Neumann Monitors Deliver Immersive Audio to Peppermint Park

The studio control room Peppermint Park from Hannover (Germany) has a system Dolby Next generation Atmos, in which studio monitors Neumann They are an essential component to achieve immersive 3D audio.

Choosing Neumann technology for the control room, with a surface of 90 m2, of the estudios Peppermint Park It was an obvious choice for its owner, Wolfgang Sick, since “it has been a trusted partner for years”.

For a long time, the studios opted for the resolution of their monitors KH 420 and in the subwoofers KH 870 to perform mixing tasks. “When we went to Neumann to ask for a new system Dolby Atmos They responded quickly and were very helpful., thus confirming that we had done well to trust them”, said Sick.

In autumn 2021, The Scorpions, one of the most successful German rock bands in the world, He had been working at Peppermint Park studios for more than a year, where dozens of amplifiers and more than fifty guitars were installed in the 120 m2 of the Studio 1. At first, They planned to carry out only the rehearsal and pre-production sessions for their next album., but the band felt comfortable with the studio and decided to record the entire album there.

Once the recordings are finished, sound engineer and producer Hans-Martin Buff suggested mixing the album on Dolby Atmos Music. In order to meet deadlines, Peppermint Park studios had exactly three weeks to have their control room ready to obtain that certification.

As Sick explains, It was a crucial decision for the future. “Dolby Atmos is on everyone's lips right now. I am sure it is a good investment because Apple, Amazon and many others have jumped on the immersive audio train. Besides, Major record labels are already contacting us with requests related to the audio 3D”.

He system 7.1.4 Peppermint Park control room consists of seven models of the three-way near-field monitor KH 310 and a subwoofer KH 870. Four compact speakers have also been installed in the ceiling KH 120 de Neumann, brand that sells in Spain Magnetron.

“Our control room is very spacious,” adds Sick.- and we knew how to make the most of it when we installed the Neumann monitors, and thus we can offer a very wide listening point. During mixing sessions it is no longer just the engineer in charge of the controls who can enjoy this experience, but the whole band”.

New mixing levels

The possibilities go further for Peppermint Park: “In the future we will offer three different levels of immersive audio mixes: the mix Music, in which everything sounds bigger and broader; the mix Experience, showing the possibilities of the immersive audio system, and the mix Burst, that offers the maximum of three-dimensional effects”, Sick points out.

When recording, Peppermint Park engineers are also very open to experimenting, for which they rely on the well-known Neumann microphones, as M50, U47 o KM54.

“We love taking our prized Neumanns out of their closet. Now we can use them to record directly in Dolby Atmos -adds Sick-. With eight individual microphones, Hans-Martin Buff re-amplified some tracks with The Scorpions in our recording room to capture the impressive three-dimensional atmosphere”.

For this expert, Immersive audio in Dolby Atmos format is not just a trend, but a real revolution. “After listening to music in 3D you won't want to go back to stereo format. 3D audio is going to become the new standard and stereo sound will probably seem small and simplistic to future generations. With our new Neumann-equipped Dolby Atmos system, We look forward to shaping the future of audio.