Genelec sets tone for new San Francisco facility

Tone11, a new production and mixing facility in San Francisco’s Bay Area, boasts a Dolby Atmos monitoring array of all Genelec components. The study is the brainchild of Eben Carr, who spent 15 years as a staff engineer at San Francisco’s legendary One Union Recording Studios facility and two and a half years partnering at advertising audio house Handsome Sound. 

The studios are in a building that is part of one of the largest and oldest masonry constructions in the Bay Area but boasts a sound as modern as it gets, utilizing a Genelec monitoring system that Carr says will help keep San Francisco a hub for advertising audio.

“Our target market is a combination of large and small agencies representing tech firms and others, but all of which need great sound for every type of platform, from television to iPhones,” says Carr, noting work he’s done for local icons such as LinkedIn, Airbnb and Logitech and agencies like Duncan Channon, BarrettSF, Funworks, and Venables Bell & Partners. Carr says, “It was a good time to go out on my own. The opportunities are there.” And so are Genelec monitors, which he says offer him a familiar monitoring environment and his clients the kind of sound that translates perfectly across multiple playback media.   

Tone11’s monitoring complies with the Dolby Atmos format: three Genelec 8351B Smart Active Monitors compose the front wall’s L-C-R array; four 8340A Smart Active Monitors for left-right and left-right rear channels, with four 8340As as the overhead array. A pair of 7370A Smart Active Subwoofers complete the immersive experience. 

“I’ve always used Genelec monitoring and technology everywhere I’ve worked, so it made sense to stay with Genelec for Tone11,” says Carr. “They fit well with the rationale for opening a new studio in San Francisco at a moment like this — it’s about the value of having a real studio to bring new life to the collaborative spirit that made San Francisco such a creative place in the first place. I’m banking on people sharing that value. Genelec speakers make it easy to give everyone a great, accurate listening experience and to make people feel good about the way audio sounds, which is so important. That’s what Genelec gives you: a guarantee of great sound.”