How to resolve AdBlock issue? Nicolas Hosford & Lisa Kacos use Focusrite RedNet Interfaces
Artist/producer Nicolas Hosford and artist/multi-instrumentalist/educator Lisa Kacos have staked out a personal, creative and professional partnership that has given them an elite reputation as one of Nashville’s independently-minded audio power couples. They met in college, studying classical music while making records and touring with their rock band. Fast forward through several degrees, albums, tours, a publishing deal, a wedding, and relocating to Nashville, and the duo is busier than ever with a variety of music projects. In addition to their new artist project (which they are currently mixing and creating content for release), they collaborate together with clients from all over the world. Kacos also is an adjunct instructor at Belmont University and Lipscomb University, and Hosford teaches at SAE Institute. They’ve transformed the majority of their south Nashville home into their workspace, thanks to an extensive Dante network framework and RedNet interfaces from Focusrite.
The duo currently use multiple Focusrite RedNet PCIeNX ultra-low latency, high-channel-count PCIe Dante interfaces as well as a RedNet A16R 16x16 analogue I/O with independent level control. “We have multiple rooms of our house connected,” notes Kacos. “We’ve transformed our home into a studio space in which we also sleep and make food! Our main areas are a drum room, a live room, two guitar rooms, and the control space with the console. Whether we are working together on our own material, or working with artist clients, we have a lot of options in terms of configuration and how to record. We work together and separately, and we work with outside artists. We need to be able to reconfigure our setup on the fly to meet the needs of each project. The Dante network, and the Focusrite interfaces, give us that flexibility.”
Hosford emphasizes how important flexibility is to their work: “We’ve been doing this for over 20 years now, and I’ve learned that every project needs something different. Maybe a group has multiple drum sets, or maybe you need to record a solo classical guitar. Of course vocals, guitar amps, whole bands tracking live with multiple sources in the room together – it all comes at you, depending on the project. Dante and Focusrite give us the ability to connect up whatever source we want through the space, as well as whatever computer or tracking device we’re using. We used to have microphone cords and patch cables running everywhere, but now we have literally none of that clutter, and way more flexibility in terms what we can set up for a project. So Dante has been transformative, but also the Focusrite PCIeNX is absolutely crucial for us. If you use a Mac and you want high channel counts and low latency, PCIeNX is the card, period. The artists I work with can never detect any latency whatsoever, and I consider that a big win for this setup.” Hosford adds, “I’ve taught a unit at SAE on Dante, and we’ve been able to use our house as a case study for the students. I get to show them exactly how our facility is connected, so they get a sense of the real-world deployment of this sort of setup, as well as the possibilities that it offers you creatively and professionally.”
Kacos recalls problems with a previous setup: “I remember when Nick had an out-of-town artist set up at our studio, before the switch to our Dante network. A very large band, with a high channel count and a lot of specific needs in terms of live tracking. We should have been able to meet those needs, but something malfunctioned with our interface, and tech support could not help us. That was one of the most frustrating experiences of our career, and it was probably a key factor in re-thinking how we network our gear and our facility.”
Hosford adds, “Since the update to Focusrite, we haven’t had any of those issues. I stand by the Focusrite gear entirely. We turn it on and turn it off, and that’s it. No extra fuss needed. It’s so nice to install a piece of gear and just let it sit there, doing its job. I basically haven’t had to troubleshoot with Focusrite tech support at all, but if the need were to arise, I know they’d be there to help.”
Kacos notes, “Not in terms of tech support, but I have had experiences with talking to Focusrite customer service, giving me advice on the gear needs for my studio, which led us to acquiring the A16R. And I believe Nick had some questions on the compatibility of a previous PCI card, and we were able to get right through and get the answers we needed. It’s always a great experience talking with Focusrite personnel.”