PMC exec talks new products and ‘buoyant’ studio market

Oliver Thomas, commercial director at PMC Speakers, has spoken to Headliner about the company’s brand new monitor line, the state of the studio market and the opportunities and challenges facing the pro audio business.

Last month, the UK manufacturer revealed a new line of compact, near and midfield monitors designed for audio professionals working across a wide range of applications, from stereo to large-scale immersive formats. Having been in development for five years, the new PMC6, PMC6-2, and PMC8-2, along with their associated subwoofers, the PMC8 SUB and PMC8-2 SUB, replaced the company’s existing twotwo Series, have the same sound signature as PMC’s main monitor products. These main monitors include the revered QB1, BB6, MB3 and IB2 models.

Built from the ground up to ensure that the new products deliver the highest possible resolution with the lowest possible colouration, PMC has incorporated all-new drivers, DSP and Class-D amplifiers, as well as notable improvements to the company’s proprietary ATL bass-loading and Laminair air flow technologies.

Here, Thomas opens up on what the new range means for the company and the new markets it could potentially open up.

The new monitors have been in development for five years. What can you tell us about the R&D process for the range?

We had various technological advancements that we wanted to apply to this next generation of PMC Studio products, which started the product development journey. We took time to carefully assess what our customers wanted in terms of features and functionality and set about designing a range of products to this specification. Midway through the process the pandemic happened creating a number of development challenges such as component shortages. The R&D team worked hard to overcome this and through perseverance brought this fantastic range to market.

What was the company’s ambition for this range when it was first conceived?

We wanted to give our customers a greater range of products, with the latest technologies and vast functionality so that they could work faster and more accurately. We now have a complete and versatile range of studio speakers to fit the small home studio all the way through compact and medium sized mix rooms, to large control rooms, all with the same PMC sonic signature.

How does the range differ from the company’s previous high end monitor ranges?

Our new studio speakers fit more closely with the design and philosophy of the larger monitors, in a compact size for smaller working environments. New to this generation of products is the SoundAlign software, which allows control and configuration of the speakers via a web browser for ease of use and the ability to optimise to your room. Alongside this a newer development of our ATL technology, including laminair vents, gives better low frequency performance than ever achieved previously.

What markets will you be targeting with this range?

There is a speaker in this range to suit every application, from composing and recording through to mixing and mastering. PMC’s lead position in the immersive audio market is also reflected in this range as our new monitors are ideal for artists, producers, engineers and post production facilities where there is a desire to mix music in Dolby Atmos. This also includes high profile corporate clients such as Netflix and Apple, who have already installed Dolby Atmos systems built around PMC monitoring. Our new nearfield monitors are ideal for facilities that want a big sound in a small space - and because the range is very versatile and cost effective, it is ideal for educational facilities that are now teaching immersive audio recording and mixing techniques.

How is the professional studio market performing at the moment? How well is it faring in light of the pandemic?

From our point of view, it is extremely buoyant. Our involvement with Dolby Atmos music means we are very busy building systems for a whole host of end users around the globe. These include traditional commercial studios that are now inspired to explore immersive audio for music mixing through to reference playback rooms for our larger clients. The two channel sector is also burgeoning, with recording, mixing and mastering facilities – and individual producers and artists who want project studios - upping sticks from the inner cities to leafy suburbs or the deepest country side. These customers may be occupying smaller spaces, but they still want the PMC ‘big’ monitor sound that they have come to love and trust. Being in a position to deliver this but in a far more compact environment is something we can do especially well with the new near and midfield models because, although compact, the dynamics, bottom end and level of detail are a replica of our main monitors.

Did you have any reservations about launching such a range at such a challenging time for the industry?

We seem to make a habit of launching product during uncertain times and so far it’s been the best thing we have even done. We are proud to have achieved bringing this fantastic new range to market in such a challenging time. Where most companies are taking stock, we are using the feedback we get from the PMC community and producing great new speakers for them. The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive and our order book, even at this stage, is beyond full.

What are the biggest opportunities in the market for PMC and the new range?

It must be the Dolby Atmos music mixing sector. We have from the beginning worked closely with Dolby and now have the best knowledge and understanding of the format and its studio requirements. We have installed for the likes of Capitol in Los Angeles, Dean Street in the UK, MSM in Munich and Netflix and Apple in New York. We have approached this new market as an educator by opening five dedicated Atmos Mix rooms in the US and UK, purely to give artists and producers the best insight into what can be achieved with the format. Our philosophy with the new range is to mix and match the appropriate model for the size of the room with our existing ci slimline designs. This allows us to create staggeringly flexible yet true reference level systems that will fit within even the most modest of rooms. In addition, we know we can provide the best advice about the format, as well as offer the best most flexible monitoring solutions.

And what are the biggest challenges?

Firstly, being able to improve on our existing products, which were already renowned for their sonic excellence. We have spent five years looking at every aspect of design to increase resolution and reduce distortion. We have analysed airflow to gain improvements in low frequency performance, developed ground up new drive units and electronics with low colouration and distortion. Nothing has been overlooked.

Now that the new range is officially launched, we have the lovely challenge of making enough to satisfy what has already been an extraordinary level of demand. We relish in the challenge.