Founded in 1975, Chicago Recording Company (CRC) is the largest independent studio in the U.S., offering nine full post-production suites and a list of high profile clients including Kawasaki, SC Johnson, Sears, Miller, Coors and Philip Morris, and film credits running the gamut from “Black Swan” to Pixar’s “Toy Story” franchise.
Maintaining that success requires an unerring commitment to consistency across the board, in terms of service, technical staff and the technology they employ day in, day out, says general manager Chris Shepard. And that’s one of the key reasons they’ve recently outfitted six of their post rooms with Tannoy Reveal 501 and 601 near field monitors.
For Shepard, a major driver in the choice is the Reveal’s accuracy and management of the midrange. “Tannoy has always been known for that,” he says. “We like the Tannoy Reveal as part of our CRC standard. It’s all about being able to make creative decisions quickly. That’s why we chose them.”
In all, 40 Reveal monitors are employed in various setups in the post department alone – as mains, as well as in full 5.1 and precision configurations – all used for projects ranging from radio and television spots to dialogue replacement for high profile film projects.
In studio one, senior post engineer Eric Cauwel’s primary workspace, the system is comprised of three Tannoy Reveal 601s as his front LCR, two Tannoy Reveal 501s as surrounds and a single Tannoy sub.
“I use them for my surround sound and as my near field monitors,” Cauwels explains. What I like about them is they really translate well to the end format. One of the biggest challenges of being a mixing engineer for television and radio is that ultimately your work is played on a variety of speakers.
“My job is to make it sound as good on TV as it did in here. Then I know that my speakers are doing a good job, and that’s the case with the Reveals. I also like that you can tailor them to a specific room using the EQ adjustment on the back,” he adds. “That’s definitely an attractive feature.”
