NJP Studios in Switzerland has become the latest in a long line of audio facilities to install a Dolby Atmos music mixing facility equipped with PMC monitoring.
Owned by producer and engineer Leos Gerteis, NJP has two studios in Kusnacht, plus a third studio in Zurich that is mainly used for recording sessions.
The company specializes in productions for corporate clients, as well as handling voice recordings, music production, composing, sound design and surround mixing for TV, radio and cinema commercials.
The new 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos room took four months to build and has PMC MB3 XBD-Active monitors for Left and Right channels, an IB2S monitor for the centre channel, and a mixture of Ci140, ci65 and ci45 monitors for the ceiling, rear and wide positions.
There is also a PMC8-2 sub for bass management. All of the monitors were supplied by PMC’s Swiss distributor MGM Audio.
“I have had PMC monitoring in my studios and at home for many years and when we decided to upgrade our 5.1 room to Dolby Atmos specifications it was an easy choice to use PMC again because I was happy with the quality of their monitors and didn’t want to use another manufacturer’s products,” Leos Gerteis says.
“The ci Series was ideal for the room because they are passive monitors and that enabled me to avoid heat problems in the walls.”
Gerteis, who founded NJP Studios in 1988, says the decision to install an Atmos room was driven by Apple Music, which recently began offering Dolby Atmos mixes on its streaming platform.
“It was important to have a monitoring system that allowed us to listen to Atmos music mixes in our own studio,” Gerteis says.
“A lot of our clients haven’t listened to Atmos and don’t have much experience of immersive content or the mixing techniques behind it. Proving the concept and quality of Atmos was therefore important, especially in Switzerland.
“We hope that the technique will dominate future productions in music and other media, and although it was a risk in taking this step, we feel the pleasure of working in this format outweighs any doubts.”
Gerteis adds that he is delighted with the service he received from MGM Audio, which has been his main supplier of professional audio equipment for many years.
“Since opening the new Atmos room we have completed a number of projects and individual mixes, and we are currently working on a larger project that unfortunately I’m not in a position to detail,” he says.
“However, I am certainly happy with my choice of PMC monitoring – as are my clients who are delighted by the sound quality we are achieving here.”