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Mcfly's main black and white block logo at dakin custom audio

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​Client Stories - Full 360º band consultation​

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​Every musician faces unique challenges. Recently, Danny Jones, guitarist and vocalist of the British rock band McFly, reached out for help because, like many vocalists he was struggling with low-end issues in his mixes interacting with his voice, jaw and overpowering things on stage (which we know first hand can be really distracting), particularly on larger high-profile shows.

 

Being hands-on with the production side of McFly, Danny really knows what he wants to hear but something wasn't clicking. Getting to know him and his setup in a bit more detail from our initial chat, we quickly pinpointed a few issues:

 

  1. He was battling the occlusion effect and stage sounds were compounding this and drowning out his voice.
     

  2. His current custom in ear monitors he’d been given just weren’t cutting it, and not delivering the sound in the way he needed.
     

  3. He had been using the same legacy manufacturer for 20 years and had never had the chance to explore or compare other options.

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So, we headed over to McFly’s HQ for a 1:1 consultation and demo.

Mcflys new 64Audio A18s and A12t custom in ear monitors at the O2 Arena made by dakin custom audio
grabbing a coffee at Mcfly's studio to demo custom in ear monitors with Danny Jones

1:1 consultations & 3D impressions

After an in depth consultation with Danny over a coffee on all aspects of his performance, gear, setup and past experiences, we had all we needed to start trying some in ear monitors.

 

For us, transparency is key. Led by Danny, we opted for a blind demo to ensure his unbiased evaluation when comparing other customs against what he already used. We didn’t talk about specifications or pricing just, A/Bing different in ears and technologies to see what worked or not.

 

After comparing multiple brands and models, it became evident that 64Audio and their APEX system was the ideal solution with better separation for his guitar and vocal and significantly reducing the occlusion effect while he sang against his old custom in ear monitors.

 

In the end, Danny was torn between the A6t and the A18s. After comparing them with reference tracks, singing & rehearsing with the band with our universal versions in the studio he chose the A18s for their superior headroom and smoother top-end! ​We were then joined by the rest of the band to chat through things, demo the models and get all the 3D Impressions we could!

 

Harry & Tom also went for the A18s, but listening in to Dougie's mix, getting to know his preferences and after he tried trying different models, he went for the A12t for the rounder, punchier low end!​

Designs & initial fit checks

​​​Once we had the band's impressions, over the next week we spoke with the band and management to compile all the custom designs. Danny wanted his pick logo on his IEMs but the couldn't locate the file and Harry wanted a his Mic logo but in a different colour. 

 

As the O2 was only 3 weeks away and we were rush building the in ear monitors for them, we made a 2nd version of Danny's logo from a WhatsApp he sent from rehearsals and made several proof versions of Harry's design for his approval before ordering to keep to their deadline!

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All 'A' sets were then hand delivered a week before the show to check the band's fits and ensure they were happy, with the final sets being hand-delivered to the O2 for soundcheck!​​

Custom in ear monitor artwork for danny jones of mcfly by dakin custom audio
A selfie with dakin custom audio founder Miles Dakin and the band Mcfly on stage at the O2 Arena 2024

On site delivery and sign off

Finally, the remaining customs were hand delivered to site at the O2 Arena in london, ready for soundcheck with all sets fitting like a glove and sounding great with 4 happy band members!

 

As engineers and musicians, we know shows like McFly's are built around team work and great people, and it was awesome to have the opportunity to be part of such a great crew! 

 

A big shout out has to go to Mike Osman their monitor engineer for accommodating us bringing over the final in ears on show day and allowing Miles to be on hand in monitor world while the band sound checked, so we could sign everything off for Danny and the guys...

...and also putting up with Harry & Dougie's super helpful case labels!

 

Mike was running a DigiCo Quantum 7 with Klang integrated immersive mixing. Grabbing a pack and listening to their mixes on our 64Audio A18ts, it sounded incredible! 

Our work with McFly included:

  • ​​​1:1 Consultations

  • On-site 1:1 and Band demos sessions

  • Mobile 3D Impressions

  • Artwork and design services

  • 5-day Rush build services

  • On-site delivery and fit check (rehearsals and venue)

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Our work here validates why we do what we do, our approach and why we want to empower musicians have that choice over what they hear and allow them to get fully comfortable on stage, rather than simply viewing custom in ear monitors as an add-on to their rig​​​!

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As with all our custom in ear monitors each set of McFly's contributed to our Hear Forever Project too.

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A massive thanks to Danny for reaching out and asking to work with us and allowing us to share this story, plus all the McFly band, crew and management for helping us get this project completed in such a short time! As ever, thanks has to go to our partners at 64Audio for the rock solid, dependable service we can always rely on to!​

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If you are an Artist or know anyone who would like our support, feel free to get in touch with us directly here to see how we could help.

64 Audio A18s custom in ear monitors for Danny jones of McFly, built by dakin custom audio
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