Black
Alpha Mastering Equalizer
Mastering is a very different world from recording and mixing. In premier mastering studios our equipment is the best available, and the acoustic environment is incredibly accurate. This enables us to hear the foibles in every link in the audio chain. Back in the early 90s I began exploring Single-Ended-Triode (SET) power amplifier topologies. As I got deeper into mastering I began to search for that quality of sound in my processing equipment. In guitar circles, it would be termed: The Quest For Tone. I am not trying to belittle all the great equipment out there, it is just that this particular amplifier topology was never really embraced commercially due to its high cost and relatively low power output. When I was producing albums, I was always attracted to equipment that gave me something on a visceral level: engagement, musicality, whatever you want to call it. I will say that most of those pieces of equipment have two knobs or less. They did one thing and they did it well. So there was a sound in my head and I went off to find it. I spent most
of my adult life locked up in studios using, fixing, and building audio
equipment, so I had an idea where to look. The design criteria were: What I ended up with is possibly the largest equalizer on the planet.
This topology is neither cheap nor small, and that is why it is not in
favor. The current demand is for small multipurpose units that fit into
small project studios: a fidelity of convenience. Great fidelity is often
inconvenient on every level, and I am in the business of inconvenient
fidelity. |
BLACK ALPHA
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