Constructing Atmos At Dwelling: How Andy and Linda Turned a ten×10 Room into an Immersive Studio

Produce Like A Professional Academy members Andy Tullis and his spouse Linda got down to show that you don’t want a purpose-built facility to combine in Atmos. With persistence, sensible planning, and lots of care, they reworked a modest 10×10 bed room into Ocean Freeway Studio, a compact immersive room that’s musical, dependable, and a pleasure to work in. Right here is how they did it, what they used, and the sensible classes they discovered alongside the best way.

Room first, audio system second

Andy and Linda started with the room. Their house is a real bed room, which suggests early reflections and low-frequency build-up wanted consideration earlier than any Atmos calculations would make sense. They constructed bass traps and broadband panels with timber frames and cotton-based recycled denim insulation. Giant DIY panels cowl beneficiant wall space and smaller traps are tucked into corners. Two hefty pallet traps, repurposed from delivery pallets and wrapped in material, add additional low-end management. A thick carpet tames ground bounce, and easy curtains maintain the closet contents out of sight. As a result of they hire the home, they skipped a hard and fast ceiling cloud and as a substitute relied on cautious placement, absorption, and calibration.

With remedy in place, Andy measured the room utilizing Sonarworks SoundID. The profile got here again surprisingly flat for a small dice, a testomony to the traps and protection. Calibration additionally gave them confidence that any remaining points had been manageable contained in the goal listening space.

Two stations, one workflow

The studio is break up into two work zones. A compact desk handles monitoring duties with a Tascam Mannequin 24 on the coronary heart of seize. It’s strong, forgiving on headroom, and imparts a contact of analogue character. A second desk is for mixing, with outboard housed in tidy Gator Frameworks racks. For stereo reference, Andy alternates between Focal Alpha Evo 65 displays and JBL LSR305s, retaining a well-recognized two-channel actuality test alongside the immersive rig.

The Atmos rig, piece by piece

The centrepiece is an Apogee Symphony interface configured for immersive work, offering ample clear output channels for the array. Andy describes it as highly effective, quiet, and rock strong. On audio system, they selected IK Multimedia iLoud MTM MK2 displays for your complete array. Small in footprint but surprisingly full-bodied, they combine properly in a compact room and are constant speaker to speaker, which issues in Atmos.

Mounting and cabling are the place house studios can get messy, so Andy and Linda deliberate fastidiously. Overheads had been positioned utilizing a brilliantly easy approach. With their daughter sitting within the captain’s chair, Andy measured equal radii from ear peak to the ceiling utilizing a rope, marking exact factors for the highest audio system earlier than drilling. Wall and ceiling mounts use swivel brackets with the right thread adapters, and for facet and rear positions they leaned on sturdy mic stands with 5/8 to three/8 adapters, which prevented additional holes in rental partitions and saved placement adjustable.

Cable administration was solved with painted one-inch PVC conduits mounted to the ceiling utilizing clips, creating clear channels that mix into the room. When alternative energy leads wouldn’t match by the tubing, they regrouped and neatly zip-tied alongside the surface, retaining runs labelled and out of sight. Numbered DB25 snakes deal with the multi-channel output routing from the interface, and Andy stresses how necessary these channel numbers develop into when you begin assigning audio system.

When you would reasonably skip the element hunt, Sweetwater’s Symphony Studio 2×12 plus eleven iLoud MTM MKII bundle is a close to like-for-like basis for Andy’s 7.1.4 construct, full with brackets and calibration instruments to get you mixing sooner.

A ready-made path: the Apogee x iLoud MTM Immersive bundle

For anybody impressed by Andy and Linda’s construct, Sweetwater now gives a turnkey model of their setup: the Apogee Symphony Studio 2×12 Interface and IK Multimedia iLoud MTM Immersive Bundle.

This bundle pairs Apogee’s Symphony Studio 2×12 with eleven iLoud MTM MKII displays and 4 steel wall or ceiling brackets, offering an entire 7.1.4 system that mirrors Andy’s house Atmos rig virtually completely. The Symphony Studio options onboard DSP, two mic/line inputs, twelve line outputs, and native assist for immersive codecs. Collectively, they type a compact, professional-grade monitoring and conversion resolution that’s preferrred for bed room or mission studios aiming to maneuver into Atmos mixing.

Why this bundle is sensible for compact Atmos rooms

• Matches a 7.1.4 structure proper out of the field with eleven an identical displays for constant voicing.
• The Symphony Studio 2×12 supplies ample outputs, onboard DSP, and calibration instruments that combine seamlessly with Cubase, Professional Instruments, or Logic as soon as pattern charges and buffer sizes are aligned.
• The MTM MKII displays embrace IK’s ARC calibration, serving to you fine-tune your room even additional.
• The bundle gives financial savings in comparison with shopping for parts individually, plus financing choices by Sweetwater.

The workflow is simple: the Symphony Studio’s clear multi-output routing strains up completely with Dolby Renderer routing in your DAW, and the an identical MTM MKII audio system guarantee dependable imaging and balanced translation throughout the immersive subject.

For anybody hesitant about constructing an Atmos setup from scratch, this bundle supplies a dependable, absolutely built-in place to begin—and one that’s virtually an identical to Andy’s system in each sound and practicality.

4 days to first playback

Andy documented the construct in phases. Day one was unboxing and sorting {hardware}. Day two was mounting the overhead audio system. Day three was operating energy and sign, reducing discreet cable pass-throughs the place wanted, and tidying the conduits. Day 4 was wiring the interface, addressing, and lighting the system up.

The Apogee Symphony software program and Cubase integration are simple when you match settings. Set pattern charge to 48 kHz and the buffer to 512 in each the DAW and the Apogee management software program. Insert the Dolby Renderer plug-in on the right output path, verify that the routing matrix lights each speaker in inexperienced, and you’re prepared to position objects. In Cubase, Andy leans on the ADM instruments to handle beds, objects, and panning, beginning with static placements earlier than exploring motion. He factors out that many consumer tasks will arrive as stems with printed reverbs, a lot of the work turns into considerate positioning reasonably than heavy sound design.

Household mission, musical payoff

This was genuinely a household construct. Linda saved the mission on observe, made sensible calls about furnishings placement and cable paths, and added the end that makes a working studio really feel welcoming. Their daughter helped with the overhead structure and timeline. The primary immersive playback was a little bit of a household occasion, with smiles throughout when a component appeared behind the listening place.

Andy is fast to credit score the individuals who helped alongside the best way. George at Apogee and Ryan at IK Multimedia took time to reply detailed questions, which sped up troubleshooting and ensured a clear first run. He additionally notes that in the event you purchase the IK system as a bundle from sure retailers, stands are sometimes included, which simplifies planning and value.

What this construct proves

Immersive mixing isn’t reserved for large rooms and sky-high budgets. With cautious acoustic remedy, wise speaker alternative, meticulous placement, and trustworthy calibration, a compact house can ship convincing Atmos outcomes. The bottom line is to deal with the room first, plan cable and mount logistics earlier than drilling, maintain each channel clearly labelled, and match your software program settings precisely. Most of all, method the method methodically. Andy and Linda took it one step at a time and stayed musical at each flip.

The gear record at a look

• Interface Apogee Symphony Studio 2×12 interface with onboard DSP and immersive routing.
• Audio system IK Multimedia iLoud MTM MKII displays (x11) for full Atmos array. Stereo test pairs: Focal Alpha Evo 65 and JBL LSR305.
• Seize and furnishings Tascam Mannequin 24 for monitoring. Gator Frameworks racks, compact studio desks, and durable mic stands with thread adapters.
• Acoustics and cabling DIY bass traps and wall panels utilizing timber frames and recycled denim insulation. Numbered DB25 snakes, assorted XLR runs (6, 15, and 25 ft), prolonged IEC energy leads, ceiling brackets, and painted PVC conduits with clips and zip ties for clear cable administration.
• Software program and setup Cubase because the DAW. Dolby Renderer plug-in on the grasp path. Sonarworks SoundID for room calibration. Matching 48 kHz and 512 buffer settings between DAW and Apogee management software program.
• Elective built-in bundle Apogee Symphony Studio 2×12 + iLoud MTM MKII Immersive Bundle from Sweetwater

Closing ideas

Andy and Linda’s Ocean Freeway Studio exhibits what is feasible if you mix strong fundamentals with a little bit of ingenuity. The result’s a compact, snug Atmos room that interprets, evokes, and invitations collaboration. In case you are Atmos-curious and dealing in a small house, their path is a sensible blueprint. Deal with the room, plan the mounts and cable runs, select constant audio system, label all the things, align your software program, and benefit from the second when the room comes alive round you.

Have a marvellous time recording, mixing, and now, mixing in Atmos.