Kenny “Mixx” Daniels’ urban hit factory at Patchwerk Studios features Millennia Media’s NSEQ-2 stereo parametric equalizer and TCL-2 two channel opto-compressor.
Mastering engineer Kenny “Mixx” Daniels has compiled a strong urban discography, including chart-topping artists like T.I., Lil Wayne, Pitbull, R. Kelly, Kanye West, Prince and Rick Ross. Daniels’ mastering suite is part of Atlanta’s Patchwerk Studios, which has been tracking and mastering urban hits since 1995, producing more than 60 gold and platinum albums in the process.
Millennia Media Twin Topology™ gear is central to Daniels’ “pure music, no hype” approach to mastering. “I’ve used the NSEQ-2 stereo parametric equalizer for years,” he says. “It’s one of my go-to equalizers. Larry Anthony introduced me to the NSEQ-2 while I was his assistant at COS Mastering. When I got my own room, I had to have one.” Like all of Millennia Media’s Twin Topology designs, the NSEQ-2 lets Kenny Daniels choose an all-triode tube or an all-discrete J-FET solid state signal path at any time. Both are entirely transformerless, high voltage, pure Class A topologies with only one active stage in the audio path.
Twin Topology is also a hallmark of Millennia Media’s TCL-2 two channel opto-compressor, a more recent addition to Daniels’ mastering signal chain. “When I tried it, I just fell in love with it,” says Daniels. “A lot of the people who come in here ask me for another popular compressor. My answer is to A/B that one against the TCL-2. Of course, both of them sound great. But when we switch to the Millennia, the soundstage just opens up. It’s so transparent and the center channel is not phased out, so the TCL-2 controls the dynamics without shrinking the soundstage.”
Resources:
http://www.patchwerk.com/
http://www.mil-media.com/nseq-2.html
http://www.mil-media.com/tcl-2.html
