Welcome once again to Sage Audio’s Emerging Studio Technology blog series. This semi-regular series takes a look at the latest and greatest (and sometimes not so greatest) gadgets and technologies for studios. Some of the things we cover are designed specifically for home studio recording, while other technology may fit better in our own CD mastering studio. But most components can be of use to many engineers, producers and musicians – if it’s new and related to recording or mastering studios, you’ll find it here.
Radial Engineering – Tossover
If you will, please allow us to indulge our inner EQ geekdom for just a moment. If you've followed the Emerging Technology series here on the Sage Audio mastering blog in the past, then you've probably noticed that we're a pretty big fan of Radial projects, and the newest one that has gotten us excited is the Tossover.
The Tossover is a module designed to be used with one of Radial's 500 series racks, and it allows you to divide the frequency bands of an audio signal. What does this mean? You can process the lows and highs of an audio signal separately. And that's often a pretty handy piece of functionality. The module also allows you to combine the lows and the highs to create a band-pass filter.
MicroAC
This is a simple little app that allows you to convert batch audio files quickly and easily. The minimalist design makes the app easy to use, and you can choose between nine different audio types. The app is only available for Mac OS and is currently three bucks in the Mac App Store.
Marshall – Major 50 FX Headphones
OK, so I haven't gotten to use these headphones, so I don't have too much to say about the quality, but I think it is safe to say that I know a ton of people that would love to see a set of these show up in their pile of holiday gifts.
The Marshall Major 50 FX headphones celebrate the 50th anniversary of the famed amp company, and everything about the look of these cans screams “tone” almost as loudly as a Marshall Plexi does. In addition to the classic logo inscribed in gold trim, the headband is made of the same vinyl used in the famous amps themselves. Inside the ear caps, there's even the same fret detailing Marshall has been using on its 50th anniversary line of amps.
But enough about the looks – even the sound is classic Marshall. The company says that the headphones bring “the stage directly to your ears... the major 50 FX pays homage to the massive Marshall legacy with its punchy lows, clear mid-tones and higher-than-human highs.” The headphones also come with a canvas carrying case and have a volume control on the cord similar to the one on the current Apple earbuds – but this volume control only works on Apple products.
So who's getting me a pair of these!?
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding 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 each course.
- Each SAU course includes 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 and social channels.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
4. 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 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 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.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
5. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 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).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
7. 800+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily 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 skills at your own pace.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
