Brauner And Soundelux Mics Along With A Daking Console Chosen For The Ultimate Sound Reproduction Test Using Albert Von Schweikertís $100,000-Plus VR11-XTC Speakers

6-Feb-04

For loudspeaker designer Albert Von Schweikert the ultimate test of his Von Schweikert Audio $100,000+ VR11-XTC home theater speakers would be to reproduce a three-dimensional sound stage so perfectly that it's virtually indistinguishable from the sound of the original live performance. ìAfter building eleven prototypes,î Von Schweikert comments, ìwe decided that the only way to know for sure if we've built the ultimate stereo reproduction system is use the best recording gear in the world, make a demo tape and play it back through the speakers.î This bold ëexperimentí took place in front of live audiences everyday in the Chateaux Ballroom of the San Remo Hotel during the recent 2004 CES Show in Las Vegas.The four-girl singing group, ìThe Misty River Band,î provided the music for the demo. Dana, Chris, Laura, and Carol sang and played Bluegrass, Country, Americana, and Celtic music; and accompany themselves on fiddle, accordion, upright bass, and acoustic guitar. They setup and performed between the two giant monolithic Von Schweikert VR11-XTC loudspeakers.ìIn a recording/playback chain you have two elements that are very critical--the transducers at each end of the chain,î Von Schweikert says. In this case for capturing the group's sound we used the very finest tube microphones from Brauner and Soundelux supplied by Transamerica Audio Group. These microphones, along with all the gear, were carefully chosen over a six month perusal period.î Todd Peterson from TAG chimes in with these session notes. ìThe mics we used were the Soundelux ifet7 on accordion, Soundelux E47 on Dana's vocal, Soundelux E49 on Chris' vocal and violin, Soundelux ELUX 251 on upright bass, Brauner Valvet Voice on Laura's vocal, Valvet Voice on Carol's vocal, and Brauner Phantom C on Carol's Guitar. One night, the Soundelux E49 was also a spectacular hit as the sole mic on the group's four-part harmonies.""All the mics were connected to the Geoffrey Daking 16-channel mixing console using custom Zero-Crystal cables made by Acoustic Zen. The board's output was fed to Ed Meitner's EMM Labs' A/D converters and then on to a Sony DSD stereo recording system. After listening to Misty River's performance in the room, renowned mixing engineer Chris Huston carefully balanced the singers and instruments for a ""mirror image sound recording"" accomplished by carefully selecting the best microphone for each singer and instrument and then finding its optimal mic placement.Several test recordings were made to arrive at a correct balance of room ambience to direct sound captured by these sensitive microphones. Huston would quickly compare on electrostatic headphones what he heard live in the room to his mix coming out of the Daking console. The Von Schweikert speakers were not used for sound reinforcement only for playback.For playback, the DSD recorder digital outputs were fed into an EMM Labs D/A converter and then to 250-watt monoblock Valve Amplification Company(VAC) tube amplifiers. ìThe amplifiers drove our VR11 speaker systems,î Von Schweikert comments. ""The speakers are over seven feet tall, weigh 800 lbs., and sell for $100K to $165K depending on options and finish. Each speaker has four, rear-mounted fifteen-inch woofers connected to built-in 2,000-watt amplifiers. Mounted up front are eight 9-inch woofers, two 7-inch mid-range drivers and four tweeters. One tweeter is wired out of phase, pointed to the rear and fed specially derived ambience information. Each speaker tower has controls for adjusting the level of each group of drivers to match the particular room. The XTC Model used for this demo comes with electronic crossovers and five separate stereo amplifiers for the two towers.î Just after the speaker system was installed in the ballroom, Huston and Richard Rives from Rives Audio measured the room acoustically with sophisticated audio software and the Rives Audio PARC. The unit's three-band parametric equalizers along with RPG diffusers were used to tame any standing waves and room modes.For more information on Von Schweikert speakers, please visit www.vonschweikert.com. For more information on Brauner And Soundelux Mics, please visit http://www.braunerusa.com. For more information on Daking Consoles, please visit http://www.daking.com. For more information on The Misty River Band, please visit http://www.mistyriverband.com. 

Read More:
http://www.vonschweikert.com
http://www.braunerusa.com
http://www.daking.com
http://www.mistyriverband.com