# Junkie XL Synths of Deadpool Studio Tour



## synthpunk (Mar 16, 2016)




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## gsilbers (Mar 16, 2016)

i have to say... i am not a fan of his music and I LOVE electronic music and scores. 
to me his stuff sounds like library music.. or not that good. then again.. its my opinion. 
I am a huge fan of harry gregson william. 
but this guy is great at marketing himself for sure. and his studioS are amazing.


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## chillbot (Mar 16, 2016)

The camera work makes me so dizzy.


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## chillbot (Mar 16, 2016)

I have a question... if all those analog synths are plugged in and on how come he isn't drowning in a sea of white noise? I mean if it's only the 6 or 7 synths he played, fine... but if all the synths you see are actually on and have volume turned up at the mixers wouldn't the inherent analog signal build up of hiss be pretty extreme? I'm not talking about ground hum or anything like that.


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## synthpunk (Mar 16, 2016)

I would say that is a misconception on your part of the signal to noise ratio of good synth design and hardware.



chillbot said:


> I have a question... if all those analog synths are plugged in and on how come he isn't drowning in a sea of white noise? I mean if it's only the 6 or 7 synths he played, fine... but if all the synths you see are actually on and have volume turned up at the mixers wouldn't the inherent analog signal build up of hiss be pretty extreme? I'm not talking about ground hum or anything like that.


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## chillbot (Mar 16, 2016)

I guess so.... wish I could figure it out in my own studio.


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## chillbot (Mar 16, 2016)

aesthete said:


> I would say that is a misconception on your part of the signal to noise ratio of good synth design and hardware.



Now you've got me thinking... not to derail the thread but is at least a tiny bit pertinent to the video... what is the most analog synths you've had "up" at the same time? By "analog" I just mean connected via 1/4" or XLR cables not via digital cables.

I have 18 at the moment... connected via Monster cables which I know a lot of people claim is a sham but whether or not they are overpriced or worth the money spent on them doesn't change the fact that they are decent cables. I've tuned every one of the 18, making sure there is absolutely zero ground hum or hum of any kind in the signal path. I can turn each one, individually, up to max on the synth, max on the board, and max on the monitors, and hear nothing but the slight hiss of white noise. It is a very satisfying and pure sound. If I were to actually play the synth at that level I would probably bust my ear drums or the monitors or both.

Now if I have one or two up on the board it's no problem. All of the 18 volume levels are set to "max" on the synths themselves. But once I start using up near 6-8 or so, you can start to hear the build up of white noise. And beyond 10+ it gets unbearable because all the white noise is the same frequency. So I can't keep all 18 "up" at the same time.

Junkie XL seems to have a ton more than me, and a lot of them are all much farther away from his main console... wouldn't that increase the noise build up? I'm generally curious... I would love it if you could tell me what I'm doing wrong. It would be great to have all my synths "up" all the time.


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## jononotbono (Mar 16, 2016)

Has anyone actually put the NI Kontrol S 88 Key Controller through it's paces since release? I thought that JXL used a Doepfer LM4K+ but he's obviously trying out new things. What a studio! I wouldn't even know where to start with all those Synths!


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## Rctec (Mar 16, 2016)

I don't really notice a white noise buildup. Yes, there is a little hiss, but just keep a gentle expander on your input. And DI boxes!
We just finished an all-electronic score with mostly analog synth (only one cue with full orchestra) and no hiss problems.
And Junkie and I did Batman vs. Superman with all of those synth, and again - Steve Lipson, one of the most critical recording engineers I know - never mentioned any problems...


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## chillbot (Mar 16, 2016)

Rctec said:


> I don't really notice a white noise buildup. Yes, there is a little hiss, but just keep a gentle expander on your input. And DI boxes!


I have a few DI boxes as needed to eliminate any hum. I must be doing something wrong... or overly paranoid about a little hiss... it's no worse (or probably better) than plugging in a guitar. Junkie XLs setup just looks extreme to me, I would guess the simplest explanation is he would never have all of those synths "on" except for the ones he's recording. No need to. But in the video he's got a lot of synths up and ready, just curious.


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## givemenoughrope (Mar 16, 2016)

Will audio restoration/noise removal plugins always ruin your audio? I've had some luck de-noising some audio that went through my old exhoplex in the past. Maybe an expander/gate is the way to go...


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## owenave (Mar 16, 2016)

@chillbot I am not sure how you have things wired up. One thing is to make sure all your
power for the studio is coming from one leg of the power. If different outlets are not on the same leg of power will cause ground problems and noise. Also years ago I had someone do what is called a Star Ground system for all my audio. Is not easy to explain. But one end of your audio cables have the ground not attached but attached at the other end like the mixer end. Doing all at the same end. Have all pieces of rack gear in racks with wooden rails and not touching to keep from grounding against each other. Lift the ground on all electric plugs going to the equipment. Then you run a STAR ground from one place. Like connected to a water pipe outside. Then connect wires from that one ground out to each piece of equipment. I put little adapters that were attached to the rack pieces that could be disconnected if needed to remove.

Something that I don't see on the market any more is the Furman Balanced Power units. I went to some studios that installed those. While quite expensive they would take something like a Synclavier that had a lot of noise and it was so quiet that some people almost blew their monitors because they had the volume up so high because of no noise. Was amazing the difference this made. It worked something like this (note I am not an engineer) Instead of 120 going down + and the - coming back on the other line... it sent 60 down each line ... thus a balanced power. If someone here has more knowledge about they can explain better.


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## IFM (Mar 17, 2016)

Not familiar with his stuff but oh those synths!!!


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2016)

owenave said:


> If different outlets are not on the same leg of power will cause ground problems and noise.


Yeah I dunno... maybe in another thread I'll record some synths with different amounts of synths turned up so you can hear. There is certainly no ground noise in my setup, that's not the problem.


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## dgburns (Mar 17, 2016)

chillbot said:


> I have a few DI boxes as needed to eliminate any hum. I must be doing something wrong... or overly paranoid about a little hiss... it's no worse (or probably better) than plugging in a guitar. Junkie XLs setup just looks extreme to me, I would guess the simplest explanation is he would never have all of those synths "on" except for the ones he's recording. No need to. But in the video he's got a lot of synths up and ready, just curious.



I run a balanced power supply,not the Furman one,but a similar one.I remember the synth that really opened my eyes to the benefit was the Kurzweil sampler,k2000? Anyway it had this nasty hum that came from somewhere inside it's gizzards.The filtering option and balanced power rails got rid of that noise.
Mostly they say(as in the ones wanting to sell you one) that balanced power will also help jitter issues in digital audio as well.All I can say is that it seems to help and people like the sound coming out of the room.
For the technical,balanced power runs the power +60v on the positive and -60v on the "ground",while leaving the actual ground wire to be just that.This as opposed to the standard power cable,which is +120v on the hot,0v on the ground and the ground wire as is.So the trick is that any noise generated along the way to the destinations is cancelled out like a xlr cable does.
Not sure it's the right thing for everybody,and you need to make sure your grounds are all connected,or you will be not properly protected ground-wise.Same for all audio cables,connect grounds on all ends,not like in the star configuration where you disconnect audio grounds on the sending ends.


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## dgburns (Mar 17, 2016)

Oh,btw,what a lovely video.Just makes me feel giddy.Love the synth room.Good for you Tom.


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2016)

dgburns said:


> Anyway it had this nasty hum that came from somewhere inside it's gizzards.


Sorry I appreciate the help very much but I'm not sure how many times I can state I have no ground noise or hum in my system. This is what it sounds like with 18 synths turned all the way up:



I believe it's as clean of a sound as you can get, and I would never turn the synths up that loud. But it's still very noticeable to me in the mix, if or when I use 8-10 of them... and it looks like Junkie XL has at least twice as many synths connected. If you think there's a way to get rid of the hiss from analog cables, that's what I'm looking for.


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2016)

chillbot said:


> Sorry I appreciate the help very much but I'm not sure how many times I can state I have no ground noise or hum in my system.


Ha... now that I posted that track, I realize if you turn it ALL the way up you can hear a bit of ground noise so I'm a liar... however that track is already with the volume maxed out, if I played a synth at that volume my speakers would probably explode. There's no way in my setup for me to turn everything up loud enough to have ever heard that particular hum before except to record it and then boost the signal all the way up again.


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## dgburns (Mar 17, 2016)

chillbot said:


> Ha... now that I posted that track, I realize if you turn it ALL the way up you can hear a bit of ground noise so I'm a liar... however that track is already with the volume maxed out, if I played a synth at that volume my speakers would probably explode. There's no way in my setup for me to turn everything up loud enough to have ever heard that particular hum before except to record it and then boost the signal all the way up again.


Hey dude,not saying you NEED balanced power,or even want it.But I will say in my experience with it,it just makes the system better,and I beleive the sound is better in a way impossible without it.The manuals state they also help with computers,which I suspect is true as well.Less of all that noise getting into the sound.

If you had the resources,you could lead line the walls,but who does that these days???

That's all in my opinion,but based on your comments,I'd encourage you to at least demo one and see if it's worth it to you.Anything else is just talk around the water cooler on break time.


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2016)

My apologies (again!) I didn't mention it because I think people are missing the entire point of my question about Junkie XLs studio but I am using the Furman balanced power conditioner. This one:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IT20


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## SymphonicSamples (Mar 17, 2016)

Thanks for the share aesthete. Mr Holkenborg is one cool customer  Seriously awesome array of gear, but most importantly he always draws some magic and personality out of the synths sounds & textures he uses.


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## dgburns (Mar 17, 2016)

chillbot said:


> My apologies (again!) I didn't mention it because I think people are missing the entire point of my question about Junkie XLs studio but I am using the Furman balanced power conditioner. This one:
> 
> http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IT20



ok,ha ha,jokes on me then.

By the by,I think Hans answered your question.Maybe easier to do if you go into PT and setup expanders across the live inputs.
At home,I have an old Soundcraft Spirit auto (if can you believe it).But I actually like that board(those tlo72 british chips),and it has midi automation,so I can turn off inputs if I want to.I never do.I was so nostalgic about the board when I got rid of one back in the day,so I got one recently to do some live drum mangling,and since have not used much.BUT it is fun plugging in synths and fx and doing things the old school way.I see Tom has some kind of analogish console sitting to the right of his main daw setup.Maybe he's got some expanders inserted there.

and if your still lurking Hans,have fun on your tour-please post some stuff about your travels.

final thought-Wow Tom is a pack rat-I suspect he's never thrown out a single nick of kit he's ever bought!!


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## sleepy hollow (Mar 17, 2016)

chillbot, I'm willing to help you with your set-up, but I suggest we do that via email (or else this thread would turn into a long-winded Q&A - what will Junkie XL think of us...?).

Also, you always get the coolest comments on your soundcloud!


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## synthpunk (Mar 17, 2016)

Chill, have you ever had a professional electrician come in and look at the power in your space/building ?
If your in a older building or city center with lots of interference those can be reasons.


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## chimuelo (Mar 25, 2016)

This guy is sick.


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## SymphonicSamples (Mar 25, 2016)

Indeed , the track "Maximum Effort" on the soundtrack is an orgy of analog / digital man meets machine musical awesomeness


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## jononotbono (Mar 26, 2016)

chimuelo said:


> This guy is sick.



Both Hans Zimmer and JXL are sick. Their filth is awesome.


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