3D or immersive audio is becoming an integral part of modern audio and media production. Today, in addition to stereo, an immersive sound experience is expected in many fields. Formats such as Dolby Atmos provide exactly that: sound is no longer perceived merely in the horizontal but is placed in three dimensions within a surrounding space. This – and the fact that we needed to renovate the roof – are two of the reasons why we decided to build an Atmos control room.
At the same time, we are currently developing our new ‘3D Audio’ topic course. The new control room is designed to help our tutors create sound samples and will be available not only for studio use but also for training purposes at HOFA-College.
In this blog post, we’ll take you on a journey to the new Atmos control room and give you an insight into the planning, development, construction work and equipment.
The new 3D Audio course is currently included free of charge in our ultimate online course bundle, AUDIO DIPLOMA.
In this blog, you’ll find regular updates on the development of the new control room:
[March 2026] Electrical wiring + delivery of the speakers
By now, the wiring routes are being planned and installed. This includes positioning the sockets, laying the first cables and preparing the technical infrastructure. Speakers and all other devices will have separate power circuits.
HOFA CEO Jan Bönisch inspects the construction work as part of the final handover. At the same time, the first delivery from Neumann arrives. The speakers will be stored in the HOFA warehouse for a few more weeks until they are installed.
[February 2026] Planning sessions with Neumann and Dolby
We teamed up with Neumann and Dolby for the planning and setup of the control room. Key account manager Andreas Pöppel and product specialist Holger Hausdorf from Neumann are helping us with the speaker setup. For the subwoofer, we opted for the KH 810. Our existing KH 310s are connected to this as the left and right main speakers, supplemented by a KH 150 as the centre speaker and eight KH 120 II for surround and overhead channels. As an audio interface and monitor controller, we chose the Neumann MT 48, which also features a Dante port.
And of course, all absorbers, bass traps and diffusers are supplied by HOFA-Akustik😉
Markus Ziegler from Dolby has provided us with ‘DARDT’, a reliable tool for speaker positioning. DARDT enables us to optimise the room in accordance with Dolby’s specifications. For training purposes at HOFA-College, we want to achieve as wide a sweet spot as possible, and this tool allows us to prepare this in an optimal manner.
[February 2026] The energy-efficient roof renovation work is done.
The energy-efficiency refurbishment of the roof is now complete. The improved thermal insulation reduces heat loss – and, in combination with our brine heat pump, results in a more efficient energy usage.
[February 2026] Dismantling the old control room
The first step involves completely removing the existing room-in-room structure, including the floors and acoustic provisions. The structure is dismantled down to the shell, so that the room can be completely rebuilt.
[January 2026] We’ve decided to renovate the old mastering studio.
The decision to redesign the existing mastering room was made for several reasons. A leaking roof was one of the main factors, making renovation necessary anyway. As part of this project, energy-efficiency improvements will also be made to the roof, the windows and the exterior walls.
With this in mind, we came up with the idea not simply to renovate the existing control room, but to rethink it entirely. The new design features a multifunctional 3D Audio control room that can be used for a variety of purposes – including both typical Atmos applications as well as video production, workshops and stereo mixing. The room will also be used for the development of our new topic course “3D Audio”. Sound samples and hands-on content will be produced here and later be made available to our online course participants at HOFA-College.
