The Exchange Mastering London

[shapemod]

Does anybody know what equipmemt they use?
Cheers

shapemod

[MarkRB]

The Exchange Mastering Studios

Gives you a pretty good idea.

[shapemod]

'All three mastering rooms feature hard wired analogue and digital processors connected by pure silver cables and specialised connectors.'

That's not that much information, is it? I'm intrested in speakerbrands, compressors EQ's etc.

Best

shapemod

[StudioTinPanAll]

All three studios have custom built desks with simple analogue and digital signal paths, connections are made using Audioquest pure silver cables.
Our outboard equipment includes EAR, Pultec, SPL, DAV, Sontec and Maselec. We also have a pair of very large extremely rare EMI 'Curve Bender' EQ's from 1961.
Monitoring is by Tannoy and Holliman.

Each studio has a Sadie workstation and Neumann VMS 70/80 disc cutting lathe. In addition there is a Direct Metal Mastering VMS 82 disc cutting lathe, housed together with a Scully lathe and Westrex mono 2B/stereo 3D system, in the world's smallest cutting room known as the 'Black Hole'.

All master formats are supported including Studer A80 ½ inch and ¼ inch (MkI & MkII) analogue machines. Data files can also be sent to us (and mastered material returned to you), safely via the internet.

We also have a fully equipped transcription and editing suite that offers Sadie 5 editing, digital processing, creation of production parts and transfers of all formats.

[steffen]

"All three studios have custom built desks with simple analogue and digital signal paths, connections are made using Audioquest pure silver cables.
Our outboard equipment includes EAR, Pultec, SPL, DAV, Sontec and Maselec. We also have a pair of very large extremely rare EMI 'Curve Bender' EQ's from 1961.
Monitoring is by Tannoy and Holliman.

Each studio has a Sadie workstation and Neumann VMS 70/80 disc cutting lathe. In addition there is a Direct Metal Mastering VMS 82 disc cutting lathe, housed together with a Scully lathe and Westrex mono 2B/stereo 3D system, in the world's smallest cutting room known as the 'Black Hole'.

All master formats are supported including Studer A80 ½ inch and ¼ inch (MkI & MkII) analogue machines. Data files can also be sent to us (and mastered material returned to you), safely via the internet."

Services

steff


edit: StudioTinPanAll was faster with copy/paste haha

[shapemod]

Ok, sorry my bad, it seems I overlooked the section'services'.
But, has anybody hands-on experience, was sitting in a session and can tell what exactly they used? I for myself was sitting in lots of sessions at dubplates & mastering in Berlin and can tell you quite precisely which equipment was used to master my records.
Any further information besides what is standing on their website?

Best

sebastian

[narcoman]

ooooo..... shuddddeeeerrrr..!

[livingstone]

just curious, what did they use at d&m ?

what makes the system very special at the exange are the cuting amp moded by Tim deParvencini (Ear)

[streaky]

Originally Posted by shapemod

Ok, sorry my bad, it seems I overlooked the section'services'.
But, has anybody hands-on experience, was sitting in a session and can tell what exactly they used? I for myself was sitting in lots of sessions at dubplates & mastering in Berlin and can tell you quite precisely which equipment was used to master my records.
Any further information besides what is standing on their website?

Best

sebastian

I hesitate to give info on one of our local competitors...but why don't you just email them or call them? Their contact details are at the bottom of their home page. Then you can speak to one of their engineers and find out exactly what they use, and your worries will be eased.

[shapemod]

Hi livingstone,

at dubplates&mastering (or D&R) they use mainly Weiss- stuff, EQ-1 and DS1 also a tubetech 3 band compressor. They have more outboard but this seemed to be their main tools. Convertors are Apogee PSX-100 and a DA from Lake people. Speakers are this big 3-way Genelecs, I guess 1038B, not sure though. They use Protools as DAW. Neumann Cutingmachine.
Best

shapemod

[livingstone]

no surprise , they're definitively on the clean side,

totaly the contrary of the exchange...

[cemski]

i have heard all engineers there have huge customized ears!

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by shapemod

Hi livingstone,

at dubplates&mastering (or D&R) they use mainly Weiss- stuff, EQ-1 and DS1 also a tubetech 3 band compressor. They have more outboard but this seemed to be their main tools. Convertors are Apogee PSX-100 and a DA from Lake people. Speakers are this big 3-way Genelecs, I guess 1038B, not sure though. They use Protools as DAW. Neumann Cutingmachine.
Best

shapemod

Ive cut several projects there (up until three years ago - wont return!!) and fo' sure they were using SADIE.

To be fair - their disc cutting is good. I would still use them for cutting a 45. Great for that. CD? ...... ouch.

[livingstone]

thanks for the infos,
i've heard some great cuting mades by Rashad there, really amazing ones,
does he still work there ?

[shapemod]

Pretty sure Rashad still works there!
Narcoman, where do you master your projects now?
Best

-s-

[narcoman]

Up until recently ive been taking stuff to Heathmans. Since my fave engineer has gone I've changed. I'm exploring at the moment - but i'm actually looking for a project that I could try out Mr Lucey! Get a good vibe about him from others and from his contributions here... so waiting for that at mo'


Ive used Alchemy a few times (John Davis and Ray Staff) - Good but not QUITE what i was looking for. Nice team though

At the Exchange I used to use Nils quite a lot. Liked him - nice chap. Just couldnt get by the output for CD. Vinyl was GREAT but CD? ......not for me.

I did my last piece at Metropolis and will probably go back there for the current one. More and more i'm being drawn to the US for mastering.....

[Fat larry]

narcoman;1639465]Up until recently ive been taking stuff to Heathmans. Since my fave engineer has gone I've changed.

Who was that?

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Fat larry

Who was that?

the mighty Jacko..... he was great at Heathmans.....

[Thermionic]

I haven't cut there for a while now, but when I did, it was pretty much all custom Tim de P gear, i.e. custom valve amps for monitoring, 822 / 823 EQ / EAR 660 compressor, into VMS 70/80 lathes, fitted with SP-02 Drive mechanics.

IMHO (I really hate to give advice that's subjective - I believe one should try for oneself - we all have different ears...something that should be remembered...), The Exchange and John Dent are no.1 in the UK for vinyl cutting.

For 12"s that really cut out on the dancefloor, I believe Nilz is second-to-none. For more laid-back material, I would either go for John Dent @ Loud Mastering, or Mike at The Exchange.

Graham who owns The Exchange is an uber-gear nut - he is a lunatic when it comes to collecting rare analogue equipment and there are always some nice pieces to look at when you're in the office (not always in use, mind you! I think his collecting bug is a separate passion to that which you can actually use!).

One thing is for sure about the Exchange: they're very good and will always do a decent job. As well as my own projects, I must've been involved with tens, if not hundreds of projects that were cut @ Exchange, and I cannot remember "backing" a cut.

I'll concede that John Dent is probably the best 'allround' recommendation, in that he can cut any style to near-perfection, but if you want something to really stand out in a club, Nilz is the man. Graham can also cut a scorcher for the club, if that's your thing...

Justin

[bcgood]

Nilz is Yoda.

And by that I mean he is a Jedi Master of sound.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by narcoman

but i'm actually looking for a project that I could try out Mr Lucey! Get a good vibe about him from others and from his contributions here... so waiting for that at mo'

I'm with you on that one, for our next EP (when I finally finish the bleeding thing...)!

[mischa janisch]

Originally Posted by cemski

i have heard all engineers there have huge customized ears!

...with 1000W per channel built in hearing aids??

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Thermionic

I haven't cut there for a while now, but when I did, it was pretty much all custom Tim de P gear, i.e. custom valve amps for monitoring, 822 / 823 EQ / EAR 660 compressor, into VMS 70/80 lathes, fitted with SP-02 Drive mechanics.

IMHO (I really hate to give advice that's subjective - I believe one should try for oneself - we all have different ears...something that should be remembered...), The Exchange and John Dent are no.1 in the UK for vinyl cutting.

For 12"s that really cut out on the dancefloor, I believe Nilz is second-to-none. For more laid-back material, I would either go for John Dent @ Loud Mastering, or Mike at The Exchange.

Graham who owns The Exchange is an uber-gear nut - he is a lunatic when it comes to collecting rare analogue equipment and there are always some nice pieces to look at when you're in the office (not always in use, mind you! I think his collecting bug is a separate passion to that which you can actually use!).

One thing is for sure about the Exchange: they're very good and will always do a decent job. As well as my own projects, I must've been involved with tens, if not hundreds of projects that were cut @ Exchange, and I cannot remember "backing" a cut.

I'll concede that John Dent is probably the best 'allround' recommendation, in that he can cut any style to near-perfection, but if you want something to really stand out in a club, Nilz is the man. Graham can also cut a scorcher for the club, if that's your thing...

Justin

I totally agree when it comes to vinyl. They are real good.

Cant agree with CD. As for gear nuts - hmmmmm. Could do with CLEANING the gear every now and then (mind you, Abbey road is just as bad!!). Apogee conversion last time i was there for CDs - not sure that is such a great choice. I admit it has been a while though.

We took a very well known Bridgend bands album there a few year ago. Not good. Rejected in fact. Unlistenable.

[bcgood]

[Hossegor]

anyone knows the rates of exchange ? how much would a it cost me to have a track mastered by them ?

[streaky]

160 pounds per hour

[Eigenwert]

Is the "Nilz" you talk about "Nilesh Patel"? Did anyone work with Simon, I like some of the tunes he mastered (Air Frog - Bon Voyage anyone? )

I would love other recommondations for House/Dance music mastering houses as well. I cannot afford 2 mastering sessions per track - one CD and one for vinyl (I plan to pay it on my own so my music is independent - didn´t contact any label yet for my recent stuff). So I plan to cut 10 12" plates on a Vestax cutter. Should I record the record if I want to make a CD/mp3 of a vinyl master or will a vinyl-type master work directly from CD? (a label I formerly worked with used to use the vinyl masters for their CDs as well)

[rhythmtech]

simon and nilz were amazing.. dont know if they're still there. they did all the old stayupforever, routemaster records etc

[Eigenwert]

Simon is still there and Nilz appears to be Nilesh

I still bother about that "great for 12" but for CDs not". I don´t think that they did a poor job on the CDs I know (Groove Armada and Cassius never had an overall bad sound on their CDs and Freeland was also nice sounding to me) and I love a whole lot of the D&B/ house/ breakbeat/ techno 12" work they did so maybe I should give them a try.

[807Recordings]

I have used these guys on a few occasions. Nilz all the way. He first did work for me on Missing Unit Records and that blew up and shocked people with the sound.

On my first release of (807) Recordings "Further EP" I also used him. A big thing for me was not to have the sound squashed or altered a lot. He did just that but with a slight fatness I wanted. I mean not compressed but full and loud with all the dynamics. Of course I kept to the vinyl rules at 45RPM for maximum impact. The Digital version straight out suck in comparison to the vinyl. Of course I also choose top quality pressings as who plates and what you press to also is a factor.

Just this week I also cut the second release with Nilz for (807). I am waiting to hear the final outcome (soon) but I am not worried.

Nilz does techno right!
No one else I would rather go to. You get what you pay for.



Shamus