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Meet the Hindenburg family of audio production/editing tools

Allan Tépper
Meet the Hindenburg family of audio production/editing tools 3

This is my first article about the Hindenburg family of audio production and editing tools… and even publishing tools. Although I have covered many audio software tools in the past, ahead you’ll learn why I find these Hindenburg desktop tools to be uniquely qualified for their intended targets: journalists, audio storytellers and audiobook producers. I’ll explain how these tools can help you get the job done faster and more efficiently, yet with complete control and optimum quality. Don’t worry: At least the two Hindenburg desktop tools I have tested so far indeed support 48 kHz audio sampling for 100% video compliance, in addition to 44.1 kHz too. With their 48 kHz capability, they will even be of great interest to video producers who create soundtracks, or audio podcasters who want a synchronized video recording while they produce.

This is my first article about the Hindenburg family of audio production and editing tools… and even publishing tools. Although I have covered many audio software tools in the past, ahead you’ll learn why I find these Hindenburg desktop tools to be uniquely qualified for their intended targets: journalists, audio storytellers and audiobook producers. I’ll explain how these tools can help you get the job done faster and more efficiently, yet with complete control and optimum quality. Don’t worry: At least the two Hindenburg desktop tools I have tested so far indeed support 48 kHz audio sampling for 100% video compliance, in addition to 44.1 kHz too. With their 48 kHz capability, they will even be of great interest to video producers who create soundtracks, or audio podcasters who want a synchronized video recording while they produce.

The purpose of this article

The purpose of this article is to introduce you to the family of Hindenburg audio production/editing tools, and to point out specific reasons why one of them has now become my preferred audio production/editing tool, compared with many others I have used. This article is certainly not intended to be a “how to” or to include all of the information which is available on the Hindenburg website.

Why they chose the name Hindenburg

The full name of the company is Hindenburg Systems ApS, and it is based in Denmark.

They respond to the question with a historical reference:

 

Hindenburg burning photo by Gus Pasquerella, May 6, 1937. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

In 1937, Chicago reporter Herbert Morrison witnessed the Hindenburg Disaster. A German passenger airship, the LZ 129 Hindenburg, caught fire and crashed while attempting to dock at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station. Covering the tragic accident, Mr. Morrison created radio history as he gave the world’s first eyewitness news report. His professional response and accurate descriptions combined with very emotional response to this unexpected disaster have made the recordings a seminal moment in audio history. The Hindenburg Disaster was a tragedy, but it marked the birth of mobile reporting and expanded the possibilities for global communication. At Hindenburg we are dedicated to supporting the production of great radio stories, and this is why we pay homage to the Hindenburg Disaster.

My experiences with Hindenburg so far

So far, I have used both Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO in depth. (I have not personally used the other Hindenburg programs to date, but I am prepared to talk about them ahead in this article).

First, I compared the menu options between these two programs, and suggested several improvements in the Castilian (aka “Spanish”) translation, which the developer has already implemented in a recent update.

Next, I edited episode 4 of my CapicúaFM podcast with Hindenburg Journalist PRO, added the ID3 graphic, and encoded it to MP3. For episode 4, I had already recorded all of the audio elements independently with other tools before downloading the Hindenburg trial, so for episode 4, I only used Hindenburg Journalist PRO to edit and encode MP3, not to record. Specifically, for episode 4 I had previously recorded the interview with Argentine voice over talent Ale Fantozzi via Skype using Audio Hijack Pro on my MacBook Air, and I had previously recorded the tease, in-studio conversation with Chilean singer Bárbara Intriago, and closing with my Tascam DR–60DmkII recorder, which I reviewed here.

Finally, just before writing this article, I used Hindenburg Journalist PRO to create absolutely all of the new recording elements for episode 5. When I say “all new recording elements”, I mean all other than the opening and bumpers (which were produced over a year ago by Víctor Martorella), the Google .soy domain promo spot (which was apparently produced by Google or some subcontractor, not by me or by Víctor), and the licensed theme music. The new recording elements I made with Hindenburg Journalist PRO for episode 5 included the Skype interview with Spaniard bestselling author Ana Nieto Churruca, the tease, and the closing. Of course, I also used Hindenburg PRO to edit episode 5, add the ID3 graphic, and encode to MP3. (I will go into much more detail about Skype recording with Hindenburg Journalist PRO in my upcoming article, Why Hindenburg PRO is the best Skype audio production tool I’ve ever used, including two killer features which to my knowledge are not available in any single currently available audio program.)

If desired, you are welcome to listen to any of the CapicúaFM episodes to date, whether or not you understand the language being spoken:

http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/tecnotur.us/capicuafm/audio/2015/CFM_00005.mp3

Above you can click to play episode 5. For more info, visit CapicúaFM.com

An overview of Hindenburg desktop family software programs

Currently, there are the following Hindenburg desktop programs:

Hindenburg Journalist

The developer says that Hindenburg Journalist is targeted for audio storytellers, home users, and emerging podcasters. This and the next one (Hindenburg Journalist PRO) are my main focus for this article, and are the two that I have used extensively so far.

Hindenburg Journalist currently costs US$95 for a single individual user license. (Not licensable to organizations.)

Hindenburg Journalist PRO

The developer says that Hindenburg Journalist Pro is targeted for professional independent radio & podcast producers.

Hindenburg Journalist PRO currently has a special price of US$300 for a single individual user license, but is expected to go back to the official price of US$375 soon. There is also a US$260 upgrade price for individuals who previously purchased Hindenburg Journalist. (Not licensable to organizations.) See the next section in this article for key differences between Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO.

Hindenburg Broadcaster

Hindenburg Broadcaster is essentially the same as Hindenburg Journalist PRO but with two extra features: Faster-than-Live, (illustrated in the above video) and ENCO radio automation. (So far, I haven’t used Hindenburg Broadcaster. The video was produced by the developer.)

Hindenburg Broadcaster is licensable only to organizations. The price is not published, and you must contact their sales department to find out, presumably depending upon the number of users required.

Hindenburg Educator

Hindenburg Educator is essentially the same as Hindenburg Broadcast but licensed for schools, colleges and universities.

Hindenburg Educator is licensable only to educators. The price is not published, and you must contact their sales department to find out, presumably depending upon the number of users required.

Hindenburg ABC

Hindenburg ABC is targeted at audiobook narrators, libraries, and publishers. I must clarify that Hindenburg ABC is much more than an audio editor: It actually manages the text and links the audio to it, apparently with some type of internal timecode. This greatly facilitates re-recording and re-inserting any rejected sentences or paragraphs, which is quite common in audiobook production. At the end, Hindenburg ABC can export both audio files and EPUB (electronic publication) text files. I personally have published ebooks, and I have been the producer of audiobooks for clients, but I have never seen a single tool so well created for the tasks. (To date, I have not used Hindenburg ABC or Hindenburg ABC – NLS listed below.)

The price of Hindenburg ABC is not published, and you must contact their sales department to find out.

Hindenburg ABC – NLS

Hindenburg ABC – NLS is a version of Hindenburg ABC targeted for the NLS format. NLS refers to the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Washington, DC, US.

The price of Hindenburg ABC is not published, and you must contact their sales department to find out.

Hindenburg Field Recorder (not desktop)

Hindenburg Field Recorder is an audio recorder app for iOS (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad) and is designed for field reporters. The current version makes all original recordings at 44.1 kHz, which is the reason why I haven’t wanted to test it yet. The current version does offer re-sampling to 48 kHz, but that is not ideal for video producers or others who have standardized on 48 kHz. I am very eager to test a future version of Hindenburg Field Recorder for iOS when it supports native 48 kHz recording, hopefully at 24 bit (or better), as is already available from several other iOS audio recording apps I have covered, including Airlinc, RØDE Rec, and ShurePlus MOTIV Mobile Recording app.

Hindenburg Field Recorder currently costs US$29.99 or a similar amount in your local currency, in the iTunes or iOS AppStore that covers your region.

Ahead in this article, you’ll see:

 

Differences between Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO

Both Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO share the following core features:

Additional features in Hindenburg Journalist PRO include :

How Hindenburg Journalist & Hindenburg Journalist PRO compare with other tools I have used

48 kHz

Both Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO can fortunately create projects at either 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz. Any imported audio file that doesn’t match the project target sampling rate is automatically resampled to match the project.

If you have read my past articles, you’ll know that I condemned GarageBand for its complete lack of 48 kHz in 48 reasons why GarageBand is kryptonite for video production.

Works great on an 11“ screen

Unlike some other multitrack audio editors I’ve tried in the past, Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO both work well with the relatively limited screen of an 11” MacBook Air’s inboard screen. (I recorded, edited, and encoded two podcast episodes with Hindenburg Journalist PRO on that screen.)

Dual mono and linked tracks

Both Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO also quite elegantly deal with an imported dual mono file (i.e. two mono files which are combined in the recorder as if they were a stereo file), without having to export two separate files and then reimport, as some other audio editing programs force you to do.

With Amadeus Pro, I was also able to split a dual mono file easily into two separate tracks, but I could find no way to link the two to edit them together. That meant that when editing an interview which had been recorded as dual mono and imported into Amadeus Pro, I had to leave them as fake stereo until the very end, and only separate them into individual mono tracks after the initial edit was done. This complicated the monitoring, so I had to use an external monitor that had a mono switch. On the other hand, with both Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO, it was not only easy to split a dual mono imported file into two separate mono tracks, I could easily link and unlink multiple tracks while editing, while they remained as separate tracks for other purposes, i.e. leveling and equalization. This is the way it should be! Thank you Hindenburg!

Hindenburg Clipboard and audio subclips

The Hindenburg Clipboard is not the same as the Mac OS X or the Windows Clipboard, even though they are both called as such. While on Mac OS X and Windows, the Clipboard is the name for the (normally invisible) temporary memory buffer where things go after you Copy and from where it receives when you Paste something,

the Hindenburg Clipboards are onscreen sections used for organizing audio clips. In the Hindenburg Clipboards, you can separate soundbites from interviews into groups, as well as all of your music and ambient sound at hand. Once you begin using the clipboard, you will have less clutter in the workspace and save time once montaging the audio production. Hindenburg Clipboards might be compared to Bins in Avid Media Composer, or to the Event Browser in Final Cut Pro X. I haven’t been able to find anything like the Hindenburg Clipboards/Bins in audio programs, although I have seen people requesting this feature in Adobe Audition in forums. Fortunately, clips that are in a Hindenburg Clipboard can be auditioned from there, if you’re not sure which one you want to move to the workspace.

I found a neat feature when editing with Hindenburg Journalist or Hindenburg Journalist PRO. Suppose you are editing an interview and you find a soundbite that is perfect for use in the tease, which you’ll be creating later. From where you are editing in the workspace, you can roughly set the In and Out of that soundbite, drag it into one of the Hindenburg Clipboards, and rename it with some keyword that will help you find it later. Because Hindenburg editing is non-destructive, even if you duplicate it, you are not actually duplicating the actual original audio file. When I described this feature to my friend Rubén Abruña, he immediately reminded me that this is what in video editing is called a subclip. As far as I have been able to determine so far, there is no standardized term for this in the audio editing world, so for now I am calling this an audio subclip. In any case, the combination of the Hindenburg Clipboards and the audio subclips are extremely powerful for audio storytelling.

Favorites, the name of a special Hindenburg Clipboard

Unlike the standard Hindenburg Clipboards described so far, which start out empty with every new project, the Favorites is a special Hindenburg Clipboard which remains populated with the same clips with each new project. It is a place to store audio that you use frequently, i.e. your openings, bumpers, stingers, closing, commercial spots, etc. You can imagine how it saved me time.

Punch in recording on the fly & Punch in with preroll

Punch in recording is available with both Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO, and Punch in with preroll is available with Hindenburg Journalist Pro. Both functions are invaluable with both narration and audiobook production (even if you don’t use Hindenburg ABC). Punching in on the fly reminds me of how we used to edit video without any controller with a Sony AV–3650 deck. Punching in with preroll is what I call a “human genlock” to assure the narrator syncs her/himself with pace and tone by listening to the prior pre-recorded material with a headset just before the punch in takes place at the In point.

Preview (Rehearse) editing

The Preview (Rehearse) editing function of an audio edit in Hindenburg Journalist or Hindenburg Journalist PRO reminds me of the Preview/Rehearse function when editing video many years ago with a linear deck-to-deck 3/4“ U-Matic, although I realize that many of our readers won’t have had that gracious experience from the past. Both preview editing functions allow you to hear the simulated result before actually editing, although with the 3/4” U-Matic you could also see the video image. This feature may exist in some other audio editing programs, but if it does, I haven’t seen it yet. I became aware of it thanks to Hindenburg’s excellent online tutorials. (See example above, provided by the developer.)

To Preview/Rehearse/Audition in order to determine how it will sound after removing a segment, it’s as simple as selecting the material to be extracted (either by dragging over it or using In and Out), invoking the Rehearse function (CTRL + Shift + SpaceBar) and listening. The playhead jumps over the selected area.

New media/Enhanced podcasts

For those unfamiliar with standard audio podcasts versus enhanced audio podcasts, I’ll pause to define them. Standard audio podcasts are subscribable via RSS and consist of an audio file which may (or may not) have a single embedded graphic. Standard audio podcasts are most often distributed as an MP3 file. On the other hand, enhanced audio podcasts are distributed as AAC (M4A) audio files which may contain multiple selectable chapters, and multiple embedded graphic files. Although I recognize enhanced podcasts are absolutely superior in flexibility in the final product, most audio podcasts to which I am subscribed (including my own) have switched to standard, both due to the time consumed in production, as well as the extremely wide compatibility of the MP3. I believe that it was after the first or second episode of the enhanced version of my TecnoTur podcast (which is currently dormant but could wake up any second now), a potential listener wrote to me from Spain saying that his devices couldn’t play AAC (M4A) files, and that he wasn’t allowed to download iTunes or even QuickTime onto his computer. That’s when I switched to standard/MP3, and have distributed all episodes of CapicúaFM to date in standard/MP3 also.

Now that I have clarified that difference, I will state that I am glad that both Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO support producing enhanced podcasts, with chapters and multiple graphics. It reminds me of the first enhanced podcast episodes I produced with the now extinct Übercaster program, which I reviewed back in 2008 here in ProVideo Coalition magazine. Whenever we again want to create enhanced podcasts (or whatever they might be called in the future), we’ll be ready to create them with Hindenburg.

Loudness

The loudness features in Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO are so important that I have given them their own sections ahead in this article.

Perceived loudness as opposed to Gain (Amplitude)

Perceived loudness is the characteristic of sound that is primarily a psychological correlation of physical strength (amplitude). There is an evolving set of standards to measure perceived loudness, and to determine maximum settings.

SIDEBAR: Everything you need to know about LU, LUFS, and LKFS

Loudness, K-weighted, relative to Full Scale (or LKFS) is a loudness standard designed to enable normalization of audio levels for delivery of broadcast TV and other video. Loudness units relative to Full Scale (or LUFS) is a synonym for LKFS that was introduced in EBU R128. Loudness Units (or LU) is an additional unit used in EBU R128. It describes Lk without direct absolute reference and therefore describes loudness level differences. LKFS is standardized in ITU-R BS.1770. In March 2011, the ITU introduced a loudness gate in the second revision of the recommendation, ITU-R BS.1770-2. In August 2012, the ITU released the third revision of this recommendation ITU-R BS.1770-3. The EBU has suggested that the ITU’s changing the unit to LUFS as LKFS does not comply with scientific naming conventions and is not in line with the standard set out in ISO 80000-8. Furthermore, they suggest the symbol for ‘Loudness level, k-weighted’ should be Lk, which would make Lk and LUFS are equivalent when LUFS indicates the value of Lk with reference to digital full scale. Since ITU-R BS.1770-2, LKFS and LUFS are identical. Source: here.

 

Ahead in this article, you’ll see:

 

 

Loudness tools in Hindenburg desktop solutions, before export

Loudness meter

Hindenburg Journalist PRO and higher-level desktop solutions from Hindenburg come with a built-in Loudness meter. The EBU R128 compliant Loudness Meter can be applied to any track, including the Master Track.

Auto Level (all Hindenburg desktop solutions)

When you import audio clips or immediately finish recording inside the program, Hindenburg sets the correct level for that clip. This means that all sounds will be perceived as being equally loud, despite differences in dynamic range and compression levels. Hindenburg even takes into account whether the sound is voice/narration, compressed pop music, or classical music. With Hindenburg Journalist, levels are set using EBU R128 (Loudness –23 LUFS). Hindenburg Journalist PRO and higher-level solutions from Hindenburg also have preference settings to choose among European (EBU R128), US, and UK settings. The US setting in Hindenburg Journalist PRO and beyond is based upon guidelines set by PRSS/NPR (–24 LUFS). For the best possible mix, narration/voice is set slightly “hotter” than the music.

Even though Hindenburg does this for us, either automatically upon importing or finishing a recording, or manually after splitting a section and reapplying the Auto Level over particular sections, we are still free to re-adjust manually. However, I found that it was very rarely necessary to do that, and it saved me considerable time.

Regardless of whether the project preference setting is for European, UK, or US, it is possible to export to different settings, and everything will be recalculated on the fly upon export, as you’ll see in the next section.

Hindenburg (desktop) publishing options

Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO offer different publishing options, which allow sending a radio/audio story to multiple destinations with a single click. It is possible to upload to multiple output destinations in one go. The possible destinations include FTP, PRX, NPRone, SoundCloud, and Podcast depending on the version of Hindenburg. The targets can have any file types, including BWF (Broadcast WAV File), WAV, AAC, MP3… ) and separate loudness settings for each (–23.–24,–16 LUFS).

So far, I have not used this for my CapicúaFM podcast, since (as I have stated in many prior articles), for security reasons I only use SFTP (Secure FTP), and as far as I have been able to determine, SFTP is not yet supported in Hindenburg Journalist PRO. With standard FTP, the password flies through the Internet in plain text for any hacker to “sniff”. On the other hand, with SFTP, the password flies encrypted through the Internet. Of the many questions I have asked of Hindenburg, this is absolutely the only one not yet answered, so my optimism makes me think that they are working on adding SFTP support. In the meantime, I encode to MP3 to my computer, and then upload to my server with an SFTP tool.

As indicated earlier, an RSS feed is a prerequisite for any podcast. The Hindenburg Publish tool also allows for creating a podcast RSS feed or expanding an existing one. I have not used this feature to date, since I already had a system in place for generating the RSS feed for my CapicúaFM podcast, and I am not willing to use standard FTP. However, I will explore this function further after SFTP is supported by Hindenburg.

Hindenburg free online tutorial videos

I am very impressed by Hindenburg’s short and to the point video tutorials. Rather than having a huge how-to video for the entire program(s), we can go directly to the exact topic we need. My only constructive criticism about these tutorials is that the video quality itself isn’t the highest quality screencasting I have seen. It is clear that the Hindenburg people are more expert in audio than in video 🙂

Conclusions for my first Hindenburg article

The Hindenburg desktop audio production tools I have seen are outstanding for all of the many reasons pointed out in this article. It is so nice to see a company that makes tools primarily for audio storytellers, not musicians, as in the case with so many other audio software tools I have seen and used. All Hindenburg desktop solutions I have tested fortunately support 48 kHz. I love the Hindenburg Clipboards, Favorites, audio subclips, and the loudness features which save time, allowing the editor to concentrate mainly on the content and be more consistent. I loved the Skype Call Recorder so much that it deserves a completely separate article. I hope that they’ll add SFTP capability to Hindenburg Journalist and Hindenburg Journalist PRO, and that they will add 48 kHz to the iOS product.

Pending related articles

Upcoming articles, reviews, and books

Stand by for upcoming articles, reviews, and books. Sign up to my free mailing list by clicking here.

Si deseas suscribirte a mi lista en castellano, visita aquí. Si prefieres, puedes suscribirte a ambas listas (castellano e inglés).

Books, consulting, articles, seminars & audio programs

 

Contact Allan Tépper for consulting, or find a full listing of his books, articles and upcoming seminars and webinars at .

My latest book (paperback + ebook)

My most recent book is available in two languages, and in paperback as well as an ebook. The ebook format is Kindle, but even if you don’t have a Kindle device, you can read Kindle books on many other devices using a free Kindle app. That includes iPad, Android tablets, Mac computers, and Windows computers. Although generally speaking, Kindle books are readable on smartphones like Androids and iPhones, I don’t recommend it for this particular book since it contains both color photos and color comparison charts. The ebook is also DRM-free.

In English, it’s The Castilian Conspiracy. Click here and you will be automatically sent to the closest Amazon book page to you based upon your IP address. Or request ISBN–10: 1456310232 or ISBN–13: 978–1456310233 in your favorite local bookstore.

En castellano, se llama La conspiración del castellano. Haz clic aquí para llegar al instante a la página del libro correspondiente a tu zona y moneda en Amazon, según tu dirección IP. De lo contrario, solicítalo en tu librería preferida con los ISBN–10: 1492783390 ó el ISBN–13: 978–1492783398.

FTC disclosure

No manufacturer is specifically paying Allan Tépper or TecnoTur LLC to write this article or the mentioned books. Some of the other manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. Many of the manufacturers listed above have sent Allan Tépper review units. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs.

Copyright and use of this article

The articles contained in the TecnoTur channel in ProVideo Coalition magazine are copyright Allan Tépper/TecnoTur LLC, except where otherwise attributed. Unauthorized use is prohibited without prior approval, except for short quotes which link back to this page, which are encouraged!

 

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