Broadcast sound specialist Red TX generated plenty of interest when it officially unveiled its new RED II mobile recording unit at Pinewood Studios before an audience of invited guests from various music and broadcast industry trade associations.
The new truck, which is designed to cater for 3D and 7.1 surround sound productions, enables Red TX to tackle more high quality broadcast productions without the need to outsource. Its innovative design also makes it much easier to mix surround sound audio in a live environment – and it’s a lot more comfortable for the people working on-board.
Ian Dyckhoff, managing director of Red TX, says: “We were hamstrung by only having one truck and were often forced to lease other vehicles to fulfil our obligations. Having a second truck will allow us to increase workflow and offer clients the latest technology on the market.”
RED II was unveiled at SoundPro2011, a business and social networking event organised by the Association of Professional Recording Services (APRS) at Pinewood Studios. Other industry organisations attending included the Music Producers Guild, AMPS, BKSTS, GBFTB and IBS.
The truck features the highest insulating specifications so that those working on board can hear themselves think, even in the noisiest of concert or festival environments. The main studio area, which is a lead-lined, floating room within a room, is equipped with PMC ALM 1 active 7.1 surround sound monitoring and a Studer Vista 8 Digital mixing system powered by the latest ‘S’ core technology. 96 x 24/96 remote mic amps are included as standard, with additional blocks of 48 (up to 240) available for larger projects. All microphone inputs are 24bit/96kHz with full DSP on every channel.
RED II can offer simultaneous mixes to a variety of different formats and 40-bit processing for the highest signal quality. Recording is carried out via Pyramix, Pro Tools and Logic, and there is also an extensive range of digital effects onboard including a TC Systems 6000 mainframe and a Lexicon PCM96 digital reverberation system.
Uniquely for a vehicle of this type, RED II incorporates an additional production/overdub and video gallery room, which is ideal for broadcast clients that want to set up fly-pack television facilities. A great deal of time and attention has been paid to the acoustics and ergonomics of this recording space. It has silent ducted air-conditioning, while the shell is of full double wall, lead-lined construction, with the inner space floated on neoprene for maximum isolation from passing traffic and noisy environments such as festivals and outdoor concerts.
“Everything about this truck is of the highest quality,” says Ian Dyckhoff, who was in charge of the build and technical install. “When you are working in a live sound environment there is no room for error so the equipment on board had to be both reliable and capable of delivering exceptional results. We built this truck with no compromises and our attention to detail is already paying dividends because all our clients are now asking us to use it, for every project.”
RED II has already been put through its paces on a number of projects, including the recent Linkin Park concert in Moscow’s Red Square where the band performed Iridescent, a track from their new album A Thousand Suns which features on the soundtrack of the new Transformers movie, Dark of the Moon. Red TX was on hand to capture the audio for the concert, which was broadcast across MTV’s platform of networks as part of the blockbuster’s world premier at the Moscow International Film Festival.
Other recent outings for the vehicle include this summer’s Download festival, and a trip to Cologne in Germany for the world-wide launch of the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album I’m With You, where the production/overdub space was used as a temporary edit suite.
“During the course of my career, I’ve built and installed quite a few mobile recording trucks – in fact I think this is my 11th,” says Ian Dyckhoff. “But I can honestly say this is the best of the lot – it is a fantastic place in which to work and it blows every other truck on the market out of the water.”
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About Red TX:
Red TX provides a comprehensive concert recording and broadcast service to the music and television industries. The company has state-of-the-art mobile recording facilities and can handle projects of any size or complexity. As well as recording audio for broadcast, the company also records live music events for subsequent release on CD or DVD. It is headed by Ian Dyckhoff and Tim Summerhayes, both of whom have extensive experience in delivering high-quality audio for broadcast. www.red-tx.com
