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Sterling Adds EQs to Every Room in the House

New York, NY (October 8, 2003)-Sterling Sound recently purchased nineteen API 550 equalizers. Top tier mastering engineer and partner in Sterling Greg Calbi, who has made the 550 an integral part of his signal processing chain, was first introduced to API in the mid-90s.

"I was re-mastering Band On The Run with Geoff Emerick, the Beatles engineer, and he brought in an API Lunchbox," says Calbi. "When I'm considering a piece of equipment, I need to know that it does something that nothing else does. There are two things that the API 550 does extremely well. It filters sub-sonic information in a way that keeps the shape of the original signal but gets rid of the excess in a very precise and musical way. It's hard to describe, but the 550 does something that is very difficult for an equalizer to achieve."

Calbi continues, "For example, so many times during a mastering session you're trying to take away the mushy, undefined bottom, and keep the clarity of the mix. The API 550 achieves this result extremely well. If I hear some unwanted fuzz on the bass guitar or kick drum I'll go right to the 550. The device has a two position switch which lets you zero in on the signal even more closely. If the 550 only had that ability to zoom in on the low end and work on it in a musical way it would be worth having in my rack. But the 550 does something else that most equalizers can't--add warmth in the 400 to 600 cycle range in a clean and defined way. With digital mixes especially you're always looking to add warmth without losing clarity. By this time everyone is looking to avoid the overly crisp but somewhat cold sound of digital music. The API 550 does an outstanding job of keeping a mix in perspective and smoothing things out."

All of Sterling Sound's other mastering suites, for corresponding engineers Ted Jensen, Tom Coyne, Greg Calbi, George Marino, Chris Gehringer and Chris Athens, are also equipped with 550s. The most recent project Calbi used the 500s on was Emmylou Harris' new album, which comes out this month on Nonesuch. "I was able to add warmth to Emmylou's voice without sacrificing anything, and the results were outstanding," says Calbi.

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