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Crane Song

Crane Song began in 1995 when founder Dave Hill first designed a two-channel discrete class A compressor/limiter, called the STC-8. Today, the Crane Song family of products has grown to five: HEDD (Harmonically Enhanced Digital Device), FLAMINGO (stereo mic preamp), TRAKKER (single-channel compressor) and the new SPIDER (eight-channel mic preamp, mixer, A/D converter), as well as the PHOENIX plug-in, all of which are available through Vintage King. Crane Song's combination of innovative design and uncompromising attention has helped the company make its mark in the professional audio world.

Crane Song Avocet
Monitor and volume control

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Crane Song Avocet Upgrade for Surround Sound
5.1 Upgrade for Surround Sound (units must be returned to Crane Song for jumper mods).

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Crane Song EGRET
8 Channel D/A Converter

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Flamingo is a high quality 2-channel Discrete Class A Microphone Preamplifier. It can be operated as a musically transparent amplifier, and is capable of emulating vintage sounds as well as creating distinctive new ones. 
A stepped switch for gain matching and repeatability selects the input gain; a continuously variable attenuator allows gain trim. Gain is adjustable in 6 db increments to 66 db gain and down to off by the attenuator. 
Each channel has independently switchable phase and phantom power switches. 
Flamingo also contains a 2-channel, 22-element VU meter with an overload indicator to allow accurate monitoring and ease of level adjustment. 
Unique to Flamingo are two switches that allow the user to selectSound Switch different sounds: IRON and SOUND. 
The SOUND switch changes the type of amplifier while the IRON switch puts iron in the audio path. By using these switches, Flamingo can produce four different sounds. 
Flamingo has transformerless balanced inputs and outputs. The unit is 1 rack space tall and operates from 100V, 115V, 230V, or 240V mains. 
Flamingo is designed to be flexible and give the user a tool to solve real world recording, broadcast, and sound reinforcement problems. It can provide an artistic choice of sounds at the flip of a switch.

Crane Song FLAMINGO
2-channel Discrete Class A Microphone Preamplifier

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Crane Song HEDD-192
Digital Signal Processor. High Quality 24 Bit A/D and D/A Converters

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Crane Song IBIS
4 band discrete Class A stereo equalizer

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Crane Song IBIS Mastering EQ
Four-band mastering EQ

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The Crane Song Phoenix II is an update of Crane Song's suite of TDM plug-ins designed to emulate the unique properties of a magnetic tape machine.   Phoenix II runs both NATIVE and DSP on Avid's PT 10 AAX format. Phoenix II uses 32 bit floating point math and has a lower noise floor than the original release. Designer Dave Hill has crafted this software with the same attention to detail he used to create the electronics for ATR Service's much heralded "Aria" discrete tape recorders.  His intimate knowledge of analog electronics, as well as decades of experience as a recording engineer has spawned a very useful, musical suite of plug-ins.  The Phoenix II process not only incorporates the nonlinear saturation characteristics created by magnetic tape itself, but also includes the interrelation of an analog tape recorder's record/reproduce electronics and equalization curves.  Phoenix II is a ground-up application derived from HEDD technology, and specifically engineered and optimized for Avid's PT 10 architecture. Phoenix II has five different tape-analog characteristics. The type is selected with a switch for easy comparison between the types, and the brightness is also selected with a switch.  Gold is the position where the color is approximately flat in frequency response, with Sapphire being a brighter, and Opal being a warmer tonality.  A level control determines the amount of the Phoenix II process integrated into the audio signal, and an input trim determines "how hard you hit the tape." Because the DSP process is level dependent, the input level trim control has been improved and an output trim control has been added.    The input trim can also be used to prevent clipping in the rare cases where clipping may be a problem and bringing up the level of a track for an increased amount of color.  This can be useful on material that is hitting close to or at digital zero and on material that has a low recorded level. When the input trim and output trim controls are at 0dB, (no change in gain) and no tape process is being added to the sound, the plug-in is bit accurate, meaning the output exactly matches the input.  The Phoenix II contains five separate flavors: <ul><li>Luminescent is the most neutral sounding process of the five.</li><li>Iridescent has a similar magnetic character, but with a fatter bottom and midrange. (This plug-in is the most similar to the tape knob on HEDD-192.)</li><li>Radiant is characterized by a more aggressive compression curve </li><li>Dark Essence is even more aggressive. (The effect is a color with a wider frequency range-when used on a vocal  Dark Essence can reduce sibilance problems by increasing the apparent loudness of the rest of the signal.)</li><li>Luster starts more gently than the other four processes, but becomes as aggressive as Dark Essence when the process is at full scale.</li></ul>

Crane Song Phoenix II Plug-In
AAX Plug-in Suite for Pro Tools

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Crane Song Phoenix is designed 
to emulate the unique properties of a magnetic tape machine. Designer 
Dave Hill has crafted this software with the same attention to detail he
 used to create the electronics for ATR Service’s much heralded “Aria”  
discrete tape recorders. His intimate knowledge of analog electronics, 
as well as decades of experience as a recording engineer has spawned a 
very useful, musical suite of plug-ins. 
 
The Phoenix process not only incorporates the nonlinear saturation 
characteristics created by magnetic the tape itself, but also includes 
the interrelation of an analog tape recorder’s record/reproduce 
electronics and equalization curves. The Phoenix suite is not merely a 
down-scaled version of the Crane Song HEDD processor, but a ground-up 
application derived from HEDD technology, and specifically engineered 
and optimized for Digidesign’s TDM architecture. 
 
Five different TDM plug-ins emulate different tape characteristics, each
 one incorporating a color change button allowing three choices to 
modify the process. The Gold button is the position where the color is 
approximately flat in frequency response, with Sapphire being a 
brighter, and Opal being a warmer tonality. A level control determines 
the amount of the Phoenix process integrated into the audio signal, and 
an input trim determines “how hard you hit the tape.” Because the DSP 
process is level dependent, reducing the input level will also cause a 
change in sound. 
 
The input trim can also be used to prevent clipping in the rare cases 
where clipping may be a problem. This can be useful on material that is 
hitting close to or at digital zero. When the input trim is at 0dB, (no 
change in gain) and no tape process is being added to the sound, the 
plug-in is bit accurate, meaning the output exactly matches the input. 
 
The Phoenix suite contains five separate plug-ins: 
<ul><li>Luminescent is the most 
neutral sounding process of the five.</li><li>Iridescent has a similar 
magnetic character, but with a fatter bottom and midrange. This plug-in 
is the most similar to the tape knob on HEDD-192.</li><li>Radiant is characterized 
by a more aggressive compression curve</li><li>Dark Essence is even more 
aggressive. (The effect is a color with a wider frequency range--when 
used on a vocal Dark Essence can reduce sibilance problems by increasing
 the apparent loudness of the rest of the signal.)</li><li>Luster starts more gently 
than the other four processes, but becomes as aggressive as Dark Essence
 when the process is at full scale.</li></ul>
 
Running within Digidesign’s multi-shell architecture, PHOENIX is very 
DSP efficient. It will run approximately twenty instances of a plug-in 
on a single DSP chip (HD system at 44.1 kHz sample rate). 
 
Phoenix’s color is dependent on signal level, program material and 
sample rate. A higher sample rate results in smother sounds. 
 
The Phoenix plug-in suite provides a wide range of choices to make your 
digital world sound warmer, fatter, and more analog. The plug-ins can be
 somewhat subtle, but the cumulative affect when used on a number of 
tracks can bring back the warmth and richness which only analog 
recording has been able to provide.

Crane Song Phoenix Plug-In
TDM Plug-in Suite for Pro Tools

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Crane Song SPIDER
8-channel Class A mic pre, A/D converter, mixer, DSP "tape" emulation & digital output

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The Crane Song STC-8 is a high quality compressor combined with a remarkably dependable peak limiter, that provides overload protection critical to digital recording and broadcast transmitters. The STC-8's compressor is engineered to provide musically transparent gain control, but is also capable of emulating vintage equipment and creating distinctive new sounds.
 
 
In addition, a switchable enhancement circuit creates "analog" and "tube-like" warmth to enrich lifeless audio and digital recordings. This vast flexibility is simplified by the inclusion of several optimized presets, allowing fast, easy set-up on a wide variety of sounds. It can operate in true stereo or discrete independent mono, accessible by a front panel switch.
 
 
The STC-8's sophisticated side-chain allows both compression and peak limiting to take place simultaneously, using the same proprietary gain control circuit. High signal quality is maintained by utilizing a discrete class A audio path, and by eliminating any VCA or optical gain control elements.
 
 
The STC-8 requires 2 rack spaces. All inputs and outputs are transformer-less and balanced. The toroidal power transformer is UL approved and allows four line voltages for international use. The STC-8 delivers consistent gain control without sacrificing musical definition or harmonic richness.

Crane Song STC-8
Stereo Class A compressor/peak limiter

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The Crane Song STC-8 is a high quality stereo compressor combined with a remarkably dependable peak limiter, providing overload protection critical to digital recording and broadcast transmitters. The STC-8's compressor is engineered to provide musically transparent gain KI & HARA Sounds control, but is also capable of emulating vintage equipment and creating distinctive new sounds.
 
In addition, a switchable enhancement circuit creates analog and tube like warmth to enrich lifeless audio and digital recordings. This vast flexibility is simplified by the inclusion of several optimized presets, allowing fast, easy set-Optimized Presetsup on a wide variety of sounds. It can operate in true stereo or discrete independent mono, accessible by a front panel switch.
 
The STC-8's sophisticated side-chain allows both compression and peak limiting to take place simultaneously, using the same proprietary gain circuit. High signal quality is maintained by utilizing a discrete class A audio path, and by eliminating any VCA or optical gain control elements.
 
The STC-8 requires 2 rack spaces. All inputs and outputs are transformerless and balanced. The toroidal power transformer is UL approved and allows four line voltages for international use.
 
The STC-8 delivers consistent gain control without sacrificing musical definition or harmonic richness.

Crane Song STC-8/H
Detented output gain for utmost accuracy and recallability

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Crane Song STC-8/M
Mastering version STC-8 with all detented pots

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Crane Song TRAKKER
Single-channel discrete Class A compressor/limiter

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