About Us

Benson Sound Labs continues the tradition of Harrison in its products, under official license, maintaining the same precise audio specifications and magic, in addition to a new feature set to enhance the modern music production work flow. Our products are developed and assembled in the USA. Benson Sound Labs philosophy is focused on bringing exciting and innovative products to the industry to enhance creativity and continue a legacy built by great innovation in years gone by, Some things are just far to valuable and can not be left to rest. The legend of Harrison lives on.

The Harrison name has been a distinguished and integral part of music production history since 1975.

The first Harrison console shipped in 1975. Since that time, countless ground-breaking artists have been recorded and mixed on Harrison- designed consoles – AC/DC, Janet Jackson, Queen, ABBA – the list goes on! The greatest selling album of all time – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” – was recorded and mixed on a Harrison 32-series console using the very same filters featured on the Harrison 832c Filter Unit ands the Benson Sound Labs 1632c.

Harrison History

The company’s founder, Dave Harrison, was a saxophonist and recording engineer in the Cincinnati area. He became Studio Engineer and Manager at King Records where they recorded acts such as James Brown, The Platters, and John Lee Hooker. Dave eventually moved to Nashville to start Studio Supply, a company that sold studio equipment and built studios. He manufactured his own gear under the name “Pandora” including some very early delay-based effects.

Dave was a reseller for MCI, a leading manufacturer of multi-track recorders at the time. Dave approached Jeep Harned, the founder of MCI, with a new console design: the in-line console, which allowed you to combine the features of recording and mixing into a single mixer strip.

The resulting console and its following iterations became one of MCI’s most successful products. AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and many Queen, Led Zeppelin, and other seminal rock albums were recorded on Harrison-designed MCI consoles. These consoles continue to be used today in studios like the highly regarded “Welcome to 1979”, Nashville, TN

Dave had an idea for a more featureful design with remote-controlled switching and level controls. Jeep was not interested in the innovative new design, so Dave started his own console company to bring the idea to market. The company’s first product (the 32-Series console) was launched in 1975.

Dave was inducted as a Fellow in the Audio Engineering Society for his contribution to “in-line” design of audio consoles, which greatly improved the incorporation of multitrack recorders into the console signal path. This design was adopted as a standard for every large format music console. The Harrison 3232 was the world’s first 32 bus “in-line” console.

32Series

High-profile music projects continue to be mixed on Harrison consoles. Bruce Swedien didn’t stop using his Harrison board in the 80s. In fact, the same board is still making hit songs today! Shown is Bruce Swedien’s personal 32C console; Photo credit: RussRagsdale

Musical Hits, 1975-Present

Harrison music consoles are renowned for their pristine sound. Some of the seminal music works that were recorded or mixed on a Harrison console include:

• Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Bad” albums were both recorded on Harrison consoles by Bruce Swedien.
• Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” was mixed on a Harrison SeriesTen at Flyte Time.
• Sade’s album Promise (including the track “Sweetest Taboo”) was recorded on a Harrison Series24 and mixed on a Harrison MR3.
• Many Queen songs including the instantly recognizable sound of “Another One Bites the Dust” were recored on Harrison 32Series console by Reinhold Mack.
• Paul Simon’s “Graceland” was mixed on a Harrison console at Ovation.

More recent hits include Kacey Musgraves’s “Rainbow”: Craig Alvin received a Grammy for his contribution to the Album of the Year. The song ‘Rainbow’ was mixed on Craig’s SeriesTwelve.

Many successful artists, from ABBA to Zappa, chose a Harrison console for their personal studios.

Wondering what a Harrison sounds like? The acapella introduction to Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son” was recorded from Harrison console preamps directly to tape. If you talk to an experienced audio engineer, you’ll likely hear anecdotes about their personal experiences with Harrison consoles.

The company introduced its highly acclaimed PP-1 film console in 1979. It became the “Hollywood standard” for modern film console designs. Over the next decade, Harrison produced a series of popular consoles for film, music, broadcast and live markets. These included the MR-2, MR-3, and MR-4 music recording consoles, the TV-3, TV-4 broadcast consoles, the HM-5 live console, the Raven music recording console, and the Air-7/Pro-7 broadcast and production consoles.

These fully-analog console designs continued into the 90s, throughout the digital revolution. During this period of rapid digital development, Harrison still continued to produce analog consoles (often with some digital elements) such as the AIR 790™/PRO 790™ broadcast and production consoles, AP-100 on-air production console, the MR-20 music console, the industry workhorse TV-950 and Pro-950, and finally the TV5.1 surround-capable broadcast console.

Harrison introduced its SeriesTen™ in 1985. This was the world’s first totally automated console. The SeriesTen used only 5 knobs above each channel strip to “page” between various functions of the console. By separating the knob from the actual audio signal, it was possible to instantly save and recall the settings of the console without mechanically turning the knobs on the surface. This was unheard-of at the time, but it has now become a ubiquitous feature of every digital console on the market. Many SeriesTen console are still in use today—perhaps proving that the SeriesTen was ahead of its time—and Harrison still provides support for this “grandfather” of the modern studio

Harrison Systems was acquired by GLW Incorporated (a group of the company’s employees) in 1989. In the fall of 2000, the company moved into a new 35,000-square-foot facility. This purpose-designed facility allowed Harrison to incorporate its administrative, sales, engineering, R&D, and manufacturing arms under one roof . To this day, Harrison continues the tradition of forward-thinking that the company’s foundation was built on.

GLW’s first product introduction was the release of the SeriesTenB™, an updated version of the SeriesTen™ utilizing a powerful Mac-based automation system coupled with new video interactive graphics for display of console information and the control of console functions through the use of an interactive video screen.

The Harrison SeriesTenB™ with its new automation system and interactive video graphics was recipient in 1991 of the coveted Mix Foundation Technical Achievements Award for Console Technology—the “TEC Award.”

The company’s technological advances accelerated in the 1990s as additional resources were dedicated to research and development. The engineering team grew significantly as new, leading-edge work commenced. The first fruits of these efforts was the introduction of the fully automated Harrison MPC™ (Motion Picture Console) in 1992.

Although Harrison introduced the world to digitally-controlled attenuators (DCAs) in its SeriesTen™ to effect digital control of analog sound as a replacement for antiquated VCA’s, the technology was advanced in the MPC by coupling this technology with the concept of remoting the console control surface from the audio processing racks. This separation of the control surface from the audio racks allowed the audio processing racks to be placed in the machine rooms, thus allowing for sleeker, more acoustic console control surface designs tailored to fit the needs and applications of each individual user. This design concept was further refined with the introduction of the SeriesTwelve™. The SeriesTwelve™ modular concept allows different variations of the SeriesTwelve™ to be uniquely tailored for film, broadcast, video post, or music recording. The first two SeriesTwelve™ consoles were configured specifically for broadcast applications and were delivered to WFAA in Dallas, Texas—a top ten market ABC affiliate. Since then, The SeriesTwelve has been installed in elite film, music, film, broadcast, and live facilities around the world.

There was a clear demand for a digital processing engine in the late 90s that could satisfy the need for increased channel counts that were becoming possible with new digital production techniques. Harrison met this demand with the digital.engine, a massively powerful DSP mixing and routing engine that could provide 768 fully-resourced channels and thousands of input and output signals. In addition to new console sales, the digital.engine was designed to retrofit existing analog MPC or Series12 consoles with a new digital backend. Many Harrison customers upgraded their existing consoles to the new engine because it was cost-effective and did not incur the downtime of replacing an entire console. The MPC™ in the premier Cary Grant Theater at Sony (Hollywood) was upgraded with the addition of a 320 channel, 640 input Harrison digital.engine™.

The MPC™ and its sister console, the SeriesTwelve™ for Film, are considered the “world’s standard.” Both are repeatedly requested by worldwide, technically-sophisticated clients who require large, complex, multi-operator film console systems. These consoles typically offer 200+ fully-resourced, fully-automated audio channels. Both the MPC™ and the SeriesTwelve™ are available as digitally-controlled analog or as fully-digital consoles or as an analog/digital hybrid configuration. This ability to be analog, fully-digital, or hybrid is unique to Harrison. Harrison was awarded a patent for automated, motorized panning joysticks in 2000. This further entrenched Harrison’s reputation as a company that was continuously pursuing excellence in film mixing.

Harrison continued its technological advancements and was awarded another TEC Award in 1999, this time for Outstanding Technical Achievement in Sound Reinforcement Console Technology. This award was granted to the groundbreaking Harrison LPC™ (Live Performance Console). The LPC was co-developed with touring sound company Showco to create a no-compromise sound reinforcement console. Taking advantage of Harrison’s digitally-controlled analog technology, and a newly developed IKIS automation engine, the LPC was designed with motorized potentiometers for every console parameter. Similar to Harrison’s motorized joysticks, the motorized potentiometers allowed the user of the console to work in an intuitive way, while providing all the benefits of digital surfaces such as instant recall.

Meanwhile, as the broadcast version of the SeriesTwelve continued to have success, the technology of the SeriesTwelve was applied to new surfaces specifically for television: the TVD. By taking advantage of the existing infrastructure of the SeriesTwelve, and changing only the surface, a truly robust system was created without starting over on a new design. Since the TVD, all Harrison surfaces have been designed with a shared infrastructure consisting of a processing engine, an automation platform, and supporting I/O products. By sharing this infrastructure, the price and reliability was dramatically improved. This paradigm has been applied to earlier products as well: any MPC, SeriesTwelve, LPC, and TVD surface can be updated to the very newest automation and/or processing package.

This policy of protecting our customers’ investment in a Harrison console became known as future proofing—our practice of guaranteeing that any purchase of a Harrison console would be protected by long product life cycles, ongoing software updates, and a cost-effective upgrade path for any Harrison owner. Future proofing is a design goal that has gained Harrison a special place in some of the largest and most renowned facilities in the world, because these types of facilities demand a product that improves over time, generating a constant return on their investment.

During the early 2000s, the demand for more mix information drove the adoption of TFT screens into the meter bridges of digital consoles. Harrison designers could not rest with a system that wasn’t head and shoulders above all known implementations of this feature. The Harrison TFT screens were given the ability to show EQ curves, panning, auxes, metering, bus assignments and dynamics, simultaneously. This required an immense amount of control bandwidth, but the IKIS studio automation system was able to handle these demands. In addition, a new PreView waveform technology was developed for the screens. This patented technology allows users to see cues before and after they happen, greatly speeding up the mixing process. The TFT screens became another upgrade that was made available to existing MPC and SeriesTwelve users. This meant that an original MPC could be upgraded to IKIS automation, a digital.engine processing system, and the new screens. In other words, an old MPC could be brought into parity with our newest offerings! This is more evidence of Harrison’s dedication to the future proofing of our consoles.

The list of international blockbuster films mixed on Harrison consoles is a testament to the skill and discernment of the people who use them: Transformers, Spider Man, Pearl Harbor, Harry Potter, Ray, The Passion of the Christ and Amelie are only the beginning of the list. Television shows such as “The Simpsons” and “CSI” get their signature sounds from a Harrison console. The hit Fox show “24” generates nearly all of their cell phone sounds in post production, using the built-in “telephone simulator” in the DSP Tools package. The high-profile users who work on these projects demand the very best. They use Harrison.

In 2005, a new console surface was born which took full advantage of Harrison’s latest technology. The Trion uses modern manufacturing techniques to provide a lower-cost but highly flexible surface that can be configured (both hardare and software) for film, post, music, live and broadcast applications. The configurability of the Trion console was inherited from its predecessor, the SeriesTwelve.

The Trion can be found in several demanding facilities including the Post Group in Hollywood (as a post-production console for hit TV shows), Yonsie Baptist Church (as a live console providing sound reinforcement to one of the world’s largest Christian churches), and KENS TV (on-air television broadcast).

With an eye towards future proofing, and the meteoric rise of personal computing power, it became obvious that the only logical processing engine would be a native, off-the-shelf solution which could be more cost-effective, efficient, and upgradeable than any proprietary development. Harrison engineers embarked on a 3-year research project which resulted in the Xrange processing system.

The Xrange is a combination of Linux, ethernet, and 64-bit audio that provides the ultimate in reliability, power, and cost-effectiveness. The new Xrange processing system debuted along with the Air24 radio broadcast surface to provide an unbeatable broadcast package, while also ensuring an upgrade path for the high-end products based on the digital.engine. The Xrange has already exceeded the capacity of the digital.engine predecessor, and it is clear that desktop computing horsepower will increase for decades yet to come.

In 2013, the newest version of the iconic MPC was launched with a new generation, Trion-based surface that provides touch-sensitive knobs and a complete new monitoring system. The MPC5 provides the Object++ 3D panning system, which can treat the incoming channels as “objects” placed in a virtual space. Using Harrison’s patented ESP waveform technology, objects appear and disappear along with the regions on the DAW screen allowing mixers to anticipate sounds and see their placements in the room. The MPC5 includes advanced new panning features, such as direct Ethernet control of the Dolby Atmos RMU, as well as various wide-format panning modes that include multiple levels of height. Most importantly, the MPC5 system consolidates the capabilities of multiple mix formats, and puts them under the user’s hand via motorized joysticks (another Harrison patented feature).

The MPC5 is the centerpiece in Creative Sound’s 450-cubic-meter film mixing stage that will also include Dolby’s immersive Atmos 3D sound system. The console includes a 672 input Harrison Xrange 64 bit processing engine, a full suite of Harrison Xtools film specific plug-ins and a dual-operator MPC5 control surface featuring twin master sections, 80 faders with 64 full featured input strips and Harrison’s patented ESP Waveform displays. (Dolby Atmos RMU required for Atmos content creation)

Harrison has a unique history. In the mid-80’s, we developed fully automated, digitally-controlled analog mixer technology which was adopted by premiere film-mixing facilities around the world. When the digital revolution came, we were asked to convert the analog “processor” into a digital processor, while leaving the control surface unchanged. Film mixers wanted the control surface to work -and sound- exactly like the analog mixer they were using for previous projects. This required us to develop a digital audio engine that operated and sounded exactly like the analog mixer they were using for previous projects. This transition was not undertaken by any other company, and it has provided us with techniques and proprietary technology that we have incorporated into all of our high-end mixers.

In 2009, Harrison launched their first entry into the consumer DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) market. Mixbus is a full-featured workstation that incorporates many of Harrison’s mixing technologies. Mixbus is developed in collaboration with an open-source community, and it runs on all popular desktop computer (Mac, Windows and Linux)

Technology and Collaboration

Harrison has become a primary driver for the adoption of open-source standards in the audio industry, making it easier for companies to collaborate. We initially adapted the Ardour workstation platform for our Xdubber film recorder, and then extended our collaboration for the Mixbus and Mixbus32C products. Other Ardour collaborators have included Google, SAE (School of Audio Engineering), and SSL (a competing console manufacturer). Waves used the Ardour platform for their “Waves Tracks Live” product.

Custom Development and Technology Licensing

Harrison has a long history of custom console development including the MPC film console (for Sony) and the LPC live console (for ShowCo). Harrison provides licensed technology to Benson Sound Labs, Universal Audio and Great River, and we have provided private development efforts for highly-regarded audio companies such as Yamaha and Calrec.

In 2018, Harrison introduced the AVA plugins , which work in any DAW

In 2019, Harrison saw a need for a full-featured channel strip that was optimized for our post&film customers.

The many audio innovations originating at Harrison over the last 45 years are almost too numerous to list. Here are a few:

• Pro audio’s first 24-and 32-mixing bus consoles (to address the rapidly escalating multi-track tape recording format requirements of the past three decades).
• The first real time fader/mute automation system (“Autoset” introduced in 1977).
• The first cinema-sound multiple panning modes on each channel (to fulfill client needs for complex multi-channel film sound formats).
• The first automated, multi-channel graphic equalizer (to retain and instantly recall complex settings).
• The world’s first “modern” film console, the PP-1™.
• The first “real time” interactive graphics offered with the SeriesTen™.
• The first application of a motorized joystick for automated audio panning. Harrison was awarded a U.S. patent for this innovation.
• The first application of touch-screens to control the console DSP processing and routing.
• The first digitally controlled attenuators – DCA’s – to effect digital control of analog sound to replace VCAs.
• The first implementation of digitally controlled audio via the use of a computer and a remote control surface separate from the analog audio processing rack.
• The first truly large-scale digital engine (up to 762 fully resourced channels in a single digital.engine™).
• The first console manufacturer to utilize multiple, large format, control surfaces controlling a single core of digital processing.
• The first console to introduce waveform displays above each channel, showing a history or preview of audio. Harrison was awarded a U.S. patent for this innovation.
• The first DAW (Mixbus) that combines open-source development with the experience of a world-class console.

1971 Dave Harrison creates the “in-line” audio console in a collaboration with MCI

1975 Harrison Systems established

1975 3232™, the world’s first 32-bus, in-line recording console introduced

1979 The PP-1™ film console

1981 MR-2™ music recording console

1982 MR-3™ music recording/TV-3 broadcast console

1983 MR-4™ music recording/TV-4 consoles

1983 HM-5™/ live performance SM-5™ house monitor and stage monitor consoles

1983 Raven (a cost-reduced version of the MR-4) music recording console

1984 Air-7™/Pro-7™ on air radio broadcast and production consoles

1984 HM-4™/SM-4™ live performance house monitor and stage monitor consoles

1985 SeriesTen™, the world’s first totally automated console

1985 Digitally controlled attenuator (DCA) used to effect digital control of analog sound to replace VCA’s

1986 AIR 790™/PRO 790™ on air radio broadcast and production consoles

1986 “Real time” interactive graphics offered as an option for the SeriesTenB™

1987 AP-100™ on air micro processor controlled radio broadcast console

1987 MR-20™ music recording console

1989 Harrison is acquired by GLW Incorporated

1989 SeriesTenB™ with new Mac based automation

1990 VIC – “real time” interactive video graphic display/control introduced for SeriesTenB

1991 Harrison implements remote, digitally controlled audio

1992 MPC™, Motion Picture Console

1994 SeriesTwelve™ multi format console

1995 TV-950™ broadcast console

1995 Pro-950™ production console

1996 TV950™ honored at NAB as Editors’ Pick of Show for new product introductions

1996 Automated, motorized joystick introduced (now patented by Harrison)

1998 TV 5.1™ TV broadcast console with surround capability

1998 LPC™ Live Performance Console (ShowConsole)

1998 digital.engine™ introduced

2000 Harrison is awarded the patent for automated motorized joystick innovation

2001 TVD™, Digital Broadcast Console

2001 LPC™, Digital, Live Performance Console

2001 MPC2™, Motion Picture Console introduced and honored with nomination for TEC Award

2002 TVD-SL™, Introduction of the Digital Broadcast Console featuring heads-up displays

2002 Pro950EX™, Production console

2002 Introduction of the Harrison IKIS™ Digital Automation Platform

2002 MPC3-D™, Digital Motion Picture Console

2004 MPC4-D™ Introductions of the Digital Motion Picture Console with TFT meterbridge and waveforms

2004 Harrison awarded patent for waveform displays with history and gain-reduction

2004 Introductions of the Digital Tools Card (DTC™ )with Film-specific plug-ins.

2005 Trion™: the Digital Audio Console customized for Film, Broadcast, or Live applications

2005 IKISdirect™, remote DAW control of Pro Tools™, Pyramix™ and Bricasti™

2005 Serial Supervisor™, Redundancy Control System introduced

2006 X-Range™, the world’s first Native 64-bit Digital Console Engine

2006 Air 24/7™, Small format On-Air console

2007 Xdubber, 64-track floating-point stem recorder

2008 Universal Audio launches 32C EQ plugin for UAD platform, modeled on Bruce Swedien’s Harrison 32C console

2009 Great River introduces EQ32, an API-500 series module utilizing the Harrison 32C EQ circuit

2009 Harrison launches Mixbus™, the cross-platform, full-featured DAW with integrated mixer

2011 Lineage 8-Channel Mic Preamp

2011 950m Analog Music console introduced

2013 MPC-5D film console with native Dolby Atmos integration (Dolby Atmos RMU required for Atmos content creation)

2013 First XT-series plugins for Mixbus released

2014 950mx Analog Music Console

2014 950SC Sidecar and 950RR Roller Rack studio furniture

2015 832C 8-Channel Filter

2015 32CS Channel Strip introduced

2016 Mixbus32C introduced to the Mixbus family of products

2017 Introduction of the AVA plugins for third-party workstations

2019 Introduction of the MPC Channel for ProTools(tm) AAX