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There is a lot of talk in the
trade press about our latest pro-audio development.
The
establishment of TRIDENT AUDIO alongside ORAM PRO.
As most of you
know, I was a Consultant to Trident Audio Developments in the 70's thro'
the 80's. I enjoyed an intense working relationship with Malcolm Toft,
then Managing Director and his partner, Jack Hartfield. Malcolm was
a great systems engineer at that time having a need for an electronics
wizz to provide the circuitry [and the Sound] to bring his flow diagrams
and panel layouts to life. I joined TAD originally for an 8 week project,
staying on for 14 years. It worked well and I designed the circuitry
for the Parametric EQ, CB9066B and the Fleximix. Then came the TSM and
subsequently the Series 80. My mic pre's at that time were quite revolutionary,
no pads on inputs needed and a sonic presence that made 'that' sound.
Trimix and
other boards followed based around my building blocks. It was a very
successful design partnership.
Sadly, TAD changed
management and design hands and was fully dissolved in 1995.
In September 1999,
the ORAM Management Team looked into the name situation at Companies
house and registered TRIDENT AUDIO LIMITED. The original name was available,
but having been dissolved in less than favourable trading conditions,
decided it were best to let that sleeping dog lie.
So here we are, not
building the old stuff again, but featuring the sonics that made Trident
famous in a more alive package that suits today's engineering requirements.
The Trident Audio
S80 Producer Box is two channels of great sounding mic pre and EQ into
two plastic faders.
As for the noise in
the press from other past TAD employees, we say good luck to you all.
You could have done all this years ago and chose not to. You've come
along now buying your company names after us and that's your right.
Don't take our original
circuits, that's not your right.
TRIDENT AUDIO LTD.,
salutes the original TAD Team, all of them, that made that company what
it was.
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See
the review in THE MIX magazine July issue !!
www.themix.net
  
HIGHLIGHTS
The original Trident Series 80 console was introduced back in 1975
in response to the need for a 'rock'n'roll' desk: plenty of effects
sends and an EQ that was radically creative rather than just correctional
was what was called for.....John who has resurrected faithfully reproduced
a pair of the original Series 80 channel strips, packing them into
a very handy unit for producers to carry around with them.
What's all the fuss about the Series 80? Well for a period of seven
or eight years it reigned supreme as the console all pro studios should
have.... A lot of the mega-selling ablums of the '70's were recorded
on it, including those by artists such as Elton John, Queen, Genesis,
David Bowie, T Rex and Bob Marley.
What
people liked about the desk then was its sonic character and very
musical EQ.....
In use
For this review the S80 was A/B-ed with a later
Trident Tri-mix module which is identical to the Series 80 except
for a slight alteration of the shelf frequencies of the top and bottom
bands... The comparison is a good one though, and on first listen
they appeared identical and the EQ switched out, they undoubtedly
were.
Plug anything into it and, just like the old Neve desk, you immediately
feel good about the sound without having to resort to forced enhancements....
Verdict
..Combine the S80 with a good microphone or two and a Pro Tools rig
and you can just about set up anywhere and record to master quality.
If you're an engineer who used to work on the Series 80 desk you might
well want to re-visit that experience. If you're a fresher, you'll
probably wonder what all the fuss was about until you sit it beside
the input of your modern desk for comparison.
Words: Tim Oliver,
images: Gavin Roberts
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