#1 · Sep 07, 2008 06:32 UTC
Went to this today at Hangar Studios in Sacramento with my studio buddy Todd. This is basically the replacement for TapeOp's TapeOpCon which has now been suspended indefinitely.
It was basically a big studio full of engineers from all walks--home studios, project studios, and bigger names, and some high end manufacturers, with clinics and a Q&A. The biggest names there were John Bacigalupi (TapeOp publisher and owner of Hangar Studios), Ryan Hewitt (recordist and mixer extraordinaire), George Massenburg (of GML labs), Geoff Daking (of Daking Pro Audio), Peter Montessi of A-Designs, David Bock of Bock Audio Microphones and Tim Spencer of TRUE systems.
The highlights in gear for me were the TRUE system preamps and the Bock Audio microphones. While 50+ of us we sat in the control room (hovering around 90+ degrees), we got to hear a guy pounding on a kit with a single Bock Audio 251 (http://www.bockaudiodesigns.com/251.html) through a TRUE P-solo (http://www.true-systems.com/products_solo.html) about 6 feet above the kit. That may have been the best drum sound I have ever heard. Truly an amazing mic. Then we got to hear the new flagship mic of the line, the 507, through the same preamp, on the singer of the band An Angle while he strummed and sang acoustic guitar. Out in front about 6 feet, it was a truly stellar sounding mic. In fact, it sounded mixed and ready to sell. Stunning. Right up close, it sounded even better... fantastic vocal mic. And the guitar was still decently represented. The 507 is the result of Bock working for five years to make a revolutionary mic... and it is. It has a capsule that is elliptical, instead of a round. The reason for the design is that a round capsule cannot self-resonate--and the five years part is, that's how long it took him to get it to work right and sound right. None of these pieces are cheap, $5000 for the 251, $6500 for the 507. But seriously in a whole other class of gear. The TRUE P-Solo, at around $500 street, is a downright steal.
Also got to talk with Ryan Hewitt, who is very cool, Bock, Geoff Daking, and Spencer from TRUE. All were very cool and made me wish I was rich. The Q&A with all those guys up on stage was really enlightening. And we got to grab a ton of free back copies of TapeOp and check out a pretty interesting studio. Fun day.
It was basically a big studio full of engineers from all walks--home studios, project studios, and bigger names, and some high end manufacturers, with clinics and a Q&A. The biggest names there were John Bacigalupi (TapeOp publisher and owner of Hangar Studios), Ryan Hewitt (recordist and mixer extraordinaire), George Massenburg (of GML labs), Geoff Daking (of Daking Pro Audio), Peter Montessi of A-Designs, David Bock of Bock Audio Microphones and Tim Spencer of TRUE systems.
The highlights in gear for me were the TRUE system preamps and the Bock Audio microphones. While 50+ of us we sat in the control room (hovering around 90+ degrees), we got to hear a guy pounding on a kit with a single Bock Audio 251 (http://www.bockaudiodesigns.com/251.html) through a TRUE P-solo (http://www.true-systems.com/products_solo.html) about 6 feet above the kit. That may have been the best drum sound I have ever heard. Truly an amazing mic. Then we got to hear the new flagship mic of the line, the 507, through the same preamp, on the singer of the band An Angle while he strummed and sang acoustic guitar. Out in front about 6 feet, it was a truly stellar sounding mic. In fact, it sounded mixed and ready to sell. Stunning. Right up close, it sounded even better... fantastic vocal mic. And the guitar was still decently represented. The 507 is the result of Bock working for five years to make a revolutionary mic... and it is. It has a capsule that is elliptical, instead of a round. The reason for the design is that a round capsule cannot self-resonate--and the five years part is, that's how long it took him to get it to work right and sound right. None of these pieces are cheap, $5000 for the 251, $6500 for the 507. But seriously in a whole other class of gear. The TRUE P-Solo, at around $500 street, is a downright steal.
Also got to talk with Ryan Hewitt, who is very cool, Bock, Geoff Daking, and Spencer from TRUE. All were very cool and made me wish I was rich. The Q&A with all those guys up on stage was really enlightening. And we got to grab a ton of free back copies of TapeOp and check out a pretty interesting studio. Fun day.