Real World Studios adds Dolby Atmos to its Red Room: new toys for the intimate music production and mixing facility

Almost exactly a year ago, Real World Studios told us about its Red Room, a new studio designed for those who are working on smaller-scale production and mixing projects. Now, as promised, the room has been given a Dolby Atmos-powered makeover.

Previously a 7.1 post-production room, the Red Room is now equipped with a full complement of ATC monitors in a 7.1.4 array: SCM45As for L,C & R; SCM12 Pros for tops and sides; and an SCM0.1/15SL Pro subwoofer.

Monitor control and conversion is provided by a Grace Design M908 connected via Dante to a top-spec Mac Pro with two Pro Tools HDX cards loaded with all the plugins you’d expect. The room is designed by renowned acoustic engineers White Mark, and promises a warm and encompassing feel.

“We believe Dolby Atmos is the format for new music creation as much as, if not more than, a format to re-explore old works,” says Tim Oliver, senior engineer at Real World Studios. “As such, Real World will be at the forefront of the push to deliver that,” he explains.

The Red Room will still function as a mix room (stereo and surround) and as a writing and production room: “We needed to give people as many reasons to come and work at Real World as possible, so it was obvious that we should select only the highest spec gear to go in there,” says head engineer, Oli Jacobs.

The Red Room offers SSL summing for hybrid mixing, an array of analogue outboard gear, microphones from Real World’s comprehensive collection and a Yamaha U3 felted upright piano.

“We’ve made the technical install extremely versatile, so anyone can still just turn up, plug their laptops into the installed Universal Audio Apollo X8 and they’re off,” says Jacobs.

Bookings for the Red Room with Dolby Atmos are being taken now, with introductory rates available until 1 June 2022. Bookings include an on-call assistant for setup and troubleshooting, and Real World’s in-house engineers are available and trained in mixing in Dolby Atmos. Catering and accommodation are also available as required.

Head to the Real World Studios website or email bookings@realworld.co.uk to find out more.