The year of 2012 was a time of change here at Designing Sound. The wise and talented Miguel Isaza has left this wonderful resource in the hands of myself and the other contributing editors. We have moved to a monthly topic format that has been exciting, rewarding and hopefully insightful. And DS welcomed new blood into the staff in Michael Taylor, Colin Hart and myself. Now … [Read more...]
Server Move This Weekend
We just wanted to give you a heads up that we're migrating servers this weekend. The move will give us a lot more direct control over the site's functionality, and a new look is going to be part of this shift. Some of the site functionality will be temporarily disabled (i.e. comments, etc.), and its possible that the site will go down at some point during this process. We'll … [Read more...]
February’s SFX Independence
Sound Effects Independence continues, and February turned out to be a pretty busy month! Here are the latest independent libraries to released. [That we've noticed.] Chuck Russom FX Chuck Russom has just released his first new library in what feels like a VERY long time, Designed Whooshes 2. It's about damned time! ;) [Remember that Chuck frequently gives out discount codes … [Read more...]
Review – The Hybrid Library
There is no shortage of general sound effects libraries on the market, and they come in a number of different sizes. Pro Sound Effects is master licensor and curators of the Blastwave FX, BBC, Foundation, and Soundrangers sound effects catalogs, among several others. They've done something a little different in putting together their new "Hybrid Library." Designed for … [Read more...]
Different Loudness Ranges for Console and Mobile Games
This article is a guest post, written by Bernard Rodrigue of middleware vendors Audiokinetic, discusses loudness measurement over a range of game audio specific scenarios, such as mobile platforms versus home consoles, and family friendly versus AAA war titles. Overview The EBU R-128 loudness recommendations and ITU-R BS.1770-3 specifications include three different kinds … [Read more...]
Experiments with Digital Microphones
While AES42 compliant digital microphones are relatively new to the audio world, they're not "brand-spanking" new. There have been several on the market for a few years now, and new ones are slowly being added as well. For all the time they've been available though, I had never heard one in action…not in a controlled environment anyway (the AES show floor is hardly the place … [Read more...]
Loudness and Metering (Part 2)
Guest contribution by Owen Green [This is the second of a two part series on loudness, mixing, metering and the new ITU loudness spec] The New Loudness Standards, and What They Might Mean for Us Depending on the field in which one worked, standard production practices have tended to be orientated around peak normalisation of material. That is, lining up recordings by their … [Read more...]