SECRET HARDWARE
Gear that hears the nuances
Mics, interfaces, monitoring, and controllers at SECRET recording studio near Elektrozavodskaya weren’t picked for a pretty list. It’s a working chain: catch timbre on a Neumann, keep emotion through Universal Audio, hear the mix honestly on ADAM, and finish a track you can release. Below are the key pieces we use every day for vocals, mixing, and arrangement.
NEUMANN
Neumann TLM 103
A modern studio vocal standard. Large diaphragm, capsule DNA from the legendary U 87 line, cardioid pickup, and low self-noise help capture voice big, clean, and detailed before any processing.
On vocal sessions the Neumann TLM 103 delivers a dense, “expensive” timbre without harshness: the artist hears themselves confidently in headphones, and the engineer gets a track that’s easy to edit, tune, and mix. We use the same chain for voice-over, podcasts, and careful spoken formats where clarity matters.
UNIVERSAL AUDIO
Universal Audio Apollo Twin X QUAD Gen 2
A serious production-studio interface: high-quality AD/DA, UAD DSP, and Unison preamps. Artists hear inspiring, focused sound with almost no latency.
Apollo Twin X sits at the heart of tracking and production: Unison preamps and UAD plugins let us put inspiring studio monitoring on the take without breaking timing. Record-and-mix sessions move faster — fewer “fix it later” guesses, more decisions in real time. It works for vocals, guitars, and character-rich demos alike.
ADAM AUDIO
ADAM Audio A7X
Primary mix and mastering monitors. ADAM’s X-ART tweeter delivers detailed top end, and the 7-inch driver helps you hear bass, vocals, and clipping honestly.
The ADAM A7X pair is what we mix and master releases on: you hear when vocals disappear, bass masks the midrange, or clipping hides in headphones. Honest monitoring saves revisions and helps mixes translate to speakers, cars, and streaming. That’s why the A7X live at the center of the mix room — not as shelf decoration.
ADAM AUDIO
ADAM Audio A5X
A second monitoring pair with the same X-ART character in a more compact format. On A5X we check midrange, vocals, and how mixes translate to smaller systems.
We use the A5X as a second opinion: after working on the A7X we switch to the compact pair and check how the mix behaves closer to consumer speakers and laptops. That catches midrange and vocal-clarity issues before release. Dual monitoring is studio discipline, not an optional extra.
AUDIENT
Audient iD14
A compact but honest interface with analog Audient Console mic preamps and modern converters. A clean path for the second room, edits, and sessions where pure capture matters.
Audient iD14 holds the studio’s second path: demos, edits, parallel sessions, and jobs that need a clean preamp without heavy color. Audient Console mic preamps give headroom and clear mids — great for vocals, acoustic sources, and spoken projects. When the main room is on Apollo, the iD14 keeps work moving.
BEYERDYNAMIC
beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO (250 Ω)
Closed-back studio classic: detailed sound, solid isolation, and comfort on long sessions. Great for vocal tracking and checking noise, breath, and fine edits.
In the DT 770 PRO the artist hears the bed and their voice without bleed into the mic, while the engineer catches breaths, clicks, and clothing noise during tracking. The closed design and 250 Ω impedance are a classic choice for vocal sessions and edit passes when you need detail, not the flattering picture of open headphones.
NOVATION
Novation Launchpad
A 64-pad MIDI controller for Ableton Live, Logic Pro, and live production. Ideal for launching scenes, drumming patterns, and turning ideas into arrangements fast.
Launchpad speeds arrangement and production: scenes, drops, percussion, and loops get built by hand, not only with a mouse. A demo idea becomes song form faster — with clear dynamics and structure before full tracking. It’s also handy in producer sessions where you want to audition arrangement options out loud.
And that’s far from everything
SECRET’s rack also has more mics, cabling, stands, headphones, MIDI keyboards, plugins, and macOS/Windows workstations — from a quick vocal session to a full release. If you need a specific chain for a genre or format, tell us the job when you book: we’ll match the path and workflow so the gear serves the result, not the other way around.