Recording and Production in the News

Sage Studio uses Prism Sound converters with Pro Tools HD

Washington, USA - September 2006: Sage Studio has acquired a Prism Sound ADA-8XR multichannel converter for use in conjunction with its Pro Tools HD system.

Matthew Gephart at Sage Studios

The Arlington-based studio is primarily an in-house production facility for Sage Arts Records. To ensure the highest quality recordings, most of the studio's audio electronics have been custom designed by Forssell Technologies, which also supplied a 48 channel custom mixing console with Flying Faders automation.

Sage Studio engineer Matthew Gephart says: "We are very excited about our purchase of the ADA-8XR. After comparing several of the finest available ADC and DAC units, we decided that the Prism Sound unit had the best combination of sound quality and versatility for use with Pro Tools HD. The ADA-8XR sits sonically in an elite class alongside the Forssell Technologies and Lavry converters we auditioned, plus it can connect directly to Pro Tools, just like a Digi 192 IO interface."

Gephart adds that Sage Studio conducts most of its mixing in the analog domain, there it was imperative to find a way of running its Pro Tools HD system simultaneously with its analog tape recorders without any degradation in audio quality.

"We purchased the ADA-8XR with one eight-channel ADC card and two eight-channel DAC cards," he adds. "This allows us to use the ADA-8XR as an eight in/out unit while recording to Pro Tools. When mixing, we can configure the unit as a 16 channel DAC."

Established in 1985, Sage Studio and Sage Arts Records specialise in acoustic music and attract a wide variety of artists including Marley's Ghost, Jon Wilcox, Barney McClure, Hank Bradley and Boys Of The Lough.