Los Angeles, CA (March 3, 2016)—After 13 years in London, Francesco Cameli has relocated Sphere Studios to Los Angeles, taking over Linda Perry’s former facility and outfitting it with vintage and new gear, including PMC monitors throughout.
The new Sphere Studios is located in a building that was originally Royaltone Studios and subsequently Linda Perry’s private Kung Fu Gardens. “We updated the entire technical install whilst trying to maintain as much of the ambiance as possible,” says Cameli.
Located in North Hollywood, Sphere Studios has a tracking room with a large live area, a sizable drum booth and vocal booth, three guitar closets and a private lounge. This studio is equipped with a “lovingly restored” vintage Neve 8078 console, while Studio B—a mix room that also has two booths and two guitar closets—is equipped with an SSL 4072 G+ console. Both control rooms feature PMC BB5-XBD-A main monitors and PMC AML2 nearfield monitors. The facility also has three production rooms, each with their own vocal booths, that are intended for smaller projects and songwriting.
The choice of PMC speakers was made while planning a previous location that fell through due to permitting problems. Cameli intended to have free-standing main monitors, which steered him towards the BB5-XBD-A’s. “The more I worked with them, the more I realized that these were the most revealing yet musical monitors I had ever heard,” he says.
“To make matters even better, we were able to soffit mount the BB5s at our new premises—and the minute we heard them in the wall, we ordered a second set for Studio B. The BB5 XBD-As give you punch and clarity and are extremely revealing regardless of the level you are working at. They also have the power to pin a client to the back wall—if that’s what they’re after—whilst maintaining a pristine soundstage and image.”
