Recording Studio Rockstars: Alex Oana's Audio Test Kitchen

RSR: Alex Oana’s Audio Test Kitchen Helps You Learn Which Mic to Buy

By: WhisperRoom™

January 24, 2020

Alex Oana standing next to hundreds of microphones inside of a room

WhisperRoom™ is a proud sponsor of the podcast Recording Studio Rockstars. In each episode, Lij Shaw interviews music producers, engineers, studio owners, and other professionals to bring you inspiring stories, tricks, and insight from the recording industry.

You can listen to the entire podcast archive of Recording Studio Rockstars here or from your favorite podcast app.

RSR Episode #226: Alex Oana Created Audio Test Kitchen to Help Your Studio Find the Right Mics

In this episode of Recording Studio Rockstars, Alex Oana talks about making records at the old Twin/Tone Records‘ studio in Minnesota, recording perfectly identical drums with robots, how you can find the ideal microphone for your studio at Audio Test Kitchen and much more.

Listen to the full episode here or stream it in the video below!

Recording Studio Rockstars – Episode #226 – Alex Oana

Who Is Alex Oana?

Engineer and producer, Alex Oana, is originally from Minneapolis and now lives in Los Angeles. Over the past 30 years, he has produced hundreds of records from his studios and has been the recipient of 11 Minnesota Music Awards.

Audio Test Kitchen

Alex is also the creator and co-founder (with Ian Hlatky) of Audio Test Kitchen, an online resource for seeing, hearing, and auditioning over 300 microphones from the comfort of your own studio. Together, they intended to solve the frustrating experience of wanting to know what a microphone sounds like before committing to what can be an expensive purchase for your studio.

Alex decided to create a place where you can go to check out a product for your studio while you’re in the consideration stage. His platform gives individuals the option to make comparisons until they find the right fit, it’s just like trying on a pair of jeans at your favorite store. Even if you’re just curious, you can have fun listening to what all the different mics sound like.

In this episode, Alex talks about what it took to create the world’s first online pro audio showroom, what you can find there, and what you can expect to find there in the future. At the end of the day, all of this knowledge is designed to help you make better records in your studio.

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