Published 7/7/08
Dean McCarthy wins big!
Dean McCarthy from London is the lucky winner of the Sound On Sound Dream Studio giveaway: a whopping bundle of £20,000 worth of equipment that was up for grabs at June's SOS-sponsored SOUND RECORDING TECHNOLOGY 08 exhibition (part of London International Music Show), held at ExCel.
Dean's prize centres around a super-fast, eight-core Apple Mac Pro with a 23-inch Apple Cinema Display running Logic Studio. Connected to this is an Apogee Ensemble Firewire audio interface for all his A-D and D-A conversion duties.
Complementing the ample software suite in Logic are two additional DSP hardware processors: SSL's Duende PCIe, which fits inside Dean's new Mac Pro, and TC Electronic's Powercore X8, which connects via Firewire. These will open up even more options when he's choosing plug-ins.
Giving Dean hands-on control over his mixes is the Euphonix MC Mix, the latest in control surface technology, while a Roland Fantom G6 will act as the master keyboard and a hardware synth/sound module. Additional data-entry equipment in the form of an Akai MPD32 and an Alesis Control Pad will enable Dean to program his beats using MPC-style pads, or using good old-fashioned drum sticks, and a Yamaha Tenori-On — the first in the world to be offered as part of a prize draw — will let him sequence grooves using its innovative flashing matrix interface.
A generous handful of microphones are included, with the superb Rode K2 valve mic, SE Electronics' promising new SE4400a, a matched pair of M-Audio Pulsar II small-diaphragm condensers (with the fabulous new Rycote Invision shockmounts keeping them rumble free), the solid all-rounder KSM27 from Shure and the mic that no decent studio is without: the Shure SM57.
Mic preampification will be supplied by the new Allen & Heath ZED 22FX compact mixer, which can be patched straight into the Apogee interface, but also from the TL Audio Ebony A1, a twin-channel preamp and DI device.
Fortunately, Dean is a guitarist, so he can take advantage of his Emerson Williams Bluestone Pro dummy load and DI box (a limited SRT ’08 edition, no less), which will let him get the sound of his amp at full volume without waking the neighbours.
Monitoring for Dean's new rig will be handled by a Presonus Monitor Station feeding a pair of Genelec's 8040 nearfield monitors, which will be perched on Primacoustic's Recoil Stabilisers. Ghost Acoustics' Studio Kit 3 will help tame any nasty room modes and refections in Dean's control room, while two pairs of M-Audio Q40 headphones will allow performers to monitor signals from the DAW without sending spill into the mics.
Korg's brilliant DSD recorder, the MR1000, will ensure Dean's audio backups retain the best possible audio quality, while the Edirol R09HR portable recorder will give him the chance to record 24-bit/96kHz audio anywhere at any time. Last, but by no means least, an M-Audio MIDISport 2x2 will let Dean plug any of his existing MIDI equipment into the shiny new rig.
But there's more. SOS Editor In Chief Paul White and Technical Editor Hugh Robjohns will pay Dean a visit and install his system, using cables supplied by Studiospares. He'll even be featured in the magazine! To top it off, Alchemea will put Dean through their fully certified Logic Pro training, making sure that he's a whizz on his brand new rig.
Well done Dean! Thank you to everyone else who entered. We hope to have an equally mouthwatering major prize at LIMS 2009. Meanwhile, you can still keep an eye on the monthly SOS Competitions page at www.soundonsound.com/competitions
Dean's prize centres around a super-fast, eight-core Apple Mac Pro with a 23-inch Apple Cinema Display running Logic Studio. Connected to this is an Apogee Ensemble Firewire audio interface for all his A-D and D-A conversion duties.Complementing the ample software suite in Logic are two additional DSP hardware processors: SSL's Duende PCIe, which fits inside Dean's new Mac Pro, and TC Electronic's Powercore X8, which connects via Firewire. These will open up even more options when he's choosing plug-ins.
Giving Dean hands-on control over his mixes is the Euphonix MC Mix, the latest in control surface technology, while a Roland Fantom G6 will act as the master keyboard and a hardware synth/sound module. Additional data-entry equipment in the form of an Akai MPD32 and an Alesis Control Pad will enable Dean to program his beats using MPC-style pads, or using good old-fashioned drum sticks, and a Yamaha Tenori-On — the first in the world to be offered as part of a prize draw — will let him sequence grooves using its innovative flashing matrix interface.
A generous handful of microphones are included, with the superb Rode K2 valve mic, SE Electronics' promising new SE4400a, a matched pair of M-Audio Pulsar II small-diaphragm condensers (with the fabulous new Rycote Invision shockmounts keeping them rumble free), the solid all-rounder KSM27 from Shure and the mic that no decent studio is without: the Shure SM57.
Mic preampification will be supplied by the new Allen & Heath ZED 22FX compact mixer, which can be patched straight into the Apogee interface, but also from the TL Audio Ebony A1, a twin-channel preamp and DI device.
Fortunately, Dean is a guitarist, so he can take advantage of his Emerson Williams Bluestone Pro dummy load and DI box (a limited SRT ’08 edition, no less), which will let him get the sound of his amp at full volume without waking the neighbours.
Monitoring for Dean's new rig will be handled by a Presonus Monitor Station feeding a pair of Genelec's 8040 nearfield monitors, which will be perched on Primacoustic's Recoil Stabilisers. Ghost Acoustics' Studio Kit 3 will help tame any nasty room modes and refections in Dean's control room, while two pairs of M-Audio Q40 headphones will allow performers to monitor signals from the DAW without sending spill into the mics.
Korg's brilliant DSD recorder, the MR1000, will ensure Dean's audio backups retain the best possible audio quality, while the Edirol R09HR portable recorder will give him the chance to record 24-bit/96kHz audio anywhere at any time. Last, but by no means least, an M-Audio MIDISport 2x2 will let Dean plug any of his existing MIDI equipment into the shiny new rig.
But there's more. SOS Editor In Chief Paul White and Technical Editor Hugh Robjohns will pay Dean a visit and install his system, using cables supplied by Studiospares. He'll even be featured in the magazine! To top it off, Alchemea will put Dean through their fully certified Logic Pro training, making sure that he's a whizz on his brand new rig.
Well done Dean! Thank you to everyone else who entered. We hope to have an equally mouthwatering major prize at LIMS 2009. Meanwhile, you can still keep an eye on the monthly SOS Competitions page at www.soundonsound.com/competitions
