STUDIOPANEL™ DEBUTS AS THE ULTIMATE TURNKEY SOLUTION FOR PERSONAL STUDIO ACOUSTICAL MANAGEMENT
(Press Release | Posted 2003-10-21)
MSR, Inc. today announced the introduction of a revolutionary way to approach acoustical management in personal studio environments. StudioPanel™ isn’t merely a product: it’s a customizable and cost-effective acoustical treatment system that can adapt itself to virtually any personal recording or other acoustically critical space. Based on years of research and real-world trials, it puts effective acoustical treatment within reach of everyone.
MSR, Inc. was founded by two dynamic individuals who bring decades of collective successful creative and technical experience to the venture. Anthony Grimani, President, has established himself as one of the world’s leading experts in the domain of acoustical management. While at Dolby Labs, Grimani helped develop hardware and software solutions that led to Dolby Surround’s broadcasting debut. Later, as Director of Technologies at Lucasfilm THX, Grimani largely helped define the specifications for new-generation cinematic and home heater acoustics. In that capacity, he designed the THXpm3 program for professional multichannel facilities, and has trained over 1000 installers and retailers in home theater and studio applications. While working with Lucasfilm on Star Wars: Episode One, he designed and filed the patent on Surround EX, the 6.1 solution for more precise rear-channel imaging. He subsequently opened Performance Media Industries, Ltd., doing consulting on and design of mix facilities, recording and post production studios, and home theaters worldwide. A member of AES, CEDIA and SMPTE, Tony is recognized as one of the top audio and acoustic experts in the world.
Keith Olsen’s career has been just as celebrated. As a record producer, he is responsible for tens of millions of unit sales for artists including Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Heart, Whitesnake and Ozzy Osbourne. Olsen, MSR, Inc.’s V.P. Marketing used Grimani as his resource to calibrate the acoustics of his own personal studio to conform to THX and 5.1 requirements. These two long-time friends and colleagues recognized the market need for sophisticated yet reliable and cost-effective acoustical management systems.
That led to the development of the StudioPanel system. At its core, StudioPanel is a system of acoustical panels configured and calculated to provide the correct amount of sound absorption and diffusion necessary for contemporary monitoring systems to work successfully in a small- to mid-sized control room environment. Utilizing appropriate components used by leading studio designers and acousticians, such as mineral wool (not merely the inexpensive foam used by many acoustical treatment products), Grimani and Olsen experimented in a wide variety of acoustical environments, ranging from personal recording studios to high-end home theaters. The result is a systems approach to customizing acoustical management: A box the size of a typical software package is sold at retail and contains simple measuring devices (including an audio CD with numerous test tones), A clearly worded step-by-step instruction manual, allows the user to precisely define the acoustical parameters of his or her own studio/media production space. Based on room size measurements, MSR, Inc. will ship to the user one of three ready-to-be-installed acoustical treatment “kits” which contain all the necessary components, including corner and diffusion and bass trap systems.
“This was a long-time dream I’ve had of bringing the benefits of years of working at the upper end of the acoustical domain to a much wider audience,” says Tony Grimani. “We’ve seen how these improvements have revolutionized the cinema industry and then the home theater market. Now, they’re available to virtually anyone who needs accurate and reliable acoustical management in a cost-effective package, taking their personal studio concept to the next level.”
“As a producer, the ability to manage acoustics and sound has been critical to my career,” observes Keith Olsen. “As a studio owner and user, I‘ve tried to never let technology get in the way of creativity. By taking the experience we’ve accumulated in so many areas of the music and sound-for-film business and putting it into the form of an easy-to-use but well-tested and dependable turnkey solution, I think we’ll help write a new chapter in the history of music in years to come.”
StudioPanel is a trademark of and manufactured by MSR, Inc., of Fairfax, California. For information: 415/454-2087 Fax: 415/454-2171
