Studio 1
At the heart of Metalworks‚ Control Room 1 is a vintage 32x8x32 Neve 8036 console fitted with twenty-four 1081 and eight 1064 pre-amp/eq modules and Pro Tools 10 HD3-24 in/out (expandable to 32 in/out), and includes Sync i/o and Lucid world clock generator with a great assortment of plug-ins and outboard gear.
This truly unique classic Neve console, along with the 24 x 50 solid maple studio floor, combined with a high ceiling and wood and stone walls, provide an endless assortment of acoustic possibilities for any session. Studio 1 is perfect for all types of projects, from small indie tracking sessions to high-profile recording projects of any style or size. For the artist‚ comfort, adjacent to the Control Room is a large, private lounge.
Studio 1 is equipped with a 5 station private Q headphone system which allows each member of a band to create a separate headphone mix to meet individual needs.
The one-of-a-kind 80-series Neve console in Studio 1 at Metalworks has been re-engineered by a team of experts headed by renowned Neve refurbisher Stuart Taylor and Metalworks‚ own 20-year technical veteran Dave Dickson. Over 2000 man-hours were spent to fully modernize the console while carefully retaining its sonic integrity.
An entirely new 32 input active monitor section was designed, allowing full, easy and accurate monitoring during recording, as well as giving the engineer a total of 64 inputs for mixing. All sixty-four channels feed the main mix bus through a special push-button modification to the 1943 bus-routing modules. This allows the engineer to route the signal from any of the sixty-four inputs directly to the mix bus without any additional patching.
The console was retrofitted with four discrete stereo cues, which can also be reconfigured to eight mono sends. Another unique feature was the implementation of mute and solo switches. Included in this switching is a solo-safe feature, allowing the engineer to solo channels without affecting cue sends or the mix bus.
Buffer amps were added to all of the VU meters in the new meter bridge to prevent audio distortion. All of the audio wiring was replaced throughout; a bantam patch-bay and a new granite producer‚ desk were added.
