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Twenty-Five Years and One Resident Cat: Producer Tom Harney Celebrates Silver Anniversary with Audient Console

USA – In an era of rapid digital obsolescence, producer Tom Harney is celebrating a rare milestone: 25 years of continuous service from his classic Audient ASP8024 analogue console. To mark the occasion, Audient has released a feature-length interview exploring the desk’s legendary longevity, its role in high-track-count Samba productions and its secondary life as a premium bed for the studio cat, Athena.

Originally purchased as a demo unit from the US distributor in early 2000, Harney’s console has remained the undisputed centrepiece of his studio. Despite the arrival of various boutique outboard preamps over the decades, Harney still relies on the desk’s onboard Class-A mic pres for his most critical tracking, including his recent work on the rhythmically complex Gafieira Pura album.

“The band loves the clean sound we get from the console,” says Harney. “When you are mixing Samba, you have a huge amount of low end to contend with between the Surdo drum, the bass guitar and the kick. The Audient allows me to bend the sound in a good way during those high-track-count sessions.”

• The Investment: How his investment back in 2000 has paid dividends over a quarter of a century.
• Samba Workflow: Managing 10-track percussion sessions and five-piece horn sections with ease.
• Engineering Reliability: Why the console is still "always ready," 25 years on.
• The Studio Critic: How Athena the cat has officially claimed the console as her own, despite studio policy.

“We often hear about the ‘British sound,’ but Tom’s story is a fantastic testament to British build quality and durability. Still working well after 25 years in use,” says the Audient team.

18th March 2026

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