Budapest?s Pannonia Studios invests in SSL Duality

Formerly known as Warner Music Group’s ‘Aquarium Studios’, premiere recording facility Pannonia Studios has taken delivery of a Solid State logic Duality SE console in Studio A.

Having recently hosted sessions with with jazz-fusion composer and performer, Al Di Meola, and pop R&B performer Jamelia. Pannonia Studios’ latest investment is designed expand its capability to cover all music genres, while maintaining its high calibre client list.

“I bought Warner’s Aquarium Studios four years ago to continue to offer a high-level recording space to musicians and performers from all walks of music in Eastern Europe,” said Balazs Robert, chief engineer and owner of Pannonia Studios. “We are also attracting international stars, so when it came time to replace the aging SSL 4000 series console, Duality became the only real option as it completely addresses how musicians and producers work in this multi-media world. Duality is an investment in our future for a long time to come.”

Pannonia Studios offers two control rooms, Studio A with Duality and Studio B with an AWS 900+ SE, sharing a common, orchestral-size recording room. Each control room has an associated isolation booth to maximise studio session flexibility, with the Duality console used primarily for mixing and recording larger tracking sessions.

“Pannonia features an engineer for metal and rock work, a specialist in classical recording, and I cover jazz, pop and hip hop,” stated Robert. “Duality excels at tracking any style of music, but mixing is the primary use for the console because it is so easy to go from one project to another with Total Recall, and it offers dynamics and VHD mic pres on every channel. As an example, I recorded a big band here during the day, needing Duality’s channel count for the session. In the evening, one of our engineers easily loaded a previously recorded session, mixed it down, and the following morning I came in to continue recording the big band, resetting the console quickly and easily. Duality is always a pleasure to work with.”

With Eastern Europe experiencing continued growth in the field of music and music-based video projects, Robert purchased the AWS for another studio project and brought the console along to Pannonia.

“At the time I purchased Aquarium (now Pannonia), I was already very familiar with SSL’s hybrid workflow through the AWS 900,” he explained. “Working with the 4000 (previously installed in Studio A) and the AWS made the transition to Duality a breeze for all our engineers. We feel that Pannonia will become a production focal point for the region because of the studio’s professional acoustics and Duality.”

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