Swineshead Picks DAD AX32 for Classical Recording and Mastering
16-01-2015
David Bowles Employs Newest AD/DA Converter from Digital Audio Denmark
San Francisco, CA, September 2014 - Prominent classical music recording engineer/producer David Bowles has purchased the new Digital Audio Denmark AX32 AD/DA converter from US distributor plus24. Bowles's company, Swineshead Productions, LLC specializes in classical music recording, but also includes jazz and crossover genres. A recent Swineshead project was recorded at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco: Christmas music performed by the chorus Cappella SF, conducted by Ragnar Bohlin.
A pristine AD and DA converter with superb sonic quality, versatile I/O structure and Dante IP Audio, the AX32 follows the success of the company's AX24 with enhanced sonic conversion performance, up to 48 analog audio channels, and a flexible digital signal interface, routing and distribution structure.
I used the AX24 two years ago, remarked David Bowles. While I felt it was an excellent unit, it only had eight channels. Since that time, not only has DAD expanded the channel count but, also very importantly, they have introduced an IP interface, which is primarily what Ill be using in my workflow.
DAD's new AX32 AD/DA converter and digital router interface is the ideal choice as a front-end or digital format converter for recording or mastering applications where up to 48 channels of analog inputs or outputs are needed. The AX32 provides a variety of digital interfaces such as ProTools HD, MADI, AES and Dante IP audio. A microphone pre-amp option is also available.
Using the Dante technology for audio over IP, explains Bowles. Means that with a simple network switch, a whole raft of signals can be routed to two or more different devices simultaneously. As it is, right out of the box, the AX32 has a number of interfaces -- not only the IP, but also MADI, AES and ProTools. This allows me, without any sort of splitter, to make two completely redundant recordings of the same audio signal.
Designed for flexibility, reliability, easy operation and no-compromise sound quality, the AX32 offers a comprehensive range of digital interfaces and sample rate formats for meeting a number of diverse applications such as studio recording, location recording, audio post-production and film scoring.
Now with both the optical MADI and the IP interfaces, Bowles continues, I can place the units right next to the microphones, so there are very short cables needed. As everyone knows, analog signal degrades with increasing lengths of cable.
Bowles recounts a recent project: When I tried out the DAD AX32 in June, I was working on two live recordings. I set them up as stereo, with only two microphones. My outboard mic pre has split outputs: I was able to route two outputs through my current setup, then two outputs through the DAD. I recorded these at 192 kHz and then compared them at home. I then brought one of my clients in and just gave him an A/B comparison. We both picked the AX32. It was simply clearer. The imaging was a lot better, and I felt that the previous A to D converter I used was very good, but now sounded coarse in comparison.
To better evaluate the new DAD AX32, Bowles has been going back through his recent archives: Ive been listening to a lot of my projects, simply using the D to A conversion of the AX32. Again, there are just so many improvements and Im able to apply some very subtle changes in mixing and processing, and hear the results immediately. Now, because the AX32 is something I can take on the road, I can have the same setup at home as on location -- both for recording and for monitoring.
As an option with the DAD AX32, the Dante IP interface allows third party Dante-enabled equipment from more than 140 manufacturers to interface to the AX32 via Ethernet. Audinate's Dante Controller is a free software application that enables users to route audio and configure devices on a Dante network. With automatic device discovery, one-click signal routing and user-editable device and channel labels, setting up a Dante network is simple and straightforward.
Combining the Dante IP interface in the AX32 with Audinate's Dante Virtual Soundcard means that the unit has a wide variety of applications for recording, and also for editing and mastering. I have tried the Virtual Soundcard on three different editing workstations, where it worked flawlessly and after I get back from my next location recording trip Im going to try it on a fourth one.
Award-winning recording engineer David Bowles formed Swineshead Productions, LLC as a classical recording production company in 1995. Bowles-produced and engineered releases have been named Record of the Month - Editors Choice from Gramophone Magazine, MusicWeb International and Opera News; Record of the Year from the New York Times (three times), the New Yorker, American Record Guide, Miami Cla sica and Classical Candour.
As an educator, Bowles is a guest lecturer at New York University's Tonmeister Seminar (Steinhardt School of Music) and at Peabody Recording Arts and Sciences (John Hopkins University). He was Visiting Professor of Recording Arts at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. Bowles is on the Board of Governors of the AES, and member of NARAS P&E Wing and SPARS.
Learn more at:
http://www.swineshead.com/about.htm
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
20/10/2025
Inside TAMS: How Time-Addressable Media Stores could redefine sports workflows By Paul Markham
Friday, October 17, 2025 - 08:57
Print This Story
A penalty...
20/10/2025
Transformational production: Inside TVN's remote production push for the DFL...
20/10/2025
How NBC Sports Transitioned Stamford Facility to One Format: 1080p HDRMulti-year plan harmonizes workflows, simplifies operationsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial ...
20/10/2025
NBA on NBC' Studio Production Team Is Ready for Tip-Off With Coast-to-Coast...
20/10/2025
Under pressure: TVN CEO Markus Osthaus considers the German sports broadcasting ...
20/10/2025
(L-R) Maria Dizzia, Carmen Emmi, and Russell Tovey attend the Plainclothes pre...
20/10/2025
In March, we launched Concerts Near You to help listeners find concerts from their favorite artists. Since then, more than 3 million people have used it to disc...
20/10/2025
Em diversas cidades do Brasil, um movimento tem se fortalecido para celebrar o poder, a beleza e a profundidade da criatividade negra. O Dia AMPLIFIKA, agora em...
20/10/2025
In cities across Brazil, a movement is growing that celebrates the power, beauty, and depth of Black creativity. AMPLIFIKA Day, now in its fifth edition, return...
20/10/2025
Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft rendering...
20/10/2025
DENVER and MUNICH Imagine Communications today announced its plans to acquire Pixel Power Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rohde & Schwarz. Financial terms of...
20/10/2025
LOS ANGELES G Morgan has joined Globecast, a provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, as executive vice president of sales, Globecast Am...
20/10/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. Heartland Video Systems and Zixi have partnered to enable broadcast-quality live video delivery over any IP network....
20/10/2025
A. R. Rahman on Facing Fear and Finding the Divine In an interview with Berklee President Jim Lucchese, the Oscar-winning composer reflects on how courage and...
20/10/2025
Monday 20 October 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. ...
20/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz transfers Pixel Power to Imagine Communications Companies work collaboratively to ensure continuity and ongoing support for existing customers...
20/10/2025
RT 's Prime Time is set to host the final Presidential Election Debate this Tuesday night, October 21, providing an opportunity to hear directly from Irelan...
20/10/2025
NVIDIA and Google Cloud are expanding access to accelerated computing to transform the full spectrum of enterprise workloads, from visual computing to agentic a...
19/10/2025
Back to All News
Sins of Kujo' Comes to Life in New Live-Action Series Set for Spring 2026
Entertainment
19 October 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to cl...
18/10/2025
New England Sports Network (NESN) has chosen Harmonic, working with Astound Business Solutions, as its enterprise technology partner to transform primary distri...
18/10/2025
NEW ORLEANS, La. In the run-up to the start of the NBA season, WVUE-TV and Gray Local Media have announced a deal with DirecTV that will greatly expand access t...
18/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates 40 Years of the Fall Together Concert Faculty composers Bob Pilkington and Greg Hopkins are among the featured artists for this year's ...
17/10/2025
NEP Group Receives New Equity Investment From 26North Partners LP, Co-InvestorsCarlyle remains the largest shareholder as the company prepares for the futureBy ...
17/10/2025
Apple Lands Five-Year Deal for F1 Distribution in the U.S.Besides airing on Apple TV, the sport will be amplified on other Apple servicesBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Ed...
17/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Marshall Electronics' Bernie Keach on the Future of PTZ Camera...
17/10/2025
L2 Productions' REMI Facility in Austin Can Produce Content From AnywhereMusic festivals, sports events are produced via flypacks and remote control roomsBy...
17/10/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
17/10/2025
(L-R) Christopher Meyer, Addison Timlin, Cooper Raiff, Lili Reinhart, Alyah Chan...
17/10/2025
M sica e arte se uniram em uma noite especial na semana passada na ZIV Gallery, ...
17/10/2025
Music and art came together for one special night last week at ZIV Gallery, an i...
17/10/2025
Spotify and FC Barcelona are extending our partnership through 2030, continuing a collaboration that's redefining how fans, players, and artists connect. Th...
17/10/2025
MURRIETA, Calif. The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC) has deployed DigitalGlue's creative.space storage platform to streamline video production by centrali...
17/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. Football continued to cement its reputation as a bulwark of TV advertising in Q3 2025 with new data from iSpot that showed both the NFL and coll...
17/10/2025
The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC), the premier competitive saltwater fishing series, has transformed its production workflow by adopting creative.space, the...
17/10/2025
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning multi-camera video productions and remote contribution solutions, announces the release of StudioPro Version 4, ...
17/10/2025
Although the annual Grammy Awards celebration is best known for recognizing achievements in the recording industry, the show often proves a visual spectacle as ...
17/10/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leading provider of software-defined data storage and data services, has promoted Alex Dunfey to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from his for...
17/10/2025
The University of Arizona (UofA) has significantly upgraded its broadcast communication infrastructure with the integration of Riedel Communications' advanc...
17/10/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that New England Sports Network (NESN), owned by Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North, has selected Harmonic as its en...
17/10/2025
Austin PBS has recently upgraded its facility-wide communications infrastructure, deploying Clear-Com 's Eclipse HX, FreeSpeak II beltpacks, and V-Series ...
17/10/2025
ZEISS announces an open call for the closed BETA testing phase of CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology, the innovative digital tool that brings authentic lens chara...
17/10/2025
Situated in the town of Kokkola, Centria University of Applied Sciences offers higher education across five core fields: engineering, business, social and healt...
17/10/2025
Public information channel in Georgia, USA, to implement a powerful, simple, and cost-effective playout automation platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, co...
17/10/2025
HBO Max is reporting that it has launched in 15 new markets, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Macau, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ukraine, boosting the streaming serv...
17/10/2025
Netflix said it will make a major push into video podcasts, inking a wide-ranging deal with Spotify through which it will offer 16 podcasts in the U.S. starting...
17/10/2025
Lexington, Ky. As part of a push to highlight its advanced advertising capabilities, Viamedia has launched a new AI-powered ad tech platform and officially rebr...
17/10/2025
NEW YORK QuickLink has announced the release of StudioPro Version 4, which the company is calling the most significant upgrade yet to its flagship video product...
17/10/2025
NEW YORK and CUPERTINO, Calif. Apple and NBCUniversal said they will sell Apple TV and Peacock streaming bundles to U.S. subscribers starting Oct. 20....
Swineshead Picks DAD AX32 for Classical Recording and Mastering 
