Use Cases

Grammy award-winning music production and recording studio Gat3 has been graced with some of the industry’s biggest stars. Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, the likes of Mary J Blige, Post Malone, Queen Latifah and the godfather of soul James Brown have passed through its doors over the years, utilising the best in audio technology to record and produce some of the most ground-breaking and globally recognised albums.

The studio is an impressive multi-media complex that comprises tracking and mixing studios, as well as mastering suites and a Dolby 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos certified room. Gat3 also has a video production team with sound stages that specialise in music videos and corporate media. All five of its studios feature innovative products from Merging Technologies.

“I have used Merging products for years,” begins Glenn A Tabor, award-winning music producer, engineer, and owner of Gat3 Productions. “When upgrading our converters a few years ago, we tried every converter on the market. Merging was the brand that stood out as sonically superior, so we added their products to every studio at Gat3. Being able to send any audio stream to anywhere in our facility has been amazing.”

Gat3 - Sapphire Dolby Atmos 9.1.6 Room

Gat3 tracks, mixes and masters using products from the Merging family. It relies on Merging’s HAPI networked audio converter to record sessions, converting analog audio signals from instruments into editable digital signals. HAPI is hugely popular in studio settings, and its economical form factor makes it the ideal local stagebox or studio rack unit for any application.

“The sonics of the conversion are truly incredible. Every analog to digital and digital to analog conversion goes through Merging. We also use the ANUBIS as a monitor controller and converter in our programming suite,” furthers Tabor.

Gat3 - Emerald Room - Programming-Voiceover-ADR

ANUBIS is the central point for musicians, producers, or any home studio. This compact AD/DA is unique in its configurability to perform without changing the hardware. Included is Merging’s new 32bit dual preamp topology, headphone amps and meticulously developed D/A converters, all combined with a powerful low latency mixing engine.

Gat3 also employs the brand’s HORUS networked audio interface – a market leader in astounding audio and unrivalled connectivity - to interconnect the facility using just a standard RJ45 connector. Once in RAVENNA mode, the Horus box simply becomes a node on a network, one that can be instantly called to be an input, an output, or a combination of both.

Gat3 - Ruby SSL Origin Room

“We now have the ability to send any audio stream live to any of our five studios or soundstage with the click of a button. Our students love working with the Merging products, too, especially the ANUBIS platform. Merging has always stood out to me. They’re a brand that I know I can rely on for quality audio,” says Tabor.

Gat3 Productions also has an impressive inventory of products from Neumann and Sennheiser across its studio spaces. Sister brands to Merging Technologies, Gat3 currently holds over 80 years’ worth of Neumann products, cementing Tabor’s love for vintage microphones. “Glenn has purchased microphones that cost more than my house!” says musician David Johnson. “One of the most memorable is the vintage Neumann U67.”

Gat3 - Neumann microphones collection

“When I plugged it up and listened to it for the first time, it was all that I’d hoped for and more,” adds Tabor. “It’s an amazing microphone. It’s the first thing that sees your talent before it gets processed into any other part of the recording equipment. This was the microphone that helped James Brown with his last album, which he recorded here at Gat3. That’s why I love vintage mics, they all have a great story to tell.”

Alongside Gat3’s original U67 microphone, the studio also has two U47 condenser microphones, two TLM-103 microphones, a limited edition 75th anniversary version of Neumann’s M-149 Jubilee microphone and a vintage U87 – a legendary product known for its warm, rich sound.

Gat3 - Opal Mastering Suite

Additionally, Gat3 also owns a Neumann TLM-170, two M49v mics, two Neumann U-89is and two Neumann KM-84is. From Sennheiser, the studio has three MD421 microphones, three Sennheiser MD-441s and two Sennheiser MKH-800s. Ga3’s video team also uses several Sennheiser MKH 8060 Shotgun microphones.

"Sennheiser has been an innovator and a leader in professional audio for many decades. Quality, innovative sound and manufacturing has always been paramount, and I can consistently rely on Sennheiser products to deliver exactly that. As a generational family company, much like my company Gat3, Sennheiser has global reach and personal service for the consumer - rare traits in today’s marketplace,” explains Tabor.

Gat3 proudly holds many accolades for production, which can only be achieved with top audio technology. Using products from Merging, Neumann and Sennheiser, the studio has played a part in crafting unforgettable albums from a gloat-worthy roster of musicians. From the pipedream of an early 20-year-old to mixing the mighty vocal power of James Brown, Gat3 is a name that will be floating around the audio ether for some time.

Glenn A Tabor, award-winning music producer, engineer, and owner of Gat3 Productions

Sapphire Dolby Atmos 9.1.6 Room rack with Hapi

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