Ronan McHugh (at left)) with Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and a trio of ADL700 channel strips
Ronan McHugh has worked with UK rockers Def Leppard in the studio and as front-of-house engineer for more than a decade. PreSonus reports that McHugh has been using the new PreSonus ADL 700 tube channel strip to record the band’s first studio album since their 2008 release Songs from the Sparkle Lounge.
“Before we started working on the album, I did a record with Joe [Elliott, lead vocalist for Def Leppard],” McHugh says. “He has another project called Down ‘n’ Outz. We recorded most of the vocals through a Shure SM7 directly into the ADL 700. I found that with the impedance control at just the right setting, it really brings the vocal to life.”
McHugh recalls that he was impressed enough with the ADL 700 on the Down ‘n’ Outz project to acquire two more of the channel strips and deployed all three ADL 700 units when recording tracks for the new album.
“We brought the band into the studio and jammed,” McHugh says, “the whole band playing and writing together. We hadn’t done that in a long time. I had the two guitars going through the ADL 700s, and the boys [guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell] really loved how it sounded. They were asking, ‘What is this?’ So when we started laying down tracks, they both said not to change a thing.”
For the album, McHugh close-miked both guitar cabinets, using a combination of Sennheiser MD 409, Shure SM7 and Electro-Voice RA 20 microphones into the ADL 700s. He ran Rick Savage’s bass directly into the third unit.
“They all sounded really, really good,” says McHugh. “I’ve been very impressed with them. And I can see that they’ll become a staple for this kind of stuff.” McHugh says the he plans to take all three ADL 700s on the road, using them on the band’s upcoming North American summer tour with KISS. The tour kicks off on June 25.
Find more information about the PreSonus ADL 700 tube channel strip at www.presonus.com/products/ADL-700.
