Echo Park Studios Invests Goes for Gold

Echo Park Studios’ Managing Director Ruediger Konetschny with the six DAD AX24 analog/digital/analog audio signal converters

Echo Park Studios, one of Germany’s most active audio production companies, has chosen NTP Technology DAD AX24 ultra-high-quality analog/digital/analog converters as part of a major system upgrade at its Essen headquarters.

“Since NDR and the legendary Abbey Road Studios are already using the top quality DAD converters of Danish audio specialist NTP Technology, it only made sense for Echo Park Studios to join the list of illustrious users,” comments Rüdiger Konetschny, Managing Director and Producer at Echo Park Studios. “After extensive tests of many high-end converters available on the market, we decided unanimously to install the golden DAD high speed converters.

“Altogether six AX24 converters with maximum range are employed, providing our new ADT mixing console with 48 output possibilities. Additionally each of the new DAD converters provides 24 high quality analogue microphone connections. As well as the AX24’s crystal-locked converters, the microphone preamplifiers, implemented as plug-in cards, convinced us so clearly that we decided to update to the various first-class channel strips.”

advertisment

Echo Park’s roots are in radio production. The company has over a decade’s experience producing interstitials for local and regional broadcasters. Over the intervening years it has expanded into a broad-service agency active in film, graphics, music composition and event management.  

Designed for high quality music recording as well as mastering and monitoring in Digital eXtreme Definition (DXD) and Direct Stream Digital (DSD), the NTP DAD AX24 offers A/D and D/A conversion in PCM at up to 384 kHz sampling rate, and DSD at 64 frame/s or 128 frame/s. The optional microphone preamplifier incorporates analogue gain control in 3 dB steps as well as digital gain control with 0.25 dB precision. Dynamic range is between 118 and 121 dB. The preamplifier's equivalent noise floor is -130 dB.

The AX24 is fully remote controllable via RS-422, USB or Ethernet. Preamp parameters can be represented on the channel strip of industry-standard audio production consoles and workstations. MADI output is configurable to operate in loopthrough mode, connecting multiple converters to a single data output. The interface can be set to access any configuration of 64 MADI channels in blocks of eight consecutive channels. The AX24 can be synchronised to incoming AES 11, Word clock, Super clock or video (PAL, NTSC, SECAM). An integral phase-locked-loop circuit is able to correct for minor variations in external sync timing.

advertisment

Existing users of NTP DAD audio signal processors include Abbey Road Studios, Bauer Studios, Benny Andersson's RMV Studio, CMC Studios, Danish Radio, DEX Mastering, DPA Microphones, Galaxy Studios, Hana Music Montreux, Helsinki Music Centre, Lindberg lyd, Master Touch, McGill University, Moscow Music Conservatory, NDR Hamburg, NHK, NRK, Real Sound, Royal Danish Opera House, Royal Opera London, Sidney Opera house, SK Works, 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.