Testimonials – Pyramix Users.

Andrew Tulloch London.

Fed up with mixing by mouse, Tulloch began looking for an assignable desk or control surface a few years ago, but was never happy with the options on offer. “I wanted some assignability, because with the larger projects I work on, I’m often up to 60 or 70 tracks. My last desk had only 48 channels, and I was forever sub-mixing.

Through his ownership of Pyramix, Tulloch knew the team at eMerging, the DAW’s UK distributor, and mentioned his requirements to them. When they became UK distributors for Smart AV in late 2008, they suggested that Tango, with its newly written support for Pyramix, might fit his needs. After a demonstration at eMerging’s HQ in South-west London, he was convinced.

“Tango had everything I’d been looking for, at about a third of the price of some of the other surfaces I’d been looking at. Now, if I want six channels of drums and then a Fender Rhodes next to it on the console so I can experiment with the balance, I just assign the channels to the faders I want and save the whole arrangement as one of Smart’s Ergonomic Spreads. If you want to call up the vocals and experiment with levels against various instruments, you can engage the Hold on the vocal channels and then they stay ‘locked’ to the same faders while you assign different instruments to the other channels or switch banks. And you can change it all around just as quickly. But you don’t lose the visual feedback from the channel – you’ve always got a clear idea of what’s assigned where from the touchscreen above the faders. The integration with Pyramix is good, too, and deepening all the time , “I love the fact that when I want to save a Project and all its settings, I just hit Save on the Tango and the whole mix is stored”. Even Tango’s physical dimensions and ergonomics are well thought-out; it’s angled right and it’s comfortable to work at. Andrew Tulloch thinks it has the capacity to grow with his setup and requirements. “This is the control surface I’d been waiting to come along for years – it works the way I like to work,” he concludes. “I’m looking at getting surround monitoring in here for my film sound work, and it’s ready for that, too, so I think it’ll keep pace with my setup as it develops.”

Blue Studios – www.andrewtulloch.com

Ron Hope UK.

Having used AMS Neve Audiofile extensively for over 18 years with a variety of analogue and digital Neve consoles, he knew what he was looking for in terms of sound quality and integration. Ron says, “I knew that Pyramix would provide the sound quality and editing tools I was looking for when I chose it over ProTools in 2005. But what it was missing was a fast and tactile control surface with a quality feel. Originally, like many users, I started out with a mid range 8 fader HUI box, since that was about the only option available. To be fair it worked quite well, and I mixed a couple of hundred documentaries on it until SmartAV’s Tango came along. Now I have the feel, responsiveness and durability I am looking for in a worksurface, plus great additional features that enhance the way I work, all at a project studio price.”

“Paul Mortimer from eMerging, the Pyramix distributors in the UK, emailed me about this new control surface they were starting to ship. He thought it would be perfect for my operation and invited me down for a demo. The timing couldn’t have been better as I’d just been offered a contract to deliver 160 shows for the BBC by a major British production company. Because of the inevitable tight turn around, I wanted to speed things up where I could in my home studio. Tango lets me do just that. The freely assignable edit panel makes working with Pyramix a breeze by placing all of my favourite functions directly on the touch screen, quite literally at my fingertips! The touch sensitive faders are smooth and easily compare to the pro consoles I use when freelancing. Taking the opportunity to upgrade to ‘Pyramix Masscore’ at the same time has given me an unbelievable amount of horsepower for a small studio setup and the Tango just takes that on to another level.”

Ron continues to mix for the UKs major broadcasters. To find out more about Ron and post production sound at Magenta Penguin Ltd contact info@magentapenguin.com

OnTech Studio Hong Kong.

The ON Technology team were impressed with the award winning, ergonomically designed Tango controller, with its scalable mixing, tracking and editing capabilities. Mr TS Chan, Managing Director, is a leading acoustic designer having built over 40 studios in Hong Kong, Tai Wan, China, and parts of Asia, says: “As soon as we saw the Tango, it stood out from the crowd. It’s a great controller”.

ON Technology are excited to introduce to fellow audio engineers and other recording and production facilities. Adds Chan, “it’s an intuitive system which will appeal to both experienced engineers in professional studios and the keen home user.”

John Newton Soundmirror Boston.

Soundmirror were already familiar with the patented ARC Technology having purchased the first Smart Console Elite in North America some years ago. The Elite is a powerful tool and Soundmirror had put it through its paces and tested the compatibility with their Pyramix workstations. On seeing the Tango for the first time, it was love at first sight. Says John Newton, Grammy award-winner in 2008 (for Best Engineered Classical Album), “The Tango’s good looks, especially its touch screen, immediately catch your eye – the layout is superb and makes it very easy to use. However, our decision to purchase was made because we already knew the compatibility of Pyramix and the ARC Technology, so that Tango would make our work faster and easier.”

The Tango has many features and is a perfect solution for Soundmirror’s requirements; it gives a user fast control over the Pyramix workstation via a Cat 5 cable (and is just as fast with Logic, Final Cut Pro, Nuendo, and Pro Tools). The whole process of mixing is speeded up as layouts can be recalled immediately via the user definable touch screen layout. It’s possible to control up to 300 channels, which is more than enough even for the largest orchestra or choir. Soundmirror have an impressive list of clients, from world-renowned orchestras to world-famous record labels. Much of their work is done on location, which means taking all recording equipment with them; thankfully the Tango units are smaller than comparable controllers,

Jungle Jim Tokyo.

Jungle Gym Adds Tango and it’s Extension Bay Jungle Gym is a popular post-production in Tokyo held by Euro Pictures a production company for many motor racing DVD and video. They have been in business for 5 years using Pyramix and Yamaha DM2000. Recently they replaced the Yamaha DM2000 with Tango and an Extension Bay.

Chief Engineer Mr.Koyama says “We are a very busy studio and we used to be quite happy with Pyramix and Yamaha DM2000 but it is a time to move ahead. Replacing with the Tango system, the studio got more working space, less cables, a more simplified studio system.”
“The new Tango system is great because the faders can be assigned to mono, stereo and even surround channels. So, I can have everything I want just in front of me.” He continues, “Another benefit is that we got more room for our customers. It will give them more relaxation space and a good atmosphere”.

Dream Sound Tokyo.

The First Tango in Tokyo Dream Sound in Akasaka, Tokyo is a Post Production House equipped with Merging Technologies Pyramix and Finalcut Pro from Apple, and is working on many TV programs and DVDs of theatre plays.

Owner and Chief engineer Mr.Liu says,
“We need many tracks. It goes up to 80 to 90 sometimes. We had been working with YAMAHA 02R and Pyramix. However, time is important so we need new solution. Smart AV Tango is perfectly matched to our demand”. He continues, “Now Tango is placed in centre of the studio and hopefully it will have more new features with up coming Pyramix v6.1. We are really excited with it”.

Ric Curtin

Ric Curtin works as a sound editor and mixer for television, documentary and film clients, using the Pyramix workstation, through his company Curtin Productions.

“The Tango has enhanced my workflow. While editing, I have all my keyboard shortcuts programmed to the 20 touch buttons, so everything I need is under one hand and my other hand does not have to leave the mouse. Being able to program an extra command on the release of the button, such as ‘enter’, I can nearly halve my ‘clicks’ while editing, thus speeding up my day.

“Mixing is more fun with touch-sensitive faders and being able to eq with real knobs and to make changes as small as 0.5 db. And I like the Tango’s memories for eq settings, its ability to interrogate the whole mix with the MonARC, and the jog wheel features.

“Add to all this proper talkback, the facility to switch monitors with reference level settings, solid construction and impressive look, I am very happy with my Tango.”

Kairos musique Paris

“Kairos musique” is a Postproduction facility based in Paris around Pyramix Masscore. Philippe Engel the manager and senior recording/mixing engineer is specialized in classical music and opera.

He has collaborated with French TV channels like France3, France2 and ARTE.