hand,
is a great little pre-amp/compressor that
can be used as a rental item as well as going
nicely in one’s personal rack. In recent
years, I have seen certain engineers who
still have Aphex Aural Exciters in their
racks, and they swear by them to this day.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with
this unit, it was introduced in 1975 and
was so in demand that it rented for $30 per
recorded minute. It was, in its prime, considered
the Holy Grail of audio electronics.
Since then, it has become considerably
cheaper and used in recording, broadcast
touring and fixed installations. It’s a great
piece of equipment, so how many units am
I going to buy? Not a single unit! I don’t
see it on riders anymore.
We are all like kids in a candy store at
AES. “I just need this, and this, and this…,”
and year after year, it only gets that much
more difficult to keep up. My wireless mi-
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crophones and personal monitors work
fine, but I need the newer models because,
not only do they sound better, they also
scan internally until they find available frequencies.
This feature is a real time-saver,
especially when setting up multiple channels.
Speaking of which, the airwaves are
getting so crowded these days that the
Helical Antenna is the next thing on my “to
purchase” list, right after I get some new I/O
cards for my PM5D.
So what is it that makes a piece of gear
become a staple of the industry? I tend to
think of it in terms of ergonomics. Take, for
example, the Heritage 3000, which debuted
in 1999. It has all the features of the XL-4, but
in a smaller package. It came on the market
as a streamlined XL-4 and started to push
aside the Yamaha 4K as the “go to” board
because it has everything the 4K has plus
more. With its automation and 24 auxiliary
mixes (or 12 stereo), it was perfect for the
oncoming tide of personal monitoring.
By 2002, it was almost a
necessity for any self-respecting
sound company to have at least
one Heritage 3000 in stock.
Yamaha, who had introduced
its PM4K in 1992 and whose hold
on the market hadn’t been significantly
threatened, decided to
compete with Midas by releasing
the PM5K. I like the console and
thought that it might make a nice
addition to my audio arsenal.
However, at the time, the digital
revolution was in full swing,
and in my estimation, I could
not foresee the need for another
large-frame analog console. Not
that my personal analysis had
any effect on Yamaha or the marketplace,
but as far as I could tell,
digital was the next wave.
It’s amazing to think that
it was only seven years ago, in
2000, that Yamaha introduced
the PM1D, and that within only
a few years, the PM5D started to
inundate the market. With the innovations
in the audio industry
moving at such a quick pace, it
is almost impossible, as an audio
provider, to keep up. There are
new products flooding the market
each day, and while some are
just repackaging the same old ideas, others
are truly groundbreaking and have staying
power. Many times, with the advent of
some new product, it is the audio company
that can accommodate the winning product,
but the question still remains, “With
the rapidly changing marketplace, how
does one decide which product will sustain
the test of time?”
It is truly an amazing experience to
wander the isles of the AES convention,
and I am excited at the prospect of overindulging
myself in an orgy of new gear
and accessories that may or may not enhance
my mixes, my sales and my inventory.
I can’t wait to be milling around with
thousand of my peers as some salesman is
selling me on a new microphone that is so
sensitive it can pick up my thoughts…even
before I think them.
Speaking of innovative products: As
the new owner of Midas, Bosch might think
about releasing a new item for consumption
that will allow me to mix a show while riding
around my yard on one of those tractor lawn
mowers. I’m sure it will be great, although I
may want to wait until next year to buy it
since the upgrade might be able to do my
taxes as well.
E-mail Baker at his shark tank : blee@fo -
honline.com.