(Natick, Mass.)—Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, a former cinema that has played host to a who’s-who of Nordic legends, including ABBA, The Hives, Cardigans and Roxette, along with numerous international artists, has added an Atmos mixing room outfitted with Genelec The Ones Smart Active Monitors.
“The latest upgrade saw us install a 7.1.4 system,” mix engineer Stefan Boman explains. “I was really keen on doing that because I did some stuff in 5.1, but that never really took off as there weren’t any proper platforms. I wanted to get into Atmos because you could see the trends and the investment behind it.”
With the decision made to embrace the Atmos standard, the project progressed rapidly. “We decided to invest in Atmos, and I heard that Dolby were coming over here to do some work, so I decided that we had to be equipped for immersive by then,” Boman adds. “We had to be done within a week and a half, so I called in favors from builders. There were some really late nights, but it worked out pretty well.”
The upgrade process saw the transformation of the mix room from one created with 5.1 in mind to a fully immersive space certified by Dolby. “Obviously, for 7.1.4 we needed to add more speakers,” Boman explains. “We worked out the best possible places for the monitors in the room, installed them and then calibrated the space with the help of Dolby engineers to gain the certification. We couldn’t have planned it any better.”
One easy decision for Boman was the choice of monitors. He has been using Genelec since the mid-’90s and has been continually impressed with the quality of the sound. “I’ve had Genelec monitors for a long time—they fit my ears,” he says. “When I first heard The Ones, I was so impressed with the definition. On most speakers you can hear ‘it’s to the left or to the right,’ but on these you can locate sounds with such precision. You can say things like. ‘It’s 5 degrees to the left.’ I was just blown away. I could really hear the pan definition. That really helps in an Atmos room.”
The system chosen by Boman deploys The Ones family of coaxial, three-way, point-source monitors—8351s for the LCR positions, 8341s for the surrounds and 8331s for the height channels—all complemented by a 7370 subwoofer.
“I really like it,” says Boman about mixing on his new Atmos system. “It’s natural-sounding, and I never get surprised when I bring tracks home or listen somewhere else. I just hear the mix decisions I made.”
