We love our vintage equipment here at Sage Audio. But that doesn’t mean that we neglect new and emerging audio technology. In fact, when we redesigned our CD mastering studio recently, we went to great lengths to ensure we have the perfect balance of vintage and cutting edge equipment – a balance that allows us to provide the top quality CD mastering services to all our clients.
And since we’re constantly on the lookout for new audio mastering and recording technology, we wanted to have a blog series specifically to highlight new products. Called “Emerging Studio Technology,” this blog series will be featured on SageAudio.com every couple weeks to let you know what’s new in the audio mastering and recording fields.
AKG C451 65th Anniversary
First off this week is a mix of the aforementioned old and new as AKG celebrates its 65 years as a company with a special anniversary edition of the AKG C451 microphone. The original C451 debuted in 1969, and the small-diaphragm condenser mic has been produced ever since.
The company notes that the microphone’s transformer-less preamp allows close miking of sound sources up to 155 dB without distortion. This makes the mic great for acoustic guitars, overhead miking, and drums.
Waves NS1 Noise Suppressor
Waves introduces the NS1 Noise Suppressor plugin as the next combatant in the long-standing battle against unwanted background noise. A press release for the plugin says that the NS1 “intelligently differentiates between dialog and unwanted noise.”
And while the plugin is great for presentations, voiceovers and audio forensics, the company points out that it can be used for music applications, as well. Additionally, since the plugin applies its noise suppression in real-time, it also can be used for live broadcasts.
The only control on the NS1 is a single fader that determines the amount of noise suppression. You can see the overall energy being removed from the input signal on the Attenuation Meter, the only other visible feature on the plugin.
Focusrite Scarlett 2i4
As home recording continues to become more and more popular, the number of USB audio interfaces on the market climbs higher and higher. The Scarlett 2i4 is the newest audio interface from Focusrite, and is similar to the already released Scarlett 2i2. However, the new version comes with four outputs, rather than the 2i2’s two output capability.
Here are a few key features of the Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 to consider if you’re thinking of making it the next addition to your home recording setup:
- Superb conversion: It’s precision converters offer full 24-bit/96kHz resolution
- Two award-winning preamps: Both come with mic, line and high-impeduance instrument inputs
- High quality outputs: the dynamic range of the interface is over 105 dB for both recording and playback.
- Combination TRS/XLR: The front inputs on the model take TRS or XLR connectors.
- Bus powering: The Scarlett 2i4 uses USB bus powering, so no additional power supply is needed.
Make Pro Songs
There are 8 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You’ll get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
2. 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio 1:1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us to answer all your questions and receive unlimited advanced mixing feedback directly from us.
- Unlimited direct access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve your mixes and masters.
- Unlimited advanced mixing feedback with detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Fast communication to answer all your questions and get tailored guidance that’s specific to your needs.
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can improve your mixes quickly.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide feedback about what you can improve before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
4. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from first-time mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout every course curriculum.
- SAU course curriculums include Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website, social channels, and portfolio for as long as you remain a member.
- Get first access to all future SAU course curriculums to continually build and refine your mixing and mastering skills as the industry evolves.
5. Mixing and Mastering Competitions
- Compete in Mixing Competitions and Mastering Competitions to win prizes and connect with friends and colleagues.
- This is a great collaborative way to improve your skills alongside both aspiring engineers and seasoned industry professionals.
6. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
7. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 58 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
8. 700+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into playlists so you can take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your mixing and mastering skills at your own pace.
