Zurich, May 2007 – Production studio owner Andy Prinz, chose Audient’s SUMO Summing Amplifier as part of a recent studio upgrade. Songwriter and producer for Tatana or Astura, Prinz is also busy with his own projects and his SUMO is now integral to the mastering of all current and forthcoming projects on his own record label: Offshore Music.
“Audient’s SUMO was affordable and offered the most features,” explains Prinz. “I was particularly impressed by the quality of the internal compressor/limiter. I didn’t expect it to be quite so good but I use it all the time.” He continues, “Audient’s SUMO has given me the perfect ‘bridge’ between the digital and analogue domains. I record and edit all of my tracks in Nuendo, but then do the final mix and pre-master via the SUMO. The difference of analogue summing and digital mixdown is incredible!”
Having owned a recording studio since 1995, Prinz’s choice of gear has evolved in line with technology developments. Initially owning synths and plenty of hardware gear, he chased the digital wave and introduced ever more software-based products into his studio. “Although I loved the warmth of the analogue synths, I saw advantages of using plug-ins. After recording all my tracks into Nuendo, I used to make the final mix on my Mackie 8-Bus. Then I switched to Yamaha’s digital mixers. The sound was very clear and bright, but I still missed the true analogue feel.
“Now I’ve sold most of my hardware synths, samplers and even my digital mixer! Nuendo offers me great possibilities of using my external hardware effects and instruments directly within the host software’s digital mixer. I use two MOTU 2408mk3 as A/D converters and all my synths and other outboard equipment are routed directly into my software.
“I was so excited when I made my first analogue mix with the SUMO. All the warmth and punch that I used to have when I was using analogue mixers in the late 90s had returned. SUMO has become a weapon in my studio.”
Prinz’s songwriting and production has earned him dance chart positions and sales awards in Switzerland, Germany, the UK and Holland, something he’d like to achieve with his forthcoming solo album. He has also been involved in clearing and mastering jobs for the Swiss arm of EMI Music, the largest of which was the annual Street Parade compilation, for which Offshore Music received a Gold award in 2006.
Audient’s SUMO features include eight fully balanced stereo inputs with >24dB headroom; a mono function for channels 1/2 and 3/4; fully balanced analogue stereo outputs plus optional AES/SPDIF digital outputs at up to 192kHz. The unit also incorporates Audient’s highly praised ASP8024 stereo bus compressor.
It’s not just the SUMO that’s caught Prinz’s attention. “I’ve read a lot of good reviews about the ASP008 lately. I guess I’m going to buy that one as well!”
For further information on Andy Prinz and his Offshore Music label, please visit: www.offshore-music.com or www.andyprinz.com.
