The man behind Sphere Studios in London and Los Angeles has become one of the first adopters of Prism Sound’s new Dream ADA-128 multichannel converter.
As an engineer with millions of record sales to his credit, Francesco Cameli opened the multi-room Sphere Studios in London in2001and ran it as a successful facility for 14 years before relocating to Los Angeles. Over the years Sphere Studios has hosted sessions for artists and producers including Queen, Genesis and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Cameli has also won Tech awards for his work with Adele on 21 and for the soundtrack for the James Bond film Skyfall.
Prism Sound converters have always been part of the Sphere Studios experience, and Cameli owned a large collection of the company’s ADA-8RX multichannel modular AD/DA converters, which moved to the US with him in 2015. When he sold Sphere Studios LA in 202, he kept one of the older Prism Sound converters, a Pro Tools rig, his vintage guitar collection and four drum kits. These, along with the vintage G Series SSL Console that he later bought back from Sphere Studios’ new owners, form the basis of his recording and mixing set up at his home in California.
The Dream ADA-128 adds an extra dimension to his workflow: ‘It is sonically accurate and doesn’t colour the sound in any way – which is exactly what I want from a converter,’ he enthuses. ‘I would far rather work with a converter that gives me a true representation of what I am recording, rather than something that makes everything sound warmer and brighter than it is. Prism Sound conversion is always honest, and this unit continues that pedigree.’
Designed for a wide range of audio professionals, the Dream ADA-128 is a modular audio conversion system offering up to 128 channels of 32-bit A/D and D/A conversion at sample rates of up to 768kHz. It is both a conversion system and a high-performance, networkable audio distribution and processing system, with a flexible 2U-high mainframe that can be fitted with up to 16 analogue and digital IO modules (each of which nominally provides eight input or output ports, or both). Up to four host modules provide bidirectional multichannel connections to host computers, workstations, networks etc, with the ADA-128 providing free routing between all of these inputs and outputs under detailed user control, as well as a wide range of processing functions.
‘My ADA-128 is set up as a single user unit, but because it has four host ports at the rear I could, in theory, add three more host cards and significantly expand the system,’ Cameli says. ‘If this unit had existed when I built the first Sphere complex, I could have put a couple of them in my central machine room and simply assigned I/O to wherever it was needed. I can certainly see the benefits of having a modular system and I am sure there will be a lot of larger facilities that will also appreciate it.’
For now, though, Cameli is simply enjoying the sound quality offered by his new ADA-128. ‘My whole set up is high quality, from the console and converter through to the PMC BB6 monitors that allow me to hear exactly what I am recording and mixing with no nasty surprises,’ he says. ‘What I hear is what I get. It’s accurate and true and when I give a client the finished result of my work, I know that it will sound good through any set of monitors.’
More: www.prismsound.com
