Jesse Vainio, a multi-award-winning Finnish mixing and mastering engineer, has purchased an impressive array of SPL mixing and mastering gear from us over the years. After publishing his review of the Phoenix Audio Scion we decided to dive deeper and ask him about his remarkable collection of SPL units, what he loves about them and how he likes to use them in his workflow.
"When Plugin-alliance released their emulation of Passeq plugin I soon realised that it's lo and hi boost are special. I liked the plugin version so much that I decided to order real Passeq eq. I haven't regretted that decision. It was my first SPL- product. Now in addition to the Passeq I also have the Phonitor 3 DAC, Vitalizer MK3-T, Gemini, Big Studio and Transient Designer 4 Mk2.
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Passeq is my sweetening eq. To me 10, 15, 18Hz and 20, 25, 35kHz is the beef of this lovely eq, Passeq is always on the chain, even if I'm not doing anything with it. I just love how the electronics sounds. I use it mostly on MS-mode with Gemini, but also in stereo, it all depends.
Vitalizer is on the same chain, which is another box I'm using a lot if I can't get the sound I want with just eq. What Vitalizer MK3-T can do with the low-end is pure magic, it's really hard to recreate with plugins. Last unit on my "SPL chain" is Big. Recently I upgraded to Big Studio, which have this nice tube harmonics-option and it also can take a bit more level into it. Im enjoying also the Bass-feature on the unit.
Transient Designer 4 Mk2 needs no superlatives. Those how knows, knows :)
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For the recalls I use Session recall- software which have all my SPL units in it. For headphones Phonitor 3 DAC is paired with Audeze LCD-5. To me that combo is unbeatable.
I really love using my SPL gear every day, they look, feel, sound so good. The quality is undeniable. I measure precisely all my gear, I haven't had any issues with SPL's. Top-notch."
Jesse Vainio is an established Finnish mixing & mastering engineer. With over 25 years in the business, he has mixed countless hit records for countless multi-platinum artists (James Marriott, Sunrise Avenue, Sarah Brightman, Apocalyptica) Jesse delivers mixes in all formats including Dolby Atmos (certified).
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