NEW YORK, NEW YORK: As the last link in the production chain
before a recording is sent to the pressing plant, the mastering engineer -
part artist, part scientist - may be called upon to polish a gem one day and
salvage a potential disaster the next. That requires versatile tools, so Dave
Kutch, a mastering engineer at Masterdisk in midtown Manhattan, was recently
pleased to discover the API 2500, a musical sounding stereo bus compressor
that is jam-packed with features.
"I've actually pulled out a more expensive piece of gear
and have replaced it with the 2500," reports Kutch, who acquired the
unit about two months ago from local dealer, Studio Consultants. "This
is my key and only analog compressor in my chain."
With Pro Tools becoming an increasingly common production medium,
Kutch reveals that he has found himself equalizing significantly more in the
analog domain over the last couple of years, rather than he did five years
ago, when he was equalizing 50 percent in the digital domain. The API
2500 fits that paradigm perfectly, says Kutch, who expresses
dissatisfaction with the inability of many compressors to pass transients.
"It gives me a little bit of tone, a little bit of color and, most importantly,
it's preserving my bass and kick transients better than any other compressor
that I've used."
There are plenty of features to admire about the API 2500, he
continues. "I love the options. I love the metering, and I love the stepped
controls, which make the settings more repeatable. The Thrust Detector is
phenomenal and works great." The patented "Thrust" circuit,
located before the 2500's RMS detector and included for years in ATI's Paragon
mixing consoles, produces unrivalled low-end punch.
Dave Kutch, mastering engineer at Masterdisk finds the API
2500 compressor indispensable for his mastering techniques.
Furthermore, he says, a single API 2500 offers more versatility
and tonal options than many competing compressors. With the 2500, he notes,
the selectable "Old" or "New" tone types offer more variety.
The "Old" setting mimics the "feedback" type of compression
also found in the API 525 or the Fairchild 600 Series. The "New"
style incorporates a VCA modulated by an RMS detector, to produce a sonic
character similar to dbx or SSL compressors.
Kutch, who has been mastering since 1995 and has worked at Masterdisk
for 18 months, reveals that his API 2500 stereo bus compressor is implemented
in an unusual way. "I actually use the compressor in an M-S or sum and
difference set up. The left channel of my API is compressing my mono program
and my right channel is compressing the stereo program independently."
With the API 2500 wired into a signal chain, that also includes
Sontec and Prism EQ units, the engineer is able to separately process different
aspects of the stereo soundfield. "I can EQ my center program and my
stereo program independently. That gives me significant control of the stereo
image. I can EQ the lead vocal without equalizing background vocals, and vice
versa," Kutch explains. "Once I started working that way I couldn't
go back. With major labels pushing mastering engineers to make albums louder
than ever before I've been forced to compress songs to the point where kicks
and snares get squashed in order to avoid distortion. With the API 2500 I
can get the volume I need to make the labels happy, while maintaining a transient,
hard hitting bottom end, which makes the artists, producers and myself happy.
All this and no distortion. The API 2500 is just what I've needed!"
Previously with Herb Power's House of Sound and Hit Factory
Mastering prior to that, Kutch has mastered some of Hip-Hop and R&B's
top artists, including Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Kanye West, Outkast,
Pete Rock, Missy Elliot, Lauryn Hill, Jaheim, Whitney Houston and Nelly &
the St. Lunatics. Having mastered Outkast's "Stankonia" album, Kutch
was among the first group of mastering engineers to be recognized by the Recording
Academy when the Grammy Award categories were expanded in 2002.
The ATI Group is the parent company of Audio Toys Incorporated,
API Audio, Uptown Automation and the newly formed ATI Group Distribution Division,
which now distributes the full line of Audient products including the newly
introduced Aztec console. Audio Toys manufactures the industry leading Paragon
II monitor console, the Paragon II production console and associated rack
mount gear. Uptown Automation manufactures and installs moving fader and mute
automation for analog mixing consoles. API remains the leader in analog recording
gear, such as the famed Legacy console, the TEC award-winning 7600 channel
strip, and the acclaimed 2500 stereo bus compressor.
Audio Toys
Api Audio
Related: Mastering
and Post Production
