Townsend Labs Sphere 3D mic modelling system was recently announced with just a tease and an email sign-up.
There's been a lot of comments posted in various places online suggesting everything from it being vapourware, months away, or simply wondering how it will sound. Well we've been sworn to secrecy over the many details, we understand they are coming from the team at Townsend Labs in the next week or so, but what we can say is that it is real and it is amazing.
James has managed to blag* one of the first ones on the planet and is now working away on an extensive review of the the new Townsend Labs, Sphere – 3D Mic Modelling system, so check back soon to find out more.
What he can say is;
"this could well be the last microphone I will ever buy, it gives latency free recording through a ton of classic mics."
The following info has been posted on the UAD Forum.
So what is Sphere exactly?
For starters, the Sphere L22 is a large-diaphragm single-point dual-channel microphone combined with the Sphere UAD DSP plugin for using with Apollo and ultra-low latency, as well as a Native version for after-the-fact processing with any system.
It's also a system that's much more forgiving of mic placement than any microphone in existence, with tunable polar dead zones, and even the ability to change the mic, pattern and angle/axis to a large extent after tracking. Beyond that, it's an infinitely creative tool allowing a mic to be used beyond the physical limitations of the target mic by exaggerating or removing aspects and polar patterns associated with the placement and modeled microphone. We didn't even get to the fact that it can simultaneously be two mics at once in either mono or stereo configurations. Yeah, it's a lot to take in, but, fortunately, it's quite intuitive and even provides the option of a no-nonsense plugin interface, if you'd prefer that to the bells and whistles version.
I am finishing up a full review and more. Townsend Lab's founders Chris Townsend (the power behind AVID Eleven's exceptional modeling technology) and Erik Papp will also be able to add detail and would be happy to answer some questions on here as well.
The mic itself is a pretty great and versatile beast. It's well-made and very attractive. It also has some very cool features to help you calibrate your preamp levels (very important for the level of precision the Sphere is capable of).
Here's some info from Townsend Labs:
The Sphere L22 microphone system from Townsend Labs models the characteristics of the most sought-after large-diaphragm condenser microphones with amazing accuracy, and allows selection of different mics and patterns even after tracking.
The Sphere system consists of an extremely high precision dual channel microphone, which when paired with the included SphereTM DSP plug-in (UAD, VST, AU, AAX Native) accurately models the response of a wide range of mics, including transient response, harmonics, proximity effect and three-dimensional polar response.
Now You Can:
Record with the sound of microphones many have only dreamt about
Change mic type, polar pattern, and other microphone characteristics, even after tracking!
Audition the sound of different microphones without tiring the vocalist
Reduce bleed, undesirable room coloration, and other common issues using Off-Axis CorrectionTM
Record in stereo from a single microphone
Much more
Be sure to sign up for their email list for more info here - Townsend Labs