Klark Teknik Square ONE GEQ and Dynamics
By Mark Amundson
Sporting three rack spaces and purple epoxy on the front and rear panels, the Klark Teknik Square One series of products takes the essence of KT signal processing excellence to a mid-market category of customers. I am going spoil the ending for you slightly by saying that both the Square One GEQ and eight-channel Dynamic Processor units are worthy in any application from touring outboard to garage band rehearsal rig. The Gear: Square ONE Graphic
If you have lusted over having Klark Teknik DN360 or DN370 dual graphic equalizers in your system, but did not have the intestinal fortitude to rob banks; then the $1,250 suggested retail price for the Square ONE Graphic should get your attention. Yeah, it was designed by the good folks in Kidderminster, England, and was assembled in China, but nothing is skimped on as far as the sound quality or capability.
The "PRO-portional" Q filters are still present from the DN series GEQs, and you get 30 +/-12dB sliders with 45mm travel and a center detent. Each channel features a gain control with a 0dB center detent and off to +6dB gain adjustment. A relaybased bypass switch is included along with 12dB per octave switched high and low- pass shelving switches at 80Hz and 12KHz corners for us monitor system operators. Metering is the basic two-LED signal-present and clip indicators with a full +22dBu of signal level headroom.
Specsmanship is also worthy on the Square ONE Graphic with less than 0.005% THD mid-band at +4dBu and frequency response flatness of +/-0.5dB across the audio frequency spectrum. The quality of the electronics in the unit is given in the less than -90dBu noise floor with 20K-Ohm balanced inputs and 60-Ohm drive circuits for loads of 600-Ohm or more. With an 8-inch rack depth and rear panel XLR and TRS jacking, the only thing more to say is that the switching PSU with the IEC inlet can handle 100 to 240 volt AC mains without changing anything.
The Gear: Square ONE Dynamics "The Convertible"
The eight-channel dynamics processor is a nostalgic flashback for me of the old dbx 900-series of plug-in processors in a rack. But for your $1,950 suggested retail price, you get eight switch-selectable compressors or gates with plenty of professional flexibility. Each channel has a link switch (except channel one) to link the previous channel's side-chain source. Somehow my mind drifts toward to a Robert Scovil fantasy of having all eight channels with different settings daisy-chained together for the ultimate control in dynamic range squashing. And you could do that fairly cleanly as I measured less than 0.05% THD in various VCA points of gain reduction.
Another great feature is the solo buss system, so you can separately hit each channel's solo button and monitor the channel's side-chain, which is especially handy when you activate the single knob side-chain frequency filters for frequencyconscious gate operation. Of course, if you do not partake in the solo buss feature, each channel has a solo-in-place switch to switch in the side-chain to the channel's output for pre-fade-listen tweaking at the console.
On the Square ONE Dynamics front panel, each channel has controls for threshold, compressor make-up gain, attack, release, gate hold and ratio/range adjustment. In the compressor mode, two switches allow you to choose from four compression styles: RMS/soft knee; RMS/hard knee; vintage/soft knee; vintage/hard knee. The vintage style emulates the performance characteristics of tube compressors. When you activate the filter switch in the side chain frequency section, you get Lo-Q frequency compression, or when the wide/narrow switch is also engaged, you then have a freq-conscious de-esser.
To make this a gate, you simply select the gate switch. The gate can also be activated as a freq-conscious gate or the usual external key trigger (rear external key signal TRS jack). In addition to a bypass switch per channel, each channel has six-LED signal metering for -40 to +18dBu levels and 10-LED VCA attenuation with 2 to 20dBu (2dB steps) depth range.
The specs on the Dynamics unit are great with less than a -95dBu noise floor and up to 117dB of dynamic range over a 20Hz to 20KHz range. The side chain filter is slightly narrowed up at 40Hz to 16kHz, and is 6dB per octave in the wide selection. And with its 8-inch rack depth and 100 to 240 VAC switcher supply, this pleasing purple unit is worthy of your attention.
The Gigs
At the gigs, both Graphic and Dynamics units met or beat my best expectations of performance. The Dynamics unit's rear panel XLR in and out jack may put off some mid-market users, but I was already an XLR convert, and swapping in the unit was just quick work on my insert snakes. While I am a die-hard Ivor Drawmer signal-processing worshipper, the Dynamics unit proved up to my liking after I got past the control learning curve.
The Square ONE Graphic Equalizer was for all practical purposes a DN360 in a purple disguise for me. With nice fader knobs and PRO-portional Q filters, I had no issues with the paint job either. Looking for niggles, I would not fault the end products, but would have liked to split out the dynamics processor to separate comps and gate instead, and then worked features like limiters and expanders in tandem with compressors and gates. And while most of us will bite the rack space bullet on three-space dual GEQs, eight channels of compression or gating in three rackspaces is a tough decision when each rackspace becomes precious in portable sound-system usage.
What it is: Mid-market graphic EQ and dynamics processing
Who it's for: KT fanatics without the budgets for the DN-series products, but need the capability.
Pros: KT-quality build and parts, price.
Cons: Too much feature cramming in the dynamics unit.
How much: SQ1G Graphic $1,250 MSRP, SQ1D Dynamics $1,950 MSRP
Shure UR2/KSM9 and UR4 Wireless Vocal Mic and Receiver
By Brian Klijanowicz, Rob Orlinick and Bill Evans
Sometimes it takes a village…
Yes, there are a bunch of names on this review. This is because a couple of people used it on gigs and left the writing to the poor schmuck whose name appears last. So away we go.
The Gear
We first saw the Shure UR4 receiver at the AES show back in October and wanted to get it into the review pipeline as soon as we could. We had some unfortunate technical problems with the first unit that was sent, which actually ended up working out great because while we were working that out, Shure introduced the KSM9, a dual diaphragm condenser that is looking to give the industry standard "diva" mic a run for its money. In the very short time since it was introduced, high-profile singers including Natalie Cole and Fergie from Black Eyed Peas have adopted it, which is a pretty impressive start.
The product that was sent was the Shure UR4S single receiver and a UR2 transmitter with a KSM9 capsule. It is obvious that this unit is designed to replace the U4 and U2, which they did a very good job of doing. These units have the latest wireless technology that Shure has to offer. It is called "Audio Reference Companding." In short, this means a lower noise floor, greater dynamic range and an overall clearer sound. Other features include 2,400 selectable frequencies, an all-new transmitter body and what seems to be the latest craze…USB/Ethernet networking compatibility.
The receiver comes in either a UR4S single or a UR4D dual unit (one or two receivers per rack space). It has a newly-designed display that is brighter yet still pleasing to the eyes when it's dark, as well as cool new LED colors. The buttons are also backlit, so they are easy to read in the dark. It has the same two RF meter displays with one audio meter. One thing that I really liked about the audio meter is that it shows your signal peaks. Like the U4s, it also has the selectable headphone jack on the front and optional front-mounted antennas. Another really cool thing is that you can link up a bunch of these together and change/monitor all of the units on a laptop via USB/Ethernet. Also, it has an "automatic transmitter setup" and finds a clear freq and sets to it. You can also hold a button in for a few seconds on the receiver and the transmitter will switch to the freq of the receiver.
The UR2 transmitter looks to be completely redesigned. It has a digital display with information such as battery life and on which frequency it is transmitting. I remember scrambling around at gigs with the older U2s trying to find a tweaker to adjust the gain when the only one that I found was on the crew…well, no more of that! The gain adjustment is only a few buttons away! The transmitter has a couple of buttons to adjust everything on the mic. One of the biggest improvements that Shure has made on the UR2 is a redesigned antenna. In addition to being more robust than the old U2 antenna, it resists dropouts from RF absorption when an artist cups the end of the transmitter.
The KSM9 is a dual diaphragm condenser microphone born out of Shure's KSM studio microphone line. Each KSM9 capsule has switchable polar patterns, selectable between cardioid and supercardioid. It also has a two-stage shockmount that works very well.
The best thing we can say about this package is that it looks like Shure really listened to end-users when redesigning this stuff because they addressed all of the little things that we didn't like about the previous models and kept all the cool stuff. It would be great if more companies learned to listen like that.
The Gigs
The show the gear was used on was Sheena Easton. She was playing at the Silverton Casino in "fabulous" Las Vegas. The show was at their outdoor event center for about 1,200 people. The mic was used on her lead vocal. The first thing that was obvious was that this is an excellent sounding new capsule–very smooth and detailed. It would have been great to A/B it against the Sennheiser/Neumann 105 combo if we had had one on hand. But even without the direct A/B, we had all used the aforementioned system and thought that the KSM9 sounded at least as good.
Easton's engineer was happy with it and so were we. We had no dropouts the whole night, and it sounded amazing.
We thought we were done and called the editor and told him only to be asked, "Did you drop it?" We proudly answered, "No," thinking he would be impressed that we cared for the gear like the pros we are. Instead he told us to go drop it on purpose and then call him back. So, although it went against every instinct we had, we gave it the drop test. In fact, we did it twice. Once from head level to the wooden stage and then again from the same level but off the stage onto thee concrete floor–about 10 feet. With the new shockmount, you could barely hear that it was dropped and it performed flawlessly afterwards–no audible difference in sound quality and no increase in handling noise. This one is built to take it and still sound great.
What it is: Wireless vocal mic/receiver package
Who it's for: Soundcos and artists that need outstanding sound quality and RF performance and are willing to pay for it.
Pros: Receiver is brighter and easier to read in the dark, Audio Reference Companding rocks, newly-designed UR2 antenna that is much more rugged than the U2, gain on transmitter is adjusted through buttons rather than a tweaker, receiver is network compatible, selectable pattern on transmitter without replacing capsules
Cons: It ain't cheap…
How much: UR2/KSM9/BK Handheld Transmitter with KSM9 $1,968. UR4S Single Channel Diversity Receiver $2,035.20
XTA DP428 448 Audio Management System
By Mark Amundson
Knowing XTA's reputation in the industry, and having heard their speaker processors in action, I jumped at the opportunity to review the new DP448 Audio Management System. (The unit I received was actually labeled DP428, but the unit is being renamed–along with the introduction of three new models–at the NSCA show in March.) At first glance just another digital speaker processor, the DP448 has little features that differentiate it from the rest.
The Gear
The first little feature is the input section 28-band graphic equalizers placed on each input channel. While you may say this is ho-hum and redundant to your house equalizer, the touring guys will have their DP448s at Front of House or Monitor Beach, and engage their notebook computer with XTA's AudioCore software to virtually control any input channel GEQ fader or group of faders with point and click ease. When I received the DP448, I also got the RS-232 to 2.4GHz Wireless Transceiver unit and notebook PCMCIA Transceiver unit to make those input and output channel adjustment anywhere in the room, wirelessly. (The AudioCore software also allows for things like selecting the view on channel Q and other cool tools and is available for free download at www.xta.co.uk.)
This means monitor engineers can ring out each ear or wedge mix onstage, and Front of House engineers can walk the venue tweaking the main mix on multiple DP448s for each coverage zone. And once those tweaks are in place, the settings can be retained either on a notebook computer, the 255 locations on each DP448 or on type II PCMCIA cards inserted into each DP448 for more memory.
Another little feature of note is phase filtering on each input and output and the dual limiters on each output channel. One limiter is for standard limiting with normal threshold, attack and release settings to keep signals in their place. The second limiter is called "D-Max" and is a look-ahead limiter to prevent above threshold signals from getting past the first limiter. The release time of this second limiter is keyed to the high pass filter setting on the channel as an auto release feature. By looking ahead a few tens of microseconds, sudden signal overshoots are clamped before they have a chance to distort the signal waveform and clip the drivers.
Front Panel Features
With its pretty anodized blue aluminum front panel and the green backlit LCD with two-by-24 character format, the XTA DP448 caught my attention. Besides the now standard four-in, eight-out columns of LED ladder display, mute and edit buttons, the DP448 has three encoder controls to quick edit the parameters on the LCD. The remaining six blue backlit buttons are for the usual back, next, menu, enter, bypass and quit commands for navigating all the menus of the processor. While not the same lingo as my Brooke-Siren processors, the DP448 is a quick study when it comes to learning the editing.
The rear panel is crammed with four XLR input jacks, eight XLR jacks, two XLR RS-485 in and outs and just enough room for the IEC inlet and D9 connector for RS-232 serial port interfacing. The XLR connectors do double duty, as they can handle either balanced analog or AES/EBU formats. The RS-485 system is for daisy-chaining multiple DP448s unit together to share settings and computer control from one DP448 with the RS-232 connected to the computer.
Surfing the Processor
On the input side of the XTA DP448, you have control from channel mute, gain, eight bands of parametric EQ, the 28-band GEQ and up to 650 millisecond delay capabilities. For output channels, you have crossover filters, nine-band parametric EQ, 500 milliseconds of more delay, gain, limters and mute capabilities. Input to output routing ranges from free-assign to standard configurations like four by twoway, two by three-way, two by four-way, and one by eight-way. While I found the "Q" control on the parametric EQs a little more foreign than bandwidth or octaves, a little math or chart consultation got me back on track. (For brevity's sake, I refer to the filters on the DP448 as parametric throughout this review, while parametric is a choice, all filter sections include the choice of Bandpass, Allpass, Notch, VariQ, Shelf and Elliptical.)
I did like the "ganging" feature on the DP448, as I normally set up stereo or triple or quad inputs with identical settings for each input. For my bi-amp monitor application, I was able to choose the 1+3+5+7 and 2+4+6+8 ganging and dial in only the woof and tweet output channel settings instead of repeating the setup six more times.
The Audiocore software for the computer control was straightforward and very flexible. Manipulating the graphic and parametric filters was the highlight, and then being able to do this on a wireless notebook or tablet PC just made it a joy to walk the wedges or the mains and tweak the system. I could go on for pages describing the software, but this is best demoed for yourself instead of just going by my description.
The Gigs
The XTA DP448 was a thrill to use in both monitor and Front of House applications. With its SHARC processors executing all my menu-driven settings, there was nothing lost in the analog-to-digital-to-analog translation. Looking for niggles, I found none other than my own familiarity of Q-factor on the XTA gear versus bandwidth and octave description of parametric filters. Of course, having a Q that ranges from 0.4 to 128 leaves plenty of utility from broad bumps to surgical feedback ring suppression.
What it is: Tour-grade speaker processing
Who it's for: Professional sound companies that demand no-compromise functionality and sound quality.
How much: XTA DP448 $5,590 MSRP
Pros: Beautiful front panel and computer interfaces, nice limiters.
Cons: Just my brain on Q-factor.
