The AX32 + MOM combo takes the C position in Metropolis Studios’ new Atmos control room
With mainstream streaming services such as Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music, Dolby Atmos music has become a key element in their music library. For musicians, the ability to create and recreate Dolby Atmos will become increasingly important.
The stunning Dolby 11.1.8 (currently the highest specification for Dolby Atmos in the UK) has debuted a new control room designed by live streaming specialist Sonosphere in collaboration with Metropolis Studios. Our long-term supplier in the UK and HHB company provides the most advanced equipment, including AX32 with 128 channels DANTE, PRO MON license, SPQ processing card for calibration of speaker EQ delay and low frequency management, etc. A MOM monitor operation module is used to do more quick monitor operation.
HHB recently published an article about the story of this control room, and with their permission, we can read it again from a new angle here. There is a link at the end of the article to see the original text.
“The plan is to make this system as functional as possible” – Jamie Gosney, Commercial Director of Sonosphere “We were initially thinking of having a room for broadcasting, and also for some Atmos content for games and VR simulations. But For the music market, Dolby Atmos music is now the mainstream standard, so we planned to have this, and finally decided to build this control room according to Dolby standards.”
One of the core members of the Sonosphere studio team, the mixer Phil Wright, is a very famous live concert mixer, his resume includes Paul McCartney, the RPO, Brian May and Benny Andersson and other big-name musicians. Also participated in concerts such as 2020, Lianne La Havas and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
“The point of Dolby Atmos is that your entire playback system is unknown,” explains Phil Wright. “You just need to mix a master file, called DAMF (Dolby Atmos Master File), and it’s automatically adapted. The playback environment of your various clients, such as you have a great 7.1.4 home theater, a soundbar, a bluetooth speaker, headphones, these are all fine. What’s more, DAMF can also be customized according to your equipment Adjust the decoding yourself to achieve the best effect.”
Wright explained that this set of things is not only for mixing Dolby Atmos, but also for other atmos formats.
“We decided to hang three speakers on the entire back wall, and all the speakers in the room were lined up at 30-degree intervals, so that they could be compatible with some of the more demanding third-party standards work.”
“Dolby Atmos is actually more inclined to the front and center of the orientation, so under this multi-speaker system, some speakers will digitally correct the orientation, using DAD’s AX32 audio routing. AX32 can store multiple rooms. As a preset, I can save room parameters in Dolby, Ambisonics, or other formats and restore them with a single click on the DAD’s MOM controller.”
To sum up, the HHB control room can provide a very flexible working environment. The key equipment includes AX32 with 128 channels of DANTE, the authorization of PROIMON, and the SPQ processing card used for calibration of speaker EQ delay and low frequency management.
The following describes the key functions one by one: DAD MOM provides the most intuitive system window for direct touch operation. In addition, it also has built-in Dolby HE-RMU (Home Entertainment Rendering and Mastering Unit) Aka home entertainment decoding, which is especially recommended by HHB as a studio.
The DANTE card in this device can be used for audio routing between DAW and HE-RMU, and it can also be used for live streaming in AES67 mode. Because this device can also be connected to MADI, it has strong compatibility. The control room also racked up a MAC PRO to run Pro tools, Logic and Reaper.
Finally, let’s talk about the venue. This new panoramic sound studio is affiliated to the Metropolis Group. It consists of four recording studios and five mastering studios. It is also well-known in the music industry. Two-thirds of the 2021’s domestic Brit Award winners were recorded here.
