Recording and Production in the News

Trevor Horn's Sarm Studios invests in multiple Prism Sound products

Cambridge, UK: Sarm Studios, based in London's Notting Hill and owned by renowned producer, songwriter and musician Trevor Horn, has purchased a raft of new Prism Sound equipment, including three ADA-8XR multichannel modular AD/DA converters, a Maselec MLA-2 mastering compressor limiter, and a Maselec MEA-2 mastering equalizer.

Trevor Horn

"We mainly use Studio 1 at Sarm for recording and need the highest quality converters, compressors and EQs," Trevor Horn says. "My engineers, Tim Weidner and Graham Archer, rated the Prisms very highly. We record into Pro Tools and it was the integration and superior quality of the ADA-8XR that were factors in our choice. The flexibility to specify the I/O options of the converters was great as we need more AD for recording. We greatly appreciate the clean and transparent nature of the compression and EQ."

The units have already been used extensively on a wide variety of material, such as recent work with Robbie Williams on the album Reality Killed The Reality Star, on projects for Estelle and Aviv Geffen, and on Siphiwo Ntshebe's song Hope that was used during the opening ceremony of the World Cup in South Africa.

Engineer Graham Archer says he and Tim Weidner tested and compared all the converters on the market and the Prism Sound ADA-8XR's came out on top in terms of sonic clarity and flexibility. He adds: "We have always been impressed by both the audio and build quality of Prism Sound products. The ability to calibrate the units without using a tweak is great and being able to save particular setups is also very useful. The 'Overkiller' feature is fantastic for use on the mix bus. The MLA-2 and MEA-2 share this quality and are both transparent yet highly effective whenever they are used. The EQ has a wonderfully open top end and the compressor is great for gluing elements together in a mix."

The team at Sarm is also impressed at how well the Prism Sound equipment has integrated into its existing Pro Tools rigs using the Pro Tools HD I/O modules.

Tim Weidner says: "They are very easy to use and the ability to activate the Overkillers from inside ProTools is very useful. Similarly, the MLA-2 and MEA-2 are quick and intuitive. The fact they are notched means recalling them when switching between tracks is a breeze."

Given that the Prism Sound equipment has integrated so well into the Sarm recording environment - and the way it has performed - it is no surprise that the Sarm team are contemplating adding to the kit list.

"We have been very impressed with our Prism equipment thus far," Archer concludes. "We are thinking of getting some Prism Sound mic pre amps, particularly when a neutral, clean sound is required. The digital I/O module for the ADA-8XR is interesting in the way it allows us to interface with our other digital gear. We are also thinking of installing ADA8-XRs at Sarm West Coast in Los Angeles."