Here is some of the kit we have inhouse:
Microphones
I have to admit to being something of a microphone obsessive, which is why I have such a good range.
Neumann U87 ai – a studio classic large diaphragm condenser and worth every penny.
sE Electronics Gemini III – another classic. The Gemini II is a twin valve cardioid LDC mic with a beautiful sound. The III is a limited edition multi-pattern version of it.
Neumann TLM 193 – a cardioid LDC with a darker character than many of my other mics.
Aston Spirit – A modern multi-pattern LDC unusual for it’s industrial appearance and the fact that it was made as well as designed in Britain. Fast becoming a favourite of mine.
JZ Microphones Vintage 11 – The makers of this, the latest mic in the studio, say it’s for anyone who “wants something better than all known studio standards”. Bit of a big claim there, but we’ll see how it pans out – update, it’s a decent, very usable mic and I’m glad to have it but it’s not the best mic I have.
Rode NT-SF1 – Oh, now this is something special. It’s an ambisonic mic, and can handle full surround sound recording, but that’s not the reason I’m excited by it. You can take a live recording and afterwards at mixdown decide which types of mics you used, cardioid, figure-of-8, whatever, and the directions they were pointing. I’ve written an article about my use of this mic which was published in Sound on Sound. You can read it here.
Sontronics Sigma – an active ribbon mic with a smooth vintage character that is lovely with the right voice or instrument, my go-to for higher female voices.
Neumann KM184 – a matched pair of really excellent small diaphragm condensers, beautiful on guitar and also very nice on location recording in ORTF or co-incident arrangement.
Rode NT5 x 2 – a matched pair of this fine small diaphragm condenser mic, I also have omni capsules for them.
Rode NT4 – a stereo mic that is essentially two cardioid NT5’s held as a coincident pair. a nice mic for guitar.
Earthworks QTC-1 x 2 – A matched pair of omni mics with a staggering flat frequency range from 40hz to 40khz. Beautiful mics for the right job, I’m inspired by these!
Sure SM58 – I believe that in law no studio is permitted to operate without at least one of these cardioid dynamic mics to hand.
Digital Audio Workstation
Apple iMac Pro octo-core computer, 32GB RAM and all the trimmings.
Logic Pro X – recording and editing software, extended with a wide variety of third party plug-ins such as Melodyne and Izotope RX7.
UAD Apollo interfaces -multiple UAD interfaces aggregate automatically and function like one large interface. I have an Apollo 8 Duo, an Apollo Duo and an Apollo Twin which together provide me with 10 digitally controlled preamps plus a considerable amount of DSP grunt to run the excellent UAD plugins both during tracking and mixdown.
Mackie Control Universal Pro – moving fader control surface with extender for a total of 16 channels.
Softube Console 1 – another control surface oriented around plugins that complements the MCU very well.
Monitoring
Naumann KH120 II – active nearfield monitors with DSP provide the main monitoring facility. I’ve used the MA1 mic and software to configure the DSP for best and most accurate performance in my room.
Avantone Mixcube – A single monitor provides “grotbox” and phase checking of mixes.
Genelec 8030a monitors provide sound for the artists.
Drawmer MC2.1 – provides monitor control for the studio.
Avantone Planar headphones for mixing and several pairs of AKG K55 closed back headphones for tracking.
TC Electronic Clarity M metering. A standalone unit providing all sorts of metering functions, including in paricular very clear loudness metering.
Miscellaneous
Zoom F8n – A solid state recorder with very good preamps capable of recording up to 8 tracks simultaneously, I use this for location recording and then transfer the tracks to Logic for mixdown on return to the studio. It complements the NT-SF1 well.
Yamaha P-115 digital piano – This high quality musical instrument is elsewhere in the house but can be brought into the studio and linked in via both audio outputs and MIDI if required.
Roland Handsonic HPD15 – I am not geared up to record live drums but this electronic hand drum can be used to provide many percussion effects.
Roland JV1080 synth – (with assorted expansion cards). An old studio classic.