Recording - September 2020 - 57

for monitoring, and I found it very easy
and enjoyable to work with. Most of the
projects I used it on were approved on
version one, so that's a very good sign.
While I'm used to having a monitor controller with a DAC built right in
(Crane Song Avocet IIA, Grace m905),
I could certainly get used to the Mercury
connected to a high-quality analog monitor controller instead.

In the Main Room

At my main studio, I used Mercury
in my analog insert switcher as one of
three DAC options to feed my analog
mastering chain. Typically, my options
are a Crane Song HEDD Quantum,
Dangerous Music Convert-2, and a
Prism Lyra 2. The Prism is my least used
of the three, so I put the SPL in its place
to compare with the others.
For setup, Mercury offers very easy calibration at the press of a button, instead of a
buried trim pot on the back. Mercury starts
at 0 dBFS = 14 dBu, followed by 15, 16,
17, 18, 20, 22 and finally 24dBu.
The reason I have multiple DAC choices
is, I've found that even with high-end
converters, usually one of them has a
slight sonic advantage over the others
depending on the source material. For
a particular song, some are a little wider, some deeper, some brighter, etc. As
I'm dialing in the settings for a project, I
can seamlessly change DAC and ADC
options while the music is playing, finding
which one works best for a given song.
While I found Mercury to easily be in the
same league as my other DAC options, I
did find it to be just slightly on the brighter
side of things. For songs that were already
leaning bright, the Mercury wasn't my first
choice, but for songs that were a little dull
or murky, those sounded great coming out
of the Mercury converters. Note that I'm
speaking in mastering terms, so I'm not
talking about a huge tonal swing here.
I'm talking very much on the subtle end
of the spectrum. If this were my only DAC
for feeding my analog chain, I'd be totally
happy. I'm just a little neurotic and prefer
to have multiple DAC options for this.
Shortly after using Mercury, I noticed
an internet forum comment, where a user
had the complete opposite observation
about the sound of Mercury. They felt it
RECORDING September 2020

57

leaned a little dark compared to their usual DAC. Make of that what you will.

Conclusion

Mercury makes for a fantastic DAC/
interface for monitoring in mastering
rooms and high-end mixing studios.
Though it might be overkill with all the input options, it also makes for a fantastic
straight-ahead DAC to feed an analog
mastering chain as well. Plus, If you're
starting to get requests to master from

DSD files, Mercury can play them.
SPL is known for its exceptional build
and sound quality, and the Mercury Mastering DA Converter is no exception.
Justin Perkins (perkins@recordingmag.com)
is a mastering and mix engineer who
operates Mystery Room Mastering in
Milwaukee. Learn more at mysteryroommastering.com.
Price: $2999 More from: spl.audio


http://www.mysteryroommastering.com http://www.mysteryroommastering.com http://www.songuard.com

Recording - September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - September 2020

No label
Fade In
Fast Forward
Once Over: IsoAcoustics ISO-PUCK 76
Once Over: Sennheiser Anniversary Edition HD 25 Headphones
Arturia: Keylab Essential 88
Solid Stage Logic: SiX Desktop Mixer
America: Demos and Sessions a Half Century Jeff Larson and Gerry Beckley
Reviewed and Revisited: Logic Pro X 10.5 (And Novation Launchpad X with Logic)
Genelec: The Ones 8351B
Plugin Outlet: Black Rooster Audio KH-Comp 1
Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Virtual Channel Strips
Novation: Launchkey 49 MK3
Plugin Outlet: NUGEN Producer Bundle
Daking Audio: Comp II Stereo VCA Compressor
Mixing Josephine Beaver’s Prime Time and tracking big bands with Al Schmitt
Plugin Outlet: UVI Drum Replacer
PreSonus: Quantum 2626
Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: The One Hour Mix
SPL: Mercury Mastering DA Converter
Demeter Amplification: RV-1D Real Spring Reverb
Readers’ Tracks
Reviewed and Revisited: Harrison Mixbus 32C Version 6
Fade Out: Mix Fu: Learn, Practice, Forget
Recording - September 2020 - No label
Recording - September 2020 - Cover1
Recording - September 2020 - Cover2
Recording - September 2020 - 1
Recording - September 2020 - 2
Recording - September 2020 - 3
Recording - September 2020 - Fade In
Recording - September 2020 - 5
Recording - September 2020 - 6
Recording - September 2020 - 7
Recording - September 2020 - Fast Forward
Recording - September 2020 - 9
Recording - September 2020 - Once Over: Sennheiser Anniversary Edition HD 25 Headphones
Recording - September 2020 - 11
Recording - September 2020 - Arturia: Keylab Essential 88
Recording - September 2020 - 13
Recording - September 2020 - Solid Stage Logic: SiX Desktop Mixer
Recording - September 2020 - 15
Recording - September 2020 - 16
Recording - September 2020 - 17
Recording - September 2020 - America: Demos and Sessions a Half Century Jeff Larson and Gerry Beckley
Recording - September 2020 - 19
Recording - September 2020 - 20
Recording - September 2020 - 21
Recording - September 2020 - 22
Recording - September 2020 - 23
Recording - September 2020 - Reviewed and Revisited: Logic Pro X 10.5 (And Novation Launchpad X with Logic)
Recording - September 2020 - 25
Recording - September 2020 - 26
Recording - September 2020 - 27
Recording - September 2020 - Genelec: The Ones 8351B
Recording - September 2020 - 29
Recording - September 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Black Rooster Audio KH-Comp 1
Recording - September 2020 - 31
Recording - September 2020 - Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Virtual Channel Strips
Recording - September 2020 - 33
Recording - September 2020 - 34
Recording - September 2020 - 35
Recording - September 2020 - Novation: Launchkey 49 MK3
Recording - September 2020 - 37
Recording - September 2020 - Plugin Outlet: NUGEN Producer Bundle
Recording - September 2020 - 39
Recording - September 2020 - Daking Audio: Comp II Stereo VCA Compressor
Recording - September 2020 - 41
Recording - September 2020 - Mixing Josephine Beaver’s Prime Time and tracking big bands with Al Schmitt
Recording - September 2020 - 43
Recording - September 2020 - 44
Recording - September 2020 - 45
Recording - September 2020 - 46
Recording - September 2020 - 47
Recording - September 2020 - Plugin Outlet: UVI Drum Replacer
Recording - September 2020 - 49
Recording - September 2020 - PreSonus: Quantum 2626
Recording - September 2020 - 51
Recording - September 2020 - Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: The One Hour Mix
Recording - September 2020 - 53
Recording - September 2020 - 54
Recording - September 2020 - 55
Recording - September 2020 - SPL: Mercury Mastering DA Converter
Recording - September 2020 - 57
Recording - September 2020 - Demeter Amplification: RV-1D Real Spring Reverb
Recording - September 2020 - 59
Recording - September 2020 - Readers’ Tracks
Recording - September 2020 - 61
Recording - September 2020 - 62
Recording - September 2020 - 63
Recording - September 2020 - 64
Recording - September 2020 - 65
Recording - September 2020 - 66
Recording - September 2020 - 67
Recording - September 2020 - Reviewed and Revisited: Harrison Mixbus 32C Version 6
Recording - September 2020 - 69
Recording - September 2020 - 70
Recording - September 2020 - 71
Recording - September 2020 - Fade Out: Mix Fu: Learn, Practice, Forget
Recording - September 2020 - Cover3
Recording - September 2020 - Cover4
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