Perry Sorensen, Head of Mastering at Naxos, Chooses Sceptre S8 August 14,2015
[This just in from Perry Sorensen, Head of Mastering for leading classical music distributor Naxos of America! He's chosen the Sceptre S8s as his new weapon of choice, and used them on the upcoming Live From Music City: The Best of Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony, which releases on August 14!]
Q. Can you provide some background on Naxos of America?
A. Naxos of America is the leading independent classical music distributor in the U.S. and Canada. They specialize in state-of-the-art distribution and marketing and promotion. We distribute nearly 65,000 SKUs to traditional brick and mortar retail, as well as offering a comprehensive suite of services tailored to consumer direct fulfillment. Naxos of America is also one of the world's largest digital distributors of independent classical music and video, supplying a catalog of over 1.6 million tracks and 65,000 album discs to hundreds of digital platforms and mobile outlets across the globe. We offer marketing, publicity, physical and digital e-commerce services, licensing opportunities, streaming services, sales support and customer service for all new releases and active catalog titles of Naxos Records and nearly 700 distributed labels. It's a thriving company, and I really enjoy working there. We're headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee, just a few miles south of Nashville.
Q. How did you become a mastering engineer?
A. I'd have to say it started out when I was in my teens. Like a lot of guys that age, I loved speakers and bass! I think my affinity for audio was a bit different from other kids, because instead of listening to music and doing something else while listening, I would just sit myself in front of a home stereo system the kind with the 10 inch woofers and just listen. I would take it all in: the way the bass thumped in my chest and how the emotion of a song made me feel. What I didn't realize was that I was actually doing critical listening, albeit an unprofessional form, but I loved it! Years later, I got my hands on some gear and started recording. One of the first things I did after getting some gear was to edit together entire soundtracks for shows for the performing arts. This included producing narrative pieces, as well. I actually met the girl who later became my wife, pop artist Jessie Kol, when I had the opportunity to record demos for her, when she was a vocal student at the performing arts center my family owned. It was around the time that I began working with my future wife that I realized audio engineering was my career calling, so to speak.
A few years later found me living and working in Nashville, Tennessee at one of the publishing arms of Universal Music Publishing Group. My time at Universal was fun, and it involved keeping track of their archives and also working in their studio, running sessions for dozens of songwriters and artists. Universal was where I learned how to make a record. The process of producing a record from start to finished was learned during my time there. I would also do engineering work on the side for various Grammy nominated producers, which landed me some credits on a few major label recordings. Throughout working as a recording and mix engineer, and producing a couple EP's and countless demos for my wife, I was always fascinated with the art of mastering. How do they make it sound better'? Does the mastering phase give a recording that punch' and wow' or is it the mixing phase, or a combination of both? Those were all questions that I researched long and hard to find out. In my quest for the answers I learned so much about mastering what it can do, and what it can't do.
Mastering seemed like an ideal fit for me for several reasons. I enjoy critical listening-just ask my wife how often I interrupt our conversation to say do you hear that? I love music and music production. And I enjoy making things sound that much better. There's a thrill to lending your skill set and wisdom to a creative project in order to help make it all that it can be. You know, bringing out that potential and making it sound that much better. Naxos of America has been a great place for me to practice the art of mastering, by helping them and the labels they distribute to produce a great recording. It's a fun environment. It doesn't feel corporate to me. And I'm thankful to have been given a place like Naxos of America, whereby I can master some great music. There's always plenty to do at Naxos, because we distribute a lot of music globally.
Q. How did you come about to selecting Sceptre S8s? Was it the company's reputation, audio quality, specific features, price, other factors?
A. I first saw the Sceptres in TapeOp Magazine. The first thing that caught me was their unique design. Realizing that they were coaxial and time-aligned, I immediately began wondering how in the world PreSonus was pulling that off, and at that price point. I started thinking of how I could get my hands on a pair! A few months down the road, I decided to reach out to PreSonus, and hear for myself what the hype was about.
Q. Have the Sceptres met your expectations?
A. I have to say that before they arrived, I was a bit nervous about hearing these monitors and being disappointed. Not because I've heard anything bad about PreSonus, but because I was wondering if they would really deliver, and if they didn't, how was I going to politely tell PreSonus that I didn't like them. Haha. Almost immediately, though, I was blown away. An engineer friend of mine, who is also a co-worker, and myself set them up for an A/B session in our company's listening room. Right away he said that the Sceptres were punchy. We were both so excited about them
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Perry Sorensen, Head of Mastering at Naxos, Chooses Sceptre S8 August 14,2015 
