3224
1975 – 1985
Notable users
A&M Studios, Hollywood (Studio B 1975 — Herb Alpert's desk — and Studio A Jan 1976), Palomino Sound, LA (original Studio B desk, preserved working unit)
Technical specs
| Channels | 32 |
| Layout | Split |
| Groups | 24 |
| EQ | 4-band (550A) |
| Production | Mid-1970s, large-format follow-up to the 1604 |
| Build | 32 channels × 24 buses (most ambitious API of the era) |
| Modules | 312 preamp / 550A EQ / 525 compressor / 554 channel EQ |
| Era | 1975 – early 80s |
The 3224 was API's large-format answer to the growing demand for more channels and buses — 32 channels, 24 buses, with the same 312/550 module architecture that defined the API sound. A&M Studios in Hollywood installed a 3224 in Studio B in 1975 and Studio A in January 1976. A&M was one of the most commercially productive studios of the era, and the 3224 sat at the centre of it — present for a generation of American pop, rock, and soul productions on a label whose roster ran from Herb Alpert to Carole King, Cat Stevens, Peter Frampton, and the Police. The original 1975 Studio B desk — Herb Alpert's desk — was preserved and is still in daily service at Palomino Sound in Los Angeles, where engineer Jason Soda maintains it as a working console rather than a museum piece.
Photo: Jason Soda / Palomino Sound
Notable Recordings
- A&M Studios productions, Hollywood, from 1975 onward
- Major American pop and rock sessions of the late 1970s
Studios
- A&M Studios Studio B, Hollywood (1975)
- A&M Studios Studio A, Hollywood (1976)