For new business Crown Works Studio (CWS), the purchase of two ASP880 8-channel mic pres turned out to be two of the most useful – and economically sensible - additions to their studio. “The pair of ASP880s are currently in place of the typical large format console and high end converters found in most studios,” says owner and assistant engineer, Ross Wareing, confessing that it was “…something we were very wary of to begin until we heard the ASP880s in action.”
Together with co-founder and resident producer, Gareth ‘Gazz’ Rogers, they have pooled their resources in order to create the new commercial studio which, since its opening in the latter part of last year, has enjoyed “…a steady flow of interest […] across different genres”. Ross goes on to explain the thinking behind the idea. “When we decided to build CWS we agreed that we were creating a studio environment that we could grow into. Due to budget constraints, a full desk is not going to be on the cards for a while, as much as we have our eyes on the ASP8024!
“Both ASP880’s are connected via ADAT and wordclock to the LS56 and are permanently plugged into the 28 channel multicore running into the live room,” he continues, explaining the setup. “The preamps handle our variety of microphones incredibly well, easily providing enough gain for ribbons and headroom for our LDC valve vocal mics. When we need to add outboard processing the DB25 connections on the back of the ASP880s are incredibly useful, the pre’s are always sending output through the individual channels so when you connect external EQ or compression you can see the level on them before engaging the chain with the A-D button on the front panel. Genius!” Gazz is familiar with large format consoles having used a Trident 80B series for several years. Indeed highlights of his engineering career include working with Ocean Colour Scene, the Holloways, Scott Matthews and recording Paolo Nutini on location at the V Festival. Gazz and Ross agree that working with artists like these is “…a level we are both eager to get back to.” With their current setup featuring the Audient ASP880s, they are well on their way. “We love everything about them, how easy and fast they are to use in a session, how responsive they are in the low end and detailed at higher frequencies,” adds Gazz. “The smooth Hi-Pass filter is clean and doesn’t affect the phase of a fully mic’d drum kit or a multi-mic’d acoustic guitar and the ability to add in line external processing before the signal hits the converter means we can further define our sounds without multiple lossy passes through unnecessary conversion.” As for feedback from clients: “All of our artists so far have mentioned how clear their headphone mixes are and to be honest, it’s taking very little effort to please people now we have the ASP880s on everything we do. Clarity seems to come as standard,” says Ross. “The only thing I’d like to see added is some EQ, busses,
