Mansion Sound Studio Boasts Most Powerful Genelec Dolby Atmos System in US

Missouri’s Mansion Sound – a state-of-the-art multimillion-dollar custom designed studio complex created specifically for audio production in music, film, television and post-production – has been equipped with the most powerful Genelec Dolby Atmos system in the United States.

Both studio A and B now boast an all-Genelec 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos immersive-sound system that was specified by Danny Stone, Mansion Sound chief engineer, and sourced through Danny Watson at Ozark Pro Audio Video.

Specifically, it’s studio A at Mansion Sound that reportedly has the most powerful Genelec Dolby Atmos system in the United States to date, which includes a horizontal array consisting of seven soffit-mounted 1234A smart active monitors for L-C-R and surrounds, four 8351B monitors above the mix position acting as the overhead array, and two 7382A subwoofers handling bass management as well as the LFE, along with two Genelec 9301A AES/EBU multichannel interfaces. 

Source material is provided to the Genelecs via a Solid State Logic Duality Fuse 96-channel SuperAnalogue mixing console.

Meanwhile, Studio B is based around Genelec’s The Ones smart active monitor family and features seven 8351B monitors for the L-C-R and surrounds, four 8341A monitors for the overhead array and two 7380A subwoofers handling bass management and the LFE, along with two Genelec 9301A AES/EBU multichannel interfaces. Studio B features a Solid State Logic System T S500 48 fader-256 channel immersive mixing console.

Mansion Sound is part of The Mansion Entertainment Group headquartered in Branson, Missouri. In addition to Mansion Sound, the core brand includes Mansion Animation, Mansion Film & Television and Mansion Studios – a film and television production and post-production campus now in full development and pre-construction.

At the heart of the group is the Mansion Theatre for the Performing Arts, a 3,000-seat multi-purpose venue that is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary and is considered a centre for the performing arts in the Midwest United States.

“The first time I heard the Genelec 1031A, I just couldn't believe the imaging and the detail,” said Stone. “I heard things in mixes that I'd never heard before, not only in my own work but in other people’s work as well. I said, ‘this is the holy grail of speakers.’ Everything else pales in comparison.”

It took approximately a little over a year for Mansion Sound to go from concept to completion when redesigning the studios to add the immersive Dolby Atmos format.

When it came time to decide on what monitors to employ for the new immersive rooms, Stone said the decision was easy:

“I have been a major Genelec fan since I first heard the 1031As, and I’ve heard all the competitors – and there’s some good boxes out there. But for me, nothing translates as well as Genelec. It’s not just about highs and lows; it’s the imaging, the detail, the depth of it. I always felt like I could see into the music in a way that I never was able to before, so choosing Genelecs for our immersive rooms was the obvious choice.

When the construction was completed, Stone and fellow engineer Josh West installed and calibrated the monitors in each room. Genelec GLM software was employed for the system calibration, taking care of in-room frequency response compensation, distance delay and level alignment.

“GLM makes it a lot simpler to calibrate the room because all you do is connect all your cables, download the software, open it up, tell GLM what your speakers are and what kind of system you’re running, and basically let it do its thing,” said Stone.

“You hit start and it does its tone sweeps and you just sit back and look at the results and say ‘Wow!’ You can’t get any simpler or easier as far as any kind of software to do room correction. It’s completely intuitive and takes out some of the second guessing you might have, wondering, ‘Well, how is this really responding in relation to the room?’ GLM shows you all that, and whatever issues there are, it takes care of it.”

On top of the Genelec immersive sound-systems in studio A and B, the Mansion Sound complex is also home to other Genelec speakers.

“In addition to our immersive rooms we have a pair of 1039As and two pairs of 8050As,” Stone explained. “I personally have two pairs of 1030As, and we still have three 1031As. You can’t go anywhere in the Mansion and not see a Genelec speaker.”

The inaugural project at Mansion Sound was An Ozark Mountain Symphony: A Musical Celebration, an hour-long special featuring The Springfield Symphony Orchestra and numerous Disney, Broadway, gospel and country music stars.

Filmed live in concert at the Mansion Theatre For The Performing Arts, it was recorded and mixed at Mansion Sound by multiple Grammy, Latin Grammy and Emmy winning producer, mixer and engineer Dave Reitzas, and will premiere on PBS nationwide later this year and in 2023.

“It was an amazing feeling to be working in a studio in Branson, Missouri that rivals some of the best studios I work at in L.A,” said Reitzas.

“The staff and the equipment are outstanding! And to be in a room surrounded with Genelec speakers makes me feel right at home as I have been a long time user for the past 28 years."