An engineer's work is never done, it seems. There's always a mic to tilt slightly, a speaker to swap, a more efficient way to wire this to that and finally make the desk perfect. When it comes to the realm of studio gear, it sometimes seems like a Sisyphean task. There's always new developments on the horizon, always a V2, 3, or 4 with that one new thing that, in all honesty, should've been there before, but here it is now. Must one imagine Sisyphus happy?
Enter Franklin Audio. A new name on the block from Sydney, Australia, the crew at Franklin designs high-quality studio gear pieces with a simultaneous focus on form and function. Franklin Audio assembles with a crack team of engineers and musicians – constantly blurring the line between them – while prioritizing usefulness, artistry, and quality at every turn in their designs. Looking for that one thing for your studio desk that would really bring the whole rig together? Fortune favors Franklin.
Frankly, My Dear
Introducing Franklin Audio Pro Audio Devices
For Franklin Audio, there's magic in the mundane. Originally founded by Sydney engineers and musicians Nick Franklin and Pat Harris, Franklin Audio set out to continue on in Franklin's long-standing practice of common studio tool modification. Nick Franklin's reputation in studio spaces for tackling common creative challenges through his own DIY designs and mods caught the attention of Harris. In turn, the two began collaborating to kickstart a larger operation, bringing Franklin's engineering outlook to a more robust and concise line of devices prioritizing usefulness for modern recording, clean, unencumbered aesthetic and practical designs, and solving workflow and utility issues frequently found in studios.
Today's Franklin Audio library of devices is an ever-evolving line of clean, black boxes meant to give that blank square on your "Need For the Studio" list a definitive checkmark. This ethos concerns not only professional studios, but the ballooning number of do-it-yourself recording spaces from which the brand originates and who are deemed equally as important. Franklin Audio devices present streamlined, seamless, quality, and intuitive designs intended to not only make a trained engineer's day easier, but bridge the gap for musicians in the room with them.
Franklin Audio Design Ethos
One of the ways Franklin sets out to do so is by matching function with form. Straightforward designs with a sleek aesthetic serve to not only make your studio clean and manicured, but creatively inspiring. According to Franklin, "We reject the outdated "function over form" dichotomy in favour of a more holistic view where the technical and aesthetic qualities are complementary, not opposing forces. To us, exceptional function is what creates exceptional form. If a tool does its job well, it will be beautiful."
Franklin Audio additionally centers their designs and operations around a few crucial, principle pillars. Among these pillars, Franklin cites:
- A right to repair – Products built to last a lifetime while retaining designs with easily available parts, tools, and techniques for repair by local technicians and hobbyists
- A user-centered design – Products made with end users prioritized with intuitive controls and simple control interfaces to make for creatively unencumbered devices to make music
- A sustainable footprint – Products crafted with sustainability as a priority utilizing minimal plastics, recyclable metals, and home compostable packaging for a green outlook for tomorrow.
"Franklin was founded on one basic idea: there's no reason that your humble studio utilities can't be made with love, care, and inspiration and be creatively rewarding to use." - Franklin Audio
Franklin Institute
Franklin Audio Pro Audio Gear
Always working to solve a studio's more common issues, the Franklin Audio line is decorated with a variety of studio and pro-audio-forward devices. Today, Franklin Audio features a number of black boxes to sit on your studio desk, your synth rig, your pedalboard, take your pick.
Two of Franklin's finest, these days, shows off their knack for recording and performance. Their SS-6 Switchable Input Stereo DI delivers on their promise of solving common studio problems. Twelve mono inputs or six stereo inputs with a simple, six-way selector switch makes for a masterful centerpiece on any studio desk demanding a half-dozen to full-dozen audio sources at one time. Simultaneous XLR DI outs and stereo thru connections build out this switching experience even further to make for a thoroughly modern desktop source controller.
On the more performance-oriented side of the Franklin Audio brain, their MP-10 Mic to Instrument Preamp is sure to shoot an arrow into the hearts of so many alternative pedal performers. Hooking up a microphone to your pedalboard, believe it or not, is not as simple as grabbing a $20 adaptor. Luckily, Franklin Audio puts this trouble to bed with the MP-10, a specially-designed preamplifier meant to eliminate all the output differences, volume discrepancies, and baked-in headaches that come with the common practice of singing through your pedals.
Fine Franklin Friend
It all seems like a no-brainer, right? "If only they had a thing that just did this!" For every time that thought crosses your mind, Franklin Audio's on the job or on the way to make it happen. It's a comforting thing, to be frank.
