I was really excited that the new Mastering Audio course included some precision converters and finally some proper art-music quality monitors; a pair of ATC 110.
I had two orientations to the new kit, one quicky, and then a more in-depth one today and found out that the upgrades I was most excited about wouldn’t be available for anything I was doing (yet). The supposedly (and really, they are) god-like digital to audio converters wouldn’t be accessible to any of my composition software. I’d be shoving bits through the ProTool/AVID system. The hardware EQ and compressors won’t be routed from there, so I’m left with the only real upgrade being the speakers. Those monitors are nothing to sneeze at but I have a pair of ATC at home and they’re in the same ballgame as the new ones, and my converters are easily better than the PT/Avid. The room is, of course better than mine but it’s not enough reason to relocate the work I’m doing.
It’s still a significant step forward for the department. I think everyone is pretty excited overall. The mastering course still stands out as a great leap forward. I’ll be auditing that, as will at least two of my colleagues. We’re getting a shiny new skillset.
When the composition is done and the stems are ready, then I’ll move it into the new system.
Hurrah! Still working from home!