Vision Seven Media Group (VSM) in Neusaess, Germany is finishing up a recent upgrade that includes a range of Audient components, including a 48-channel ASP8024 console with Dual Layer Control (DLC).
The brainchild of U.S.-born producer/musician Joe Webb La Fontaine, the broad-reaching studio and multi-media complex also has an educational division, VSM Institute of Arts, which is set to develop the technical skills of young people, preparing them for work in the music industry.
In the upgrade, the new ASP8024 console is joined by its compact little brother, an ASP4816 console, as well as an ASP510 surround sound monitor controller, an ASP880 8-channel mic pre and ADC, and two iD22 USB audio interfaces. These components arrived at the same time as the facility’s new Avid Pro Tools 11 HDX and HD Native systems.
But as far as La Fontaine is concerned, analog is where it’s at. “The digital world is great and the possibilities are endless,” he notes, “but at the end of the day, we’re just trying to make it sound like analog.
“I’ve always been a user of English-type mixers,” he continues. “The EQ and filters in the ASP8024 and ASP4816 have that authentic sound: special and warm. Just a true pleasure to work with—and let‘s face it, it all comes down to the sound. I also like having my hardware effects on the board. It‘s old school and the way so many experienced engineers like to work. Plug-ins are great, and of course I also have a ton of them, but there is something special about putting your hand on a real knob and turning it, and hearing something change.”
VSM offers a comprehensive list of services ranging from recording, mixing, and mastering through artist development, video production, graphic design and promotion to touring packages, calling on a large network of professional engineers and producers to augment the VSM core team. With so many people passing through the studios, La Fontaine needed to be sure about the gear.
“We need a system that is flexible in its routing, runs 20 hours a day, seven days a week, and has the exact feature set needed – no more, no less,” he explains. “It’s got to make my job as senior engineer fun and serve as a professional tool-set for our in-house engineers and clients and for teaching and educational purposes. That’s Audient – and that’s why I choose to fill my rooms with these professional products.”
The teaching of young people is a vision that has become a reality with the development of the VSM Institute of Arts. “Basically we work as two organizations under one roof. It’s what I call “BAM” (Business As Missions/Community) concept. The commercial side is business for profit, and the missions/community side is a non-profit youth organization that has been running since 1999 here in Europe,” he says.
So with multiple projects running concurrently, La Fontaine decided to splurge on the big desk. “I chose the 48-channel version because we have a schedule that needs tools that are flexible,” he says, adding that it would be “almost impossible without a mixer like the Audient ASP8024 DLC 48.
“I also have a fixed system with DAW stems going back into analogue channels on the board with my new and vintage outboard gear fixed on the inserts. This is all possible without the need for external summing equipment. Everything happens in the ASP8024. I still love working with an inline concept mixer. With 96 faders, eight subgroups, plus the eight DLC faders – and with all the Audient products – I have finally been able to find the ideal way to get through my daily workload. Since our major studio update we have had only good comments from our commercial clients, artists and students. And we as the VSM engineering team are also super-happy.”