Since 1989, Dorian Gray Studios has been delivering high quality music recording services to commercial clients as well as providing equally high quality training to the next generation of audio professionals. As part of the Music Support Group (MSG) GmbH, it also offers additional services such as CD duplication and graphic design, thus allowing customers to access a turnkey service that takes them from initial recording to a finished product.
With facilities in Munich, Vienna and Hamburg, Dorian Gray Studios all have excellence in common – regardless of whether they are used as commercial or training facilitie. They also have PMC monitors in common, as most studios are equipped with PMC products ranging from the largest MB2 XBD systems down to the smaller DB1 and TLE monitors.
In recent months, the original Dorian Gray Studios in Eichenau, near Munich, has been moved to a new location in the city centre as part of a larger MSG plan to consolidate all its Munich operations into one location (previously the company had offices and studios in four different places). Three main control rooms, a mastering suite that doubles as a fourth control room and various recording areas have been built, all under the watchful eye of Gerhard Woelfle, Head of Dorian Gray Studios and Senior Audio Engineer.
“We dismantled our main control room in Eichenau and rebuilt it in the new location,” he explains. “This is now Studio 1 and it has a 96-channel SSL C200 Digital Production Console, a 5.1 monitoring system featuring PMC MB2 XBD fully active monitors with Bryston amplification, ProTools HD3 and lots of outboard gear, microphones and tape machines.”
Studio 2 - the first Dorian Gray studio to open in Eichenau in 1989 – was also dismantled and moved. In its new location it is mainly used by students from the Deutsche POP academy (MSG’s training arm), but can also be rented for commercial projects. This room has a 24 channel SSL Duality, PMC IB1 monitors and ProTools.
The final control room – Studio 3 – is used by junior students and can also be used as a recording space. There are two other recording rooms – a large space that is directly connected to Studios 1 and 2 and a second, smaller space with visual access to Studio 2 and audio and video links to Studio 1.
“Our separate mastering suite is connected to the largest recording room, that can be used as a spare control room for smaller recording sessions,” Gerhard adds. “This is equipped with PMC IB2 monitors, SADiE and ProTools DAWs, a customised Crookwood console and high end analogue and digital mastering outboard.”
Gerhard, who joined MSG in 2003, recommended PMC monitoring after been impressed by their clarity while working as a freelance engineer at various PMC equipped studios in Germany and Austria.
“I used them several times at MSM in Munich where some of my productions were mastered, and as a customer I was always very pleased by the fact that I was not confused by any unknown sounds coming out of the speakers,” he says. “All I heard was my original mix. The fact that the speakers were so accurate made the mastering process a lot more fun to listen to. Precision, transparency, perfect imaging, flat frequency response and minimal distortion, plus the fact that I could listen to them for hours without getting fatigued, were PMC’s key attributes. When you are listening to the same music for many hours, your ears do get tired and that’s when you can get poor results. Knowing that what you hear in the studio will translate well on any consumer system allows you to feel safe and work faster. This is what I get from PMC, plus immediate feedback on what I’m doing to the signal in terms of EQ, compression, etc.”
Dorian Gray’s new Munich facility is now up and running and is already being used by students and for a variety of commercial projects.
For more information about Dorian Gray, please visit: www.doriangraystudios.de
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