The preamp rack

Signal chain and hardware

Everything in the room, listed in full. There is more than one signal path through it, so the chain gets chosen for the deliverable rather than fixed in advance. It goes straight into a spec sheet or a technical rider.

Preamps

Three front ends, so the one a voice suits is the one it gets.

  • Neve 1073SPXIn front of most vocals cut in this room.
  • Rupert Neve Shelford Channel
  • Universal Audio SOLO/610b

Microphones

Two large-diaphragm condensers, both live on stands in the booth.

  • Neumann U 87The default vocal mic here.
  • Manley Reference Cardioid

Interfaces

Apollo conversion, sixteen channels and six.

  • Universal Audio Apollo x16
  • Universal Audio Apollo x6

The outboard rack

Monitoring and mastering

What happens after the take: the references a mix gets checked on, the analogue bus it runs through, and the last stage before a master leaves the room.

Monitoring

Four references and a controller to move between them, because a mix that only works on one pair is not finished.

  • ATC SCM12 ProThe reference pair. Mixes get judged on these.
  • Yamaha HS8
  • Auratone 5C Sound Cubes
  • Tannoy System 600
  • Yorkville subwoofer
  • ART Pro Audio 6-channel headphone amp
  • Dangerous D-Box+ monitor controllerSwitches between the four references.

Analog processing

The mastering chain runs Dangerous 2-Bus+ summing into the Wes Audio ngBusComp, into the SSL Fusion, into the Bettermaker limiter, and out through the Dangerous AD+.

  • Dangerous 2-Bus+ summing mixer
  • Dangerous AD+ converterThe last stage before the master.
  • Heritage Audio Tubesessor
  • SSL Fusion
  • Wes Audio ngBusComp
  • Bettermaker Mastering Limiter 2.0

DAWs

Kept current, so sessions open both ways without a version argument.

  • Pro Tools 2026.4

Plugins

Licensed and kept current. A chain three years out of date sounds three years out of date.