Creative Mastering Chooses DAD AX Ultra-high-quality Audio Mastering Converter

Creative Mastering, one of Italys most prestigious sound recording, post-production and audio-restoration facilities, has chosen a DAD AX32 ultra-high-quality audio converter for use at its studios in Forli, capital city of northern Italys Romagna region.

Stefano Cappelli with DAD AX32 at Creative Mastering

I heard the AX32 at a recent demonstration by NTP Technologys Milan-based distributor TeDeS, comments Creative Masterings founder and manager Stefano Cappelli. It is the most transparent analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converter I have ever experienced. The AX32 is exactly what we need for our business which ranges from CDs to top-end DXD and DSD audio publishing media. The version we ordered incorporates 16 microphone inputs, 16 analogue line outputs and a Dante IP audio module. We will be using it both for primary recording and post-production.

Soon after taking delivery, we took part in a comparison of our AX32 and other high-end audio converters at a neighbouring studio, Deposito Zero. This was attended by Giovanni Versari from La Maest , Thomas Salvador of Deposito Zero and some of their staff. We prepared an Avid ProTools session with my portable rig and then aligned the output of the audio converters, measuring with a DK-Audio analogue instrument.

It soon become evident in the comparisons that the AX32 was from another planet, much more linear than all others and greatly extended at the low and high ends. It seems that the philosophy of the AX32 is to maintain the source colour and behaviour. I found the AX32 the best in representation of the entire frequency spectrum, width and dynamic range.

I recently took the AX32 to another studio to help a friend with the acquisition of a mix as his own converter was out of action. He quite literally jumped out of his chair when he heard the AX32 because it revealed elements of his source material which he had never experienced before. This is a great vote of confidence in an excellent product.

Creative Mastering was established in 1990 as an audio pre-mastering service for singles, albums or compilations on CDs and vinyl records. It today produces stereo and surround-sound masters in a variety of formats including high-resolution media such as Super Audio CD (SACD), DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. The studios acoustic properties combined with the industrys most advanced equipment and the experience of its staff enable Creative Mastering to work at the highest standards in every phase of the audio production and post-production process.

Designed for use in no-compromise audio recording and mixing as well as post-production, the DAD AX32 adds even higher sound quality than the established AX24 which is currently the worldwide reference standard. The AX32 can be configured with up to 48 analogue audio channels making it an extremely compact multi-channel converter. The optional microphone preamplifier provides up to 72 dB of analogue gain, 123 dB dynamic range and an equivalent noise floor of -133 dB. The AX32 comes as standard with Avid ProTools and 8 AES/EBU and MADI inputs and outputs. It can optionally be fitted with a Dante IP audio interface and two optical MADI interfaces making it an extremely versatile platform.

A versatile interface structure allows the analogue-to-digital, digital-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converters to be assigned to any digital interface, as well as patching between the interfaces on a channel-to-channel basis.

The AX32 can be fully remote controlled via Ethernet using NTP Technologys DADman software. Alternatively, basic control is also possible from the front panel.

Existing users of DAD audio converters include Abbey Road Studios, Alchemy Mastering, Bauer Studios, Benny Anderssons RMV Studio, Classic Sound, CMC Studios, Collegium Records, Danish Radio, DEX Mastering, DPA Microphones, Echopark Studios, Galaxy Studios, Hana Music Montreux, Helsinki Music Centre, Lindberg lyd, Magne Furuholmen, Master Touch, McGill University, Moscow Music Conservatory, NDR Hamburg, NHK, NRK, Op ra de Dijon, QVC shopping channel, Real Sound, Royal Danish Opera House, Royal Opera House London, Sidney Opera House, SK Works, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, SoundWorks/Jeff Sheridan, Spanish Radio, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Stock Fish Records, Swedish Radio, Telarc International, Timbre Music, Ultimo Productions and the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra.

DAD - Digital Audio Denmark

DAD - Digital Audio Denmark is a brand owned by NTP Technology A/S and used for a range of professional audio products. DAD is renowned worldwide for analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue audio converters delivering outstanding sonic performance. Based in Copenhagen, NTP is part of Dan Technologies Group, one of Europes leading suppliers of audio, video, transmission products and digital media solutions.

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