Renowned rerecording mixer Tom Marks has chosen Nugen Audio's Halo Upmix and MasterCheck Pro to do the mix for the hit Netflix series Sense8, which just wrapped production of its second season. Based in Hollywood, Marks is a rerecording mixer with many popular television and movie titles to his credit.
"I've been a fan of Nugen Audio for a while. Their products are extremely stable, and the sound quality is terrific," said Marks. "For Sense8 we're handed a wide range of source materials — anything from orchestral 5.1 stems to stereo stems to songs from every genre. I'm able to dial in a sound pretty quickly and then check the stereo downmix to make sure it's folding down correctly."
In one technique for creating a 5.1 upmix, Marks will bus several stereo tracks to a stereo auxiliary track and put Halo on the aux. "As I get different versions of a song, I can keep all of them on their respective tracks and mute them so I can listen only to the current version. When a client wants to hear an older version, I can do that by pressing two mute buttons. Meanwhile, only one instance of Halo is being used. And if I change the setting on it, the changes will apply to whichever version gets picked," he said.
As for MasterCheck Pro, Marks said, "MasterCheck Pro is really valuable on Sense8, which is likely to be watched on many different types of devices. As I'm mixing the show, I can switch over from the 5.1 mix on big speakers to the LtRt mix on small TV speakers as I'm listening through the MasterCheck Pro plugin. That way, I'm able to replicate what an average viewer's experience will be."
Nugen Audio creative director Jon Schorah said, "We're honored that a sound mixer with Tom's pedigree is part of the Nugen Audio customer family. His requirements for surround upmixing and delivery of mixes to streaming services are exactly what we've tried to address with Halo Upmix and MasterCheck Pro."
Marks added, "From a creative point of view, my favorite tools are those that are so straightforward that you don't have to think about them, and Nugen products allow me to do that. Also, the Nugen team is extremely accessible and open to my suggestions in shaping future product upgrades."
Nugen Audio www.nugenaudio.com