I recently expanded my mix studio into a Dolby Atmos surround room. The cost of a multichannel speaker system is substantial, covering speakers, stands, wiring, and a controller to handle at least 12 monitors. This controller should include DSP for speaker calibration, time alignment, volume, and EQ. As you can guess, these monitor controllers come with a high price tag, ranging from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands. In putting together my 7.1.4 Wayne Jones Audio Dolby Atmos system [Tape Op #154], I hunted for affordable monitor controller that hit all the marks: multichannel control, stereo control, cue mix with talkback, and DSP for speaker calibration. An important issue is being able to monitor both my DAW and Apple Music in Atmos without requiring an Apple TV and an additional home stereo receiver (AVR). I need Apple Music because it is the main way to stream songs in true Atmos on a Mac desktop computer.
While scouring the web for solutions priced under a few thousand dollars, I upon Ginger Audio’s GroundControl SPHERE monitor control software. Its features seemed almost too good to be true, prompting me to try out the demo. The application runs on Mac OSX 10.4+ and allows the user to connect virtually any software running on the machine to any connected audio hardware. This effectively transforms your main audio interface into a comprehensive monitor controller for your studio setup. SPHERE supports up to eight hardware or software input sources, each with a potential width of 16 channels (like 9.1.6). With seven output choices, you can route them to various hardware or software destinations. Hardware can be anything connected to your Mac, including USB, Thunderbolt, mic in, line in/out, optical out, HDMI, Bluetooth, or any software routing like Pro Tools Audio Bridge, SPHERE’s own audio bridge, Zoom audio, DANTE, or others. SPHERE can see any audio device that your Mac can see.
The software’s master volume knob can be controlled through the GUI or via a MIDI, Eucon, or Stream Deck controller. I assigned the main volume to my nOb Control hardware, which sits on my desktop. SPHERE allows one or more sources to play to any one output, plus a dedicated cue mix with integrated talkback. The cue section provides an adjustable DIM control, talkback mic level adjustment, as well as switches for mono/stereo, polarity inversion, and "sides" mode for mid-side snooping. Thorough metering is available for all inputs and outputs, viewable as thumbnails or in larger floating windows. These meters provide peak or LUFS level information and can be deactivated to conserve CPU resources.
Every input and output provides its own level adjustment, useful for matching input levels and speaker volumes. Additionally, each input and output permits the insertion of a single AU plug-in. For instance, I insert a high-pass filter plug-in on my talkback mic input and SoundID headphone calibration on my headphone output. Further, each input and output section provides some control over I/O mapping and solo, mute, and level controls for each of its audio channels. In the output sections, there's extra control for bass management, encompassing sub volume, high-pass, and low-pass filters for each speaker channel. Individual channels can be finely tuned for level and delay, accurate down to one one-hundredth of a millisecond.
In the center of the app, you'll find the large master volume knob, a cut button, an adjustable dim level, and three user-settable volume presets to quickly snap your monitors to a calibrated volume. Like a professional console, it offers buttons for mono/stereo, L/R channel flip, polarity inversion for left and right, and the ability to solo the "sides" signal. A speaker layout display lets you solo specific monitors, muting the others – handy for scoping out what’s happening in each channel of an immersive mix. I may have missed a few features, but if you're looking for a specific monitor controller feature, chances are SPHERE has it. This is a well-designed professional monitor controller. Its smartly laid out and good-looking GUI makes navigation through these features easy and self-evident.
Here's my setup for monitor outputs in SPHERE: My audio interface has 24 analog outputs, and I use 18 of them for my speakers, headphone, and cues. For my stereo speakers, I assign SPHERE’s Main out to my HDX interface outs 1 and 2. My 7.1.4 system employs SPHERE’s Alt 1 output, connected to HDX outputs 3 through 14. Headphones use SPHERE Alt 2, routed to HDX outputs 15 and 16. My alternate nearfield speakers are Kali IN-UNFs [Tape Op #156], which have an optical digital input, so SPHERE’s Alt 3 output is assigned to my Mac’s built-in digital out. The artist cue mix goes to HDX outputs 17 and 18. Three outputs remain unutilized.
Inputs are configured as follows: Apple Music and any other system audio routes to SPHERE's 16 Mon audio bus, appearing as Input A. Pro Tools, when mixing in stereo, is routed to Pro Tools Audio Bridge 32 1-2 and is on Input B. For Atmos mixing, Pro Tools outputs to the Dolby Audio Bridge and the Dolby Atmos Renderer, which then sends 7.1.4 audio via SPHERE's 32 Mon bus to Input C, and the binaural render to SPHERE Input D. For Zoom calls, I use an inexpensive USB interface that shows up in SPHERE on Input E, and this input also serves as my talkback mic for the cue mix. I use an Apple AU high-pass filter plug-in on this input. Three inputs are still available. SPHERE makes all of this routing intuitive and easy.
Though SPHERE offers valuable calibration on each output channel, I opt for a Sonarworks SoundID plug-in on each of my main outputs, and SoundID Multichannel on output Alt 1 calibrates my Atmos system. An instance of SoundID Reference on the Main output calibrates my stereo monitors. Another instance of SoundID runs on Alt 2 to calibrate my headphones. Even with three instances of SoundID, an AU filter plug-in, and its fancy meters running, SPHERE doesn’t bog my computer down. I’m running SPHERE alongside Pro Tools Ultimate, the Dolby Atmos Renderer software, multiple browsers, and email software on a 2013 Mac Pro (trash can), so newer machines should perform equally as well.
It’s not easy to get excited about something as utilitarian as a monitor controller, but GroundControl SPHERE solves so many problems while costing $399 – about 1/10th of the price of a comparable hardware solution. If multichannel control isn't a requirement, Ginger Audio offers more affordable versions tailored for stereo control rooms and livestreaming setups.
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