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Our Apogee and IK Multimedia immersive bundles are some of the most accessible ways to get into immersive audio. Whether you’re setting up a brand new immersive mixing room or upgrading your existing stereo setup for Dolby Atmos, these bundles give you professional audio quality and comprehensive monitor control at a price point that’s realistic for small studios and even home setups.
To understand how these products work together, we spoke with Apogee’s Product Evangelist, George Williams. Well-versed in Apogee products and immersive audio workflows, Williams spends lots of time in the IK Multimedia-equipped Dolby Atmos studio at Apogee Headquarters, filming videos like the one below. With his guidance, you’ll be up and running with your Apogee/IK Multimedia immersive bundle in no time.
Apogee Electronics and IK Multimedia both aim to make professional studio tools easy to use and affordable enough to be accessible without cutting corners or sacrificing quality. This synergy comes together in the form of two immersive monitoring bundles combining Apogee Symphony Studio interfaces and IK Multimedia iLoud MTM MKII monitors.
This bundle includes an Apogee Symphony Studio 8x16 audio interface and 11 iLoud MTM MKII monitors—everything you need (except a subwoofer) to set up a 7.1.4 monitor system with room to expand to a 9.1.6 configuration. The bundle also includes four mounting brackets for installing the overhead speakers, plus an IK Multimedia ARC microphone for calibrating your monitors in your room.
This bundle includes an Apogee Symphony Studio 2x12 interface with the same 11 speakers and four mounting brackets. Both allow you to set up a 7.1.4 monitor system for Dolby Atmos and immersive mixing, but this bundle is ideal for those who don’t plan to expand their setup. With 12 outputs and two inputs, the Symphony Studio 2x12 is one of the most streamlined and affordable interfaces for 7.1.4 mixing.
According to Williams, the idea behind the Apogee Symphony Studio line was to offer an immersive-capable platform capable of delivering professional performance while being streamlined and affordable enough to remain accessible to small studios and first-time Atmos users.
“With these interfaces, especially bundled with the IK speakers, you have this really competent system you can put together for under $7,000,” says Williams. “We figured it was the perfect way of making it more accessible from a perspective of price, but also from a workflow standpoint, so it becomes completely justifiable to put yourself into a place where your work is more viable in the market.”
The Symphony Studio 8x16 and 2x12 are modern USB-C interfaces with acclaimed Apogee conversion quality, monitor control features, room correction EQ, high-quality microphone preamps, and input DSP for recording with real-time effects. Apogee’s Control 2 software provides extensive setup and control functions, making it easy to get your immersive studio up and running quickly.
Features aside, one of the Symphony Studio line’s core strengths is its simplicity. Housed in a sleek, 1U frame with an uncluttered front panel and a thoughtful control layout, these interfaces offer tons of control without complicating your studio workflow. “The front panel is pretty sparse because we know it's a point of frustration for people when it's not,” says Williams. “We really wanted to make sure that the user experience from the front panel was simple, accessible, and intuitive, so you're not having to dive into menus and other things that slow down the creative process.”
These compact active monitors have made quite a splash in the world of immersive audio, where major studios commonly spend tens of thousands of dollars on big-name monitors. “Everyone thinks you have to have this massive room for doing Atmos mixing,” Williams says, “But in a lot of cases, people are asking themselves, ‘What is the minimum space requirement for building a Dolby Atmos studio?’ Because of their small size, the IK speakers are easier to integrate in places that would be impractical for other speakers.”
The iLoud MTM MKII improves on the original MKI in almost every way, delivering increased output, more low-frequency extension, flatter overall frequency response, faster transients, and full compatibility with IK’s X-Monitor software. You truly have to hear these little wonders to believe the full-range sound and spatial accuracy they offer at a far lower price (and in a much smaller footprint) than their competitors. Best of all, they feature ⅜” mic stand threading, making them some of the easiest speakers to install.
“The phase response of those IKs is serious business,” Williams adds. “For the price point, it is really shocking how that phase accuracy allows you to make really competent mixing decisions in small rooms that previously you might not have thought you could implement Atmos in.”
The iLoud MTM MKII offers two methods of Automatic Room Correction (ARC). Like the MKI, you can simply plug in the included ARC mic, place it in your listening position, and press the “CAL” button on the back to run the hands-off automatic calibration process. But the MKII also integrates with X-Monitor over a standard USB connection, giving you access to more sophisticated EQ options and delay compensation.
Setting up an Apogee Symphony studio interface with iLoud MTM MKII monitors is easy. In just a few steps, you’ll be ready to start mixing immersive audio with a monitor system you can trust to deliver transparent full-range sound and superb spatial accuracy.
1: Speaker Connections and Routing
Multichannel immersive setups require each speaker to be connected in a very specific order, so it’s important to make sure your physical connections and signal routing is correct before doing anything else. When you plug in your DB-25 output cables, take a moment to label each XLR or TRS connector in SMPTE order (L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Ltf, Rtf, Ltr, Rtr). Apogee and most DAWs use this channel order by default, but some DAWs, such as Logic, use a slightly different order. You can use the I/O Assignments menu in Control 2 to ensure each signal goes to the correct speaker.
2: Bass Management and LFE setup
In immersive audio, subwoofers perform two different functions: LFE playback and bass management. LFE, or Low Frequency Effects, is a special channel that is sent only to the subwoofer for certain effects like bass rumbles. Bass management makes up for the lack of low-end in small monitors by sending the lowest frequencies from the speaker channels to the subwoofer. Fortunately, Control 2 has a dedicated Bass Management menu that will guide you through proper subwoofer configuration.
3: Monitor Calibration
Every room has different acoustical properties that will affect the sound of your speakers, so calibrating your monitors is a critical step toward achieving accurate monitoring. While Apogee does offer its own room correction tools, Williams recommends using the Automatic Room Correction (ARC) function built into the iLoud MTM MKII. For quick results, simply plug the ARC mic into the speaker, place it in your listening position, and hold down the “CAL” button to get results in seconds. If you need more extensive EQ options or speaker delays, plug in a USB cable to access IK Multimedia’s X-Monitor software.
4: Monitor Control
Powered by Apogee Control 2, the Apogee Symphony Studio interfaces provide excellent monitor control for immersive studios. “The way we've set up monitor workflows makes things so much easier if you want to go from stereo to 5.1 to Atmos to soloing just the height speakers, or any of those things,” Williams says. You can save and load custom presets on the fly, and the Home button (the one with the Apogee logo) displays your I/O levels at any time for a quick reference without having to open Control 2. Apogee even offers a handy desktop remote unit that lets you program custom settings onto eight buttons.
Ready to step into the world of immersive mixing with an Apogee interface and IK Multimedia monitors? Browse our Apogee/IK Multimedia immersive bundles or get in touch with a VK Audio Consultant to find the right fit for your studio. To learn more about immersive audio, check out our dedicated immersive section or stop by our blog for tips on upgrading your studio.
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