Looking for an ‘easy and stable solution’ when kitting out new Dolby Atmos rooms, Coventry University’s Music & Audio Production Course Director Benoit Granier and his team selected Audient’s Oria immersive audio interface and monitor controller.

‘It was game audio lecturer, Ben Weatherill who first spotted Oria and brought it to our attention,’ Granier says. ‘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 Oria’s benefits and provided the technical expertise to make it happen.’

Orias are currently installed in two separate rooms; the smaller of the two runs a 7.1.4 Adam Audio loudspeaker configuration and the other a 10.1.4 Genelec configuration. ‘The Oria’s simplicity makes it user-friendly which has significantly improved our workflow and helped staff and students get started easily,’ Granier says.

‘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.’

A third Oria is also 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 multichannel set-ups in less than an hour.

Dolby Atmos is a part of all of the university’s Music & Audio Production courses that involve sound design, mixing and production, so it was important for the team to be 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, Granier reports.

‘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,’ he continues. ‘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 set up and configuration of the system. This has been even more important when it comes to the master’s course, the students of which have been utilising and exploring Dolby Atmos and immersive audio to an even higher level.

Describing the integration process as ‘straightforward’, Weatherill and Birkett have found much to like about the Audient Oria: ‘The standout feature is its intuitive interface, which enhances usability and accessibility for both staff and students. The Oria application is very user-friendly and makes monitoring outputs alongside adjusting settings simple,’ they say.

Coventry University has been using Audient iD4 audio interfaces for several years, and also has an ASP8024 mixing desk 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,’ Granier says.

More: https://audient.com