Dave Collins (audio engineer)

Dave Collins is an American Grammy Award winning mastering engineer. He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Alice in Chains, Metallica, Soundgarden, Weezer, Grateful Dead, Madonna, Linkin Park, The Police, Porno for Pyros, Oingo Boingo, Alice Cooper, KMFDM, Sepultura, Puscifier, Chris Cornell, Bon Jovi, Madonna, Buckcherry, Monster Magnet, Sting, Flogging Molly, Bad Religion, Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Chevelle and Bruce Springsteen.
Collins has also mastered motion picture soundtrack albums such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, , , , Passengers, Jurassic Park, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Schindler's List, and Braveheart.
Life and career.
Dave Collins was born and raised in Hollywood Hills, California. Collins started his career in 1983 as an assistant to Armin Steiner, the American sound engineer and mixer. He worked with Steiner on the 20th Century Fox Scoring Stage until he was hired to work for Digital Magnetics, a new company created by Armin Steiner and his business partner Bruce Botnick, the American sound engineer and record producer. Collins worked as a recordist with the Sony Compact Disc Mastering System for Digital Magnetics in Hollywood from 1983 until 1988. In 1988, Collins was hired by Shelly Yakus, American recording engineer and mixer, to manage the mastering department of A&M Studios in Hollywood. In 1995, Dave Collins was promoted to oversee four studios as the Chief Mastering Engineer of A&M. Collins worked for as Chief Mastering Engineer for 14 years for A&M Studios until the studios were acquired and downsized by PolyGram Entertainment in 1999. After A&M’s closure, Dave Collins opened his own mastering studio on Western Avenue, Hollywood, California. In 2016, Dave Collins moved to Pasadena after building two custom studios with Thomas Jouanjean by utilizing the principles of architectural acoustics. This location was also home to Hinge Studios owned by Craig Bauer the American mixing engineer. Collins is married to Christina Preston.
Awards and Recognition.
During his career, Collins has worked on 9 Grammy award winning projects and 30 Grammy award nominated projects. Recently, Collins received two Grammys at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for his mastering D’Angelo’s 2016 record Black Messiah when Black Messiah won Best R&B Album and Record of the Year.