The Frank Gehry-designed New World Center in Miami is not only an asset for New World Symphony audio fellows, it is also a world-class performance space available for hire. Given the building and a conductor with the stature and experience of Michael Tilson Thomas, it has also been equipped with the latest media equipment to cover all requirements.

The 756-seat Performance Hall and smaller Sun Trust Pavilion are fully equipped for live performance and recording, and share two multitrack, surround-capable control rooms. HD video recording and projection is also available for those hiring the spaces.

Originally set up to record 64 tracks at 48kHz, 24-bits, it became apparent that the majority of the major opera and concert venues had installed Pyramix and Horus/Hapi Networked Audio facilities to be able to achieve high track counts at much higher sampling rates. The importance of getting current and future audio fellows on both sides of the glass used to the industry norm was not lost on Director of Audio Services, Roberto Toledo – particularly as many major orchestral organisations primarily use Pyramix. If audio fellows are to be considered for any of the companies or contractor hired to record, Pyramix experience will be extremely valuable. His first encounter with Merging’s DSD recording system was through recordings he had heard and a demonstration at NWS by Independent Audio’s Dennis Gaines and Parsons Audio.

‘With regard to the hardware, sonic quality was an important part in the decision,’ Toledo says. ‘Having heard the hardware, it was clear that choosing the Horus and Hapi for our new system would be the right direction. In addition, the ability to do higher resolution recordings, DXD and DSD to be specific, was of great importance to us. The bulk of our work is classical music, and I prefer little to no colouration when I hear a mic – other than what the mic is doing. I feel that Horus and Hapi will produce the transparency and clarity I am looking for.’

Moving to Merging hardware means that Audio-over-IP is now part of the package: ‘Ravenna and AES67 played a huge part in our decision to go with the Merging hardware,’ Toledo reports. ‘The ability to connect a large system, like the one we purchased, with only a few network cables is truly amazing. Future expansion is very easy, and it is something we hope to do soon.’

Changing the DAW solution can be a daunting proposition, particularly when using the industry’s most popular software: ‘While I have not had much experience with Pyramix, I see the potential, as it appears to be a very powerful piece of software. For us, being able to record, mix, edit, and export final files (WAVs, MP3s, CD, DDP, etc), all with one program, will greatly improve our workflow,’ Toledo says. ‘Also we cannot record at more than 192kHz with our current system.’

The Merging system comprises three Horus, two Hapi and Pyramix MassCore 256 Master Packs with three Quintessense Turnkey PC chassis Eucon connected to Avid S6 and S3 consoles. While delivered, it is not yet fully installed – although it is hoped that recording can start before the end of 2015, using temporary cabling. The full Ravenna/AES67 installation is currently planned for summer 2016, with an official start date of next September.

‘I have a feeling it will definitely meet and, more than likely, exceed my demands and expectations,’ Toledo says.