The Kansas Music Hall Of Fame gave Ed the Director's Award in 2014

This is the biography from the program

ED DOWN (Lawrence) - Directors Award
Ed Down started the Audio House Recording Studio in 1951. The company was originally located in his house, hence the name Audio House. His specialty was on-location recording. He recorded concerts for colleges, public schools and music camps, selling records of the concerts as souvenirs for the students. Ed invented a way to imprint album covers so he could do small batches of records at a reasonable price. In 1962, Audio House recorded the soundtrack for the movie, “Carnival of Souls,” produced by Herk Harvey, which has since become a “cult” classic. Ed was an accomplished disk mastering engineer, adding stereo mastering capability by 1969. He made a point of hiring women that were trying to get back into the work force after raising a family, and by 1977, had ten full or part time employees. In January of 1978, Ed had a heart attack, dying peacefully in his sleep.