PMC Party

Well, last Thursday was pretty good fun. I had an invite to Metropolis Studios in London to go to an exclusive event that PMC were holding to show off a few new bits and pieces they've launched and Metropolis' new screening room. Metropolis is one of the last 'big' recording studios in the UK. Most have been killed off by the boom in prosumer equipment and the ability to record at an acceptable quality at home. A fair bit of music you'll have heard over the years has been recorded, mixed or mastered here.

Anyhoo, PMC had a couple of tricks up their sleeve.

The biggest surprise was in studio 1. The main monitors had been replaced with a new PMC prototype they're calling the 4X10. Looking not unlike a bass cab, these things were utterly insane.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps32b35ef7.jpg

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Using the new DSP and PMC digital amps, each side packs a whopping 4825w, with 1Kw being directed to each of the bass drivers alone. Drivers are the same as the existing IB2S so the clarity is as you'd expect, the difference is just sheer scale. Trimmed to -27dB these prototypes were enough to physically shake the control room. We started out listening to a few bits of jazz and pop and they were lovely and punchy. Since the 10" driver is relatively small it was incredibly quick and musical. We then moved onto a piece from the Hitman movie. This is where the eight drivers started to move a bit of air. ;) Super depth... but then we dropped a bit of dubstep. Think festival PA system, sounding like a hifi in a room about twice the size of your lounge. :clapping::o

List price is being touted at £55k+VAT. One for the lottery winners or Russian oil billionaires...

For those of us with a slightly more sensible budget, PMC gave us the first listen to its range topping version of the twotwo series.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...pse05bbe15.jpg

PMC had these in a 5.1 array, with 8's doing LCR and 6's doing the rears. I was concerned that the 8" driver would struggle with clarity in the midrange - one of the strongest points of the twotwo 5 and 6. However, from my initial listen they've overcome this potential pitfall and the voicing is remarkably similar to its siblings. I'm hopefully having a pair of 8's on loan shortly to audition in slightly more familiar surroundings. I'll let you know how I get on with them.

There was more too... :)

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This is the new screening room. MB2 XBD-A running LCR duties with Wafer2 as surrounds. All driven by a Bryston SP3 and Bryston amps. JVC 4k projector and a PS3. One word - wow. Not a bad way to blow about £100k. :) We watched a few snippets of 'reference' films, my favourite being the opening scene of Dark Knight.

Finally there were demonstrations of Mastering in the upper studios - one of which has a 5.1 array of BB5A and MB2A's. This was the very room where the Beatles albums were remastered into 5.1, and they had the raw tracks playing back. Being able to hear the 'real thing' as it were was an absolute privilege and something I'll cherish for long to come.

Overall a top night out that was well worth the 7 hours of driving. :)

You are one lucky lucky mutha hubbard!!!!

Those 4x10s look AMAZING! I love my bass with just 1 x carbon nomex piston driver in my room - 8 of them must be utterly utterly bonkers.

*drooooools*

Butuz

my word thats awesome!

Apparently the prime target for the 4X10 is hiphop producers stateside. That and bassheads haha! Honestly they're mental, not something I'll forget in a hurry. That goes for the whole event really, it really was an AAA affair. There were a whole lot of people that you kinda recognised but couldn't quite place why...

As jealous as I am, I'm kind of glad that I don't get to go to these kinds of events, as they'd only serve to highlight just how cheap and nasty my own kit is ;)

Are you serious - those 4x10s are turning out close to 5kw each!? And here's me thinking 150w is too much for my living room.... :O_o1:

Yeah, they were a little bit fruity at near enough 10kw in total. Despite that though they never got uncomfortable to listen to, it was just effortless headroom. A cinema with these things in would be superb. :)