Our System

cohearent consoleOur philosophy is to provide the most transparent audio system possible. Any desired coloration, therefore, may be added by signal processing, not the system itself. In order to fulfill this goal, most of the analog electronics were built from scratch. Our system features custom transformerless, discrete, pure Class-A electronics from tape head to cutterhead. It was designed to retain all of the warmth, punch and detail recorded on your master. Our tape-to-disk mastering console is one of the most sophisticated in the world.

***NOTE: We are asked all the time if we can master directly from analog sources and keep it analog all the way through to lacquer disk. YES! THAT is our specialty and we are one of the very few places in the world that still do it that way!

Sources:

Sony CDP-707ES-D CD transport
Sonic Solutions HD DAW for cutting from digital files.
Pacific Microsonics Model Two D/A converter. The very best…and very rare!
TC Electronic D22 digital delay (for mastering from CD only)
Genex/Meitner system for cutting from DSD (see Digital Equipment below)
Studer A-80 ¼” and ½” ”preview” transports w/custom transformerless electronics, and modified to accept 14” reels (very few Studers take 14″) Also available for the ¼” are original Studer C37 all vacuum tube electronics. The ½” Studer is also configurable for 3-track w/preview.

Cutting System:
Neumann VMS-66 lathe
Technics SP-02 turntable motor
DJR Disc Computer
Neumann SX-74 cutterhead
TCS All Class-A cutting system including 300 w.p.c. cutting amps.

Console:
Custom TCS Class-A amplification. Features A/B preset/crossfade
4) TCS / Sontec MES parametric equalizers (custom)
2) Cohearent Dual 1176-A Class-A limiters (custom)
1) 2LA-2A vacuum tube stereo “opto” limiter (custom)
TCS Class-A high/low pass filters 12dB/octave (more “gentle” when needed)
Ortofon STL-732 treble regulator (highly modified)
Ecoplate II analog reverb

Digital Equipment:
Sonic Solutions HD digital workstation
Pacific Microsonics Model 2 A/D D/A converter. The very best
Weiss EQP-1 Mark 2 digital parametric equalizer
Waves L2 digital maximizer
VTL Ultra Analogue D/A converter
Alesis Masterlink CD / Hi Res recorder/player
Tascam DV-RA1000HD high definition audio master recorder (PCM and DSD)
Genex 8500 Master Recorder -DSD and PCM (For cutting from DSD sources and creating multi-channel DSD masters.)
Meitner DAC8 and ADC8 DSD Converters

Interconnects:
All analog cables in the disk cutting chain are AudioQuest “Wild Blue” 72v DBS.
All other analog cables to and from our console are AudioQuest “Niagra” 72v DBS.
We use AudioQuest AES/EBU digital, and AudioQuest NRG and “Wild Blue” power cables, also 72v DBS.

Also: 2) AudioQuest  Niagra 3000 power conditioners

Monitor System:
Cohearent Audio HLD-124 monitor system.
This is a 4 way, tri-amplified, loudspeaker system. It utilizes JBL woofers for sub and bass and special domes for mid and treble. Custom amplifiers provide over 2 kilowatts of extremely clean power. Bandwidth is 12Hz to 30kHz.