DOCtron - IMC (Martin Stimming's Instant Mastering Chain)

Stimming launches his first piece of music gear – The Instant Mastering Chain

The device, created in partnership with DOCtron, promises to enhance hardware-only live sets as well as simplify the modern producers’ life



Hamburg-based producer, Stimming has become renowned over the years for bringing a truly original sound to electronic music. Mixing hand-made textures, field recordings and the latest gear in his compositions, Stimming has earned his stripes as a dance-floor veteran and technical maestro frequently reviewing electronic music equipment for respected platforms worldwide. After many years playing Ableton based live-sets, Stimming took a U-turn in his career getting rid of the computer on stage. The decision raised the need for a portable mastering solution.



“When I decided to not have a computer on stage, I immediately faced the problem of mastering my signal on stage in real-time. Five years, a couple of different approaches and 12 prototypes later, I have a solution for this problem!”



For any electronic music artist who is playing a live set, the struggles of getting the master out sound loud and crisp will be familiar. This challenge led Stimming on a quest for a great sounding, portable, purely analog “mastering studio”. Having found none that met his criteria, Stimming joined forces with Middle Franconia-based technician, DOCtron, to bring his idea to life. “It fits in our carry-on luggage and makes the signal loud and present enough to compete against the DJ,” explains the producer, “in fact, gaining more than 2db LUfs while the sum being glued together and sounding punchy and compact is what this machine delivers! And during the last two years, I realized a side effect: those properties are very welcome in the studio as well!”



The Instant Mastering Chain is a fully analog audio processor chain in a carbon-made, portable package weighing 1kg only. It consists of a British Style two band sweetening EQ, a well-known VCA bus compressor design and a special drive circuit that is able to drive a pair of Lundahl ® audio transformers until the edge of their specifications. Although the device was designed with hardware-only live sets in mind, it also works wonders in the studio - especially as a powerful bus compressor. The Martin Stimming Instant Mastering Chain is handmade by DOCtron in Mittelfranken, Germany.



Martin Stimming's Instant Mastering Chain is out now and we are shipping worldwide except US and JP for now. Stimming hopes the device will inspire more musicians and producers to rid concerts stages of computers.

[severalcircles]

That true bypass is like the MagSafe of live-oriented audio devices. Genius idea!

[martinnonstatic]

this to me sounds like the best idea of the year so far !! for live gigs and recordings a true masterpiece!!

[mauhin_official]

Wie immer einfach sehr cool, wahnsinns gerät. und das bei der größe. Klasse Entwicklung!

[radzmar]

Das steckt sicher ’ne Menge Herzblut drin. Die Premiere davon schaue und höre mir gerne an, auch wenn ich bei dem voraussichtlichen Preis wohl nie damit in Berührung kommen werde. Aber man braucht ja auch so’n paar unerfüllte Träume im Leben, oder?! Gibt's Poster davon? Hahaha …

Hoffentlich habe ich irgendwann soviele Auftritte das ich das Teil brauche! 😆 Wäre ich Berufsmusiker. Direkt! Einzigartiges Gerät und toller Klang. Erst jetzt entdeckt.

[onlychld]

That is such a beautiful piece of gear!

[anthonyrothercom]

Wäre eventuell etwas für mein Live-Set um mit den lauten Masterings der DJ-Sets mithalten zu können.

[lostagain]

Probably because of the size, seems like many are confusing it with the performance and price of an Analog Heat or a guitar pedal, instead of the equivalent comparison: three or four 19" pro-audio mastering level rack units miraculously packed into a 1kg carbon-fiber, live-oriented, travel-optimized case. I'd be interested to see a video against some comparable gear: maybe a Rupert Neve MBP, Silver Bullet, or SSL Fusion. This might help in understanding this device to see it amongst other similar-level pro audio tools.

[kaonashicom]

amazing! what a technician. brilliant ))))

[sinus]

Ja, geiles Ding - schön warm, satt und laut. Die Kirsche auf dem Sahnehäubchen. Bis ich die Scheine dafür zusammen habe tröste mich mit dem Gedanken an deine kommenden Tracks.

[mantax]

Damn at this price it’s gonna be for the modular analog-only-esoteric bros

[demmaikseingropp]

Da steckt viel Herz und Arbeit drin. Wirkst etwas abgeschlagen. 🤧 bleib gesund 🤗

[ianvjones]

$4700.00 AUD. 😳
Is there a version without carbon fibre and Unicorn horn powder?

[LB-pppu]

Very cool machine. The only thing I'd miss is a small meter for the gain reduction amount of the compressor, surely it can be adjusted by ear but a visual feedback would be nice. Anyway seems that there is no space to put it anywhere, so it's fine as is

[inftrr]

I'll wait for the behringer version

[uriitarded]

Is that a Rycote shotgun mic stand? I can't find a table top version of it anywhere. Looks great

[danield_sounds]

Looks great but $2.799 is crazy expensive for such a small box... With this amount of money you can get an Analog Heat, a good compressor and still get a Prophet Rev2 desktop. Why is the price tag so obscene ? :-p

[ZenMountain]

The price is absolutely insane. For that money there are several other options...

[rittikwystup]

How does the IMC handle non-bus or non-drum signals, like e.g. piano, vocals? :)

[Drrolfski]

I really love the idea, too bad the price is just unaffordable for a big part of the target audience.