Smooth Recording Sessions at The Tank Studio

After spending countless hours in recording sessions with musicians unable to hear themselves, Tom Pfaeffle, owner of The Tank Studio, knew he needed a superior headphone system and turned to Aviom, Inc., manufacturer of the A-Net Pro16 Monitor Mixing System, for a solution.

"When I was building the studio, I knew I needed a headphone system that would help the musicians," says Pfaeffle, who is also an audio production instructor at the Art Institute of Seattle. "Based on past experiences, musicians would get into the song, become very creative with it, but since they couldn't hear themselves, this put a damper on their performance and they would lose the moment. Once I've explained how to use Aviom's Monitor Mixers, the artists are up and running in 10 minutes."

The Personal Mixer allows the performer to create a custom monitor mix tailored to his/her individual needs. It gives each performer real-time control over channel volume, grouping, pan, stereo spread and master volume. Each and every Personal Mixer in the system can create a unique monitor mix for a performer enabling users to save and recall up to sixteen custom mix snapshots as presets in their Personal Mixer. The stereo output from the Monitor Mixing System can be used with ear buds, headphones or to drive floor wedge monitors or spot monitors. The system supports an infinite number of Personal Mixers.

"The Aviom gear helps to convince musicians that their sessions will go smoothly," comments Pfaeffle. "The studio headphone systems of days past were a make or break part of a successful session. An effective headphone system is a really important part of the creative process because it's one less thing distracting the artists. After every one of my sessions the clients compliment the headphone system."

Located in Seattle, WA, The Tank was built from the ground up adjacent to a lake and boasts spectacular views of Mount Rainier. The 3,000 square foot commercial facility is steps from over 6,000 acres of mountain bike trails, swimming and high-speed water sports. In addition to the beautiful surrounding environment, The Tank also has some of the finest gear available including Harrison, Pro Tools, Avalon, Focusrite, Tannoy, Yamaha and Shure.