The ASP4816-HE compact console has been chosen for JMC Academy in Melbourne, the final of the three antipodean JMC education facilities to upgrade to the Audient mixing desk.
Studio/facilities manager, Marcus Hernan explains the setup, “We have five studios on campus as well as numerous smaller production suites and edit labs. Each studio follows the curriculum from small bedroom style production suites with all-in-one interfaces in trimester one, to the ASP4816-HE in tri two, control surface in tri three and a larger format console in tri four onwards.”
Originally a Studio Lecturer at JMC Academy, Marcus has worked with them for over a decade. He continues, “Our Audient is housed in the trimester two studio as the formal introduction to analogue studio workflow. It is the centrepiece of a studio comprising a ProTools rig with an assortment of outboard gear tailored toward the demonstration and application of the basics of studio operation and recording.”
He describes how certain features of the small format analogue recording console have been helping to inspire students. “Personally, I am a big fan of the bus comp and mix processing options. They are cool additions that you generally don’t see on a lot of other (console) options. The EQ circuit is also very easy to get good results with. For our students in particular, it is great to see the excitement when they get those results so early on, often when they are quite timid with regard to real-world processing, especially on the way in.”
Mainly used by Audio Engineering students, the desk can also be used in collaborative projects with other courses such as music, film and animation. Each year some 80 to 100 students will get their hands on the desk. They don’t even have to be working on coursework – they can use the facilities to work on personal projects as well.
It was the JMC Sydney campus that was the first to replace their ageing desk, so it seemed the logical move for Melbourne to choose Audient as well. “The first conversation regarding what was going to be the best option had a lot to do with what sort of features were parallel to what we had been teaching, and what was going to be best to introduce to the students moving forward. The ASP4816-HE was a clear winner in these categories. An all-round improvement in sound, workflow (and teaching workflow) and honestly, aesthetic. Our HE is an awesome-looking and sounding console,” says Marcus.
JMC Academy was already familiar with the Audient brand; around 30 iD audio interfaces were installed in the Melbourne campus a few years ago. Marcus described this purchase as “a huge leap” at the time, adding that they “offered a very user-friendly path to solid quality and sound, all with class-compliant connections.” A big advantage of that class compliance was how easy it made it for them to maintain and troubleshoot across all the rooms and systems.
Marcus is upbeat about the future at JMC Academy and excited about new technologies on the horizon. “Obviously immersive audio is a huge movement right now – I’m particularly keen to see how that is implemented in a live/install environment. The next step for us here at JMC Melbourne is an immersive studio focused on Dolby Atmos,” he says.
