Digital Services Recording Studio enjoys a long history of providing a professional recording environment to top artists as varied as The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, the Houston Symphony, Destiny’s Child and Chamillionaire, to name a few.
The studio recently replaced their aging SSL 6000 series console with a new 48-channel Solid State Logic Duality console. The Duality gives the studio SSL’s signature SuperAnalogue sound, while providing on console control of the Pro Tools system.
“The studio got a lot of great service out of the old SSL 6000, but the time had come to move into the modern age,” says Charles Ray, who acquired Digital Services Recording Studio in 2007. “Upgrading to a Duality let us retain the lineage of SSL while addressing the way musicians create and record today.
“The Duality provides huge advantages over every other console we considered. Besides the great sound, it’s smaller than our old 6000, it runs on much less power and it doesn’t need a machine room. The Duality is also a real professional console and not just a control surface for a DAW. We are in the business of high level sound production and the Duality delivers.”
The Duality control room services sessions in Studio A, which has four live rooms. It is not unusual for Digital Services to employ all four rooms to capture a performance. As the studio is working regularly with Rock, Hip Hop and Latin artists, the Duality sonically handles every genre equally well.
“Our Duality has been in service for several months and everyone who has used it has been extremely happy,” Ray explains. “The first session on the Duality was with the Grammy Award winning artist Chamillionaire and the sound was fantastic. We have a lot of major acts in Studio A and the results of the sessions have been very impressive.”
According to Ray, when recording rock bands, Digital Services typically uses three microphones to capture the sound of a particular guitar amplifier. The Duality allows Ray to adjust the levels on Pro Tools without ever leaving the audio sweet spot.
“I really appreciate working with the Duality because I have level control of our extensive Pro Tools rig right next to the analogue signal on the console, so my attention can be focused on the music and not the technology. I also really like the option of using either the E or G series EQ’s and the dynamics are great.
“The Duality really complements our outboard gear as well, providing a solid sonic foundation for every project. Working with SSL on the installation was easy. We moved the Duality in, plugged in our existing wiring and ran test audio within hours. The engineers were comfortable recording and mixing on the Duality within a day. The entire experience has been great.”
