At PotLuckCon: Peter Chaikin of JBL (left) and Robert Brock of CRAS (right) in the CRAS state-of-the-art mobile broadcast truck featuring JBL LSR6300 Series studio monitors and Studer Vista 5.TUCSON, Arizona — Calling itself “the ultimate weekend of audio recording geekery,” the 2014 PotLuckCon Audio Conference brought recording industry professionals together for a healthy serving of workshops, seminars, recording sessions and demos from the best and brightest in the pro audio industry. A key participant was the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (CRAS), which hosted a demo room featuring HARMAN JBL’s flagship M2 Master Reference Monitor loudspeakers. The CRAS mobile broadcast unit was also on hand, which rolled in equipped with JBL LSR6325P studio monitors and a Studer Vista 5 digital mixing console.
CRAS is a technical school providing instruction in audio recording, engineering and production. Its two locations in Tempe and Gilbert, Arizona teach students the skills they need to start their career in the day they graduate.
The JBL M2 Master Reference Monitor is a 2-way powered large-format loudspeaker designed to set new standards for sonic accuracy and dynamic range in professional monitoring environments. It incorporates JBL’s newly developed D2 dual-diaphragm, dual-voice-coil compression driver, a Differential Drive™ dual-voice-coil woofer and JBL’s proprietary Image Control Waveguide™ to deliver exceptional studio monitor performance.
JBL’s LSR6325Pbi-amplified compact studio monitor provide exceptional performance in applications where accuracy is a CRAS Digital Department Director Robert Brock first became interested in the M2 when visiting JBL’s Northridge, California facility. “I was stunned at the level of accuracy and detail the M2 delivered,” he said.
When Brock subsequently began planning the CRAS exhibit at PotLuckCon, he realized the professionals at the convention would be the perfect audience for the M2. “PotLuckCon draws exactly the kind of people who, like our students, need to hear this loudspeaker.”
One of the highlights of PotLuckCon is the Casita Gear Crawl, in which the exhibit rooms are transformed into mini-studios. CRAS’s Casita featured a pair of M2 monitors. “For most of the people who came to our room it was the first time they’d heard the M2 and it was a big hit,” Brock commented. “It’s really unlike anything else out there for its ability to faithfully reproduce everything that’s on the original recording with absolutely uncompromised dynamics and frequency extension. It’s incredibly revealing without ever sounding clinical or harsh and its tonal balance and spatiality remain intact over a wide listening area.”
Also at PotLuckCon, Andrew Scheps, producer, mix engineer and principal of Tonequake Records, delivered a poignant presentation titled “Lost In Translation,” which examined the effect of low-resolution digital delivery on the emotional impact of recorded music. Sponsored by the Recording Academy® Producers and Engineers Wing®, and with JBL M2 Master Reference Monitors as the playback system, the crowd experienced Scheps’ dramatic A/B comparison of high and low-resolution file formats.
