Great Tools for Improving Your Project Studio

Here’s the latest from the Garaffice studio (garage/ office). A few tid-bits about some gear I’m using...

REFERENCE MONITORS
KH 120A nearfield monitors, Neumann

Last November at our Christian Musician Summit conference, Kent Margraves from Sennheiser hooked me up with a pair of KH 120 active studio monitor speakers from Neumann. In 2010, Neumann assumed the product line from Klein + Hummel speakers. As you might expect from the industry’s leading transducer manufacturer, along with the incredible sound quality of K+H, these nearfield monitors are second to none in performance.

At first listen, I was very impressed by the frequency response from these small boxes. There was no coloring in the spectrum. It was a very flat and real reproduction of the sound source. As Kent Margraves warned me, “you’ll want to remix everything you’ve done, because you’ll hear things in your mix that you never heard before!” It’s true. The highs are transparent and clear and the lows are solid and punchy.

Another thing I love about these little guys (5.25” low frequency driver, and 1” high-frequency driver) is that you can adjust the acoustic response of the speakers based on your own environment to get the truest sound possible. There are switches on the back that enable you to adjust bass, lo-mid, and high EQ. So, if you’re speakers are up against a wall (like mine), you can reduce your bass by -2.5dB, -5dB or -7.5dB. Or if you have a large desk between your sitting position and the speakers, you can adjust those troublesome lo-mids. In the quick start documentation, it gives you some help on how to make good decisions here.

The KH 120’s include a Mathematically Modeled Dispersion (MMD) waveguide which helps create a very large sweet spot for the listening position. Very handy for a project studio. They are powered with 100W bi-amped for each driver and are shielded for use next to your video monitors. They come with a low & high limiter to protect the speakers, very wise.

KH 120’s are the best sounding reference monitors I’ve ever used! They sell for $750 each.


DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION
StudioOne 2, PreSonus

For a couple years now, I have been exclusively using PreSonus’ StudioOne software. Recently, they released version 2... Wow!

I’ve already converted a few ProTools users, and I’m on a mission to change the industry standard. StudioOne Version 2 is far and away the best DAW I’ve ever used. The workflow is intuitive and fast with drag & drop functionality that just makes total sense! And with improvements like integrated Melodyne pitch correction, transient detection & editing/quantization, and multi-track/ layered comping tools, StudioOne makes tracking and editing a breeze! Not to mention the audio quality with 64-bit processing (even on 32-bit machines).

I’ve always loved the built-in project mastering portion of StudioOne. Now, mastering requires skill and a well set-up room and reference monitors... yet with the ‘Project’ side of StudioOne 2, it makes the process of mastering attainable in a project studio. Mixes are updated automatically, and you can prep your masters with Red Book CD burning standards, and also create digital releases.

StudioOne 2 comes with a plethora of great plug-ins, instruments & effects, as well. They are all outfitted with some great presets to get you pointed in the right direction. The pro version sells for $399, and you can get a great audio interface like the PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL for $499 (look for a review of that soon).


AUDIO PLUG-INS
Chris Lord-Alge and Tony Maserati Signature Collections, Waves

Waves plug-ins are well-known for their high quality, and they are preferred by many top-notch producers and engineers, including yours truly :) (not that I’m top- notch, I just like ‘em).

I had an opportunity to audition Waves’ new Signature series bundles inspired by 4 great engineers; Chris Lord-Alge, Jack Joseph Puig, Eddie Kramer, and Tony Maserati.

The purpose behind these 4 collections was to give engineers several ‘application specific’ plug-ins (e.g. vocals, guitar, bass, drums) inspired by world- class engineers who use Waves. They are great for beginner engineers who are still figuring out compression ratios and appropriate EQ settings in various applications. However, this is not to say that they are only for the inexperienced... many pros jump to these plug-ins when they’re looking for that ‘sound’ and they don’t have time for tweaking.

I absolutely fell in love with 2 of the bundles, the Chris Lord-Alge (U2, Creed, Foo Fighters...) and the Tony Maserati collections (Black Eyed Peas, Beyoncé, John Legend, Jason Mraz...). Both the CLA Bass and the CLA Vocals are go-to plug-ins for me. The Maserati Group Processor (EQ/ Comp) is a must-have in just about all of my busses, as well as in mastering. And the Maserati Acoustic Guitar Designer does wonders for dull strings!

The controls are simplified, yet powerful enough to give you the kind of results these great engineers get every time, drawing from their favorite Waves plug-ins. MSRP for each is $500, but they usually list around $375-$400.


MICROPHONE
TLM 102, Neumann

The TLM 102, shown in the picture above, is a workhorse of a mic, and it’s perfect for a serious project studio. If you only have enough money for one great mic, get this one, and you’ll be surprised by what you get for the money!

It’s a simple condenser mic with no switches, but it contains all of the superior quality that you’d expect from Neumann. It has a large-diaphragm cardiod capsule with a max SPL of 144dB. I use it on loud guitar amps, but also on the most critical sound sources like vocals and acoustic guitar. It has a slight boost above 6kHz that helps with vocal presence, and honestly, I rarely adjust EQ with this mic... maybe high pass filtering, but that’s about it. This gem sells for only $700.

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These are all great tools to help you get better results in the studio, but simply having great gear does not make one a great producer/engineer... Do like I do, and learn from those who are better than you and keep moving forward. As with any hobby or profession, there’s always more to learn! Matt Kees, Director of CMS Productions, is a free- lance producer, endorsed by Neumann/Sennheiser and PreSonus. Visit www.mattkees.com or www.producedbymattkees.com