Throughout his work with Muse, Pink, Foo Fighters, Avril Lavigne, Green Day, Daughtry, Paramore and Black Eyed Peas (to name a few), Chris Lord-Alge’s has used Sony’s 48-track DASH tape for more than two decades – interfacing it with his equally vintage workhorse SSL 4000 E/G+ analogue console as well as a wealth of vintage outboard gear. It’s contributed to Lord-Alge’s signature sound…

Right now, Lord-Alge is making a milestone move to an all-digital nonlinear workflow. This significant event finds Focusrite’s RedNet range of audio interfaces at the centre of the action.

‘The DASH format has been over for a while,’ Lord-Alge concedes. ‘I mean, they stopped making the tape in ’07, so I can’t hold onto it for very much longer. I have to go into something that’s not running off the tape.

‘In order to make the switch, I needed to hear something that met my standards and worked with my other studio equipment. So when [Focusrite President] Phil Wagner asked me to audition the RedNet interfaces for my Pro Tools|HD rig, I listened, I gave it a thorough test drive and I liked what I heard. It sounds very similar to what I already have, which I don’t really want to change. So this will be the cornerstone of my new workflow.

‘I put faith in Focusrite, as they have a 20-year track record of making high-quality, bulletproof audio products,’ he continues. ‘Add to that my personal relationship with key members of the team and the fact that I know they will be there with the right support if I need them, and it’s clearly the right choice moving forward.’

‘Chris has a particular workflow, which has proved to be very effective,’ says Phil Wagner. ‘Using two RedNet 5 32-channel HD Bridges for Pro Tools|HD and three RedNet 2 16 channel AD/DA interfaces, he is connecting directly to the workstation as opposed to transferring to the Sony 3348. This requires a very high-quality converter, providing the hit making sound quality Chris is accustomed to.

‘When we did the original RedNet demo at his Mix LA studio, Chris was pleased enough with the sound that he decided to use RedNet interfaces to make that transition from tape. He’s now using the full 48-channel RedNet I/O complement to feed his SSL console. We’re thrilled that Chris has chosen the RedNet system to make this workflow transition.’

‘I’ve been using a Focusrite Red 3 Classic Dual-Channel Compressor/Limiter on my two-channel mastering part of the process forever, and I’ve always been pleased with the audio quality,’ says Lord-Alge. ‘So, to be able to have Focusrite from the multitrack playback side forward is quite a big step for me.’

‘This is quite an important move for both Chris and for Focusrite,’ Wagner adds. ‘We hope the audio community recognises the significance and choose RedNet as their workstation I/O system of choice. We are extremely pleased that Chris is on board. We look forward to hearing the results.’

More: www.focusrite.com/rednet