238. Mr. Sean Goes To The NAMM Show

Last week, while Andy was home in NY catching up on work after a vacation in Iceland, Sean headed to LA (well, Anaheim) to take in the 2024 NAMM Show. In Episode 238, the two catch up — Sean talks about everything he saw and learned at the show, how lessons learned at a trade show translate to how we run live events and shows, getting to meet up with a handful of friends and listeners from the Signal to Noise Discord Server, and more. Andy also talks about the stunning beauty of Iceland, from geysers to the aurora borealis (northern lights), and why you might want to bundle up and visit there this fall! This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

Episode Links
NAMM
2024 NAMM Show Coverage On PSW
Iceland Highlights — Þingvellir, Geysirs & Gullfoss
Episode 238 Transcript

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The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

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Episode 238 Transcript

Transcript

Episode 238 - Sean Goes to NAMM

Note: This is an automatically generated transcript, so there might be mistakes--if you have any notes or feedback on it, please send them to us at signal2noise@prosoundweb.com so we can improve the transcripts for those who use them!

Voiceover: You’re listening to Signal to Noise, part of the ProSoundWeb podcast network, proudly brought to you this week by the following sponsors:

Allen & Heath, introducing their new CQ series, a trio of compact digital mixers for musicians, bands, audio engineers, home producers, small venues, and installers that puts ease of use and speed of setup at the heart of the user experience.

RCF, who has just unveiled their new TT+ Audio brand, including the high performance GTX series line arrays and the GTS29 subwoofer. Be sure to check it out at rcf-usa.com. That's rcf-usa.com.

Music: “Break Free” by Mike Green

Andy Leviss: What up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Signal and Noise. I'm your, one of your co hosts, Andy Leviss. With me is my buddy, Sean Walker. What up, Sean? 

Sean Walker: sup, dog? 

Andy Leviss: So, uh, you've been, you've been flying around a lot. I believe you've got some war stories from NAMM. Okay, I should rephrase that. That... maybe it's not the most sensitive for... You've got some stories from coming back from NAMM last week. Is that 

Sean Walker: I do. I do. 

Yeah, that's 

Some, some interesting, some not so interesting, but 

Andy Leviss: yeah, because in and yeah, like you like literally pretty much just landed from from the flight in. Yeah. 

Sean Walker: Just, yeah, it was an early flight, but yeah, we, I just got here like 30 minutes ago and then you were like, Hey dude, what are you doing? I was like, well, I was, you know, going to take a nap, but I guess I'll log on. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. Hey, the best episodes are when at least one of us is completely overtired and has no filter on at all. So 

Sean Walker: There I am. No filter. 

Andy Leviss: Cool. 

Sean Walker: Cause I'm filtered. I'm so filtered usually. You know what I mean? 

Andy Leviss: I've right grading on a curve. Um, so yeah, it's Monday today. Like, how long were you out there? 

Sean Walker: Uh, five ish days. I got there Wednesday and just got back this morning. So however many days that is, I'm too smushed to be able to tell. 

Andy Leviss: So I'm guessing like half of our listeners Know what NAMM is, have been there, a chunk of them have, my math is going to be great today, a chunk of them vaguely know what it is but have never been and then some probably have no idea what we're talking about and want to know why we're talking about a war from, you know, decades and decades ago. 

So why don't you give us the quick highlight round of, for the folks who don't know what is NAMM, what's it like? 

Sean Walker: Sure, man. The short version is it's a gear trade show for, you know, audio and music folks. The long version is that it's the National Association of Music Makers. And basically it's where all the manufacturers and vendors go to try to sling their wares to the people that buy them. And then all the people that have artist deals go and perform their performances so that they can fulfill their contracts. 

Andy Leviss: Right, yeah, yeah, that sounds about right. That's, you know, I came this close to getting to mix a group for perform, getting, having, I'm not sure which way to put that. There was 

Sean Walker: Depends on what stage you're on. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, there was a brief discussion about possibly going for a mic manufacturer, I have a friend at, years ago, and I was both disappointed it didn't happen and really fucking relieved it didn't happen, cause that seems like a high pressure gig. 

Sean Walker: It totally is, dude. It's totally a high pressure gig. And I, 

Andy Leviss: audience full of musicians and fellow sound people. 

Sean Walker: yeah, dude, and you don't know who's in the audience until you start looking around and you're like, Oh, there's so and so. Oh, shit, there's so and so. Oh, there's so and so. You know what I mean? You're like, people that you wouldn't necessarily even think would be at a show. You know what I mean? Like, it was, it was crazy. 

And You know, I don't know half those fricking people. I'm not trying to say like, Oh, so and so, but just like, as you're, as you're standing in front of house and I wasn't mixing, but you know, some, some other people were, but you're looking around going, Oh man, look, there's that dude who mixes for so and so. 

Oh man, there's that recording engineer that has a bunch of Grammys. And Oh look, there's this manufacturer rep, or Oh, is this person from such and such? And, you know, it's just like the who's who of the industry are hanging out. And so there's, you know, no pressure to make your mix sound good. Even if you weren't already stressed out about doing it on some half baked. 

PA concoction that was put together haphazardly by a lighting company. You know what I mean? 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. And like in, and again, not having done it, but have it, we both have enough, you know, friends and acquaintances who have that it's pretty much always a, you're, it's not like you're getting like hours to do a soundcheck and make it sound perfect for, you know, this demo. It's like you're in front of an, like, probably the most judgy industry insider audience you could be with like minimal soundcheck, if at all. 

I know like some of the console demos. 

Sean Walker: 2000 

Andy Leviss: it's like, yeah. Yeah, like I, I think I remember Leo talking last year about doing a demo, I think on the RIVAGE, and pretty much line check and go, 

Sean Walker: Yeah, it 

Andy Leviss: like, props to any of you out there listening who, who have done it this year or in the past, like y'all are rock stars for even being willing to do it. 

Sean Walker: did for sure. I heard a bunch of different stages while we were there and a bunch of different artists and we, speaking of like the Ravage and Line Check and Go, I wandered into the Lindsey Stirling show that Sage was mixing and dude, what a banging show that was, that was 

Andy Leviss: yeah, and which, what was that for, that was for Yamaha or, 

Sean Walker: Yeah, that was on the Yamaha stage and like looking at the PA. 

The day before I was like, Hmm, choices were made. You know what I mean? But it, but it's cool. It was an FPA. It was a, it was a big old stage. And then we got there for the show. Cause you can hear soundcheck from wherever you're wandered around. And right. It's like just a convention center with a bunch of hotels around it. 

So the whole thing echoes like a fricking timpani drum, you know? So you're listening to soundcheck as it's just rumbles and snare hits, and you can't really tell what's going on when you're inside the show, but when you get at the, the convention, not the concert, right, you come to the concert and it's fricking killer, dude. 

Her mix was banging, like we fricking, the show started off and it was like, you know, kick and some other effects or whatever, and we're all kind of like nodding and going okay, great, great. And then her snare drum comes in, first time he hits that snare drum, sounds like a giant fucking cannon goes off, and Wayne Paulie and I high five each other, turn around, Wayne high fives her, and we were like, yeah, it's on, dude! 

Andy Leviss: nice. 

Sean Walker: It's just rip it, dude. It was killer. It was super 

Andy Leviss: Sage. And, uh, uh, those of you who are in the Discord know Sage is a semi regular in, in our Signal the Noise Discord and I have not had the pleasure of hearing Sage mix or, or meeting Sage yet, but I know I've heard every, every single thing I've heard about every show she's mixed has been like that. 

So, 

Sean Walker: It was killer, dude. 

Andy Leviss: for kicking some ass there. Um, 

Sean Walker: Killer. And I, I didn't know her at the time, but the, when the show was happening, I, you know, I had never met her before and, uh, I was like, dude, I gotta, I gotta figure out how to like, say hi. So I can figure out what she's doing with that snare drum. Cause you know me, I'm always trying to cop those tricks, right? 

Like calling, calling you and Ryan, everybody else. I don't like, Hey man, Hey man, how do I level this up? How does this sound better? You know? So I, I ended up. Uh, some other people from the Discord, Cole, I made a, uh, a meeting where I, I met up with those guys later and I was able to, like, pick her brain and she was like, you know man, I wish I had some great tricks for you, but really, I just didn't fuck it up and I turned it up. 

And I was like, well, it sounded great, dude, but I was hoping for some, like, juicy tips, you know? She was like, well, I mean, I just, you know. Kick some ass, and it was good, you know. 

Andy Leviss: just get, get, get a good drum, put the mic in the place that sounds good and 

Sean Walker: Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. But she ended up being super cool. I, you know, we hung out for a little bit before she had to go. It was, it was rad, dude. It's always cool to like, meet new people that are totally rad at their job and rad people, you 

Andy Leviss: Mm hmm. Yeah, no, I saw those photos coming in from that, that, uh, semi impromptu, uh, signal noise meetup and, and was jealous that I was stuck here in New York working. But gotta, gotta pay those bills. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, we missed you, for sure, dude. For sure. 

Andy Leviss: you say now. Cool. 

Sean Walker: No, no, I mean, I missed you at the time, like. You know, they were stuck with me, bro. 

Andy Leviss: Fair 

Sean Walker: They missed you, bro. They missed you. 

Andy Leviss: y'all. That's grading on the curve in the other 

Sean Walker: Yeah, right. Totally, dude. 

Andy Leviss: Alright, um, so what were some of the other shows? So you heard Sage Mix, Lindsey Stirling, like who 

Sean Walker: That was killer. Uh, we, uh, we'll, we'll get through the shows first, I guess. I, uh, pooch mixed Kings X on the new, uh, RCF TT plus GTX stuff, which was fricking stunning. Like, what a show, dude. That was killer. Same kind of thing, like, came out. It was frickin perfect, and I was like, I'm gonna put my console to the table saw, dude. 

Fuck this. Like 

Andy Leviss: You know 

Sean Walker: this is how the other half lives? Damn it! Yeah! 

Andy Leviss: know cut on the console in 2 is not how you get a stronger stereo image, right? 

Sean Walker: Totally. I just, you know, it was like, it's just, it was one of those moments where, you know, I'm standing in front of the house of the, uh, the riser listening with, you know, all the other guys that were listening and you just go, I'm pretty sure that dude has forgotten more about mixing in the last five fucking minutes than I'll ever know. 

You know what I mean? 

Andy Leviss: Yep. Yep. 

Sean Walker: But 

Andy Leviss: and I, like, interacting online, like, Wayne also just seems like a really, like, chill, cool dude. Is that, does that hold up? 

Sean Walker: Wayne, Oh, Wayne Pauly. Yeah, dude. Super cool. I did not know him before the show and ran into him and dude, super cool. Ended up having, ended up having pizza and just shooting the breeze about stuff. Like what a, what a great dude. And just easygoing, easygoing guy. Super, 

Andy Leviss: Right on. And did you get a chance to hang with Pooch at all, or you just got to watch the show and then, like, peace? 

Sean Walker: Just got to watch the show and, and peace. Just chatted, chatted for two minutes while we were right before the show. And then, then he won. He was pretty fricking busy. He was on a tight time schedule. So he like flew into soundcheck, did soundcheck, dinner, banged out a fricking A plus superstar show, ripped off, collected primarily award for mix of the year, flew home and I was like. 

Man, that dude's a fuckin ripper. 

Andy Leviss: Right. 

Sean Walker: Like, that's how you do it. In case anybody was wondering, that is how you do NAMM. You get paid to fly in, you rip out a killer show that's top flight, 1 percent kind of show, you collect the Parnelli Award for Mix of the Year and you go home. 

Andy Leviss: There we go. There we 

Sean Walker: rest of us, second fiddle at that point, dude. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, I was like, I've been, I've been slowly like in between other stuff making my way through all the, the, the Pooch and Vandruden, you know, like YouTube channel and like there's so much gold buried in there. 

Sean Walker: I didn't even know he had a channel. I'm 

Andy Leviss: Oh yeah, they've got the, yeah, the, the, the two of them have like a show that I don't know if they're still doing it, but they did all through the pandemic. 

So there's like, there's hours of like deep dives with the two of them into like all different subjects. Uh, Pooch and Vandruden. 

Sean Walker: That's the same dude. Oh, Raybold. Pooch and Raybold. 

Andy Leviss: and Raybould, sorry, 

Sean Walker: Yeah, oh yeah, I know what you're talking about, yeah. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, I'm like, uh, yeah. We'll edit that part out, he says, 

Sean Walker: Yeah, right. 

Andy Leviss: that part out, 

Sean Walker: No, you're not gonna edit that part out. That's far too much work, dude. Come on. 

Andy Leviss: Sorry, yeah, Pooch and Raybould. Yeah, you're right, that is the same person. Yep, yep. See, and I don't even have the excuse, I haven't flown today. 

I drove 

Sean Walker: Right. Totally. 

Andy Leviss: to Brooklyn, that's all I did. 

Sean Walker: Right. That's, I mean, that's a long way. That's like both miles, bro. I mean, you know, you could, you get that far, like. 

Andy Leviss: Eh, it's like 40 each way. Although I did have some awesome pizza, so there was that. 

Sean Walker: I had some random pizza. Some super random pizza, and it was delicious at like 2am, you know what I mean? It's that 2am pizza that's always better than it really is, you know? 

Andy Leviss: Oh, yeah, no, that's, I got thrown, I went to college in Boston and there was a spot called New York Pizza near the dorm. It was not New York and it barely qualified as pizza, but at 2am it was open and we thought it was delicious. 

Sean Walker: 100%. 100%. That was, that was this. We were coming back from, you know, hanging out or whatever, and we're, it's like, pizza, open. We're like, hard left into the pizza joint, everybody get a slice, you know what I mean? And, uh, it was, by anybody's standards, almost as good as Domino's, you know what I'm saying? It was almost as good as your favorite pizza in the whole wide world, 

Andy Leviss: I didn't say it was my fa I had Pauly G's today, like, you wanna talk about good pizza? I was out in Brooklyn and went to Pauly G's. 

Sean Walker: There you go, alright, I've never been there but I'll take your word for 

Andy Leviss: you don't even have to, I mean, you don't even have to have had it, like, the dude's name is Pauly G, like, and he's in Brooklyn. I mean 

Sean Walker: Hey, oh, hey, it's cool, man, hey. 

Andy Leviss: Exactly, 

Sean Walker: Yeah! 

Andy Leviss: Um, 

Sean Walker: But speaking of New York, I didn't realize that, you know, cheeseburgers were a thing in New York. Like, I know that there are cheeseburgers in New York, I'm not talking dumb, I'm just saying I didn't realize that they were like, hey man, we're known for our fucking cheeseburgers, but I went, uh, to downtown Disney last night to this place called Black Tab, maybe? 

Or something? Black I don't know, somebody's gonna have to web search it and make it smarter than me, but I think it was called Black Tab. And it was like, you know, hand perfected in New York, burgers or something, and it won a bunch of awards, and I was like, yeah, we'll see about that. Yamaha, sure, sure. Took a bite and I was like, this is like top five cheeseburger of my life, dude. 

Andy Leviss: all right. See, 'cause the other, like the, the inside New York burger thing is the chopped cheese. Do you know about this? 

Sean Walker: I certainly don't, but 

Andy Leviss: It's basically like the, like the bastard child of a cheeseburger and a cheese stick. So they like chop up the ground beef, like mix the cheese in with it, and then like, you know, onions, like whatever else, and put it on a sub roll. 

Like it were a cheese steak, but a hamburger 

Sean Walker: What? Black Tap Burgers. 

Andy Leviss: Okay. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, Black 

Andy Leviss: I don't actually know them, but I'll have to, I'll have to look into it. But 

Sean Walker: in you, Andy. I figured you knew everything. Just ask you, you tell us. 

Andy Leviss: that's just who I play on the internet. 

Sean Walker: Just do I play on TV? 

Andy Leviss: You know, I'm not an expert. I just play one on this podcast. 

Sean Walker: Somebody has to, it ain't gonna be me, bro. 

Andy Leviss: Oof. Um, any, any 

Sean Walker: it was, they were delicious. 

Andy Leviss: cool. Uh, so food, we covered food. Check that off the list. Um, any, any other cool shows or, or basically like Pooch and Sage's uh, showcases were, were pretty much. 

Sean Walker: I mean, that's, that's about as, that's about as cool as it gets, dude. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, right on. 

Sean Walker: you know, they were cool. The shows were killing the rest of it was wandering around talking to manufacturers who were trying to sell me gear, you know, 

Andy Leviss: Well, I mean, and that's like as much as, as much as like we want to knock like all the gear nerdery, that's what everybody wants to know. And everybody's out there is like, Oh, what did, what did everybody come out with a name? What's, 

Sean Walker: all right. All right. I'll, I'll, I'll spill it. I, I probably shouldn't cause then it's going to get me or somebody else at PSW in trouble, but I'll, I'll spill it. So after wandering around, you know, you get, you finally get to like touch things and, you know, rather than talk to people about, Oh, this is great. 

Or that's great. Whatever you touch things. And man, I was. Going through, because we're, we're needing some new consoles this year, you know what I mean? So you go through, you touch a few things, and I was, some of the top manufacturers that everybody knows and loves new consoles, like the faders are like cheap plastic y, and you're like, Hey man, you do know that console's north of a hundred grand, right? 

And you got plastic faders, it feels like it should be on an X32. Like what's going, what gives, you know? And it wasn't until their like, very top flagship console where you're like, Oh man, those are like real faders, like look at you, I only had to spend like a quarter million dollars on a console to get real faders, that's cool. 

And then I took a hard right turn over to SSL and was messing around with that L650, their new desk, and it was 

Andy Leviss: All right. 

Sean Walker: it was exactly what you would expect from SSL, which was like, real faders, big cushy buttons. Reactor touchscreen that worked well and you were just like, well, this is what a hundred grand feels like not the other thing I was just playing with you know, I mean 

Andy Leviss: All right. All right. 

Sean Walker: and It was the most interesting thing for me and it's a probably a very unique perspective for me and a few other people that own companies is you get a real good Sense of people's customer service or what you can expect after the sale because the customer service I'm not sure if you guys know does not get better after they have your money 

Andy Leviss: Wait, what? 

Sean Walker: Right? Like, before they've got your money is as much attention as you're going to get. So if they're like, I could really care less about you at our NAMM booth, they're going to not give one flying, whatever I'm supposed, not supposed to say right there about you after the service. Right? So it was cool to walk around, talk to different manufacturers, see what they had to say or how they presented themselves or carry themselves. 

And it was really cool to like. Get some of those interactions or, you know, relationships or whatever going where you're like, okay, man, I can, I can see spending my money here at these different places, excuse me, and like, I'll probably have somebody's phone number to call and get service if I need it, you know, I could probably get help, you know, it was, I, I didn't at the time have much experience with Allen and Heath, but when you walked in, I You got greeted warmly, people knew what they were talking about. 

I got to chat with Samantha Potter about the AHM stuff that I'm not super hip to, but, uh, had, had used a few times, but I'm not an expert on kind of a thing. And she is totally an expert. And so she was able to answer all the smart questions I had and the dumb questions I had, and any of the questions I had. 

And then some, and, you know, like, Jeff was there to chat about the other consoles, and Devantis, and D Live, and I got a real education about the desks, the ecosystem, and it was really cool to just finally meet those dudes, because I had never, you know, I had never met them, so I just waltzed over like a fucking ding dong and was like, Hey man, uh, it's nice to meet you, uh, wanna check out your stuff, you know what I mean, see what this whole thing is about, and they were super gracious, and just Like walked me through the whole thing and everybody knew what they were talking about Which was a first at some of those booths because not everybody at all the booths at NAMM know what they're talking about you know, oftentimes you get the Random person that just drew the short straw to go stand at the booth for the day but 

Andy Leviss: Mm hmm. 

Sean Walker: it was cool everybody there was great, you know, and 

Andy Leviss: And, and I forget that, I forget that Samantha does that too, because, uh, folks may know Samantha is one of the co hosts of the Church Sound Podcast here on the ProSoundWeb Podcast 

Sean Walker: Totally and and I didn't know her beforehand. You know what I mean? I had a whole bunch of firsts this this week, which was cool and it was you know it was just cool to like If I'm being real candid, to kind of learn about the backbone of what we're doing here, bro. You know what I mean? I didn't know a ton about the backbone of, you know, Allen and Heath and RCF and ProSoundWeb and that kind of stuff. 

Going into it and meeting all those people. I mean, I knew Tarek from RCF obviously, right? And I'll get to that because the dude's just incredible. And that company's awesome too, but like, it was cool to go meet the sponsors and go like, Alright man, are these people just rando sponsors or like, do they give a shit? 

You know what I mean? I see why they, I see why they were chosen as sponsors, or why they said yes, or why this is a good fit, because they totally give a shit, both Allen and Heath and RCF, right? They totally give a shit, which was cool, and watching them with other clients, not just me, you know what I mean, but before I had introduced myself to watch them with other people, they totally gave a shit with them too, it wasn't something that they just put on because I was there or whatever, you know what I mean? 

I, I don't fancy myself anything special, just that like, you know, if they know they're Paying for the podcast or whatever like that. Maybe the tune changes, but the tune didn't change You know, I mean they really gave a shit about everybody that was there and that was super cool to see So I really came out like, you know feeling all warm and fuzzy as it were about the whole thing, which is great 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, that's I mean, it would be lame if like, we had sponsors that we had to be like, Oh, God, we got to talk about these guys, but they are they're cool people doing cool things. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, that's that's 

Andy Leviss: had no set like they did not put us up to having this conversation. Like I did. I did not even know this is where the conversation was gonna go when we got into it. 

Sean Walker: Dude, totally. Yeah. Yeah, totally 

Andy Leviss: now we're glad they're here. Yeah, like, 

Sean Walker: and I haven't mostly slept So like there's I got no filter left, bro If you if you got to cut me off be like hey, what's it? you know, I mean but like It was cool, dude. And, and, uh, same, same with RCF man. I, I went down and hung with Tarek for a bit and got to see their killer GTX demo. 

Uh, that was, you know, that pooch mixed or whatever. And it was cool to like, hear the demo of the PA and then, and then hear the show. And, you know, King's desk was ripping. I don't know if you know, if you guys know who that is or like them, but they were fricking, they were ripping, but it was just cool like. 

You know, kind of get some time with the people that are involved and go, man, they really are not only cool companies, but great people too. You know what I mean? And they do, they give a hoot, you know what I mean? They, they care. 

Andy Leviss: huh. 

Sean Walker: the same thing. Like when you walk through the RCF booth or whatever, it was people that gave a shit. 

That knew what they were talking about, trying to help people, you know. And I got to go sit through a bunch of speaker demos, because, you know, like Meyerhead demos, DMB head demos, RCF, PK, you know, a bunch of manufacturers were having demos. And it was really cool to see, like, the company's personality in each of their demos. 

Does that make sense? You know what I mean? Like, not just the speaker itself or the technology itself, but like, their self, the technology itself. could see how the company thought in the way they demoed stuff. You know what I mean? So, for example, I'll give you, I'll give you an example. So you go to the RCF, the, the booth, not the arena demo, but you go to the booth, and they've got speakers lined up, they've got a super, like, comfortable, clean room, there's kind of a lunch spread in the back, they got coffee, they got soda, they got wine. 

They just wanted people to be comfortable and have a snack and a glass of wine or a coffee if they want, listen to some speakers, they had it really well presented where it was like, you know, and we're all nerds here, so I'm gonna, you know, like, I'll talk a little nerd here, but like the lighting fixtures, man, they had the moving heads that would spotlight the different speakers as they were going and just really had it like, Well thought out and well done. 

It wasn't like haphazard or something, you know, it was really well thought out and well done. And, uh, but, but reasonably straightforward. There wasn't like a lot of like, Hey! Whiz bang! Flash flash! You know what I mean? It was just real, real straightforward and thought out and I was like, Okay, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. 

That's kind of been my experience with them is like, It just works, man. You know, we bought a bunch of speakers for them at the top of last year. And they just frickin work. They sound great, and they work. And I was like, okay, that makes a lot of sense. Then I went and saw, excuse me, the PK demo. You know the company PK Sound? 

They make like the line array speakers that move on the rotating, like it will articulate itself or whatever, you know? And I had initially, you know, whether it's right or wrong, I had initially like kind of blown it off as a quirky DJ. Thing is, you know, the, those kind of people are the ones that called asking for it or whatever. 

And, uh, so we went and saw the demo and it was cool that they had like projector mapped the entire room, right? They had a little breakout room there that was there when they projector mapped the whole thing. And they had, they had intentionally installed dance floor, like a white parquet kind of dance floor. 

It was reflective and no draping of the thing. And it was super like you walked in, it was a super technical demo. Right, it wasn't like vibey and stuff like the RCF demo where they were like, you know, our RC was obviously like, Hey man, we're cool. We want to hang out and talk to you about speakers. And PK was like, Hey man, we are really, really interested in you understanding the technical capabilities of our system. 

You know what I mean? 

Andy Leviss: Copy. 

Sean Walker: it was cool that they did this like projector mapping. And so they put you in a, uh, a theater or, you know, as he's, as he's talking through the demo. You're in the space that they're describing. So if he's like, Hey man, if you've got an insta going and it's in a theater or whatever, you know, like not that any of us have ever tried to put loud ripping rock bands in an old, you know, theater that wasn't meant for it, but should you have to do something like that? 

I know it's a rare occasion, but should you have to do something like that? Here's how this might work, you know? And so you can see like they move the louvers and they articulate the array or whatever, and the video followed along with it. So you could see the energy coming off the sides of the room. In the, in the demo. 

And I was like, dude, what a cool demonstration? Like, how cool is that? You know what I mean? And, uh, and the rigs and the rig sounded great. You know what I mean? I was like, Oh man, who knows what a, what a gimmick or something, you know? And it, it was not, it was a super cool sound of rig. It was totally a, totally a great sound of PA, but the demo itself was super compelling, right? 

It was, it was cool. And, uh. It was just interesting to see those kinds of differences in the things, you know what I mean? Or, uh, that like, some of the places just took it way further. To make sure that it was good for their clients, right, like RCF did, like PK did, like Allen and Heath did, they just made sure that it was great for their clients, you know what I mean, and we don't have any, you know, affiliation with PK yet, call us, we'll take your money too, but we don't have any affiliation with those guys yet, but they did a great job with their demo. 

And then there was a few where you were like, hey man, I'm all, I'm all good for saving some bucks too, but The person that set this up, this speaker thing you're supposed to be doing, they have never seen a speaker, let alone set up a speaker. And that's not going to really make a good impression. You know what I mean? 

And I won't call those people out because that's not That's not cool. Right. But like there was, there was more than one of those where you were like, yo, yo man, like, like, what's it cost to get a guy that knows what time it or gal, right? A person that knows what time it is to like, come sort this out. You know what I mean? 

On, on, on the low end, 500 on the top end, a thousand bucks, but maybe for the day to fly in, set this up, sort it out and go home. Like we're not talking about a hundred grand. Right. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. 

Sean Walker: If you sell one fucking speaker, it pays for that person's day to come make this rippin 

Andy Leviss: Yep. 

Sean Walker: I, I just can't for the life of me fathom, you know what I mean? 

I, I had a conversation with a friend of mine about the same kind of thing, and it was like, dude, you don't even have to be a rippin systems tech, but just like, a, a competent A1 would just come in and sort this out so that there's no feedback, and it doesn't sound like you're talking through a tin can, you know? 

Andy Leviss: Oof. 

Sean Walker: I know, dude, I know. And then, uh, 

Andy Leviss: Oof. 

Sean Walker: like just, just like totally crash and burn. And again, I won't name any names, but it's, you know, the one that we all know and love that's on every show ever and is the reason there are bailout macros, uh, had the sales guys working with the PA and there is a award winning Grammy, Grammy winning, not even nominated, Grammy winning household name, engineer presenting. the whole thing is. In like a tin can, half feedback, half pillow situation. Don't really, can't really make sense of what's going on. And then the computer doesn't work and they can't like continue the demo. And I was like, Oh no, dude. Oh no. Like, this is not a salesperson trying to like give a sales pitch. 

This is like household name, trying to help you sling your wares. And you didn't spend the dough to have a dude that know what time it is. Come sort this out and just hang out for the week. Like, 

Andy Leviss: Yeesh. 

Sean Walker: you know, I just think like how many, how many products does a company have to sell to pay for that person's rate? 

You know what I mean? And, and you look at these and go, you don't need like the top 1 percent engineers to do this. You need a good engineer that can do it. You don't need like, Oh, well, there's only 10 household name engineers we can call to do this. It's like, dude, anybody in our discord server could go sort this stuff out to the level of like, Yep, it totally sounds good. 

Yep. These speakers gonna be great. Yep. We're gonna sell a lot more speakers. It sounds good You know what? I mean, and it was just it was astonishing to see the difference between you know Some manufacturers that absolutely get it and spent the time and the money to make it right and others that did not and then that was reflected in the way they Presented themselves in the sales pitches too, because, you know, I own a sound company, so I had the buyer badge on, right? 

And, and so everybody was jumping out like, Hey, let me show you my stuff. Hey, let me show you my stuff. Hey, let me show you my stuff. You know what I mean? Uh, and it was interesting just to see the different pitches. And I, I know I've like rambled about that for an hour now, but that, that was the interesting part for me, right? 

Cause it was not, there was not any like groundbreaking gear that I saw that I was like, Oh my God, how are we ever going to live without this from now on? You know what I mean? But the, uh, The, the presentations was the interesting part. I did get to finally put hands on the, the DM3 that I had not put hands on it. 

I ordered a bunch and then like, cause just the form factor is just the form factor is killer. Uh, and it was cool. It'll do, it'll do what we need to do. You know, breakouts and small, small stuff. That'll be great. Um, super stoked about the, the DM7 when, you know, we can finally go buy a couple of those 

Andy Leviss: I was gonna ask, did you get your hands on the 7? 

Sean Walker: yeah, 

Andy Leviss: Alright. 

Sean Walker: it, it's as cool as we had all hoped it was, you know? 

And, uh, and I, you know, for better or for worse, I'm, I totally, I totally dig those, those desks cause they, they just work, man. You know what I mean? So I'm stoked to get a couple of those for us. I'm stoked to get a couple of the, uh, I didn't foolishly, I didn't quite understand, but like, I'm, I'm now super stoked to have a couple of Evandus and DLive for our shop too. 

Cause those things are fricking ripping, dude. 

Andy Leviss: Nice. 

Sean Walker: Um, and, uh, we have, we have officially moving on all of our, uh, Yellow and black consoles, as it were, uh, cause the parts are hard to get. Huh? 

Andy Leviss: Your X's are now your X's. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, yeah, yeah. My, all my exes live in exes and, uh, cause I went to go get parts and they were like, Oh yeah, you need some faders. 

Cool. No problem. Here's the obscure place to call to get the faders and here's the thing to do. And then here's the blah, blah, blah. And I was like, okay, cool. And I went and looked at the prices. And I was like, Hey man, for the amount of faders I need, that's actually more money than a brand new desk. And they were like, yeah, that's, that's just how it goes. 

And I was like, cool, man. Uh, anybody that wants a free console, 

Andy Leviss: Oof. 

Sean Walker: pay for shipping and they can have it. 

Andy Leviss: I mean, that's the, that's the thing everybody said, like at those price points, they, they're basically disposable, which is sad and terrible for the environment, but 

Sean Walker: I can't do it. I it's literally, I got two of them sitting on the shelf. Cause I cannot bear to literally just throw it in a dumpster. You know what I mean? Like most of it works. I just need faders and scribble strips, but I can't get them. And so it's like for a year now, it's literally been, these two consoles have been sitting on a shelf. 

Collecting dust where I'm like, okay, someday I will find a good deal on faders and we'll make it work. And we can send it to the, like, you know, Z, Z stage or whatever. Right. 

Andy Leviss: I was going to say, you need faders, you want scribble strips. 

Sean Walker: I mean, I got gaff tape, bro. I can make scribble strips. I I'll, I'm not above that, dude. I, I've had LS9s. 

Andy Leviss: day! 

Sean Walker: Yeah, dude, I had LS9s and I, they had to pry those out of my cold dead fingers. 

I, I fricking consultate the shit out of it. They looked like I had a bandage on by the time I was done. 

Andy Leviss: yep, giving me some PM3500 flashbacks, 

Sean Walker: yeah, totally. 

Andy Leviss: H3000s, 

Sean Walker: Totally. But it was, uh, it was. It was just a fun week, man. It was super cool. Met up with, uh, you know, a bunch of the people that are here, you know, met up with Sean and Evan and, uh, Sage and, uh, a couple other people that were, you know, running around, it was, it was pretty fricking pretty sweet, dude, you know, and it was cool to like, get to meet some people and chat and just, you know, see where everybody's at. 

See what they're, see what they're up to, what the deal is, you know? And, uh, it was, it was, you know, like cool to put faces with the names. 

Andy Leviss: yeah, 

Sean Walker: You know, does that make sense? 

Andy Leviss: is, yep, 

Sean Walker: And, uh, so that was, that was a lot of fun, man. We had one night where everybody got to, uh, to, to hang out. You know what I mean? Robert and Hart came out too and hung for a bit. 

It was cool to chat with him about like, you know, mixing the kind of military band thing or whatever, you know? And I was like, Oh dude, what a cool, you know, what a cool gig. And, 

Andy Leviss: yeah. 

Sean Walker: uh. It was just interesting to hear everybody's experience and everybody's experiences are different and, and as the night went on and we were all chatting and it was cool because like the night before I, I was lucky enough to meet and then, you know, get to have, have a bite with Wayne Pauly and pick his brain and, and shoot the breeze with him and he was just super cool and then the next night hang out with, you know, Sage and, and Rob and, Uh, Sean and Evan and some of those guys and pick their brains and we're all, it was cool to realize that like, we're all on the same journey, we're just at different places in our journey. 

You know what I mean? We're all doing audio, we're all doing shows, we're all obsessing about how we can do it better and how we can make our shows sound better and make them more efficient and make it better for our clients and our artists and we're all just at, at different places about it. You know what I mean? 

And it was cool to listen to like, everybody talking about how they were going to make their, their thing better. You know, and, and nobody was like blah, blah, blah, your blah, blah, blah. Everybody was like super fun, positive and just super stoked to do better for their clients. And that was rad, man. That was super uplifting at the end of the night to walk away and go, what a cool group of people we got hanging out here, man. 

Like, what a cool thing that, you know, was built for us that you and I are, are trying to help carry on the best we can and not mess it up. You know what I mean? 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. I mean, that's this, this podcast and the extended community around it, like lives and dies on that community. And, 

Sean Walker: Yeah. I mean, I, I wish people would quit yelling at me, but cause I got, I got thin skin, dude, I'm, I'm crying a 

Andy Leviss: part of your, it's part of your charm. 

Sean Walker: Totally, dude. 

Andy Leviss: Um, 

Sean Walker: but it was, it was just a really good experience overall. You know what I mean? It was just, it was incredible to like meet a bunch, bunch of people and just, just have a great time. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, well, and I want to circle back to the thing you were saying about booths and demos. I wanted to say this there, but then we got off on a tangent, is 

Sean Walker: Sorry to, uh, 

Andy Leviss: that no, no, no, that's what we do. It's part of our charm. Um, but the thing you were saying about how like, basically the level of give a shit is like, that's not just in demos too, like that's the thing we have to remember to bring to like every show we do too. 

Like you're going to do, you know, a show for like, you know, 20 people listening to like, you know, a high school band, or you're gonna do a show for an arena full of people listening to like a top tier rock band. And like, for somebody in that audience and somebody on that stage, that is the most important show of their life, no matter what it is. 

And like bringing that level of give a shit, you know, across the board matters. And, and I think it's sometimes helpful to see how that applies in like, other fields or other areas of the field and and Recognize it there and recognize what you can take back to shows Even if it's not a thing you learned that seems directly applicable to shows So I think that's a cool observation you brought back from that 

Sean Walker: Yeah, man. Totally. And, and like, you know, some that have come before us, as it were, have said like, you can't teach, give a shit, you know what I mean? And it's cool that basically everybody here gives a shit. That's, it was rad, man. 

Andy Leviss: Yep That's the that's our our blessing and our curse is is the level of give a shit a lot of us have 

Sean Walker: Totally, dude. 

Andy Leviss: That's, uh, sometimes we're, uh, clinically unable to not give a shit, even when it would be mentally healthier not to sometimes, or to give slightly less. But 

Sean Walker: holy 

Andy Leviss: I've met some UPS, some UPS folks who give, give a ton of shit about UPS. I've also 

Sean Walker: wasn't saying they didn't give a shit, I just mean it's like, it's a simpler situation, right? Like, 

Andy Leviss: Oh, man. We used to, at one of the shops I used to work at, we were real friendly with our UPS driver and he used to, even if he didn't have packages for us, he would drive by the warehouse. And if he saw the warehouse roll up door open, we would just hear like a gear grind as he goes past. And that was, was Mike saying hello. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, right, there you go. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, he'd come in and like, when he had 10 minutes to spare, like we'd mutually bitch about our respective bosses, 

Sean Walker: There you go. Nice. 

Andy Leviss: that or, oh, man. See, I could easily get off on like all sorts of tangents about UPS folks. 

Sean Walker: There you go. So that's the guys at my shop right now just bitching at our UPS guy about me. Just like, that son of a bitch. 

Andy Leviss: Oh, we had one, there was a shop I worked at that the guy was kind of a bit of a blowhard and, like, didn't know when to pick his battles and had, like, one of those, like, you know, you pay extra for the UPS, like, you know, 9am or earlier delivery. And it was COD, and he did not have the C ready. OD. So the driver was this sweetheart of a lady who was like, all right, I'll come back. 

I gotta get the other Red Labels out. And he's like, no, I paid for Red Label and I pay your fucking check and blah, blah, blah. You wait for the check. And she was like, I'll be back. I gotta go deliver the other ones. I have to get delivered before nine. You weren't ready. Have the check ready when I come back. 

And that was the last day. She ever delivered to us. We shared the building with another company. She still delivered to the other company in the building. They legit went and found their biggest, scariest looking hulk of a driver. And the only delivery in our neighborhood he made was to us from then on. 

Sean Walker: Oh, brutal. Don't be a dick, dicks. 

Andy Leviss: Yep, yep. Sometimes you gotta learn a lesson in the hardware. Um, all right. Any other, I mean, any other cool new, it seemed like, like this was the, the NAM of like VST plugin hardware hosts 

Sean Walker: It was. Yeah. Um. 

Andy Leviss: has a new thing, right, for like, I saw it at AES, but that was like, NAM was kind of its big full on coming out. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, they do. I gotta admit. I don't. Really messed with those. So I didn't check them out super deeply. I'm sorry, all that. I wish I had a better, you know, I wish I was a better mixer dude, but I, I, you know, I don't, I don't get into it like that. So I didn't check them out. I mean, I saw them obviously. Uh, and, uh, what I can say is that one of those things was involved in one of the stories I was telling earlier. 

Uh, And they really wish there was a macro. 

Andy Leviss: See, the thing is, once you mention macros, it could actually be either of them, so I feel like we've sufficiently butt covered here, because that could apply to either one. 

Sean Walker: Oh, fair 

Andy Leviss: nothing to hear. Um, yeah, I'm trying to think if I heard about anything else cool there, uh, that I wanted to ask you about. Um, no, so you didn't unlock the secret to making your snare not sound like shit? 

Sean Walker: Um, I mean, I unlocked that secret years ago. I have CLA's sample from all his records, and I just put it on my fucking records. When I went to mix with the masters, he left it on my session, and I was like, Yoink, well that's mine now, and all of a sudden my sound doesn't sound like shit anymore. 

Andy Leviss: I'm still trying to remember which mixer it is who uses like the rifle shot as like one layer of the snare sample, 

Sean Walker: I don't remember. 

Andy Leviss: it's somebody who, it's one of the mixers who mixed some of the Jane's Addiction stuff I think, but I can't remember who, 

Sean Walker: Oh, cool. Uh, speaking of CLA I was at the SSL booth getting my nerd on on that L600 and again, the gal that was helping me was super knowledgeable, super kind, and was like, hey dude, Here's my cell phone number if you've got questions or whatever like call me and I can sort it out And I was like see now there's somebody I want to get my money to like if I got a problem with your you know Hundred two hundred whatever the fuck a thousand dollar console this thing is I got a person to call me like hey, man Uh, I am not as smart as I thought it was and I need somebody smarter than me to help me out and They're there to help you out. 

That would be cool, right? But while I was at the booth Chris was there Hanging with their Origin console, you know, talking about that. And so I sat down and I was like, all right, man, tell me about this desk. Since you're the only one here in this booth, not trying to sell me a console, like what's up with this desk, you know? 

And he was stoked on it. He was like, Oh dude, it does this and does that. And I was like, Hey man, as a fellow SSL user, like I came up in a studio and I'm 40, 64 G plus making records. And so like, I'm like the last generation of spoiled bitch guys that like, can't figure out how to mix in Pro Tools. You know what I mean? 

I still have to have a desk or I can't sort my life out. And, uh, he was like, Oh dude. It totally does the bend thing that you're used to, like, it's totally cool. And I was like, ah, yes, I can finally sell the matrix that's in our one, one control room and put this in. So it like, you know, does the thing. 

Cause you know, like the other ones, they're like super analog guys are super clean and super hi fi and I'm just not that good of a mixer. I'm not that precise, bro. You know what I mean? Like those are for guys that are super precise and are like, Oh, I'm going to do this and that, and then this, and this is his place and that's his place. 

And I'm more like. Painting with a sprayer rather than a fine tooth brush. You know what I mean? I'm more like, this is going to rock and that's going to slam. This is going to rip and that's going to be cool. And I need it 

Andy Leviss: Sean is the Banksy of sound mixers. 

Sean Walker: yeah, right. Totally. It just needs to be a little squishier. You know what I mean? 

Like it's, it's gotta be like a little more, little more bendy and not quite so rigid. And so I'm stoked that it is so I can, you know, get that going in one of our rooms, which would be sweet. But cause I, 

Andy Leviss: that's Ivan. 

Sean Walker: don't know if I've, you know, yapped about it or not, but I, I also got a recording studio, which is, which is pretty fun. 

Uh, cause I can't let it go, dude. It doesn't make any money. It's not a good business. I'm looking at it on the P& L going, this is a fucking disaster. Of course we'll spend 50 grand on another console for this disaster. 

Andy Leviss: mean, come tax time, I'm sure your accountant loves you having that, that, that on the L side of the scale. 

Sean Walker: No, come text on my account and say, dude, are you lighting it on? Fire? What is wrong with you? 

What'd you get cold one night? Just make a fire? Fuck you, bro. You're supposed to keep it. 

Andy Leviss: Woof. Woof. Yeah, see, I've like, I've only played with like, a weird corner of the SSL, because I haven't, I haven't, I don't spend much time in studios, uh, other than like, broadcast stuff occasionally. And I haven't used the SSL lives, but I've used like, the System T, like, broadcast consoles a bit at one of my corporate clients. 

Um, yeah, and they're, it's, they're their own thing, but like, yeah, they're, they're their own thing. Absolutely. Nice to work on. Like they sound great. 

Sean Walker: I've only ever mixed one show on them and I've mixed one show on it and heard somebody else mix another show on that platform. And I heard it long before I got to mix it. And it was, um, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at the Gorge. 

Andy Leviss: All 

Sean Walker: it was a big, super well tuned J rig. And. I have never in my life heard a show with that much depth and impact without sounding it was slamming. 

You know what I mean? Like, it wasn't a slamming rock show, right? But it was just incredible. It was frickin perfect. And I don't remember who the mixer was, I'm sorry, but I was there mixing a different stage. And I literally just had to go to the guy and be like, Yo man, how? Like, how? That's, like, defies laws and shit, bro, and he was like, he's like, man, I, I would love to say that I was, you know, that good or had some kind of trick, but it's this desk, dude. 

It's unreal. I was on another platform before, and I would have, I was in the same situation when I went to this platform, you know, 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. 

Sean Walker: and I was like, okay, cool, and then I got to mix one show at a local club here who's got, they've got a pair, and a, and a cool V Rig. It's funny that they're both paired with, with DMV PAs. 

And I just remember bringing up the faders before I really got into it. And I was like, that's where we're starting, huh? I like it, you know, but there, but as a sound company owner, it's tricky, right? It's a tricky balance of like engineer and, and business owner, where like the nerd engineer in me is like, well, why wouldn't you? 

It sounds awesome. But the business owner is like, well, nobody is going to call me for that. Like nobody is going to be like, Hey man. 

Andy Leviss: am I throwing after this? 

Sean Walker: Yeah. How many zeros am I throwing after this? Because I want to use it. And I do, I want to use it. It's pretty fricking cool. Um, and it's laid out in a fashion that makes sense to me. 

You know what I mean? Like each of these desks is personal and I don't mean like it's calling you names. I mean, like there's a workflow that works for everybody that makes sense in their mind about, you know what I mean? Some people are Allen and Heath people. Some people are Yamaha people or Avid or DiGiCo or whatever, you know? 

And, uh, While I spend a ton of time on Yamaha, so that all makes, that all makes sense, like going through this SSL, I was like, yo, man, this is, this is speaking my language, like, I'm just used to the old recording language. It talks and so it, it was instantly familiar and easy and the way you drove tiles around and stuff. 

It was just, it was cool. So that, that was pretty sweet. But, uh, the other part was like what we had said, kind of ad nauseam at this point, was like, it was, it felt well made. It was a well made desk and then everybody knew what they were doing. So I was like, oh man. I would love to give you my money. The only problem is I don't have that money. 

And if I did have that money, I don't know that I can spend it on that because nobody is going to call me for it as a sound company, right? They're going to want DiGiCo or Avid or Allen and Heath or whatever. You know what I mean? Like not once in my career has somebody called and said, Hey man, you got that SSL? 

You know, and that's not a slight on SSL at all. That's just like, as a business owner, I have to make different choices than as an engineer. And those two things are at odds. It's really what that long ass winded story was. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. No. So much of what we do is, is finding the right tension and the right center point between those two, those two sides of, of anything. 

Sean Walker: Totally dude. Totally. Uh, but it was overall a super fun week and a bunch of cool stuff. And I learned a bunch that I didn't even know I needed to learn. And I am not sure how much I can divulge, but like, I figured out who makes the wire, I figured out who makes the split snakes and the, and the power packs for the Amprec distros and stuff for. 

The people that we end up buying them from, so I can skip like nine fucking middlemen when I have to go buy the stuff now, which is gonna be huge. Cause even dealer cost on the name brand is gonna, is like twice what the other one is, so it'll be, it'll be nice to be able to like, level up my snake package. 

As a matter of fact, anybody who wants to buy some W2, uh, hit me up, I got some I'm kidding, I'm not, 

Andy Leviss: And if you snap pins, Sean will return them for you for the next year for free. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, yeah, totally. When you snap heads, I'll return it. Uh, let's be honest. I'm not returning anything. My buddy Garrett, my right hand man, Garrett is going to be doing that. Cause 

Andy Leviss: I was gonna say, there's like, there were some other brands of MOLT that like, we would return them in the shop when I worked in shops, but like, Whirlwind, it was like, just send it to them. It's easier. 

Sean Walker: yeah, I'm, I'm blessed that I've got a great team and that I can, you know, I can just go be a doofus and have fun. And I got some fricking rippers that support my ding dong ness and they're like, okay, dude, let me show you how to really have to go do this to be successful and not crash and burn. And they can go fix the things and, you know, just let me have fun and goof around. 

And it's, it's awesome. I'm, I'm blessed, man. 

Andy Leviss: That's awesome. Um, yeah. And I wanted to shout, like, I know you mentioned like the SSL folks, like, you know, and that's, I would say like all those major companies, like, I, I don't know about you. Like I know. It's relatively easy to find once you've established yourself in this business. Like somebody at Yamaha, I got somebody at DiGiCo, a couple of folks on like the broadcast side of SSL, um, Allen and Heath, you know, call Jeff or whoever else, um, and they all do a really great job of like making sure they have folks who are smart and available. 

Yeah. Like any of those four companies, like I know, like, even if I'm dropped in front of a console, I don't know, like, I know there's a phone, a friend, you know, who, who will help out. 

Sean Walker: Abso frickin lutely, dude. And those are the companies I want to spend my money with as a small sound company. You know what I mean? Cause like, 

Andy Leviss: Yep. 

Sean Walker: the big companies in the world, the Clairs and the Solotechs and stuff, like, they've got a ton of people to call. Internally. Like, they already know a lot. You know what I mean? 

They got a lot of people that know a lot of stuff, that are really good at what they do, and so they got a lot of people to call. I don't have a lot of people to call, so to have people to call really is super helpful. You know what I mean? Like, I don't have thousands of employees worldwide to be like, Oh yeah, man, this guy's the Avid expert, or this guy's the SSL expert, or whatever, you know what I mean? 

I gotta call Avid or SSL and be like, Hi, uh, I got two desks. I don't have 500 desks. Like, I didn't make a 500 desk Claire order, you know what I mean? I gotta get two desks, and I need some help. And to have them go, Yeah man, no problem, how can I help you? Is so Awesome. Compared to like, uh, a different manufacturer I was, I was with before was like, yeah, we, yeah, I'd send an email, you know what I mean? 

You're like, I don't have time for an email. I need to sort it out right now. You know what I mean? So it was cool for me, man, to, to go make a bunch of those relationships and, and, uh, you know, just. Be able to do better, because I give a shit, you know what I mean, like the rest of us here on our community, whether that's Discord or Facebook or whatever, but like, I give a shit, and so to be able to do better at giving a shit is going to be cool in 2024, so I'm stoked for it. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, and I mean in, in, in, 

Sean Walker: damn wrap up. 

Andy Leviss: I, you know, I mean it's still, it's, it's, it's one of our tightest episodes for lately, but again, creating on a curve. You are all gonna learn to love us. I, you know, 

Sean Walker: done with you guys. 

Andy Leviss: yeah. The, the Statler and Waldorf of, of pro audio. 

Sean Walker: Oh no. Ugh, 

Andy Leviss: Which one of us is which? 

Sean Walker: don't do it, dude. Why would 

Andy Leviss: no, I feel like I'm more Rizzo the rat if I'm a Muppet. 

Sean Walker: Like the left, not the right! Like the left, not the right! 

Andy Leviss: I was gonna say, actually, I'm probably a mix of like Fozzie and Rizzo. 

Sean Walker: Oh, that's funny, dude. 

Andy Leviss: Um, no, but it, yeah, it's good to catch up now that you're back. Oh, 

Sean Walker: I was gonna say, how was your Iceland? Speaking of catching up, how was your 

Andy Leviss: oh yeah, no, 

Sean Walker: you just fly out to, like, Ice Paradise? 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, we went to Iceland, which this time of year was mostly icy. Cause that's the whole thing is like in the brilliant PR moves on both their parts, Iceland is usually the green one and Greenland is the icier one. So 

Sean Walker: they nailed it. 

Andy Leviss: yeah, yeah. But no, Iceland was awesome. Like, and it's, it is a weird time of year to be there. 

Cause it, sunrise is like 10 30 in the morning. Sunset is about 4 PM in the afternoon at the latest. And it like, so it's like, you're walking out at like 9 AM, like getting coffee. And it's still like, it, it feels like it's, you know, before the crack of dawn, which is wild. 

Sean Walker: That's, that's a country on my hours, bro. I think I'm just gonna, I should just be there, like, 

Andy Leviss: Right? I mean, like, I feel like living there eventually, the lack of daylight would get depressing, but like, it's a good time of year to go and try and see 

Sean Walker: It's like Seattle. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, yeah, just, uh, slightly less rain and, and 

Sean Walker: No, and, 

Andy Leviss: food. 

Sean Walker: and you got more Northern Lights. So we got none of that. Dude, it's just cloudy here. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, so that was the, like, we, we built this tour around, uh, uh, sale to try and see the Northern Lights, and it's Like the, the, the, or the tour, the package was like basically three days and you could extend it and we extended it a few. Um, and which was a good thing we did because the first night we were there we got canceled because of cloud cover. 

Second night, they cancelled the boat ride, I think because of cloud again. The third night, it was clear, but like, the forecast for Aurora activity was like, jack, so they were like, we're cancelling again, and the last day, they were like, nope, nope, it's, it's going tonight, we're sailing, and we're looking at the forecast like, oh man, it, it, it doesn't look like it's gonna be great, but, worst case, we get a nice sail out of it, I guess? 

And it, but the lights came out. They were awesome. Like some of it, you can see with the naked eye, some of it with the camera. Like I still got to find time to go through the photos I took on my real camera, but like even the iPhone does an amazing job at the Northern, like it's, I'm whatever voodoo magic stabilizing and shit they're doing in the iPhone pro, like it was pretty wild. 

Like, 

Sean Walker: I just can't, dude. 

Andy Leviss: yeah, 

Sean Walker: I can't, I can't sort it out. Like. I see incredible pictures that were shot on an iPhone and I just go, how, how? And they're like, I just pushed the button. And I was like, you know, man, I've had an iPhone for a lot of years and a lot of different models. And when I push the button, they do not look like that. 

They come out looking a little fuzzy. You know what I mean? Like, we just got to focus it. I'm pretty sure that the focus thing does its focus. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, and I definitely want to go back, because like, the photographer in me wants to like, shoot the Northern Lights from land, because like, the shooting it from a boat was like, I've got some photos that'll be cool, but like, it's, you're cropping out the coastline, and you're just gonna get the Northern Lights, because the coastline's still a little blurry, but the Northern Lights look smeared already, so a little more smeary is like, yeah, you can't tell. 

Sean Walker: I gotcha. That's cool. Cool, 

Andy Leviss: But yeah, I got some other cool foot like, you know, it's, it's warm enough that, relatively speaking, that like, there's still waterfalls flowing in the park. So like, you're looking at like all this like ice and then like waterfall cutting through the ice kind of thing. It's a wild place. It's like one of those places you can go and like, you can see a chunk of the country in three or four days. 

Or you can spend like a week and a half or two and like, not this time of year, but like when it's a little warmer and like all the roads are open, drive, like the entire perimeter of the country. It's like, I think 17 to 20 hours of driving. So like spread it over a week and you know, an RV or whatever. 

And 

Sean Walker: dude. Killer. 

Andy Leviss: we're talking about doing that. Although I've legit never been camping even in a tent. So there might have to be a trial run or two before I can commit to like, yeah, let's go do an RV for two weeks around Iceland. But that, that 

Sean Walker: like an art, I feel like an RV you could sort out, but a tent would be a little rough. Like an RV is just like a, If you get a nice one, it's, you know, a little portable little hotel room, dude. You just gotta, you know, mind, mind. A few P's and Q's and you, you're good to go. Like, I, I think you'd be able 

Andy Leviss: let's I figure if I can do like a night or two in a tent that I can probably do a week or two in an RV. 

Sean Walker: for shout 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, so we'll see. I mean, there's there's places to check off the vacation list that I haven't been to but going back there for a longer time and seeing some of the more outer parts of the country is definitely on the list now. 

Sean Walker: dude. That's cool. How long is that flight from where you are? 

Andy Leviss: it's like five or six hours. It's it's real because you're going like 

Sean Walker: that's a long way. 

Andy Leviss: New York. Yeah, and it's like 

Sean Walker: a long way. 

Andy Leviss: It is, but it's like, it's, it's about the same distance as like, me to California would be. 

Sean Walker: Sure, totally. I 

Andy Leviss: so it's, it's not too bad. Like, I mean, I have like, Hawaii's further, by far. Um, yeah, or like, Japan is further. 

Um. But yeah, it's what's what's wild is it's like actually like a couple hours from London. So as it turned out I Missed by minutes Sound designer engineer friend of mine from London because there it's like an hour and a half two hour flight for them and I think he and I think his girlfriend is like hopped a flight over for like three days to like try and see the Northern Lights and they literally I posted about this restaurant we had an awesome dinner in and it faced me, he's like, I just walked past there like half an hour ago. 

And I'm like, I just walked out of there half an hour ago. Like we probably walked right past each other, 

Sean Walker: Oh, dude. That's awesome. 

Andy Leviss: yeah. And so then 

Sean Walker: did you end up meeting up, or No. 

Andy Leviss: no, we, we tried to, but like, it was the one that we had one day off and rented a, rented a car or like a Jeep and like went off to do a bit of, cause. We had done, there's the, uh, the Golden Circle is the circle of, like, these three sites that are very important to Icelandic history, um, like there's a waterfall, there's like this, like, gorge in, like, National Park, which is where they had the first, um, national, um, Like basically the legislative body, um, in like, you know, hundreds of thousands or not, thousands of years ago, um, and we did that initially on a tour bus that came with a package where it was like, cool, we're going to the park, be back on the bus in 35 minutes. 

It's like this, this is a park that takes like hours to see like 35 minutes. So we ended up renting a Jeep and going back and like doing a bit of that and spending more. And so it's basically that park. And the geyser, which is called Geysir, if you want to know how like OG this geyser is, it is just called Geysir. 

Um, 

Sean Walker: literally the OG 

Andy Leviss: I believe so. And, 

Sean Walker: That's the one. All others are after that. 

Andy Leviss: yeah, and and and it's like there's an area they've got like a there's like five or six geysers of varying strength and varying, uh, antiquity and dormancy in this one area, but they're all collected together and, like, I posted a slow mo, you know, high speed photo, video of one of the, like, the biggest of the current geysers there erupting, uh, uh, in the Discord, so if folks want to check that out on the Parks and Recreation channel, I posted that the other week when I was there. 

Sean Walker: Oh, I gotta go check that out. That's sweet. I bet that was super cool to see in person 

Andy Leviss: it's, it's pretty cool. And like, it goes off like every five or six minutes. So you just stand there and you're watching and just, you start to see bubbling and you're like, Oh, it's going, it's going, it's going. And then it blows up and water spouts out of the earth. And it's like, this is a crazy planet we live on. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, dude. How cool. What a fun experience that must've been 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. It was pretty wild. Highly recommend. Um, if folks want to go and see the Aurora, apparently this fall is the, the sun goes on an 11 year cycle where it flips its magnetic poles. And the height of that cycle, which means the most, like, vivid and intense and, like, frequent Aurora activity is coming up. 

They're saying, like, I think it's, like, this October or November. So if folks are looking for a cool vacation this 

Sean Walker: Group trip. 

Andy Leviss: up, 

Sean Walker: Group trip. 

Andy Leviss: There we go, there we go. Um, 

Sean Walker: do it. Group trip. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, so, but yeah, I guess that's our vacation roundup. You had Nam, I had Iceland, um 

Sean Walker: Totally. 

Andy Leviss: One of them was, one of them was, was productive for work. 

One of them was productive for relaxation. 

Sean Walker: Which makes it productive for work. So it's really, you should write it off. You should write it off. I think. 

Andy Leviss: That's something else. I'll talk to my accountant. 

Sean Walker: Yeah. 

Andy Leviss: of which, speaking of which, I don't know when we're going to, when we're going to get him on the show, I'm working on lining up schedules, but my old accountant who specializes in entertainment just retired and I finally was able to get in touch with him at his new email address and he's down to come on and talk taxes and talk incorporating and different corporate structures and stuff with us. 

So 

Sean Walker: Dude, I would love that. That would be great. And I'm sure other people would think that was cool. I'm not even going to ask them. I'm just going to tell them they'll, they'll think that's cool too, dude. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, no, at some, at some point in the near future, as soon as I can, I can get it sorted out with his schedule, we're going to have him on and, and do that. And meanwhile, I'm going to go suffer through my own taxes with my new accountant. 

Sean Walker: Nice. Well, you have fun with that. And, uh, we're basically at an hour. So let's call that the pod bro. 

Andy Leviss: right on. So yeah, once again, it's been another episode of Signal to Noise. Uh, I'm Andy Leviss. That was Sean Walker. And, uh, thanks again to our sponsors, RCF and Allen and Heath. And, uh, I think I managed to make it all the way through the episode and not say Rite On until the end. So, 

Sean Walker: Right on, dude. 

Andy Leviss: Somebody pointed out the other week that Rite On and Totally are like, if we ever did a drinking game with either of those, it would be just, we'd be liable for some deaths. 

Sean Walker: Totally right on, dude. 

Andy Leviss: So, um, 

Sean Walker: All right, guys. 

Andy Leviss: we'll let y'all go and we'll catch you next time. Peace, everybody.

Music: “Break Free” by Mike Green

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