Amsterdam's West Side Studio Enjoys Dutch Directness with Alcons

	Amsterdam's West Side Studio with Vincent Sinceretti (left) and Evelien van der Molen (right).

West Side Studio is a creative partnership between four Dutch production professionals, specialising in post-production sound and offline editing for motion picture and television. Its most recent addition is a cinema screening room, where an Alcons Audio pro-ribbon 7.1 surround system has impressed the studio's owners and clients alike.

Located in the busy port area just north-west of central Amsterdam, West Side Studio is the brainchild of Evelien van der Molen, Mieneke Kramer, Lennert Hunfeld, and Vincent Sinceretti. Featuring several edit suites and an ADR studio, for the new cinema room they wanted 7.1 reference monitoring, but with the quality and flexibility for future expansion to full Dolby Atmos specification.

Cinema exhibition services specialists CinemaNext was contracted to supply and install the equipment in the new room and, after looking at all the available systems, an Alcons Audio CRMSCompact pro-ribbon system was chosen.

"We wanted to have a really simple, straightforward system with the least amount of conversions in the signal chain. The Alcons pro-ribbon solution allowed us to route digital audio from our Pro Tools system directly to the loudspeaker system, without having to put anything in between," says Sinceretti.

The West Side team visited Amsterdam's STMPD recording studio, owned by superstar DJ Martin Garrix and featuring an Alcons-equipped Dolby Atmos Premier Studio. "The listening tests proved to us that Alcons was not only the best system, but it also offered the best value for money. It was confirmation that we were making the right choice," van der Molen continues.

CinemaNext installed main screen L-C-R CRMS Compact cinema reference monitor systems, six CRMSC-SRHV/90 compact reference surrounds, and a CB362 high output full-size subwoofer system. It is all powered and controlled by two Sentinel3 amplified loudspeaker controllers.

"The Alcons pro-ribbon solution delivers clear, transparent sound that keeps its exceptional quality, even at high SPLs," says Hunfeld. "It's very easy and flexible to use with the Sentinel3s and we were also impressed by the shallow form factor."

Offline editor Kramer adds, "From an editor's point of ear, the quality of the offline edit stereo bounce really stands its ground. There was more clarity and detail than I could judge in my edit suite, without being confronted by a poorly sound edited cut coming from the offline edit."

"We are very happy with the system and have had a great response from other sound designers and mixers. Clients feel warm and comfortable in our mix studio and are impressed by its sonic capabilities," concludes van der Molen.