Facility |
Main Speakers for Stereo Listening |
Amplification |
Principle DAC |
Auxillary Monitoring |
| Abbey Road Studios
Mastering Room 6 London, England Engineers: Sean Magee, Adam Nunn, Chris Ludwinski |
B&W 801 Series 3 | Bryston 7B ST | Genesis Systems DAC/2 Digital Genius | PMC TB1 (near fields) |
| Acoustik Musik, Ltd./MASTERTEK
Room 1 Oberlin, Ohio, USA Engineers: Thomas W. Bethel |
Acarian Systems, Ltd Alon IV | Bryston 3B | Proceed PDP3 | Genelec 1030A
Grado SR-60 headphones |
| Acoustik Musik, Ltd./MASTERTEK
Room 2 Oberlin, Ohio, USA Engineers: Thomas W. Bethel |
Acarian Systems, Ltd Alon IV | Hafler P3000 | Symmetrix 602 | Tannoy Reveals
Grado SR-60 headphones |
| Airshow Mastering
Boulder Studio A Boulder, Colorado, USA Engineers: David Glasser, Paul Blakemore, James Tuttle |
Dunlavy SC-V | Pass X600 | Pacific Microsonics Model Two | Surround is prototype Sony monitors w/ Pass X600s & prototype Meitner DSD converters |
| Airshow Mastering
Boulder Studio B Boulder, Colorado, USA Engineers: David Glasser, Paul Blakemore, James Tuttle |
Dunlavy SC-IV | Bryston 7B-ST | Pacific Microsonics Model One | Genelec 1031; B&W 801, Hafler 400 amplification |
| Airshow Mastering
Springfield Studio Springfield, Virginia, USA Engineers: Charlie Pilzer |
Main: Meyer HD1
Sub: Velodyne sub |
[monitors are self-powered] | Pacific Microsonics Model One | |
| AlgoRhythms
New York City, New York, USA A.T. Michael MacDonald - owner and chief engineer; Rich Lamb - mastering engineer |
Dunlavy SC-IV/A | pair of McCormack DNA1 300 watt monoblocks fed from a passive attenuator | Prism DA-2 | Alternate DACs: Theta Pro Basic llla, Entech 245.2... Home Headroom headphone amp w/ Sennheiser HP600 and Grado HP1 headphones. We also have a small FM stereo transmitter connected to the monitor chain so we can listen to a "broadcast" |
| Ambient Digital
Houston, Texas, USA Engineer: Bob Boyd |
Main: Genelec 1031A
Sub: Genelec 1094A |
[monitors are self-powered]
Pre: Bryston |
Digidesign 888/24 24bit DAC | Waves L2 DAC, Sennheiser HD600 headphones |
| Ardent Studios
Memphis, Tennessee, USA Engineer: Brad Blackwood |
Quested VH3208 | Crown MacroReference | Theta DSPro Prime IIa | |
| ARF! Productions
New York City, New York, USA Engineer: Alan Silverman |
Dunlavy Aletha | Bryston 3B-ST | Mytek 8x96 | Dynaudio BM15a |
| Athens Mastering
Suite No. 1 Athens, Greece, Europe Chris Hatzistamou - Chief mastering Engineer |
Main: ATC SCM 200A PRO Sub: ATC SCM 0.1/15 PRO |
[monitors are self-powered]
850W monitors with 3 amplifiers per channel and active crossover |
Krell Studio II 20bit DAC | AKG 240DF headphones, ATC 20A (near field) |
| Athens Mastering
Suite No. 2 Athens, Greece, Europe Engineers: as above |
Main: ATC SCM 50A, Sub: Rell Studio |
[monitors are self-powered]
500W monitors with 3 amplifiers per channel and active crossover |
Sound Enhancer (made by Phillips) 20bit DAC | AKG 240DF headphones, Mytek 24bit DAC, ATC 7 |
| (formerly) Atlanta Digital
Los Angeles, California, USA Engineer: Jay Frigoletto |
Main: Quested H208
Sub: REL Storm II subwoofer |
Main: Bryston 4B-ST
Sub: self-powered |
Customized Meridian | Samll reference: Sonus Faber Concertinos powered by Bryston 3B-ST
5.1 Surround: a third Quested H208 and a pair of HQ108, powered by Bryston 4B-ST amps Alt DAC: TC M5000 I have some AKG K270S headphones handy, but almost never use them. |
| Audare
Bamburg, Germany, Europe Engineer: Jürgen Hanelt |
Manger Studio Monitors | Manger transducers: Chord SPM 800
Woofers: Klein+Hummel SB 280 StudioAmp Manger special active crossover |
Harmonia Mundi bb 104 | Small Monitors: Dynaudio PPM 1, 5-channel: Philips MFB active(x5), Very small: Telefunken O 670 |
| CD Premastering
Emeryville, California, USA Engineers: Albert Benichou, Sean Nova |
Leedh Aura II (French monitor, designed by Gilles Millot) - bi-amp | Electrocompaniet 180 - mono bloc class A | Apogee PSX100 | |
| Coastal Mastering Studios
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Engineer: Bud Bremner |
Tannoy DMT 10 | Hafler P-3000 | Studer D-780 | Tannoy System 600 nearfield monitors, powered by Hafler |
| Colossal Mastering
Chicago, Illinois, USA Engineers: Dan Stout (chief engineer and co-owner), A.J. Bautista (staff engineer) |
Legacy Audio - Focus | Times One Amplification, Dual Mono 800W @ 4 Ohm (the load of the FOCUS Speakers) |
Apogee PSX-100 | B&W DM-302 powered by Bryston 3b, Apogee AD/DA-1000, and Musical Fidelity DAC |
| Deltasound Mastering Labs
West Memphis, Arkansas, USA http://www.deltasound.com/ Engineers: Oliver Warren (Chief) and Steve Hauth |
Main: Genelec 1030A
Sub: Genelec 1094A |
[monitors are self-powered] | Focusrite 260 D/A | NS-10'S, Acoustic Research Power Partners, Auratone 5C's |
| Digital Domain
Orlando, Florida, USA Engineer: Bob Katz |
Main: Reference 3A Royal Master
Sub: Genesis 12" Kevlar servo |
Mains: Hafler 9500
subs: their own dedicated amps (pair). |
Entech model 205.2
(changes frequently) |
Stax SRD-5 Headphones with custom high voltage amp
4 other systems including a car system, used to check translation |
| Digital Postproduction Services of New York, Inc.
New York City, New York, USA Engineer: Randle G. Mason |
Main: B&W 805s
Sub: B&W ASW 800 |
Classe CAP-100 (Class-A operation)
Cables by MIT and Monster |
Sonic DAC
Note re: workflow... The way I work with a couple a regular clients is way do a lot test cuts to a CD-R of songs and/or segments of songs with several different EQs/Compressors/Edits/etc. and listen on variety of systems. And clients take the test cuts home to listen. We assume the CD/CD-R will change the sound so why not listen to it in the monitoring chain? |
Classe CD player with HDCD with both AES and Analog outputs (the equivalent to a high end audiophile unit), Sony DAT PCM-R500 (the equivalent to any current mass market Hi-fi), an '80s Sony Portable (the equivalent to a 1st generation unit), Sony Boom Box (the equivalent to a boom box :-) ) Sennheiser 600 headphones, small monitor speaker in Studer 810 overbridge |
| The Digital Sunspot
Windsor, Ontario, Canada Engineer: Chris Hudec |
Mains: Paradigm Active/20
Sub: Paradigm Servo-15 subwoofer (one at present). |
[monitors are self-powered]
50W tweeter, 110W bass/midrange. Subwoofer: internal 400W amp. |
Entech Number Cruncher 245.2 | Paradigm Studio Monitors (an older version of the Studio 100) paired with a Bryston 2B amp. |
| Disk Edits Pty Ltd.
Adelaide, Australia Owner and Senior Engineer: Neville Clark Mastering Engineer: Peter Surround and Post -Production Engineer: Travis Grace |
Quested H208 (Soffit Mounted with solid brick base) |
Valve Research Dual Single ended class A valve amps. Graeme Cohen is the creator. Locally designed and built. | Apogee DA1000 (planning purchase) | Sennheiser HD265 headphones, Auratone Cube powered by Dennon PM250.
Post Suite: Surround setup with Krix speakers powered by Denon AVR1800 |
| DRR Masters
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Engineer: Joe Doherty |
Genelec 1032A | [monitors are self-powered] | Apogee PSX 100 | |
| DRT Mastering
Peterborough, New Hampshire, USA Engineer: David Torrey |
Martin Logan CLS IIZ drivers in custom mounts, crossed to M&K MX125 subwoofers | Custom MOSFET 150W per channel to the electrostatics. 125w to subwoofers | Crystal Semiconductor, custom circuit design | Assorted DACs from 16 to 24 bits
Mackie 824 aux speakers. Miscellaneous two-way and one way speakers. Stax Lambda Nova electrostatic phones - tube driver, Stax Lambda electrostatic phones - SS driver, Sennheiser HD600 dynamic phones, Misc AKG, KOSS phones |
| Emerald Entertainment/Masterfonics
Mastering Room #1 Nashville, Tennessee, USA Engineers: Glenn Meadows, Jonathan Russell |
Kinoshita/Hidley 28 hz Reference System | Cello Performance - 4 total (Bridged Mono each cabinet) | Prism Dream DA-2 | |
| Emerald Entertainment/Masterfonics
Mastering Room #2 Nashville, Tennessee, USA Engineers: Benny Quinn, Tommy Dorsey |
Kinoshita/Hidley 28 hz Reference System | Cello Duet 350 (2) | Prism Dream DA-2 | |
| Grand Mastering and Restoration
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Engineers: Peter Beacock, several freelancers |
Main: Tannoy AMS 10a
Sub: Tannoy AMS 210a |
[monitors are self-powered]
150W for concentric and 150W for woofer. Each sub has 200W. |
Panasonic/Ramsa DA7 | Junger E07,Tannoy active Reveals for the nearfield and PSB Beta IIa with a Marantz for 'real-world' listening |
| Grandmasters
Toronto, Ontario, Canada Engineers:Noah Mintz, Roland Dainis Reiner, Jon Drew |
Legacy Audio - Focus (7 drivers 175lbs each) | Dennon class-A mono block | Apogee DA1000 | Mackie HR824, Apogee PSX 100, Radio Shack ghetto blaster |
| Green Room Productions
West Middlesex, England |
Quad PRO63 Electrostatics
Bowers & Wilkins 801Matrix |
EAR 200W Tube monoblocks
Musical Fidelity NuVista |
dCS 954 | |
| JP Masters
Boston, Massachusetts, USA Engineer: Dave Locke |
Genelec S30 | [monitors are self-powered] | Troisi 24 DAC | NS-10 |
| M Works Mastering
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Engineers: Jonathan Wyner (Principal), Colin Decker, Dave Merullo, Matt Azevedo |
Dunlavy SC-V | Bryston 7B ST | Enlightened Audio DSP-9000 | "Cans, Genelecs... others upon request" |
| Master Digital Corporation
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Engineer: Parker Dinkins |
Genelec 1037A | [monitors are self-powered] | monitor path d/a's: Apogee DA-1000, Apogee DA-100E-20 | Signal Path D/As: Prism AD2, Prism DA1; Auratones, Beyer DT150, vector scope, bit indicator and spectrum analyzer |
| Master Media, Inc.
North Miami, Florida, USA Engineer: Frank Cesarano |
Dunlavy Athena | Bryston 3B, custom pre-amp with stepped attenuator | Apogee PSX100 (not for long) | Genelec S30NF |
| The Mastering Room AB
Goteborg, Sweden, Europe Engineers: Goran Finnberg, freelancers as needed |
ATC SCM 50Pro (for rock 'n' roll) | [monitors are self-powered] | Heavily modified Crystal 4303 application card used as main D/A. | Weiss, Prism DACs
Heavily modified Threshold 400A at 2 X 220W @ 8ohms and Yamaha NS 1000A, heavily modified w/Linkwitz/Riley 24dB/octave filters for classical monitoring. Stax Electrostatics Lambda Pro w/active driver. Beyer 990, Sony MDR V7 Dynamic Headphones. Fostex 6301B heavily modified for nearfields. |
| Mastermind Productions
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Engineer: Trevor Sadler |
Quested UD-1 | Bryston 3B (highs) Crown Macrotech 2400 (lows) | Pacific Microsonic HDCD Model One | Dynaudio BM-15 powered by Krell KAV-300i, Wadia 16 and Apogee DA-1000-E20 DACs |
| Media Productions
Room 1 Oak Hill, West Virginia, USA www.geocities.com/ Engineer: Doug Gent |
Main: Tannoy NFM System 8
Sub: 10" custom sub-woofer |
B&K Componenets ST-120 | beta unit (NDA) | JBL 4410 powered by Crown DC 300a, Yamaha NS-10 powered by AdCom GFA-535 II (in conjunction with sub), AKG K240-DF Headphones, TC Electronics Finalizer |
| Media Productions
Room 2 Oak Hill, West Virginia, USA www.geocities.com/ Engineer: Doug Gent |
Main: Tannoy PBM 6.5
Sub: custom sub-woofer |
AdCom GFA-535 II (2) | beta unit (NDA) | Tannoy NFM System 8s powered by AdCom GFA-535 II (2), AKG K240-DF Headphones, TC Electronics Finalizer |
| Millennia Media
Placerville, California, USA www.mil-media.com/services.html Engineers:John La Grou, Chuck Gray, Barry Dixon |
Dunlavy SC-V | Pass model X-150 amplifier. Alpha Core interconnects. | Custom Ultra-Analog 20-bit with HDCD decoding. Transformerless vacuum tube analog line driver. | Headphones: Sennheiser model 600
Near Fields: Paradigm Mark 3 (home bookshelf speaker emulation) |
| Mr. Toad's
San Francisco, California, USA Engineers: Tardon Feathered, Marvin Humphrey |
Genelec 1030A (Planning purchase; hence, my interest in this survey. -MH) | [Monitors are self-powered] | TC Electronics Finalizer Plus | Entech 205.2 Mackie HR824, AKG K240-DF Headphones |
| Mosh Studios
Sao Paulo, Brazil Engineer: Walter Lima |
Genelec 1032A | [Monitors are self-powered] | Apogee DA1000 | Yamaha NS10-M (Stereo) B&W 602 with sub ASW1000 DAC's - Focusrite 260 Apogee PSX-100 |
| Nettleingham Audio
Vancouver, Washington, USA Engineer: Kevin Nettleingham |
Meyer Sound HD-1 | [Monitors are self-powered] | Digidesign 888/24 | Crane Song HEDD, Waves L2 |
| PAF
Wellington, New Zealand Engineer: Geoff Wood |
Tannoy DMT 12 | Hafler DH-220 100W/chan | Mackie D8B | Kef Reference 105 - Series 2 powered by Self-built, self-modified 'super' Quad 405 at ~~150W/chan, BBC LS3-5a bookshelf monitors (homebuilt + lined with 1/8" lead !!!) powered by Self-built 75w/chan Mosfet amp, Multimedia 'AT-120" active computer monitors, AKG 270S and 141 headphones, TB Pinnacle in PC, Sony DTC-750 DAT, Sony 502-ES CD player |
| The Plant Mastering
Sausalito, California, USA Engineers: John Cuniberti, Michael Romanowski |
B&W 801 Nautilis | Krell FBP 600 | Prism DA-2 Dream | |
| Precision Mastering
Hollywood, California, USA Tom Baker's Suite Engineer: Tom Baker |
Main: Tannoy MDL 215 II
Sub: Genesis 800 |
Prism DA-1
Pacific Microsonics Model ? |
||
| Precision Mastering
Hollywood, California, USA Don Tyler's Suite Engineer: Don Tyler |
Genesis V series | Audio Research vacuum tube VT100 | Prism DA-1 | |
| QCA Mastering
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Engineers: Dave Davis w/ rotating assistants |
Dunlavy SC-IV/A | Hafler P7000 | Mytek W24 | KRK K-ROK powered by McIntosh 75, EAW ? |
| Rare Form Mastering
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Engineer: Greg Reierson |
Tannoy System 10
[planning to purchase PMC IB1] |
Hafler P4000 [slightly modified, bridged mono, one per monitor] | Custom rig using Crystal CS4390 DAC chip | Surround monitoring using additional Tannoy System 10s powered by Hafler P4000s... TC Electronic M5000 DAC, DAC in Sony PCM-R500 DAT deck |
| Reference Mastering
Absolute Room Rome, Italy Engineers: Fabrizio De Carolis (owner and chief), Paolo Platania |
PMC BB5/XBD | 2 Bryston 4BST + 2 Bryston 7BST Crossover Bryston 10 | Prism DA-2 | Surround setup: PMC BB5/XBD ( stereo front) + PMC MB1/XBD (Central) + PMC MB1 (surround)
PMC LB1 Kenwood combi |
| Reference Mastering
Reference Room Rome, Italy Engineers: Fabrizio De Carolis (owner and chief), Paolo Platania |
PMC MB1/XBD | 2 Bryston 4BST Crossover Bryston 10 | Counterpoint DA/10 | BBC LS 3/5 |
| Reference Mastering
Edit Room Rome, Italy Engineers: Fabrizio De Carolis (owner and chief), Paolo Platania |
PMC IB1 | Hafler 9505 | Apogee PSX/100 | |
| Saturday Mastering
Moscow, Russia Engineers: Andrey Subbotin, Sergey Titov |
Dynaudio C3 (special mastering version, half of the size of M3. The same speakers, but 1 12-inch bass, 1 mid and 1 tweeter.) | Dynaudio A-1 (this is Chameleon, with Dynaudio logo on it 2x800W) | Prism DA-1 | KRK 6000 with Red Focusrite amplifer; Cheap stereo - something named "National", made in China I guess... AKG 240 headphones |
| Sonicraft, Inc.
Freehold, New Jersey, USA Engineer: Steve Puntolillo |
Main: Tannoy System 1200
Sub: Velodyne CT150 15" subwoofers |
Main: B&K 442 Sonata
Sub: [self-powered] |
Mytek 8x96 | 5.1 Surround array consisting of Tannoy System 1200s, plus the Velodyne subs run in mono as necessary; Radio Shack Minimus 7; Sequerras (small speakers) |
| Soweto Productions
Harrison Township, Michigan, USA Engineer: Jeffrey Campo |
Main: Tannoy NFM-8 MKII
Sub: Tannoy 115B |
Main: Hafler 9505
Sub: [self-powered] Neve/Averill desk feeding stepped Daven attenuator network |
Apogee AD8000 | Fostex T20 headphones powered by Rane HC6 headphone amp, Digidesign 442 ADC/DAC, Hafler 101 stereo pre... JVC...Bose |
| Sound Mastering, Ltd.
[Duncan Cowell's Room] North-west London, UK Engineer: Duncan Cowell |
B&W 801 Matrix MkII | 300 Watt Restek Monoblocks via Totalsystems SPA2 pre-amp | Prism DA124 | Beyer DT990 Pro headphones |
| Sound Mastering, Ltd.
[Nick Robbins' Room] North-west London, UK Engineer: Nick Robbins |
B&W 801 Matrix MkIII | Yamaha MX-2 via Totalsystems SPA2 pre-amp | Prism DA124 | Beyer DT990 Pro headphones, Pink Triangle Ordinal DAC |
| Studio B, Ltd.
Omaha, Nebraska, USA Engineers: Doug Van Sloun, Clete Baker |
Dynaudio BM-15 | Hafler P-230 (modified) | Parasound DAC-2000 (UltraAnalog components) Troisi 24/96 DAC |
Duntech Princess PCL-1100 (recent acquisition, not our Mains yet; power amp TBD) |
| Swineshead Productions
Berkeley, California, USA Engineers: David v.R. Bowles, David Tayler |
Meyer HD-1 | [Monitors are self-powered]
Preamp: Bryston BP-20 |
Prism DA-2 | Sony MDR-V6 headphones, alternate DACs in SADiE 24.96 and Tascam DA-30mkII, Harmon-Kardon FL8400 CD changer for checking translation |
| Telarc International
Beachwood, Ohio Engineers: Jack Renner, Michael Bishop, Rob Friedrich Editors: Erica Brenner (manager of editing dept.), Paul Blakemore, Thomas |
Waveform Mach 17 | Threshold SA-12e and SA-4e class A | Direct Stream Digital DACs by Ed Meitner, EMM Labs Levinson No. 36 PCM DAC |
Surround: Waveform custom Mach 17 surround system - all full-range; Paradigm self-powered model 20s with Paradigm Servo-15 subwoofer; Waveform MC surround system. |
| Time Capsule Mastering
Long Beach, California, USA Engineers: Herb Jung, Robert Stoughton (independent) |
Main: Genelec 1037B
Sub: Genelec 1092A |
[Monitors are self-powered] | Pacific Microsonics HDCD Model One | Apogee DA-1000E-20, Genelec 1030A, 1031A, AKG K240-DF headphones |
| TL Mastering
Stellenbosch, South Africa Engineers: Tim Lengfeld; John Playdon (freelance) |
Main: Genelec 1030A
Sub: Genelec 1094A |
[Monitors are self-powered] | Apogee PSX-100 | SADiE DAC, Sony Boombox, a pr. of Multimedia Speakers, a Clarion Car Stereo with JBL drivers, but mostly I use a pair of Celestion Impact 15 driven by an Akai AM-55 amplifier. |
| Urban Guerilla Engineers
Chicago, IL Engineer: Danny Leake |
Main: KEF 100
Sub: Velodyne 12" Subwoofer [Planning upgrade to Dunlavys] |
Hafler 9500 | Prism AD 124
Apogee PX-100 Digital "Swiss Army Knife" |
Genelec 1031A, NS10, Sharp GX-CH50 "Boombox" in the reception area for people who want to hear their product in "Real World" conditions. Grado SR225 headphones for checking headphone mixes and edits.
Aux DACs: TC Electronic M5000 loaded with M6000 24/96 DACs, AdCom GDA-600 20bit D/A converter, SADiE Classic 16 bit DAC |
| West End Mastering
Rochester, New York, USA David Dusman, chief engineer |
B&W 802, Nautilus series | Twin Hafler 9505's, bi-wired | Lucid Technology DA9624 | Grado SR125 headphones with a McCormack Micro headphone drive amp |