Video director and recording engineer Alex Chaloff’s production group, Bucket’s Moving Company, handles everything from mobile multitrack audio recording, studio engineering, and mixing to video direction, cinematography, and editing. Clients include Walt Disney Studios, Blue Note, the New York Times, and Universal Records.
His artist roster includes Esperanza Spalding, Maroon 5, and Dave Weckl to name but a few. For these critical projects, Chaloff relies on his RME Babyface Pro and Fireface UFX audio interfaces for audio quality and ease of use.
Chaloff has been working with the RME Babyface Pro since August 2015 and, in that relatively short timeframe, has come to rely on its many features and capabilities.
“The Babyface Pro lives at my main mix and edit workstation,” Chaloff explained, “though it occasionally goes out on gigs where a small footprint and fewer channels are required. My main mix machine is a custom built PC running Steinberg’s Nuendo 5. Further, the Babyface acts as a DAC for my Neumann KH120 monitors.”
When queried as to how he chose to invest in the Babyface Pro, Chaloff offered the following thoughts, “My main rig for the past three years has included the RME Fireface UFX USB / Firewire audio interface. The Fireface UFX is the basis of my 30-channel mobile recording rig. But I found myself continually needing to re-connect it with my main machine every time I needed to mix. What I really needed was small desktop interface with the same stellar audio converters as my UFX unit—that could reside at my workstation. The Babyface Pro fit that description perfectly. With its twelve input channels, the Babyface Pro is also a great choice for smaller session work or overdubs when I’m at my mix desk.”
Chaloff gives Synthax and his RME products high marks. “While I certainly appreciate a company with fabulous customer support, what I appreciate even more is a product that never needs support in the first place,” he said. “RME interfaces work the second you take them out of the box and plug them into your computer and the drivers are as solid as a rock. As the majority of my work is travel based, my rig takes a lot abuse. Not once has the RME hardware failed me.”
Before shifting his focus back to the business of the day, Chaloff offered these parting thoughts regarding his experience with his RME equipment, “I recommend RME products to everyone I meet, from musicians to engineers. Their converters and preamps have a level of clarity and depth that I have never heard anywhere else. It’s like pulling cotton out of your ears. The clarity and the musicality of the sound is terrific.”
Chaloff recently produced the following video for RME to highlight the various applications for which he uses his Babyface Pro.
