ProSonus DigiMax FS Channel Pre-Amp

I recently reviewed the PreSonus DigiMax FS Channel Pre-amp for Technologies For Worship Magazine… Here is a copy of the review:

As a producer and musician, I’m always looking for anything that can work within my budget and help me do my job quicker and easier without sacrificing great tone. The DigiMax FS Channel Pre-amp by PreSonus clearly delivers. I checked with a couple friends of mine that told me that one of the studios used by BEC records used the DigiMax on all their drum tracks. Not a bad endorsement.

The DigiMax FS is an eight channel microphone preamplifier, with 24-bit/96k ADAT dual SMUX I/O and word Clock I/O. It’s really meant to be more than just a preamp. It’s meant to be an expander unit for ADAT-compatible mixers and interfaces such as Apogee or Rosetta. What does that mean in layman’s terms? It means that you have a cost effective way to expand your digital recording system via optical light pipe with additional channels that capture all your hard work in DVD quality.

Designed to work with the PreSonus FireStudio, it also works with any digital recording system with optical light pipe expansion capability such as DigiDesign’s HD and 002 or 003 systems, RME, YAMAHA, Alesis, Mackie and Apogee. But what if you’ve already purchased your equipment and you’re not on the cutting edge of digital technology? This was an initial concern of mine because like many of you, we already have a fair amount of money invested in gear.

In our case we have a pre-existing set up using Nuendo through a Mac G-5. We were able to connect via light pipe through our Rosetta 800 with the X Symphony Card and the Symphony PCI Card from Apogee. You could also interface through the Apogee DA-16X in the same situation making the DigiMax FS ideal for expanding just about any digital recording system you may have.

I also liked the flexibility and thought put into designing the input structure of the DigiMax FS. I’m a big fan of putting the inputs on the front of the unit. It makes for easy access. I’m also a big fan of the Neutrik Combo Connectors. Each channel has a Mic/Line connector that enables you to use either 1/4” instrument cable or XLR connectors in the same female input. The first two channels are 1/4” hi-Z Instrument and microphone input. Channels three through eight are 1/4” TRS Balanced line and microphone inputs. All eight channels of pre-amp feature phantom power that can be turned on in groups of four channels. In other words, you can turn on 1 through 4 or 5 through 8, but you can’t turn on channels individually. That means you have to do a little bit of planning if you want to use both dynamic and condenser mics in the same session with other instruments.

Each channel contains a custom designed XMAX Class A discrete microphone preamplifier. For me this is the most important part of the gear. A good mic-pre can make or break your tone. I was impressed by the big clean tone I was able to get out of the DigiMax FS. Additionally, the input gain knobs are offset from each other, making them easy to get to.

The DigiMax FS can also handle word clock synchronization in a number of ways. If you’re working with the traditional ADAT format that supports eight channels of digital audio over optical light pipe, simply set your digital audio workstation to sync via optical, press the ADAT sync button and set the desired sample rate. Simple and all accessible from the front of the unit. If you’re using the new SMUX generation of products that supports sampling rates up to 96k, the DigiMax is outfitted to utilize two optical cables for channels 1-4 and 5-8 respectively. For the majority of engineers who prefer to take care of word clock and audio separately, the DigiMax is also set up to handle synchronization via a BNC input. Again, a simple push of a button on the front panel. This is great product engineering. In fact, the DigiMax FS is made to daisy chain with other systems with it’s patented JetPLL technology that virtually eliminates all audio band jitter. Sample rates that are supported for audio are 44.1, 48, 88.2 and 96k. External Syncs supported are BNC or ADAT.

One of the coolest sections on the DigiMax is the output section. This is where a great deal of flexibility occurs. Each channel features it’s own individual insert point. This allows any external processing such as compressors or limiters to occur before the output stage on each channel independently. The ADAT outputs allow you to send eight channels of digital audio output in a couple of different ways. When using the new SMUX technology you can achieve 8 channels at 24 bit / 96k via dual optical light pipes. When using the traditional ADAT technology you can achieve 8 channels at 44.1 or 48 k via one light pipe. A couple of other cool features are 1/4” DAC Outputs that add 8 output channels to a digital mixer for a separate internet broadcast feed, video feed or monitoring. The DigiMax also features 8 channels of 1/4” Direct Outputs to send to a back up recording device or mixer. Essentially all outputs and inputs can operate simultaneously making the DigiMax FS it’s own little splitter.

If you’re looking to expand your current digital recording system with a full featured microphone preamplifier at a price point that fits your budget, I would definitely suggest the DigiMax FS Channel Preamplifier. To quote a friend of mine who uses the DigiMax regularly in his studio, it definitely delivers the bang for the buck

To go to the review online CLICK HERE

DPK SMK 4062 Mics

Here is a review I did for Technologies For Worship Magazine…

If it’s at all possible to fall In love with a mic (I hope my wife doesn’t take this personally) – I have to say that I love these mics.

For those of you who have never heard of DPA Microphones, they are not new to the world of microphones. With over 25 years of experience, they specialize in hi-SPL condenser mics that are ideal for close micing situations.

In their words, their philosophy is “to provide microphones without coloration.” They also claim that their microphones can be used on virtually any instrument because of their “naturalness.” Although I wasn’t able to fully test this claim, I was impressed with the instruments I did use the mic with. When I checked out their list of users I found an impressive roster that included Jay Leno, the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, the British Company Theatre, the Sydney Opera House, Disney and the San Diego Symphony.

As a worship leader of a church, I am constantly looking for new ways to improve the quality of the sound reproduction for instruments. I’m not one who reads tech sheets. I have to experience it for myself. I don’t really care how many people are using the product. I have to convince my ears.

When dealing with varying levels of expertise, availability and consistency of sound personnel the quality of the microphones we use become vital. I may not have an engineer that knows how to fix the sound of a lesser quality mic using the elaborate EQ of each channel. The more accurate the sound reproduction from the mic, the easier it is for them to do their job.

Particularly challenging are micing live acoustic instruments, like acoustic pianos, and getting enough volume without feedback in a full band environment. I must admit that I was initially skeptical that the mics would either pick up too much and be unusable or that they would distort or clip due to high sound pressure levels. I was surprised to find that we were able to achieve both great sound quality and volume from DPA’s SMK4061 stereo mic kit with no clipping or distorting.

The SMK4061 stereo mic kit has been designed for live and recording applications, specifically for acoustic piano. Along with the two hand-selected 4061 mics come a variety of accessories for mounting, including both magnetic and adhesive mounts and a pair of boundary-layer mounts that allow for a range of nearly invisible mounting options. Lid up or closed, these mics capture the instrument with musical accuracy and detail.

For those of you who are tech heads, the 4061 are omnidirectional miniature condenser mics. When I say miniature I mean miniature, like the size of a pencil eraser. The mics have a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz with a 3 db soft boost from 8-20 kHz and wide dynamic range of 97dB. But what makes these mics ideal for live situations is the fact that the max SPL before peaking or clipping is 144 dB and the total harmonic distortion is less than 1% up to 123 dB SPL. In layman’s terms that means great sound reproduction in close micing situations with no clipping or distorting. Amazing!!!

In our particular situation, the piano we were placing the mics in was a formerly white Yamaha C-7 that was previously owned by Natalie Cole. I say formerly white because we changed the color from white to black. Needless to say, the sound of the piano alone is incredible. We placed one mic near the upper octave sound hole about a quarter of the way up the sound board from the keyboard. The other mic was placed on the opposite side of the sound board to pick up the lower two octaves, all according to DPA’s recommendations.

We experimented with lifting the lid and closing the lid. We found that when we had a choir near the piano it was best to close the lid. Otherwise, we left the piano opened on the smallest prop.

I was initially taken back by how small the mics were. However, the SMK4061’s were able to duplicate the pianos natural rich tone better than any mics we’ve tried to date. The close distance to the frame allowed us to capture a full thick bodied mid-range sound. I also noticed that the piano had a nice sharp attack or pop sound with the placement we used.

I can’t explain how emotionally satisfying it was to hear the Yamaha C-7 sound so great. We were also surprised at how much volume we got out of the mics without having to push the gain structure. This meant that we had plenty of headroom to push the mics without reaching feedback. We were extremely happy with our results.

DPA recommends that the 4061’s can be used on any string instrument such as guitar, violin, cello, bass, harp and viola. They also recommend the 4061’s for drum toms, snares, speaker cabinets and saxophones. We attempted to use the mics in other applications such as flute and nylon stringed guitar, but the mounting that was provided wasn’t practical for our particular live application. We did experience one minor problem with the mounting hardware. The mounts were great in terms of ease of placement, but we did detect a rattling noise that was from the vibration of the plastic clips against the mics. It was an easy fix and we were able to overcome it by changing the placement and reattaching the mic clips.

If you’re looking for a micing solution that gives you great sonic reproduction, strong output without distortion and clipping with minimal EQ’ing – the SMK4061’s are a solution I would highly recommend. Overall, we were so impressed by the SMK4061 that we had added them to our permanent collection of mics. If you’re looking for more information on these and other products from DPA, visit their website at www.dpamicrophones.com They also have some great resources on mic placement and usage.

To view online CLICK HERE.