Audient Raises Still Small Voice
A British designed Audient ASP8024 recording console has found its way to a studio in Wales, where music production company Still Small Voice (SSV) has created a highly specified recording area to work in. Built in the grounds of a private home in Cardiff, the studio is primarily a non-commercial outfit.
Gethin John, one half of Still Small Voice 
was hands-on from the outset. “We did all the installation, spec'd the gear and built half the room. We had great fun putting the windows in,” he laughs. But why choose Audient? “I first encountered the 8024 desk at the University of the West of England, where I completed my degree and subsequently did some instruction. The desk enables you to explain signal flow to students in a consistent manner that allows them to understand it. I really explored the desk whilst I was there; there's nothing like teaching something to understand how it ticks.
“I really love the transparency of the preamps,” Gethin enthuses. “It doesn't overly colour the sound at all and fits beautifully with my philosophy as an engineer. What I didn't want was this fixed block in the middle of the signal chain that always coloured the sound in the same way. The Audient is just very, very clean.
“There are also more mundane reasons why I like the desk,” he continues. “The pots respond brilliantly when I turn them; the notches that tell you where zero is are consistent across the board; the modular design means everything just feels right and I especially love the auxilliaries. You'd be hard pressed to find a desk with that many analogue auxes that allow you to monitor like we do without going into the computer.”
When it comes to choosing between working with the computer or using the desk, Gethin says, “I work in a hybrid style. I do all my corrective work 'in the box': noise reduction, de-essing, gating and some filtering, but if I want to 'sound sculpt' I'll use pairs of faders like they're subgroups. Then you can sculpt the sound using the awesome EQs. I find them very very responsive and very musical.”
So, Gethin likes the EQs then. “I love them. It's not so much the sound – although I do love the sound of the EQs – but the boundaries of the frequency ranges are exactly where I want them. I reach for some hi-mid and what I'm hearing is EXACTLY what I was thinking. It's quick and immediate for me.”
The 24-channel ASP8024 desk was supplied by London-based Audient dealer and pro audio specialist, HHB Communications Ltd Sales Manager Andrew Hingley says, “HHB Communications Ltd has had a working relationship with Gethin John for many years and we are pleased to have been involved with the new music studio. We were in agreement with Gethin that the Audient ASP8024 was by far the most suitable console and we were able to offer it as part of a package that included specialist Mogami and VDC cabling.”
Still Small Voice also runs a label with a sparkling roster of acoustic talents including rising star Tomos Lewis, Sion Russell Jones, and singer/songwriter and co-owner of the company, Jonathan Powell.
