Merging Technologies

Roberto Toledo
New World Symphony, Miami Beach, Florida

Merging’s full product suite plays key role in Miami Beach orchestral academy.

The New World Symphony is an orchestral academy located in Miami Beach, Florida. It was established in 1989 by Michael Tilson Thomas, the former artistic director of the San Francisco Symphony and the New World Symphony and has successfully helped hundreds of orchestral musicians achieve their dreams of working in a professional orchestra.

In 2011, The New World Symphony moved to its new home, The New World Center, with the idea that New World would become a music lab – a place not only to help musicians achieve their dreams of working in professional orchestras, but also to create unique and inspiring performances with the use of innovative technology from respected brands such as Merging Technologies. The venue also hosts WALLCAST concerts, which allow guests to experience live classical music under the stars via 160 self-powered Meyer Sound loudspeakers.

“The New World Center plays host to a variety of performances,” begins New World Symphony’s director of audio services, Roberto Toledo. “My primary responsibilities are to manage the audio system, record all the concerts performed by the New World musicians, mix the WALLCAST concerts, and mentor the audio/video fellow. The audio/video fellowship is a three-year program, where one individual is selected to learn how to record classical music, amplification techniques, mix WALLCAST concerts, and learn basic video principles and techniques.

New World Symphony, in Miami Beach, Florida

“Since The New World Symphony moved into the New World Center, the expectation was that all equipment needed to be of the highest quality. While equipment has changed since 2011, the requirements for premium and reliability are still the same. Almost all of our performances are live, and this requires the sound to consistently perform at its best.”

The New World Center’s AV systems are some of the most impressive in the game. The video systems are all 4K – including projections – and concerts that require camera usage can have up to 16 robotically controlled cameras placed on the stage. The lighting system in the venue is relatively new and uses all LED technology. A mix of fixed and robotic lights are used for performances.

The audio systems are either running at 48k/24 bit for video, or 96k/24 bit for recording, live sound and the WALLCAST system. The audio system for the video department is mainly a distribution system and has many IOs in various locations to receive or send a signal as needed. The live sound system can have up to 144 channels of input, and more than 100 channels of output. The recording system can record 144 channels at 96k, but also record in 192, 384, DXD and DSD. The WALLCAST Sound System has over 200 inputs, and outputs to 155 speakers used in a unique immersive setup.

Racked Horus

“We installed an all-Merging recording system in summer of 2016. This change has helped not only increase the sound quality of our recordings but has made our daily workflow far more efficient and reliable than before,” says Toledo. “The Merging IO hardware, Horus and Hapi, have been wonderful. We can now record at higher sample rates and have extremely clean sound coming from our microphones. The Horus and Hapi are easy to work with, and their integration with Pyramix has made pre-amp control much more fluid.

“Pyramix is a game changer. It’s made large sessions that at times require intensive editing much easier to work on and complete. The ability to create our own masters – both final master file and individual track files – means we do not have to switch applications to complete our work. All our work is done within Pyramix.”

The New World Center integrates every product from Merging into its workflow. The facility has multiple Horus, Hapi and Hapi MKIIs, alongside the Anubis. For the Merging recording system, the Horus is used for input and master clock, the Hapi (MKI and MK2) are used for both input and output, and the Anubis is used for speaker and source control.

Anubis used for speaker and source control

The Merging system for video distributes audio to various locations in the facility. Both Horus and Hapi are used for input and output (analogue and digital) while the Anubis is again used for speaker/source control. Both video and recording Merging systems use Pyramix and ANEMAN for routing and mixing of signals, but only the recording system records audio. The New World Center also relies on Neumann’s KM184 AND Sennheiser’s MKH40 microphones.

“We are currently in the process of expanding the IO capabilities of the recording system, with the purchase of two Hapi MKII with the DSD-capable mic line cards. To add, this summer we are purchasing another Hapi MK2 and Anubis for our smaller audio mix suite. We love working with solutions from Merging, we are a very happy Merging house. Since we started to integrate their product suite in 2016, the performances at New World Center have been elevated. It’s a joy to watch musicians learn and grow in such a technologically advanced space.”

Pyramix recorder