Co-developed by John Storyk of Walters-Storyk Design Group, Trutone's mastering studio on West 44th Street in New York City — the original home of Record Plant Studios — battled high tides during the construction phase. Almost immediately after completing Studio B, a flood wiped it out. The undamaged Studio A was kept busy during B's extensive rebuild. Now that both suites are online, the complex is flooded with clients ranging from Def Jam, Island Records and Rocafella to Latin artists and dance DJs.

Each suite features a Neumann VMS-70 lathe retrofitted with a Zuja disc computer and Technics quartz-controlled turntable motor, as well as modified Neumann SP-77 and SP-78 consoles. To create CD masters, the studio employs Sonic Studio's premastering system. Monitors are KEF Reference 4s in A and KEF Reference 207s in B. Near-fields are Yamaha NS-10s and Tannoy 6.5s, with power supplied by Bryston, Ramsa and Hafler amps.

Trutone maintains a Hackensack, N.J., pressing plant and Music on the Run, a store-front operation that provides same-day CD, DVD and VHS dupes.

San Francisco-based Paul Stubblebine Mastering & DVD (PSM, www.paulstubblebine.com) opened two purpose-built 5.1 rooms, which will be manned by engineer/owner Paul Stubblebine (pictured, below), Michael Romanowski (whom Stubblebine has known since his Rocket Labs days) and John Greenham (who has worked with Stubblebine for 12 years). The rooms are centered on two Sonic HDSPs, SADiE PCM-8 and Sonic USP workstations; other gear includes Alon Wolff-designed speakers, Pacific Microsonics A/D converters and outboard gear from E.A.R., Z-Systems, Weiss and TC Electronic.

Stubblebine said that he didn't have enough customer demand when he started the process, but because he saw a future growth in 5.1 material for SACD and DVD-A, he gave the green light to build the second room. Both studios are being booked by a number of up-and-coming and established local bands, as well as national acts in a wide variety of genres. “Consumers are paying more attention to surround than they did before,” Stubblebine said. “What will make a difference [to consumers embracing the format] will be cars and a universal player; people will experience surround in their cars first. Surround will not displace stereo or mono — they will work in parallel — but the demand for 5.1 will grow.”