Mark Dann Recording   Music Production Recording - Mixing Mastering - Restoration    New York City & Woodstock, NY (212) 941-7771   Home   MUSIC PRODUCTION RECORDING & MIXING -Studio Overview - - Equipment List - - Vinyl Record & Analog Tape Restoration - - Home Studio Services -   MASTERING FOR CD & VINYL   - Mastering Overview - - Analog Mastering For CD - - Mix Submission Guidelines - - Pre-Mastering Listening Test - - Web-Enhanced CDs - - Artist & Client List -  - Mixing Tips - - Audio Samples -    Photos - NYC Photos - Woodstock   email the studio! if the mail link above does not work: Mark107 - at - aol.com

Mark Dann Recording Mastering and Recording Studio (212) 941-7771 - NYC USA -  email: Mark107 at aol.com  DDA CONSOLE SPECS   The console is a DDA AMR24. DDA is a very well known British company, with a reputation for making great sounding consoles. There are quite a lot of them installed in facilities of all sizes in Britain.  There are four in New York City, and this is one of them.   A large console (ten feet wide!), it has eighty-four channels with faders on mixdown. It is a "split" design, having 36 inputs modules on the left, with 24 tape monitors faders and 24 buss faders on the right. There are 8 sends (4 mono, 2 stereo with panpots) on each of 60 modules. The stereo sends can also be configured to generate two different headphone mixes for tracking sessions. The EQ is 4-band, all sweepable, with bandwidth adjustable on the mids, and peak/shelf eq shapes selectable on the high and low EQ.   For outside engineers, it is an extremely easy console to figure out and use.   For clients with home studios, it is actually an easier console to use then consoles such as the Mackie 8-buss.   The console, as well as the rest of the audio gear, is run off three-phase commercial power, with complete isolation from all other power (i.e. lighting, AC, etc.), so even with 50-60 channels of audio running, the background noise level of the console is still inaudible (down at least 80dB). No hum, no hiss, no RF.   The console also features an extensive patchbay. There is an additional patchbay for synth/midi gear, as well as yet another patchbay dedicated to mic lines and mic preamps. That bay allows one to patch ANY mic line to ANY mic preamp.   The following is from the DDA manual, for those wishing more tech-oriented details...   THE INPUT MODULE   INPUTS Both Mic and Line inputs are electronically balanced, with the line input being accessible from the patchbay where it is normalled to the corresponding tape return from multitrack A (the 2" tape machine). The Mic preamp features variable gain from 20 to 55dB, a 20dB pad, and 48 volt phantom power. The line input features 20dB of gain, and following the mic/line switch there is a phase reverse section and a comprehensive five-band eq section.   ROUTING Access to the 24 group busses is by individual switching - there are no paired or "shifted" functions. There is also independent routing to the left and right stereo mix busses.   EQ A sweepable high pass filter (12/octave, 45-500Hz) precedes a four band equalizer with HF controls for +/-15 dB of gain, swept fro 1-16kHz, and switch=ab;le between shelving and peak/dip characteristics with a fixed Q of 1.5 The two mid sections feature variable gain (+/-15dB) and sweep frequency (HI-MID 550 to 8.8Hz, LO-MID 125 to 2kHz) with the Q switchable between 0.8 or 1.5. The LF section has +/-15dB of gain, swept fro 30 to 125Hz, and here the Q automatically increases as the frequency decreases enabling musically precise treatment of the bass spectrum. Again, the LF section can be switched between shelving and peak characteristics. The EQ and high-pass filter may be independently switched in or out of circuit.   AUX SENDS Eight AUX busses are arranged as four mono sends and two stereo busses, with independent level controls for the four mono sends, and level/pan pair of controls for each stereo send. The stereo busses are individually switchable to be fed pre or post fader, while the mono busses may be switched pre/post in pairs (1/2 and 3/4).   If you want more details than this, just ask...