SoundCraft Ghost
SoundCraft Ghost
When manufacturers first started to design consoles for the home and project studio market, they didn’t seem to know how to make the equipment affordable enough without cutting corners. They threw out important features, loaded up the compromises — and then wasted all these savings by using clumsy, labour-intensive manufacturing techniques. We ended up with minimalised desks that didn’t really perform as well as we wanted them to. But bit by bit, low-cost manufacturing techniques improved, and the features we need have returned — and more have been added besides. We asked for more, and we have got it. Enter Soundcraft’s Ghost. I doubt such sound and build quality, and well-directed facilities have ever been available before at such a canny price.
Dynaudio BM15A Nearfield Monitor
Dynaudio BM15A
Ultimately what matters is what you actually get out of these black boxes, and on paper you can achieve a maximum of 120dB at a distance of 1 metre from a single unit. However, quantity says nothing about quality, which I’m pleased to confirm is well up to what I’ve come to expect from Dynaudio. Unlike most so-called nearfield models, the BM15As have a smoothly extended bass response that reveals what is really going on in that elusive bottom octave, though if you need to go even lower the Dynaudio ABES (Active Bass Extension System) can be used with the BM15As to achieve a low-end response of 3dB down at 35Hz.
The stereo imaging on these speakers is amongst the best I have heard. Indeed, at one point I thought I’d identified a new percussion element in one of my test records, but it turned out to be my pet rat Dylan chewing an empty toilet-roll tube directly behind my chair! There’s no weakness or discontinuity at the crossover point, and while the speakers have a very slightly forward characteristic, it doesn’t get in the way of accurate monitoring and in some ways makes it easier to hear detail. Vocals remain smooth, even at fairly high listening levels, and the response to transient bass sounds is very tight and well controlled.
Importantly, the sound, and even the stereo imaging, remains sensibly consistent if you move off axis, and despite their open, detailed sound you can listen to the BM15As for long periods with no sense of fatigue. Of course, with a maximum SPL of around 120dB, there’s more than enough level to make your head ring, but I prefer to monitor at sensible levels and consider the extra power as headroom! Absolutely everything in my test collection passed with flying colours, and even material that brings out the edginess in lesser monitors sounded smooth and pristine through the BM15As. Of course, if you do have a nasty mix playing, the BM15As will let you know in no uncertain terms, but that’s what a good monitor is all about. What’s important is that the speakers seem to have no vices of sufficient magnitude to mask the shortcomings in a recording.
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Rode NT55
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Photo: Mike Cameron
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While large-diaphragm mics attract the most attention, there are instrument recording tasks for which small-diaphragm models are much better suited. Rode have built on the success of their previous small-diaphragm models with the NT55, which provides plenty of flexibility by offering both omni and cardioid capsules. The heads simply unscrew, so changing them over takes moments. The whole kit is supplied in a small tin box with a sculpted foam lining, which means you won’t have to find space for yet another bulky camera case! When a capsule is fitted, the mic measures around 145 x 20mm and an RM5 stand clip is included in the box, complete with thread adaptor so it will fit standard US and European mic stands. Although a shockmount would have been nice, its exclusion is understandable, as it would probably have pushed the price up.
Recessed into the satin-nickel-finished body are two slide-switches, for setting an internal pad (0, -10 or -20dB) and one of three roll-off curves (-75, -150 and flat). Surface-mount components are used to achieve the necessary component density, and this approach to the design also offers the advantage of reducing noise and interference, as the length of interconnecting conductors is kept to a minimum. The output is balanced, on the usual XLR, and, because these are true capacitor capsules that require a polarising voltage, the microphones need a source of 48V phantom power to operate.
The cardioid capsule, which uses a gold-sputtered Mylar diaphragm and offers a 20Hz to 20kHz response (-3dB), has seen active service before in the Rode NT5 (reviewed in SOS August 2002). The omni capsule has a similar technical specification — other than, of course, its directional pattern. According to Rode, the microphone is intended for studio, radio, film and TV recording, live sound, theatre, surround recording and similar applications. Self-noise is 15dB SPL EIN, which is very respectable for a small-diaphragm microphone, and the sensitivity is a healthy 16mV/Pa. The dynamic range works out at 121dB but, even though the mic can handle spectacularly loud SPLs, it is perfectly happy recording quieter instruments, where the low noise-floor is a real advantage. This makes this mic as appropriate a choice for acoustic guitar as it is for drum overheads.
With the cardioid capsule fitted, the NT55 behaves much like the NT5, delivering a neutral sound with the bare minimum of noise. There’s a gentle roll-off below 100Hz, to help counter the proximity effect, and a very gentle presence hump, centred at around 8kHz, to give the sound a bit of top-end air. This capsule works well for just about any type of acoustic instrument but, where it is possible to use it, I tend to prefer the more open sound of the omni capsule, as positioning seems a little less critical than for its cardioid counterpart (this is, of course, a function of microphone physics rather than anything unique or unusual about Rode’s design). In omni mode, the low end isn’t deliberately rolled off unless you switch in the filter, and the presence peak is a little more pronounced. Alongside more general tests, I’ve done some acoustic guitar recording (with both nylon-string and steel-string guitars) using this mic in this mode as part of a new project involving a couple of high-profile virtuoso players, and the results were excellent. I used an SE Reflexion filter behind the NT55, to minimise the amount of room reflections getting into the back of the mic, and was rewarded by a well-focused, very natural sound, with plenty of definition.
I found that the NT55 gave me really high-quality results, and I was genuinely surprised when I found that the cost of the complete kit was under £200. While you may be able to buy microphones that are technically better in specific areas, the tangible differences in performance are quite small and the differences in cost very large — a case of diminishing returns. You can also buy cheaper microphones, but you tend to pay in terms of quality. You’ll probably detect a hint of enthusiasm here, so you won’t be surprised to learn that the NT55 is my current microphone of choice for acoustic guitar and small percussion, and I’m very much looking forward to trying it on other projects. If you want truly professional performance from a limited budget, the NT55 offers an excellent performance to price ratio — so why compromise?