ATMOS & XR

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Antelope Audio, established in 2005 in Sofia, Bulgaria, earned itself a reputation as a significant digital audio pioneer thanks to its innovative high‑resolution, digital‑audio clocking technology and high‑quality digital converters. In this Case Study, we look at two very different users who have adapted to the immersive audio ecosystem within the Antelope Galaxy interface line‑up. Oliver Kadel and his team create compelling, immersive audio for their XR (Extended Reality) and immersive film production clients at his company 1.618 Digital. Established in 2014, 1.618 Digital has recently partnered with Bleat Post Production, the boutique, client‑facing, post‑production facility situated in the heart of east London’s creative scene. In contrast, audio engineer Hugh Neal crafts Atmos mixes for music clients at The Friary Studios in a leafy Buckinghamshire village.

Antelope Audio focused initially on clocking technology — their Isochrone series of master clocks became a staple item in studios worldwide, helping to reduce jitter and create a more stable digital audio chain — before moving on to also create audio interfaces.

The same philosophy informed Antelope’s development of digital audio converters. Early products like the Eclipse 384 and Orion 32 were well regarded for their sound quality, with some users referring to the existence of a distinctive ‘Antelope sound’ often described as an ‘ideal balance between warmth and precision’. This emphasis on the fundamentals of clocking and conversion would see Antelope well placed to serve the ever‑growing demand for immersive audio delivery.

Made for Immersive

The desire for immersive audio formats, largely driven to begin with by cinema, streaming services, and gaming, has opened new creative opportunities for content creators, composers, engineers and producers alike. The immersive audio experience is about spatial awareness, placing sound in a three‑dimensional environment that creates depth and detail, requiring both a new skillset for audio professionals and a new set of tools — interfaces, converters, and processors that can handle the intricacies of multi‑channel audio with precision and flexibility. It is no surprise to see all the major manufacturers competing in this space, with Antelope Audio very much in the mix, introducing their most advanced audio interface designed specifically to address the needs of immersive audio production in the form of the Galaxy 64 Synergy Core.

The Galaxy 64 Synergy Core is Antelope’s most advanced audio interface, designed specifically to address the needs of immersive audio production.

First released in 2020, the Galaxy 64 Synergy Core can handle 64 channels of audio at up to 192kHz, with Antelope’s expertise in high‑fidelity digital conversion and clocking at its heart. Their 64‑bit AFC (Acoustically Focused Clocking) technology, ensures that even in large, complex, multi‑channel setups, the audio remains stable and jitter‑free — a crucial factor in immersive audio where inaccuracies in timing can degrade the sense of convincing immersive spatiality.

Galaxy 64’s AD/DA converters offer up to 130dB of dynamic range, but equally important is the inclusion of Antelope’s Synergy Core processing platform — a hybrid system that combines FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and DSP to offload the intensive processing typically associated with real‑time effects, allowing the interface to run multiple plug‑ins without placing any strain on the host computer. This is particularly beneficial in immersive audio environments, where the need for processing a large number of channels can potentially overwhelm a host system. Synergy Core users have access to a library of high‑quality, low‑latency effects, including vintage analogue emulations, latest‑tech reverbs and modulation tools, all running directly on the interface, so the system remains responsive and powerful even in large, complex sessions involving multiple channels of surround‑sound elements. Supporting 64 channels of MADI, 64 channels of Dante and Thunderbolt 3, as well as ADAT, S/PDIF, and AES/EBU, allows the Galaxy 64 to integrate seamlessly with a wide variety of DAWs and into any studio setup, including those working with 3D and object‑based audio formats. Incorporating both MADI and Dante protocols offers the scalability and flexibility required by large‑scale productions in film, broadcast, or live performance.

Alan Meyerson: "When people ask me about converters and sample rates, I tell them the thing that I find that makes the biggest difference is the clocking."

Immersive audio is moving rapidly from being a niche technology to becoming a standard expectation in the worlds of music, film and gaming, but also other, less obvious applications, too — Antelope multichannel interfaces have become a go‑to tool for immersive audio installations in museums, theme parks, and other public venues, where their ease of use and ability to manage large multi‑channel setups has made them popular with sound designers specialising in these types of environments.

Alan Meyerson, pictured at Remote Control, Hans Zimmer’s California‑based studio complex: “Clocking was one of the reasons I switched to Antelope”.

Antelope Audio has already seen major post‑production houses in Los Angeles, London, and Berlin integrating a Galaxy 64 into their workflows, using it for everything from mixing Hollywood blockbusters to creating immersive soundscapes for virtual reality applications. Acclaimed music scoring mixer, engineer and producer Alan Meyerson, now based at Hans Zimmer’s studio complex in Santa Monica, California, is another convert: “I’m very familiar with what clocking does to the audio: that was one of the reasons I switched to Antelope initially. In the system I had, as soon as I put the original Antelope in… the imaging became much more solid. It was an instantaneous improvement. When people ask me about converters and sample rates, I tell them the thing that I find that makes the biggest difference is the clocking. I can run at 44.1 with a basic converter and if I have everything clocked absolutely perfectly it’s going to sound better than a poorly clocked 96k, super‑high‑end, super‑expensive converter”.

Oliver Kadel: XR and Immersive Specialist

Oliver Kadel, Head of Spatial and Interactive Sound at 1.618 Digital and Bleat Post Production.Oliver Kadel, now Head of Spatial and Interactive Sound at 1.618 Digital and Bleat Post Production, came to the UK from the Baltic region in 2004 to pursue a career in sound: “I was originally into music production and performance, but at university, towards the end of my degree, I discovered the world of film. I started doing some small gigs as a boom operator and something just clicked and I moved on from focusing on music to working in sound‑for‑picture. Suddenly I was in demand beyond just my own capacity so I started bringing in some freelancers, which led to me launching my company 1.618 Digital, and over a period of time, immersive audio just became a specialism of ours.”

A veteran now of over 200 high‑profile immersive audio productions, Oliver is a recent adopter of an Antelope‑based system. “Most of the time we’re working on headphones through binaural decoders because that’s what our target platforms are: we already know where a particular project is going to be released, so we work through the particular HRTF (Head Related Transfer Function) algorithm that we know is going to be used on the platform. However, it was obvious that at some point the worlds of immersive film and VR, and speaker‑based content would start converging, and then we would have a commercial need to have a Dolby Atmos speaker system installed.

“We got a 7.1.4 Genelec system that was absolutely mind‑blowingly beautiful, but I knew we also needed a completely different class of sound interface, so I started exploring options. The guys at Antelope kindly lent me the Galaxy 32 interface and MRC controller and by the time we were having our full Genelec installation, I was happy to commit to the Antelope system as well. It just worked great, and was competitively priced for what it offered — I’m always busy, and I don’t like investing time in things unnecessarily, so that choice was a no‑brainer. That’s been our setup ever since.

“I love the MRC controller, too. It’s intuitive, it just takes up no space on a desk, which I really like. I like the design and that it’s made out of solid metal. I find that some of the other controllers are a bit too large, and have too many functions. I just like my loudness, speaker dim, and the fact that I can control the whole system from a single access point. I don’t have to do any page scrolling or anything like that. I’m not someone who has ever ‘fetishised’ over gear for gear‘s sake, and as long as something is delivering, then I’m fine with it. And our Antelope system has been working really well for us with no need to tweak anything, so we’re very happy!”

Bleat Post Production is a boutique picture‑ and audio‑post finishing house based in Hackney, London.

Bridging the Gap

Perhaps one of the most compelling criteria in choosing an interface for working in a multi‑format environment is how well it bridges the gap between traditional stereo workflows and the particular demands of immersive audio. Many producers and engineers, while excited by the potential of immersive formats, are still working primarily in stereo or surround and may not have the time or resources to fully transition to an immersive workflow. The Galaxy 64 offers a flexible solution that allows users to transition into immersive audio without needing to overhaul their entire studio. Its extensive routing options and ability to handle a large number of channels mean that users can work in stereo one day, 5.1 surround the next, and then shift seamlessly into a fully immersive workflow when needed, using the same hardware. “I was very happy with that aspect of the Galaxy” says Kadel. “If it’s an Atmos job, obviously it can do that, but if it’s a surround job, it just does that, too. I have a few other people in my team who work on surround projects and they just switch to 5.1 or 7.1, as all these workflows continue to coexist for us, working on traditional films and documentaries alongside fully immersive briefs. The Galaxy has been a steady, reliable workhorse for us.

Oliver Kadel: "The Galaxy has been a steady, reliable workhorse for us."

“We use both Macs and a PCs as part of our workflows, and I’m using ‘bread and butter’ Pro Tools and occasionally in the past, Reaper because it gave you access to a crazy number of channels — there was effectively no limitation. But when Pro Tools 2023.6 added support for seventh‑order Ambisonics (providing 64 channels of spatial resolution) there was pretty much no need to go anywhere else. We are generally working at 24‑bit, 48kHz, and just occasionally 32‑bit, if I fear there might be some unexpected problems in terms of dynamic range when we do location sound recording, meaning we would just need that additional safety net. If I knew that we would be able to maintain that resolution in the entire chain, then I would always go 32‑bit, but if it’s something relatively straightforward, it’s going to be 24-bit, 48kHz. It’s just an industry standard. We’ve gone to 96k occasionally when we know that we might want to manipulate the sound or do some re‑pitching or something like that, but it’s never really a consideration that we have to do that just for higher quality. We generate so much data anyway — we were rolling 76 channels of audio on the recently released Adventure series by Apple. So, in theory, you kind of think, yes, we can accommodate anything, but when you’re out there capturing on location, there’ll be multiple devices all recording independently and you do have to think about how much kit you are bringing, and how many people you need to operate it all.

“We might have a radio mic on each person’s chest, a camera‑centric Ambisonic mic, a second backup Ambisonic mic, and a third Ambisonic mic deliberately placed somewhere at larger distance or different specific position, because sometimes you might need to create a different perspective, or use a combined edit from multiple takes. You might suddenly need something to sound much more distant so you’ll want to be able to go to a mic that was actually further away. There’s always a lot of audio capture running for each scene because when you’re in virtual reality your brain is extremely sensitive to any irregularities and ‘acoustic holes’. You always need to fill those in a very satisfying way so the listener won’t be questioning things, and that always requires a lot of channels. Just one Ambisonic recording from the set is not usually enough, it just sounds a bit empty, so you have to add more layers and keep filling it until it sounds convincing — until it sounds cinematic. In one 14‑minute documentary, we once had 600 tracks in order to maintain the required spatial complexity, depth and resolution. Although not in a single scene, of course!

“I think it’s one of the unique features of 1.618 Digital that we do everything. We’ve been on set doing sound capture, and then we do sound design, post‑production, distribution deliverables and sound implementation in game‑engines. I guess it developed from the fact that, for immersive audio, things sometimes need to be done a bit differently on set in order to achieve certain objectives in post‑production, and therefore it makes sense that it’s all done by the same small team. It’s people’s skills and know‑how that are all‑important here”.

Hugh Neal: Atmos at The Friary Studios

Engineer Hugh Neal has worked with Friary Studios owner Chris Webb from the beginning of the project.

Nestled in the picturesque village of Aspley Guise, Buckinghamshire, The Friary Studios has quietly become one of the UK’s premier recording destinations. With its historic setting and cutting‑edge equipment, The Friary offers musicians, producers, and artists a unique combination of world‑class facilities and a secluded, creative environment. The two‑studio facility is located in a historic building, originally part of a friary dating back to the 16th century. The site has evolved significantly over the years, but it wasn’t until the late 20th century that the building was repurposed into a recording studio by owner Chris Webb, inspired by both its acoustics and tranquil location. The combination of old‑world charm and modern recording technology was designed to create an atmosphere where artists could focus on the creative process and since then The Friary has hosted a wide array of both up‑and‑coming acts and established names in the music industry.

The Friary’s Studio A offers a blend of both state‑of‑the‑art recording equipment and vintage gear, with a custom SSL console with both G‑ and E‑series modules, Pro Tools HD and analogue multitrack tape machines for recording. Studio A also has a spacious live room, while Studio B, used primarily for mixing, includes full Atmos monitoring. The man in charge of the mix room, engineer Hugh Neal, has been with the project from the beginning: “Chris Webb and I have been working together for probably about 12 or 13 years now. We used to play in a band together, but there was a point where we both wanted to get out of that, and Chris wanted to do more producing and I wanted to get more into engineering and mixing. Chris was in a position to set up a studio, which was originally in his house before we moved up to the present building. Where we are now, Studio A is essentially Chris’s recording space, where he does more analogue work, and we built Studio B to be a separate mix space: the whole idea being that we’d be able to offer everything in‑house. You’d come to us and get production and engineering, and then we’d be able to go through to the mixing stage as well, taking it from start to finish, because we weren’t having to use the same space.”

Studio A is built around a custom SSL console, an analogue multitrack and other vintage gear, but also has Pro Tools HD and an Antelope Orion interface.

Going Atmos with Antelope

Hugh was already looking into the idea of Dolby Atmos monitoring before Studio B was completed: “A lot of people were talking about Atmos and I realised that we already had the right sort of dimensions to be able to do it so I started to explore what else might be involved. I just had an Apogee interface at the time, but we kept hearing about this Antelope stuff that just seemed to offer incredible value for money, and Chris ended up buying an Antelope Orion for Studio A. It was fortunate that our studio assistant at the time, Ivo, happened to be Bulgarian, and that, of course, helped us begin to develop a relationship with the Bulgaria‑based Antelope company. There was no preconception about what interface or monitoring we should have at that stage, but we realised that if we went over to Atmos we would have to go the whole way. We were actually looking for the quickest and easiest solution to get up and running, not necessarily the cheapest, but we ended up going for an Antelope Galaxy 64 interface, Pro Tools, of course, and a Dynaudio Core 7 Atmos monitoring system: Core 7s for the surrounds, four more on the top, 47s for the front left, centre and right, and two subs. It’s all soffit mounted, so I spent literally two months building everything — fortunately I’ve got a bit of background in building!”

The Friary’s Studio B is used mainly for mixing, with a Galaxy 64, Pro Tools and Dynaudio Core 7 Atmos monitoring.

The Galaxy interface didn’t have its full speaker management facilities at that point, but working closely with the developers at Antelope, Hugh could see the potential: “’Have you thought about including all the software needed for Atmos?’ I said to them. ‘You just need some EQs and stuff. Can’t be that hard, can it?’ It turned out they were interested, so we hooked them up with Richard Addis, the main ‘tech guy’ at Dolby in the UK, to help them develop it. At that time Dolby was still going around supporting studios who were wanting to be certified, so Richard Addis began the speaker‑system tuning for us using just the integral facilities in the Antelope software. Initially, though, I think that was only something like a five‑band EQ and Richard soon said to them ‘we really need to get a few more bands in this’, and that’s when they updated it, so now there’s 16 bands in each EQ.”

Hugh Neal is a fan of Antelope’s matrix virtual patchbay: “I just think it’s a really nice way of setting everything up. I can really see the logic behind it”.

Hugh enthuses about Antelope’s matrix system: “I just think it’s a really nice way of setting everything up. I can really see the logic behind it, even though it seemed a bit convoluted at first. When I first started doing Atmos, we were having to use Pro Tools Ultimate, but then Avid moved those settings over into Pro Tools Studio, so you had the surround panel and all the different things from Atmos in there, and you could then use the Studio version at about half the cost. But Avid putting the auxiliary I/O in there was the real game changer for me. Prior to that, I couldn’t use any hardware because the Dolby Audio Bridge takes control of all your audio interface ins and outs, but now I’ve got a 32 I/O unit with 32 digital channels, so I can go back to using hardware inserts in Pro Tools. I’ve got a Lexicon MPX1 that I absolutely love, and I just throw that in and use the NUGEN Audio upscaler plugin to make it 7.1.2. It’s brilliant! Now, of course, you can do the render inside Pro Tools, but I actually quite liked how it was, having the separate renderer.”

Hugh Neal: "I think the monitor outputs on the Galaxy, and maybe the Orions Too, have fantastic digital to analogue converters. They have such a brilliant, tight, focused low end that I just love."

Contrasting with the big SSL console in Studio A, Hugh Neal’s Studio B has no mixer at all, he explains: “Studio B is pretty much straight into Pro Tools. If we do sessions that need a desk, of course we’ll record them in Studio A, which means it’s already run through all the nice analogue gear. What’s really interesting though is when using emulation plugins, like the UAD stuff and the Antelope processors, I found that when the source material was really good and had been through a nice analogue chain already, I almost couldn’t hear the difference between a real 1176 and the plugin. It just sounds the same. But you can notice the difference really clearly when the audio source isn’t so good”. Hugh also endorses the idea of there being an ‘Antelope sound’ in the converters. “I think the monitor outputs on the Galaxy, and maybe the Orions, too, have fantastic digital‑to‑analogue converters. I think they have a ‘mastering grade’ D‑to‑A on the monitor outs, so I always use those when I’m working in Studio A, or for any stereo stuff in my room. They have such a brilliant, tight, focused low end that I just love.”

Antelope Audio’s Synergy Core Native series is a subscription‑based plugin bundle of analogue hardware emulation plugins.

A Future‑Ready Solution

Immersive audio technologies like Dolby Atmos, Sony 360 Reality Audio, and Ambisonics are redefining how recorded sound is both created and experienced, rapidly transitioning from a relatively niche interest to a cornerstone of modern media production. As immersive audio becomes more prevalent in consumer‑facing applications like AR/VR, XR headsets, automotive audio systems, and smart speakers, the demand for production tools that bridge professional and consumer workflows will only grow. At a technical level, however, immersive audio production presents some unique challenges, particularly the need for extensive channel counts at the same time as integrating a variety of different formats and workflows, making flexibility a key requirement for audio interfaces. Antelope say they created the Galaxy interface to be a comprehensive platform, designed not just to meet the demands of today’s productions but also to anticipate the needs of tomorrow. They cite the versatility of its extensive I/O capability and the precision of its premium conversion quality, and proprietary 64‑bit AFC (Acoustically Focused Clocking) as both crucial elements in preserving the depth and detail of spatial effects in immersive audio applications. Reliable real‑time processing, too, is essential for interactive applications like gaming or live VR performances and the Galaxy interface is able to offer real‑time effects and signal processing with ultra‑low latency thanks to its integrated FPGA processing capabilities and built‑in DSP engine.

The pace of innovation in immersive audio shows no signs of slowing, requiring manufacturers to build in the adaptability to allow them to engage with the increasing use of MPEG‑H for 3D audio (the standard on which Sony’s 360 Reality Audio is built) and further advancements in binaural rendering, and also with the integration of AI‑driven tools for spatial sound manipulation emerging as another challenge on the horizon. The modular architecture of Antelope’s Galaxy interface looks well‑suited to adapt to these future developments, alongside the company’s commitment to software updates to support any new workflows and standards, creating confidence in the Antelope immersive eco‑system as a long‑term investment for professionals navigating the evolving audio landscape.