Randy Copus

Composer, performer, producer, engineer

SC407

Randy Copus has composed, performed, produced and engineered in nearly all genres of popular music over the past few decades. Best known for his work in progressive new age group 2002, which is currently producing their 20th album, he has also worked in rock and pop music since as a singer, producer and engineer. Copus now runs Galactic Playground Music, an award-winning recording studio located just north of Dallas, Texas, USA that records and mixes everything from Billboard-charting albums and soundtracks to voiceovers for e-learning, interactive training and multimedia.

A wide variety of work keeps Copus on his toes when it comes to gear. "We always strive to make the studio better," he says. This means continually searching for gear that not only sounds great, but also sounds great across a wide range of sound sources and genres. His most recent quest for the ultimate in gear prompted him to make the switch to EVE Audio from another ribbon-tweeter monitor maker.

"I consider monitors to be the most important tools in my studio and for whatever reason, my old trusted monitors were not giving me what I needed anymore. I was struggling to hear certain things, particularly in the mids and low end. So I tried the EVE SC407s and I couldn't believe my ears! They sounded so different from the speakers I had come from. The mid-range was so present and clear, I wanted to go back and remix everything I've ever done. I was amazed how easy and effortless it was to make the vocals sit perfectly in the mix. There was no guesswork, no compulsion to go listen on another system. I realized mixing had become fun again, first time in a long time!"

The demands of studio work also bring long hours of tracking, editing, and mixing. Randy believes his new EVE monitors help him to be more productive for longer periods of time. "I used to have to take a long break every two hours or so, because I was expending so much mental energy trying to hear everything correctly. Fatigue would constantly set in. Not so with the EVEs though – they just present everything so clearly, and working on them becomes more natural with less effort. If I change something 1 dB at 13kHz, I hear the difference dramatically. Before the EVEs, I didn't think I could even hear those frequencies anymore, but now I realize that the monitors I had been using were hiding that information from me!"

Because Copus mixes on full range EVE SC407s, he has eliminated a subwoofer from his mix monitoring setup. "I was mixing with a sub before I got the SC407s. I feel that engineers must have an accurate picture of what is occurring in those bottom octaves, because even if it's too low for the music, it's not too low for problems to occur if you don't hear them. With the SC407s, I have felt no need to add the sub! I never have liked mixing stereo music with a sub, always preferring that the main speakers were full range and powerful enough for me to get everything I need from them, mounted up on the stands as opposed to part of the sound being disconnected on the floor somewhere. Also, I've noticed when playing a mix, if I walk around the room, the sound, especially the bass, doesn't appear to change, even when I'm over on the sides. The SC407s are the first monitors I've owned where this is finally the case."

Studio monitors have had to keep up with incredible advances in technology in both the studio and the way music is reproduced for the listener, and Copus feels he is now on the cutting edge. "The level of accuracy and translation I have now in the EVE monitors are light years beyond what I had before. They have changed my life as a sound professional!"