MANHATTAN’S FIRST MASTERPIECE

Alan Silverman of Arf! Digital with his Legendary Audio Masterpiece

NEW YORK - July 2005 -- Arf! Digital, a high-end independent mastering house located in mid-town Manhattan, has taken delivery of New York City’s first and only Legendary Audio Masterpiece analog mastering system. The product was designed by Rupert Neve in conjunction with veteran mastering engineer Billy Stull of Masterpiece Mastering.

"It was like coming home again," said Arf! Digital’s owner, Alan Silverman, known for his recent work on a series of hybrid SACD remasters of The Kinks’ complete RCA and Arista catalogs. "I began working in this industry on Neve 8068 and 8078 consoles, and I remember very well that each year, as newer feature-laden desks would come out from other vendors, the sound took a little step downwards. Now, with in-the-box plug-ins used on so many projects, it’s easy to forget how much we’ve lost of the sound quality and impact of recorded music. The Masterpiece brings it back."

Silverman became so impressed with the new system that he revisited a few projects he had done before installing it. "On my own dime, I redid any recent masters that had not yet been pressed and sent the results to the clients. It was a risky gamble, but I was having too much fun with the incredible EQs and other unique Masterpiece modules. The acceptance of the revisions was over 90 percent. People said they didn’t think their projects could sound much better than the prior master, but that this was really awesome. I think this gear is Rupert Neve’s crowning achievement."

The Masterpiece contains all-new EQ and compressor designs, a classic module reminiscent of the venerable Neve 8000 series desks, an actual magnetic circuit-based tape simulator, image control and phase rotation, and an ultra high-definition master section.

Silverman adds, "There many boxes and plug-ins that promise to give a squeaky clean all-digital recording that analog character that our ears love. But the Masterpiece is the first product, in my experience, that truly delivers on that promise. It’s the fastest smile inducing machine I’ve ever used."

For more information on Arf! Digital, please visit www.arfdigital.com.