Production Sound & Video

Spring 2019

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33 OVERVIEW As centuries past have served to define advances in technology, the year 2000 has seen a decided shift in the approach taken toward film sound recording. Analog tape is gone, along with the traditional concept of mixers and recorders functioning as separate devices. Gone as well are mixers that actually have a signal path and control section that carries audio, replaced instead by DSP technology. Similar to larger consoles used in music recording, broadcast and live sound, portable film mixers now function primarily as control surfaces, with the actual audio section being part of a separate I/O rack, or in the recorder itself. And with the proliferation of AES, TDIF, and DANTE interfaces, in many cases, there is very little analog audio to be found at all. The advantages of this approach for film sound recording are significant. No longer do consoles require a dedicated channel strip, with numerous controls and associated components for signal processing functions such as EQ, filtering, and limiting. All signal routing (buss assigns, solo, panning) are similarly handled by DSP. All that is required of each input is a chip set that allows these various functions to be controlled by an external signal that is tied to a primary data buss. And since it isn't always necessary to have all of those controls individually accessible for every input channel, space requirements (as well as cost) can be reduced by using a common set of controls to address the individual channels via a selector switch. While some sound mixers prefer the dedicated controls that are the hallmark of analog mixers, it can't be denied that the DSP approach provides for a range of The Way We Were: Sound Mixing Equipment (Part 4) Sound Devices CL-9. Now discontinued, this was the first mixing surface introduced by Sound Devices. features that would be difficult to implement in a compact footprint. Additionally, the ability to save primary settings is a huge plus when changing setups. As noted in our previous installment, one of the first portable mixers for film use that adopted this approach was the Zaxcom Cameo, introduced in late 1999. Since that time, there has been a steady stream of developments by Zaxcom, Sound Devices, Sonosax, Allen & Heath, Zoom, and other manufacturers, all of which take a similar approach when it comes to treating the mixer as an adjunct control device to the recorder. Here is a look at what is currently on the market, and some thoughts about where it might be headed: AATON CANTARESS Conceived by Jean Pierre Beauviala, the Aaton Cantaress is a 12-input mixer designed to work in conjunction with the Aaton Cantar X3 and Cantar Mini recorders. In a departure from the approach used on many other mixer surfaces, the Cantaress employs magnetic faders, which help to keep dirt and debris from the fader mechanism and resistive element. Additionally, the connection to the recorders is handled over an Ethernet connection as opposed to a USB port. Similar to the Zaxcom Mix-16, it also sports dedicated LED metering for each input channel, which provides the user with a ready display of levels. Power (12-17 VDC) is provided separately via an XLR-4 connector. SOUND DEVICES CL-9 After the Zaxcom Cameo, one of the second entries in the realm of mixing surfaces was the (now discontinued) CL-9, introduced by Sound Devices, and designed as a dedicated mixing surface for the 788T series recorders. Connected to the 788 via a USB cable, Aaton Cantaress mixing surface. Note inline meters located above channel strips. (Courtesy Aaton)

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