Central to the hybrid set-up at Martin Čema’s Cobra Sound in Bratislava, Slovakia, is a new 24-channel Audient ASP8024-HE mixing console – move he desribes as a ‘significant upgrade’ to the studio.
‘The studio has switched between multiple consoles over the years. I now know that the ASP8024-HE was the best choice for the studio’s requirements,’ he says. ‘The sound base is recorded into the DAW and the entire clean sound base is then processed on the console using external processors. I mix with the live system, and the resulting mix goes back to the computer in a stereo track.’
Čema is used to working with an extensive amount of outboard equipment. Before the arrival of the ASP8024-HE, he would use external preamps as well, but hadn’t fully appreciated the premium quality of the Audient mic preamps. ‘These are absolutely great,’ he says. ‘I used to use Studer and Neve, but the preamps on the desk are fantastic.’
Using the console’s ‘Dual Layer Control’ (DLC) module in conjunction with Audient’s Faderlink, Čema enjoys extended control options for his DAW and any analogue input. And there are many other features that he’s come to appreciate as he has got to know the console. ‘The standout is the master bus section,’ he says. ‘The patchbay design with insert body is perfect and I really like the “air” band on the HF section – the entire EQ is great, but the air band is outstanding. And, even though the ASP8024-HE is defined as a 24-channel desk, I have a total of 80 inputs at my disposal, which is absolutely incredible for an analogue desk of this size.’
By using both the long and short faders, it is possible to create separate record and monitor balances on one channel strip, while being able to access the console’s splittable EQ and aux sends.
It is not only Čema who has been wowed by his new desk. Soon after it was installed, he played a standard live gig multitrack recording of drums alone on six microphones. ‘It was incredible how this dry recording sounded through the ASP8024-HE,’ he says.
He recalls making a short video on his phone and sending it to around 30 of his friends. ‘Many of them started showing up at the studio out of curiosity. It was unbelievable how good live recorded drums could sound over completely standard microphones.’
Cobra Sound studio is a product of Čema’s tenacity, hard work and expertise. Steadily growing his equipment list, he saved up and bought what he could afford, without taking out expensive loans. Opening the studio back in 2007, he relied on word-of-mouth and contacts made as a live sound and studio engineer for business. ‘The studio itself has no presence on social networks and will remain so. If I want to meet someone, we meet face to face, which is always more pleasant,’ he says.
Despite this, Cobra Sound’s diary is full. Projects in the pipeline include two with Korben Dallas & Aneta Langerova, the Billy Barman and Spoločné ihriská – a recording of a live performance of Tibor Feledi Kairos Quintet with the Children’s and Girls’ Choir of the Slovak Radio, which is to be released as an album.
Čema recalls the discussions he had when deciding on the board. ‘It all boiled down to the question: do you want to service old recording consoles for the rest of your life, or do you want to do creative work with sound and mix music? In the end, the answer was obvious and the Audient won.
‘I have my favourite brands and now Audient is one of them,’ he adds.
