Farmingdale, NY. Beyerdynamic has unveiled a radical departure from its well-respected and relatively traditional line of microphones. The company claims a first for its MCD 100 Digital Condenser Mic, shown in pre-production form at the Fall’96 AES Convention, and due to ship in early 1997.

Beyerdynamic designed the innovative mic — the first professional mic available with on-board analog-to-digital conversion — as a joint venture with digital console maker StageTec. The MCD 100 incorporates A-to-D conversion and standard AES/EBU output within its housing, along with a conventional cardioid condenser capsule, pre-amp, and associated circuitry.

The key advantage of housing digital processing within the mic body is that it allows the signal to be digitized as early as possible in the signal chain. This avoids the possibility of noise being produced in analog amplifiers and/or line drivers. As well, the A-to-D converter can be matched precisely to the characteristics of the condenser capsule and pre-amplifier, to optimize the performance of all parts.

The MCD 100 uses an ultra-low-noise pre-amplifier, in conjunction with a 22-bit TrueMatch ADC. The converter works together with a DSP that generates AES/EBU format digital output. The mic can be connected directly to digital consoles via a standard XLR cable. No external mic preamp is required.

Phantom power is provided by a choice of supply units. The basic option is a stand-alone unit with inputs for 2 MCD 100 mics and a single stereo AES/EBU output, along with a sample rate converter. The company also plans to offer a rack-mount unit with eight inputs and various extra functions. The supply units can be synchronized with an external word clock signal.

The MCD 100 will come with a remote control that allows attenuation of the gain of the capsule pre-amp from the power supply unit, switchable to -10dB and -20dB. This gives the mic a wider potential dynamic range and increases the maximum sound pressure level. It is also possible to change the onboard EPROM software, to vary the frequency roll-off characteristics of the mic.

Beyerdynamic says that the capsule and enclosure design of the MCD 100 makes it a versatile mic that can be used for vocals or speech, as well as piano, percussion, brass and strings. The company also claims that the new mic can be operated with cable lengths of 300m without any loss or degradation of the signal (up to 500m with a special cable).

Some performance claims for the MCD 100:

• Signal-to-noise ratio: >115 dBA
• Frequency response: 20 – 20,000 Hz
• SPL Capability: 150 dBSPL
• Dynamic Range: 113 dBCCIR, 115 dBA
• Rear attenuation: >22 dB at 180° (1 kHz)

San Diego, CA. Broadcast studio equipment and solution provider Pacific Research & Engineering (PR&E) has announced the launch of its site on the world wide web, at http://www.pre.com.

The new site is aimed at three audiences: clients, prospective customers, and investors seeking product and company information.

“Broadcasting customers and investors demand round-the-clock information about products and the Company,” commented PR&E COO Michael Dosch. “The Internet is the medium that provides that access, and our web site is the portal to information on PR&E products and services, as well as company background and news.”

The site has been up officially for a week. A quick scan of the pages today shows a nicely implemented design, with a useful selection of information, lots of product photos and specs, and a cleancut interface that makes it easy to find broad categories of interest. However, some of the more interesting material is buried deep within the site, and it can be a little hard to find.

For current owners of PR&E gear, the web site provides a new channel for obtaining technical support. At the moment, this consists of email links to the tech support department, and a couple of brief application notes. It would certainly be useful to see this section expanded to include answers and suggestions regarding common concerns. Company representatives have stressed that the web site is an ongoing development, and that lots more material will be coming along soon.

Another technical info section is Tech Tips, a projected series of monthly articles written by broadcast engineers. “The tips are written for general consumption by the broadcasting public,” explains Dosch. “The articles supply boradcasters with valuable maintenance and technical tips for application on all types of production and boradcasting equipment, in an array of studio settings.”

The Tech Tips shape up as one of the most interesting parts of the PR&E site, especially for non clients. The most recent Tech Tip is a discussion of console headroom, and some of the design considerations that influence the trade off between headroom and signal-to-noise ratio. It’s a pity that these items are among the most deeply-buried pages. You may have to hunt a little to find them. Hint: they’re linked to each issue of the “AirCheck” newsletter, within the Industry News section.

Product descriptions are brief, but comprehensive. Everything from on-air consoles and studio peripherals, to cabinetry and digital audio workstations is listed and pictured, with feature lists. A key missing detail is pricing.

The PR&E web site also offers information for investors and others interested in the business side of the operation. There are details of the company’s 27-year history, biographies of top management, and corporate news such as PR&E’s recent public offering, copies of recent press coverage, and listings of job openings.

A new study of patterns in the purchasing of professional audio and video production hardware has been released by analysts Frost & Sullivan. The study shows a continuing trend towards conversion from analog to digital technologies, which is fueling growth in overall sales.

The audio production equipment market is expected to generate an annual compound growth rate of more than 14 percent until 2002. Audio products considered in the report include digital open reel recorders, digital modular multi-track tape recorders, professional audio mini-disk recorders, digital hard-disk recorders and microphones. Frost & Sullivan project that digital open-reel equipment will lose substantial market share during this period to digital hard-disk and professional Mini-Disk.

Frost & Sullivan is an international marketing consulting company that monitors the telecommunications industry for market trends, market measurements, and strategies. Among the many audio companies that took part in the study: AKG, Amek U.S., AMS Neve, Beyerdynamics, Crest Audio, Euphonix, Harrison by GLW, Mackie Designs, Otari, Panasonic/Ramsa, Sennheiser, SSL, Soundcraft and Studer-Editech.

Los Angeles, CA. George Clinton, Capitol Records New Media, Macromedia and Telos Systems are ganging up to offer a live audio cybercast concert tomorrow evening (Nov.21).

Capitol New Media will use Telos’ Audioactive technology to deliver the cybercast of Clinton’s “Live From the Mothership” concert in live Shockwave audio over the Internet, direct from the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. The webcast begins at 8:15pm (PST), at the Macromedia web site.

Macromedia Shockwave, one of the leading standards for Internet multimedia, has been combined with Audioactive to provide the highest quality live audio on the web. The combined system delivers live audio via MPEG2 Layer III compression, encoded in realtime by Telos Systems hardware. Surfers can hear the webcast using the standard Shockwave plug-in with their favorite web browser. Macromedia claims that 12 million Shockwave plug-ins are in use.