Since I’ve done it several times now (Headphones Michael Phelps Wore At 2012 Olympics, Headphones Emily Chang Wears In Ruffles Commercial, etc.), I guess it’s my thing – identifying the headphones, or other audio- related thingy that appears on a popular TV show. This time it’s about the pair of headphones that the character of Auggie Anderson, in USA’s TV series Covert Affairs, was wearing during the plane ride back from Amsterdam in the season finale. They were the Grado PS500 professional series headphones.
The PS500s are part of Grado’s Professional Series of high-end headphones (the PS500 and the PS1000). They are of the open-back variety, which means there is enough air for the audio to move and typically provide more pleasing and accurate music reproduction. These are also circumaural headphones, which means the fit over the ear rather than on top of them, so the ear sits inside the cups – much more comfortable.
The review on the Grado website – http://www.gradolabs.com/ states that even though these are high-end headphones, they sound awesome with miniature sound devices like iPods and iPhones.
The PS500 phones are the little brother to the PS1000, which are widely acknowledged to be the best audiophile headphones out there, and for $1,695, I would hope so:).
Both of the Professional Series Grado headphones use a proprietary wood and metal hybrid housing to ensure that the earphone has no ringing that might color or otherwise interfere with the pure quality sound.
If you want to be just like Auggie, you can grab your own by clicking here – $595
Home Recording Equipment
Black Friday Week Deals On Recording Gear At Amazon
Amazon.com is running its Black Friday Week deals all week starting today – November 19th. I just checked to see if they had any good deals on audio recording gear and was pleasantly surprised to see that they do indeed!
Click here to be taken to their Black Friday Week Studio Recording Equipment page and see all their recording deals.
I looked through them and found a few especially good deals.
The Blue Yeti Pro USB and XLR Mic
This is the “Pro” version of the famous Blue Yeti USB mic. What makes it special is that it can do double-duty as both a USB mic AND/OR a standard XLR mic! Normal price is $219. This week it’s $199.99 new, with several used models from $152. Click Here
Ableton Live 8 Recording Software
This powerful and popular program can be used as recording software AND on stage because of its real-time audio and MIDI capabilities. This version (8) is normally $439. This week get it for $375. Click Here.
Matching A Microphone To A Preamp
In 2012 the likelihood that a decent recording microphone will be horribly mismatched with a decent mic preamp (included in the audio interface units I talk about on this site) is, in my opinion, really low. Now, when I say “decent,” I’m talking about microphones from well-known and respected manufacturers like Shure, Audio-Technica, Rode, Neumann, AKG, Blue, Mojave Audio, etc. Preamps (see our article – What is a Mic Preamp?) these days are almost always integrated with the audio interface, and in the case of a USB mic, integrated directly into the mic (so need for worrying about mismatches). When I say “decent” in the context of audio interfaces, again you’re unlikely to go wrong with units by companies like M-Audio/Avid, EMU, CEntrance, ART, PreSonus, Focusrite, Behringer, etc. Obviously there are more, especially in the very high-end market. But my point is this – if you have an Audio-Technica AT2035 microphone (see our review here: Review of the Audio-Technica AT2035 Microphone), you don’t need to worry whether plugging it into an M-Audio Fast Track C-600 interface. It’ll sound great!
However, I’m a fan of the old saw – knowledge is never wasted. And there are still times, especially when working with very high-end equipment looking for the pinnacle of conceivable performance specs, when it could be handy to understand how the electronics interact with one another to degrade or enhance the resulting sound. In that vein, I refer you to this article explaining the terms and numbers involved in mic and preamp specs:
http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/selecting_the_right_preamp_for_your_microphone/
Louis Litt's Dictaphone Continues To Play A Supporting Role
Who knew a digital voice recorder would star in a TV network series? When I wrote the article about the dictaphone owned by Louis Litt from the TV series, Suits, on the USA network, I didn’t have any inkling that this ” XJS 5000 Dictaphone” ( a fictional portable voice recorder that is, in reality, the Sony ICD-SX712 digital voice recorder) would continue to play such a pivotal role in the series. But every week since the voice recorder made its appearance, not only do we see Louis using it, but we see major plot points revolving around it.
Two episodes ago, the recorder was a comic device. We saw Louis making funny and ridiculous little recordings. One example is when Harvey says “you’re the man,” and Louis records it. Then when Harvey leaves the room, Louis plays it over and over, stopping to talk to his little machine saying things like “who’s the man?” and then hitting the “play” button to hear Harvey’s recorded voice saying “you’re the man” again, ad infintum. There were more funny recordings revealed in last night’s episode (July 26th) when Mike gets a hold of it and finds Louis’ recordings of “Goal number 7: perfect a British accent. Hey, top of the morning mate! Would you like some tea and crumpets?” and “You have been Litt up!”
But it seems all comedic actors eventually want some darker, more serious role. A few episodes ago, Louis left the recorder hidden in Harvey’s office and learned a secret Harvey was keeping from the newly-returned founding partner, Daniel Hardman. Louis then used that information to curry favor with Daniel and get back at Harvey for – well – anything really. There is no love lost between them. But I digress!
Last night Mike gave Harvey the recorder and revealed Louis’ treachery. Harvey then confronts Louis and another good dramatic role was had by the little digital voice recorder that could.
Since writing the original article, several folks have written in to vouch for how awesome the Sony ICD-SX712 digital voice recorder actually is. If you’d like to join Louis Litt in ownership of this cool little device, check it out here.
How To Remix "Upon a Summer's Day" For Two Couples
Many recorded versions of traditional music require a particular number of dancers for the number of measures of music. What if you have more, or fewer dancers? For example, the standard number of repeats of Upon a Summer’s Day from Playford’s The English Dancing Master is correct for 3 couples, as the dance is described. But what if only 2 couples want to dance? Many recorded versions of traditional music require a particular number of dancers for the number of measures of music. What if you have more, or fewer dancers? For example, the standard number of repeats of Upon a Summer’s Day from Playford’s The English Dancing Master is correct for 3 couples, as the dance is described. But what if only 2 couples want to dance?
Fear not! With modern technology you can slice and dice the song on your computer to your heart’s content. For example, the recording we have for Upon a Summer’s Day has 3 repeats of the chorus section per chorus, which is perfect for 3 couples, but won’t work for 2. So we need to slice out 1 of the chorus repeats for each of the 3 times the chorus occurs in the song.
In this video, we take you step-by-step using the excellent recording software called Reaper, and show you how to slice out those 3 sections of the song, making sure that the remaining pieces fit back together seamlessly without skipping a beat.
You can use this technique to create “mash-ups” of several songs combined into one, slice, dice and remix, etc. to create something new out of just about any audio. But as usual, take care not to violate any copyright laws by publishing anything that isn’t public domain, or that you do not control rights for.
Have fun!