Strother Bullins is a North Carolina-based freelance writer specializing in the professional audio, music and entertainment industries.
Jimmy Daniel — a producer, engineer and all-around nice Southern gentleman — will be the first to tell you that he is, first and foremost, in the "content" business. He works primarily in the audio-for-broadcast industry, recording live performances and on-location sessions: audio content for television, radio and internet/new media broadcasts. Music is his passion; providing audio content is his job. And Daniel, like many other young professionals in the pro audio industry, takes his passion and his job very seriously.
The results of Daniel's seriousness is apparent in his latest business venture: JDM Mobile — a remote broadcast recording company featuring "Beluga," a 40-foot, lead-lined mobile recording truck equipped with the most dependable and best-sounding recording gear he could find. Daniel bounces between offices in three Southern entertainment hubs — Atlanta, Nashville and Orlando — but will go almost anywhere in his posh white Freightliner to provide his clients with the highest quality audio possible.
"Live entertainment is an extremely large focus when it comes to content," explains Daniel. "We have equipment just like any professional recording studio would, but we're really honed in to capturing and posting audio for broadcast, as well as broadcasting live. We're dealing with producers putting together content, and we're producers ourselves whether it's for a televised award show or an AOL live performance. The differences between these clients can be tremendous; one client may want one setup because they're broadcasting in one particular format. If you're doing live audio-for-broadcast for a major network, it's obviously going to be a different feel than audio capture for post or even a small live web portal."
A recurring difference in the needs of JDM Mobile clients may be based on individual bandwidth requirements of their chosen broadcast medium (or the limitations thereof). "In some ways, it's kind of silly, but some of the new media broadcast stuff can be captured at 24 bit/96 kHz, and then it's dumbed down to fit the Internet," offers Daniel. "However, we're going out there to capture pristine audio, and there's a lot of people who need to make things sound better in 8-bit. For the new media clients, that's a huge dilemma and something we have to face. We capture things the best we can and make it sound great in the truck or in our post facility to provide our customer with the best audio that we possibly can."
The Truck
Daniel has a history of equipping and building mobile recording trucks for others, but Beluga was the first truck he put together for his own use. He first called upon his friends at Frontline Communications — a company that builds no-compromise broadcast industry trucks — for a heavy-duty chassis. "It was an amazing venture to jump into something with no compromises," he recalls. "From the chassis to the box, to the frame, to the power, it was an extensive venture way before the gear was considered, and we did it all to the nines. Building a mobile truck is just like building a great studio: it has to be built on a great foundation."
Daniel, who professes to be an analog guy at heart, knew that the truck must be designed with an all-digital signal flow. "I love analog, copper and two-inch tape machines," he insists. "But this truck was to be for broadcast and we needed fiber-optics for longer runs. We also wanted it to be very comfortable with enormous amounts of redundancy."
Equipping Beluga
Daniel spent about two full years on gear selection, trying and considering any and all pro-level equipment options. "I started out thinking of having Millennia Media preamps for onstage — doing some of the higher-end stuff," he offers on beginning the process in microphone preamp mode. He eventually selected an all-Aphex 1788A Microphone Preamplifier System provided signal via a 96-input Radial Engineering Custom Shop isolated snake system.
"I put those up against other mic preamps and the Apogee converters I was currently using," recalls Daniel. "In the end, the Aphex 1788A was where we hung our hats. We have been absolutely thrilled with their versatility and sonics. I've had clients ask, 'Do those things sound great?' and — after putting high-end preamps up against them — they've been chosen every single time. The 1788A is a tremendous mic preamp, as well as a tremendous converter. In choosing our own isolation splits, I went solely on my ears. I listened to a bunch of stuff and locked in on the Radial stuff with Jensen transformers. We have three total splits, which gives us a lot of flexibility."
All signal after the Aphex converters travels MADI to Beluga courtesy of a RME ADI-648 64-channel multichannel digital audio interface. MADI hits another RME ADI-648 on the truck, then straight into a dual Yamaha DM2000 V2 console system linked to two Pro Tools|HD3 192-kHz DAWs running in redundancy. "I tested five different consoles," explains Daniel on his choosing the DM2000, which allows him to go up to 128 inputs when required. "Because of the demands of the industry, there's a lot of different input and output patching configurations that need to happen. Having two DM2000s in the truck gives us a very large spread for both 5.1 and stereo. And in my world where you have to worry about the 'one-pass catch,' this system is the most solid setup. Our audio quality — from the Aphex front-end to the two Yamaha consoles — sounds great and works incredibly well."
Daniel points out more crucial gear, and there's a lot of it (just check out his website). But most notable is his TC Electronics System 6000 and a surround configuration of five ADAM S3A powered midfield monitors. "We use the mastering section of the TC Electronic System 6000," he explains. "It's been a great piece for 5.1 broadcast. It's very flexible, and even when we're not in 5.1 we can use it for four banks of super effects processing. I originally heard the S3A monitors when Jazz at Lincoln Center's studio opened, and I was blown away by their flexibility. Sure, I may have a monitor preference that works just for me, but I didn't build this truck for me. I built it for all of our potential clientele. The ADAMs are great for the space, too; we didn't do any room monitors, so we needed something with a bit of beef behind them — those do."
Daniel, asked what might be next on the Beluga's equipment list, can't hide his enthusiasm for the upcoming TASCAM X-48, a to-be-released standalone 48-track DAW capable of 24 bit/96 kHz, 24 bit/192 kHz for 24-tracks. "We can't wait until they're available," he says. "They will be used primarily on stage as a safety. We really believe that it will reduce our worries as far as capture is concerned."
Capturing Crucial Content
It is in having a constant concern for never missing a beat where the equipment on Beluga primarily deviates from that of a traditional recording studio. Daniel needs great sounding audio as well as bulletproof, first-pass recording capabilities — and not necessarily in that order. "We're not in a bricks-and-mortar room, where we can get a second and third chance," he concludes. "We must have the best convergence of hardware and software that we can. It's absolutely crucial in audio-for-broadcast."
You can see what JDM Mobile is all about at their website, www.jdmmobile.com.
Microphones Need sound amplified or recorded? Shure microphones are the recognized leader for both stage and studio. Wireless Microphone Systems available online.
Audio Visual Equipment Find quality audio and visual equipment. Plasma tv's, LCD monitors, projectors, and much more at affordable prices.
Site
contents Copyright 2008 NewBay Media, LLC All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission
of NewBay Media, LLC is prohibited.
for reprint information.
