The Pocket Studios is a newcomer to the Toronto scene. Anything but your average studio, The Pocket concentrates on developing acts that might not necessarily have the biggest budgets, but absolutely need the best results. They've also played host to established acts such as Sloan, Feist, and Pilate. Like many studios today, the emphasis at The Pocket has been on great front end rather than on an expensive mixing console.

"One of the first things we got was a lunchbox with four 512cs and two 550bs. There really isn't a better mic pre out there, they're right at home with our other gear and make things sound great.

"My 512s are a solution and "go to" on so many sources. For example, I have a couple of ribbon mics and the 512s are the only pre I use with them; so much gain and so clean it's almost ridiculous. Drums sound awesome through the 512's and I especially love them on electric guitar. Another plus with the 512's is how they seem to get 'thicker' the more driven they are.

"Our 550b's are also great, transparent and harmonically detailed. The selection of EQ points are well thought out, all the 'good' frequencies are there and the stepped setup makes recalling stuff a breeze. One of my favorite vocal chains is a U87 into a 512c through a 550b, shelving the lows at 50 Hz and adding 'shimmer' at 15K and compressing via a Blue Stripe 1176. It never fails!

"I recently used an API 2500 rack mount compressor on a session and was equally blown away at how much punch it put on a drum bus. It's slated to be added to my rack in the not-distant future.

"There's always room for more API gear at the Pocket."

2007-03-08 12:00:00