WSDG delivers exceptional acoustic treatment for Dolby Atmos control room at the Centre des Musiques Actuelles in Geneva
Precision acoustic engineering transforms compact space into world-class immersive audio environment
July 24, 2025 – WSDG, an acoustic consulting and media systems engineering firm, has successfully completed work on a cutting-edge Dolby Atmos control room for the Centre des Musiques Actuelles (CMA) in Geneva. CMA includes the École des Musiques Actuelles (EMA), a contemporary music school offering training in pop, rock, jazz, and other modern genres. The facility spans 3,000 square metres over two floors and features 45 classrooms, a 300-seat auditorium, a 200-person club, and state-of-the-art recording and production facilities.
The concept for both the Dolby Atmos control room and the immersive Ansermet Auditorium was initiated by Ladislav Agabekov, sound engineer and technical director at CMA. The project was made possible thanks to the strong support of Stefano Saccon, the school's director, who not only believed early on in the potential of immersive audio technologies for both education and production, but also championed and carried the entire project from its inception to completion. Eric Henry from ACR Pro was an outstanding partner throughout the process, playing a key role as system integrator and helping to turn the vision into reality with exceptional expertise and dedication.
The project, part of EMA's 38 million Swiss Franc facility renovation, began in January 2024 and was completed in early 2025, with final system calibrations taking place in March. WSDG served as the acoustic consultant for the Dolby Atmos control room, collaborating with Valentin Cattel from the local architectural firm Reynaud Gaillard Architects, who oversaw building integration and installation, and system integrator ACR Pro.
The new 20m² control room serves as the technical heart of the school's comprehensive audio production facilities, enabling immersive audio recording, mixing, and post-production within their educational and performance complex.
“EMA wanted to create an Atmos mixing room with a 7.2.4 speaker system,” explains Amin Nehmeh, Project Engineer at WSDG. “With Dolby Atmos becoming increasingly prevalent in the industry, the client wanted to ensure they were at the cutting edge, which meant upgrading to the newest standards.”
The control room was designed to interface seamlessly with EMA's other facilities, particularly their 300-seat main auditorium, equipped with a d&b audiotechnik Soundscape system featuring 64 loudspeakers for immersive live sound reinforcement projects and performances.
Ladislav Agabekov, Technical Project Manager at EMA, elaborates on the strategic importance of the new facility: “We are mainly focused on music production. When we produce a completely object-based live recording in the auditorium, we can immediately reproduce that for the artist in the control room as an immersive experience, and also create binaural content for streaming. It's very attractive for creative purposes, especially for classical musicians, electronic musicians, and the experimental music clients we frequently host.”
WSDG employed the NIRO (Non-cuboid Iterative Room Optimizer) developed by REDI Acoustics to optimise the acoustic qualities of the compact space. The room presented unique challenges due to its size.
“Funnily enough, the smaller the room, the more thought you need to put into it,” Nehmeh notes. “You have to fight more against the room. Smaller rooms are prone to resonances or eigenmodes at higher frequencies, hence can cause more relevant frequency cancellation issues”
The acoustic treatment engineered by WSDG includes strategically placed absorption panels behind the loudspeakers and around the soffit, specially designed ceiling clouds, and a stretch fabric ceiling with built-in insulation toward the rear of the room. A large diffusor occupies a significant portion of the back wall behind the sofa, helping to scatter reflections and enhance spatial clarity. The lower sections up to 60-80cm height feature Helmholtz absorbers for low-frequency control.
“There are a number of different elements, and each one has a different function,” adds Nehmeh. “We needed to make sure these were built correctly to function as intended.”
The loudspeaker setup features Genelec's flagship "The Ones" 8361s as the main monitors, Genelec W371A subwoofers, and smaller POE-powered surrounds. The entire system is networked, utilising Dante protocol and controlled via an Avid S4 controller and Pro Tools.
The WSDG team for the project included Amin Nehmeh, Dirk Noy (Partner, General Manager Europe), Leandro Kirjner (Director of Production), and Silvia Molho (Partner, Art Director), with the company’s Miami office responsible for handling the design aspects, determining geometry, colours, and materials.
“It’s important from the start to have discussions with the client to understand their idea and what they want, and then translate that into a design they're happy with,” Nehmeh reflects. “But in this case, they already had a clear idea - they wanted to keep the same colours and materials as the adjacent rooms and concert halls – so it was smooth sailing from there.”
French company C2A Swiss, specialising in composite materials, manufactured the acoustic elements based on the detailed specifications from WSDG's engineering reports. The school's regular carpenter also made significant contributions to the project, while Eric Henry, Director of Operations at ACR Pro, was also instrumental in the integration process.
“It's a cool room,” Nehmeh shares. “Dirk (Noy) and I went to undertake final system calibration of the loudspeaker system, and it sounded really, really nice. The client was blown away, to put it lightly.”
“The results now that I've been working in the room are very, very good,” Agabekov confirms. “It's quite an impressive room in terms of its acoustic qualities, and I have two Dolby Atmos live projects that I’m excited to mix in there.”
Agabekov goes on to explain why EMA chose WSDG for this crucial project: “I knew Dirk from articles I have read, and I've been aware of him after having received good recommendations from some sound engineers here in Geneva that have already worked with WSDG. I know the importance of having a reliable specialist that you can communicate well with, and who can translate your ideas into an accurate acoustic design.”
“In terms of the interior architecture of the room, they really understood what we desired,” he adds. “We had meetings with different people from WSDG that were specialists in certain fields. It was an easy task for us and not stressful in any way. Everything was very smooth and the experience with WSDG was really good.”
Agabekov sees a bright future for immersive audio: “The Dolby Atmos format for music is not so well implemented in Switzerland as in the US because we don't have the same calibre of major record labels, and we know that Apple's Spatial Audio or Dolby Atmos is mainly used by them for the time being. But we expect that it'll be democratised in the months and years to come.
"The EMA Geneva project represents an exciting evolution in professional audio facilities. What makes this project particularly special is how seamlessly the Atmos room integrates with our existing performance spaces. The collaborative spirit between all parties involved — from the architects to the WSDG team, the system integrators, and the school itself — created an environment where technical excellence could truly flourish.”
Noy agrees, emphasising that the success of the EMA Geneva project lies in the synergy between design precision and acoustic expertise.
“In a compact space like this, accurate engineering and precise architectural integration is everything,” he concludes. “This project is a great example of how well-integrated design and thoughtful acoustic treatment can work together to create a truly sophisticated acoustic experience. It also highlights the growing importance of immersive audio in music education, and how even modest spaces can be transformed into world-class critical listening environments.”
For high-quality images and the Word document, click here: https://bit.ly/WSDG_EMAGeneva
For more information about CMA and EMA, please follow this link: https://cma-geneve.ch and https://ema.school
For more information about WSDG, please visit: http://www.wsdg.com/
ABOUT WSDG
WSDG is an award-winning international firm specializing in acoustic consulting and media systems engineering. Founded by pioneering architect and acoustician John Storyk and multi-disciplinary designer Beth Walters, WSDG blends scientific rigor with artistic vision at the intersection of architecture, acoustics, and technology to create extraordinary sound environments. Beginning with Mr. Storyk's design of Jimi Hendrix's iconic Electric Lady Studios, notable WSDG projects include personal studios for Jack Antonoff, Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen; landmark studio design, including Jungle Studios (NYC), Rue Boyer (Paris), Spotify (LA) and Church Studios (London) as well as technology and acoustic consulting for global media organizations including Beijing Film Academy, ESPN, Netflix, Sony, The National Museum of Qatar, and many more.
With a consolidated global leadership, offices in New York, Miami, Basel, and Berlin, and representation in 14 international locations, WSDG continues to unlock the potential of sound by redefining acoustics in the arts, live entertainment, sports, education, and luxury residential fields.
For more information, visit www.wsdg.com.
