A new Vault Recording Studio in central Dublin has been opened by Dublin Studio Hub (DSH) in partnership with CCT College Dublin to serve as the audio production company’s new headquarters. Vault Recording Studios is a world-class facility located in a former bank vault, and has an Audient ASP4816 mixing console as its centre.
Specialising in online music production and outsourcing work to music professionals, DSH also provides a sample reply service and regularly supplies recreated masters to labels in the dance industry.
Producer/engineer Larry Hogan is the founder of DSH, which now operates both ‘in studio’ and online, and was responsible for the choice of console.
‘I’ve done some sessions on the desk and it is fantastic – what a sound,’ he said, after his inaugural sessions. ‘Everything runs through the ASP4816 and gets that incredible Audient sound. Its great preamps, the great sounding bus compressor and EQ section are invaluable in forming the Vault Recording Studio sound.’
Hogan also has an ASP880 8-channel mic preamp providing additional inputs. ‘Our studio consists of a large live control room which suits the workflow of our DSH producers. We like to work with people in the room whenever possible and do a lot of live and streaming setups there also.’
He describes Dublin Studio Hub as ‘Ireland’s foremost audio production company, representing a pool of Ireland’s most proficient and experienced production, vocal and session player talent. We have a drum room with a permanent Premier Signia Maple kit and a large vocal booth which holds up to five singers or a brass/string section. We also have an external green room under construction which will double as a space for bigger live set-ups, choirs, orchestras etc which will run on a Dante system back to the studio.’
Designed and constructed by Smart Studio, the facility has already garnered positive comments from its visitors who have praised its ‘great vibe’.
With strong ties to a huge network of local, national and international recording facilities including the iconic Windmill Lane Studios, Hogan is no stranger to many different studio ‘vibes’. He’s also accustomed to working with all sorts of gear.
‘The last big consoles I worked on were an SSL G Series and a Neve VR Legend. Both amazing, iconic desks that have their own distinctive flavours,’ he says. ‘The Audient does too, and in terms of signal and sound quality it is right up there.’
Asked what he particularly appreciates about the desk, Hogan replies: ‘We love the bus compressor which generally features in all our mixes. The preamps are really great; so clean and they have a great amount of headroom. Our sonic footprint definitely improved after we started using the desk. Also the EQ section is very powerful and easy to use – and it looks cool.’
Now he’s acclimatised to the new space, Hogan is looking to secure its future: ‘The next planned upgrade is to install our Dolby Atmos System. We wired the studio for it while it was being built. We’ll be doing a lot of Atmos mixing in there, as well as running courses in association with CCT Education.’
There’s certainly a lot in the pipeline for, quite apart from the development of educational content. ‘We’re always working on songs for DSH clients, we have a theatre show for a French company and several new albums for emerging Irish artists coming up.’
In addition to that are constant collaborations through the Sample Replay service for Big Dance Labels Like Armada, Sony and Purple Disco Machine. ‘We are launching a new Irish record label soon and will be using the studio to develop newly signed artists,’ Hogan adds.
