After 20+ years in professional audio: live sound engineering, studio technical direction (Deep Forest, Pierre Jacquot), head of digital marketing at Playback.fr. A first-hand witness to the analog-to-digital shift, I track the whole audio landscape and break it down here — no fluff.
The new Yamaha DM5 sets a high bar, and so does its price. Here are eight compact digital consoles that do the same job, from true rivals to more affordable alternatives, with an honest take on how each stacks up against it.
Telefunken re-issues its M80-SH low-profile dynamic for 2026: 40% lighter, 10% shorter, with vibration-dampening built in. A 50 Hz – 18 kHz supercardioid designed for tight positions on stage.
Brazilian maker EMW unveils the S-8000, a small desktop sample-playback synth. Multi-samples on microSD, a resonant filter, envelopes and onboard effects: a modern rompler approach, open to your own sounds.
At IBC 2026, four manufacturers and a research institute founded the LMMG to finally measure dialog intelligibility with a shared unit, the DIU. A direct answer to the recurring viewer complaint: “we can’t understand what’s being said.”
However good it is, a main PA never covers a whole room evenly. Front fills, delays and out fills plug the level and intelligibility gaps — as long as you delay and align them properly. A field guide.
A compressor is not defined by its ratio or attack time alone: its gain topology shapes speed, colour and feel. Here is how to tell FET, VCA, opto and vari-mu apart, and how to pick the right one for the source.
Sound Forge continues its new life at Boris FX. The 2026 version of the single-file audio editor focuses on precise editing, restoration, mastering with Wave Hammer 2.0 and CALM Act metering for broadcast delivery.
The free 5.0 update opens Arturia’s MiniFreak hybrid synth to your own samples (WAV/AIFF/FLAC at 12-bit) and wavetables. A new Factory Bank of 23 presets shows the way.
At IBC 2026, Neumann unveils the KK 104 A and KK 105 A, two capsule heads for Sennheiser handheld transmitters. They replace the KK 204/205 and bring the sound of the wired KMS mics into a wireless format.
In-line or split? Behind the jargon are two ways to organise a studio console, and two ways to think about recording and mixing. Here’s how to tell them apart and why it still matters.