Right out of the box, you may be surprised at the size of this device.  The 8816 hangs 14 inches behind the rack braces.  It’s not as heavy as you might expect, though.  The smooth, sleek knobs and buttons might not seem too durable, but the 8816 is actually solidly built.  Part of the lightness is due to the back that the power supply is external.  Don’t be overwhelmed by the many different controls on the front—you’ll get used to them, and they really give you many different options.  This is more than just a 16-to-2 mix engine, after all.

The 8816 can be summed up in one word, and that word is “flexibility.”  You’ll be amazed at how much you can do.  Part of this is because almost every knob and button has two functions, which means you’ll need to be certain you’re on the right setting each time.  You’ll have no trouble with that after reading the handbook (a must in this case).  Some controls aren’t really intuitive.

But how does it sound?  The mixing system works very well.  The 8816 uses the same software as Neve’s other 88-series units.  If you’re familiar with this software, called Recall, then you’ll have no trouble jumping right in after you’ve got the controls down.  The 8816 has a lot of headroom and gives your mixes that classic transformer mixing topology that people love.  It sounds very analogue.  The 8816 isn’t cheap, though: it retails for $3,650.

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The BM 12A isn’t meant for use in a huge performance space.  Instead, this two-way, active near-field monitor is designed for use in home and project studios in relatively close quarters.  Opening up the box, you might be a bit surprised at how it looks.  Sometimes monitors are simply boxy, unattractive things, but someone took the time to make the BM 12A look pretty nice.  It’s also lightweight—each one only weighs about 27 pounds.  On the back is one XLR connector for input.  There aren’t any RCA or ¼ inch plugs, so note that you may need to buy a new cable.

The monitor has a three-band EQ so you can tune it for your unique acoustic area.  All of the EQ points are fixed, plus you only get a few gain settings for each band, so there’s no real fine-tuning here.  However, you can cut down on some of the sound issues caused by placement.

When it comes to sound quality, the BM 12A is definitely not a disappointment.  It can handle a lot of stereo imaging and detail.  The harmonics sound very crisp, and each note is faithfully reproduced with all the rich details.  If there’s one area it’s a bit lacking in, it’s sub-bass registers, but nothing is perfect.  As it is, you’re getting very accurate and detailed sound.  A pair of BM 12As cost $2,345.

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The 4050 is actually a matched pair of mics mounted on a very versatile magnetic mount.  Each of these mics is a 4x2 inch cylinder that can be completely detached from the magnetic center ring mount.  Thanks to the stereo/dual mono mounting system, you can use the capsules individually if you have a second mount, or combine them and use the double capsule setup.  Coles actually offers a second mount if you want to use the two capsules separately.  Coles even offers a combo package that comes with two mounts.  The 4050s have a hotter output than a lot of passive ribbon mics, but they need a clean preamp with a lot of gain to sound outstanding.

The Coles 4050 actually reuses some of the inner workings that Coles used in their 4040 mic, but the 4050 has been simplified.   The mount lets you rotate the mics a full 360 degrees, giving you unlimited versatility.  The mics themselves are very warm and have a nice, classic sound.  It works great when recording guitars and percussion.

The fact that the 4050 features two mics that can be used together or apart is certainly different and useful.  The 360 degree mount lets you select the angle and position of the mic, which is certainly one reason for going with the 4050.  The 4050 retails for $2,495.

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But the Workhorse 500 is more than just a 500 Series rack and more than a mixer.  In fact, it has plenty of little features and differences that truly set it apart from other devices.  One example is the Feed switch included in the I/O section of each card.  This takes the output from one unit and internally transfers it to the input of the adjacent card.  You can also have the module feed the mixer internally.  Each module also features a ¼ inch TRS Omniport.  This provides extra abilities depending on the function of the module.  For example, it can become an instrument input if you’re using Radial PowerPre.

The mixer is a very clean device that has a nice, solid design and operates with very low noise.  Each channel features an on/off switch, confidence meter, panner, and rotary level control.  The control feeds into the main output bus, volume control, and monitor bus.  The Workhorse works very well with both Radial 500 Series modules and modules by other manufacturers.  Unfortunately, not all of the third-party devices make use of the added feature set on the Workhorse (the Omniport, for example), but some do.

Despite any small issues with third-party devices, you’ll find that the Workhorse 500 is definitely a great device for multitasking and combining all of your 500 Series modules (and others) into one device.  It’s got a lot of features and it sounds really nice.  It retails for $1,600.

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When you take the A8X out of the packaging, you’ll notice right away how powerful it looks.  It features a 8.5-inch carbon/glass-fiber/Rohacell woofer that gets 150WRMS and a 56mm X-ART tweeter that can receive 50WRMS from the amps.  The frequency reproduction is divided between the two; the woofer handles everything below the crossover frequency of 2.3 kHz, while the tweeter deals with the upper range up to 50 kHz.  The A8X is front-loaded and features dual-ports, which extend the LF response time down to 38 Hz.

On the rear panel, you’ll find inputs for unbalanced RCA or balanced XLR.  Both are active all the time, so you’ll have to use one or the other—there’s no switch to control which is on.  Once your monitors are up and running, you’ll hear some really nice imaging and a huge sweet spot.  The bass response is really nice and fills up the room.  However, some sounds like female sopranos or midrange string instruments recede a bit and aren’t as pronounced as you might like.

Overall, the A8X is a good speaker system, even though it does have some drawbacks.  Some sounds might seem different on the A8X, especially the critical midrange.  However, for the price of $999 each, these speakers are certainly a good bargain.

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The device features eight channel strips with touch-sensitive motorized faders.  There are also solo, channel select, record-arm, and mute buttons, plus eight rotary encoders that can be assigned to different functions.  Illuminated locater and transport controls, a channel zoom with four navigation buttons, channel/bank shift, fader flip, and a job/scrub wheel complete the controls on the device.
ProjectMix I/O features almost every kind of I/O possible.  It has eight analog mic inputs with individual control switches and gain knobs, an ADAT Lightpipe I/O, word clock, S/PDIF I/O, a MIDI interface, and a hi-Z instrument input.  It supports sampling rates of 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz on all ports.  It can truly handle just about anything you may need it to.

There’s really just one major downside to the ProjectMix I/O, and that’s the cost.  It retails for $1,599.95.  However, for everything it does, that’s not a huge expense.  You can also add Pro Tools M-Powered 7 for an extra $299.

The EW112P’s clip on mic is designed to reproduce speech in a very clear and natural way, making it easy to both hear and understand.  The bodypack transmitter is as compact as one can be, while the diversity receiver easily clips onto the shoe mount of any camera.  This mic is capable of providing the same quality sound asy ou’d get in a professional TV studio, even if the elements are against you.  There’s nothing more you need, either—this package contains everything requires to record sound.

Here are a few additional features found on the EW112P: it has an enhanced frequency bank system that is capable of 12 different frequencies.  It eliminates RF interference when you have the transmitter off, and it uses adaptive-diversity reception to transmit without any loose of signal integrity.  Everything is done wirelessly.  The system is easy to set up and modify, too, thanks to its illuminated graphic display and user-friendly menu.  It’s all right at your fingertips!

Sennheiser has addressed the issue of finding an open channel, too.  You can visit their website to get a list of the nearest and farthest channels being used so you can pick an open one, or you can set the transmitter to scan mode, and it will find a vacant channel.

For everything you get in this pack, you won’t find a better deal.  The EW112P can be found for $599.

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Taking the D50 out of the box reveals a small control unit and two swiveling electret cardioid condenser mics.  This gives you the same type of point and record features that the D1 has.  The unit also features a headphone out jack, external mic input, and analog and digital I/O options.  The device has 4GB of internal flash memory for recording, but it also has a Pro HG Duo slot so you can add more memory as needed.  It records files in either 16 or 24-bit depths and at rates of anywhere from 22.05 kHz to 96 kHz.  The files are in WAV format.  A USB 2 connection lets you connect and transfer files to a PC or MAC, but you can always record to the memory stick and transfer files that way if you prefer.  The recorder comes with Sound Forge Audio Studio LE sound editor software.

The D50 features an internal file system that has ten different folders.  Each one can hold 99 recorded files in it, so you can have a total of 990 files on the internal memory.  The menu system on the control unit lets you view the current folder, search and delete files, and play back files.  The backlit LCD screen is viewable in most areas, although it may be a bit hard to see under bright lights or outdoors.

The D50 records very clean digital audio, and it’s very easy to use.  It retails for $599

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The Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter is a cross-platform plug-in that brings everything the original product had right to your studio.  It comes in Native and TDM versions.  It features mono and stereo configurations, and you can record in resolutions up to 24-bit/192 kHz.  While the original model may not have had these features, Waves wanted to bring the Aural Exciter into the modern world while still keeping its amazing sounds.  To that end, they kept the original’s idiosyncrasies.  For example, the first Aural Exciter created different sounds when used on a mixer’s channel insert than it did when using the aux send/return path.  Waves has recreated both types of sounds and created a mode for each, the MIX2 and AX modes.  It’s easy to switch between the two and get the most out of them.

If you want to capture sounds from the past, you’ll love this plug-in.  It sounds especially great on snares, vocals, and electric bass.  You can purchase the Aural Exciter individually, but it also comes as part of the Waves Mercury Bundle.  By itself, it retails for $250 (Native) or $500 (TDM).  The Mercury Native costs $6,300; the TDM version is $9,900.

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You can control each of these 1081s from the front panel or remotely using the Neve Remote Control software.  It makes it very easy to adjust all of the different features.  Each 1081 has a dial for adjusting the gain plus six buttons to activate different options.  A digital display lets you easily see what the different 1081s are set on.  The software functions with both Macs and PCs and can be used with various DAW systems like ProTools.  You can even control multiple 4081 units by linking them together.  You can create a chain of 64 different 1081s together, giving you many options.

Neve has also included an optional digital card with the Quad 4081.  It provides a FireWire/AES interface for the device, giving you four channels of A/D conversion to FireWire or AES.  You can use the insert point on each channel for external Outboard equipment, switching it into the signal path quickly and easily.  Another option is the 19” rack mounting kit, which you can use for two 4081 units.

If you truly need a large number of 1081 units, there’s no need to buy them all separately.  Since you can chain a number of 4081s together, you might as well go for convenience.  The remote control option is very useful, as is the FireWire option.

For more info be sure to check out the AMS Neve website: http://www.ams-neve.com/products/outboard/4081/4081.aspx