The Royal College of Music selects the S-4000 Digital Snake

Royal College of Music Studios in London has employed two S-4000s in order to replace its aging analogue tie-lines between its performance spaces.
Recording Engineer Avgoustos Psillas quotes: 'We are specialising in recording live classical concerts. Every year we record over 200 concerts which we edit and master for our AV Library and for our Digital Archive. The recording quality was an issue that we needed to address very soon, as the high standard of recording mediums revealed flaws. I've looked into other systems that would have remote controlled pre-amps and A-D converters near the stage, so that we could deliver digital signals in our control rooms which are several meters away from the performance spaces. This would ensure minimum audio-quality deterioration and it would certainly be better than the current system being employed, which involves very long analogue cables running alongside power cables. The problem with the other systems was usually the price as they required standalone class-A pre-amps and high end A-D converters. Some makes are also using dedicated interfaces that could only be used with their consoles at the other end which was again, not what we needed.

As with everything audio related we buy, we wanted to listen to this new device before we splashed out the 'k' for purchasing it. Roland sent us one immediately and we put it to the test. The only thing that took time during the installation was putting the twin Cat5e cable through our old and dusty cable ducts. After all the necessary patching, getting the system to work took minutes. We didn't have to use the manual for any of the main functions as everything is mostly self explanatory and this was something we enjoyed. Perhaps you would use the manual to get your head around the recall system on the remote-control unit but that's about it.

Right! There we were in the comfortable air-conditioned control room, with all the mics positioned on the Concert Hall stage or suspended around the stage, a 40 inch plasma screen in front of us for visual monitoring, listening to a 90-piece symphony orchestra playing Shostakovich No.8.

Getting the mics to the right power level seemed a little bizarre as it appeared to be a lot less than what we would normally apply. After the levels were at a nice operational status we got all the stereo mics paired up, and we enjoyed something very different than we were used to.

First of all there were no electrical hums or any kind of interference as there was when using our setup. The frequency spectrum was more pronounced with a very clear high and low end. Now, on the high end we could get away with before, but low end we always had to work on using EQs and placing spot mics. With the S-4000 there bass coming from the cellos and the double basses!

We were already getting confident with both the sound produced, and the operation of the S-4000, so we decided to go ahead and use it for the official recording of the concert. A couple of days later we recorded a piano and voice recital which also amazed us, because the piano sound was much richer and the voice came across very warm and powerful. I should say at this point that the headroom before clipping is very satisfactory and with the notice levels being so low, one can achieve great results on any kind of music, loud bands or classical orchestras.

There are a few things that should be taken into account when using the S-4000. One of them is that both units FOH and Stage, are quite noisy as they are fitted with big fans for cooling. The other issue, which is a detail really but would be nice if it was changed, is that the pre-amp settings on the S-4000R cannot be controlled with much accuracy. There is no number indicating the status of the level. Instead there are illuminated lines around the pot which give you a rough indication as to where the level is. Matching levels accurately could be tricky.

Overall, I'd say that this machine is incredibly versatile and very easy to use. It sounds great and it's good value for the money. If Roland delivered it with an AES FOH interface I'd be even more impressed, but..they are working on it!