Facilities

Let Us Show You Around

The rooms

Our studio building was constructed from the ground up with one purpose in mind—great sound. The world-class design and precision acoustics were conceived by acoustical guru Russ Berger (Sony Music, MasterMix, Paragon, Blade Studios), an eight-time recipient of the industry’s TEC Award for technical excellence, and it features a modern artist-friendly approach to recording and mixing music. Natural materials like oil-finished solid hardwood floors, black slate, wood-trimmed acoustical panels and leather seating combine with the studio's open layout and variable lighting to make an inspiring creative sanctuary. 
The spacious 22' x 13' control room allows for plenty of collaborative space during production. Floor-to-ceiling glass connects the control room to the 15' x 10' live room, and the foyer is wired for use as an isolation booth. Glass panel doors provide clear sightlines between rooms, and exterior windows allow for natural light with blackout shade options for a more intimate feel.

It starts at the source

The best-sounding results come from capturing sound properly at the beginning. We have one of the widest microphone selections in Vancouver so we can pick the perfect match for the source’s sonic fingerprint. That’s especially critical for vocals since every singer's voice is unique. Then comes the mojo of vintage and modern analog preamps, compressors and other outboard gear. Warm and fat, pure and punchy, huge and hairy—they add whatever colour the music needs. Much of our equipment has been hot-rodded with upgraded transformers, vintage tubes and custom mods, and use of all of the studio's equipment is always included in our rate with no additional rental fees.

Equipment & Instruments

Recording
2019 Apple Mac Pro 16-core 3.2GHz, 96GB RAM, 15TB HD
Logic Audio
Lynx Aurora 16 Thunderbolt 1926kHz mastering-grade converters
UAD-2 Quad PCIe card 
Mackie Control Universal control surface

Monitoring
Focal CMS 65 monitors
Focal CMS Sub
Optimus ProX7 monitors
Altec-Lansing ACS54 monitors
SPL MTC 2381 monitor controller
Ardan EVP-M1 Elevation Pro speaker stands
Hear Technologies Hear Back personal monitoring system (1 hub and 4 mixers)
Sony, Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica and Yamaha headphones

Microphones
(2) AKG C451EB small diaphragm condenser (with Jim Williams upgrades)
(2) AKG CK-1 cardioid capsule
(1) AKG CK-2 omnidirectional capsule
(1) AKG D112 large diaphragm dynamic
(1) Audio Technica ATM63 cardioid dynamic
(1) beyerdynamic M130 ribbon
(2) blue en•core 100i cardioid dynamic
(1) Bock 151 large diaphragm tube condenser (comparable to the Telefunken 251)
(3) CAD M179 multipattern large diaphragm condenser
(1) Cascade Fathead ribbon
(1) Electro-Voice N/DYM 757A hypercardioid dynamic
(1) Neumann KM-84i small diaphragm condenser
(1) Red R0 large diaphragm condenser capsule
(1) Red R7 large diaphragm condenser capsule
(1) Sanken CU-41 large diaphragm condenser
(1) Sennheiser MD421-U cardioid dynamic
(1) Shure SM7 large diaphragm dynamic
(1) Shure SM57 cardioid dynamic (original Unidyne III model with TAB/Funkenwerk transformer upgrade)
(1) Shure Unidyne IV 548 cardioid dynamic
(1) Soundelux U99 multipattern large diaphragm tube condenser (comparable to the Neumann U-67)
(1) Townsend Labs Sphere L22 large diaphragm stereo condenser
(2) VTL/Langevin CR-3A large diaphragm condenser (Manley Reference Cardioid capsule)
(1) Wunder Audio CM7-GT multipattern large diaphragm tube condenser w/M7 capsule (comparable to the Neumann U-47)

Mic Preamps
(2) AMI TAB-Funkenwerk V-78 tube preamp (update of the vintage Telefunken V72)
(1) API 3124+ 4-channel preamp
(1) API 500-6B Lunchbox
(2) Great River MP-500NV preamp (classic Neve sound)
(1) Groove Tubes Brick tube preamp
(1) AEA TRP Ribbon Pre stereo preamp
(1) Broadhurst Gardens BG-1 stereo preamp
(8) Yamaha MLA8 preamp
(1) Rane FMI14 preamp

Compressors/EQs
Teletronix LA-2A tube compressor/limiter
Purple Audio MC77 compressor/limiter (comparable to the Urei 1176N)
Urei 7110 compressor/limiter
Aphex 651 Expressor (w/Jim Williams mods)
ART PRO VLA tube compressor
Rocktron 300A compressor/Hush
Rane MQ302 graphic EQ
Rane PE-15 parametric EQ
Rane SP-15 parametric EQ

Outboard Effects
Sony DPS-V77 multi-effects
Sony DPS-D7 digital delay
Sony DPS-M7 modulation effects processor
Lexicon 1300 & 1300S digital delays (the Lexicon PCM 42 sans modulation)
Lexicon MPX-500 reverb
Korg SDD-3300 triple digital delay
Yamaha REX-50 multi-effects (non-rack version of the SPX-90)
EV-Dynacord DRP 15 multi-effects
BBE 422A Sonic Maximizer
Electro-Harmonix Golden Throat talk box

Instruments
Kawai US50 concert upright piano
Roland A-90EX 88-key weighted action MIDI controller with expansion board

M-Audio Trigger Finger drum pad controller
Yamaha RX-15 drum machine
Assorted percussion instruments

Jackson Soloist custom electric 6-string with Dimarzio PAF Pros
Ibanez JEM 77 electric 6-string (custom neck)
Brownsville electric 12-string
Fender American Standard Precision 5-string electric bass
Edwards Stratocaster with Mark Foley Vintage '59 (bridge) and Onamac Windery Vintage '54 (neck and middle) pickups
Ibanez CT-4 electric bass
Alvarez-Yairi GY-1 6-string acoustic guitar
Navigator Telecaster w/Barden JBE (neck) & Kinman Tele Bridge pickups
Yamaha G-255SII classical guitar
Ovation Ultra 1515 12-string acoustic
Kentucky 8-string mandolin
Bolivian 10-string charango
Mahalo ukelele

Amps
Mesa Boogie .50 Caliber+ 50w tube amplifier (6L6) w/Celestion Gold alnico speaker
Mesa Boogie 2x12 cabinet (vintage EV & Celestion V30 speakers)
Fender Champ (silverface) vintage tube amplifier w/Weber8A125 alnico speaker
Marshall 8004 power amp
Marshall MG15CD combo amp

Pedals
Analogman Bi-Comp
Analogman Envelope Filter
Analogman King of Tone 2-channel overdrive
Analogman Prince of Tone overdrive
Arion SCH-1 stereo chorus pedal
Boss GE-7 graphic EQ pedal (modded for higher fidelity)
Earthquaker Devices The Depths
El Musico Loco Siamese Scream
Flexwaves FW-EQ7 graphic eq
Keely Java Boost
Mooer Clean Boost
Mooer Pitch Box pitch shifter
Morley Wah/Volume
MXR Carbon Copy analog delay pedal
MXR Phase 90 pedal (script model with mix and intensity mods)
Strymon El Capistan tape delay
Strymon Flint reverb & tremolo
TC Electronic Polytune 2
Walrus Voyager overdrive pedal
Wampler Euphoria overdrive pedal
Xotic BB Plus overdrive pedal

Software Plug-Ins
An enormous selection from UAD, Acustica, Fabfilter, Kush Audio, Slate, Sonnox, Waves, Eventide, Relab, SoundToys, LiquidSonics, Softube, Valhalla and more.

Virtual Instruments
Spectrasonics Omnisphere
BFD 3.0 drums
MOTU BPM drum machine
LA Scoring Strings and Modern Scoring Strings
Arturia Analog Factory synths (minimoog, Moog Modular, Yamaha CS-80, ARP 2600, Sequential Circuits Prophet)
Arturia Analog Lab
AAS Lounge Lizard 3 electric piano
Native Instruments Komplete
Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra
Kirk Hunter Concert Strings

Other
Primacoustic and custom acoustic treatments
Enhanced Audio M600 isolation microphone mounts
Redco R196-D25PG TT patchbays
Tascam 112 cassette recorder
Rane HC-6 headphone amp
Emagic Unitor8 MkII MIDI interface/synchronizer
Little Labs Red Eye direct box/re-amp box
Little Labs STD guitar signal extender
Cloudlifter CL-1 Mic Activator
Korg DTR-2000 chromatic tuner
Gotham, Monster, Cable Factory and ProCo cabling

And Lava lamps…lots and lot of Lava lamps…