INTRODUCTION
After an enjoyable weekend in Adelaide performing with DJ Ragz at a venue called Entropy, we were invited to check out a vintage recording studio owned by a friend close to the venue.
When entering the studio we were told that the building is heritage listed and used to be a eucalyptus oil distillery. In fact the eucalyptus tanks still remain and are used to the advantage of this unique studio/museum, acting as isolation walls for the vocal booth as well as providing the therapeutic aroma of eucalyptus.
The high triangular shaped ceiling structure although not sound treated definitely passed the great acoustics test. We were fascinated by the vintage instruments set up and ready for playing and recording. I even noticed a JHS GM55 microphone lying around making it clear that the studio is aiming to capture a classic vintage sound. Although I can appreciate the benefits and disadvantages of both digital and analogue audio technology there is no denying the character vintage recording equipment and acoustic instrumentation provides . One of these recording devices was a System 8 Allen & Heath MK3 console which we found set up in the control room. I had never come across this console before and despite hearing mixed opinions about it I was told that a lot of Reggae producers used this desk. This made me interested to briefly investigate and share a little bit more information about it in this weeks blog.
DJ RAGZ & KING RU CHILLING OUT @ ENTROPY SA
SYSTEM 8 ALLEN & HEATH MK3 CONSOLE
CONSIDERATIONS WHEN USING THIS CONSOLE:
My advice, if you are recording stuff that is quiet or delicate by nature, the Allen Heath is NOT for you because the inherent noise will always be present and probably stack itself too much across tracks to where it is creating an issue. If you are recording more rock style and louder things with hot mics, the noise in the System 8 most likely will not be a noticable issue and the charachter of the board may pay dividends for you 
(“AHB System 8 Analog Mixer (Allen and Heath & B) – Home Recording forums”, 2008)
CONCLUSION
This is definitely a console I would record with one day to feature it’s noisy character. If I were to use this console I would record a hard hitting Rock, Reggae or Funk song. From what I have been reading about the System 8 AH MK3 any music loud and hard hitting works well with this console.
REFERENCES
AHB System 8 Analog Mixer (Allen and Heath & B) – Home Recording forums. (2008). Home Recording. Retrieved 9 August 2016, from http://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/mixing-techniques/ahb-system-8-analog-mixer-allen-heath-b-274387/
Embedded Videos – Social Plugins – Documentation – Facebook for Developers. (2016). Facebook Developers. Retrieved 9 August 2016, from https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/embedded-video-player/?prefill_href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Frobert.ragz%2Fvideos%2F1229832697061635%2F#configurator
Entropy. (2016). Entropysa.com.au. Retrieved 9 August 2016, from http://entropysa.com.au
JHS GM55 Vintage Style Mic Microphones. (2016). Fouldsmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2016, from http://www.fouldsmusic.co.uk/microphones~95-c/jhs-gm55-vintage-style-mic~021670-p.html
System 8 – Allen & Heath. (2016). Allen & Heath. Retrieved 9 August 2016, from http://www.allen-heath.com/ahproducts/system-8/
(2016). Retrieved 9 August 2016, from https://www.adelaide.edu.au/infrastructure/about/portfolio/heritage/heritage_inventory_thebarton.pdf
AUSTRAJAM PRODUCTIONS 2016
AustraJam Productions 