Recording and Production in the News

Fred Falke dubs Lyra the pinnacle of ADA conversion

Cambridge February 2014: Renowned French DJ, remixer and producer Fred Falke was so bowled over by the Lyra 2 audio interface that he bought one after just one listen.

Fred Falke

"It simply surpasses every other competitor by far," he says. "The AD conversion is so clear that recording becomes effortless, and the DA is just unreal: you can hear every little detail in a mix in a way that you never thought was possible. It's like watching the stars through the Hubble telescope."

One of the most prolific and in-demand producers around, Fred Falke earned global recognition as a DJ, producer and remixer with his debut release Intro. Now based in Los Angeles, Falke's career has spanned nearly two decades and he has consistently proven his versatility with releases such as Golden Cage and reworks of Nervo and Robyn tracks. His ability to bridge the gap between pop and electronic dance music is evident with his remixes for artists from Katy Perry and Ke$ha to, more recently, Lana Del Rey, Jason Derulo and Selena Gomez. He has also written and produced for Ellie Goulding and Florrie and co-wrote Amelia Lilly’s track You Bring Me Joy that reached #2 in the UK charts.

Falke says he first came across the recently introduced Lyra 2 audio interface during a recording session at Metropolis Studios in London. "It sounded so good that I immediately bought a unit myself," he says. "I have subsequently gone on to use it on a number of tracks, including remixes of Tiesto's Redlights and Foxes' Let's Go."

Prism Sound's Lyra has built up a loyal following among musicians and DJs because it is so portable and versatile - something that Falke says is essential to him. "It doesn't matter where I'm working, I have this little 'magic box' in my bag and can achieve superb recording and mixing," he says.

He connects the interface via USB to his MacPro, utilising the line-ins and also the preamp inputs. "When mixing, my DAW master out goes into the outboard through line-outs one to two, and comes back into the Lyra line-ins," he explains.

Ease of use is also high on Falke's list of criteria. Part of his signature approach is his love of crafting synth sounds and beats with synthesisers, drum machines and samplers.

"They all have a specific sonic signature," explains Falke. "Instruments and vocals carry emotions. The Lyra manages to capture that with an unmatched perfection. The controller software is a no-brainer, offering the same zero-latency recording as working from a desk."

In perhaps the ultimate testament to the quality of the Lyra, Falke explains that when he took delivery of it, he listened to many of his favourite songs and tracks through it right away.

"Even though I have heard these songs a million times before, all of a sudden I heard things I never heard before," he recalls. "It's hard to describe how good it is; you have to experience it to realize what you've been missing: Prism Sound is the pinnacle of ADA conversion."

Based on the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Orpheus interface, Prism Sound’s Lyra allows music recording professionals to access the power and sophistication of the Orpheus audio path and clock circuitry, but in a smaller package and at a much improved price point.

The Lyra 1 interface has two analogue input channels - one for instrument/line and one for mic/line - plus two DA output channels and optical-only digital I/O. Lyra 2 includes two AD input channels with switchable microphone, instrument or line input modes and four DA output channels. Both versions incorporate new ARM Cortex processor design offering class-compliant USB interfacing that allows for seamless integration with both Macs and PCs. Both versions also offer digital volume control, a low latency ‘console-quality’ digital mixer for foldback monitoring and optical SPDIF capability.