Old school analogue
Sex Pistols hanging out behind a Cadac G
Cadac J Series mixing desk
The Cadac name has been synonymous with high quality audio mixing consoles for over 50 years; from recording studios, prestigious installs to global concert tours and festivals.
Iconic albums such as the Clash’s “London Calling” the Sex Pistols’ “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols”, AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” and Queen‘s “A Night at the Opera” were all mixed on a Cadac console.
Cadac has also been at the heart of countless theatre productions…our console has modules built specifically for the London West End production of Phantom of the opera which ran continuously for 24 years! Cool.
The J-Type is considered by most to be best of Cadac’s analog desks, designed at a time when people were willing to pay a premium for the very best quality audio.
Our gorgeous J series travelled all the way from London to New Zealand, the first one ever we think to have made that journey. Interesting trivia…the guy that found this one for us also sold the G series “Sex Pistols” Cadac from Wessex Studio in the photo above to Radiohead who recorded OK Computer and a bunch of other albums on it.
Hasa Berlin and Quested 412’s
quested 212 main monitors and DYNAUDIO M2 MID fields
We are incredibly lucky to have aquired a pair of Quested 212’s which were shipped to New Zealand back in the 80’s when Roger Quested first started making what quickly became the world’s finest sudio monitors.
A pretty successful studio engineer, Roger started out at Olympic studios in London as a tape-operator and worked his way up the ranks until he was assisting Glyn Johns, who was producing Led Zeppelin’s debut album at the time. Moving on to Morgan Studios and now a mix engineer in his own right, Roger worked with artists such as Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, The Kinks, Rick Springfield, Camel, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, Johnny Hallyday, Sacha Disteland to name just a few.
Not satisfied with the quality and accuracy of the existing monitoring systems he began to build custom installations and opened Quested Monitoring Systems in 1985. The first system sold to Rooster Studios in London is still in operation today. Quested quickly gained a reputation for producing large format monitors with unrivalled accuracy and minimal listener fatigue. Pioneering the use of soft dome drivers and bucking the trend of compression drivers at the time. Early adopters included Abbey Road, Trevor Horn’s SARM West facility, Ridge Farm, Townhouse and Trident.
Many a NZ hit has been recorded with our Quested 212’s, and they are still in service at some top studios around the world as 212’s or 412’s including Hansa Berlin where David Bowie recorded Heroes and Low, and U2, Iggy Pop, REM and many others made some pretty solid pieces of rock history!
For tracking and mixing we have a pair of the very excellent Dynaudio M2’s powered by a Bryston 4BST amplifier, something of a legend. The M2s have pin point stereo imaging and highly detailed fatigue free listening with essentially flat response from 40 to 20kHz.
Coupled with the Quested 212’s and Dynaudio M2s we have an essential pair of Avontone MixCubes, invaluable for honing in on mid frequencies and also making sure mixes remain exciting on bass challenged speakers such as phones and iPads.
Studer A827 2” Analogue Tape Multitrack
Representing the culmination of more than 50 years of tape recorder design and manufacturing, the A827 was the last in Studer’s line of analog two-inch machines that included the A80, A800 and A820. The A827 features Studer’s highly optimized tape transport.
Our A827 was owned by Trevor Horn’s SARM West studio in London and was used for a grammy award nominated album back in 2004.
The incredible machine definitely gives a unique and much sought after flavour to recordings which doesn’t seem possible any other way. It can be used with the Cadac mixing desk for pure all analogue recording and mixing, or a “hybrid” approach can be used which records some or all instruments and vocals to tape and transfers to digital for editing. Mixing can also be a hybrid approach with some from tape synced to the rest on digital. The best of all worlds!
Selected analogue outboard processors
Manley Vari Mu compressor The GLUE that holds the mix together….all-tube, all transformer, a legend. Like one reviewer put it: “It’s like pouring a bowl of sweet cream over the mix.” Mmmmmm. Yummy. Give your music a big hug.
Buzz Audio SOC 20 A New Zealand made dual channel precision optical compressor optimised for the stereo buss with features not found on any other LDR compressor manufactured today. Not only can the SOC-20 be used in dual mono or stereo mode, it also has a Mid-Side (or sum and difference) encoder and decoder allowing adjustments of the dynamics and width of the stereo image. And it sounds fantastic!
Buzz Audio DBC 20 The most well known audio compressor that uses a diode bridge as the gain reduction element would have to be the Neve 2254. The DBC is not a copy of the 2254 - but it is the inspiration for the design. A delicious taste of the past in this unique transformer coupled diode bridge compressor oozing with colour and rich harmonics!
POM Boiler Hand built to order for Mt Tiger Studio, an amazing compressor by Pierre Olivier Margerand with upgrades suggested by famous engineers like Joe Barresi (Tool).
Based on the SSL talkback compressor it explodes on drums, bass guitar, loops etc, and is fantastic on mixes to help quickly and easily make them sound more natural, classic, and complete.
TK BC1-S The BC1 is an excellent take on the basic SSL G-series compressor design, and a compressor that is capable of everything from gentle, soft-knee compression to crushing, brickwall limiting - and beyond.
Warm Audio EQP (times 2) The EQP-WA is a re-creation of the most renowned tube equalizer in studio history, the "Pultec EQP-1A". Fantastic both for tracking and mixing, the EQP can give your tracks the massive bass, silky air, and addictive warmth that made the original a studio standard.
Audioscape Opto Compressor Inspired by the most iconic 1960's Optical Tube Compressor, the Teletronics LA2A, this is a top quality, faithful, sonically period-correct reproduction of this legendary compressor using NOS tubes and big, fat IRON!
Audioscape 76D From a US based boutique audio equipment manufacturer this is a faithful, zero-compromise 70’s FET Compressor recreation that remains loyal to the distinct and remarkable sonority of the most widely used "Blackface" revision of the legendary Teletronics 1176
DBX 160 (x2) Since its introduction in the mid 1970's, the dbx 160 series has been the world's most popular line of audio compressors. After the classic 160 (which is still used daily in many world class studios), came the 165, the 160X and the 160XT. The 160X/XT were the models that truly became the industry standard. Unbeatable for snare and kick from compression!
Thermionic Culture Rooster A two-channel pure-valve preamplifier capable of accepting microphone and line-level inputs as well as providing an unbalanced, high-impedance DI input socket on each channel for connecting instruments such as guitars and keyboards. The unit also offers some of the most musically satisfying EQ curves you are ever likely to hear, alongside the renowned ‘Attitude’ harmonic distortion control. Even by Thermionic Culture’s standards this is a truly special product. The preamp has a fabulously big, open sound with bags of character. Even without touching the EQ the range of tonal options available by tweaking the input and output parameters and experimenting with the Attitude control is phenomenal.
Aurora GTC2 Fantastic sounding dual mono/stereo linkable compressor that sounds great on everything! Has both FET and opto function which can be used in tandem with the press of a button. Designed by Geoff Tanner (25 years designer at Neve when Neve was Neve) and in the Neve camp but with it’s own thing going for it…This is not another Neve clone!
Drawmer DS 201 dual gates (times 3) and DS 404 quad gate In production since the 1980’s and still making them, the DS 201 was the first and still the best noise gate. We use them mainly to clean up unwanted noise when mixing “all analogue” and sometimes during tracking. Possibly the most powerful production technique is to get rid of what you don’t want… and this is an invaluable tool for the job! Also capable of super cool “ducking” to give songs pump and punch which is enjoying something of a revival in the latest neo jazz productions.
Selected microphones
Lauten Atlantis FC-387 The Atlantis has a full-bodied sound but without any muddy quality. Its three-way voicing switch makes it a versatile choice, capable of sounding either neutral, ultra-smooth or crisp and bright.
AKG C214 (matched pair) The C214 uses a 1-inch edge-terminated large diaphragm capsule that delivers a highly detailed, up-front sound - and it can handle an incredible 143dB dynamic range - accurately capturing transient details. Fantastic for acoustic instruments, drum overheads and room mics, vocals
AKG C1000 Small diaphragm condenser - excellent for hi hats and acoustic guitar
Audio Technica AT 4033 Large diaphragm condensor - great for any acoustic instrument, room mic, kick drum outside mic, vocals
Audio Technical AE 3000 (times two) Medium diaphragm condenser, fantastic for toms, acoustic instruments, room mics
Sennheiser e902 Dynamic mic for kick drums and bass guitar cabs
Sure SM57 and 57’s Industry standard for snare, guitar cabs, even vocals
