BURBANK, CALIFORNIA: Bernie Becker, the long-time recording studio and touring monitor engineer for Neil Diamond, has assembled an ATC monitor speaker system for his surround sound projects. Consisting of five ATC SCM20 Pro self-powered speakers, plus a subwoofer, Becker reports that the system regularly travels with him from studio to studio. "I use them a lot at Archangel, which is Neil's studio," reveals Becker. "But I wanted the system to be moveable because I knew we were going to go to different studios at different times." Diamond's surround projects, slated for eventual DVD release, have involved orchestral overdub sessions on soundstages at Sony and 20th Century Fox as well as mixing sessions at Conway Recording, says Becker. "I just think they're wonderful speakers," he continues. "The thing that I liked a lot about them was, moving from studio to studio, when placed properly you can really achieve your soundfield quickly. They are much less susceptible to room deviations than almost any other speaker I've tried. I think these speakers are much more bullet-proof going into a lot of different situations and being able to set them up and know that you can trust what you're listening to." The SCM20 Pro combines ATC's 20 years of experience and tradition with the latest materials technology into a radical and portable die-cast aluminum speaker cabinet design that is capable of high volume and unerring accuracy. Comprising a 150mm mid/bass drive unit employing a Super Linear magnet plus a 25mm tweeter, the SCM20 offers a true reference performance normally found only in larger three-way systems. "The cool thing about ATC has always been that soft-dome mid-range," comments Becker, noting that the same technology has been employed in the SCM20's woofer. The active two-way design incorporates two separate amplifier blocks in each cabinet to deliver a maximum continuous SPL of up to 108dB. The matched amp and driver system maintains ultra-low distortion, solid stereo imaging and a high degree of linearity. Ear fatigue has never been an issue, says Becker, even when using the SCM20s on 16-hour days, seven days a week. "If you're a fan of old-fashioned speakers and old-fashioned amplifiers like I am these are the closest to that," he observes. "They are really wonderful, as far as a speaker being articulate and being able to hear air." Becker notes that he tried approximately 10 different self-powered speakers over the course of several months before settling on the SCM20s. The portable ATC system was also temporarily employed prior to installation of a permanent monitor system in the mastering room at Bernie Becker Recording and Mastering, which recently relocated to Burbank, California. "We did the surround SACD for "A Beautiful Mind" soundtrack with the ATC speakers," recollects Becker. "There were also two or three other surround SACD projects that were edited and mastered on them, for the Delos label." |
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