Where Pro Audio Becomes High-End: Part One

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by Neil Gader
Dec 01, 2008

A few weeks ago I spent an afternoon with engineers Bill Schnee and Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab, Sax’s 5.1-channel facility in Ojai, California. I was there ostensibly to listen and to offer feedback regarding Schnee’s live-to-DVD-ROM, 24-bit/192kHz recordings that were made with the new JCF Audio (Josh Florian) analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters.

As I made the drive to Ojai (roughly 70 miles from LA) I wondered if I would be able to tell how good the discs were since I’d be in a studio setting where, if prior experience prevailed, the sonics were likely to be dynamic and hyper-detailed but not especially musical or transparent or dimensional in the high-end sense. I’ve kicked around many-a-studio in my time and mostly regretted what I subjected my ears to.

What greeted me at The Mastering Lab was a state-of-the-art custom room, acoustically optimized for critically listening. All the electronics and board were custom-built by Sax’s brother. The five-channel array of speakers were ATC SCM150ASLPro-300 Watt tri-amplified active monitors—big three-ways with 15-inch woofers, one-inch soft dome tweeters, and the famously transparent and dynamic 3-inch dome mid-range for which ATCs are so highly regarded. The demo I received was only in two-channel but the sonic qualities of the recordings through this playback system were of such phenomenal resolution that I could easily have been convinced the entire array was operating. I even asked Messrs. Sax and Schnee if the center channel was operational. They laughed and answered, “Nope, just the right and left speakers.” I’ll have more to add about the listening experience next week but suffice it to say this was unlike anything I’ve heard in a studio setting or high-end installation before.

By Neil Gader

My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.