APG speakers power revamp of Des Sons Animés spatial audio studio

Immersive sound experience creator Des Sons Animés (DSA) has upgraded its studio in Paris with help of long-time collaborator and loudspeaker manufacturer APG.

The revamped studio was recently fitted with 32 APG iX6 loudspeakers from the French manufacturer. 

The new Dolby Atmos-compatible system will enhance DSA’s creation and production capabilities for immersive spatial audio. 

“We believe that 3D audio technologies are a natural evolution of the creative process in the world of music, and something that could profoundly affect future artistic and event landscapes,” said Mathieu Rossier, DSA Co-founder and President.  

He describes the studio as: “a space for creation and research where artists can produce, compose, transform and spatialise their productions using 3D audio technologies. These spatial scores can be broadcast outside the studio, with faithful scaling on many other broadcasting systems.”

DSA regularly hosts open days, training sessions and workshops and adapted its services during the pandemic to include events for artists along with live-steamed 3D sound events hosted by Rossier, who is also known by his electronic music alias Elephantmat.

DSA initially installed 28 APG i86 speakers in the studio, divided into three ‘crowns’ at different heights, along with four SB115-M2s for bass, which are grouped in pairs in front-to-back configuration in relation to the mixing point. The low end is currently completed with a double 18-inch Outline unit, though DSA intends to switch this out for an 18-inch APG sub in the near future.

“We specifically chose the iX6 because we were familiar with the old version, the MX1, having used a modified version of it on the immersive room of the LISA laboratory at the University of Corte, which we completed in 2020. We were seduced by its evolution towards even better performance, particularly in terms of mastering directivity, which is integral when it comes to 3D sound diffusion.”

The DSA studio has been validated by Dolby France which means that the team are able to mix and master in Dolby Atmos for distribution on compatible streaming services such as Tidal, Amazon, and Deezer.