Genelec Deploys Multi-Channel Immersive Audio at the PHI Center

This Canadian art center has equipped its studio with sixteen monitors 8020 of Genelec to create a public listening environment, Multi-channel and flexible, where you can play immersive commercial formats and so that artists can work and experiment.

Founded in 2012 in Montreal, the PHI Center is dedicated to innovating in creative production, Promoting design, Development and presentation of a wide variety of disciplines, especially in digital technologies, as well as promoting the work of local artists.

As your creative sound supervisor explains, Phil Rochefort (in the image below): "PHI is made up of three distinct entities: the PHI Foundation Para Arte Contemporáneo is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the public with impactful experiences in this discipline and free exhibitions; the PHI Center hosts concerts and exhibitions in virtual reality, Augmented and mixed, and PHI Studio It has earned a reputation as a cutting-edge talent incubator and a catalyst for the conception and implementation of immersive multidisciplinary projects.".

With the aim of "promoting access to the arts through a variety of media, adopting a very pluralistic approach", Rochefort points out, The center has opted for the Immersive Audio of Genelec to provide new experiences in their public space and analyze how to create them through their studio.

Designed with Sixteen monitors 8020 and known as Sound habitat, The public listening environment was created first, Multi-channel and flexible, at the PHI Center "for the reproduction of several Immersive business formats -Rochefort points out-, which can also be used as an 'instrument’ for artists to explore the possibilities of spatialization”.

As a soundproofed and acoustically treated space, Rochefort describes Sound habitat "Like getting into a 'cocoon' of sound. It's about helping the audience adapt to their environment; not so much of objects, but to reactivate people's sense of hearing and the way they listen".

No visuals to distract visitors, Sound habitat Engage people in unexpected ways. "There are not many spaces for public listening like this in North America," says this official. We designed this room to be flexible enough to Play commercial renderings and allow artists to mix on it directly".

Designed as a traditional follow-up studio when the building opened ten years ago, Rochefort wanted the space to offer new possibilities and serve as a commercial entity and laboratory for adapting works.

"There are many things you can do in the studio to help Prototyping and exploring creative possibilities of the work we were already doing in the development of virtual and augmented reality, and we did not achieve it with the existing study," he explains. In addition, Montreal has a very active new media scene and we wanted to give those artists a space as well, since many of them work with immersive audio and need places to try things out. So we created an ecosystem that meets both needs.".

Based on Genelec Smart Active Monitors, The study uses Seven three-way coaxial monitors 8341 in front and wraparound positions; four 8330 two-way for the height channels and a couple of Subwoofer 7360 that are controlled with the GLM software.

"Genelec was already our preferred speaker, but when I made a demonstration of the 8341 In the studio, they were unlike anything I had heard before," says Rochefort. Immersive setup requires perfectly time-aligned images and true accuracy, and the studio was never designed as an immersive room. Having the GLM software to correct those challenges in such a difficult space proved invaluable.".

In the same way that visitors regain their connection with sound at the PHI Centre, Rochefort stresses that the studio provides a stronger creative with the work that occurs there.

"It's fascinating to see how artists who have never experienced immersive environments push their boundaries. Most of the artists we work with love how it allows you to collapse or expand the space or use it to introduce tension and surprise. I arrange their music and start throwing things around the room and, suddenly, you can see them interacting with her and exploring different possibilities", Concludes.

Be Sociable, Share!