Presently the only recording and rehearsal space of its kind in the UAE, MNK Studios supports artists and musicians looking to hone their talents in a professional studio environment. Initially, plans called for building multiple recording studios, but the focus shifted to live rooms for rehearsals and other activities in addition to two recording studios to serve both artists and production companies/corporate clients. Flexibility in the audio system was a priority, leading MNK to using Dante-enabled products.
‘I went with Dante because I wanted to route audio signals for our various requirements seamlessly,’ says MNK Studios founder and engineer-in-chief, Miltiadis Kyvernitis. ‘Quite frankly, it was the best decision I made for the facility.’
The studio’s primary goals were to have acoustically isolated rooms for live instrument performances and the best-sounding rooms for recording. While the live rooms primarily serve as rehearsal spaces, they’re often also used for podcasts and video shoots.
Two rehearsal rooms, Studio M and Studio S, are each 320sq-ft (~30sq-m) in size, with sound isolation of approximately -55dB. The main live room in the facility, Studio B, is 700sq-fy (65sq-m) and connected to both control rooms via Dante. With sound attenuation at around -65 dB, Studio B also serves as a multipurpose room, with in-room stereo and multitrack recording abilities, ADR for film, music rehearsals, video shoots, and podcasts. The rooms are so well done that bleed from live group performances is minimal and easy to mix in post.
Up to 24 audio channels (expandable) are transmitted bi-directionally between Studio B and both recording studios via a Avid MTRX with negligible latency. The audio is transported to the respective MTRX Studio Interfaces in Studio 1 or Studio 2 using Dante Controller and then routed to Avid Pro Tools through DADman control software running on a MacBook Pro. The control rooms use Dante AVIOs for system audio playback. The ability to route any audio coming from the MacBook allows the studio to record that audio and transmit it without requiring third-party software. It also allows them to route their talkback microphone into other software, such as Zoom.
In Studio B, an Allen & Heath Avantis digital mixer – with two Dante expansion cards for connecting inputs and outputs – was connected to an A&H DT168 Dante expander and DT164-W preamplifier for session recordings. Using the second Dante card on the Avantis, the studio can multitrack record up to 32 channels from the Avantis to the MacBook Pro, which uses Dante Virtual Soundcard to route the signal to a Reaper DAW.
‘One of the biggest benefits of Dante has been the huge reduction in the number of XLR cables that need to run from the live room to the control room, and the ability to route signals to and from both control rooms provides a good backup in the event one of them is unavailable,’ Kyvernitis says. ‘Using Dante has made our workflow efficient and flexible to the needs and requirements of any task that comes our way.’
