Since 2005, Jens Jungkurth has operated Eisen Audio in New York City, designing and building analog audio hardware while maintaining vintage recording equipment for studios. The company’s audio-engineer-led approach puts critical listening and the musical character of recorded sound ahead of measurement alone, with custom development, console retrofits and specialty devices built for long service. Eisen Audio also supports a select group of New York-area recording professionals with maintenance and repair of discontinued analog equipment.
Purple AudioFounded by Andrew Roberts in 1997 after his work repairing high-end studio equipment in Manhattan, Purple Audio designs and manufactures recording equipment for professional, touring, and home studios. Now based in a restored historic fire company building beside Jim Thorpe’s Mauch Chunk Opera House, the Pennsylvania shop is known for the MC77 FET limiter and a broader line of analog studio gear. Live performances next door are also recorded through Purple Audio equipment for release as live albums.JIM THORPE, PA
Abell AudioFounded by touring audio engineer Dan “Doc” Abell in 1984, Abell Audio repairs professional audio equipment, electronic musical instruments, and high-end stereo gear in Columbus, Ohio. The shop is particularly known for restoring vintage and analog equipment in a way that preserves its distinctive sound, with five test and repair benches supporting roughly 3,000 repairs each year. Abell also makes custom cables in Columbus, extending its repair technicians’ hands-on work into production.COLUMBUS, OH
Automated Processes, Inc. (API Audio)Since its founding in 1969 by engineers and musicians, Automated Processes, Inc. has built its reputation around the warm analog sound associated with American recording studios. The Maryland company makes professional audio equipment for recording and production, with its consoles still in use at more than 600 studios worldwide and vintage units continuing to work decades after production.JESSUP, MD
Benchmark Media Systems, IncFrom a Syracuse, New York facility, Benchmark Media Systems designs and manufactures transparent audio equipment for recording studios and home listening systems. Founded in 1983 as a garage operation serving television broadcasters, the company still designs, assembles, and tests its products in Syracuse more than 40 years later. Its audio-enthusiast staff build equipment around a clear aim: keeping noise and distortion below the threshold of hearing so the electronics stay out of the music.SYRACUSE, NY