Photo: mix engineer and educator Joseph Chudyk
When mix engineer and educator Joseph Chudyk first tried the Focusrite RedNet A16R Dante® network's 16×16 analog interface, he quickly knew he needed to upgrade his setup in his private studio in Rochester, New York. “As soon as I connected the A16R and heard the conversion through the speakers, I was blown away. The sound quality was much better than what I was using before,” he says.
Tudyk, who mixes immersive versions of hits by Kane Brown, Mitchell Tenpenny, Elle King, Miranda Lambert and others, and also teaches recording classes at Rochester's Nazareth College, has turned his home mix room into an immersive space. It was reconfigured for work. It's been a long time since Apple Music announced the launch of its spatial audio platform, he says. However, he struggled with some drawbacks of the converter system. Chudyk made the switch after Focusrite Group Professional director Dave Rieley offered to send him a unit for evaluation, and he integrated three RedNet A16R units into his Dante-based studio setup, allowing him to connect between his DAW and external analog gear. I handled the conversion and connected it to my stereo and interface. Dolby Atmos monitor system.
“My entire studio is networked with Dante, so the ease of use of the A16R MkII with Dante compared to my previous device was also helpful,” says Chudyk, who mixes both stereo and immersive projects. says Mr. “At that point I was starting to incorporate a bit more analog hardware, so I installed a converter where the gear was, ran a very short cable to the gear, and ran one Ethernet cable to another Focusrite unit. I just had to plug it in or connect it directly to my computer. That was a big selling point for me,” he said, adding that he also added a Focusrite PCIeNX card that supports 128×128 channels to his computer.
Chudyk reports that reconfiguring previous systems often required fiddling with software or restarting the computer. But for the Focusrite unit, he says: “Once connected, the number of channels continues to increase. No configuration is required. It doesn't matter which device is the first or second. It is very easy to use and very reliable. They are always working. I've never had a problem with any of them. I can even unplug my computer, move to another room and plug it back in, and all the units reconnect. No other hardware could do that.
Chudyk's outboard processing rack, which houses a number of analog devices, including a DW Fearn tube equalizer and a Fairchild 670 compressor, has become an integral part of his immersive mixing workflow. “EQ and compression are like panning to me,” he explains. “They give you 3D movement. Stereo mixing is similar. If you want something to be forward, backward, or higher or lower, you can do that using EQ, saturation, and compression. So I use Atmos I took the same approach.”
He elaborates on his recent spatial audio mixes: “When I switched between two beautiful DW Fearn tube EQs, the vocals went from sounding far away in the room to being pulled forward without changing panning. Just the right color for the vocals. EQ helps keep your mix consistent when converting between platforms, where a single panning action can ruin your entire mix. The same thing happens with spatial audio, Dolby, or Tidal when you boost certain frequencies.
Chudyk still uses panning to position elements. The same goes for guitars and everything else. My panning is always set and I play with some small objects for movement if needed. But what I really work on to move things back and forth is EQ and compression. ”
His main focus in immersive mixing is on the country music genre, thanks to a connection through Nashville manager Dane Schmidt. Dane Schmidt is responsible for his brother, producer and songwriter Jordan Schmidt, and mixer Jeff Brown. “Jeff does the stereo mix and I do the atmos. We have a great little team,” says Chudyk.
One of the first songs Chudyk mixed for immersive release was Kane Brown's “One Mississippi,” which went platinum by the RIAA. “One of my favorite mixes I've ever made is Elle King and Miranda Lambert's 'Drunk (And I Don't Want to Go Home),' which just so happened to work really well in Atmos.” ,” he says. “When I switch between stereo and Atmos, Atmos sounds more open because of the placement of the elements in the mix. I'm so proud of this mix, even considering how popular this song was! ” His extensive list of credits also includes Teddy Swims, Ghost, IDK, Newsboys, MxPx, Nathaniel Ratliff, Joe Pug, and The National Reserve.
Chudyk also uses Focusrite RedNet converters and monitor control software to manage a separate stereo immersive speaker system. “You can switch between speakers and headphones. Then, in conjunction with that, you can switch between stereo master reference, 2.0 re-rendering, spatial audio, and binaural. If you want, you can play spatial audio through speakers. You can also completely hear what the mix is going to sound like, so you can make some different decisions based on that compared to just using headphones.”