A lot of us at the studio really like audio and HiFi. Most of the times, there is some sort of music playing at our main working space on our beloved Echo which in turn plays from Spotify. Ever since we moved into a larger space which gave us a perfect mini-theater like room, we never had a chance to utilize it to its full potential. It was almost abandoned and we wanted to revive it for good. With a lot of our IPs picking up steam, we wanted a dedicated space which allows to Mix sound and also enjoy playing games or watching movies on a large screen with full blown surround sound. The tricky part is some of us over here are incredibly anal about audio quality and wont settle in easily for a run of the mill setup. HiFi Audio is one of those areas where there is a never ending quest for the best experience which is also intangible.

Our earlier setup sounded dull majorly due to the lack of acoustic treatment and this time around, we wanted to take care just that. So we started with some basic treatment starting with the mixing desk where we went for the absorption foam based panels and boom! - it started to give results right away! We noticed a drastic reduction in slap back sounds. This was reassuring and we then went on to treat the Home Theater side of the room with diffusion, absorption and bass traps all placed in the best possible or ideal locations that you can notice in the pictures.

Our equipment were recently upgraded to a Dolby Atmos setup allowing us to add the ceiling mounted speakers for overhead effects. Firing a few scenes from Mad Max Bluray we were able get easily immersed. But our prime concern has always been a good stereo as achieving that satisfactory imaging and sound stage is always a striving affair. We originally went with the Mission Floor standers and to our bad one of the speakers crossover was faulty rendering muffled sound so we ultimately had to return them and instead settled for smaller bookshelves - the award winning Q Acoustics 3020s and boy did they turn out to be a real delight to listen to. We got the stands custom made, hooked them up and they immediately put a smile on our faces.

While we prefer the Cambridge Audio Stereo Amplifier for critical stereo listening, the speakers didn't disappoint even connecting with the Denon AVR and where they are able to render believable sound with clear vocals, and highs/mids. To take on the bass duty we brought in the mighty Klipsch 10 inch Sub that sort of looks compact but packs quite a punch. We dialed in just enough cross over and fired some test music and the lows were punchy enough without the nasty booming and ringing we use to experience in the past.

On the mixing desk, we are now using a pair of Presonus Eris E5s that are again very articulate and agile. They are a great pair monitor that offers tremendous value and has made our recent sound mixing sessions even more delightful!

AV Room - Mixing Desk at the back of the seating

The current setup is fairly balanced now for both Music listening and Movies and the room is our new in-house hangout spot where we can get creative, mix sound or sit back, relax and fire a movie or a game! One of those perks of being part of Hammerplay.