Location Recording: Does EVO 16 Make The Grade?


22nd marzo 2023


 

Producer/engineer, musician and co-owner of London’s The Bookhouse Studio, Tom Hill picked up an EVO 16 recently. When he told us he’d taken it and his ASP800 8-channel mic pre to a recording session on location, Audient was curious to find out how he had got on.

 

Over to you Tom. 

 

 

I mostly work in studios, but am occasionally coaxed out of my windowless room to record music out in the wider world. Typically these remote sessions are fast paced, with access to the set location for a limited time, and you just need to get the audio reliably captured with minimal fuss. My setup for such sessions is my portable rig of a laptop sat atop a small portable 19″ rack loaded with my EVO 16 and ASP800.

 

 

“hitting that Smartgain button and just knowing it’s good to go saves you time and mental energy”

 

 

Most recently I recorded my old band Modern Rituals (drums/bass/2 guitars/keys/2 vocals) in a cavernous church hall, providing foldback through three monitor speakers (no headphones). I used the EVO 16’s mic pres (which sound super clear with easily enough gain) to record the drums and the ASP800 to record the other instruments. 

 

 

 

Producer Tom Hill and his trusty EVO 16

 

 

Dialling in the gain for the drums usually takes a little while, but hitting that Smartgain button and just knowing it’s good to go saves you time and mental energy knowing you’re not going to need to worry about anything clipping when the drummer rips a huge fill! 

 

 

“the EVO 16’s mixer software is super easy to navigate”

 

 

Providing foldback for multiple musicians when time is of the essence can be a pain, but the EVO 16’s mixer software is super easy to navigate and it only took a minute for me to get the vocalists plenty of their vocal in their monitors.

 

 

 “this [mobile rig] is basically the only one I’ve ever felt content to just show up with”

 

 

Having been through three other mobile rigs over the last few years, this one is basically the only one I’ve ever felt content to just show up with and know that there’s zero chance of anything going wrong. Looking forward to putting the interface through its paces on a couple of quieter, more intimate sessions in May.

 

 

 

Tom Hill at work at The Bookhouse Studio     Photo credit: Treasure Digital

 

 

We are so pleased you feel you can rely on your EVO 16. Thanks for chatting with us, Tom – and all the best in May!