Artegra began recording DSD in the fall of 2000 using Meitner converters and the Genex 8500 recorder. Editing was done on a Sony Sonoma at Artegra in Minneapolis. Mastering was done on the Sonoma at Airshow Mastering in Boulder, Colorado. "The Bridge", "The Sound of Water" and "Swedish Fiddle Music" were all recorded this way. Our upcoming recordings are being recorded and mixed on an 8-channel Pyramix system. The Pyramix converts the raw DSD into a 32 bit/352.8 kHz PCM signal for mixing. We have noticed no degradation in the quality of the recordings as a result of mixing to high resolution PCM. When played back in DSD mode, the primary benefits of DSD are fully apparent; a solid sense of physical space, superb transients and timbral accuracy.

Artegra SACD releases are all made from DSD masters. All SACD releases are on multichannel, hybrid SACD. They will play on standard CD players.

Our current signal chain includes Neumann M149 tube mics, Royer ribbon mics, high voltage B&K omni's, a Millenia Media 8 channel preamp, 12 channels of second and third generation Ed Meitner DSD converters, Genex 8500 recorders and the Merging Technologies Pyramix. Monitoring is done through a Meitner multichannel Switchman to a Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature amplifier to SLS S8R monitors featuring ribbon tweeters.

Artegra's recording approach is to keep the mic placement and signal chain as simple as possible. Stereo microphone pairs (usually in an ORTF configuration) are used as the main stereo pickup in most sessions with accent mics used sparingly on individual instruments. Hall ambience is usually recorded with spaced omni microphones. Drum kits are usually captured with one overhead omni supplemented with a snare or kick highlight.

In multichannel programs the surround channels are used simply for hall ambience. We feel that an important advantage of the SACD format is that 2 channel and multichannel mixes are created individually by the engineer.