London, U.K. (November 19, 2025)—U.K.-based audio specialist Richard Whittaker has mixed or remixed more than 1,000 immersive projects, from The Who and Thin Lizzy to Foals and Biffy Clyro, using his virtual console setup at Starboard Music Group.
“I remix a lot of iconic records,” confirms Whittaker, who was one of the first Dolby Atmos-accredited mixers in the U.K., having already worked for a couple of decades in stereo and surround, and studied Ambisonics and surround mixing at university before that. He has remixed numerous albums for The Who, including Quadrophenia, alongside the band’s chief engineer Bob Pridden, his mentor for the last couple of decades. He has also created Atmos mixes for The Kinks, Traffic, KISS, Greg Lake and others.
Whittaker, director of Starboard Music Group, has equipped his London studio with the complete suite of SSL U Series controllers, including the UC1 plug-in controller, UF8 8-fader advanced DAW controller and, a recent addition, the UF1 DAW control center. “I do a lot of fader work and automation in my mixes, rather than drawing it in with a mouse, which is tedious. I much prefer to do it by the feel of it. It’s just more natural to do the automation with faders, especially the master fade. So it’s great to now also have the UF1 with the dedicated master fader, so I can do all my bus rides.”
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Using his controllers, Whittaker accesses the brand’s official emulations of the 4000 B, E, G and 9000 Series console channel strips through SSL 360° software, which presents them in a traditional console layout. This allows him to evaluate his processing and mixing decisions holistically, focusing on sound and emotion, rather than waveforms.
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Before beginning to build an immersive mix, Whittaker often recreates the tonality of the original stereo version. “Eight or nine times out of 10, those mixes were originally done on an SSL 4000E/G or 9000J/K Series console,” he explains. “I can just load SSL’s G Series channel strip and I’m already three-quarters of the way there. Then I go through the recall notes and literally match all the EQs perfectly to what they wrote down. The way the stems translate from the original mix on an SSL console, to me, rebuilding using SSL plug-ins is astounding.”
