“Finally someone is paying attention to the needs of smaller studios, and making a product that still serves big studio ears,” said John McVey of Cinder Sound Studio, over the moon when he discovered that his smaller, Audient ASP4816 desk is built using the same mic pres as Audient’s flagship console, ASP8024 Heritage Edition.
“It’s lovely to look at, friendly to use and sounds amazing”
Cinder Sound is “a small studio with a huge sound” according to its website, where “vibe is everything” and John likes to make sure he runs it with just as much heart too. “I’m so proud to midwife ideas for people. I love when an idea is right, everyone in the room is inspired and that translates to everyone who hears it. What a life!”
It was a culmination of online research and chats with other engineers in the greater Denver/Boulder area – “we’re a friendly bunch and like to share secrets” – that led him to choose the ASP4816 mixing desk. “We’ve had it up and running for the best part of a year now and it’s wonderful. It’s lovely to look at, friendly to use and sounds amazing.”
“Everything sounded so good that the hours we spent were fun”
He continues to sing the desk’s praises with a passion. “I’m just geeky enough to like the feel of a good fader, the happy indent at the top of a knob, the pleasing look of the design and colours, where there are lit things and where there are not,” he confesses. “The EQs are lovely sounding and I love their overlap and range; one can use them quite surgically, if need be – and they are capable of great subtlety. I also love the layout and functionality.”
The first artist to put the new Cinder Sound setup to the test was Caitlin Cannon who was aiming for a mixture of old-style country and modern sounding alt rock, which John delivered for her with aplomb. “Everything sounded so good that the hours we spent were fun – and we gave her a great product.
“Things can range so wildly on a singer/songwriter record. It means as a producer I get the full crayon box,” he says, clearly in his element in his studio. “I’m not sure many of the names coming through here will be recognisable to the masses, but we are making things sound amazing. That inspires us and our clients – which is a great place to live. We have a constant flow of projects, which means we’re doing something right.
“The EQs are lovely sounding and I love their overlap and range”
“What makes inspiration possible, plentiful and high quality is good tools. When you’re using a great tool, you never wonder what a better one would be like. You never want it to be different than it is. This console is one such tool. You have made something well and it is a pleasure to use.”
Audient is so pleased to hear that.
