Santa Monica, CA, May 9, 2013 – Mikkel Heimburger is a sound for picture composer focusing primarily on movies, film and television commercials and advertising. During the last several years, he has successfully repurposed his audio career, having previously been an engineer/producer, focusing on the pop music scene. Recently, Heimburger has been working on several high profile projects. He placed a song in the latest Al Pacino film Stand Up Guys, and composed, performed and mixed the trailer score for the most recent Muppet Movie. Each day he relies on his Antelope Audio Orion32 audio interface as the cornerstone of his Los Angeles-based studio.”I was a creator of dance, pop and urban music just a few years ago,” Heimburger says. “But now I am producing trailers and advertising segments that are diverse and creative, but also more lucrative.” Needless to say, he is working in a segment that has become increasingly competitive and saturated. Heimburger says that to stand apart, he must ensure that his productions are ‘as good as they can be.’ Therefore he depends on his Antelope Audio Orion32 to help set his music apart.
“The companies I am pitching to often receive dozens of tracks in a day — I want them to remember mine not only for writing and performance, but also for sonic quality,” he states. The Antelope Audio Orion32 is now a key component in his set up: “When I first heard it, I was blown away,” he says. “It has what many of today’s other converters are lacking – punch. I really need this for the trailers I am working on, and with the Orion32, it happens automatically — it is just there and I don’t have to adjust the EQ or manipulate the low end.”
For Heimburger, the main differentiator between the Orion32 and other well known high-end converters rests primarily on sonic quality. “I’ve been through a half a dozen audio interfaces during the last decade, just trying to keep up with technology changes in the market,” he says. “When I A/B’d the Orion32 against the other units I had from other manufacturers, suddenly they sounded way too thin and overly sibilant. I also noticed that many of these other converters introduce a ‘3D effect’ that just wasn’t true.”
In addition to raising the overall sonic quality of his mixing rig, the Orion32 has introduced workflow efficiencies at cost savings that was unexpected, but most welcome. “The Orion32 is considerably less expensive than competitors’ models — you basically get a 32 channel interface for $3,000,” Heimburger observes. “Other models typically cost $3,000 for 8 channels, and don’t sound as good!”
Having access to no less than 32 tracks of Antelope Audio conversion at the output stage has enabled Heimburger to employ creative summing techniques, which he says has led to increased fidelity. “I am using every single output on the Orion32, and having all these channels means I can sum my mixes the way I want. I use the Orion32 in combination with my Shadow Hills Equinox, which is a 30 channel summing mixer. This combination has made a really big difference as far as the width and depth of my mixes are concerned,” he says.
All in all, the Orion32 has earned a place in Heimburger’s studio not only from a sonic perspective, but also feature and price. “In my opinion, the Orion32 wins hands down in every measure,” he concludes. “I am pretty sure the competition will need to rework their product strategies.”
About Antelope Audio
Antelope Audio is the brainchild of Igor Levin who has more than 20 years’ experience and a number of innovations in digital audio and synchronization technology. The company is widely acknowledged as the leading manufacturer of audio master clocks.
In 2009 Antelope Audio launched its product line of high-resolution USB D/A converters, being among the pioneers designing a 384 kHz DAC. Antelope’s DACs employ their renowned 64-bit clocking and jitter management technologies and custom-designed circuits, achieving unprecedented precision and sound clarity.# # #
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