Audient announces that Russia’s SmartAudio recording studio has been outfitted with the new, improved ASP8024 Heritage Edition console.
“ASP8024 Heritage is the perfect combination of price and quality,” says Artem Suntcov, co-owner and sound engineer at brand new studio SmartAudio, confident he’s made the smart decision choosing Audient’s latest, large format console – the first to be installed in Russia.
He originally discovered Audient on a trip to Nashville for an internship. “One of the sound engineers uses the original version of ASP8024 with 48 channels, patchbay and producer’s desk. I worked with the console over a month and really enjoyed it,” he says, having got to know the desk quite well. “The coolest features are the flexibility of the routing – especially with the short faders, and the many parallel buses. I’m really impressed by the fact that it’s an in-line console.”
“The only thing I didn’t like was its color and the fact that there wasn’t an option to ‘color’ the sound.” Soon after he returned from his US trip, however Suntcov was excited to hear that Audient had released the new, improved ASP8024 Heritage Edition. “They added everything that I wanted – and even more.
“In particular, I’m happy with the transformers added to the master section and bass expand in the compressor. There wasn’t any room for doubt after that.” says Suntcov. The UK-made transformers help produce a punchy, weighty sound, adding character to a mix, whilst bass expand is a high pass filter in the compressor side chain, designed to tighten up mixes, adding punch without destroying the low end. These are just two in a long list of improvements made to the Audient ASP8024 which attracted Artem to the desk.
Right now, Suntcov is putting the finishing touches to his studio in the Russian city of Kirov, which due to construction delays has taken a bit longer than expected to get finished. “Soon we hope to start the long period of wiring and connecting cables, patch panels, external devices and commissioning,” says Suntcov.
The studio’s official opening is scheduled for 1 January 2018, but there are plenty of things coming up before then, including a mysterious project, something that “has never happened in the history of recording before,” according to Suntcov. “A very famous, serious classical musician is involved. I can’t reveal the secret details yet, but after the recording is made, I promise to open the curtain.” he adds, cryptically.
Both Audient and StudiTech (Audient’s Russian distribution partner who supplied the console) wish him every success with the new SmartAudio studio. And the undisclosed project, of course…
