Audient is now under new ownership, with audio veteran Simon Blackwood taking the helm.
Blackwood is working closely with the UK mixing console manufacturer, calling on his extensive experience – which includes having founded the Soundcraft Spirit business, led the resurgence of Focusrite/Novation and most recently the turnaround at Turbosound and its sale to the Music Group.
He inherits a team that includes recently appointed MD Steve Flower, CTO Tom Waterman and Sales & Marketing Director Luke Baldry.
‘I have keenly followed Audient’s success over the years, so the opportunity to work directly with the team to take the business to the next level was too compelling to turn down,’ he says. ‘The brand has become universally recognised for producing award-winning, innovative products for modern music recording and production,’ he continues, highlighting the landmark sale of the 500th ASP8024 flagship mixing console to a studio in Canada.
He cites David Dearden as the brand’s lynchpin, having met him at the Frankfurt MusikMesse in 1999: ‘In those early days of Audient, the ASP8024 was clearly a superior product in terms of ergonomic design and pristine audio performance. I figured any brand David was involved with was going places,’ he says. ‘He’s one of a very small group of world-class audio designers who continue to innovate for today’s digital markets. He has migrated from engineering in studios, building bespoke mixers for the home studios for three of the four lads from Liverpool, to designing DDA and Midas mixers and founding DDA and Audient with Gareth Davies. His designs have stood the test of time because, quite simply, they sound great.’
Blackwood is already revealing plans for the future development of the company: ‘We are going to invest in product and people more than ever before, we are going to build a lot of great products and have a lot of fun along the way. After all, we have a compelling story, one of the world’s best teams of audio designers, a highly creative team and high user expectations to exceed.’
More: www.audient.com
