Nightingale Audio Systems Ltd

An era is coming to an end.
On the 26th of this month we will be closing our doors to any more repairs, hire and installations.
All of our live sound and lighting systems are coming up for sale.
The only things that we may continue to do are little design projects that we like the idea of and of course our SMX32 mix box which will be built to order.
Thank you for all your support and friendship over the last twenty and a bit years.

SMX-32 summing mixer update.

So Its been a while.
Finally I have metal work, built boards and some nearly assembled units.
I just cannot decide if I should leave the power LED on the top right of the switch/pot layout which kind of suits my OCD, or if I should put it in the eye of the dragon which I think looks really cool.
If you had this in your small studio setup which would you prefer?

Boards powered up.
Nothing blew up.
Signal flow was perfect.
Frequency response may be a touch wide ( -1dB points below 10Hz and about 100Khz )
Phase response immaculate.
Audio is crystal clear.

Now I need to build some more input boards, test the psu and the headphone sockets ( parts on back order ) Sort out the metal work, re-spin the cad for some placement errors on the main board and then learn how to sell them.

Very happy so far.

Two of the new pcbs are in for the mix box. I have had mostly happy joy building these two up. Now I need to add power and signals and see if they do exactly what they should.

Nightingale Audio Systems Ltd updated their business hours.

Thank you to all of you who have sent me questions about the SMX-32. I have put more information on my webpage and will be updating it periodically. If you want to know anything specific let me know.
Tim
This is the first product that I have tried to bring to market so there are currently no other products. ( any suggestions on what you might like to see ?) There is more info on this one at https://www.nightingale-audio.co.uk/SMX-32.html

SMX-32 32 channel summing mixer and studio monitoring from Nightingale Audio Systems Ltd Sheffield, South Yorkshire SMX-32 32 channel summing mixer and studio monitoring from Nightingale Audio Systems Ltd in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, We also sell Speakers, DJ Mixers, Amplifiers, Mixing Decks and much more!

On my final push to finish my 32channel summing studio mixer.
Please check out the kickstarter and share this with anyone that you think might be interested.
Happy New Year
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tim-nightingale/smx-32

SMX-32 Studio Summing Mixer 32ch Analogue studio rack mount summing mixer with character. Hand built and tested in Sheffield UK.

The kickstarter campaign to raise funds to finish my mixer in now live.
If you have time please feel free to have a bit of a perusal, ask questions and share the link around.
Happy New Year everybody.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tim-nightingale/smx-32

SMX-32 32ch Analogue studio rack mount summing mixer with character. Hand built and tested in Sheffield UK.

The Kickstarter campaign to raise money to finish the analogue summing mixer is going to launch on the 28th.
the preview link is...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tim-nightingale/smx-32
I cannot begin to tell you how jittery I am feeling right now.
The best thing that I can hope for is that 2100 people will think that it is a good enough idea to throw in a tenner, I am hoping that 4 people will go for the Beta boxes
Please spread the word.
And have a very happy Christmas period

Coming soon: SMX-32 32ch Analogue studio rack mount summing mixer with character. Hand built and tested in Sheffield UK.

Some years ago I designed and built a 32 channel studio summing mixer with some control room functionality. It worked pretty much exactly as intended but there turned out to be features that I wanted to add. I used it myself for a few years. It spent a lot of 2019 with the boys from Cellar Door Moon Crow as they finished their debut album.
In April / May I found myself with some time on my hands for some reason and I started to tinker with it once more.
Its feature set is now...
32 balanced "Tape" inputs each with a dedicated Pan function.
Balanced stereo line mix outputs.
Insert points on the mix outputs
Stereo two track return.
Main and alternate control room monitor outputs.
Mono, dim and mute switches for the control room.
Headphone output to follow control room source.
Selector switch to monitor mix output or 2 track return.
Studio output that follows control room source
Talk back mic input.

If it goes to production then excluding the PSU it is going to be hand built and tested here in sheffield.

It should end up costing £1500 for one because it is not being made in china.

To help to get it to production I will soon be launching a kickstarter campaign. I will of course be posting a link to that here when it is ready.

If you are interested in this project and would like to know more please send a message with your e.mail address so that I can add you to the mailing list ( I promise not to send you millions of updates nor will I give your email address away to anybody).

In the mean time keep safe

Tim

We know that this is not a venue but it is a workshop that depends on musicians, artists, venues, and all manner of crazy creative people for its workload.
So we decided to Light it Red for the evening.
Performing arts rely on the technical support provided by sound and lighting engineers, repair and service technicians, riggers, designers, recording engineers, runners, gofers and who knows what other job titles.
Most of us cannot work at the moment.
So all of our friends and acquaintances who are in the same boat as us here - we am thinking of you.

I found over the weekend that I had an unhappy customer who felt ripped off and wholeheartedly dissatisfied. This is the first time in 15 years that someone has posted such a negative review (at least that I know of). I will be working hard to ensure that this does not happen again. I would rather that people raised issues with me rather than just posting a negative review.

A few decorations, a pair of UV lights and a smoke machine can transform a boring sheffield ginnel into a passageway into scary

Our website should not be leaving you with a cookie.
If you wish a cookie from us then you must visit the workshop and ask for one.
Predominantly they would be chocolate chip.

From a servicing point of view you should not leave cookies on your computer as crumbs can get into places that they should not get into.

Classic rock society awards night again at the Montgomery hall in wath upon dearne. Mostly Autumn head lining.

Another classic recording desk serviced, repaired and brought back to life. This one is an Allen and Heath System 8 mk 2.
Its funny but I hate seeing these old desks go out of the door because they always feel elegant and easy and have a look that says music was created around these - but on the other hand I need the space to fit the next one in :-)

During the month of january the gigging circuit is often a bit quieter. Now is a good time to get gear serviced and ready for use.

in a fit of fighting off the winter blues and as the shortest day approaches I decided to sling 6 small led pars around the office.
On the up side.
My work bench is now a happy 4500 lux. My desk is about 1200lux.
On the down side....
Fan noise in the office is now 49dBspl (A weighted before you ask)
and I can now see all the collected rubbish and need to tidy up.

So another Classic Rock Society Gig. Can't think what the headline band were called. They were very good but I think the back drop was about 6 inches to the left of the center line
Support act were Luna Rossa. Another superb performance.
Also it was nice to have coloured lights on the stage at the wesley centre

Just returned from the Wesley Centre in Maltby. They now have a fully operational set of lights with some new Gells in them. Should look nice for next weeks Classic Rock Society gig with Cairo and Luna Rossa :-)

Montgomery Hall in Wath upon Dearne.
Just installed a full set of High power LED par cans, a couple of moving head wash lights.
Here are a couple of work in progress photos - looking forward to the Classic Rock Society Awards night to see what we can do with them.

Tonight I had my first foray into the world of tribute bands with The Rolling Stoned. A great gig despite plague striking the vocal chords of "Mick Jagger"

There is something very very satisfying about seeing a smile on a clients face. Tony came to collect the Chiltern QM3 desk that we have repaired and serviced for him. The smile on his face makes the work that went into it really worth while.
This desk sounded lovely and has been a pleasure to have in the workshop.
The sad thing is that there is a gap in the workshop where this lovely beast has been.

Tonight was the first CRS gig of the autumn.

Celestial Fire with support from Carrie Martin.

I'm not saying that there Celestial Fire had a lot of gear on stage but it was a good job that Carrie is not large.

I am wondering how effective and unobtrusive perspex screens are at reducing the volume of drums when working in a small venue. Anyone dealt with this sort of thing?

I have just returned from supplying sound and lighting for a wedding event. Not your usual wedding band but a group called Coco and the butterfields. I can only describe it as an eclectic mix of folk funk rap with a hint of rockabilly dance - Amazing
https://youtu.be/0de1LxKOMng

COCO AND THE BUTTERFIELDS - Just A Dream VISIT THEIR WEBSITE: www.cocoandthebutterfields.com

Saturday the 2nd saw us providing sound equipment for the Annual Charity Event in Memory of LIAM RILEY (CPL)
with a reprobate compare, a bunch of great bands, some very talented dancers (sorry about the phone operation) some very changable weather and a lot of very generous people. The recordings of the bands seem to have come out ok and I don't think that anyone drowned.

The rig looked like this (photo from DJ Darkus) and a great time was had.
Thank you and I am looking forward to next year.

So Saturday night was fun.

A Classic Rock Society gig with the John Hackett Band and support from Howard Sinclair.

Having setup the system I discovered that the PSU was faulty and had muted all the outputs. Legged it back to the workshop for the analogue desk and multicore and outboard rack leaving the band to talk among themselves. Returned and soundcheck the performers (who had been very relaxed about the whole thing).

Totally enjoyed the show. Talented musicianship and off the wall humour.

Thank you to all involved for bearing with me and helping out.

Tim

Another CRS show tonight.
Strangefish supported by PSIPhi.

Another Great night.