Recording and Production in the News

New York State, US – February 2006: Legendary producer David Fridmann is so delighted with the Maselec MEA-2 EQ and MLA-2 compressor he recently borrowed from Prism Sound that he is refusing to part with them.

“I already own a Prism Sound ADA-8XR multichannel converter, which is absolutely awesome,” he says. “I’m now in the process of buying the Maselec units, which were originally sent to me to demo but are so good that I won’t give them back!”

As an internationally acclaimed producer, David Fridmann has worked with many top artists including Mercury Rev, Thursday, Phantom Planet, Mogwai, Weezer, Jane's Addiction, Sparklehorse and Low. However, he is most renowned for his work with The Flaming Lips – a collaboration that has earned him the affectionate title of ‘the fourth Flaming Lip’ because he has co-produced the majority of their records.

Fridmann first became aware of Prism Sound products in 2005 when he was looking at ways to enhance the various surround mixes he was handling. These included The Soft Bulletin and a Lips video compilation entitled V.O.I.D.

He says: “At the time I was doing a lot of Pro Tools work and realised that the system’s built-in converters were adding too much colour to the sound. I was using my 16 bit 44.1KHz Radar-1 as the interface because I didn't want to hear the included converters,” he says. “Then someone recommended Prism Sound converters so I decided to give the new ADA-8XR a try. The results really blew me away. When I first got the converter I did some A/B testing to see how much the converter affected the sound. At first I thought perhaps I was doing something wrong and directly monitoring the input without it going through the converter because I couldn’t hear any difference. I became so confused that I eventually went the extra step of actually recording material to prove to myself that it had gone through the converter. The sound really was amazing and as a result I no longer have any reservations about going digital.”

Prism Sound’s ADA-8XR multi-channel converter and processor is proving popular with both music producers and film composers. Recently awarded the coveted PAR Excellence Award 2005 by Pro Audio Review and nominated for the 2006 TEC Awards, the unit operates at sampling rates of up to 192kHz and boasts even greater analogue performance than its predecessor, the ADA-8. It is also 100% compatible with Pro Tools HD by interfacing directly to the core, accel or process cards negating the need for a 192 or 96 i/o.

Since acquiring an ADA-8XR David Fridmann has used the converter on every project he has undertaken at his Tarbox Road Studios in New York State. These projects include basic tracking, overdubbing, mixing and mastering on Sleater Kinney’s The Woods, The Flaming Lips’ At War With The Mystics, Trespassers William’s Having and the upcoming Thursday album, which Fridmann is currently finishing.