About Us

Hi, I'm Kris, and I've created this site to help people get great sounding recordings and save money. 

When I first started recording (in 2003),  my finished recordings didn't sound very good. I had an SM-57, and a $300 condenser (Apex 420). I thought... if only I had a good microphone, then my recordings would sound better.  So I bought a Neumann TLM-102 ($1400). It didn't really make much of a difference for me. So I thought I still needed a better microphone, so I purchased a Neumann TLM 149, which was over $2000, but my recordings still didn't sound very good. The AKG 414 came highly recommended, so I bought a pair of those for over $1000 each. I was pretty surprised with the AKG 414, because it sounded clearly better than the TLM-149, and was half the price. This realization completely changed my perspective about the cost of a microphone, and it's quality, and I decided I wouldn't buy another microphone until I was sure it was good value. I spent years researching microphone brands, reading reviews, and trying to find the ultimate microphone that sounds great but isn't too expensive. My search ended when I discovered Advanced Audio microphones. They're headquarters was actually just a 15 minute drive from my house, and they welcomed me to go there and try out their mics. I brought my microphones, and spend a full day testing and comparing microphones. They have a 414 clone which outperformed the AKG 414, and it was a third of the price. Their CM-67 se, which was their flagship microphone at the time, sounded better than my Neumann TLM-149, and was half the price. So I decided to sell my Neumann TLM-149 and use the money to buy an Advanced Audio CM-67se. 

I placed the add, and had reply from a local studio owner who offered to trade my TLM-149 for and Advanced Audio CM-67se. This was pure coincidence, this person did not know that was the specific microphone I wanted. Even though I was willing to accept the trade straight across, he was slightly rude/cocky in his reply, and my microphone was worth twice as much, so I told him he needs to sweeten the pot. He agreed to include a bunch of cheap Chinese microphones that nobody has ever heard of called iSK. I really wasn't interested in these microphones, I had already tried cheap Chinese microphones, and wasn't impressed. So these microphones sat on my shelf for a few months and I never even tried them. But then one day I pulled them out, and gave them a try. If they sound better than the SM-57, I might have some use for them after all. Well, they blew away the sm-57. So I tried them against the Neumann TLM-102... and they blew it away. I was having a hard time believing these tests, so I tested them multiple different times on different instruments and different positions. Always the same results... these iSK mics sounded fantastic. I took the iSK Tube mic, which costs less than $500, and compared it to the Advanced Audio CM-67se, and the result was a tie. So this $500 Chinese mic outperformed the Neumann TLM-102, TLM-149 and AKG-414. I was blown away, and decided to buy more iSK microphones. 

I was unable to find any serious retailers for this brand, so I decided to import them and open a store selling them. That's the birth of ISK Pro Audio. 

Now that I had a nice collection of very high quality microphones, I was able to focus on other aspects of the recording chain, such as room acoustics, mixing, mastering, and preamps. Over the course of a few years, I made improvements in the studio, as well as in my own skills, and I gradually got my recordings to a professional commercial release level. Some of the things I've learned

-Room acoustics play a huge role in the sound quality

- The most important part of a studio is to have good monitoring

- There are microphones (iSK) which cost only a few hundred dollars that sound just as good as some microphones that cost thousands of dollars.

- There are inexpensive preamps that sound just as good as multi thousand dollar boutique preamps.

-Skilled mixing makes a huge difference. 

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I learned these lessons the hard way, through trial and error, and tens of thousands of dollars.  I want to help people avoid making the same mistakes I made. I've created this site to teach you how to get great sounding recordings, that compete with professional commercial releases, without spending too much money on gear.

 

-Kris