February 2008 saw the official launch of Cream Recording Studios in Park Royal, the first major recording studio to open in London for a number of years. And a major part of Cream’s audio arsenal is the wide range of Sennheiser and Neumann microphones it purchased before launching.

Chris Dibble is Cream Recording Studios’ Chief Engineer. “We were specifying equipment for Cream for about fourteen months prior to its opening,” he explains. “I was at Lansdowne Recording Studios for 32 years before that and I’ve used Neumann mics forever.”

Cream Recording Studios has already taken delivery of a host of Neumann products, including eight Neumann KM 184 cardioid mics, two TLM 170 multi-pattern vocal mic, two M147 Tube mics, three M150 tube mics – including a stereo matched pair, six U 87Ai’s and a pair of U87 40^th Anniversary Editions. It has also purchased a wide range of microphones from Sennheiser, including three MKH 800 switchable pattern symmetrical capsule RF condenser mics, four MD 421 mics (for drums), two MKH 40 cardioid symmetrical capsule mics and two e906s, specifically designed for miking up guitar cabinets.

“We needed a good standard choice of microphones for Cream” Chris says when explaining his selection. “When I joined Lansdowne in 1974 we pretty much just had Neumann valve microphones. I was given some Sennheiser MKH 80s to try out, when they first came out, and I loved them. I use them all the time on my orchestral recordings. Subsequently Sennheiser brought out the MKH 800s, and we bought three of them for Cream. Our mics are predominantly from Sennheiser and Neumann. The U87s and KM 184s are kind of expected at a high-end studio. But the Sennheiser mics were my personal choice, because they’re the ones I love using most.”

With a live room able to accommodate up to twenty musicians at a time and a very large control room, Cream Recording Studios is an ideal location for large format mixing and is already hosting work on film scores with small orchestras.