PostWorks post-production facility in New York City, recently completed a new monitoring system installation for its two new Dolby Atmos stages and a new Dolby 7.1 stage, featuring JBL 7 Series Master Reference monitors, Crown amplifiers and BSS signal processing from Harman Professional Solutions.
As one of the first companies to fully adopt JBL 7 Series, PostWorks relies on the monitors for its television, feature film and documentary post-production services, including the recently launched Netflix and Baz Luhrmann collaboration, “The Get Down,” for which the Dolby 7.1 stage was specially designed.
PostWorks’ facilities are located throughout Manhattan, where space is an unconditional challenge, and according to chief audio engineer at PostWorks, Phillip Fuller, the small footprint of the 7 Series and its ability to replicate the sound of large cinema-style loudspeakers was critical.
“We needed feature mix rooms that could provide a large cinema experience,” Fuller says. “Space is always limited, and until the 7 Series was introduced, there was not a class-A theatrical loudspeaker designed for the scale of studios we have in New York City. We ultimately decided to move forward with the 7 Series because of the redesign of the high-frequency driver into a smaller form factor and the newly designed woofer. These design features give the 7 Series the unique ability to reproduce the sound of larger cinema loudspeakers. We could not wait to get them installed in our stages.”
The two Dolby Atmos rooms use JBL LSR708i monitors powered by Crown DCi 4|1250N amplifiers for the front screen channels (Left, Center, Right). Twenty LSR705i monitors are powered by Crown DCi 8|300N amplifiers for surround as well as three JBL STX818S subwoofers, using DCi 4|1250N amplifiers. Both rooms rely on the BSS BLU-806 devices with Dante interface for signal processing.
For Netflix’s series “The Get Down,” which focuses on the birth of Hip Hop in New York during the 1970s and features many musical performances, Baz Luhrmann specifically chose the Dolby 7.1 room at PostWorks. The room was designed and filled with the LSR708is for the front screen channels, 12 LSR705i loudspeakers for surround channels, powered by DCi 8|300N amplifiers and JBL 4641 Cinema Series subwoofers, powered by DCi 4|1250N amplifiers.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the 7 Series,” Fuller says. “Every room we’ve installed them in translates at an almost flawless level to large cinemas and small cinemas, and from feature films to television. It has taken the capabilities of our stages and brought them up to the sound quality of the most sought-after studios in the world.”
To make the loudspeakers as compact as possible and greatly reduce installation cost and complexity, the 7 Series relies on centrally located and controlled multi-channel power amplifiers, a feature Fuller found particularly helpful when installing the surround speakers. This meant neither the Dolby Atmos rooms nor the 7.1 room needed extra power outlets installed at all the loudspeaker positions. Additionally, DSP in Crown DCi networked amplifiers is centrally controlled via Harman HiQnet protocol, allowing customized tuning of the 7 Series system.
Fuller is also impressed by the ease of integration of Harman components. “I’ve designed many stages with the HiQnet Audio Architect Software throughout my years as an audio engineer,” Fuller says. “Having HiQnet-compatible components, DSP in the Crown amplifiers, the BSS Audio Soundweb London infrastructure and the ability to integrate Dante audio networking throughout the rooms helps really elevate the functionality of the system.”
