Founded in 1974 by Billy Woodman, ATC has been committed to developing and manufacturing high-end loudspeakers from the very beginning. This English manufacturer has stuck to its design principles for more than 45 years and has built a beautiful product line and a solid reputation. ATC distinguishes itself, among other things, by manufacturing all drivers themselves. In addition, the company designs its own electronics. By keeping the entire production process in their own hands, ATC not only guarantees quality, it also enables them to optimally match drivers and electronics. The result is a product line with impressive performance. In addition to audio monitors for the studio market,
ATC has also been producing an extensive consumer line for years. Initially, these speakers consisted of living room-friendly cabinet designs equipped with the components from the professional line. This series is still available under the name "Classic Series" and "Tower Series". In addition, ATC offers another product line: The Hifi Entry Series.
This American brand has its "roots" in pro audio. Founded by the late Alan H. Burdick, this manufacturer mainly produced broadcast audio solutions. With the arrival of designer John Siau, the company took its first step towards the hi-fi market. With the DAC1, Benchmark received the recognition it deserved from hi-fi enthusiasts. We are talking about a high-end digital-to-analog converter that is equipped with a more than decent headphone amplifier. The DAC1 has since been succeeded by the DAC2 and DAC3. The latter being of a completely different order, both in sound and in measurement technology. The High Gain Control (HGC) ensures perfect alignment of both channels and the DSD input allows you to play high-res audio files over PCM. The fact that John Siau is not afraid of innovation is apparent from the recently introduced AHB2 amplifier, which was created in collaboration with THX. This clever "feed forward" design ensures that this Class A/B amplifier has extremely low distortion and a very low noise floor (-140dB). Poor Audiophile Magazine calls it the quietest amplifier ever tested and has immediately named the AHB2 "Amplifier of the Year".
Bricasti Design is a company that produces exclusively high-quality audio products. It was founded in 2004 by Brian Zolner and Casey Dowdell, former employees of Lexicon, a renowned digital audio processing company. Bricasti Design is based in Shirley, Massachusetts, USA, where it has its own factory and engineering facility. All its products are handmade and tested in-house. Bricasti Design's first product was the M7 Stereo Reverb Processor, which was launched in 2006 and was admired for its sound quality, ease of use and versatility.
The M7 is still considered one of the best digital reverbs on the market. Bricasti Design products are used by many professional customers around the world, including recording studios, mastering engineers, musicians, composers, producers and music enthusiasts. Some of the famous artists and studios using Bricasti Design products include Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Hans Zimmer, Abbey Road Studios, Air Studios and BBC Maida Vale Studios.
Like Millennia Media, Grace Design has earned its stripes by designing a unique microphone pre-amp. This preamplifier is also known for its neutral and extremely dynamic sound character. Despite the fact that both brands serve the same target group, engineers who are captivated by the quality of a Grace Design pre-amp will not quickly choose something else.
Grace Design's most popular product is the m108. An 8-channel remote-controllable microphone preamplifier with built-in AD converter to which an optional Dante or Pro Tools interface card can be added. Those who want to take it even a step further, can opt for the m201 or m801 mkII. In addition, Grace Design supplies monitor controllers (m905/m908) with a great user interface and a number of high-end musician interfaces (Felix/Alix).
Lake People uses the slogan: "Tools, not Toys", which is typical of their design philosophy. The products are solidly built, reliable and meet high specifications. For this reason, the brand is used in audio studios, radio studios, conference centers, theaters and airports. The company prides itself on manufacturing everything in Germany, using as many European components as possible.
Lake People's delivery program includes both analogue and digital products. Analogue products include headphone amplifiers, microphone pre-amps, splitting amps, balancing and unbalancing amps. Digital products include AES/EBU splitters, word clock dividers, DA converters and the well-known DAT RS 05 Digital Audio Tool.
As we indicate at the top of this page, we like to represent brands that maintain a long-term vision. Lynx Studio Technology is no exception. We have been distributing this US brand for over 18 years. In 2005 Lynx introduced the Aurora 8 and Aurora 16 multi-channel converters. In the 14 years these units were produced, more than 450 have been sold in the Benelux alone. Most units are still in use by their original owners. That says quite a bit.
Its successor, the Aurora (n), is now making the same progress.This modular converter is available in 8, 16, 24 and 32 I/Os. The configuration can be changed at any time. Also worth mentioning is the SSD memory slot with which a "live" multi-track recording (up to 32 tracks) or safety copy can be made. In addition to multi-channel converters, Lynx also supplies PCIe audio cards and the “Swiss army knife, the Hilo.
Perhaps the most underrated brand in our distribution line. Metric Halo produces both hard- and software. Although the ULN-8 interface came to the market about 14 years ago, it is still their flagship interface. Again, it is the long-term vision that ensures the ULN-8 is still completely "up to date". Four years ago, MH released an update in which older ULN-8 interfaces can be equipped with new interface hardware (USB-C and MH-Link) and a new internal clock. At the time, MH provided this upgrade for a very reasonable price.
As of last year, MH offers new AD and DA converter boards, which once again improve the audio quality of this already very good sounding interface. Note that these upgrades are available for even the oldest ULN-8 interfaces. And then there is the mutual connection via MH-Link, through which several ULN-8 (or ULN2 or 2882) converters can be used together and function as one machine. Only using an ethernet cable. A very unique brand that is definitely worth your attention.
It may be viewed as remarkable when a brand develops a microphone amplifier (HV-3) that is still considered unique after 25 years and is still the first choice of many professional engineers. Admittedly, the same can be said of Neve or Rupert Neve designs. But these concern pre-amps with a certain “color”. Millennia Media pre-amps are considered completely neutral, but strangely enough they still have a distinctive sound of their own. The ultimate ontradictio in terminis. Millennia Media HV-3 pre-amps can be found in thousands of studios and recording systems around the world. Remarkably, this pre-amp lends itself equally well to the recording of a classical concert as to the recording of a drum kit of a heavy rock band. In addition to pre-amps, Millennia Media also manufactures HQ equalizers (NSEQ-2/NSEQ-4) and compressors (TCL2).
For years, Mutec was the brand you turned to when you were looking for a handy format converter or needed a multifunctional studio clock. A few years ago, this German manufacturer decided to put more focus on the consumer market. The result was the MC-3 Plus USB. A product that can be used as a studio clock, but is especially useful for the consumer that needs a re-clocker. By connecting the MC-3 Plus between a digital audio source and a DA converter, one can lower the jitter in the digital signal stream. In many cases, the result is a significant improvement in sound quality. Since a re-clocker automatically adapts its own sample rate to that of the input signal, there is no need to adjust it, each time the input sample rate changes. The REF-10 has now also been added to the range. A 10 mHz clock that, along with the MC-3 Plus, takes clock specifications to an even higher level.
“No nonsense” is probably the best description of this Canadian brand. Primacoustic, as the name implies, makes acoustic products that work extremely well but look quite ordinary. The lion's share of the product range consists of panels, based on compressed glass fibre. This material has several advantages compared to, for example, foam. The most important characteristic is that the absorption coefficient of sound is high but also uniform. The material thus works efficiently and also ensures an even absorption over the entire frequency range. This is in contrast to many types of foam and curtains (often only high absorption). Moreover, these fiberglass panels have a long lifespan and are also well priced.
The brand is also well known for its Recoil Stabilizers. These are placed under a loudspeaker. The function of this simple but intriguing product is based on a combination of acoustic decoupling and the addition of mass. A "top seller" for years.
We have been representing the innovative Swiss monitor brand PSI Audio for almost 20 years now. And for a reason. Outwardly, their products hardly differ from other brands. They even look a bit ordinary. But small miracles happen internally. Their credo: “Perfectly matched active studio monitors. Handmade with passion in Switzerland”
The most important features are the applied techniques: Class G/H amplifiers, Compensated Phase response (CPR), Adaptive Output Impedance (AOI) and Acoustic Load Guide (ALG). PSI Audio monitors are completely analogue with the underlying philosophy that if a DSP should be used in the monitor path, it is better to do this externally.
If you've never listened to a PSI Audio monitor before, we cordially invite you to give it a try.
A brand that is more than 100 years old and celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. What? The German Telefunken supplied a fantastic microphone in the fifties and sixties of the last century. The ELA-M 251. Less well known is that Telefunken did not produce that microphone itself, but had it done by AKG. At the time, a real Austrian brand. Meanwhile, AKG is AKG no more and the German Telefunken no longer supplies microphones.
The name Telefunken has been licensed to an American company that started 20 years ago manufacturing 1:1 replicas of the original ELA-M 251. Shortly after they added two other timeless microphones models: the C12 (AKG) and the U47/48 (Neumann). Now 20 years later, the product range has been greatly expanded and there really is only one problem to overcome. Where does Telefunken Elektroakustik hire those extra professional workers to meet the enormous demand for their products?