Engineer-producer Scott Litt recently installed Ocean Way Audio's HR4S monitor system in his Venice, CA recording studio. Litt, who works mainly with artists in the alternative rock genre, is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums during the band's most successful period.
R.E.M. have announced a massive 25th reissue of their 1994 album Monster, the latest in the band's ongoing series of 25th-anniversary archival reissues. The six-disc reissue will be released on Nov. 1 and includes a new mix of the album by its original producer Scott Litt.
Litt's new Ocean Way Audio HR4S monitor package includes HR4 speakers with the 800-watt two-way, side-ported S12A studio sub for extended low-frequency monitoring, resulting in an ultra-wide horizontal sweet spot.
"I'll give you a little background about these speakers and my experience with Allen Sides and Ocean Way," explains Litt. "I started as an engineer at Power Station in New York in the late '70s, a very famous studio in its day. Bob Clearmountain was our chief engineer, while Neil Dorfsman, James Farber, Larry Alexander, myself, and a number of great engineers came through there."
At the heart of the acoustic design of Litt's HR4S is a dual/hybrid waveguide system delivering a 100 40 degree window. Its proprietary design is realized with the aid of high-grade, 3D solid modeling. This process allows for creating geometrically complex surfaces that produce accurately matched and detailed imaging within the system.
Litt is also well known for his work with Nirvana, for whom he mixed the singles "Heart-Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" from the 1993 album In Utero, and the posthumous release MTV Unplugged in New York (1994).
Litt has also worked with Bob Dylan, Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield, Indigo Girls, Paul Kelly, New Order, The Replacements, Patti Smith, Counting Crows, and Ziggy Marley, among numerous other artists.
"I am absolutely delighted with the HR4S speakers," Litt concludes. "They sound perfect for this room. They adjust well. People love them. What's great is that the splay of them is just perfect for a room this size, where one walks around and it sounds even throughout the room. They're just bright enough and loud enough, that you can work a nice long day without fatigue. I am super pleased."
