2020 was the year Roger Guerin moved up to Dolby Atmos. Here are some the products that have helped him through the transition.

2020 will be remembered as the year I upgraded my studio to welcome Dolby Atmos. Already in 5.1 with my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 (maximum 10 outputs), I had to upgrade to a 7.1.4 listening environment. 

Shopping for a new interface was fun, but mostly, time-consuming in trying to figure out what keywords to use to establish a shortlist of interfaces. Not wanting to invest in a “big” system with options I would never use, I was looking for an interface with sufficient analogue outputs with built-in speaker correction capabilities (SPQ). After reading kilometres of reviews, I realized that I did not want another ‘music-oriented’ interface, mainly because I do not need eight-plus microphones inputs, I need outputs.

Finally, I ended up with Avid’s own MTRX studio interface.

One would think that this would be my “find of the year”, but I must admit that the software that comes with the unit is pretty impressive, you might even say “complete”. The software DADman comes from the Danish company DAD famous for its own interface (AX32) as well as being behind the Avid MTRX and Avid MTRX Studio. The DADman software takes care of literally everything. With its programmable routing matrix, you can assign and control every single loudspeaker. You need bass management – click done; you need to listen to your immersive mix in 5.1 – click done; over headphones – click done. Possibilities are endless!

Being confined, nobody was allowed to come in and calibrate my room. So armed with my Behringer ECM-8000 omni microphone, and my Sound Devices MixPre6M, I decided to give it a try. I came across John Mulcahy’s free Room EQ Wizard (REW) software, and I was blown away! It is so deep that eqing my studio only scratched the surface of this software, really impressive.

With the equipment installed, the additional speakers in place and calibrated, I needed to revisit my surround template and accompanying plugins. First off, of course, is Dolby’s Atmos plugin configuration, and none is better than our own Alan Sallabank excellent series of free expert tutorials on how to achieve this. Admittedly, I consulted them so many times that I feel I tricked the numbers.

Next in line for scrutiny was my upmix plugin. Being a long-time user of Waves 360° Surround Tools, my template included their UM225 and UM226 upmix plugins, but unfortunately, they can only go up to 5.1. Side note: while participating at one of the Mix with the Masters week-long seminars with Oscar-winner score mixer Shawn Murphy (Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Mission Impossible, etc.) he demonstrated his weapon of choice: the Penteo 7 Pro upmixing plugin. I was convinced after trying the demo but felt it was a bit rich from my blood at the time, plus the UM225-226 were serving me well.

But the call of immersive mixing was getting stronger… then Penteo upgraded to 16 Pro, the Black Friday special was just around the corner. The planets were just too well aligned to pass.  Penteo 16 Pro was in!

So I’ve got something old, something new, something borrowed, and most of them are blue! And I have one more thing: Blackmagic Design’s Resolve 17. Being an audio guy, I have never done so many videos, and, of course, video editing. Besides being free, Resolve 17 has all the features an audio guy is familiar with! I suspect that since their acquisition of Fairlight some sound specific workflows and demands have been implemented, giving us a fantastic tool!

And there you have it: my version of 2020. It did not just have us think outside the proverbial box, but had us reinvent it, reconstruct it, and maybe make a better one, more adaptable to our fast-changing times.

Let’s stay home, stay safe, then we will be able to carry on.