SOS confirms £20k dream studio prizes

News

Rob Hughes Apr 28 2008, 11:16am

Giveaway to take place as part of inaugural SRT show at LIMS

The line-up of prizes for Sound On Sound’s Dream Studio gear giveaway, which will take place at the inaugural SRT show, part of the London International Music Show, has been confirmed. The company has teamed up with 20 pro audio exhibitors to offer 30 prizes worth over £20,000 that will combine to equip the winner with a dream home studio.

The prize centres around a super-fast, eight-core Apple Mac Pro with a 23-inch Apple Cinema display running Logic Studio. Connected to this will be an Apogee Ensemble Firewire audio interface for all ADA conversion duties. Complementing the ample software suite in Logic are two additional DSP hardware processors: SSL's Duende PCIe, which fits inside the Mac Pro, and TC Electronic's Powercore X8, which connects via Firewire. These will open up even more options when choosing plugins.

Giving the winner hands-on control over their mixes will be the Euphonix MC Mix, the latest in control surface technology, while a Roland Fantom G6 will act as the master keyboard, hardware synth and sound module. Additional data-entry equipment in the form of an Akai MPD32 and an Alesis Control Pad will enable the user to program their beats using MPC-style pads, or using good old-fashioned drum sticks, and a Yamaha Tenori-On — the first in the world to be offered as part of a prize giveaway — will let the winner sequence grooves using its innovative flashing matrix interface.

A generous handful of microphones are included, with the superb Rode K2 valve mic, SE Electronics' promising new SE4400a, a matched pair of M-Audio Pulsar II small-diaphragm condensers (with the new Rycote Invision shockmounts keeping them rumble free), the solid all-rounder KSM27 from Shure and the classic SM57. Mic preamplification will be supplied by the new Allen & Heath ZED 22FX compact mixer, with direct outputs that can be patched straight into the Apogee interface, and also from the TL Audio Ebony A1, a twin-channel preamp and DI device. For even more bespoke mic preamplification, SSL's latest Mynx housing for the XLogic modules enables a further two SSL mic preamps to be included, or, if you'd prefer, the highly sought-after SSL bus compressor. For the guitarist, an Emerson Williams Bluestone Pro dummy load and DI box (a limited SRT ’08 edition) will let you get the sound of your amp at full volume without waking the neighbours.

Monitoring will be handled by a Presonus Monitor Station feeding a pair of Genelec's 8040 nearfield monitors, which will be perched on Primacoustic's Recoil Stabilisers. Ghost Acoustics' Studio Kit 3 will help tame any nasty room modes and refections, while two pairs of M-Audio Q40 headphones will allow performers to monitor signals from the DAW without sending spill into the mics.

Korg's DSD recorder, the MR1000, will ensure that backups retain the best possible audio quality, while the Edirol R09HR portable recorder will give the chance to record 24-bit/96kHz audio anywhere at any time. Finally, an M-Audio MIDISport 2x2 will let the winner plug any of their existing MIDI equipment into the new rig.
On top of all this, the lucky winner of the home studio bundle will get their gear installed by SOS editor in chief Paul White and technical editor Hugh Robjohns, using cables and gadgets supplied by Studiospares, and be featured in Sound On Sound Magazine. If that weren't enough, finally, Alchemea will supply the winner with fully certified Logic Pro training.
soundonsound.com