The JMC Academy in Melbourne has installed an ASP4816-HE compact mixing console, the final of the three Australian JMC education facilities to upgrade to the Audient mixing desk.
‘We have five studios on campus as well as numerous smaller production suites and edit labs,’ Studio/Facilities Manager, Marcus Hernan, explains. ‘Each studio follows the curriculum from small bedroom-style production suites with all-in-one interfaces in trimester one, to the ASP4816-HE in tri two, control surface in tri three and a larger format console in tri four onwards.’
Originally a Studio Lecturer, Hernan has worked with the JMC Academy for more than a decade. ‘Our Audient is housed in the trimester two studio as the formal introduction to analogue studio workflow,’ he continues. ‘It is the centrepiece of a studio comprising a Pro Tools rig with an assortment of outboard gear tailored toward the demonstration and application of the basics of studio operation and recording.
‘Personally, I am a big fan of the [console’s] bus comp and mix processing options. They are cool additions that you generally don’t see on a lot of other options. The EQ circuit is also very easy to get good results with. For our students in particular, it is great to see the excitement when they get those results so early on, often when they are quite timid with regard to real world processing, especially on the way in.’
Primarily used by audio engineering students, the desk is also available for collaborative projects with courses such as music, film and animation. Each year 80 to 100 students will get their hands on the desk. And can use the facilities to work on personal projects as well.
It was the JMC Sydney campus that was the first to replace their ageing desk, so it seemed logical to choose Audient for Melbourne as well: ‘The first conversation regarding what was going to be the best option had a lot to do with what sort of features that were parallel to what we had been teaching, and what was going to be best to introduce to the students moving forward,’ Hernan says. ‘The ASP4816-HE was a clear winner in these categories. An all round improvement in sound, workflow [and teaching workflow]and, honestly, aesthetic. Our HE is an awesome looking and sounding console.’
JMC Academy was already familiar with the Audient brand; around 30 iD audio interfaces were installed in the Melbourne campus a few years ago. Hernan recalls this being ‘a huge leap’ at the time, adding that they ‘offered a very user-friendly path to solid quality and sound, all with class compliant connections’. An advantage of that class compliance was how easy it made it for them to maintain and trouble-shoot across all the rooms and systems.
Hernan is upbeat about the future at JMC Academy, and excited about new technologies on the horizon. ‘Obviously immersive audio is a huge movement right now – I’m particularly keen to see how that is implemented in a live/install environment. The next step for us here at JMC Melbourne is an immersive studio focused on Dolby Atmos,’ he says.
See also:
JMC Academy adds surround working in Sydney
More: https://audient.com
