7382A SAM™ Studiosubwoofer

Mumbai’s luxury private members-only club, Jolie’s, is a hidden gem that truly encapsulates the meaning of its namesake. Sprawling over an impressive 20,000 square feet, the club takes its members on a journey through the senses with its numerous zones, each carefully designed to foster its own distinct atmosphere. From the open, bright, and inspiring design of the breakfast lounge and work area to the exquisite, sultry lighting of the cigar lounge as well as the art and music spaces, the team at Jolie’s have considered all the minute details, with the best of artisan cuisine, cocktails, and culture. To elevate the customer experience further still, the club also features a premium Genelec loudspeaker solution, which was integrated by Genelec’s local AV distribution partner Pandam Professional Audio.

With Jolie’s vision to deliver the best to its members in all aspects, Abhishek Bindal, the Senior Vice President of Jolie’s, approached Pandam’s owner Prashant Damle for further consultation. In response, Abhishek and his team were invited to Pandam’s Genelec Experience Centre located in Mahim, Mumbai. They were so impressed by the sound demonstration that they immediately decided to go with Genelec, proving why the brand is synonymous with both prestige and quality. Furthermore, the ease of installation and operation of Genelec loudspeakers further sweetened the deal. In situ, the pleasing aesthetic of the loudspeakers’ iconic rounded design blends seamlessly with the establishment’s sophisticated decor.

The sound demonstration was so impressive that they immediately opted for Genelec.

Under the guidance of Prashant, the project was intensively planned over a two-month period. However, the actual integration was carried out in an extremely tight 20-day period, leaving no room for error. In total, over 40 loudspeakers were deployed, with the assistance of Pandam Audio’s installation engineer, Sunil Jambhale. This includes a relatively even split of Genelec S360A and 8010A models, complemented by four 7382A subwoofers to handle low frequency duties. Any questions or further support that Club Jolie required would be directed towards Nikhil Pagedar, Pandam’s customer support engineer.

Prashant explains the key decisions: “In the event space area we installed the S360As paired with a 7382A subwoofer. This combination delivers a class-leading balance of extraordinary SPL output, wide dynamic range and an intensely detailed, transparent performance.” It was important to equip this room with the capacity to satisfy a wide range of different functions, which is precisely what this Genelec pairing achieves.

The club’s bar area also benefits from the performance of the S360As. Although it preserves an intimate feel, it is an expansive space with high ceilings, which properly utilises the headroom that the S360As provide. “To ensure that they blend seamlessly with the environment, and that there are no unwanted vibrations propagating from the loudspeakers, we positioned them on the wall. From there, we precisely tilted the mounting bracket for the best possible listening angle,” explains Prashant.

It was a colossal task which had to be delivered in just 20 days.

In the restaurant, however, Pandam opted to use the 8010As, which deliver Genelec’s hallmark sound quality in an ultra-compact format. Additionally, other smaller rooms like the private dining area, business lounge, hidden bar and the cigar lounge were also equipped with 8010As, primarily serving as a background music system (BGM). Naturally, the playback volume for all areas can be individually tuned at the management’s discretion, and this in tandem with each loudspeaker’s integrated room compensation switches ensures perfect optimisation for each room environment.

“It was a colossal task, but we endeavoured to provide Jolie’s with the best possible solution. The team were very happy with the system we delivered,” says Prashant, “It helped immensely that the team at Jolie’s were so co-operative. Without such clear communication, it would have been hard to achieve the goal in the limited time frame we had.”

Manish Rathi, the Senior Vice President at Jolie’s reaffirms the success of this collaboration: “Working with the team at Pandam Professional Audio was an absolute pleasure - from start to finish. The team’s professionalism and sensitivity with regards to this project were both impeccable. We are delighted with the result!”

"Marco Guadagno and Laura Ciafaloni wanted to keep this operation secret from the first steps to the last, and incredibly they did it," explains Donato Masci from Studio Sound Service, the acoustic design firm responsible for the design and construction of the facility.

As a company, 3Cycle had a history of using various studio facilities around Rome for dubbing work. But strong growth, combined with client support led to the decision to create a dedicated space of their own. While it was important that the dubbing element was catered to, the team wanted to expand the business further and took the opportunity to create a post-production hub that could offer much more. As a result, 3Cycle features seven ADR dubbing rooms, a pair of 5.1 QC rooms, two 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos Home Entertainment rooms and a Dolby Atmos theatrical room.

Genelec monitors were the right choice for 3Cycle because they are a standard for post-production facilities around the world.

The design work was carried out by Studio Sound Service’s team of designers made up of Donato Masci, Cecilia Torracchi and Giulia Bondielli, with the acoustic consultancy of Andy Munro. “We have designed a lot of studios together and created a sort of standard for post-production and dubbing, which is recognised and appreciated by numerous broadcasters,” says Donato Masci from Studio Sound Service. “3Cycle wanted to reach an international level and therefore we decided to also involve Andy.”

“3Cycle’s studios have been designed and built following the latest R&D in acoustics,” he continues. “In particular, the acoustics of the recording rooms have been given a neutral balance with the reduction of colouration and artifacts that can affect the final mixing of voices in all forms of media. The control rooms and mixing environments have been given a different approach, to match established international standards and Dolby certification requirements.”

Alongside the cutting-edge acoustics, Genelec Smart Active Monitors feature prominently throughout the facility. Each of the seven ADR rooms feature L-R 8330 monitors with an 8340 for the centre channel. The QC rooms are both equipped with 8340 monitors and a 7380 subwoofer for the 5.1 setup. Finally, the two Dolby Atmos Home Entertainment rooms have been installed with flush-mounted L-C-R S360 monitors, 8340s for the surrounds and overheads, and a 7382 subwoofer delivering the low frequencies.

“Genelec monitors were the right choice for 3Cycle because they are a standard for post-production facilities around the world,” states Masci, explaining the reasons behind selecting the studio monitors. “In addition to this, the GLM loudspeaker manager software helps a lot for the fine tuning, even if the rooms already sound really good.”

With this project taking place during the pandemic, there were obvious challenges. The Studio Sound Service team had difficulty travelling from their headquarters in Florence to the site in northern Rome (as Tuscany remained isolated from Rome for months) meaning that the supervision of the construction site was carried out from a distance. “It definetely wasn't a walk in the park,” notes Masci. “The construction was slowed down by numerous inconveniences related to the pandemic, but nevertheless all the collaborators made all the leaps so as not to accumulate large delays.”

Another major challenge came from isolating the facility. However, With Munro’s assistance, the team managed to create perfectly floating rooms that were mechanically decoupled from the structure. “All the recording rooms have been isolated using floated, room-within-room construction with vibration isolation throughout,” explains Masci. “Control rooms have also been given appropriate isolation, to avoid interference and also to allow accurate monitoring of the recordings themselves.”

the GLM loudspeaker manager software helps a lot for the fine tuning, even if the rooms already sound really good.

Reflecting on the overall project, Masci is proud of the end results. “The 3Cycle facility is the largest post-production facility that we’ve designed. It was a challenge but in the end it gave us great satisfaction. 3Cycle’s partners Marco Guadagno and Laura Ciafaloni, and CTO Simone Nobili, believed in us from the beginning and this was very important for us. Of course, during the implementation phases there were difficult moments, especially linked to respecting deadlines which were affected by the pandemic, but the 3Cycle guys have always shown a great and sincere sense of satisfaction.”

This reaction has been mirrored by the local industry, particularly following the secrecy around its creation. “Obviously when the facility opened, it was a big surprise for the city, and talent and producers are still talking positively about the first experiences they had,” says Masci. “It seems they really appreciate the acoustics, but also the general comfort of the rooms that have a particularly refined design.”

Part of Mediapro’s image and sound post-production company, Telson.Tres60 opened its new facility in May 2019, and decided to upgrade its monitoring capabilities to better serve its clients. “The system upgrades were driven by client demands - for example Movistar asks for everything in Dolby Atmos,” explains sound production co-ordinator, Ana Belén Martín. “We must be able to fit the standards of each of these clients. This means that we have to generate much more material than before because of the different types of broadcast formats – from a mobile phone to a Smart TV.”

The Telson.Tres60 team, alongside Unitecnic – Mediapro’s engineering company which handled the installation – turned to local Genelec partner Audio-Technica Iberia for the 7.1.4 monitoring solution. In both rooms S360A monitors were installed in the LCR positions, with four 1032C monitors as surrounds and the same number of 8340As covering the overhead channels. Low frequency content is handled by a 7382A subwoofer, and with all of the monitors being calibrated and controlled via Genelec’s GLM loudspeaker management software, the monitoring system is able to provide the flexibility required to work to different standards.

“These are the only two Dolby Atmos Home rooms in Spain approved to work at a 79 dB SPL monitoring level,” adds Pelayo Gutiérrez, sound supervisor and head of the fiction sound department of Telson.Tres60. “Ricardo Viñas from Dolby was responsible for adjusting the rooms and equalising them to the three required levels: at 85 dB for cinema, 79 dB for Netflix and 82 dB for Telefónica.”

Alongside the two Dolby Atmos Home rooms, the facility features a 7.1 room, two 5.1 rooms, a foley room and a movie theatre, which also benefit from Genelec monitoring technology. “In terms of technical expectations, Genelec has delivered exactly what we anticipated,” reflects Gutiérrez. “We are very happy – it's a perfect setup. We have real confidence when it comes to making premixes here and moving on to the movie theatre or vice versa - the mixes translate perfectly.”

Combining an ambient music performance with a multi-channel listening experience, both the performers and the live audience were surrounded by a ring array of Genelec loudspeakers, creating a truly unique listening environment. This type of playback system is tailor-made for ambient music, emphasising the sense of space and the abstract nature of the compositions – and creating an incredibly thought-provoking and stimulating live event.

The planning and creation of the show took place over a two month period, using the demonstration space in Modern Sky to evaluate how the sound elements combined, how they moved, and what type of speaker configuration would be best suited to the ambient material. The creative team included electronic musician Wang Lu, also known as L + R, music producer/mixer Shen Lijia and visual artist Tami-musiXgal, and working alongside our colleagues at Genelec China, a system comprising eight S360 high-SPL smart active monitors and a 7382 subwoofer was used to surround the audience, while a smaller smart active array of four 8330 two-ways, four 8331 coaxial three-ways and a 7360 subwoofer was used to envelop the musician and the VJ. Genelec GLM software was then used to analyse the room and optimise the frequency response, distance delay and playback level of each speaker in the system – thereby delivering the best possible listening experience to both performers and audience alike.

In planning the event, the team were seeking a good combination of manual control, programming and random machine triggering, with the pre-programmed foundation of the 8.1 audio mix being handled by Ableton Live, with Cycling 74’s Max allowing communication with external hardware instruments – and plenty of real-time musical improvisation was included too!

Prior to the event, the demand for tickets was so high that it was decided to stage three separate performances, to allow every listener to position themselves comfortably within the speaker array and experience the finest sound quality. And from our own perspective, the whole process of planning and executing the event gave us a much deeper understanding of the shaping of space, the precise positioning of sound and the design of moving trajectories in music.

There’s no doubt to us at Genelec that as the world’s exposure to immersive audio becomes greater, the future of multi-channel live music performances is increasingly looking brighter. There are a whole new generation of music fans who are seeking more and more ‘experiential’ live performances, and Genelec is excited to play its part in the growth of this exciting medium.

Ozcan has been making music since the age of 14, when his instinctive skill with the flute and keyboard were the first signs of an emerging, prodigious talent. His first single, Chica Good, arrived in 2006 but it was 2011’s Reboot, swiftly followed by 2012’s The Box, that solidified his reputation. In the years since, he has produced not only a string of hit singles but also collaborations with peers including Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto, while continuing to push his own creative limits with the development of soft-synths and soundbanks.

However, most of that work was performed in less-than-ideal listening environments. “The first space that I worked in... I’m not sure I could call it a studio since it was in the attic of my parent’s home,” recalls Ozcan. “I just had two speakers in there – actually just two hi-fi speakers! Then I moved to an apartment and I had a room – so I put some acoustic treatment on the walls, some bass traps, and just two monitors and a sub. I made my music in there for years, but when my friends came to visit I’d tell them to stand in the corner because that’s where they could hear the bass properly! If you took one step to the side then the sound changed completely.”

Ozcan describes his new studio as “everything I’ve dreamed of for the last 15 years – I can’t quite believe that it’s here. This room reflects my energy. It’s an extension of myself and my music. When you close the door, you’re in a different world, it’s amazing.”

The room itself is a blazing celebration of neon, seamlessly shifting between colour schemes to suit the mood of the artist. Sculpted acoustic panels from Artnovion adorn the walls while Morel has even recreated Ozcan’s logo on the ceiling. The Genelec smart active monitoring system which forms the studio’s centrepiece is just as impressive, with two 1234As installed as main monitors, accompanied by a 7382A subwoofer. Adding symmetry, what appears to be a second 7382A is in fact a customised bass trap designed around a Genelec grille. In addition, two of the newly-launched 8351B coaxial point source monitors from The Ones range are installed on Ozcan’s desk for nearfield listening. The DJ describes the sound as “mind blowing”.

Towards the conclusion of the project, Morel and Ozcan shared the process of calibrating the Genelec monitoring system for the room. That work began with Genelec’s GLM calibration software, then was fine-tuned by ear. “We went very deep into the process,” says Morel. Yet ultimately, little tuning was actually required. “You don’t have to do much,” explains Ozcan, “with almost no tweaking it sounds fantastic. You feel it in your chest and it gives you goosebumps because you can hear everything. I can hear things I’ve never heard before!”

For Morel, who has now designed private studios for some of the world’s most celebrated DJ producers, this is one of his proudest achievements. “This ranks as one of the top three studios that I’ve created,” he declares without hesitation. “Certainly for the design, this is number one.”

Omistajaveljekset Teemu ja Miikka Sulkala päättivät heti, että uusi Basso Club ei tyydy tavanomaisiin ratkaisuihin. ”Emme halunneet tehdä mitään kuten kilpailijamme tai muut yökerhot aiemmin”, vahvistaa Teemu Sulkala. ”Halusimme jotain aivan uutta.”

Teemulla ja hänen perheellään oli tarkka kuva siitä, mitä he halusivat rakentaa Oulun keskustan lähellä sijaitsevaan entiseen huonekalumyymälään. Arkkitehdiltä kuluikin vain noin 50 tuntia lopullisten piirustuksien tekemiseen Teemun luonnosten pohjalta.

Yökehon tilasuunnittelu on kuitenkin vain yksi osa palapelissä. Huipputason äänentoiston luominen tilaan on aivan toinen juttu. Teemu myöntääkin, ettei hänellä ja hänen veljellään ollut projektin alkuvaiheessa käsitystä siitä, mitä kaikkea sellaiseen järjestelmään kuuluisi. ”Tiesimme vain, että tavanomaista jonkin verran suurempi investointi audiojärjestelmään olisi myös sijoitus tulevaan toimintaamme, joten päätimme tehdä sen.”

Olimme aivan ihmeissämme siitä, että niin pieni kaiutin pystyi tuottamaan niin laadukasta ääntä suurella äänenpaineella.

Teemu tutustui Geneleciin paikallisilla messuilla ja kiinnostui varsinkin uudesta S360-kaiuttimesta ja 7382-subwooferista, joten järjestettiin vierailu Genelecin tehtaalle Iisalmeen tarkempaa tutustumista varten. ”Olimme aivan ihmeissämme siitä, että niin pieni kaiutin pystyi tuottamaan niin laadukasta ääntä suurella äänenpaineella”, sanoo Teemu. Demon jälkeen oli selvä, että halusimme ne Bassoon, vaikkakin valinta on epätavallinen. Kun kerroimme Genelecin asiantuntijoille mitä olimme hakemassa, he suosittelivat S360:ta ja olemme hyvin iloisia, että noudatimme neuvoa.”

”Tavoitteemme oli yksinkertainen – halusimme parhaan mahdollisen äänijärjestelmän. Useimmat Suomen yökerhot eivät panosta äänenlaatuun, vaikka käyttävätkin paljon rahaa sisustussuunnitteluun, kalusteisiin ja muuhun sellaiseen. Äänenlaatuun ei kiinnitetä huomiota, usein kaiuttimia on liian vähän ja ne soivat niin lujaa, että keskustelu käy mahdottomaksi. Me halusimme, että asiakkaamme voivat nauttia musiikista hyvälle yökerholle kuuluvalla äänenvoimakkuudella, mutta voivat myös keskustella ystäviensä kanssa tarvitsematta huutaa tai turvautua viittomakieleen!”

S360 osoittautui täydelliseksi valinnaksi Basso Clubille. Pyöristetyillä, diffraktiota vähentävillä kulmilla varustettuun MDF-koteloon rakennetussa kaiuttimessa on 10 tuuman bassoelementti ja 1,7 tuuman titaanikalvolla varustettu painekammiodiskantti asennettuna syvään DCW-suuntaimeen. S360 sointi on Genelecin periaatteiden mukaisesti neutraali ja tasapainoinen, kaiutin yltää 118 desibelin hetkellisen äänenpaineen ja hallittu suuntaavuus mahdollista jopa 10 metrin käyttöetäisyyden. Yhdessä uuden 7382-subwooferin kanssa S360 on erinomainen ratkaisu silloin, kun tarvitaan suurta äänenpainetta toiston laadusta tinkimättä.

Basso Club asensi kuusi S360:ta tanssilattian ympärille ja kaksi 7382-subwooferia esiintymislavan alle. Yhdeksän 4030-aktiivikaiutinta huolehtii taustamusiikista klubin muissa osissa ja kaksi 8030-aktiivikaiutinta palvelee DJ:n monitorikaiuttimina. Teemu ja hänen yhteistyökumppaninsa ovat erittäin tyytyväisiä järjestelmään.

On todella mahtavaa että kuuluisa DJ ylistää systeemiä asiakkaiden lisäksi.

“Olemme hyvin tyytyväisiä”, Teemu vahvistaa. ”Jotkut asiakkaat tulevat oluelle ja tutkimaan kaiuttimia, jollaisia eivät ole koskaan nähneet missään yökerhossa. Asiakkaat todella arvostavat sitä, että musiikista voi nauttia eikä se tunnu soivan liian lujaa. Tanssilattialle suunnatut S360-kaiuttimet on säädetty soimaan noin 30 prosentin tasolle maksimivolyymistään – musiikki on riittävän lujalla, että lattialla tuntee rytmin rinnassaan, mutta silti voi keskustella normaalilla äänellä. Sitä ei uskoisi mahdolliseksi, mutta totta se on!”

Asiakkailta saadun kiittävän palautteen lisäksi klubin avajaisissa esiintynyt DJ Darude ilmoitti Instagramissa olevansa “taivaassa” tehtyään ensimmäisen soundchekinsä Genelec-kaiutinjärjestelmällä. ”On todella mahtavaa että kuuluisa DJ ylistää systeemiä asiakkaiden lisäksi. Se todistaa, että olemme tehneet oikean valinnan”, toteaa Teemu. Olen todella ylpeä siitä, että klubimme on Suomen ja luultavasti koko mailman ensimmäinen yökerho, jossa on S360:t. Luotimme Geneleciin, niin tuotteeseen kuin yhtiön asiantuntijoihin, jotka suosittelivat S360:ta tähän käyttötarkoitukseen. Tulokset puhuvat puolestaan.”