Building Atmos At Home: How Andy and Linda Turned a 10×10 Room into an Immersive Studio

Produce Like A Pro Academy members Andy Tullis and his wife Linda set out to prove that you do not need a purpose-built facility to mix in Atmos. With patience, smart planning, and a lot of care, they transformed a modest 10×10 bedroom into Ocean Highway Studio, a compact immersive room that is musical, reliable, and a joy to work in. Here is how they did it, what they used, and the practical lessons they learned along the way.

Room first, speakers second

Andy and Linda began with the room. Their space is a true bedroom, which means early reflections and low-frequency build-up needed attention before any Atmos calculations would make sense. They built bass traps and broadband panels with timber frames and cotton-based recycled denim insulation. Large DIY panels cover generous wall area and smaller traps are tucked into corners. Two hefty pallet traps, repurposed from shipping pallets and wrapped in cloth, add extra low-end control. A thick carpet tames floor bounce, and simple curtains keep the closet contents out of sight. Because they rent the house, they skipped a fixed ceiling cloud and instead relied on careful placement, absorption, and calibration.

With treatment in place, Andy measured the room using Sonarworks SoundID. The profile came back surprisingly flat for a small cube, a testament to the traps and coverage. Calibration also gave them confidence that any remaining issues were manageable inside the target listening area.

Two stations, one workflow

The studio is split into two work zones. A compact desk handles tracking duties with a Tascam Model 24 at the heart of capture. It is robust, forgiving on headroom, and imparts a touch of analogue character. A second desk is for mixing, with outboard housed in tidy Gator Frameworks racks. For stereo reference, Andy alternates between Focal Alpha Evo 65 monitors and JBL LSR305s, keeping a familiar two-channel reality check alongside the immersive rig.

The Atmos rig, piece by piece

The centrepiece is an Apogee Symphony interface configured for immersive work, providing abundant clean output channels for the array. Andy describes it as powerful, quiet, and rock solid. On speakers, they chose IK Multimedia iLoud MTM MK2 monitors for the entire array. Small in footprint yet surprisingly full-bodied, they integrate well in a compact room and are consistent speaker to speaker, which matters in Atmos.

Mounting and cabling are where home studios can get messy, so Andy and Linda planned carefully. Overheads were positioned using a brilliantly simple technique. With their daughter sitting in the captain’s chair, Andy measured equal radii from ear height to the ceiling using a rope, marking precise points for the top speakers before drilling. Wall and ceiling mounts use swivel brackets with the correct thread adapters, and for side and rear positions they leaned on sturdy mic stands with 5/8 to 3/8 adapters, which avoided extra holes in rental walls and kept placement adjustable.

Cable management was solved with painted one-inch PVC conduits fixed to the ceiling using clips, creating clean channels that blend into the room. When replacement power leads would not fit through the tubing, they regrouped and neatly zip-tied along the outside, keeping runs labelled and out of sight. Numbered DB25 snakes handle the multi-channel output routing from the interface, and Andy stresses how important those channel numbers become once you start assigning speakers.

If you would rather skip the component hunt, Sweetwater’s Symphony Studio 2×12 plus eleven iLoud MTM MKII bundle is a near like-for-like foundation for Andy’s 7.1.4 build, complete with brackets and calibration tools to get you mixing faster.

A ready-made path: the Apogee x iLoud MTM Immersive bundle

For anyone inspired by Andy and Linda’s build, Sweetwater now offers a turnkey version of their setup: the Apogee Symphony Studio 2×12 Interface and IK Multimedia iLoud MTM Immersive Bundle.

This package pairs Apogee’s Symphony Studio 2×12 with eleven iLoud MTM MKII monitors and four metal wall or ceiling brackets, providing a complete 7.1.4 system that mirrors Andy’s home Atmos rig almost perfectly. The Symphony Studio features onboard DSP, two mic/line inputs, twelve line outputs, and native support for immersive formats. Together, they form a compact, professional-grade monitoring and conversion solution that’s ideal for bedroom or project studios aiming to move into Atmos mixing.

Why this bundle makes sense for compact Atmos rooms

• Matches a 7.1.4 layout right out of the box with eleven identical monitors for consistent voicing.
• The Symphony Studio 2×12 provides ample outputs, onboard DSP, and calibration tools that integrate seamlessly with Cubase, Pro Tools, or Logic once sample rates and buffer sizes are aligned.
• The MTM MKII monitors include IK’s ARC calibration, helping you fine-tune your room even further.
• The bundle offers savings compared to buying components individually, plus financing options through Sweetwater.

The workflow is straightforward: the Symphony Studio’s clean multi-output routing lines up perfectly with Dolby Renderer routing in your DAW, and the identical MTM MKII speakers ensure reliable imaging and balanced translation across the immersive field.

For anyone hesitant about building an Atmos setup from scratch, this bundle provides a reliable, fully integrated starting point—and one that is almost identical to Andy’s system in both sound and practicality.

Four days to first playback

Andy documented the build in phases. Day one was unboxing and sorting hardware. Day two was mounting the overhead speakers. Day three was running power and signal, cutting discreet cable pass-throughs where needed, and tidying the conduits. Day four was wiring the interface, addressing, and lighting the system up.

The Apogee Symphony software and Cubase integration are straightforward once you match settings. Set sample rate to 48 kHz and the buffer to 512 in both the DAW and the Apogee control software. Insert the Dolby Renderer plug-in on the correct output path, confirm that the routing matrix lights every speaker in green, and you are ready to place objects. In Cubase, Andy leans on the ADM tools to manage beds, objects, and panning, starting with static placements before exploring movement. He points out that many client projects will arrive as stems with printed reverbs, so much of the work becomes thoughtful positioning rather than heavy sound design.

Family project, musical payoff

This was genuinely a family build. Linda kept the project on track, made practical calls about furniture placement and cable paths, and added the finish that makes a working studio feel welcoming. Their daughter helped with the overhead layout and timeline. The first immersive playback was a bit of a family event, with smiles all around when a part appeared behind the listening position.

Andy is quick to credit the people who helped along the way. George at Apogee and Ryan at IK Multimedia took time to answer detailed questions, which sped up troubleshooting and ensured a clean first run. He also notes that if you buy the IK system as a package from certain retailers, stands are often included, which simplifies planning and cost.

What this build proves

Immersive mixing is not reserved for giant rooms and sky-high budgets. With careful acoustic treatment, sensible speaker choice, meticulous placement, and honest calibration, a compact space can deliver convincing Atmos results. The key is to treat the room first, plan cable and mount logistics before drilling, keep every channel clearly labelled, and match your software settings exactly. Most of all, approach the process methodically. Andy and Linda took it one step at a time and stayed musical at every turn.

The gear list at a glance

• Interface Apogee Symphony Studio 2×12 interface with onboard DSP and immersive routing.
• Speakers IK Multimedia iLoud MTM MKII monitors (x11) for full Atmos array. Stereo check pairs: Focal Alpha Evo 65 and JBL LSR305.
• Capture and furniture Tascam Model 24 for tracking. Gator Frameworks racks, compact studio desks, and sturdy mic stands with thread adapters.
• Acoustics and cabling DIY bass traps and wall panels using timber frames and recycled denim insulation. Numbered DB25 snakes, assorted XLR runs (6, 15, and 25 ft), extended IEC power leads, ceiling brackets, and painted PVC conduits with clips and zip ties for clean cable management.
• Software and setup Cubase as the DAW. Dolby Renderer plug-in on the master path. Sonarworks SoundID for room calibration. Matching 48 kHz and 512 buffer settings between DAW and Apogee control software.
• Optional integrated bundle Apogee Symphony Studio 2×12 + iLoud MTM MKII Immersive Bundle from Sweetwater

Final thoughts

Andy and Linda’s Ocean Highway Studio shows what is possible when you combine solid fundamentals with a bit of ingenuity. The result is a compact, comfortable Atmos room that translates, inspires, and invites collaboration. If you are Atmos-curious and working in a small space, their path is a practical blueprint. Treat the room, plan the mounts and cable runs, choose consistent speakers, label everything, align your software, and enjoy the moment when the room comes alive around you.

Have a marvellous time recording, mixing, and now, mixing in Atmos.