Martinsound Martech Modular Studio Series, Owner'S Manual, Page: 25 / 28

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The history of the MSS-10 begins at Martinsound where a passion for excellence
in audio has existed since the founding of the company. Martinsound started out as
a multi-track recording studio and grew into a highly successful corporation, with
divisions that include the development of professional audio products. Martinsound’s
most acclaimed development is the highly regarded Neve™ Flying Faders™ automation
system. Believing that Flying Faders was just a beginning, Joe Martinson, owner of
Martinsound, dreamed of developing a range of products that set new standards for
sonic quality. Being a true visionary, he fixed his sights on the goal, and began surround-
ing himself with a team that would help him to accomplish his intent, little realizing the
years, money, and resources that would be required.
Working for Martinsound since 1980, Shawn Micheal has held the various positions of
chief recording engineer, studio manager, co-developer of Neve Flying Faders, and cur-
rently as Vice President of Product Development. Shawn still spends a lot of time in
the studio, working as a free lance recording engineer. A favorite pastime for Joe and
Shawn was spending countless hours discussing the sonic attributes of the equipment
they used, and how to pick equipment whose coloration best matched the source being
recorded. The discussion always ended the same: Wouldn’t it be great to hear a source
with no equipment coloration at all! This was a dream that Joe and Shawn shared for
well over a decade.
Also working for Martinsound in R&D was Toby Foster, a gifted and respected free
lance recording engineer, as well as a very talented design engineer. A man of action, his
thoughtful design work is seen in custom consoles built for some of the most respected
studios in Los Angeles. His enthusiasm for great reverb helped him to introduce MAR-
TECH’s EMT 140 Upgrades, which resurrected and updated plate reverbs all over the
world. But Toby’s real passion is truly in great microphones and getting their output to
tape in as pure a form as possible. His involvement with some of the world’s top engi-
neers and producers put him in the unique position of knowing exactly how far the enve-
lope of audio excellence needed to be pushed.
Meanwhile, in the mid 70’s, a brilliant young design engineer, named Bud Wyatt, was
working at Producers’ Workshop recording studios. His quest for sonic excellence led
him to some interesting amplifier research that proved to be the beginnings of the
D2024C, the amplifier used exclusively in the MSS-10. Later, Bud worked for Sheffield
Labs, where the fine art of listening was refined to the highest degree. This was a valu-
able time for Bud, developing and working with only the finest sounding equipment. At
the end of 1993, Joe, Shawn, and Toby approached Bud to help them realize the dream
that they had held for many years: to develop a pristine sounding, tube microphone pre-
amplifier.
(continued...)
A Short History...