Welcome to Thermal Studios, a private recording and production facility located near the Philadelphia area. The studio is owned and operated by engineer/producer Stephen McKnight, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. This facility has a great mix of modern and vintage recording equipment, guitars, amps, keyboards and a great house drum kit. There is an all wood live room, guitars/amp room, vocal booth, lounge and control room- all wired for discrete or live recording.
The studio features an all analog path SSL console, with DAW control, flying faders and total recall. In addition to the 24 onboard SSL Super Analogue mic pres and G/E series eqs, there are also 24 Neve modules, and 22 API modules, giving the client the ultimate choice for front end preamps.
76 total channels in all, of the best vintage and modern mic pres.
All of this analog gear is converted by the Antelope Orion HD 32 interface, giving the user 64 in/out at up to 192k/32 bit. The DAW is Avid Pro Tools Ultimate running on a Mac Pro with all SSD drives.
Great gear and a great recording space are extremely important, but having a producer who listens and understands the artist is where the magic truly lives. Stephen prides himself on that more than anything else, so make contact and let's get to making great sounding music!
OUTBOARD GEAR
Main System
Mixing Console: Solid State Logic AWS 924 Delta
Recorder: Pro Tools HDX Ultimate w/ Mac Pro 6 core 32gig ram- SSD drives
Conversion:
Flock Audio Patch XT 192 point digitally controlled analog patch bay
Antelope Orion HD 32 (64 channels in/out at 192k)
Ferrofish Pulse 16 CV - 64 channels via MADI at up to 192k
RME Digiface - mastering grade converters for mastering
Monitor Speakers: Dynaudio BM6a, Yamaha NS 10
Headphone Monitoring
Aviom system- 3 mixers
Neve RNHP 1 headphone amp
Sennheiser HD650
Sony MDR 7509 (6)
Mic Pres
SSL Super Analogue (24)
Neve 1073 (24)
API 512 C (22)
Tree Audio Branch II
MAAG PreQ 4
Helios type 69
Avalon 737sp
Focusrite ISA 430
Joe Meek VC-2 (original- all tube path)
Dynamics
SSL G series 4000 Master Buss
SSL LMC
SSL 4000 (2)
AS1178 Stereo FET Compressor
AudioScape Engineering 260vu
Summit Audio TLA100A Tube Compressor
AS BA-6A Tube Compressor
UA 1176 LN
DBX 165A
Tube Tech CL1B
Teletronix LA-2A
Gates Sta-Level
Tree Audio Branch II
Empirical Labs Distressor
Shadow Hills Optograph
Focusrite 430
Avalon 737
Joe Meek VC-2
EQs
SSL G/E series (24)
Neve 1073 (12)
API 550 B (11)
MAAG PreQ 4
Helios type 69
Pultec EQP tube equalizer
Avalon 737sp
Focusrite ISA 430
Tree Audio Branch II
FX
Eventide H9000 with Pro Tools expansion card - 32 in/out
TC Electronics M3000
TC Electronics D2
Roland Space Echo RE-201
UA Thunderbolt Octo DSP (Oceanway, 1176 LN, LA2A, Neve 88R channel strip, Neve 33609, EMT 140, Fairchild, Ampeg SVT Pro, ADA tap delay)
Microphones
Sony C800G Tube Condenser
Neumann M149 Tube Condenser
Royer 121 ribbon (2)
Neumann U67
Neumann U47 FET
Neumann U87
Neumann KM184 (2)
Neumann KMS 105
United Audio U47 FET
Sennheiser 965
Shure SM7 B (w/cloudlifter)
Rode NT-2 (2) vintage
Cascade Fathead II ribbon (2)
AKG C12vr
AKG D12vr
AKG 421 (4)
AKG 391b
AKG C3000 (2)
AKG D1000e (vintage)
EV RE-16 dynamic (2)
Heil PR22
Shure Beta 52
Shure Beta 58 (2)
Shure Beta 57 (2)
Shure SM 57 (6)
Telefunken M80
Granelli 5790
Audix D6
Audix D4
Audix D2 (2)
Audix i5
DI
Neve RNDI
Countryman type 85(2)
Radial J48 (2)
Plugins
UA Thunderbolt Octo DSP (Oceanway, 1176 LN, LA2A, Neve 88R channel strip, Neve 33609, EMT 140, Fairchild, Ampeg SVT Pro, ADA tap delay)
Waves Horizon Bundle (all plugins)
Softube bundle
Kontakt Ultimate 13
Ivory II
Steven Slate - all plugins
Stylus RMX
Trillian
Addictive Drums 2
Addictive Keys
Output
Signal
Exhale
Amplifiers
Friedman Brown Eye 100 Deluxe
Victory Sheriff 25
BlackStar HT Club 50
1963 Silvertone 1484
1966 Fender Pro Reverb
1965 Ampeg Portaflex SB-12 Combo
2015 65 Amps Empire head
1995 Vox AC-15
1965 Danelectro DM-25
1960 Supro Trojan
2016 Splawn Street Rod Combo
2015 Suhr Corso recording head
2000 Marshall JCM 900 50 watt
1987 Marshall JCM 800 50 watt head
2018 Ampeg SVT 300 watt head with 8x10 cab
Blackstar HT Studio 20 head and cabinet
Vetta II combo
Custom Ampersand 2x12 cabinet with Blue Alnico and Vintage 30 speakers
SWR Working Man bass head
1963 Silvertone 1484 eight tube 60 watt head with 2x12 cabinet
SWR 4x10 bass cabinet
Fender Rumble 500
2007 Egnater Renegade 65 combo
Boss Katana 100
House Drum Kits
CUSTOM BUCKS COUNTY DRUMS
10" 12" 16" 18" toms, 22" kick in waterfall Bubinga
6.5”x14” Bubinga snare
6.5”x14” Chrome over brass
Meinl Studio Set cymbals and hi hat
TAMA STARCLASSIC
10" 12" 14" toms, 22" kick
Starclassic snare
J-Drums piccolo snare
Paiste cymbals and hi hats
Pearl Sensitone 5 1/2 X 14 snare
Pearl Chad Smith signature 5x14 snare
Guitars
2019 Gibson SG Pelham Blueburst
2024 Gibson ES 335 Supreme Sea Foam Green
2024 USA EVH Wolfgang w/ Floyd Rose & D-Tuna
2011 Limited Edition Gold Buillion Gibson SG w/Graphtec Ghost System
2021 Dean Zelinsky Private Label Dellateria
2021 Fender Custom Shop Master Build Telecaster
2021 G&L Doheny
1978 Les Paul Custom
1989 Custom Shop Stratocaster (neck through body)
1974 Fender Jazz Bass
2017 Music Man 5 string
2020 Suhr Telecaster
2019 Kauer Banshee Deluxe
2001 Les Paul Custom Shop
2020 Taylor TZ5 acoustic electric
1973 Gibson SG standard w/Graphtech Ghost system
2011 50th Anniversary Gibson SG w/Graphtech Ghost system
1952 Nash Fender Tele Danny Gatton
1977 Fender American Stratocaster
1962 Fender Jaguar
2015 DiPinto Mach IV w/Bigsby
1998 G&L ASAT Special
1989 Thermal Frankenstein Tele w/Graphtech Ghost system
2024 Sire Marcus Miller Active Jazz Bass
2000 Selva Custom bass
2009 Fender Precision bass
1999 Fender Jazz bass
2006 Breedlove Atlas Acoustic
1952 Vicente Tatay Classical
1990 Seagull 12 string
2010 Mugendoh Akira Acoustic
AUDIO
ABOUT STEPHEN
Stephen McKnight is a Philadelphia area based singer/songwriter/producer who owns Thermal Studios, a state-of-the-art recording studio and production facility.
Stephen has made his living performing, recording and songwriting for many years, both in the USA and in Tokyo, Japan where he spent over seven years recording and performing. He recorded and or produced over 200 television commercials and eight CD releases while in Tokyo. Highlights include having two songs chart on the hot 100, singing the original "Zoom-Zoom" commercial for Mazda, (which got plenty of airplay in the US) and singing the US National Anthem in front of 65,000 people live and millions on ESPN internationally. Prior to going to Japan, Stephen had several albums released with Now, Kissing Nixon as well as under his own name.
Since building Thermal Studios in 2006, Stephen has recorded and produced numerous full length original albums with various artists. (Check out the audio samples tab!) He has also recorded commercials for Comcast/Xfinity, Versace, Toyota, Rent A Center, Charter Communications, AT&T, Nike and many others. Stephen also has a presence in original songs for various Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 games. Konami is a long time client, as well as Sony Games and most recently Capcom. The newest Resident Evil game (available March 2012) includes Stephen's original song "The Spaces In Between". Stephen has built a fantastic recording studio which has all the amenities of a commercial studio, but located within a private residence. Producing, mixing, and or recording your project is his passion- no project too big or small.