3D Audio's "Mix Suite" has been a dream project in the making. First conceived in 1991, the dream was to have a mix room where the best of digital was integrated with the best of analog. With 24-bit multitrack digital resolution, we can finally approach the sound of analog that we love. But with the advantages of digital data manipulation. And with the ability to store everything in the digital domain, where it can be totally recalled in an instant. This enables clients from all over the world to mix here and then review the mixes and make changes at a later date. We've been doing this with mastering for years, but the ability to mix and then listen and make changes at a later date is an absolute dream.

 

The final keys that brought this dream to fruition were many. One was a 24-bit audio path from beginning to end, so the resolution is finally comparable to our favorite analog gear. Second was the Mackie HUI and its intelligent interface allowing real knobs and faders for workstation control. (I could never give up the Neve Flying Faders touch-sensitive moving faders until I could do the same in a workstation environment.) These factors coupled with the ability to have enough tracks coming off the drives simultaneously (64 of them) and not having to wait for tape machines to sync, gave us the tools to consider truly professional mixing at the quality level our customers expect.

 

The "sweet" part of the 3D Audio "Mix Suite" is the addition of several favorite pieces of analog gear which are without equal in the digital domain. These include vintage Pultec EQP-1A3 equalizers and Focusrite ISA-110 equalizer/preamps. These coupled with the 24-bit insert path makes a big difference in mixing that doesn't sound "digital."

 

Here is the most exciting part for our national and international clients. We can mix your project and send you a DAT of the final mix for your approval, and then you can review it in your own personal listening space and decide what changes need to be made. We have found with many clients that the list of mix changes frequently can be counted on one hand. Mixing this way enables the producer and/or artist to stay home (with their family) or in the studio working on other projects and then spend a few hours listening at the end of the week, instead of flying to Nashville, renting a car, booking a hotel and then coming to the studio once or twice a day to approve a mix. This is an enormous benefit to the producer, who can now stay in Dallas or New York or LA, and keep producing sessions on their next project, and still have complete and final say on the mixes, without losing a week or two out of their busy schedule. Think of the time you can save and the increased productivity this can provide. We think this will be a benficial and invaluable service for many clients.

We are incredibly excited about the future of our new "Mix Suite." So far, as of August 2000, there are 25 albums that have been mixed here. With several charting as Top 10 Hits on the Christian Inspirational charts.

(We finished the first album in September 1998. The results speak for themselves. In the words of the producer, J. Daniel Smith of Dallas, Texas, "The overall sonic quality is remarkable...Perfect!!")

We will post further details on equipment and pictures as they develop. We are planning to add full surround mixing capabilities in the near future, so keep checking in for updates about that. For now, here is the initial equipment complement.

 

(We were the first dedicated mix room in Nashville to upgrade to a full-blown ProTools Mix Plus system, that allows 3 times the already substantial DSP horsepower of our previous system.)