Airshow Mastering has installed a Prism Sound Dream ADA-128 multichannel converter in its mastering studio in Boulder, Colorado, where it is being used across a range of projects, including the 50th anniversary edition of the Grateful Dead’s From The Mars Hotel album.
‘We are long-term users of Prism Sound technology, and also have a Lyra audio interface in our production room,’ Airshow founder and Chief Engineer David Glasser says. ‘The Dream ADA-128 is replacing an ADA-8XR converter that we have had for some years. We were not unhappy with the ADA-8XR but we did feel it was time to upgrade to newer technology that supported Dante networking.’
Designed to meet the needs of a wide range of audio professionals, Prism Sound’s Dream ADA-128 is a modular audio conversion system offering up to 128 channels of 32-bit A/D and D/A conversion. It is both a conversion system and a high-performance, networkable audio distribution and processing system, with a flexible 2U-high mainframe that can be fitted with up to 16 analogue and digital IO modules (each of which nominally provides eight input or output ports, or both). Up to four host modules provide bidirectional multi-channel connections to host computers, workstations, networks etc, with the ADA-128 providing free routing between all of these inputs and outputs under detailed user control, as well as a wide range of processing functions.
Airshow Mastering’s new ADA-128 will play a key role in its future plans, which include adding Dolby Atmos mastering to the services it offers. ‘It will be one of the main building blocks for our new Dolby Atmos set-up,’ Glasser confirms. ‘The bulk of the work we do is archiving and mastering, but I am intrigued by Dolby Atmos and very keen to experiment with the format, which is why we are planning an expansion into this area.’
Located in a secluded mountain property, Airshow Mastering opened in 1983 in a studio that was designed by Sam Berkow of SIA Acoustics. It is equipped with a Maselec MTC-6 5.1 analogue transfer and monitor console, a 5.1 monitoring system based around Dunlavy speakers with Ayre Acoustics amplifiers and dual Paradigm Servo-15 subs, and various workstations including Sonic Studio soundBlade, Pro Tools, and Sony Sonoma.
The Prism Sound Lyra audio interface, which was added in 2021, allows Airshow Mastering to offer clients a transfer rate of 192kHz. The interface has Prism Sound’s Verifile software installed, which enables computer audio recordings to be quickly checked for a wide range of errors and dropouts, without any compromise in the audio content or any additional metadata.
‘Our ADA-128 is configured with 16 analogue and 16 AES IO,’ Glasser says. ‘We also have a Dante card installed and I’m loving that. It’s my first foray into the Dante world and I can certainly see the benefits of having everything networked. At present I just have a direct connection between the ADA-128 and my main computer, but there are many ways in which this can be extended in the future.’
He adds that he is also impressed by the ADA-128’s web control interface, which allows him to house the converter in the machine room and make changes to its settings from his laptop in the studio: ‘It may not sound like much, but for me that’s a big deal. The software is laid out in such a clear way that you can see at a glance what you need to do without having to get up out of your seat. It’s fabulous and it is making life much easier.’
Airshow Mastering customers include some of the biggest names in the music industry and projects completed at the facility have won numerous Grammy awards and nominations. In recent months Glasser has been mastering a number of Anniversary edition albums for The Grateful Dead and working on their videos and live shows. He has also mastered Passage Du Desir by Sturgill Simpson (under the name Johnny Blue Skies), which was released earlier this month; an album of new material from The Grateful Dead’s lyricist Robert Hunter, and an album for songwriters Dave Alvin and Jimmy Dale Gilmour who teamed up for this project.
