AWARDS ARE COOL, BUT NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!
Some products I’ve had the pleasure of being involved with have won (or at least been nominated for) awards and sonic purity tests, in addition to receiving excellent reviews.
Of course, not everything needs to win an award to be a great product. It’s important to have the right feature set and functionality for the intended user, at the desired price point, regardless of whether the goal is the best sound quality, “bang for the buck” features, or something else. Being able to achieve those goals, whatever they may be, means a successful product design that is always satisfying to be a part of.
Still, it’s pretty nice when something does win an award or get a great review, so here is a non-exhaustive selection for some of the products I was closely involved with as an employee of various companies. This doesn’t include anything I worked on as a consulting Engineer.
Panorama Series Keyboard Controllers (Nektar Technology)
- Panorama T4: MusicTech Gear Of The Year – Best Controller Winner
- Panorama P4: MusicTech Gear of the Year – Highly Commended Controller (i.e. second place)
ProTrack Handheld iPod recorder (Alesis/ Numark)
- TEC (Technical Excellence & Creativity) Award Nominee
Andromeda A6 Polyphonic Analog Synthesizer (Alesis)
- Musikmesse International Press Award (MIPA) Winner
- Electronic Musician Editor’s Choice Award Winner
“For lovers of analog synthesizers, (it) was a great year… but one keyboard synth grabbed everyone’s attention more than any other and deservedly so… the Alesis A6 Andromeda.”
-EM Editor’s Choice Award write-up
“The A6… is truly one of the most beautiful sounding instruments I’ve had the pleasure to use for music creation. The Andromeda provides an unprecedented level of control to create some of the richest analog synth textures available today. This is one of the most impressive keyboards I’ve ever played.”
-Pro Audio Review
“… inherently strong low end coupled with its powerful filters made coaxing huge but defined basses from the synth simple… definitely worth the attention of anyone serious about analog synthesis.”
-From Electronic Musician review
Studio 32 Mixer (Alesis)
- TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) Award Nominee
“Flexible routing, plenty of inputs, clean sound, and ease of use are the hallmarks of the Studio 32 recording console. Of course, the big question is, How did the Studio 32 sound? The answer is simple: It sounded great.”
-Electronic Musician review
“All 16 channels are loaded with identical (and impressive) features. There are no complaints about the sound quality at all. The board was respectably quiet. The EQ was quite sweet… impeccable sound quality, practical ergonomics, and flexibility to die for.”
-Recording Magazine Review
“…would recommend the Studio 32 without reservation… a great little board with big features at a small price.”
-Pro Audio Review
Neotek Mixing Consoles
- Winner of Sonic Purity Comparison Test: Sound Engineer and Producer magazine performed blind listening test with 30 top British recording engineers using identical source material, comparing consoles from 15 manufacturers including Neotek, Neve, SSL, Trident, Soundcraft, Amek, Calrec, Allen+Heath, and Harrison. The Neotek not only outscored all other brands overall, but also was at the at the top of scoring in every individual category judged, such as noise, coloration, stereo image/ phase integrity and transient response.
“We listened to a number of desks including Trident, Amek, and DDR, but to our ears none came close to the Neotek.”
-Unsolicited letter received from CBS Records Australia
- Featured on Cover of Mix Magazine: 84 Input Elite Film Re-Recording Console for Pacific Video of Hollywood, with extreme factory customization
- Featured on Cover of Recording Engineer/ Producer Magazine: Customized 64 Input Console for Master’s Workshop
Mixers at Fender
- TEC Award nomination for PX-2200 Series fold-up “suitcase” powered mixers
“The Fender MX-5200 range…are the sort of no-nonsense desks there really ought to be more of. This is good gear. Dead easy to use; well built and laid out; excellent sonic performance. The EQ really is wonderful. The filters are a real luxury…this is quality stuff. The sound quality is really quite exceptional… with predictable overload characteristics, good crosstalk and excellent mute isolation. Fender guitars? Mixers as well now.”
-EQ Magazine review of the MX-5232 Live Sound mixers