Evergroove Studio Goes All-Focal with Redesigned Atmos Studio

Artists including J Balvin, Soulive and itchy-O have visited Evergroove Studio in Evergreen, Colorado in the past, but a total redesign of the mix room to handle Dolby Atmos projects is reportedly attracting interest in the immersive format.

According to Brad Smalling, Evergroove’s head mix engineer, “The redesigned room sounds absolutely incredible; and, so far, every artist that has heard the system has immediately asked me how we can incorporate Atmos into their projects.”

A 20-year veteran of the audio world, Smalling has worked on almost every genre of music from hardcore punk to acoustic folk. He first heard an Atmos system at the 2020 NAMM show and was “blown away at how immersive music became” in the format. It immediately sparked a desire to research the feasibility of incorporating it at Evergroove. Two years later, that goal has been realized.

A number of circumstances collided to spur Smalling to launch the Atmos-based redesign of the studio after 15 years of working in stereo, not least of which was reading J Balvin’s testimony for the new format following the Colombian superstar’s visit to Evergroove studio.

The control room redesign features 11 Focal monitors in a 7.1.4 setup. Two soffit-mounted Trio11 Be speakers are at left and right, five Trio6 Be models handle the center, sides and rear surrounds, four Solo6 Be monitors support the height channels, while a pair of Rythmik F18 subwoofers provide low frequency extension. Lewis Ticknor at Denver’s PMT Audio helped Evergroove demo the Focals, and subsequently also got Josh Estock, Director of Pro Audio Sales at Focal, at the time, involved.

When Smalling heard a stereo pair of Focal Trio11 Be in his room for the first time, he “fell in love with them immediately. Everyone at Evergroove loves the Trio11.”

Originally designed by Wes Lachot and opened in 2003, Evergroove is located 45 minutes outside Denver and was founded by Smalling and his business manager and wife, Jenny. The studio’s clients for mixing, recording and mastering services have included The New Mastersounds, The Barlow, Green Druid, Izcalli, church fire, DJ Bridwell, The Runaway Grooms, Joe Marcinek, and Nobide, among many others.

According to Smalling, “with the announcement of Apple and Dolby’s partnership, combined with our own research, it quickly became clear that Atmos was the future of music: a future we wanted to be a part of. Already, having Atmos isn’t just opening doors... it’s kicking down walls."

Check out the Evergroove Studio offerings: https://www.evergroove.com/