When the blackout this summer hit northeastern U.S. and much ofCanada, Elliot Mazer’s New York studio, running off a FurmanSound IT-Reference Discrete Symmetrical AC Power Source, suffered fromthe power outage in the middle of a very important session.
Diana Haig (Mazer’s wife) was in the process of putting thefinal pre-mastering touches on a DVD-Audio project for Warner Recordsfeaturing a live performance by Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis and DeanMartin, titled The Summit: An Evening With the Rat Pack. Mazersaid, “While using Pro Tools, she noticed that the mouse beganacting strange. We saved the session and the lights went out. Then, theentire studio gracefully shut itself down. I heard the relays click inthe IT-Reference immediately after the power went down.”
The Furman Sound IT-Reference and the individual Furman Sound PL8Power Conditioners protected Mazer’s Pro Tools|HD system andracks of outboard gear when the power was restored. Mazer said,“After the power came back on, we checked the computer harddrives and they were fine. We looked at the folder for the project andsaw that the session was saved at 4:09 p.m., which is the exact timethe blackout occurred. With the power restored, I ran Disk Warrior onthe hard drives and then it was business as usual.
“The IT Reference box is fantastic,” Mazer continued. “Ithelped us lower the noise floor in the system and allowed us tointerconnect the various digital and analog systems. We used to have torun grounding cables around the studio and you could measure 10 voltspotential between gear. Once we put the IT-Reference in, all of thatwent away, everything sounded better and became more stable. Aside fromthe blackout on August 14, 2003, fuses have blown in the past and thesystem always went down gracefully. We use 192kHz sampling rates andhave to make sure that the entire signal chain is extremely clean, andthe IT-Reference ensures that it always is!”
For more on the power supply, visit www.furmansound.com.
