SoundStorm, a Hollywood-based post-production facility, has opened Cloud 9, a new state-of-the-art mixing stage, which was equipped with two dbx Quantum II compressors, two dbx 160SL dual/mono stereo compressor/limiters and a dbx 786 mic pre unit.
“This assortment of equipment represents a change in the original equipment design we had for the new mixing stage,” said Carl Ware, chief audio engineer at SoundStorm. “Initially, we had equipment from a variety of manufacturers, including JBL monitoring, which ended up being our monitors of choice. But in speaking with the people from JBL, we were made aware of the fact that their sister company, dbx, has within it many of the resources we needed for the new stage’s requirements. It was clear that sourcing equipment such as compressors and mic pre’s from a single provider made tremendous sense from the perspective of systems integration, technical support and creative design input.”
The dbx 160SL dual/mono stereo compressor/limiters were initially placed into racks in other SoundStorm studios. However, according to Ware, when the company’s mixers [including Michael Olman and Ken Kobett] tested the 160SL, they immediately asked that the units be assigned to the new Cloud 9 mixing stage. “They were completely won over,” Ware said.
According to Olman, who is the lead mixer on Fox’s 24, “The 160SL is the most seamless, transparent compressor/peak limiter I have heard! I know that I can sonically run into it ‘head-on’ and its output will remain rock-solid without any negative affect on the dialog track. It is hands-down the most trusted, reliable and flawless piece of gear in my dialog rack.”
For more information about SoundStorm, visit www.soundstorm.com. For more information on the dbx gear, visit www.dbxpro.com.
