What does “right” sound like?
It’s a question Jeff Wolpert has spent four decades answering. As a three-time JUNO Award-winning engineer, a “Tonmeister” (Master of Sound) graduate from McGill University, and a Professor of Immersive Audio, Jeff’s ears are trusted by industry giants ranging from Herbie Hancock to major film score composers.
Since 2012, his home base has been Desert Fish Studios in downtown Toronto: a stunning, Dolby Atmos Music certified facility featuring a powerhouse 9.1.4 PMC speaker system.
But recently, Jeff felt that even with world-class gear, the room could give more. He identified a subtle “blurriness,” particularly in the critical “top layer” of the immersive field, caused by speaker energy vibrating the studio’s structure instead of moving air.
In this exclusive video interview, Jeff takes us inside Desert Fish to explain why he decided to overhaul the isolation in his studio entirely.
Watch: The IsoAcoustics Upgrade at Desert Fish Studios
From the Ceiling Down: A Total System Approach
As Jeff explains in the video, the journey started with the most difficult challenge in immersive audio: the ceiling speakers.
By installing IsoAcoustics V120 Mounts, he was able to decouple his overhead monitors from the building structure. The immediate improvement in clarity and spatial imaging convinced him that the rest of the room needed to catch up.
Jeff proceeded to remove the standard foam isolation from under his remaining monitors, replacing it with ISO-Pucks and ISO-Stands to ensure the entire 9.1.4 system was working in harmony. The result isn’t just technical accuracy; it’s an emotional shift in how the studio feels to work in.
“If you can find a way to not suck the energy out of the speaker into vibrating something physically… you end up with a much better performing speaker. It allows me to hear what’s really going on.” – Jeff Wolpert
Watch the full video above to hear Jeff discuss the nuances of immersive mixing and why he believes proper isolation allows speakers to finally live up to their potential.
Learn more about the gear Jeff trusts:
