You can have the greatest mixing skills, the best speakers and the most golden of ears, but if the room you’re working in isn’t right, your music can still end up sounding a little off.
Your studio’s acoustic imperfections can scupper any chance you had of creating a good mix, but fortunately, Audient is now offering a super-simple and reliable way to resolve them.
Known as the ORIA Mini, this is a hardware device that sits between your audio interface and speakers and can correct those acoustic problems in a matter of minutes - and for as long as you leave it plugged in - leaving you with a mixing environment you can trust.
Initially known for its analogue consoles, Audient has been making waves in the digital recording space for a number of years now, and for ORIA Mini it’s partnered with another top-tier industry name: Sonarworks.
The ORIA Mini hardware is powered by Sonarworks’ tried-and-tested SoundID Reference technology, which is used by everyone from bedroom producers to Grammy-winning engineers.
The beauty of ORIA Mini is that, once you’ve created your custom SoundID Reference calibration profiles, up to four of them can be loaded straight onto the hardware, which means you don’t need to have the Sonarworks software when you’re making music.
This means less CPU usage - ORIA Mini has its own DSP - and no issues with latency or software glitches.
In fact, once you’ve gone through the 20-minute calibration process and transferred your profiles, you can just set and forget.
The benefits will then be huge. With your room sorted, you’ll be able to have confidence in your mixes and be able to trust that they’ll translate to every kind of listening environment, from a hi-fi setup to a car stereo to someone listening to a streaming service on headphones. Why waste time checking your music on multiple systems if you don’t have to?
ORIA Mini works with any audio interface and speaker setup (including 2.1 systems) and includes 32-bit AD/DA converters for complete sonic transparency. There’s also 127dB of dynamic range, so you won’t need to worry about losing any of your mixes’ subtle details and you’ll be able to identify problems quicker than ever.
You don’t have to use the Sonarworks software, either. You can calibrate ORIA Mini using alternative software if you wish - the likes of Smaart and RoomEQ Wizard - and adjust the EQ, Bass Management, Delay and Trim controls manually.
There are flexible purchase options, too. As well as being able to buy an ORIA Mini Complete bundle - this includes the hardware, the SoundID Reference Software and the SoundID Measurement Mic - you can also have it without the software (if you already have a license or don’t need it) or the mic.
So, if you want to eliminate the guesswork and multiple system checking and start having faith in your mixes, check out the Audient website.
