USA – Waterloo Sound, an extension of Austin’s Waterloo Records creative ecosystem, has opened a portable 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos studio featuring JBL Professional studio monitors powered by Crown amplifiers. Built within the modular Nu•Studio System, the installation surrounds engineers and artists with full-range JBL Professional 708 monitors while concealing the technology behind acoustically transparent surfaces, creating a critical listening environment designed for immersive mixing, vinyl mastering and other creative applications.
The project grew from Waterloo Sound’s plans to establish a vinyl mastering operation with partner Jon Niess, whose work spans both vinyl mastering and Dolby Atmos mixing. Niess was already using JBL Professional monitors in his own mastering and Atmos studio and was working with Nu•Studio founder and CEO Chad Franscoviak on the company’s modular studio concept. After Niess invited the Waterloo team to Bozeman, Montana, to experience the Nu•Studio prototype, Waterloo Sound decided to become the system’s first customer after being blown away by both the sound and visual experience.
The concept brings together immersive audio and visual content within a portable, modular structure engineered to provide a repeatable acoustic environment. Rather than building the technology visibly into the room, the 9.1.4 Atmos system is integrated behind acoustically transparent wall screens alongside acoustic treatment positioned around the perimeter. Ultra-short-throw projectors mounted overhead complete the visual environment, allowing visitors to be surrounded by sound and imagery without loudspeakers and other technology becoming the focus of the space.
At the center of the studio are JBL Professional 708 studio monitors, powered by Crown amplifiers and deployed at every ear-level and overhead position in the 9.1.4 configuration. Using the same monitor throughout the system was important to Waterloo Sound because an immersive mix can move individual audio objects between the front, side, rear and overhead channels. Maintaining full-range capability and headroom at every position helps preserve the tonal character and impact of those objects as they travel through the three-dimensional sound field.
“We chose JBL 708s throughout the entire 9.1.4 system because we wanted a truly consistent, full-range monitoring environment in every direction,” said Niess. “I’ve become a big believer in having real low-end capability and headroom in every channel—including the surrounds and overheads—so an Atmos object maintains the same tonal character and impact wherever it moves in the room.”
That consistency also serves the studio’s second critical listening application: vinyl mastering. The accuracy, detail and low-frequency performance required to evaluate an immersive mix are equally important when making mastering decisions, allowing the JBL Professional 708 studio monitor system to support both workflows within the same environment.
Creating a portable immersive studio also introduced a different design philosophy from a conventional permanent control room. The Nu•Studio System is constructed according to consistent dimensions, materials and acoustic specifications, minimizing acoustic variables between installations. Combining that standardized environment with JBL Professional 708 monitors and Crown amplifiers gives engineers a setup that behaves the same way every time it’s deployed rather than requiring an entirely new acoustic approach each time.
“One of the advantages of the Nu•Studio approach is that there are actually very few acoustic surprises,” says Franscoviak. “Each room is built to the same dimensions, materials and acoustic specifications, so the environment is highly consistent and predictable from one installation to the next. Pairing that with the JBL 708s and Crown amplifiers gives us a monitoring system whose performance we knew would produce exceptional results.”
Early response from engineers working in the space have reinforced Waterloo Sound’s emphasis on creating an immersive environment that remains natural rather than drawing attention to the individual loudspeakers. Mix engineers have particularly noted the room’s controlled low-frequency response and the cohesiveness of the immersive sound field.
“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” reports Emily Gianopoulos, Managing Partner at Waterloo Sound. “Several mix engineers have told us it’s one of the best-sounding Atmos rooms they’ve ever heard—the room has a sense of calm the moment you walk in, with a very tight, responsive low end and an immersive sound field that feels very natural.”
As Nu•Studio’s first customer, Waterloo Sound brings together immersive mixing and vinyl mastering within a modular environment built around consistent monitoring in every direction. It’s a working example of what the platform is designed to deliver: a full-range acoustic environment that’s portable and adaptable enough to move and reconfigure as Waterloo Sound’s needs change, without giving up any of the performance a permanent room would offer. JBL Professional 708 studio monitors and Crown amplifiers are central to that performance, giving Waterloo Sound full-range headroom at every position in the room.
