UK - Looking for an “easy and stable solution” when kitting out the new Dolby Atmos rooms at Coventry University last year, Music & Audio Production course director Benoit Granier and his team turned to the Audient Oria when choosing their immersive audio interface and monitor controller.
“The Oria’s simplicity makes it user-friendly, which has significantly improved our workflow and helped staff and students get started easily,” he says. There are currently two Orias installed in two separate rooms. The smaller of the two rooms runs a 7.1.4 ADAM Audio speaker configuration and the other is a 10.1.4 Genelec speaker configuration.
“With the integration of the Dante card, it has enabled us to work seamlessly across our vast Dante studio network, integrating our current systems and hardware. We’re using them in studios that contain both PCs and Mac for game audio production, audio mastering and music production,” he continues.
A third Oria is being used for short-term Dolby Atmos installations. This will make the most of Oria’s onboard SoundID Reference room calibration, which enables accurate measurement and calibration of multi-channel setups in less than an hour.
Mindful to highlight the contributions of the wider team, Benoit explains: “It was game audio lecturer, Ben Weatherill who first spotted Oria and brought it to our attention. Both he and our technician/instructor in audio production, Steve Birkett, have been instrumental in this project. They are the real sound wizards who identified its benefits and provided the technical expertise to make it happen.”
Dolby Atmos is included in all courses within the Music & Audio Production curriculum which involve sound design, mixing and production, so it has been important for everybody to get up and running quickly. “Both staff and students have enjoyed using Oria, and the simplicity of the interface has made it easy for them to engage with tracking and mixing in Dolby Atmos.
“The learning curve has been manageable, as both the Dolby Atmos system and Oria are designed to be user-friendly, facilitating easier adoption by staff and students. It has allowed us to spend more time focusing on the details of mixing, mastering and sound design for Dolby Atmos, rather than focusing on the setup and configuration of the system,” says Benoit.
No strangers to Audient, Coventry University has been using iD4 audio interfaces for years, and also has an ASP8024 in one of its six music recording studios. “Teaching with the ASP8024 has been great, as it allows students to learn more about workflow through practical experience with an analogue desk. The layout is clean and super friendly, students are able to quickly achieve the results they want when recording,” adds Benoit.
