Globally itinerant musician and producer Will Holland recently purchased a Prism Sound Titan USB multi-track audio interface, making him the latest high-profile buyer to utilize the product.
Holland, aka Quantic, is currently setting up his latest studio in New York, after spells on the UK’s south coast in Brighton and seven years spent in Bogota, Columbia.
His background encompasses a wide range of music styles – he started his career in instrumental hiphop and electronic music before expanding into producing soul, jazz and Latin music.
“Over the last couple of years I’ve been trying to centre on the concept of clarity and quality in the mixing setting,” he says. “My recordings comprise of different elements, often from a variety of sources. These may be recordings from tape, record and various sounds recorded on location, so it’s important to maintain a noise free, clear and undistorted sound at all times.
“I’m also doing a lot of work with very tonally rich sounds, acoustic instruments and percussion with a lot of upper register harmonics. It’s important to have a soundcard that makes the musicality shine and not have harsh digital edges or muddy sound.”
This, says Holland, is precisely where the Titan comes in. The interface is ideal for music and sound recording, mixing, multi-tracking, overdubbing, stem-based mastering, analogue summing and all critical listening applications.
It provides Prism Sound’s renowned performance, sound quality and state-of-the-art clock technology in a dedicated unit compatible with both Windows and Apple platforms (Apple in Holland’s case) and once configured with a computer, Titan can also operate as a stand-alone interface.
Holland has used Prism Sound converters in various mastering sessions before, but this is the first time it has appeared in his own studio set up.
“What really appealed to me was the software management and the fact that all of the mic and input pres were software controllable,” says Holland. “This makes the unit very attractive to travel with because it is so quick and easy to set up.
“I find everything works instantly and the setup is quick and without glitches or tech issues. In my studio, space is also important, so the fact that Titan comes in a 1U package is very important.”
Holland’s most recent large-scale recording and music production was for a group called Ondatropica, a collaboration between himself and Mario Galeano, a fellow musician and arranger from Bogota. The initial album was recorded in Medellin at the legendary Colombian studio Discos Fuentes and has since been toured for two years.
He also has his fifth solo record, Magnetica, about to be released on the Tru Thoughts label and is currently touring with various European gigs scheduled during May (www.quantic.org for full details).
“I believe the Titan will add a new dimension to my work,” he says. “I mixed a song with it last night and the whole mixdown process was infinitely easier than normal. The clarity in sound was excellent. It made the whole process much easier and quicker. I’m very satisfied with my Titan and am now looking forward to trying it out in some live sessions.”
