In Mix’s annual look at studio design, we present some of the most exciting new or refurbished recording studios that have opened during the past year. Included are innovative new workspaces for composers, musicians, engineers and producers all around the globe, presented in random order. Don’t pass up Part One and Part Two!
Hivari Studios | Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, Mexico
Malvicino Design Group
Malvicino Design Group’s acoustic designer Horacio Malvicino, interior designer Fabiola Mena Alvarez and system integrator Federico Petrone were the core team behind this new residential film post-production facility on the outskirts of Guadalajara, Mexico. The immersive mix room features a 60-input Neve 88R console with a Meyer Sound 7.1.4 monitor system. The Atmos-certified theatrical mix suite combines AMS-Neve DFC and Avid S6 control with a JBL Cinema Series immersive monitoring setup. Malvicino Design Group also provided all the customized acoustic treatments.
mixManor Studios | Los Angeles, Calif.
Carl Tatz Design
Multi-platinum and Grammy-winning mix engineer Richard Furch’s minimalist mixManor Studios combines several signature features from Carl Tatz of Carl Tatz Design. The 9.1.4 PhantomFocus Dolby Atmos MixRoom features 13 CTD PFM Master Reference Monitors, including 11 PFM UHD-1000p Mk II passive monitors for surround and height channels, with two PFM UHD-1000a Mk II active monitors carrying the left and right channels. A motorized center monitor lift enables seamless transitions between stereo and Atmos mixing modes at the push of a button. Completed at Furch’s Los Angeles home in September 2024, the room also features Tatz’s Axial Mode Absorber, PhantomFocus eChair, PF monitor stands and CTD custom acoustic modules by Auralex. CTD’s Acoustic Lens modules on either side of the mix position allow natural light to flood in from one side, mirroring it on the other side to provide acoustic diffusion/absorption and visual symmetry.
Evan Blair Studio | Los Angeles, Calif.
F.C. Owens, Chris Owens
Designed and built by F.C. Owens for Evan Blair, producer and songwriter of Benson Boone’s breakout hit “Beautiful Things,” this room is an example of today’s modern pop music studio, with no console and no live room, or even a booth. The design brief called for an intimate, inspiring and highly efficient, minimalist approach that merged the worlds of acoustic performance, technical A/V integration and architectural detail. Owens created what he calls a “nearly non-environment” space, maintaining a higher degree of 3 kHz and up ambience than traditional non-environment control rooms, without inducing flutter echo or the comb filtering fields associated with QRD diffusion. Audio, video, data and power connections are integrated into hidden panels at each end of the custom seating.
The Sesmet | Charlottesville, Va.
IPDG (The Intellectual Phase Design Group)
A new ground-up build, opened in February 2025, the Sesmet encompasses a control room, treated entry iso booth, and tracking room with decoupled concrete slabs, floating walls and spring-isolated ceilings—all in 800 square feet. After the owner requested a switch to immersive capabilities mid-project, IDPG principal designer Mathias John went through the Dolby Atmos Room Tuning training at Dolby HQ in L.A. to get the ATC 7.1.4 monitor system tuned and dialed in. The control room offers a fully in-the-box workflow with an extensive routing network designed and implemented by system designer/integrator Mike Rhodes at SkinnyFish Audio; it also features video post-production capabilities. Vibey interior elements include lots of natural light, vaulted ceiling, brickwork and exposed ducting in the live room, with acoustical clouds placed in a nonsymmetrical manner.
