Signature Sound

My favorite studio, incredible gear, really good gear, space and staff.
The live room is one of the biggest and best sounding places I know, everything works perfectly, the API console is amazing, as well as all the outboard gear and the top notch mic collection they have.

The only professional, full service, commercial studio in San Diego. Great gear, great staff. Some of the kindest people around,

Super accomodating staff, BEST live room in SD, huge control room, and all the gear you could need and want. Check it out for yourself on a tour.

I’m a San Diego based audio engineer and Signature Sound is my FAVORITE place to record. The gear, the space, the staff… everything is top notch. Every recording I’ve done there sounds anywhere from good to mind-​blowingly great (depending on the client and what I’m able to do with them). Clients are always thrilled when they walk in. Between the gold and platinum records on the walls and the comfortable atmosphere in the studios, they just know that they’re going to create something special there. And as an added bonus, the customer service is excellent. Anything my clients or I need, the studio takes care of promptly and courteously. Studio work is stressful enough, it’s nice to know that there’s a place where I can feel confident that my clients needs will be well taken care of.
(BTW, I am the engineer mentioned in Deric C.‘s review, so there’s some bias in my review. But, Signature Sound is my home away from home. I highly recommend it to any artist, producer, or engineer.)

I was invited to a couple of sessions in this studio by one of my clients. I was introduced to Alfredo the amazing engineer who enjoyed listening to my Hip-​Hop beats. Being in here gives a warm vibe in making music. If your planning to book «Studio A» I recommend getting Alfredo on the boards. His workflow and mixing are outstanding and efficient. Overall if your looking for that professional workflow and inspiration Signature Sound is the spot! Quick tip to all the future beatmakers/​producers coming here, be sure to track-​out your production before you arrive. WAV files will sound way more detailed and crisp than MP3 and I guarantee you’ll make the engineer happy and your mixes will sound amazing especially on their Genelec high-​end studio monitors.

This facility rocks! There are very few studios like this in San Diego and I can say 100% that you will not be disappointed. I mean in the end it depends how good of a band you are and the engineer you have, but as far as the quality of gear, equipment, and facility it is by far one of the best. Although to record drums I would say its safe to say the have the best facility for that. KILLER drum room! If I were you no doubt I would make this my home studio in San Diego.

First all of let me start out by stating that my review is indeed biased. I’ve become such a fan of working with the staff and owner of Signature Sound over the last few years that I can’t imagine choosing to work anywhere else. Thanks guys and keep up the awesome work!

In Response to the 1-​star review by Cyrus B. below
I am the freelance engineer who recorded your session at Signature Sound in 2005. This is the first I have heard about your dissatisfaction. It sounds like you are reacting based on incorrect information, and it sounds like you are unaware of the arrangements your band made, so I’ll clarify.
1) I am not an employee of Signature Sound; Signature Sound at that time did not have any staff. It is up to you to choose your own freelance Engineers. Your Producer chose me.
2) You incorrectly accuse Signature Sound’s «staff” – there was no staff – your complaints should be directed at your Engineer (me) and your Producer. Signature Sound is a wonderful world class facility, unaffiliated with the people who rent the space.
3) I recall that you were a high school band and that the drummer’s father was Producing the recording session. He said this session was his gift to you. He wanted an economical option, so we booked Signature Sound’s Studio B, which is smaller and inexpensive compared to Signature’s Studio A.
4) Many bands used Studio B to do vocal and guitar overdubs successfully. At that time Studio B had eight microphone inputs* and was not intended as a full service studio like Studio A. I apologize if you believed you were denied microphones. I did mention you had the option to use Studio A which had 24 microphone inputs, and I did say Studio A would cost more money. I did not suggest that you were forbidden more than eight microphones in Studio B, only that we were limited to recording eight at a time.
5) No one tweaked your guitar sound behind your back. You make it sound as though a certain sound had been achieved which I then changed. Untrue. I created an initial sound that everyone approved at the time. It is your responsibility to communicate with your producer and egineer about the sound you want. If you don’t speak up, how can anyone know what you want?
6) As for the temperature, again you need to speak up. I prefer to record without air conditioning – we must have had it on by request.
7) To my knowledge your Producer has no complaints about the session and I know he continues to use Signature Sound.
* For all readers out there Signature Sound has upgraded Studio B with many new features including 24 microphone preamps. When one of my recording projects brings me to Southern California I always recommend Signature Sound.

I play in the local pop band The Modlins. our last two albums were recorded here under the watchful eye of Deborah Reeves, an easy going sound engineer and great friend. We’ve had many a sessions at Signature and have never been disappointed by Deborah’s commitment to the projects. Thanks to her (and a few other people along the way) our last album, With Friends Like These (and first recorded at Signature) won Best Pop Album at the 2008 San Diego Music Awards. and our most recent album, Where Does It End? received a 2009 nomination nod, also for Best Pop Album.
We couldn’t have done it without you Deb! (and without Tecate and Bagels!)

I’m definitely biased, since I have had the pleasure of working here with some great musicians from time to time, but I’d like to add my 3 cents as well.
Studio A has an amazing sounding live room. If you are a rock, jazz or somewhere-​in-​between band this should be your main motivation for checking out this studio. A very close second is the API console. There is another studio in San Diego with an older API that maybe (and this is a very emphasized maybe) sounds as good or slightly better, but Signature Sound’s API is in much better working order. This is not to denigrate the other studio, but when you’re on a budget and need to record quickly, having a well labeled patchbay and good bus and aux outputs is critical. If you’re not an engineer, tell your engineer and he’ll get the idea.
Studio B has recently undergone a facelift and has been more fully equipped. There are a number of API preamps and some great guitar amps as well. They for sure have the only 4 input, non-​master volume JCM 800 I’ve ever seen. Another great feature is that they have the same, excellent sounding monitors in both rooms (the dual concentric Tannoys, though i can’t remember the model number.) It took me a few sessions to really learn them, but now they’re my favorite to mix on. It’s a big benefit to be able to bring your session right next door for overdubs and mixing at a much lower cost.
I could go on, but I won’t. I will mention that the Yamaha (C7, I think) sounds amazing! Best bass register I’ve ever heard in a piano.
I’ve worked at and been a musician in many studios and I am a big fan of Signature Sound.