As part of Nike’s annual Air Max Day celebrations this year, METHOD x MADNESS studio in Johannesburg hosted a pop-up Dolby Atmos listening experience featuring a 7.1.4 monitor layout and Audient ORIA. The event gave listeners the chance to hear each of the performing artists’ new music in Dolby Atmos, mixed by the studio, whilst finding out more about the newest Air Max Dn8 shoe.
Taking place in the old Sheriff’s building, the compact listening setup comprised the ORIA immersive audio interface and monitor controller and Genelec speakers. Rici from METHOD x MADNESS studio described the setup “It’s nice and lean. The Genelec 9301 has digital AES audio out, so ORIA was the perfect audio interface to finish off the setup and make everything integrate really smoothly.”
Nike took over five venues in the Braamfontein area and threw a huge party. The ‘listening experience’ featured artists from the South African electronic music space including genres such as Amapiano, Glom, Afro-House and Afro-Tech and four artists actually in the Dolby Atmos pop-up: DBN Gogo, Shamiso, Mateki2Shoes and ZVRI. “They all loved it,” noted Rici. “For most of them, it was the first time experiencing working in Dolby Atmos, and they were truly amazed and excited for what this means for their production process going forward.”
It was a compact space, but audience numbers were noteworthy, and feedback positive. “We had around 250 people come through the pop-up and listen to the music. Everyone had such a great time – we had been running for two hours and I remember heading to the door and there was still a queue of people waiting for their turn to have the experience, which felt really great,” Rici added.
METHOD x MADNESS has been happily using ORIA in the studio for a while. “We love it. It has been rock solid and super easy to use with its user friendly UI. We love that it starts up super fast and it honestly is so feature-rich for Dolby Atmos workflows,” explained Rici. “My favourite thing about it – especially for pop-up events like the Nike Air Max Day – is that on set up day, we know we can get a solid Atmos setup up and running easily, no matter what challenges the space might throw at us.”
METHOD x MADNESS is enjoying expanding the immersive element of its business. “Using Dolby Atmos as a new audio format elevates and innovates what we can do both in production and mixing,” said Rici, who underlines the studio’s dedication to bridge the gap between what happens in the studio and the end consumer. “We’ve been hosting popular events with Dolby Atmos setups to give people a really great experience listening to their favourite artists and also giving artists a really exciting way to launch their new music.”
The success of this most recent Nike event has led to plans for METHOD X MADNESS holding more. “We’re excited for lots of artists’ listening parties and brand collaborations,” said Rici. In the meantime, the studio is keen to build on what they’ve learnt with new ideas and formats in the future. “We think that there is a lot of space for innovation and novel consumer experiences which can be built off the back of Dolby Atmos as a technology.”
