MidCoast Invests in Metric Halo

MidCoast Music owner, executive producer, and guitarist Chris Hanson has gone all-in with Metric Halo for MidCoast Music’s studio, making an executive decision after experiencing the sonic details that the remote Metric Halo ULN-8 could reproduce in the studio.

“I suspect I’m not the only person who has built out a studio around Metric Halo conversion,” he said. “It’s just so damn good! The first time I stemmed out a mix through Metric Halo, my jaw dropped. This is the very best hybrid analogue/digital studio solution I’ve ever heard.”

Hanson pairs the Metric Halo hardware with analogue processors. His usual studio recording workflow involves primarily Manley preamps fed through the Metric Halo converters and into whichever DAW makes sense for a given project. He appreciates the LIO-8 and ULN-8 line outs, which give him a zero-latency solution for headphone mixes. His usual mix workflow involves building stem mixes in the box, which then go out through the Metric Halo converters, through a series of Manley mixers, through a two-channel Manley compressor, and back into the digital domain via the Metric Halo converters.

“Metric Halo plug-ins are really indispensable,” he said. “I know a lot of manufacturers are coming out with a lot of great plug-ins these days, but when push comes to shove and I have to get the job done and done well, the Metric Halo versions do everything the other guys do and more… and Metric Halo does it with better sound and functionality.”

Hanson is into Metric Halo ChannelStrip, Character, TransientControl, and Multiband Expander. “I’ve been using Metric Halo ChannelStrip since it came out in 1998,” he said. “I love that the frequencies aren’t over-hyped. I can really shape the sound without colouring it, although it’s capable of colouring the sound as well! Really, you could put me on a desert island with just a Metric Halo ULN-8, Metric Halo ChannelStrip, and a couple of good microphones and I’d basically be able to do what I do in the studio. In fact, I did exactly that at a vacation cottage here in Wisconsin!” He cited Metric Halo Character’s ability to add subtle distortions to tracks that, unlike other saturation plug-ins, add to a track and helps hold a mix together.

He continued: “Metric Halo TransientControl is the best transient plug-in on the market – it’s punchier and more articulate than the other leading plug-ins. I’m also a big fan of using Metric Halo Multiband Expander to do frequency-sensitive noise reduction.”

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