Cucco wrote: Hey Guys -

It's been a long time coming and I'm happy to finally report that I am finally in my new, permanent (or so I think) home.

(Dead Link Removed)

Upgrades to come in the near future -

1 - Bamboo flooring throughout.
2 - New monitors. I love my NHTs, but the ONE and only issue is - they're a tad forward. I'm quite accustomed to that, but my clients are not. So, I will be getting a larger, more laid back pair soon. (Keeping my eye on B&W 802s, both Matrix and Nautalis versions and I just spotted a pair of Ariel 10Bs in NC for a song and a dance...)

Anyway...I'm excited. Now I just need more clients. Perhaps if people realize that the wine refrigerator and the beer refrigerator are both FULL to capacity and there are endless supplies of candy in those overhead cabinets, I might have to beat away the business!!

J (y)

Very impressive setup. After the things you went through with the political BS, I am happy for you.

Stocked fridges, huh?

MadTiger3000 wrote: Very impressive setup. After the things you went through with the political BS, I am happy for you.

Stocked fridges, huh?

Thanks!

Only the best for my clients!!! You won't find any Nattie Light in there either. (There's actually a 2001 Chateau Lafitte in the wine fridge!)

Liquor them up and they're always easily pleased!

(A) Very pretty.

(B) Politiclal B.S. - I missed something. Tell me more!

(C) Is that a custom desk (I'm sure you must have mentioned it somewhere, but I really can't recall)?

Massive Mastering wrote:
(A) Very pretty.

(B) Politiclal B.S. - I missed something. Tell me more!

(C) Is that a custom desk (I'm sure you must have mentioned it somewhere, but I really can't recall)?

A - Thanks... that's my homo-trapped-in-a-hetero showing there. (My wife says that I'm the gayest straight man she's ever met. I take that as a compliment.)

B - Oh, well, there's a lot to it, but the readers digest version -

I moved my studio into a beautiful facility in downtown Fredericksburg into the historical district. Turns out, after me being there for about a month and having thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars sunk into the place, Zoning decided to shut me down because I didn't have 5 off-street parking spaces!!! (It's a historic district - NO ONE has 5 off-street parking spaces.)

C - Yes - custom. The sickening part is, with a generous tip included, the desk set me back $500. It's made entirely out of poplar and has 6 coats of hand-rubbed lacquer on it for a nice, smooth, polished feel to it.

Now I just need more stuff to fill it up with (48 spaces up and down total!)

Although, I'm quite content with the gear I have for the moment. I figure, there's very little I can't do with what I have. All other esoterica is strictly icing on a well-baked cake.

:D

J.

Very nice room! Nice relaxing environment!!! I'll need to build an office that way. 8-)

Looks great, well done... I hope you get the sound you want from it!

LOVE IT! Congrats on the new space, Jeremy!

Does that cabinet maker of yours do other work, for people in other cities? I don't need anything YET, but I'll probably do something similar, sooner or later.

As for speakers, don't lock yourself in until you've heard the Lipinski's; the L-505s or the bigger L-707's. I think a 5.1 setup of those would look right purty in your new room! (The colors would match, too! hehehe)

Hehe...Yup Joe - my guy will be glad to build anything you'd like.

He is a VERY nice and capable guy and downright cheap. He won't ship though, but you're about 3 hours or so from here, so I don't think that would be a problem.

I'm thinking about having him make me a couple bookshelf type racks - 12 space or so. I think he would charge me less than $100 for a pair of them!

Oh, let me describe the acoustics of the room too...

1 - All floating walls. What's behind the walls is 4" of dead air then concrete (makes cable runs REAL easy!)

2 - Auralex 2" pyramid foam on early reflection spots on the ceiling and on the double exit doors.

3 - OC 705 wrapped in tan burlap behind the monitors and on early reflection points.

4 - OC 705 wrapped in tan burlap and then faced with Auralex 2" Pyramid foam on first reflection points on side walls.

5 - Well-out windows above monitor locations filled with 10" of Roxul, faced with Acoustic tile and then faced again with Auralex 2" Pyramid Foam.

6 - Rear walls - insulated with 4" OC 705 Safing (fluffy, non rigid version of 705) - Acoustics First Double Duty Diffusors (2'x4') mounted on rear wall covered with Guilford of Maine Merlot colored fabric and filled with OC 703 to trap lower frequencies and diffuse higher frequencies.

I'm going to make only a few modifications to the acoustics in the room. There is one point where a standing wave at around 1.2 kHz causes a problem, but given the frequency and amplitude of the problem, it's an EASY fix.

Oh - that lowered part in the room that seems to split it in two - that's a steel beem covered by drywall - the inside face of that (the part facing the monitors) is covered entirely with Auralex to tame any high-frequency reflections that this might cause.

Right now I LOVE the sound of the room. My ONLY gripe is that when the AC is on, there is a low level rumble. However, I have a dual zone AC, so if it causes a problem, I'll just shut this one off and use the one upstairs - I can't hear it at all.

Yay! Excited!!

Cucco wrote: I'm thinking about having him make me a couple bookshelf type racks - 12 space or so. I think he would charge me less than $100 for a pair of them!

Holy *&($(^#... at that rate, you might want to think of going into the furniture reselling business! :lol:

corrupted wrote: [quote=Cucco]I'm thinking about having him make me a couple bookshelf type racks - 12 space or so. I think he would charge me less than $100 for a pair of them!

Holy *&($(^#... at that rate, you might want to think of going into the furniture reselling business! :lol:

Yeah! No kidding!

He does great work too! I've seriously thought about it - I mean, sell the racks for $200 plus shipping and still make a killing! Who else out there can get a rack that cheap made out of seriously nice hardwood?!?!?!

Cucco wrote: [quote=corrupted][quote=Cucco]I'm thinking about having him make me a couple bookshelf type racks - 12 space or so. I think he would charge me less than $100 for a pair of them!

Holy *&($(^#... at that rate, you might want to think of going into the furniture reselling business! :lol:

Yeah! No kidding!

He does great work too! I've seriously thought about it - I mean, sell the racks for $200 plus shipping and still make a killing! Who else out there can get a rack that cheap made out of seriously nice hardwood?!?!?!Seriously.
Even a crappy laminated bookshelf at Target will cost $75... and they don't have rack rails!

Okay, yes, I admit I have some furniture from Target. I wish I knew someone like your woodworking friend. :x

Ok. I'll be the first to say it...

That studio is very Sublime.

NICE VERY NICE

Cucco, room is looking nice. I need a wine rack in my room.

Very very nice! The ambiance seems very good. I can see myself sitting in this couch trying one of your Porto with some blue cheese.

Congrats!!
R

I think here in Ohio you would have to have a liquor license to serve wine in your mastering studio.

I have the same light fixture... Hope you have fun trying to get the bulbs out, I can't! Replacing it with a regular bulb form factor track light kit.

Jeremy,

CONGRAT'S!!! The place looks GREAT!

Just hate that you had all the politco' B.S. to add to the stress of a build. But, it's done, it's complete, and it's beautful!

You should feel really good about the look of the rrom!

Now all I need to do is get a client to want some mastering... then I could come up and "sample" the wares, right? ... Oh wait, you said your "best" clients... nevermind. :-?

I really like to look of those rear difussors... If I can ask, where'd you find em'?

Max

Thanks everybody!! I'm obviously quite excited myself.

Tom - I probably would need a liquor license here too, but....anyone who wants to drink is no longer a client - they're a "guest in my home." When they're done, they're back to being clients... (y)

Vince - I forsaw a problem with the lights, so I bought a bulk box of the bulbs while I was at Lowes. The bulbs set me back more than the lights did, but at least I'm set for a while. (Oh, BTW - all of the dimmers are Lutron transformer isolated dimmers - no excess noise here!)

Max - the rear diffusors are quite nice, aren't they? I got those from a company here in Richmond. (Although they had to have them sent to me from Wisconsin?!?!) The company is acoustics first (http://www.acousticsfirst.com)

Easy to hang, nice looking, great sounding - it's a total package!

Thanks again for all the nice words guys!

J

Jeremy a fine looking mastering suite you put together there! I guess it wouldn't be practical to try and record a band in your control room after hours, since there aren't 5 parking spaces? Recording a band in a control room, HA! What a ridiculous concept! Who would ever do anything like that??? I don't think you'd ever find any professionals like Bruce Swedein doing things like that?

I assume that's a picture of your wife and baby on the countertop, who are both very beautiful? I just think you've made it really hard for your wife to wash dishes in that puney little sink? Doesn't have a garbage music disposal? I think you could have gotten a much better looking model, than that goofball behind the console?

Goofball behind a VOA goofball console
Ms. Remy Ann David

Cucco wrote: Thanks everybody!! I'm obviously quite excited myself.

Tom - I probably would need a liquor license here too, but....anyone who wants to drink is no longer a client - they're a "guest in my home." When they're done, they're back to being clients... (y)

Thanks again for all the nice words guys!

J

J,

Just south of ya' here in NC, even if a "guest in your home", gets in an accident or gets a DWI, it ends up being droppped on you as a home owner's responsibility to stop them from getting behind the wheel... even if the "guest" insists. Liquor laws for a bar apply to homeowners here... it's an enforcable offence to serve alcohol to a drunk person?!?

Just somethin' to remind all of us about.

I'll definitely check acousticsfirst.com out... those ARE really good looking diffusers.

Max

Hey Max -

You're right - the burden is on the homeowner, or whomever else might be serving alcohol (I used to be an insurance agent in a previous life - I don't like to talk about it...but that was one of the big things they stressed to us during licensing!)

The thing is, I'm definitely not a party animal (as Remy points out, that's my wife and kid in the picture in the bar - no room for party animals around 15 month olds...), so any liquoring up will always be kept to a minimal. As soon as someone reaches for their third beer, I'll remind them that we're there to do business, not goof around. (There's sodas in that fridge too...)

Remy -

Thanks for the nice words. Yeah, I don't really plan on doing any recording in there - at least not of any bands. I'm no longer interested in that - there's just too much headache involved!!! :twisted:

I do have a pre racked up there just in case though. For example, I have a good friend of mine who is a guitar player (think light guitar - almost nylon string style) and vocalist. Given the sound of the room (quite nice) and the ambience as well as the size of the instrument, I have no problem firing up phantom power for him and doing a little work. Bands, hip-hop, etc... no thanks. I'll master them, but not record them. Afterall, my flyers which are going around town state:

"Fredericksburg's only REAL mastering studio."

I can't say that in one breath and then pretend to be a "recording studio" in the next. (Though I still do on-location classical stuff. Which reminds me Remy - I have a gig coming up where I'll be recording a soprano with piano accompinament in the Schlesinger concert hall in Alexandria. You're welcome to come along and enjoy the session and pitch in where you'd like. Contact me off-line if you're interested.)

J.

Hi Jeremy,

Looks nice. Hope the room sounds as it looks. About the clients,
Kevin (McNoldy) told me that after the article in the Recording
mag he was fluded with mastering jobs. Try to get in touch
with editors, writer ecc. It's hard to sqweez an article out of them,
but you can place some ads at least. By the way, Kevin moved
to Florida and Crystalphonic doen't master anymore (they mail
the tracks to Kevin).

Costy wrote: Hi Jeremy,

Looks nice. Hope the room sounds as it looks. About the clients,
Kevin (McNoldy) told me that after the article in the Recording
mag he was fluded with mastering jobs. Try to get in touch
with editors, writer ecc. It's hard to sqweez an article out of them,
but you can place some ads at least. By the way, Kevin moved
to Florida and Crystalphonic doen't master anymore (they mail
the tracks to Kevin).

It's funny you mention that. I saw his write-up in Recording - it was a great article! The funny thing is, one of the ghetto studios in my area here got his press-release regarding his studio into Mix several years back, so I figured I ought to try the same thing. I'm also trying to see about getting one of the studio write ups in Sweetwater's mailings.

I was wondering why Crystalphonic was getting rid of some of their mastering gear lately. It looks like Kevin took what he used most and left the rest for them (and they sold it on Ebay...).

You're welcome to swing by any time you'd like as you're on your way up to DC or Ocean City!

J

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks. I may stop by one day. I just finished a record,
so I hope to have some free time now.

Kevin mastered out of ProTools. He had two setups: digital
(Weis+Wave) and analog (I think, Avalon EQ and something
like Tube Tech). He also had 1/4" reel-tape recorder for analog
lovers. Basically, out of ProTools, through whatever, back in
ProTools. The masters were burn with Jam. And Kevin pays
enormous attention to how his rooms sound.

Personally, I don't like very much the all-digital mastering.
At least for my projects. The chain I trully like: out of PT with
24/48 resolution, through Avalon EQ, into Lexicon 20/20
converter/compressor and into some high-end CD recorder.
Monitoring with ProAc (passive) speakers. That works for me.

Enjoy your studio,

Costy wrote:
Personally, I don't like very much the all-digital mastering.
At least for my projects. The chain I trully like: out of PT with
24/48 resolution, through Avalon EQ, into Lexicon 20/20
converter/compressor and into some high-end CD recorder.
Monitoring with ProAc (passive) speakers. That works for me.

Enjoy your studio,

I agree - I prefer analog mastering. I've really enjoyed my Manley and Crane Song stuff. I must admit though, there are some digital things which do rock! The Pultec Pro EQ, Waves L2 and UAD Precision EQ simply rock.

I haven't ever used ProAc stuff, but I do hear it's wonderful.

J.

I haven't ever used ProAc stuff, but I do hear it's wonderful.

I like them a lot, and they are as expensive as they are wonderful.

I agree with your point that using EQ in DAW can make sense.
There are some good EQ plugs, and also - if you need to automate
the EQ it's better be in DAW. Who wants these days to turn the nobs
back and forth manually using stop-watch ?
I used Waves L1 and L2. I think, these plugs are alright, but I didn't
like to use them for final compression.
Cheers,

Costy wrote:
I used Waves L1 and L2. I think, these plugs are alright, but I didn't
like to use them for final compression.
Cheers,

I agree - I don't use them for final compression. Instead, I use it to keep my overs in check. I don't like the sound of digital limiters in general. I do all of my limiting through either the Manley or my Kung-Fu'ed ART. I don't worry about hitting my AD real hard though when I use the outboard Waves Limiter - if I have a fast transient that triggers the L2 (at least they say it's an outboard version of the L2 - I like it WAY better), it saves me from a nasty digital clip in the mix.

Costy wrote:
I used Waves L1 and L2. I think, these plugs are alright, but I didn't
like to use them for final compression.

Good - they aren't compressors, they're limiters!

touchee....

You know what we mean... :lol:

Has anyone tried out the new Junger limiters? just wondering.

Good - they aren't compressors, they're limiters!

No sh!t :shock: Now I know what the "L" is standing for. It's great
trouble off my mind... But seriously, technically speaking I consider
them more than JUST limiters.

Costy wrote: technically speaking I consider them more than JUST limiters.

How so?

I mean, they are "just limiters"...

I think people are confused as to what a limiter is designed to do. It is designed to address the quick fast attacks. Anything beyond that and you are asking for trouble. All the heavy lifting should be done with a compressor. Why??? because it is more flexible. you can adjust the attack, the ratio, the release, all sorts of stuff. A limiter is a brutal hard device. Sure you can adjust a couple of parameters but not enough to do the heavy lifting. My limiter is set to gain reduction of 2.5 db. that's it. I pretty much don't even touch it.

How so?

Well, they have ceiling control (thresh #1), the threshold
control (thresh #2) and release time control. The L3 has
master release control (warm...ecc) plus the whole multi-band
thing. Ok, maybe we should still call it a limiter. How about
we call them as Waves does - ultramaximizers ?

My point was, that these L's are often used as final plugs and
for heavy lifting. And that sounds bad to my ears. I second
Michael's opinion above - to avoid a clip they are alright, but
that's about it.

Costy wrote: Ok, maybe we should still call it a limiter.

Now we're on the same page. It's a limiter.

Proper gain staging means a limiter isn't needed on the 2-bus while mixing. I say compress all you want, but leave the limiter off...

Well, see now we're getting into semantics.

Just as a square is ALWAYS a rectangle, and a rectangle is NOT always a square - a limiter is ALWAYS a compressor, but a compressor is NOT always a limiter.

Yes, everyone on this thread knows the difference between what functions these two boxes provide (or at least I hope that they do), but calling a limiter a compressor is TECHNICALLY correct, albeit a generalization.

In any case, I agree. I use my L2 (hardware) only as a ceiling, all other compression/limiting (usually in the form of compression) is done externally with Manley or ART (kung-fu'ed of course...).

If one must use a limiter in the 2-bus of a mix, then:
1 - I question their mixing techniques (I mean, compression on individual channels and on buses is a lost art apparently)
2 - I dread getting the mix to master since it's already probably squashed to the point that I can't do too much with dynamics anymore. (Which seems as though that's all I'm seeing. Although, I did just get a GREAT mix from one of the regular posters on this board to master. The mix was cohesive and alive but I still had a good 3dB of headroom from peaks and a good 20 dB of usable dynamic range. It was a joy to work on!)

Couple of questions about Sequoia. Can you do custom sample rate conversions, like 44.1 to 44056 or 44144? And does it have Time Code?
And, finally, why is it $3,000?

Well...not that I'm aware of (as far as the SR thing.)

It will auto resample projects that are recorded at other rates while monitoring if necessary. I'm not sure what the advantage would be of sampling to a non-standard (other than pitch shift, which Sequoia does quite well in its Elastic Audio service).

As for the Time Code - it will sync and/or generate MTC, SMTPE, or pretty much any other code you'd like.

As for the price -

They sell it for $3000 b/c suckers like me will pay for it. No, seriously, it's a very nice program. Controversial debate aside regarding the "sound quality" of a DAW, I like the ability to drop waves of different bit and sample rates in one project and monitor on the fly. I REALLY like the 4 point edit process. The crossfades alone are worth the $$.

Besides, Sebastien is a sexy dude! Register your license and you get to see naked pictures of him on the Sequoia forum... :o

Thanks Cucco.
I need to do SRC to pull up audio to prepare it for playback while shooting music videos on film.

Went to MAGIX website to see if I could download a manual... looks like I can't.

Hah...their manual - that would be frightful to download (very big!!)

Half of my software bookshelf is taken up by Magix's manuals!! They're not very well written either (some parts are quite good, others leave a LOT to be desired).

You're close enough to Jeff Sheridan or Ben Maas though - they should be able to get you a loaner. (Ben's the resident expert on Sequoia though - ask him about the SRC and he'd be able to answer for sure - it's just something I never have a need to do.)

J.