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need help to setup 5.1 composing studio

raywong

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Sep 19, 2023
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hello,
I am a tv/film composer, recently moved into a new studio which is already acoustically treated. I would want to upgrade my composing setup to 5.1 surround. I have already got 5 Neumann KH150 but not sure what to get for the sound interface. was looking at the MT48 but the dealer said it is not suitable for surround setup. I will really appreciate it if you guys could give me some suggestions.

Thx!\
Ray
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I don't do audio production, but I think you just need an interface or "pro DAC" with 6 (or more) analog outputs and then you can configure the routing in your DAW.

That's a little different from a playback/reproduction setup where you are using a 5.1 or 7.1 soundcard or AVR, and the software/firmware decodes the surround-sound format. Maybe a 5.1/7.1 soundcard can be used with a DAW but all of them I've seen are "consumer devices".

You probably need to find a forum dedicated to pro audio production. I see Gearslutz/Gearspace mentioned a lot and they do have a Music For Picture sub-forum.
 
So you need something like a Pre-amplifier Home Theater Processor (surround sound processor).
What about a sub-woofer?

How will you feed audio into this setup (sources)?

You could get an A/V receiver, with the 5.1 pre-out (line-outputs) and just not use the amplifier section.
 
JFTR, here's what I previously suggested:
Do you even need recording facilities then? The primary motivation for considering an MT48 should be its outstanding "capture the full dynamic range of a quality LDC in one fell swoop" mic/line ADC section. The DAC side is good, and there's not that much choice if you really do need +24 dBu of maximum output like a Hollywood studio, but other than that it isn't super special either. Knowing Neumann monitors, they are quite flexible with input levels and should run well on a multitude of interfaces... even a lowly Behringer UMC1820 or similar (there's a whole bunch of mid-price interfaces with a bunch of output channels, unfortunately the "official" I/O classification is kind of rubbish since it includes digital I/O, but you generally want whatever x 10 upwards to get 6+ analog outputs). Or a Topping DM7. Or an Okto DAC8 Pro if you really do want to spend that much money.
 
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