GEAR REVIEW
KLANG IMMERSIVE MONITOR MIXER | Kent Morris
Klang – As musicians and technicians , we have become acclimated to the now standard practice of using in-ear monitors in place of traditional wedge-shaped floor monitors . Wedges , derived from the practice of placing an ancillary speaker on its back and aiming it at the performer , were originally referred to as sleepers since they lay on the stage floor . The concept was to grant vocalists a way to hear themselves over the accompanying music . As the art of monitoring matured , wedges became more powerful and capable of concert level performance to contend with the advent of powerfully amplified stage instruments .
A new issue then developed centered on the sheer output presented by several bi-amped 15 ” wedges spilling sound into the audience which competed with the sound arriving from the main loudspeakers . The resulting phased wash forced the FOH engineer to build a compromised mix while also causing the MON engineer to slice and dice the monitors ’ tonality just to get enough gain before feedback . The negative result of all this chaos led to the positive development of in-ear monitors ( IEMs ) as the means to a quieter stage and better sound for the audience .
However , once the initial euphoria of IEMs wore off , performers realized the typical mono mix in their head was a poor substitute for the broad sound stage they had experienced with wedges and so , the race was on to implement an in-ear mix with enough space to pack an entire band .
Stereo was the obvious next step in IEMs as the various components of the mix could be placed in left-right orientation similar to a recording mix . Unfortunately , stereo , for all its benefits , only goes so far . As live performances have become more complex with dozens of stems and loops interplaying with stacked guitars and highly processed vocals , stereo IEM mixes cannot deliver the required fulness . There must be a better way .
The first time I encountered Klang was at a winter NAMM show in Anaheim several years back . The company was stuck in the sonically dreary landscape of the Arena , a concrete bunker where the Ducks played hockey . Amid the haze machines set to stun , noisy imported moving lights and off-brand plastic speakers pumping out highly distorted EDM , there lay a booth covered with impeccable German engineered electronic jewels gleaming in the artificial light . In a moment it was clear these people knew the score and had found a way to raise the bar for monitoring across the spectrum , from churches to stadium tours . Now , after using the highly refined current version , it is safe to say Klang has changed the monitor conversation .
Key to Klang ’ s innovation is a complete , wellevolved ecosystem centered on either the fabrik 3D solution , which can be a stand-alone rack unit or a DMI card for DiGiCo consoles , or the smaller vokal unit . Klang processors deliver clear audio of up to sixteen mixes with 96KHz sampling resolution and less than 3mS of latency . The fabrik and vokal and are robustly proportioned with Dante , word clock and optical plus MADI on the fabrik . With an innovative
multi-platform app for control , it is easy to visualize the 3D binaural processing , which is in reality a complex algorithm encompassing some serious coding . To place a signal in the mix is as simple as dragging its icon anywhere on a 360 degree plane ringing the outline of a human head and then altering the view to a side shot to move the signal above or below the center plane . The resulting mix transparency is stunning , with nothing stepping on anything else and with enough space for ambient mics to do their job without creating a sonic clarity issue . In short , 3D binaural processing truly works .
While the Klang system is not inexpensive , it should be viewed not as superfluous , but as a worthy investment in the worship team . It will grant them the ability to hear as never before , resulting in improved musical delivery and connection with the congregation since it eliminates the isolation so common with traditional IEMs . When amortized over a decade of use , the cost of a Klang system becomes reasonable for ministries of even modest means to consider . And , as the old saying goes , with Klang , hearing is believing , so attend a demo session and prepare to be amazed .
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