Aphex at Miami's New World Symphony

One of the most celebrated architectural achievements in Miami's history is also one of its best sounding. New World Center, designed by Frank Gehry, is home to Miami's New World Symphony, the orchestra founded and led by Grammy Award winning conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.

The venue's design incorporates the edgy experimentation of both Thomas and Gehry, whose relationship dates back nearly six decades to when the then-unknown Gehry baby-sat for the younger pianist. Under Thomas' vision, the New World Symphony was founded as a performance center and academy for young music school graduates, and incorporates a symphony hall and multimedia facility with state-of-the-art studios. Even the building's exterior is used as a canvas to project performances to viewers outside on the surrounding greens.

The project's technical design was a joint venture between several consultants, including Dallas-based Acoustic Dimensions, Los Angeles-based Sonitus, and Pro Sound and Video of Miami. As Brad Gallagher, managing engineer at Pro Sound and Video explains, the building's sophisticated technical layout includes five Pro Tools|HD suites for recording concerts and events and other production projects. A selection of microphones onstage feeds an offstage rack housing six Aphex 1788A multichannel microphone preamps, which Gallagher points to as an important part of high-quality audio signal chain.

"Needless to say, audio quality is an important factor for a symphony hall," says Gallagher. "The Aphex 1788 is a great sounding preamp, and ideally suited for this application. It delivers pristine sound from the Schoeps and DPA microphones onstage to the Pro Tools|HD systems."

The recording studio is set up with Aphex 1788RC remote control units, enabling recording engineers to control the preamps without leaving the studio.