MEIS in Germany Part 2: Neumann Visit and nHow DJ set

MEIS in Germany Part 2: Neumann and nHow
(For more adventures click here for part 1)

Trip to Neumann

Our visit to Neumann's headquarters in Berlin was revelatory in a few ways. Not only did we learn about the company (Neumann and Sennheiser are now under one umbrella) and technology such as microphones (the well respected U47, U87, Solution D and VR mics), we found out that its President, Wolfgang Fraissinet has a long-standing friendship with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and our mutual friend, Mike Pappas.

Wolfgang Fraissnet (r) speaks to CU Denver MEIS students

We got to see their anechoic chamber, a room built for microphone and loudspeaker testing. This room is made of absorptive material that reduces outside noise as well as reflections from surrounding walls. For all of us, it was our first time standing in such a room, in which a person has difficulty being alone because it is so quiet you can hear your blood moving through your veins!

We had a Q&A session and got to hear surround sound audio in the room. A custom A/V Control on an iPad allowed the user to switch between mono, stereo and 5.1 audio and between various speakers. Wolfgang was interested in what our students aspired to pursue during and after their studies. He seemed to agree that gaming and VR were exciting new industries to explore.

Neumann was so very kind to prepare gift bags for us which contained a real treasure: a double CD set, "True Classics - The Colorado Symphony", whose roster of engineers includes CU Denver Recording Arts alumni Joey Kloss, Chris Cecere and Will Barnette and led by Mike Pappas, who took these students on as interns. The disc was produced by Wolfgang himself. Once we made those connections, we felt like a real family!

DJ Set at nHow hotel

This amazing hotel at which we are staying is situated on the River Spree and is next Universal Music Group and across the river from Native Instruments (which we will visit next week). They allow their guests to order guitars and keyboards through room service. They have a recording studio on the top floor and a stage. Our students had the opportunity to DJ one night for a couple of hours.

Eugene Landini (r) and Cameron Sargent (l) DJ set at nHow

We also talked to Dominick Trampf (a visit facilitated by our new friend, author David Huber of Modern Recording Techniques and frequent guest producer at the hotel) who took us on a tour of the recording studio and explained their business model.

We have a rest and laundry day scheduled, and then more adventures on the way! Stay tuned.