Sonic Forest Studios immersive audio thrives with Focusrite and Dolby Atmos

Sonic Forest, the Vancouver Island studio, is a true “passion project” for owner Todd Hooge. Embracing Dolby Atmos® as his exclusive mix format, he relies on Focusrite technology to seamlessly bring it all together and keep it running smoothly.

Driven by the unstoppable momentum of Dolby Atmos® across cinema, gaming, music, and more, Todd set out to create a studio that could fully embrace immersive sound. With expert guidance from Dolby engineers on acoustics and technology—right down to the ADAM Audio speakers powering his 7.1.4 monitoring matrix—Sonic Forest Studios was born. Since January 2021, this cutting-edge mix facility has been nestled among five lush acres near Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, right at Todd’s home.

“In recent years, it has become the de facto standard in home theaters, soundbars, other devices, and now in your car,” Todd states. “Streaming services such as Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon HD are the latest to adopt this format for music. It’s the future, period.” Sonic Forest Studios perfectly captures this forward-thinking approach. While its glassed-in mezzanine, vaulted wood-trimmed ceiling, and striking off-center chimney create an enchanting atmosphere, the studio’s heart is all business, powered by a Dante® network and Focusrite’s Red and RedNet interfaces.

“Investing in Atmos is no small thing,” Todd says, citing both equipment costs and the renovations to his home the studio required. “So before I did it, I wanted to make sure that was the way the market is trending. I didn’t just read the pro-audio magazines but also the financial papers and magazines. I wanted to be absolutely sure this was the way to go, the thing to do. Like any major life decision, I wanted to do my homework.”

Not surprisingly, his infrastructure and component choices were meticulously considered. These include:

• The Red 16Line 64-In / 64-Out Thunderbolt™ 3 and Pro Tools | HD™ compatible audio interface. “This is the main interface for the entire rig, and the hub for all the Atmos,” Todd explains. “After I decided I wanted to go with Dante connectivity for the whole studio, I saw that the 16Line was perfect, because all of the Focusrite gear units can also talk to each other over Dante. It’s my digital patch bay and through it I can reach any other device in all seven recording-enabled rooms of the house.”

• Three RedNet HD32R 32-channel Pro Tools HD Dante network bridges. “This is what enables me to have a full 128 objects,” he says. “I work in Pro Tools HDX 2, and without the HD32R I would have fewer channels. I wanted to max the system from the start.”

• The RedNet 5 Pro Tools HD bridge. “This enables me to include my older Pro Tools rig that I have in a tracking room,” he says. “It breathes new life into older gear.”

• The RedNet R1 Desktop Remote Monitor Controller. The RedNet R1 offers flexibility to control a variety of monitor output setups, from mono to 7.1.4 surround, including Dolby Atmos and other immersive audio workflows.“I can’t do without it,” Todd says. “I have a Yamaha RX-A8A Atmos receiver and with the R1 I can instantly switch to it to capture immersive audio, such as Apple Spatial sound, in the wild. Also, the R1 has power over Ethernet, so it doesn’t need external power.”

• A pair of RedNet X2P 2x2 Dante audio interfaces. “I can put them anywhere in the house, there’s a Cat-6 jack and tap into the entire system from there,” he says. “I can use it as a headphone mixing device, put a singer in one of the rooms and record remotely, because it has two mic pre’s on it.”

• Three RedNet AM2 stereo audio monitoring units. “These are like the X2P, but without the mic pre’s,” he says. “They always perform flawlessly as plug-and-play headphone devices.”

• The RedNet PCIeR card, providing bi-directional Dante audio connectivity with the studio’s computers with full network redundancy. “I’m running two fully-loaded Mac Minis — got some of the last of the Intel stock, which I was happy about — and they can talk to each other in perfect sync through the card,” he says. “It keeps the rendering process moving along without a hitch.”

• The 7.1.4 immersive monitor setup includes 11 ADAM Audio S3H Active Studio Monitors and a Genelec 7370A Smart Active Studio Subwoofer. Dolby technicians assisted in designing the room and recommended the ADAM monitors for their impressive headroom and low-end performance.

“I’m not sure how I could have achieved what we have done here without RedNet,” he says of Sonic Forest, which has worked with dozens of artists including Stacy Earle, Neil Osbourne of 54-40, and Jay Semko of Northern Pikes. “It’s definitely part of the backbone of the studio.”