Mastering Engineer Alan Silverman Uses Revel Studio2 Loudspeakers To Provide Clear And Accurate Audio At Arf! Mastering Studio

A pair of Revel Studio2 loudspeakers produces rich, immersive sound perfectly suited for mastering tracks.

ELKHART, Indiana – When mastering engineer Alan Silverman is working on an album, he needs to judge each track at the highest possible level to ensure his final product is even and without intrusive or unwanted noise. Silverman is the final step in a long production process, and as such, ascribes to the theory that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That’s why he uses a pair of Revel Studio2 loudspeakers in his Arf! Mastering Studios to provide him with a higher-level audio standard.

As the owner of Arf! Mastering Studios, Silverman has contributed to the mastering of a variety of highly successful records. He is currently working on the mastering for James Carter, in addition to other notable acts, including legendary folk singer Judy Collins, The Holmes Brothers and more.

Because he works with such a wide variety of acts, Silverman says he needed a set of versatile speakers that could keep up. He replaced his old speakers with a set of Revel Studio2s in late 2009 and saw an immediate improvement in accuracy, clarity and range.

“When you’re listening to the same record for 10 hours a day, it’s easy for your ears to get tired, and when that happens, you can miss important details that really affect the quality of the final product,” said Silverman. “But with my Revel Studio2s, that doesn’t happen. They have a really smooth treble, but it’s not dark; the audio is clear, but it’s not biting. I can listen to whatever I’m mastering at low or high volumes for long periods of time and still hear everything perfectly.”

The speakers are set up four and a half feet from the walls behind them and three and half feet from the walls on the side, with Silverman sitting 10 feet in front of them to allow the sound and wave front to have plenty of space to develop. Designed for precisely focused imagery, the speakers produce low coloration and low distortion and provide Silverman with the high quality midrange and top end audio that’s necessary for detailed mastering. Most importantly for Silverman, they also provide an unparalleled level of clarity when played at any level.

“They sound great when I play them at a low volume, too, and that’s important,” Silverman said. “I’m usually playing them pretty low, relatively speaking, and I’m still able to pick up on all of the nuances that I need to hear.”

Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com), designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. Harman International maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and employs more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”

Harman Launches Four New Websites For Its High Performance A/V Brands, Adding A Higher Level Of Support And Convenience

Each new website for Harman’s Revel, Mark Levinson, Lexicon, and JBL Synthesis brands showcase elite home theater technologies and provide customers with comprehensive purchasing information , Nick Smith

In a move that brings greater organization to each of its High Performance A/V brands and provides its customers with a centralized location for gathering information on all of its products, Harman today launched four new websites for its Revel, Mark Levinson, Lexicon, and JBL Synthesis brands. Each website is designed with an easy-to-navigate, stylish format and together showcase a complete set of Harman’s high performing, aesthetically pleasing home theater technologies.

In addition to an introductory page that automatically showcases the most popular products from each brand, the websites feature six tabs that each serve a different purpose: An “About Us” tab gives a detailed history of the brand’s heritage, contact information and its presence in Harman’s mobile showroom; a “Products” tab allows the user to browse through a catalog of every available product and also provides detailed information about each, including the products features, technical specifics, photo gallery, and frequently asked questions; the “Support” tab gives phone numbers and email addresses for technical support of each brand; a “Where to Buy” tab allows visitors to find the closest U.S. dealer or international distributor to them; a “Press” section gives the most recent news and announcements from each brand; and, finally, there is a “Gear” tab that directs visitors to the online swag store, where they browse through and purchase clothing and other apparel from any one of the four brands.

“Our team has put a lot of time and effort into the development of each website to ensure that we have addressed every possible need for all of our customers and dealers,” commented Marc Kellom, Vice President of Marketing, Harman High Performance A/V. “The websites are designed to bring a greater level of support to our customers and dealers and satisfy the needs of anyone who is looking for more information about any of our industry leading products.”

Before the websites went live, finding more information on Harman’s High Performance A/V products meant calling in to the technical support or visiting multiple websites for more information. Now, that information has been consolidated to each of the four websites. Anyone who is interested in installing a new home theater display or upgrading an existing system can simply go to any one of the websites, learn about which components are best suited for their situation, find out where to purchase each product and even learn about how to optimize the installation of each.

For dealers, the websites can act as a guide for their customers. Dealers can refer their customers to the website to view product shots, read more about each product, and see each product in photos of existing home theater systems. Using the website allows dealers and their customers to discuss any purchase on a more detailed level and accomplish more in less time.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 11,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.2 billion for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2010. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

Harman Appoints Audio Industry Veteran Jim Garrett To The New Role Of Market Manager For Its High Performance A/V Brands

Nick Smith

Harman today announced appointment of audio industry veteran Jim Garrett to the position of Market Manager for the Harman High Performance A/V brands – Mark Levinson, Lexicon, Revel, and JBL Synthesis. Garrett brings over eighteen years of industry experience in both research-and-development for audio-engineering and high-end home audio marketing, and will use this experience to continue the expansion of Harman’s Revel, Mark Levinson, JBL Synthesis, and Lexicon brands.

Before joining the Harman team, Garrett worked at CEDIA where he was the Director of Technical Training for the Education Department and the staff liaison for the Instructor Pool, Sales Representatives, and EST Content Action teams. Prior to his time at CEDIA, Garrett worked as a consultant for Velodyne Acoustics and spent nine years at Klipsch Group, Inc. where he was Director of Product Planning. While at Klipsch, Garrett led the development of numerous award-winning and industry-leading audio product lines for the Klipsch and Aragon brands, including a complete suite of THX Ultra2-certified electronics and speaker system and the Palladium and Reference Series lines of loudspeakers.

Garrett’s career started with stints in retail beginning with three years at Best Buy as an assistant store manager and four and a half years in sales and management at a CEDIA channel specialty retailer and integrator. At Harman, Garrett will be responsible for new product roadmaps, marketing strategy, and marketing communications for the High Performance A/V Brands.

“Jim’s experience as a product planning manager and his time in retail put him in the perfect position to carry out a long and successful career with Harman High Performance A/V,” said Marc Kellom, vice president of marketing for Harman High Performance A/V. “We’re all very confident that he will make an immediate and profound contribution to the team and we are excited to begin working with him.”

Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com), designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. Harman International maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and employs more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”

Digital Domain Mastering Uses The Revel Ultima Gem2 Loudspeakers To Continue Its Tradition Of GRAMMY Award Winning Excellence

“Mastering has become a breeze with the Revel Ultima Gem2. I know exactly what I’m getting and how it’s going to translate to any other system,” states Bob Katz, President and Mastering Engineer, Digital Studios., Nick Smith

With over one thousand records mastered and three GRAMMY-award winning albums credited to its studio in Orlando, Florida, Digital Domain Mastering knows what it takes to produce quality music. That’s why they recently installed two Revel Ultima Gem2 loudspeakers to provide the mastering process with sonic integrity and quality performance.

The speakers, which are optimally placed in an equilateral triangle nine feet from the listener in an acoustically treated mastering room, add a depth of versatility and precision to the mastering process that was absent before their arrival, according to Bob Katz, president and mastering engineer, Digital Domain Mastering.“Every day I use the Ultima Gem2's to make critical judgments on the tonality and impact of music including rock, folk, hip hop, jazz, and classical,” Katz said. “They work well with all styles of music and they streamline my workflow because they are accurate and I can make instant judgments as to the quality of the sound.” Katz selected the Revel loudspeakers because he knew they would provide the most ideal compliment to the subwoofer approach that he and his team take to mastering.

They placed the Ultima Gem2s at an ear level height, which gives him and his team the ability to make less than 0.5 dB changes in equalization in any range and hear the effect and allows them to reveal any problems with the source material while mastering.“Toe-in position is critical as with any high-end monitor,” Katz said while explaining the positioning of the speakers. “But when you set them just right, you are rewarded with an extended, spacious and even soundstage.”Although a compact loudspeaker, the Gem2 has an impressive driver array utilized by an 8-inch woofer producing as low as 80Hz and complemented by a dedicated midrange driver. With its titanium concave cones, more pressure and enhanced rigidity compromise in giving less distortion and crisp response. The Gem2 is one of four products that comprise the Ultima Series; the others being the Salon2 and Studio2 floor-standing loudspeakers, and the Voice2 center-channel loudspeaker.