Mansion Sound Installs the Most Powerful Genelec Dolby Atmos® System in the U.S.

Mansion Sound, located in Branson, Missouri, is a state-of-the-art multimillion-dollar custom designed studio complex created specifically for audio production in music, film, television and post-production. Both studio “A” and “B” feature 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, studio “A” has the most powerful Genelec Dolby Atmos system in the United States to date and 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 the largest and most powerful Solid State Logic Duality Fuse 96-channel SuperAnalogue mixing console ever built. 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” also has a Solid State Logic System T S500 48 fader-256 channel immersive mixing console.

Photo caption 1. Studio “A” control room (surround and rear surround 1234As) at Mansion Sound in Branson, Missouri, featuring the most powerful Genelec Dolby Atmos® immersive-sound system in the U.S. Photo by Chris Schmitt Photography. ©2022.

Mansion Sound, part of The Mansion Entertainment Group headquartered in Branson, Missouri, encompasses a strategically defined global brand of creative production entities. In addition to Mansion Sound, the core brand includes Mansion Animation, Mansion Film & Television and Mansion Studios, an unprecedented industry-defining 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 thirtieth anniversary and is considered the premier center 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,” stated Danny 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 paled in comparison.”

It took approximately a little over a year for Mansion Sound to go from concept to completion when re-designing their studios to add the immersive Dolby Atmos format. When it came time to decide on what monitors to employ for their new world-class 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.”

Photo caption 2. Studio “B” control room at Mansion Sound in Branson, Missouri, featuring an immersive monitoring system based around Genelec’s “The Ones” Smart Active Monitor™ family. Photo by Chris Schmitt Photography. © 2022.

When the construction was completed, Stone and fellow engineer Josh West installed and calibrated the monitors in each room. Genelec GLMsoftware 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. 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 their Genelec immersive sound-systems in studio “A” and “B,” Mansion Sound also has other Genelec speakers in the complex. “In addition to our immersive rooms we have a pair of 1039As and two pairs of 8050As,” commented Stone. “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 a galaxy of 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.

Commenting on working at Mansion Sound, Dave Reitzas stated, “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. 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 longtime user for the past 28 years."

Photo caption 3. Danny Stone, Mansion Sound Chief Engineer, shown in studio “A” at Mansion Sound in Branson, Missouri, featuring the most powerful Genelec Dolby Atmos® immersive-sound system in the U.S. Photo by Chris Schmitt Photography. © 2022.

Main image: Multiple GRAMMY®, Latin GRAMMY and Emmy® winning producer, mixer and engineer Dave Reitzas, pictured in Studio “A” control room at Mansion Sound in Branson, Missouri, where he recently mixed An Ozark Mountain Symphony: A Musical Celebration.