Spirit Studio 2.0.

Our flagship Spirit Studio has been a great success for us since it opened 14 years ago, becoming our most in-demand facility. This summer we’ve made some changes that we can’t wait for you to see.

We’re regularly gathering feedback from our students and tutors on our studios, and try to incorporate it into our annual upgrades. Over the year we’ve had some great feedback on Spirit Studio and this summer provided a rare 3-week window where we could shut down the studio for maintenance.

What’s been changed?

Over the summer, we stripped the Neve VR down and rotated it 180 degrees. Additionally, we’ve split the outboard rack into two separate units and rerouted the audio cabling. As Spirit Studio is an open-plan studio with the control room and live room all in one, this change means the listening position is now facing the far wall rather than looking into the room.

With this new layout, there is greater flexibility in the positioning of the PMC MB2S-A monitors. They could now be positioned anywhere in the space between the console and far wall that provided the best performance. With the old layout, pushing the monitors too far away from the console would encroach into the live area. By taking measurements, experimenting with positions and making some adjustments to the 10B crossovers, we’ve made some great improvements to the low frequency performance, as well creating a wider and more consistent sweet spot around the listening position.

Now comfortably providing seating for a larger number of people behind the console, the layout will also better accommodate larger classes, and facilitate more attendees at Spirit+ masterclasses. We were able to locate the computer keyboard, mouse and screen in the listening position, make more effective use of our Aviom foldback system and make a number of other quality of life improvements.

The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and we can’t wait to get more people in the studio.