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News: Dangerous Music

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Artist development business takes a leap with Grammy nomination, record deals and Dangerous Music equipment

Edmeston, NY - MAY 14, 2012 - A musical life can take a few twists and turns before settling in. Early on as a musician Billy Mohler studied upright bass at both the Berklee College of Music, and the Thelonious Monk  Institute of Jazz. But he's found a niche developing artists and producing, especially solo artists and Indie bands. Mohler also plays guitar and keyboards - and drums. In fact, when he's working with a solo artist he often plays all the instruments on the album. These days, he works in his own studio in the Los Angeles area and harnesses the power of the Dangerous Music D-Box for analog summing and monitoring. At the 2012 Grammy(r) Awards one of the recent albums Mohler has songwriting credit on was nominated for "Best Latin Pop Album," Nuestra by Gustavo Galindo.
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Mohler says, "I've been using the D-Box for about 3 months, and it's incredible, I love it. I work mainly in-the-box, so it's nice to have for bouncing out mixes or songwriting sessions. Everything sounds wider, a little more transparent, more punch. It kind of bridges the gap for me," he explains. "You can drive it hard so you can give it a nice analog crunch. It adds that next level of glue that I wasn't getting from my in-the-box mixes. Mixes have a clear separation between the instruments and being able to sum the bass on its own output, I notice a smooth consistent bass response that I wasn't getting from my in-the-box mixes. There's just more definition in each instrument, more character and punch."

The success with his own mixing on the D-Box is illuminating, as Mohler describes, "I'll do a mix in-the-box, and then I'll do a summed mix with the  D-Box. And every time I've sent them to bands - and I don't tell them which mix is which - every time they pick the D-Box summed mix. So I started realizing, 'OK, I'm not going to do the in-the-box mix anymore' - nobody's picking the in-the-box mix, and I don't even like it. It's obvious."

Mohler discovered Dangerous Music on a gig for a Kelly Clarkson record where he played bass, and worked with producer and engineer David  Kahne - who has a very large Dangerous Music setup. "I got to hang out a  lot with David [Kahne] at his studio and we started a friendship. Once I began really getting into recording, I had heard everybody was raving about the  Dangerous gear, so I jumped in and got the D-Box."

One of his latest projects due out in June 2012 is The Drowning Men (Borstal Beat Record), where Mohler produced, engineered, and co-wrote the record and Ryan Williams (Thirty Seconds to Mars, I'm A Robot, Deftones) and Todd Burke (Ben Harper, Trevor Menear) mixed the album. "I found The Drowning Men through a great friend of mine who thought we'd hit it off and we did! Over the past year the band and I wrote a bunch of music, I produced some demos, and then they got their deal. I just finished their record, it took three months and I couldn't be happier with it! The Drowning Men have toured with Alkaline Trio, Airborn Toxic Event, Flogging Molly, and Lucero to name a few. I'm so excited for the record release!"

"The D-Box is great for somebody like me who has a project studio," he  adds. "I'm doing a lot of Indie bands, and I have a very basic setup. The D-Box  kind of levels the playing field for me without having a great console or having a lot of outboard gear - it really warms up my mixes."

"The fact that I can have independent monitor control for two headphones is perfect," says Mohler about the D-Box in tracking sessions. "It's mostly a vocalist and myself, or an acoustic guitar and myself in my studio. And the monitoring sounds incredible in the headphones, it blows away all the other monitor controllers that I've used, it sounds flat, but has a great punch to it, it sounds true to what I'm recording."

With the D-Box's 8-channels of summing, Mohler has a carefully thought out process to get the most out of mixing with his track output assignments, "I do all the drums on 1 and 2, 3 and 4 is guitars and keyboards, 5 and 6 is the bass and anything else that's low, like an 808 kick, and vocals go through 7 and 8. The cool thing is I can play with those groups' faders like I'm mixing off of stems at that point."

"When I'm working in the digital format I'm usually minus 6dB or minus 10dB on my master fader," he explains further. "I don't want to ever go into the red. There's no point in pushing it into the red - it's not a pleasant sound in the digital format. But with the D-Box I push my tracks into the red and they sound amazing. They sound crunchy, they get this cool harmonic distortion going on - for some mixes - for others I'll keep it out of the red. But if you push it, it's an analog circuit and it reacts in a completely different way. You can drive your mixes without plug-ins. You can get something similar with a plug-in on the master fader, but it's not the same, it's just a half-assed version of what the D-Box does."

Describing how he started doing 'artist development' Mohler remembers, "I fell into it a few years back. I didn't really realize it was artist development, I thought it was production. I kind of realized it after a couple songwriting sessions, I would write a song with the artist and then produce a track with the way I heard it after knowing the artist and getting to know their vibe. I'd really try to hone the track into what I thought their style was - but I didn't realize that was more than just songwriting."

In his studio Mohler uses both Pro Tools and Apple Logic software, his interface is the Apogee Rosetta 800 with a Big Ben clock, and some mic pres and  compressors, "It's a very basic setup, my studio is an overdub suite - I'll go record drums at a friend's studio and bring the files back to my studio. I can live at my studio for a month or two with a band, and take my time, it's a cozy spot to work."

"I got into mixing out of necessity," he continues. "And for me the D-Box is so simple, that's really the great thing about it. There's a lot of fancy gear out there that can do a million things, I'm not into that kind of stuff. I don't work like that, I like to have very simple gear, a very simple layout, that's why the D-Box is so appealing, it's got the 2 headphone outputs, the analog summing, you can plug your iPod into it. It's an all-in-one box, it's simple, but it does what I needed - that why I picked it up."

With Artist development, Mohler has had great success. "That's what my career is really focused on now. It's really an affirmation and a lot of fun. I was nominated for a Grammy this past year for an artist I developed, Gustavo Galindo. He was in a band, a Latin artist in an English Indie Rock band, but I felt he had something special. I developed him, I co-wrote 6 or 7 of the songs on the record, then he signed with Universal, and got nominated for a Grammy in  2012. It was another affirmation: This is working," concludes Mohler.

Mohler has been very busy lately working with Awolnation (Red Bull Records), their first single 'Sail' was recently Certified Platinum in the US, he was a writer and electric bass player on the album. He co-wrote and played bass on Samantha Ronson's new record Chasing the Reds and also played bass on The Bright Side the new album by Meiko. Mohler is Currently producing and writing with some local artists in Los Angeles: Last American  Buffalo, Shane Alexander, and Trevor Menear.

Find out more and contact Billy Mohler at: http://billymohler.com

About Dangerous Music
Dangerous Music, Inc. designs and builds products that are indispensable to any DAW-based recording environment. Dangerous Music electronics designer Chris  Muth has spent over 20 years working in and designing custom equipment for top recording and mastering studios. Muth and company founder Bob Muller pioneered the concept of the dedicated analog summing buss for digital audio workstations with the Dangerous 2-Bus in 2001. Today the company offers a wide range of  products for recording, mastering, mixing and post-production facilities, all designed and built with mastering-quality standards and a practical aesthetic.  Key products include the Dangerous 2-Bus and 2-Bus LT, Dangerous Monitor ST-SR and its Additional Switching System expansion units, Dangerous D-Box, Dangerous Master, Dangerous Liaison, Dangerous Monitor and Dangerous Bax EQ.

For more information on Dangerous Music visit http://www.dangerousmusic.com phone 607-965-8011 or email: info@dangerousmusic.com
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The Lodge mastering studios use Dangerous 'Master' transfer console on multi-Grammy Winning "Wasting Light"

Edmeston, NY - March 7, 2012 - At the 54th Grammy(r) Awards show Dave Grohl proclaimed proudly that his band recorded and mixed the Foo Fighters album in his garage and used all analog gear throughout the  production, including recording all the tracks to tape. But the analog sound didn't stop there. The multi-Grammy(r) winning album "Wasting Light" was mastered by engineers Emily Lazar and Joe LaPorta at The Lodge  Mastering in NY, using the highly analog Dangerous Music "Master" which features the appropriately rock and roll named "S&M" capability for  processing the 'sides' and the 'middle' of the stereo field separately. "Let's  just say...the Dangerous S&M process found its way into the analog chain on the Foo Fighters' Wasting Light quite a bunch!" says Emily Lazar, Chief Mastering Engineer at The Lodge.

"I'm a huge fan of the Dangerous Master's S&M circuitry. It always seems to add an elegant width and depth to the mix and can at times even fix mixes that lack dimension. It's super versatile with its side-chain capabilities, and I even love running things through it flat!" adds Lazar.
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Photo left to right, Back row: Joe LaPorta, Butch Vig, Pat Smear, James Brown, Chris Shifflet, Taylor Hawkins
Front Row L to R: Nate Mendel, Emily Lazar, Dave Grohl

The Foo Fighters won five Grammy awards this year for their "Wasting Light" album including Best Rock Album, which was produced by Butch Vig. Dave Grohl and Vig had worked together 20 years ago on the classic Nirvana release "Nevermind." The Foo Fighters song "Walk" from their "Wasting Light" release won a Grammy for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance, while the song "White Limo" won for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, and they also won Best Long Form Music Video for the "Back & Forth" music video.

At The Lodge, Emily Lazar's mastering facility in New York, the Dangerous Master is a key ingredient for sweet analog success in their mastering studio. "I have always favored gear that allows me to effect changes without artificially coloring the sound too much," says Lazar. "My choice pieces from our arsenal are both musical and clean but without being too clinical - with that in mind, I can always rely on the Dangerous Music  Master with its S&M capability to give me a true and desirable result. The versatility and overall transparency of the Dangerous gear has allowed me to remain flexible regardless of the genre of music that I'm  mastering."

Offering a glimpse of her studio's history Lazar offers, "I started The Lodge in my apartment in Greenwich Village in 1996 and then moved it to its current location in 1997. I wanted to create a comfortable and relaxed environment where musicians could feel free to communicate with their mastering engineer and truly be heard."

She continues by illuminating the Dangerous Music connection and how product designer Chris Muth ended up making gear for her studio, "At the time that I was first starting The Lodge, Chris (Muth) was working out of Absolute Audio. I had known him for a few years and was originally interested in having him design some wiring schematics and patch bays for the first rendition of my console. I ended up, very happily I might add, purchasing the central monitoring and routing section of my custom console from him," states Lazar.

As one of the busiest and most successful mastering facilities in NY, if not the world, The Lodge uses Dangerous mastering gear and it sets the studio apart from the competition says Lazar, "The Dangerous gear has certainly created an advantage. Another reason we have been able to establish ourselves in a highly competitive field is that aside from the gear sounding great, we take  pride in the fact that the stuff actually works! In a world of highly fragile high-end audio pieces, our Dangerous gear has been truly steady and stable and has rarely, if ever, caused us any downtime -- I don't think I can say that about many other lines of equipment."

At the Foo Fighter's mastering session, band members Dave  Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Pat Smear, Nate Mendel, and Chris Shiflet were all there, along with producer Butch Vig and engineer James Brown. "One of the main challenges for this mastering session actually occurred during the mixing process," discloses Lazar.  "We originally received the first batch of tapes that Alan Moulder mixed while at Chalice Studios in LA. Those mixes were really good with a solid low-end texture, but intrinsically Dave [Grohl] was looking for something more raw and aggressive. We originally mastered a few versions of those mixes and discussed where the new mixes sonically could go next. Dave decided to return  to his garage where they originally tracked the album and determined to mix with the energy of that environment. Dave along with Butch, Alan, James and the Foos had all hands on deck for the mixing process and the results have a particular flavor to them. As a mastering engineer, it was incredibly exciting to hear these new mixes come to life.  The garage mixes posed different technical needs than the Chalice mixes, but they had captured an intense rock sound and a unique vibe."

Staying 100% analog for the whole process from recording and mixing to mastering was a goal of the Foo Fighters' "Wasting Light" production, so there was a special moment in the studio at The Lodge during the very final stage of  mastering, preparing the music for distribution, "We mastered from 1/2-inch  analog tape at 30 IPS using our ATR-102 tape deck for playback into the front end of the Dangerous Master. In fact, while looking over my shoulder at the  computer monitor, the guys were marveling about the fact that this was the first  time they saw a digital wave file depicting the songs throughout the entire  recording process!" says Lazar. "It was all analog awesomeness until the very  end!"

For more information on mastering engineer Emily Lazar and The Lodge studios: http://thelodge.com

Check out the Foo Fighters' website: http://www.foofighters.com/us/home

All the Grammy winners are listed at: http://www.grammy.com/nominees

For info on the Dangerous Music 'Master' see: http://www.dangerousmusic.com/master.html

About Dangerous Music
Dangerous Music, Inc. designs and builds products that are indispensable to any DAW-based recording environment. Dangerous Music electronics designer Chris  Muth has spent over 20 years working in and designing custom equipment for top recording and mastering studios. Muth and company founder Bob Muller pioneered the concept of the dedicated analog summing buss for digital audio workstations with the Dangerous 2-Bus in 2001. Today the company offers a wide range of products for recording, mastering, mixing and post-production facilities, all designed and built with mastering-quality standards and a practical aesthetic.  Key products include the Dangerous 2-Bus and 2-Bus LT, Dangerous Monitor ST-SR and its Additional Switching System expansion units, Dangerous D-Box, Dangerous Master,  Dangerous Liaison, Dangerous Monitor and Dangerous Bax EQ.

For more information on Dangerous Music visit http://www.dangerousmusic.com phone  607-965-8011 or email: info@dangerousmusic.com

 



 

 


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Award Nominations Feature Top Engineers & Producers who use Dangerous Music equipment


Edmeston, NY - February 6, 2012 - Dangerous Music is extending congratulations to several of their users who have Grammy(r) nominated projects for 2011. All the clients have great praise for the Dangerous Music gear they used in their productions, from the Foo Fighters, with mastering engineers Emily Lazar and Joe LaPorta, the Kings of Leon with co-producer and engineer Jacquire King, Glenn Schick mastering for Canton Jones, and Nashville's producer and engineer John Schirmer for Keb Mo, to the engineers and producers at New York's Stadium Red studios who turned out a host of nominations for projects from artists J. Cole, Chris Brown, Marsha Ambrosius, and classical composer Steven Mackey. The Grammy Awards are to be televised live February 12, on CBS.

Rock royalty Foo Fighters and platinum favorites Kings of Leon share Rock Grammy accolades with Best Rock Album nominations, while the album and songs from the Foo Fighters "Wasted Light" also have nominations for Album of the Year, Best Rock Performance, Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Long Form Music Video. The Foo Fighters album, (produced by Butch Vig who's up for Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical), was mastered by Emily Lazar and Joe LaPorta at The Lodge Mastering in NY, using Dangerous Music equipment. While the Kings of Leon release "Come Around Sundown" was co-produced and mixed by Jacquire King using Dangerous Music gear extensively throughout the production process.

The Lodge studios sports the highly analog Dangerous Master in their mastering studio. "I have always favored gear that allows me to  effect changes without artificially coloring the sound too much,"  states Emily Lazar, Chief Mastering Engineer at The Lodge. "My choice pieces from our arsenal are both musical and  clean but without being too clinical - with that in mind, I can always  rely on the Dangerous Music Master with its S&M capability to  give me a true and desirable result. The versatility and overall transparency of the Dangerous gear has allowed me to remain  flexible regardless of the genre of music that I'm mastering. The Dangerous S&M process found its way into the analog chain on the Foo Fighters'  "Wasting Light" quite a bunch! I'm a huge fan of its circuitry. It always seems to add an elegant width and  depth to the mix and can at times even fix mixes that lack dimension.  It's super versatile with its side-chain capabilities, and I even love  running things through it flat!"

On the Kings of Leon album "Come Around Sundown" - nominated for the 'Best Rock Album' Grammy - engineer and producer Jacquire King used the Dangerous 2-Bus analog summing amp and Monitor ST monitor controller, "Using the 2-Bus and ST in a hybrid setup with my analog outboard pieces is absolutely  comparable to mixing on a great analog console. I can hear things very  accurately, the Dangerous Music gear is not a colored, tricky sound,  it's transparent and true," says King.

Mastering engineer Glenn Schick is nominated for the artist Canton Jones for Best Gospel Song, (Schick was also nominated in 2010 for "Best Engineered Album" for Widespread Panic's release). "I used the Dangerous Bax EQ as well as the Dangerous Master on the Canton Jones album," says Schick. "I love the Bax EQ! It's the cleanest and most musical piece of gear that I own!"

Nashville producer and engineer John Schirmer of Twelve Tone Music studios recorded and mixed the new Keb Mo album, "The Reflection" that is up for a 'Best Blues Album' Grammy. Schirmer uses the Dangerous D-Box integrated analog summing and monitor controller. "There are few things in my  studio that are not replaceable. My ears, my record player and my Dangerous D-Box are the three most irreplaceable tools in my box," says Schirmer. "I  draw inspiration from all three on a daily basis and I couldn't possibly do what I do with any one of  the three unavailable to me. Together we work and function as a team and  the Dangerous D-Box is the nerve center to all things Twelve Tone  Music, the D-Box is an extension of who I am as a Producer/Mixer/Engineer and its addition to Twelve Tone Music is  priceless."

Engineers and producers at New York's Stadium Red studios turned out a host of Grammy Award nominations this year for Best New Artist: J. Cole, Best R&B Album: Chris Brown, Best R&B Performance: Marsha Ambrosius; and Best Engineered Album, Classical: Steven Mackey: Lonely Motel - Music From Slide which was mixed by Grammy nominated engineer Tom Lazarus. "All of our Grammy nominated projects at some point were worked on in Stadium Red's Studio A and Studio C4 with the Dangerous Monitor ST," says Claude Zdanow, Stadium Red's Founder and CEO.

Stadium Red's Grammy nominated engineer Ariel Borujow, who has worked with P. Diddy, T.I., Chiddy Bang, and Black Eyed Peas among many others, utilizes three key Dangerous Music products, Monitor ST, 2-Bus LT analog summing and BAX EQ, in 'Studio C4' at Stadium Red. "With the Monitor ST I can finally hear my mixes they way I always wanted to," says Borujow. "Along with my Dangerous 2-Bus LT, and BAX EQ, I have the perfect rig with instant recall capabilities. With the BAX EQ last in my chain, I know when I print my mixes I can give them the extra umph they deserve. I won't mix without it."

All the Grammy nominees are listed at: http://www.grammy.com/nominees and the 54th Grammy(r) Awards show will air on February 12, 2012 at 8pm EST on CBS, visit: http://www.grammy.com

For more information on some of the engineers, producers and studios who have worked on these Grammy nominated projects, visit: The Lodge: http://thelodge.com - Stadium Red: http://www.stadiumredny.com - Twelve-Tone-Music: http://twelve-tone-music.com - Jacquire King: http://jacquireking.com - Glenn Schick Mastering: http://www.gsmastering.com


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Leader in Monitor Control Debuts Portable & Desktop Unit


Anaheim, CA - January 19, 2012 - At the 2012 Winter NAMM show, Dangerous Music announced their newest monitor controller, the "Dangerous Source" - a portable and desktop unit designed for the engineer on the go or to fit a limited space on the desktop. Dangerous Music is one of the industry leaders in dedicated monitor controllers and helped usher in the product category over 10 years ago with the Dangerous Monitor - widely regarded as a  benchmark of quality. Dangerous Music monitoring products have been nominated and won many prestigious industry awards including Pro Audio Review magazine's PAR Excellence Award, TEC Award, EM Editors Choice, MIX Magazine's Certified Hit, and Future Music Magazine's ACE Award among others. The new sleekly designed "Dangerous Source" builds on this sterling reputation as a perfectly tuned complement to any DAW for its centralized control of speakers, headphones, and more. The Source fits perfectly beneath a 13" laptop computer, but it can also sit unobtrusively on the desktop within arms reach to provide easy control of volume, input selection, speaker switching, and headphone control. An input for USB audio simplifies a traveling mix rig even further. The "Dangerous Source" is set for release in early Q2, 2012, the price is to be announced.

"With the explosion of professional recording and mixing being done on today's powerful laptop computers, we wanted to bring our standard of audio path quality and functionality to portable monitor control," says Bob Muller, President of Dangerous Music. "We've been making monitor controllers since before the product category existed in the mainstream, so the Dangerous Source seemed like  the logical next step in the lineage of Monitor, Monitor ST and D-Box.  We've also added a first for our products in that the Source connects directly to the computer via USB, saving even  more cable hassles for the traveling engineer."

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The Dangerous Music "Source" monitor controller announced at NAMM 2012 shown with a 13" laptop


The "Dangerous Source" monitor controller sports many of the key  professional features of the company's award-winning Dangerous D-Box,  such as speaker switching for two sets of speakers, speaker volume,  AES/SPDIF digital IN, 2 Stereo Analog IN, dual headphone out with a separate level control, and in addition, it can connect  directly to a computer for monitoring of digital audio over USB. Dangerous Source is capable of up to 24-bit 192kHz on both digital  inputs. Although the Dangerous Source is the company's first non-rack mount product, an optional 1RU user-installable front panel  option will be available.

Highlights of the "Dangerous Source" Monitor Controller:

• Designed for portability
• Desktop form factor sits comfortably under a 13" laptop
• Optional 1RU front panel available
• Speaker volume control
• Two 1/4-inch headphone outs
• Supports 2 pairs of speakers
• Alternatively select both speaker outputs simultaneously for speakers and subwoofer combination
• Layering of multiple inputs in both the speaker and headphone outputs
• 2 Analog IN: unbalanced 1/8" mini stereo at -10 dBv, balanced XLR/1/4" combo jack at +4 dBu
• AES/SPDIF digital IN, up to 24-bit/192 kHz
• USB IN, up to 24-bit/192kHz for Windows and Mac
• Line-level pass-thru for Control Room output
• Buffered digital thru output for AES/SPDIF input

• Set for a Q2 2012 release, price TBD

About Dangerous Music
Dangerous Music, Inc. designs and builds products that are indispensable to any DAW-based recording environment. Dangerous Music electronics designer Chris Muth has spent over 20 years working in and  designing custom equipment for top recording and mastering studios. Muth and company founder Bob Muller pioneered the concept of  the dedicated analog summing buss for digital audio workstations with  the Dangerous 2-Bus in 2001. Today the company offers a wide range of  products for recording, mastering, mixing and post-production facilities, all designed and built with mastering-quality standards and a  practical aesthetic. Key products include the Dangerous 2-Bus and 2-Bus LT, Dangerous Monitor ST-SR and its Additional Switching System expansion units, Dangerous D-Box, Dangerous Master, Dangerous Liaison, Dangerous Monitor and Dangerous Bax EQ.

For more information on Dangerous Music visit http://www.dangerousmusic.com phone 607-965-8011 or email: info@dangerousmusic.com

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Grammy-nominated SF Bay Area producer & engineer uses D-Box on multiple albums

EDMESTON, NY — January 6, 2012 — Following up on his Grammy-nominated mixes for Trombone Shorty which still reigns the Billboard charts with singles "For True" and "Backtown," San Francisco Bay Area producer and engineer Count (aka Mikael Eldridge) just finished the new DJ Shadow album titled "The Less You Know the Better." Using his Dangerous Music D-Box with analog summing and monitor control as he did on Trombone Shorty's release, Count is very pleased with the mixes he's been getting this year, and excited to have his studio working and sounding just the way he'd like. In addition to being a producer and mix engineer, Count is also a musician and remixer and has wide ranging credits from Radiohead, Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra and New Order, to No Doubt, Lyrics Born, and  Blackalicious. During 2011 Count also completed tracks fore Zoe Keating and Tycho - both high on the iTunes charts - and five new albums due out next year from The Revivalists, Galactic, Roberto Fonseca, Ryan Montbleau and Inu - all mixed with the Dangerous D-Box.

"Everything that I've done this past year, 2011, has been on the D-Box and it's certainly helped on a lot of levels," states Count. "When I plugged in the D-Box and did the first mix on the Trombone Shorty record, everything seemed a little different. It was changing how I was mixing. It allowed me to push things harder within Pro Tools, I could boost some highs or get some nastier, more present upper-mids on a vocal without them getting harsh. I could boost the lows on the kick further than I would normally be able to do before they started to sound un-clear, undefined and muddy. I was able to push  things harder and further and still maintain the clarity. That was first thing I noticed about the D-Box just starting a track, EQ-ing, I thought: 'Wow!  Ok! That's no joke. I notice a difference there.'"

Count has been refining his Mac and Pro Tools-based studio over the past few years and finally feels everything is working and sounding just like what he's always imagined, "There are a few things that have come together in the past year or two so that I now have my way of working that allows me to get the results that top mixers used to have to spend a ton of time and money and effort using huge, elaborate setups: consoles and outboard gear that needed to get repaired and got really noisy. The critical elements for me were Dangerous Music hardware along with a few amazing companies like PSP and Sound Toys that started coming out with plugins that did what I needed them to do. The combination of those plug-ins and switching to the D-Box plus building my own control room instead of working in other studios, those were the three keys."

But his studio is not complete quite yet, Counts is planning to expand some of his Dangerous Music gear, "My nature is to streamline things and be absolutely minimalist even if it means choosing between a piece of gear that I already own, like a Distressor, and using the plug-in version, I opt for ultimate streamline. So it's sort of going against my nature, but I want to expand upon the D-Box and add a Dangerous 2-Bus for 16 more channels of analog summing early next year."

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Producer and Engineer 'Count' in his studio with the Dangerous D-Box

On the monitoring control side of the D-Box for his older Genelec 1030's, Count points out that it really matters when you are doing professional work, "I had an inexpensive monitor system before the D-Box. It was supposed to be a passive box that didn't color the sound, but it wasn't quite happening [laughs] it just wasn't a comparable piece of gear. I encourage people to take the next step because, really, the difference between the entry level monitoring gear and the D-Box is pretty significant. I think that's where the D-Box sort of nailed it because it's not in that price range where it's just out of the reach of most people. The D-box is affordable to the average engineer, yet it's not a compromise in quality like those other pieces of gear I tried before this. With the D-Box I know what my mixes really sound like."

"I think I'm a good person to talk to about gear because I'm not an engineer, meaning I don't know what goes on inside the gear that I use," says Count. "I know what sounds good, and I have good ears. All I know is what I hear. I'm not one of those people that's going to think 'Oh the plug-in version doesn't sound as good as the real one' - if sounds good I'll use it."

Remembering mixing with the D-Box for the first time, Count recalls, "One of the things that was very unexpected, and that I had never really considered before - with my mix in Pro Tools, summed internally, I can max out  at a certain level - but when I hit the D-Box I instantly gain like 6dB just by running it through the D-Box's the analog summing and then back into Pro Tools - because I can hit it harder. It's just something I hadn't really considered. And  I'm not one of those guys that's all about loudness: I actually wish everyone would just pull back a few dB on their mixes and the mastering."

He adds, "When I go to master, that's really where I am going to be maximizing my output. I hadn't really considered that I'd be capturing that level in my mix before mastering. It's just so much easier now with the D-Box to get things sounding like tracks that I'm referencing, like the Roots if I'm working on a hip-hop track, for example. I used to struggle to get things as loud and gigantic, now it's just a lot easier, I'm starting 5 or 6dB louder to begin with and I really don't have to do that much when I'm mastering anymore. I didn't expect that from using the D-Box summing."

Count uses the fastest Mac Pro he can get along with Avid Pro Tools. The computers are so powerful now they handle all he can throw at them, "It's taken so many years to get to this point where we are now, where I do a mix and I don't have to worry about running out of processing. This is the first time that it ever happened. This is a golden era for mixers, where finally we have all the choices of plug-ins that we would ever want to have, and we don't run out of processing. I mostly use RTAS plug-ins now, these are the first Mac Pros that have enough processing power. In order to get the sound that I wanted to get, I have to layer tons of plug-ins to sort of approximate what analog gear is doing." Combine that power with the Dangerous analog summing and you have a  hit.

As a musician, Count recorded with various engineers but never to his ultimate satisfaction, "I wanted to be in control of my sound, I didn't want to be a producer that wasn't also the mixer, because it just frustrated the hell out of me when engineers didn't come up with the sound that I was looking for. I realized that I was going to have to learn all the technical aspects of mixing to get the sound that I wanted. It's nice that finally after all those years I have a setup that works for me."

With the abundance of independent artists wanting to record and mix albums,  Count says, "It's more important now that people are able to get the results  that we used to get in the past on big expensive outboard gear, but without the  cost. It's as important as the sonic excellence that people strive for."

Looking back and comparing his work today reveals one of Count's secrets, the D-Box. "Ten years ago I was pushing everybody to do mixes inside the box. And people were laughing at me. When I plugged the D-Box in the  first time I was very skeptical. I really just didn't want to deal with re-setting up and configuring my control room to include a new piece of gear.  But I did recognize I was struggling to achieve that upper 5 to10 percent for the mix. You can get your mix 80-90 percent there, but then to get it 100-percent there, where it really stands out and sounds better than anything else that other people are doing, that part was taking me so long. Getting mixes to 100-percent was a struggle, and I had a love-hate relationship with mixing where I really didn't enjoy it necessarily, it was a little painful, but after I  mixed that Trombone Shorty record with the Dangerous D-Box, it just changed my whole outlook, I realized I was not stressed and I just enjoyed the process." And then Count's mixes on Trombone Shorty's album were nominated for the "Best Contemporary Jazz Album" Grammy(r) Award for 2010.

For more information on Count visit: http://www.vertebraeproductions.com

About Dangerous Music
Dangerous Music, Inc. designs and builds products that are indispensable to any DAW-based recording environment. Dangerous Music electronics designer Chris  Muth has spent over 20 years working in and designing custom equipment for top recording and mastering studios. Muth and company founder Bob Muller pioneered  the concept of the dedicated analog summing buss for digital audio workstations with the Dangerous 2-Bus in 2001. Today the company offers a wide range of  products for recording, mastering, mixing and post-production facilities, all designed and built with mastering-quality standards and a practical aesthetic. Key products include the Dangerous 2-Bus and 2-Bus LT, Dangerous Monitor  ST-SR and its Additional Switching System expansion units, Dangerous D-Box, Dangerous Master, Dangerous Liaison, Dangerous  Monitor and Dangerous Bax EQ.

For more information on Dangerous Music visit http://www.dangerousmusic.com phone 607-965-8011 or email: info@dangerousmusic.com

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EDMESTON, NY - December 13, 2011 - Some producers follow artists to their home towns or favorite recording studios. Seminal R&B and hip-hop  producer/songwriter Teddy Riley has seen it all during his illustrious career and now finds himself in the middle of a whole new wave of styling in Korea with "K Pop" - a unique variety of music emerging from South Korea. Having produced some music that zoomed up the Korean music charts, he decided to go there and set up a production company. However, his secret weapon in creating  beats and mixing and monitoring had to part of the equation: Dangerous Music  2-Bus LT analog summing for mixing and the Dangerous Monitor ST for monitor control and source switching. When in Korea, he set up just such a recording system. And for the 2011 Blackstreet concert tour Riley added the Dangerous Music D-Box compact 1U rackspace integrated 8-channel  summing and monitor control to his portable setup so he can keep working on productions and have his 'sound' while traveling.

"I came out to Korea because there was a song that was released that I produced," says Riley. "The company didn't tell my team what was going on with the song, so I wound up taking a trip there, and it turned into a two-month visit. The first three weeks we were in the apartment making beats. Then we met a friend who became a partner in our company, TRX, Teddy Riley Xperience. He showed us the ropes in Korea and connected us to all the major companies, including SM Entertainment, the largest record company in Korea, maybe in all of Asia."

"SM Entertainment told us 'Why don't you guys stay a week, make some music, we'd like to hear what you've got, we want to do business with you,'" Riley  continues. "That turned into me wanting to get gear out here because if I'm going to make music I want my sound out here. I already had my computer, but I wanted 'the force' behind me, which is the Dangerous Music sound!"

Just what does the sound of the Dangerous Music gear mean to him? Riley states, "I can only say that the Dangerous 2-Bus is the closest thing to the analog SSL I used back in the day. That's a real strong and prominent sound for me. Using the Dangerous gear has gotten me into that sonic landscape. The Dangerous gear is 'Warm' - I can make anything have 'punch' in the box, but I can't make it sound warm, and that's the thing that I get with Dangerous gear. I can also get a 'grimy' sound with Dangerous, and I get 'presence' as well. It takes me back to Dolby SR with tape where you feel the warmness of it."

As Riley is making up beats and working on songs, he is always listening  through the Monitor ST and the 2-Bus comparing the sound. He likes hearing the benefit of the 2-Bus analog summing while he's working. "I have to have that," he says. "What I like about the Monitor ST is that the remote is very easy to use and the system gives me the ability to listen back to what the music sounds like from the actual mix in the 2-Bus and after the converter captures the mix through my Apogee - you can AB both sides."

Revealing more of his work in South Korea he says, "My goal was to get the  music done, go back to America and do my tour with my band Blackstreet, and then come right back to Korea. We'd had a second single come out called 'Demon' by the Korean artist Jay Park, he's like the Justin Timberlake of  Korea. He sings in English, and in fact the single is in English. The name of  this music in the movement is called 'K Pop' - a lot of people follow this sound. That's another reason why I'm here - because my music and my style happens to fit in. We have a few more singles coming out pretty soon, I can't wait for everyone to hear them!"

"Everything I do I mix through the Dangerous gear. I've been working with an incredible engineer in Korea, Mr. Yoo Youn Jin, who's also a producer and singer. I wanted to learn from the people who know the sound in Korea. He's one of the greatest mixers I've ever worked with. I've never had my music sound so warm. He uses a bunch of outboard gear and mixes through the Dangerous 2-Bus."

Riley uses MOTU and Apogee converters in his computer-based recording set up along with a pair of 2-Bus LT's and a Monitor ST. "It's been fantastic. When my equipment setup started getting smaller and more compact, and my formula started getting smaller and 'in-the-box" - I said 'I've got to have something that's going to give me the analog sound' - I started working on the posthumous Michael Jackson album titled Michael and I wanted something to give me the feel of an SSL board. So I decided I wanted to check out the Dangerous  gear. I had heard that DeVante from Jodeci was using it, and Jean-Marie Horvat told me about it too. I said 'I've got to get it' because those are the people I respect when it comes to gear. I did a lot of the Michael Jackson mixes on this system, and I did the new Blackstreet album on it too."

Describing his rig, he explains, "From the output of the laptop I go into a  MOTU interface which connects straight to the two linked 2-Bus LT's, giving me 32 channels. The stereo monitor output of the second LT goes to the Monitor ST input 1 - my "A" listening channel. The main 2-Bus outputs go to my Apogee Rosetta A-to-D, which goes back into the MOTU interface. Then I can monitor the output of the mix through the Monitor ST using the Apogee analog outputs on ST input 2 - my "B" listening channel. "A" will be the actual mix from the 2-Bus, "B" will be what's coming back post A/D conversion and after any mix buss processing."

"I never had the opportunity to write anything with Michael Jackson but what I was able to do was, as a friend, take on the Michael project, mixing other people's productions. I took the project to the finish line. The album was a success, selling millions of copies around the world. I'm very proud of it," says Riley.
Teddy.bmp
Teddy Riley in his studio with the Dangerous Monitor ST and 2-Bus LT


About Dangerous Music
Dangerous Music, Inc. designs and builds products that are indispensable to any DAW-based recording environment. Dangerous Music electronics designer Chris  Muth has spent over 20 years working in and designing custom equipment for top recording and mastering studios. Muth and company founder Bob Muller pioneered  the concept of the dedicated analog summing buss for digital audio workstations with the Dangerous 2-Bus in 2001. Today the company offers a wide range of  products for recording, mastering, mixing and post-production facilities, all  designed and built with mastering-quality standards and a practical aesthetic. Key products include the Dangerous 2-Bus and 2-Bus LT, Dangerous Monitor  ST-SR and its Additional Switching System expansion units, Dangerous D-Box,  Dangerous Master, Dangerous Liaison, Dangerous Monitor and Dangerous Bax  EQ.

For more information on Dangerous Music visit http://www.dangerousmusic.com phone 607-965-8011 or email: info@dangerousmusic.com

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Streamlined Studio Based Around Dangerous Music Equipment Offers Artistic Freedom & Quality Sound

EDMESTON, NY - September 30, 2011 - Renowned recording artist and composer Duncan Sheik has outfitted his Upstate NY studio with Dangerous Music's analog summing, monitor control and DAC, installing the Dangerous 2-Bus, Monitor ST and DAC ST. Sheik and his long-time engineer Michael Tudor now get all the key ingredients of an exceptional analog signal path, but without the constant console maintenance, thrills of surprise downtime, unknown noises and creativity-ending problems often associated with older analog  console-based studios.  Now it's all about clean, clear signal where they can control the sonic flavors with choices of mics and outboard  gear. Through careful design and the ease of use of Dangerous Music equipment, Sheik's studio is always, and instantly, ready to record a  new song, or music for a Broadway-bound musical, and always at the highest quality.

"Using the Dangerous Music setup is cleaner and faster - a lot less to do, and a lot less worry," says Sheik comparing his former vintage analog console. "You turn the Dangerous gear on and it sounds great. In a certain way it's a simpler and nicer world."
Sheik.png

Most recently Sheik released Covers 80s with acoustic rearrangements of Sheik's favorite synth-oriented hits from the 1980s. "The entire album was recorded with the Dangerous Music equipment and it was a 'friction-free' experience!" says Sheik with a laugh. His 1996 self-titled album on Atlantic Records spawned the hit  "Barely Breathing" and his composing led to success with the award-winning Broadway musical Spring Awakening. Sheik continues to release critically acclaimed albums and compose for the theater, with an electronic music score for the stage version of American Psycho, and an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, The Nightingale, both in production.

Sheik's talents as a producer have accelerated with joining Global Positioning Services, a producer management firm based in New York and Los Angeles. He has produced albums for Holly Brook (aka Skylar Grey), Samantha Ronson, Chris Garneau, as well as many of his own records. The Spring Awakening cast album that Sheik produced won a Grammy(r) for 'Best Musical Show  Album' in 2008. He continues to seek outside production projects.

"The Monitor ST with the DAC ST is my standard for listening now," adds Sheik. "It's a really smart and well-configured piece of equipment where I can go between the Focal speakers and the NS-10s and whatever else we want to put up there. The Monitor ST is very fast and the levels are always matched. It's another great way of making sure that mixes are what they should be."

Sheik has worked with engineer Michael Tudor for over 13 years, and at Tudor's own studio in Woodstock, NY he utilizes the Dangerous Monitor ST as well. "Having the Monitor ST to integrate all the elements of my rig gives me great peace of mind. With the ST I am confident that I am  hearing the true output of the system. The ST is accurate, transparent  and dependable. In addition, the agility of the ST's control surface is a pleasure to experience," says Tudor.
duncan.jpg

When Sheik had sold his loft and studio in NY, the large analog console had to go into storage while he was building a new studio in upstate NY. He was living temporarily in a smaller apartment, but had to continue to  work, "I needed something with a small footprint to work with my Apogee and Logic system, so I got the Dangerous D-Box -which sounded great and worked great," he says.

"When I moved upstate and the studio was finished, the Calrec console,  tragically, was stolen-this 2,000 pound object was completely gone!-so  we decided to continue on and use the Dangerous Music equipment, and we  got the Dangerous Monitor ST speaker switching set up with the DAC ST and the Dangerous 2-Bus analog summing-the whole setup. Now I have the console in a rack, and I  don't need this huge board with this giant footprint. Since having the  Dangerous Music rig, I haven't missed having the console at all. It's a very new world out there when you're set up this way. It's efficient,  clean, and really nice."

Sheik's engineer, Tudor concurs, "When I introduced the Dangerous gear in to Duncan's studio, it created a commonality between our two studios. The Dangerous designs are a new standard of excellence and performance. Even though I am running an old school analogue console in my studio, Duncan's 2-Bus will replicate the analog summing, so that I can bring projects back and  forth and not loose anything in translation. This is a huge time saver. Dangerous gear has an impressive list of design aspects and useful  functionality. Perhaps most impressive is that it all works flawlessly, it's trustworthy."

Liking the clean, clear sound of the Dangerous Music equipment, Sheik offers his take on coloring a mix, "I know there are people who like to have an intensely  strong color on everything and maybe they want to use a super old NEVE  broadcast board or whatever, because it has a very particular sound, but  for me it's safer to have something that's very clean like the Dangerous 2-Bus,  and then I can do the coloring of the sound using mic pres or compressors or microphones on the front end. So if I'm trying to get something to sound like the 1940's or 50's or whatever it is, then I'll  try to do that in the initial part of the chain as opposed to the output."

Tudor comes to Sheik's upstate NY studio and records and also mixes there with the Dangerous 2-Bus, Monitor ST and DAC ST.  Because the Dangerous Music equipment is so integrated with thecomputer-and easily recallable-their production process is streamlined, "We have a good 'short hand' at this point in terms of how we work and  what we do," says Sheik. "Michael did a great job setting up this particular configuration of the studio. It's really evolved over the last ten or eleven years since I was in my Tribeca studio. Now it's at  this place where you kind of turn on one switch (laughs) and you boot up  Logic and every synthesizer, an acoustic guitar microphone, a pair of piano microphones and a vocal microphone and we are ready to go. And  that's really brilliant because, there's not that thing of 'Oh, I want  to record this song' and then three hours later you start. It's like: 'I  want to record this song' and three minutes later you start and that's a huge difference - the Dangerous gear makes it possible."

Visit  Duncan Sheik's website at: http://www.duncansheik.com and Sneaky Studios at: http://www.duncansheik.com/sneakystudios/

About Dangerous Music
Dangerous Music, Inc. designs and builds products that are indispensable to any DAW-based recording environment. Dangerous Music electronics designer  Chris Muth has spent over 20 years working in and designing custom equipment for top recording and mastering studios. Muth and company founder Bob Muller pioneered the concept of the dedicated analog summing buss for digital audio workstations with the Dangerous 2-Bus in 2001. Today the company offers a wide range of products for recording, mastering, mixing and post-production facilities, all designed and built  with mastering-quality standards and a practical aesthetic. Key products include the Dangerous 2-Bus and 2-Bus LT, Dangerous Monitor ST-SR and its Additional Switching System expansion units, Dangerous D-Box, Dangerous Master, Dangerous S&M, Dangerous Monitor and Dangerous Bax EQ. http://www.dangerousmusic.com/

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At the 2009 NAMM NAMM show (Booth #6916) in Anaheim, CA, Dangerous Music, Inc. is showing their highly anticipated "DAC-SR" 6-channel mastering quality digital-to-analog converter module with digital input switching for their popular Monitor ST/SR 5.1 controller. The Dangerous DAC-SR is the first surround sound option for the Additional Switching System (A.S.S), a 1 RU expansion rack which can house up to two modules with the ability to stack two racks, adding four additional functions, all switchable directly from the ST remote. Dangerous Music also announced that the "Uniswitch" A.S.S. module will be shipping to customers March 15, 2009. The Dangerous Uniswitch is a universal RS232 switcher that has customizable options. The stock version is engineered to control Gefen, Inc. video and Keyboard-Video-Mouse switchers directly from the Monitor ST remote.

"The new 6-channel DAC-SR
is the perfect companion to the Monitor ST/SR surround controller for those users who need mastering quality digital-to-analog conversion with digital input source switching integrated into their listening environment," said Bob Muller, Dangerous Music's Founder. "This way clients have an easy path to creating their own custom controller setups with the Additional Switching System. The stereo DAC-ST module is a huge hit, and we're about to ship the Uniswitch for handling video source and KVM switching for multiple computer setups in post-production and film scoring facilities. More modules for the expansion rack's open architecture will be announced in the coming year."

Providing mastering quality 6-channel D-to-A conversion and digital source switching for a surround Monitor ST-SR setup, the Dangerous DAC-SR option delivers superb multi-channel D-to-A conversion instantly accessed from the Monitor ST/SR remote control. Integrated digital source switching allows the user to monitor all digital sources through the same converters, which is crucial for true A/B listening comparisons, confidence monitoring and level matching. The DAC-SR takes the guesswork out of any digital monitoring in the surround studio. It is easy to compare a mix to any reference source, without the need to factor in differences in level and sound quality that exist when using several different external converters.

Two rear-panel DB-25 digital inputs on the DAC-SR accept AES or SPDIF formats, and two TOSLINK inputs accept optical multi-channel feeds. Input 4 is switchable to accept stereo optical as well. As a truly professional system, DAC-SR can be calibrated to match any chosen studio reference level.

The new Dangerous Uniswitch option provides control of various Gefen, Inc. 4-input by 1-output video and USB switchers directly from the Monitor ST remote. The Uniswitch option puts control at the audio mixing station, where it should be. Paired with the appropriate Gefen component, the new Dangerous Uniswitch option can control and switch between a single display, mouse and keyboard for up to four Mac and/or Windows computers. Or for video post studios Uniswitch can route four HDMI sources to one display, or four DVI sources to one display. To search the list of 4-Input by 1-output Gefen Switchers that the new Dangerous Uniswitch is compatible with visit the Gefen website: http://www.gefen.com. Only those with RS232 remote input are accessible via Uniswitch. It is also factory customizable to control any RS232 remote controlled device, such as tape machine transport controls.

The Additional Switching System is sold as a rack/power supply set with one or two user-selected options, each option having a specific price. Users can purchase a single option along with a chassis, then purchase a second option later and self-install that card; or purchase a chassis with two options already installed. Other options currently available include the "DAC-ST," for 2-channel D-to-A conversion and digital source switching.

Monitor ST-SR
The Monitor ST-SR focuses on solving monitoring problems associated with DAW-based recording and mixing in studio environments not employing a traditional console. The Monitor ST is a remote-control based input source and speaker switcher with integrated cue and talkback systems, including an onboard headphone power amplifier- all in one rack space. The Monitor SR is a companion one-rack space expansion module providing full 5.1 surround monitoring capability. Studios working in stereo can start with the ST and later expand to surround by adding the SR unit with no equipment redundancy or obsolescence. With the cat-5 connected remote control unit, included with the Monitor ST, engineers can configure and control an entire system from the comfort of the studio's sweet spot.

The suggested retail price of the Dangerous DAC-SR is TBA. The Dangerous Uniswitch has a price of $219 and €199.

The suggested retail price for Dangerous Monitor ST is $2199 and €1700 and Dangerous Monitor SR surround expander is $1499 and €1250.

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Dangerous Music, Inc. has shipped their first units of the "DAC ST," a mastering quality, stereo digital-to-analog converter option for their popular Monitor ST controller. The DAC-ST is the first available option in the line for the new Additional Switching System (A.S.S) one-rack space expander which can house up to two banks of two cards each, adding four additional functions switchable directly from the ST-SR remote.

"The new DAC-ST greatly enhances the power of the Monitor ST controller for those users who must have exceptional digital-to-analog conversion and digital source switching integrated into their listening system," said Bob Muller, Dangerous Music's Founder and Co-owner. "The new open architecture of the Additional Switching System expansion chassis offers customers an easy way to create their own custom integrated controller system. The DAC-SR 6-channel digital-to-analog converter option for ST/SR surround users is up next."

Offering mastering quality on-board stereo D-to-A conversion and digital source switching for Monitor ST, the Dangerous DAC-ST option delivers superbly accurate D-to-A conversion, instantly accessed from the Monitor ST remote control. Integrated digital source switching allows the user to monitor all digital sources through the same converter, which is crucial for critical listening, confidence monitoring and level matching. The DAC-ST takes the guesswork out of any digital monitoring task. Now it's easy to compare a mix to any reference source, without the need to factor in differences in level and sound quality that exist when using several external converters.

All 4 rear-panel digital inputs on the DAC-ST accept AES or SPDIF formats and have active Thru outputs for routing these input signals to other devices. When the user needs to quickly hook up external units such as beat-boxes or keyboards that have an SPDIF output, the front panel dedicated SPDIF input saves crawling behind a rack with a flashlight. Being a truly professional system, DAC-ST can be calibrated to match your chosen studio reference level.

The Additional Switching System is sold as a chassis/power supply set with one or two user-selected options, each option having a specific price. Users can purchase a single option along with a chassis, then purchase a second option later and self-install that card; or purchase a chassis with two options already installed. Several other options are in the works including the "DAC-SR," a 6-channel DAC for surround setups, and a companion to the Monitor SR expansion.

Monitor ST-SR
The Monitor ST-SR focuses on solving monitoring problems associated with DAW-based recording and mixing in studio environments not employing a traditional console. The Monitor ST is a remote-control based input source and speaker switcher with integrated cue and talkback systems, including an onboard headphone power amplifier- all in one rack space. The Monitor SR is a companion one-rack space expansion module providing full 5.1 surround monitoring capability. Studios working in stereo can start with the ST and later expand to surround by adding the SR unit with no equipment redundancy or obsolescence. With the cat-5 connected remote control unit, included with the Monitor ST, engineers can configure and control an entire system from the comfort of the studio's sweet spot.

The DAC-ST suggested retail price is $1199 and €925, and includes the integrated power supply unit and expansion chassis with an extra space for a second user-installable option.

The suggested retail price for Dangerous Monitor ST is $2199 and €1850; and Dangerous Monitor SR expander is $1499 and €1350.

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On the first day of the New York 123rd annual AES convention, Dangerous Music, Inc. announced the "Additional Switching System" (A.S.S.) a one-rack space expander system for their popular Monitor ST and SR controllers. The A.S.S. offers up to two banks of two options each, allowing four additional capabilities for the monitor controller available directly from the ST-SR remote.

Options introduced at the AES Show include mastering quality stereo Digital-to-Analog conversion: "DAC-ST" and dual-format Video Input Switching for Monitor ST and ST-SR systems: "VIDSWITCH." The individual A.S.S. option cards vary in price because of their differing functions.

Upcoming options include full-featured 5.1 surround bass management with selectable filters and crossover points: "BASS-SR;" Comprehensive subwoofer control: "SUB-ST;" Comprehensive 5.1 to stereo fold-down and Downmix control: "FOLDDOWN;" Meter feed and selected output source for Monitor ST: "METER-ST;" 6- Ch. DAC for surround setups: "DAC-SR;" and Multiple input listening and input mixing for Monitor ST: "MIX-ST"

Planned Expansion Options for ST-SR:

  • DAC-ST
  • VIDSWITCH
  • BASS-SR
  • FOLDDOWN
  • METER-ST
  • DAC-SR
  • MIX-ST


DAC-ST

The Dangerous DAC-ST delivers superbly accurate D-to-A conversion, instantly accessed from the Monitor ST remote control. Integrated digital source switching allows the user to monitor all digital sources through the same converter, which is crucial for critical listening, confidence monitoring and level matching. The DAC-ST takes the guesswork out of any digital monitoring tasks. Now it's easy to compare a mix to any reference, without factoring in differences in level and sound quality that are present when using several external converters.

All 4 rear-panel digital inputs on the DAC-ST accept AES or SPDIF formats and have active Thru outputs for routing these input signals to other devices. When the user needs to quickly hook up external units such as beat-boxes or keyboards that have an SPDIF output, the front panel dedicated SPDIF input saves crawling behind a rack with a flashlight. Being a truly professional system, DAC-ST can be calibrated to match your chosen studio reference level.

VIDSWITCH

For engineers involved with music for television, film scoring or broadcast sound, there are as many video sources as audio sources to deal with. Designed to seamlessly integrate with Dangerous Monitor ST and ST/SR monitoring setups, the VIDSWITCH brings instantaneous and robust video source switching to any audio rig. Want to be able to listen to the output of your DAW while looking at a reference VHS and then a second later play the same segment of audio while looking at the video output of a DAW? VIDSWITCH makes it possible. One click on the Dangerous ST remote will select the Beta deck, VHS deck, a firewire video output card or a DV camera output instantly. Featuring S-Video and composite inputs, the VIDSWITCH connects up to 5 video sources to one or two video monitors. The selected input is translated and fed to both S-Video and Composite (BNC) outputs. The VIDSWITCH features: three S-Video inputs, two Composite inputs, and Format Translation for S-Video and Composite (BNC) Outputs.

Monitor ST-SR

The Monitor ST-SR focuses on solving monitoring problems associated with DAW-based recording and mixing in studio environments not employing a traditional console. The Monitor ST is a remote-control based input source and speaker switcher with integrated cue and talkback systems, including an onboard headphone power amplifier- all in one rack space. The Monitor SR is a companion one-rack space expansion module providing full 5.1 surround monitoring capability. Studios working in stereo can start with the ST and later expand to surround by adding the SR unit with no equipment redundancy or obsolescence. With the cat-5 connected remote control unit, included with the Monitor ST, engineers can configure and control an entire system from the comfort of the studio's sweet spot.

MSRP prices are: Dangerous Monitor ST $2199 US; and Dangerous Monitor SR expander $1499 US.

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Dangerous Music, Inc. today shipped "D-Box" their highly anticipated new multi-purpose hardware product for DAW users. The new unit was designed for the compact or mobile environment and the modern workflow of computer musicians and audio professionals on the go who require exceptional audio quality. The 1U rack-mount box combines 8-channels of the world-renowned Dangerous Music analog summing technology and a collection of important features garnered from other Dangerous products. The D-Box has an integrated programmable monitor control section with analog and digital inputs, on board 24 bit/96KHz D-to-A converter, talkback, dual headphone amps, speaker switcher and more.

"As the digital recording environment continues to evolve we at Dangerous responded to the need for a high-quality multi-function product that is both compact and affordable to all DAW users," says Bob Muller, Dangerous Music's Founder and Co-owner. "More and more records are being recorded and mixed in remote or temporary locations with mobile DAW rigs. Engineers in these situations need reliable, flexible gear with audio quality they can trust to deliver the sonic goods while not getting in the way of the artistic flow. In the D-Box we combine our signature analog summing section with what we feel are some other useful capabilities that we've developed in our other products, like the Monitor ST. Most computer musicians struggle with controlling monitors, smooth switching between analog and digital inputs and with headphone cues when tracking and mixing. We've solved those problems in a very integrated way, with no sonic compromise and within a very small footprint."

Key Features of "Dangerous D-Box":

  • Analog Summing - 8-channels of classic Dangerous 2-Bus style circuitry
  • Monitor control - Programmable monitor control section with 2 sets of Speaker outputs
  • Auxiliary stereo analog inputs +4 dBU/ -10 dBV
  • 2 Digital Inputs - high-quality on-board 96kHz/24-bit D/A converter
  • Talkback - built-in mic, with external switch capability
  • Dual Headphone amps - with independent level control
  • 1 Rack Space
  • Affordable for all DAW users


The Dangerous Music D-Box is available now from select dealers in the USA and worldwide. The D-Box has been designed with quality at its core and yet it has a US suggested retail price of $1699.

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Dangerous Music, Inc. has announced the opening of a demonstration showroom conveniently located near Studio City in North Hollywood, CA. The showroom is a collaborative effort showcasing Dangerous Music's core system hardware as well as hardware and software by Universal Audio, studio furniture by Sterling Modular and the Focal line of studio loudspeakers. The showroom is managed by Fred Z, of the 'Z Product Guy' company, who represents all of these manufacturers in the LA area. The showroom offers a quiet and focused location for interested engineers, producers and musicians to check out Dangerous Music's Mastering and Mixing products in a controlled sonic environment.

The recent grand opening of the showroom attracted various studio gurus including veteran mixer Jon Gass, Platinum producer Greg Curtis, technical consultant Dave Hampton, musical director and producer Daryl Diaz, songwriter and producer Kenneth Crouch, mix engineer Khaliq Glover and others.

"We set out to create a private listening environment where customers can sit down and really hear and feel the quality of our products," said Bob Muller, Dangerous Music's Founder. "It's perfect to share the demo room with Universal Audio, Sterling Modular and Focal, since all of our respective products complement each other nicely. Fred Z is a great sales and demonstration resource for us in the Los Angeles area, we are glad to have him as our rep."

"I encourage customers to bring audio material they are familiar with to listen to in the showroom," added Fred Z. "I think they'll find the new space is a relaxed and professional environment to check out gear."

The demo room features all of Dangerous Music's products and soon to be installed is the upcoming Dangerous Music "D-Box" (scheduled to be available in Q1 2007). The 1U rack-mount box combines 8-channels of Dangerous Music analog summing technology from its innovative "Dangerous 2-BUS", and a programmable monitor control section with analog and digital inputs, on board 24 bit/96KHz D-to-A converter, talkback, dual headphone amps, speaker switcher, and more.

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Dangerous Music, Inc. announces the D-Box, a new multi-purpose hardware product for DAW users. The new unit was designed for the compact or mobile environment and the modern workflow of computer musicians and audio professionals on the go. The 1U rackmount box combines 8-channels of the world-renowned Dangerous Music analog summing technology and a collection of important features garnered from other Dangerous products. The D-Box has an integrated programmable monitor control section with analog and digital inputs, on board 24-bit/96KHz D-to-A converter, talkback, dual headphone amps, speaker switcher and more.

The Dangerous Music D-Box is scheduled to be available in Q1 2007 from select dealers in the USA and worldwide. The D-Box has been designed with quality at its core and yet it is targeted to sell for under $1400 (US).

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Dangerous Music, Inc. today announced the Dangerous Monitor ST and the Dangerous Monitor SR are shipping. The products focus on solving monitoring problems associated with DAW-based recording and mixing in studio environments not employing a traditional console. The Monitor ST is a remote-control based input source and speaker switcher with integrated cue and talkback systems, including an onboard headphone power amplifier - all in one rack space. The Monitor SR is a companion one-rack space expansion module providing full 5.1 surround monitoring capability. Studios working in stereo can start with the ST and later expand to surround by adding the SR unit with no equipment redundancy or obsolescence. With the cat-5 connected remote control unit, included with the Monitor ST, engineers can configure and control an entire system from the comfort of the studio's sweet spot.

"We designed and built the new Monitor ST and SR to solve specific needs of DAW users," said Bob Muller, Dangerous Music's Founder and Co-owner. "The hybrid DAW and analog studio is where it's at. Integrating the digital and analog sides in a fluid and seamless way that sounds great but doesn't step on one's particular workflow is our mission." Dangerous Music Electronics Designer and Co-owner, Chris Muth, added, "I wanted to make the Monitor ST and SR bulletproof. These types of boxes can have so many adjustments it's easy to set them wrong. I designed our Monitor ST-SR to be complicated on the inside and simple on the outside, so you can easily set it up correctly."

Highlights of the Dangerous Monitor ST - SR

  • Monitor ST includes the remote control and one-space rack unit for stereo, Monitor SR expands the system to 6-channels with a second one-rack space unit
  • Analog stepped-attenuator volume control: No level control IC's used - pristine, accurate and repeatable
  • 4 input sources: Switch between DAW outputs, DVD player, CD player, tape machines, etc
  • 3 speaker outputs plus subwoofers: Switch between 3 sets of monitors, 2 of which can be surround. Automatic selection of subwoofer feed between stereo and LFE sources
  • Programmable input gain offsets: Adjust for and store level offsets for different source devices
  • Input level compensation for -10dBV and +4dBu sources: adjust and store gain compensation for consumer devices
  • Continuously variable level offset on Input #4: Compensate for commercial CD levels and perform true A/B comparisons without compromising sound quality
  • Programmable output level offsets: Fine-tune and store offsets to achieve equal apparent loudness on all your control room speakers. SR unit has continually variable level trims for L-R rear, center and LFE
  • Assignable subwoofer output: Choose and store which sets of speakers you want to use with your sub
  • Programmable subwoofer level offset: Adjust and store subwoofer levels: easily alternate between sub function and LFE function
  • Selectable subwoofer filtering: Select and store subwoofer filter options for each set of speakers. Switch between full bandwidth for surround mixing and bottom octave only for stereo work
  • Comprehensive speaker Mute and Solo: Mute and solo speakers in any combination
  • Flexible stereo cue system with main and auxiliary inputs offers many options: Quickly and easily provide a headphone mix for musicians. Use a live room mic and link the aux input to the talkback for a "listen back" setup. Use the aux input as a "Beep" channel to monitor computer alert tones or click tracks on the main speakers and/or cue system
  • Onboard cue power amp: 40 watts of clean power for your headphones
  • Talkback system with dual control and dedicated slate output: Give the producer their own talkback button! Easily slate tracks, or send the slate output to a powered speaker for open-air talkback
  • Selected source output on SR unit: Send source signals to meters or any other external device


The Dangerous Monitor ST and SR are available from select dealers in the USA and worldwide. Both products are shipping and are available now. MSRP prices are: Dangerous Monitor ST $2199 US; and Dangerous Monitor SR expander $1499 US.

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