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San Diego’s Lost Ark Studio Counts on ADAM Monitors for their Creative Work

“Trusting that what you hear from your monitors will translate well to the outside world is the most important thing”

San Diego, CA (November 19, 2015) — Since opening five years ago here in Southern California as a private project studio, Lost Ark Studio has undergone several expansions, growing into a multi-room facility stocked to the ceiling with vintage instruments and the latest in recording equipment. Lost Ark’s B room, intended as a space for songwriting, overdubs, mix prep, remixes or just plain old fun, has been equipped with an analog mixing desk, several analog tape machines, various racks of outboard gear and a pair of A7X nearfield monitors, together with a Sub7 subwoofer from ADAM Audio.

 “I started seeing ADAM speakers in studios around L.A. and thought they had a really smooth sound that was easy to listen to for extended periods of time.  It was the first time I heard a ribbon tweeter as well, and was impressed with how well they handled midrange,” says Mike Butler, chief engineer at Lost Ark Studio. “When we needed a nearfield for our relatively small control room that was going to allow us to not only mix ac­curately, but have some power to feel the music during playback while tracking, we chose a combination of the A7Xs with the Sub7.”

Butler continues, “Since then we have worked a lot on the ADAM monitors. The majority of the studio’s com­pilation series sessions were done on the ADAMs, as well as albums by local San Diego artists Blackout Party, Lord Howler, Jesse LaMonaca, Transfer and many others.”

Artists don’t necessarily care what gear a studio offers, says Butler. “But what they do care about is the sound, and the goal is that they say, ‘Everything sounds great.’ Our choice of monitors is a big part of reaching that goal. The monitors are the last part of the chain, the last thing that affects the sound they are hearing, and they need to portray all the hard work you‘ve put into making something sound great.”

Ideally, according to Butler, monitors need to be transparent, and be able to translate well. “I think the point is that they shouldn‘t hear the monitors, or any other piece of gear, they should hear their music represented the best way they can. The goal of great mo­nitors is to allow the creativity to happen without having to think about them and to know that what you are hearing is going to sound the same outside of the studio,” says Butler. “Trusting that what you hear from your monitors will translate well to the outside world is the most important thing.”

Lost Ark may have expanded over the years, but according to Butler, “We‘re still helping indie artists and bands as the studio has become the home base for our label, Randm Records. Over the years we have been fortunate in that we have been able to host well over 100 artists/bands at the studio.”

Sessions for the studio‘s compilation series, which now runs to nine volumes, have included artists from Southern California and across the States such as the Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, Whiskey Shivers, Mother Falcon, Jesca Hoop, and My Goodness. More recently, says Cavanaugh, Lost Ark has been working on new albums for Jack Lawtey, Jeremiah Tall, The Peach Kings, and Old Man Canyon.

“From the beginning the Lost Ark Studio has been more of a home studio than a typical for-hire studio,” Butler adds. “We designed it ourselves, we‘ve expanded it in response to what we‘ve learned through thousands of sessions and, regardless of who‘s recording with us, they are our guests, not clients. Add in that we have well over 200 vintage guitars, 100 vintage amps, and more than a few vintage keyboards, drum kits, snares, synths, etc. and it‘s not a bad place to call home.”

About Lost Ark Studio

Lost Ark is private recording studio based in San Diego, California as well as the home of Randm Records.  The facility features more than 100 vintage guitars, 25 bass guitars, 50 amps, every flavor of keyboard a session might need, 4 drum kits, 25 vintage snares, and even . 25 or so vintage drum machines. Lost Ark is committed to making great records the old fashioned way – totally hands on, with real instruments, players playing, singers singing, all in the room together, with of mics, a spacious control room, a well-stocked refrigerator, and ocean view sunsets every evening.

www.lostarkstudio.com

About ADAM Audio

ADAM Audio monitors have had a reputation for sonic excellence and unrivaled quality ever since the company was founded in 1999. With the development of the X-ART tweeter, which is characterized by an extended frequency range up to 50 kHz and a higher efficiency compared to dome tweeters, this unique tweeter design has become the embodiment of a transparent, highly defined and authentic sound that is the most defining development of ADAM’s proprietary designs today. Being made and tested painstakingly by hand in the Berlin factory, ADAM’s high frequency driver is a rare exception in these days of automated mass production.

The widely varied product lineup of ADAM Audio spans from professional studio monitors (SX, AX, and F series), to Multimedia and Home Theater/Installation loudspeakers (ARTist and GTC range) to the high-end home entertainment models (Classic series). ADAM Audio has 50 employees at the Berlin factory and is represented worldwide through a network of distributers and dealers in more than 75 countries. ADAM also has offices in Nashville, London and Beijing.

www.adam-audio.de

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