Marsh Mastering, headed by Stephen March, has been behind the soundtracks for some of Hollywood’s best known films and TV shows, as well as many audiophile collections and other high-end recordings.
Marsh is particular about his mixing environment and has spent considerable time and scrutiny creating a space for critical listening and decision making. “When I’m in a mastering room, one thing I want to be able to do is to just lay bare the audio,” he states.
Marsh has a pair of high-quality studio monitors, and as he points out, “the room is tuned to the mains, and I’m very accustomed to the sound of the mains.” He recently added a pair of PreSonus Sceptre S8 monitors to his setup and admits to being more than a little surprised.
“Often, when you introduce a set of near-field monitors, they don’t really translate in a way that complements the mains,” he notes. “One thing that instantly struck me about the Sceptres was how well they fit in. They have a pleasing character that really works well with the room.”
Marsh adds, “One of the things I noticed right away with the Sceptres was that I actually wanted to listen to them. What I mean is, I have a great-sounding set of mains in this room; I’ve been listening to them for years, and I know them. My inclination is to listen to those.
“What I found with the Sceptres is that I kept wanting to go back and listen to them. They’ve got a really pleasing character that draws me in and makes me want to listen to them. I find that the more I listen to them, I keep going back to them more and more. Their character is very natural—it’s like a universal translator for audio. I highly recommend them.”
