Rui Da Silva, writer of international number one single Touch Me amongst many other diverse projects, describes himself as a Producer, Engineer, Beatmaker, Remixer, Writer, DJ and Programmer. He can now add Lyra 2 owner to the list as well, having recently bought one of the audio interface units from Prism Sound.
“I first heard about Prism Sound’s Lyra 2 through a magazine article,” he says. “I’ve been a longtime user of the company’s Orpheus audio interface and have also used the Dream AD-2 converter in the past. The Lyra 2 integrates perfectly in my new setup. Studio space is at a premium and while I still use the Orpheus in my studio in Windsor, Lyra 2 is the right fit for my central London studio and for travelling work. It has sufficient inputs and outputs to be able to run most of my sessions and has a small enough footprint for me to just put it in my backpack.”
For Da Silva, this makes Lyra 2 a ubiquitous tool in his kitbag. He not only used the unit to write, record and mix all of the debut album from Lisbon Kid, but also to record Chloe Howl and much of his latest solo productions and remixes.
“In fact, you can hear it on every single release I have put out in this past year,” he says.
The Lyra family of audio interfaces is proving to be an extremely popular one for Prism Sound. Built from a design brief that demanded Prism Sound quality at an even more accessible price point, Lyra has the same no-compromise analogue front and back ends as its bigger brother Orpheus, with the same fully-balanced-throughout architecture and the same isolation barriers protecting the analogue from digital and computer interference. And it achieves all this in a 2.1kg, 2/3 width, 1U 19in rack mountable unit.
“It has also allowed me to not have a mixer in the studio as I use the Lyra Control Panel instead,” comments Da Silva. “And it allows me to give a separate headphone feed to the singers when we are doing vocals. The latency — even if it is not an absolute zero — is very workable for almost every scenario.”
Da Silva adds that Prism Sound support has been brilliant and staff are ‘a pleasure to deal with’. But it’s the Lyra 2’s portability along with that ‘Prism Sound’ that is the real advantage for him.
“I have to make a long trip to Portugal this year to record some new material for Lisbon Kid and, of course, the Lyra 2 will be in the bag with me,” he says.
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About Prism Sound
Founded in 1987, Prism Sound manufacture high-quality professional digital audio equipment for the International broadcast, film, music production, manufacturing and telecommunications sectors. The company’s product range includes the Prism ADA-8XR precision 8-channel converter unit, which is regularly used for music and film soundtrack projects by clients such as EMI Abbey Road, BBC, Sony, Lucasfilm and Walt Disney. Prism Sound also manufactures a range of audio test and measurement products, including the de facto standard DSA-1 handheld digital audio generator/analyser and the dScope Series III audio analyser system.
For more information: www.prismsound.com
