With the successful completion of this surround sound studio renovation project, all post-production studios in the Audio Island at the China Media Group (CMG) Guanghua Road Office have updated and upgraded their core equipment. Since their initial construction and commissioning in 2011, these studios have undergone multiple phases of updates and renovations through a process of gradual exploration and refinement. This has ultimately achieved standardized configuration, high-efficiency performance, simplified maintenance, and user-friendly operation across all post-production studios.

This renovation and upgrade project involved a total of seven studios. Among them, five were completely renovated from scratch, including two surround sound recording and mixing studios, and three surround sound music production and editing studios. The remaining two studios underwent targeted upgrades, transforming their original surround sound systems into 3D immersive audio recording and mixing studios. Following the upgrades, all studios now utilize a post-production system built around Avid S6 control surfaces and Pro Tools workstations to handle complex, high-end post-production audio tasks.

The five completely renovated studios are all equipped with Avid S6 control surfaces featuring a 24-fader, 5-knob per channel frame configuration. To accommodate the operators' habits, they are also outfitted with surround sound joysticks, producer desks, and display monitor articulation arms. The S6 redefines mixing by delivering the most intuitive and lifelike mixing workflow for modern audio engineers. Leveraging the best of the industry-leading ICON and System 5 product families, the revolutionary Avid S6 modular control platform offers exceptional ergonomics, intelligent studio control, and a fully integrated Dolby Atmos workflow.

For the workstations, Avid Pro Tools Ultimate was selected. This software needs little introduction, as it has long been the industry standard in the audio field, boasting rich features loved by audio engineers. A key highlight worth sharing today is the audio interface configuration used in these five studio workstation systems: the AX64 high-end routing matrix from Danish manufacturer DAD, implemented here for the first time.

The AX64 supports up to 1,744 input and output channels, accommodating various formats of A/D, D/A, and D/D conversion. It comes standard with a 256-channel Thunderbolt 3 interface, a 256-channel Dante AoIP interface, a 64-channel MADI interface, a 16-channel ADAT interface, and built-in 512x64-channel speaker EQ processing. While the standard configuration already provides staggering I/O capabilities, the AX64 also features 8 expansion slots if more connectivity is needed. These slots can host various expansion card formats, including mic pres, line, AES, MADI, and Dante, ensuring compatibility with any complex workflow.

In this deployment, the engineering team leveraged the AX64's Thunderbolt performance to connect it directly to Apple Mac Studio host computers without requiring additional converters. This setup directly handles up to 256 channels of physical I/O, achieving higher performance and processing power while making the system much cleaner and simpler.

On the workstation plugin side, various effects plugins from manufacturers like Waves, iZotope, and FabFilter are equipped, expanding the workstation's production capabilities. Furthermore, as audio engineers edit and produce audio works, recording engineers must stay fully aware of the program's quality. To support this, the existing stereo monitoring meters were upgraded to loudness meters capable of multi-channel surround sound analysis and monitoring. These can simultaneously monitor the level, phase, and loudness of 5.1 signals, allowing engineers to keep track of signal quality at all times.

For monitoring, the two newly renovated recording and mixing studios have upgraded their speakers to 8351 three-way coaxial monitors from Finnish manufacturer Genelec, supplemented by 7370 DSP subwoofers to form a 5.1 surround sound monitoring environment. In addition to the recording and mixing studios, the 8351 monitors were also used to build a monitoring system that supports a 5.1.4 3D immersive audio format.

The 8351 achieves true three-way acoustic coaxiality, marking another breakthrough masterpiece for Genelec in active monitoring. Whether placed horizontally or vertically, it delivers equally excellent frequency response and directivity characteristics. It features a wide sweet spot and highly flexible listening distances, making it ideal for 3D and surround sound configurations. Using the Genelec Loudness Manager (GLM) speaker management software kit, users can easily and flexibly manage and control the 8351 systems, facilitating smooth setups for various mainstream and experimental monitoring formats ranging from 2-channel stereo to multi-channel 3D immersive surround sound. Utilizing the powerful AutoCal feature, the 8351 can precisely and automatically calibrate itself based on the actual room acoustics, providing audio engineers with a precise, stable, and trustworthy monitoring environment even in challenging workspaces.

Alongside the five completely renovated studios, the other two upgraded recording and mixing studios were also successfully delivered, transforming their original 5.1 surround sound systems into production systems capable of supporting 5.1.4 3D immersive audio. The Dolby Atmos Mastering Suite was added to the system, and four Genelec 8330 overhead monitors were integrated into the existing Genelec 8351 surround sound monitoring setup to establish the 5.1.4 immersive audio monitoring and production environment.

At the same time, Universal Audio UAD-2 Satellite TB3 OCTO Ultimate 9 DSP accelerators and RTW TM9 multi-channel touch-screen monitors were added to both studios. The UAD-2 processors feature over 100 classic plugin effects, offering more possibilities for audio editing. The TM9 monitoring meters support AoIP interfaces and can accept up to 32 signal channels, allowing simultaneous monitoring of the level, phase, and loudness of 5.1.4 signals. This ensures that recording engineers always maintain full control over signal quality, safeguarding high-end production standards.