A new recording product developed by independent engineers in Poland may be the next big thing in capturing audio in a variety of acoustic settings. Bluegrass groups who like to record live could take advantage of what this package offers, as could music instructors, and audio folks who regularly record seminars with several speakers.
ZYLIA is a combination multi-signal microphone with a software component that can separate the various signals into independent tracks for mixing. For more than two years, Piotr Szczechowiak and Tomasz Zernicki have been refining and testing this system, which incorporates 19 individual microphones in a spherical unit, designed to record in a 360° environment.
Before beginning a project, the user can set ZYLIA to the number of independent audio sources to be tracked, and it will identify and capture them as separate tracks, based on positioning, all at the same time. It can either save the files into its own software, or be configured to capture and save them into you existing multi-track audio or desk top workstation software.
Perhaps most enticing about this system is its price, well within the budget of most bands or home studio operators. The basic package, including the multi source microphone and the software, carries a retail price of $599, and the pro version, with more sophisticated software, sells for $899. A crowdsourcing campaign at indiegogo is still active offering either system for 16% off the retail price.
The company explains a bit more about ZYLIA in this product video.
And in this video review from Pro Tools Expert, you can watch a session with a string quartet from initial set up to the final result.
The company believes that ZYLIA also has useful applications for recording audio for film, and for game and virtual reality as well. Podcasters and radio hosts could also use it for capturing interviews for air.
Full details can be found on the ZYLIA web site.
