Known for his work with Deftones, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit, American record producer, engineer and mixer Ulrich Wild has been using an Audient ASP880 in his LA studio, The Wilderness – putting mic preamps into his recording chain for the past 12 months.

‘The ASP880 is a great piece of gear,’ he reports. ‘I needed to expand quickly and add a number of high quality mic preamps. I wanted to stay away from tubes and keep things punchy, and the ASP880 fit the bill.

‘I’ve been tracking drums, bass, guitars and vocals through the ASP880 alongside my APIs and Focusrites, and I couldn’t be happier. There are many mic preamps out there, but the ASP880 packs a lot into a small space and gets you a lot of bang for your buck,’ says the producer, whose career spans nearly three decades.

It was six years ago that he decided to build a small tracking room at his house, after he grew out of the mixing rig in his built-out A-frame. ‘It was supposed to be a lounge/overdubbing room, but I started tracking drums here as soon as it was finished. Oddly, despite its small size, the room sounds great,’ he explains. ‘I spent a lot of money on construction – concrete is really expensive – and it has been taking some time to populate the racks,’ he laments, and yet his gradual accumulation of gear over the years now means he’s in a position to be able to track a live band comfortably. ‘I’m not really into spending buckets of cash on esoteric gear, and I never judge anything by its price tag. There are some amazing units available with great price/performance ratios – the ASP880 being one of them.’

A self-confessed metal head, he continues to work in the heavier genre while continuing to be in demand. ‘I just finished Brendon Small’s Galaktikon II. Before that I mixed Beasto Blanco, and produced Death Valley High and Chrysalis. I’m currently working on a very esoteric project called Precious Child.’

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