Genelec has supplied the monitoring system for a new immersive audio facility at the KreativInstitut.Ostwestfalen-Lippe (KIO) in Detmold, Germany. The research institute brings together Paderborn University, Detmold University of Music and the OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts to support collaboration in digital media production, composition, sound design, artificial intelligence and music informatics.
Located on the Kreativ Campus Detmold, KIO serves as a shared center for research and education, bringing together students, academics and industry partners. At the heart of the institute is the new Spatial Audio and Arts Lab (S.A.A.L.), an immersive monitoring room built around a Genelec loudspeaker system. “For students, KIO offers enormous opportunities, as they can work with technologies that are rarely available together in one place,” said Sascha Etezazi, artistic research associate in composition and sound design at KIO.
S.A.A.L. functions as a high-resolution immersive monitoring space for music production, research and presentation. The room supports high-order Ambisonics while remaining compatible with channel-based formats, including Dolby Atmos. “S.A.A.L. was designed as a high-resolution Ambisonics monitoring space, enabling full-spherical reproduction between the 5th and 6th order. At the same time, the room is fully compatible with channel-based formats and common consumer formats such as Dolby Atmos,” said Etezazi.
Etezazi worked with Jörn Nettingsmeier, consultant for immersive electroacoustics and Ambisonics, to develop the facility. Nettingsmeier planned the truss structure, acoustic curtains and electroacoustic design, while Etezazi and the KIO team determined the loudspeaker layout and system configuration.
Previous experience with Genelec products influenced the monitor selection. “I’ve used a pair of Genelec 8330 SAM monitors in my own home studio for some years now,” said Etezazi. “Having worked with them extensively, I could see that the controlled directivity and compact design of Genelec nearfields were perfect for the room here at KIO, allowing us to position a large number of monitors flexibly.”
Wide listening area
The installation comprises 43 Genelec 8030C two-way active monitors arranged in a 360-degree spherical array measuring approximately 7 × 6 × 3.8 meters, together with four Genelec 7050C subwoofers. “S.A.A.L. is a relatively large room, so we wanted to provide a wide listening area where several people can also listen comfortably while standing,” said Etezazi.
KIO designed the facility as a flexible, plug-and-play production environment that supports a variety of digital audio workstations and playback systems. Students can prepare immersive mixes remotely before connecting their workstations directly to the playback system in S.A.A.L. The resulting productions can also be evaluated elsewhere on campus using alternative playback systems, including 3D headphone-based listening.
According to KIO, the room’s acoustic treatment enabled engineers to optimize the loudspeaker system using the rear-panel room-correction DIP switches on each 8030C monitor. “Since the room acoustics are good, we found that the tonal adjustment of the 8030s using the DIP switches produces very good results — maintaining tonal balance all around — but with the option of using external room calibration systems if required,” said Etezazi.
For Etezazi, however, the project extends beyond the monitoring system’s technical capabilities. “My background is as a Tonmeister, and my goal is for Ambisonics to be musically convincing rather than being perceived as a scientific-technical format only,” he said. “Many still associate it with a rather ‘technical’ sound — or suffering from a very small listening sweet spot — but here, many people comment on how musical Ambisonics can actually sound. But crucially, putting technicalities aside, this Genelec system actually allows you to forget the playback format — and enjoy the music.”