{"id":59447,"date":"2025-02-05T15:35:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T15:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.synthax.co.uk\/latest\/?p=59447"},"modified":"2025-02-06T11:38:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T11:38:01","slug":"otterhead-studios-chooses-dynaudio-core-mseries-monitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.synthax.co.uk\/latest\/2025\/02\/05\/otterhead-studios-chooses-dynaudio-core-mseries-monitors\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s about giving people what they don\u2019t have at home\u201d – Otterhead Studios chooses Dynaudio Monitors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Studio Owner Oscar Ball on running a studio, monitor shootouts, and choosing Dynaudio studio monitors<\/a><\/h2>\n

Otterhead Studios<\/strong> is a privately owned studio situated in rural Warwickshire. Housed in a converted barn adjoining an old watermill, the space boasts a finely-tuned control room and impressively spacious live room (with plenty of natural lighting).<\/p>\n

A broadcast engineer by day (X Factor<\/em>, Britain’s Got Talent,<\/em> The Voice)<\/em>, Studio Owner Oscar Ball<\/strong> created Otterhead<\/strong> as an ode to his love for recording and mixing music. We sat down with Oscar<\/strong> to find out more about running a studio in 2025, and how a monitor shootout led to their choice of Dynaudio for the studio’s monitors.<\/p>\n

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\"OtterheadBringing demos to life<\/h2>\n

\u201cI built this studio in 2019,\u201d Oscar<\/strong> says. \u201cIt\u2019s privately owned, although we do have a website. You can\u2019t just walk in off the street and do a per hour session – everything is arranged through contacts, and people who already know each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cater for all sorts of music. A lot of rock and guitar-based bands recently – the large live room does lend itself to getting a nice drum sound. I\u2019d say we\u2019ve come to be known for that actually – getting a great drum sound!<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we\u2019ve got some pop stuff coming up via a label that got in touch. Oh, and we also recently did an entire computer game! The music writer came up here, and we provided the producer, engineers and all the session musicians, to bring their demos to life. The developer wanted a 90s aesthetic – the brief was for it to sound grungy \u2013 and they came to us because we\u2019ve got the desk and the room, all the outboard, and this ticked the box for the desired aesthetic. That was amazing and great fun, I\u2019d love to do more of that if the opportunity comes up again.”<\/p>\n

Whilst he’s no stranger to getting behind the faders, Oscar<\/strong> says these days he mainly encourages visiting engineers and producers to take the reigns when they come to Otterhead<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“I decided I\u2019m too undisciplined when it comes to time-keeping in the studio,” laughs Oscar<\/strong>. “And that\u2019s the worst thing if you\u2019re trying to run a business. I mean some bands are working with a very strict budget – they might only have a couple of days to get everything done. And if we\u2019ve ended up going over, because I\u2019ve got carried away with trying out some mad idea, then suddenly I\u2019m going to have to give them another half a day for nothing\u2026 That doesn\u2019t work does it, you can\u2019t run a business like that haha.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s mostly a dry hire facility, I\u2019m not putting myself in the chair. We do have an in-house engineer, Ellis Powell Bevan, he\u2019s still part of the package. You\u2019ve got to have someone there to show you how to run everything obviously. He also produces a lot of the local bands, but bigger acts will generally bring all their own people.<\/p>\n

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The best of both worlds: SSL and Neve<\/h2>\n

Primarily a tracking studio, Oscar<\/strong> says Otterhead<\/strong> has become known for its good vibes. Along with an impressive collection of microphones and boutique outboard, <\/span>the studio is centered around Pro Tools and an SSL console.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is based around our lovely old SSL E Series, which was painstakingly reconditioned,\u201d Oscar explains. \u201cIt was a 52-channel desk originally, but has been cut down to only 16-channels, so it\u2019s only diddy.<\/p>\n

“We use it as the front-end for all our recording, along with the Neve 54 series suitcase mixer we\u2019ve also got, and the various other outboard. The pres and the dynamics get used a lot. And the EQ – people love reaching for the EQ, especially on vocals and guitars.<\/p>\n

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“people still love the real thing”<\/h2>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s got the brown EQ and the mix bus compressor, yeah people love it. You hit record and it immediately sounds like records you\u2019ve heard. Then we\u2019ve got the Neve 33609 compressor too which gets a lot of use on buses as well, and mixes too occasionally.”<\/p>\n

With so many tools available in the modern era – including increasingly accurate software emulations of classic gear – we wanted to know: how do people decide which tools to use when they come into the studio?<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve found most producers and engineers tend to reach for what they know,” reflects Oscar. “I\u2019ve got some quirkier, weirder stuff too – modified kit, stuff that isn\u2019t your regular run of the mill. But often people are under pressure with a time constraint, so they\u2019ll go for the SSL or a Neve.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve got flavours to cater for most things. Lots of guitar heads, cabs, microphones. People still love these things, the traditional sounds. We do have a Kemper here as well, which you can use to sort of model any guitar sound you want. We\u2019ve got a real hybrid of stuff, emulations, MIDI, controllers etc if people want it, but I\u2019ve found people still love the real thing. The classics, moving around and sticking microphones on instruments, amps, using guitar pedals. That’s never gone away.”<\/p>\n

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Studio Monitor Shootout<\/h2>\n

The chat now turns to the main reason for our visit to Otterhead<\/strong> – studio monitors – with Oscar<\/strong> recently installing a pair of Dynaudio Core 47s<\/a>, which he’s soffit-mounted alongside the main Dynaudio M3s.<\/p>\n

You might be thinking that Dynaudio was already the studio’s first choice when it came to a new set of speakers – as it turns out this wasn’t quite the case, with the team going all in on a full-blown monitor shootout in their quest for perfect sound.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’d been feeling like it might be time to get something else in for a while,” Oscar<\/strong> explains. “We wanted a true three-way box, as I felt like we were losing some of that definition on guitars – we seemed to be missing that with other speakers we\u2019d used.\u00a0That became apparent after a couple of years of tracking, so that\u2019s when we got in touch with you guys (Synthax).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDynaudio was mentioned to me by (fellow broadcast engineer) Andy Patterson. I was working with him on The Masked Singer<\/em> and he said \u2018try those out, I love them, and they\u2019ve got loads of welly\u2019. So I said \u2018great, I\u2019ll add them to the list\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was familiar with Dynaudio already of course. I’d seen the BMs used a lot as nearfields in my early days of broadcast, on the meter bridge in control rooms. Then later a lot of the OB trucks had Dynaudio Airs. Telegenic for example, they had Airs everywhere.”<\/p>\n

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\"Otterhead<\/p>\n

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Picking speakers for a pro studio is tough of course. Along with the room, it\u2019s probably the biggest decision when building a studio. The team tested out loads of different models, but one stood out\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried everything!” Oscar<\/strong> continues. “We had all of the names in, and tested everything over the space of two weeks. Lined them all up along with the M3s, and put them all through the desk with the same source, everything nominal level. And then just went through them one by one. We even bypassed all the DSP on each one, so we could see how much jiggery pokery was going on. And with the Cores –\u00a0 even with all the switches flipped to flat on the back – straight off the bat you could hear how pleasing they were to the ear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe moved them into another room and put them up against our other finalist. And yeah the Core 47s won out. They\u2019re great, especially for tracking which is what we mainly do here. I mean this is all subjective of course \u2013 someone else might come in and say \u2018oh those other ones sound the best\u2019. It depends what you\u2019re looking for, everyone has their own tastes.<\/p>\n

“It was a big, big decision to make, it took weeks, but I thought it was the only way to do it. And yeah the Core 47s won.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to monitoring, accuracy is obviously important. But there’s also a second consideration that anyone who’s spent hours in the studio will know all too well: the danger of killing your enjoyment on a session. Oscar<\/strong> thinks the Core 47s have got the balance between detail and vibe just right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like going into studios and being impressed with the sound,\u201d says Oscar<\/strong>. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to go in and hear a hard, flat monitor that only one person in the room is trusting. As an artist, as a writer, as a visitor to a studio, you want to be able to feel the vibe! Not just yourself, but everyone there.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we weren\u2019t flippant about choosing new monitors, we went completely to the nth degree. The others just did not have any of that vibe, they didn\u2019t have any of the bottom or the lows. That\u2019s something you often don\u2019t get with smaller speakers. For the size and the price, these ticked a massive box for us. They do the \u2018three-way thing\u2019 I was looking for perfectly, we got that definition in the guitars back, and we\u2019re really happy with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dynaudio Acoustics M3 main monitors<\/h2>\n

Alongside their soffit-mounted Core 47s , Otterhead<\/strong> also has original Dynaudio M3s as their main speakers (we\u2019ve not convinced him to upgrade to the newly released Dynaudio M3 MkIIs<\/a> just yet\u2026). The sound of both sets of monitors have been matched with one another, so that switching between them simply provides the added bass extension you’d expect from the bigger M3s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had the Cores tuned so they go perfectly with the M3s,\u201d Oscar<\/strong> says. \u201cThat\u2019s so you don\u2019t flick between the two and suddenly go \u201coh my god I\u2019m in another dimension\u201d. That can really scare the hell out of an engineer! They might\u2019ve been tracking for 5 or 6 hours, and then suddenly they hit the button and go \u2018what??? that\u2019s completely different to what I\u2019ve been hearing!\u2019. And now they\u2019ve got a loss of confidence, they\u2019re worrying it\u2019s not going to translate etc. That\u2019s the last thing you want, so that\u2019s why we spent days getting everything perfect.<\/p>\n

\"Oscar“I\u2019d first heard the M3s in the Maidstone control room, although this is my first time owning a pair. I actually knew about them even before that, because when I was a youngster I was very nerdy about gear, reading all the magazines. I think it was FutureMusic who wrote an article about them, with Liam Howlett from The Prodigy<\/em>. And he was absolutely raving about them, along with the subs. So I knew they were an established player, but I\u2019ve never actually owned a pair before.”<\/p>\n

“It probably is a little bit subbier in here than most engineers would like, especially with our custom sub we have installed, but musicians and producers love it. They\u2019re great fun – when you have a bass player in and and you crank it up, you can really get the trousers flapping!<\/p>\n

“But they don\u2019t hurt your ears either. We had a producer in here recently, and I\u2019d come in and check on them every two or three days, make sure they were alright. And they\u2019d be on the mains all day, and at a healthy volume! And no one was complaining of fatigue or anything. It\u2019s a very comfortable space to work in and they work really well, they\u2019re not harsh.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt’s about giving people what they don\u2019t or can\u2019t have in their home setup\u201d<\/h3>\n

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“They look the part really. They do, they look cool. You come in here and you think \u2018yeah I haven\u2019t got those in my living room\u2026\u2019.<\/p>\n

“And that’s really what I think this facility is about – giving people what they don’t or can\u2019t have in their home setup. That\u2019s really a lot of what running a studio is about these days in my opinion. It’s not just the space, or having a nice sounding room to record drums. It\u2019s all of it – the control room, the vibe, having access to gear that people don\u2019t have in their home studio, all of that.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s got to be everything. The smaller local bands come in here and they just love being in the room, in this dedicated space with all the gear. It doesn\u2019t matter that all they\u2019re doing is a guitar overdub – you\u2019ll look round and there’ll be 6 people all sat there, they just want to be involved, to be a part of it. That’s part of what making music is about, getting to come to places like this, recording in an amazing space, and touching and working with all the things you don\u2019t have. That\u2019s what I always wanted to do anyway.”<\/p>\n

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Our thanks to Oscar Ball<\/strong> and Otterhead Studios<\/strong>. To learn more about the studio, visit www.otterheadstudios.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Live room photography provided courtesy of Mike Banks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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See the full range of Dynaudio Studio Monitors<\/a><\/p>\n

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Want to know more?<\/h2>\n

If you’d like to know more about the professional monitoring solutions offered by Dynaudio Acoustics, give us a call on 01727 821 870<\/a> or contact us via our webform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Other Dynaudio Core Series Users<\/h2>\n

Want to know what the Pros think about the Dynaudio Core Series?<\/p>\n

Check out a few more of our Dynaudio user stories below.<\/p>\n

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\"Howard<\/a> \u201cDynaudio speakers have given my ears a daily treat for 30 years\u201d | Howard Jones & Robbie Bronnimann<\/span>
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Andy<\/a> \u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019ll do me proud for years to come\u201d | DJ and Producer Andy Hunter\u00b0 Interview<\/span>
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Mark<\/a> “Captured for Eternity” | Re-recording Mixer Mark Taylor on Dynaudio Core 59s<\/span>
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Stevan<\/a> \u201cAnother level of precision\u201d | Stevan Krakovic on the Dynaudio Core 59s<\/span>
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Earthsound<\/a> Inside a Foley Studio: Earthsound Post and the Dynaudio Core 59s<\/span>
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Dynaudio<\/p>\n

Dynaudio is world-famous for making hand-crafted high-end loudspeakers for living rooms, home cinemas, cars and professional recording studios.<\/p>\n

Since the beginning in 1977, the company has made iconic products rooted in a love of music and film \u2013 reproducing exactly what the artist intended. Nothing more, nothing less.<\/p>\n

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“My day job is a Broadcast Sound Engineer<\/em>, although I do have an electronic project that we record in here called Lyndhurst<\/a>, which is myself and Dan Carney. That way I still get to keep my hand in Pro Tools, twiddling knobs and mixes, along with the library music we produce and write in here.”<\/p>\n