£2,520
£599 optional factory-/retro-fit AoIP card (available Autumn 2024)
audient.com

ORIA is Audient’s new immersive audio interface and monitor controller, engineered with Dolby Atmos firmly in mind. Priced lower than its nearest competitor, Avid’s $5,000 MTRX Studio, ORIA prioritises ease of use, with multichannel Sonarworks SoundID integration, simple setup, and intuitive software control to appeal to both creative- and technically-minded users.

• READ MORE: Audient’s ORIA is the Atmos interface that engineers have been waiting for

What inputs and outputs does ORIA have?

ORIA has 16 analogue line outputs, covering speaker arrays of up to 9.1.6, all handily labelled so you don’t need to manually configure them. In addition to the 16 analogue outputs, ORIA also has 16 AES outputs for speakers with digital inputs, carrying identical signals to the analogue ones. Using Profiles in the software you can easily switch between, say, an Atmos array plugged into analogue outs and a set of stereo monitors connected to the Left and Right AES outputs.

There are also two pairs of analogue stereo outs which mirror the Left and Right signals from the surround array, so you can check mixes on different sets of stereo monitors. Dual headphone amps carry separate mixes that can be set up using mixer software, similar to Audient’s EVO and iD ranges.

To keep ORIA as versatile as possible, there’s a variety of input options. Firstly, two digitally-controlled versions of their console preamps are located around the front, set up for microphones, line ins or instruments. Secondly, two banks of ADAT ins allow users to expand the number of inputs by adding mic preamps for recording, or even to pass on 16 channels from an external interface to use ORIA purely as a monitor controller. While ADAT carries up to eight channels per port, the channel count reduces to four once you exceed 48 kHz, so users need to bear this in mind. If you need to feed in 16 channels at higher sample rates, an optional, factory-fit network port will soon be available to add Dante compatibility.

Additional, independently-addressable outputs are harder to come by, unfortunately. We can’t help but wish for ADAT outs as well as ins. Most Atmos workflows will stay in the box and use plugins to provide the likes of reverb, compression and EQ, but this isn’t true for everyone. And when working in stereo, many will have a favourite analogue outboard chain they’d like to incorporate when mixing or mastering. Hardware inserts aren’t really possible in an immersive mixing context with ORIA, and for a stereo session would require some frustrating head-scratching and re-patching. The Avid spatial interface does have the edge here, with 16 channels of ADAT in/out and Dante out of the gate.

What is ORIA like to use?

Once speakers are plugged in, setup can begin. If you’ve already taken measurements of your studio for acoustic purposes, ORIA’s system panel allows you to manually configure channel EQ, time alignment and a high-pass crossover frequency for bass management. However, the Sonarworks integration means that you don’t have to go through all this pain. Audient includes a calibrated measurement microphone in the box to get you started, plus a 60-day trial of the software (you’ll need to invest in the €499 multichannel version to keep using it beyond this point). Just plug the microphone into a preamp on the interface, follow the simple instructions and within an hour you’ll have a calibration profile covering all the speakers in your room that can be loaded straight into ORIA’s DSP memory.

If you’ve experienced the striking difference a speaker calibration system makes to stereo setups, then you’re in for a far bigger ‘wow’ moment with an immersive array.

We audition a number of Atmos mixes on high-end speakers. With Sonarworks off, everything is phasey and muddled, with individual speakers seeming to poke out of the mix at points. With Sonarworks on, it’s infinitely better. High frequencies are less hard-edged, there’s no muddled midrange, and bass sounds are punchy yet tightly controlled; the multitude of speakers start to work as a single entity. Once loaded in, the Sonarworks calibration profile is translated into per-speaker EQ and time alignment settings that can be viewed within ORIA’s software panel.

An intuitive software interface allows users to match what they’re hearing with on-screen graphics representing the speaker array, rather than a more traditional (and potentially overwhelming) mixer form. Muting and soloing speakers are done with simple mouse clicks and modifier keys, including a Group function for soloing sections of the speaker array such as Front, Sides and Heights.

We wish there was an option to include bass management when soloing channels or groups. Currently, you have to solo a channel or Group and then manually add the sub to the solo, which is fiddly. Otherwise, some of what you’re hearing in solo will be high-passed, and so doesn’t give a full impression of that speaker or Group’s contribution to the mix. Perhaps this could be addressed in a future update.

Minor issues aside, Audient has made otherwise impenetrable concepts accessible with its smart graphical interface. During testing, we get lost in a world of stunning playback quality from the onboard converters on a perfectly calibrated large array, frequently using Groups to deconstruct mixes we’re listening to to gain an insight into the production approach – Atmos nay-sayers ought to try this at some point!

By setting up different Profiles, we’re also able to switch to a stereo speaker set and different Sonarworks profiles. Frustratingly, there’s no trim function per profile to calibrate levels when switching between surround and stereo sets (this could be tricky on speakers that don’t have variable input gain).

ORIA really looks slick installed in a rack, with its black case, backlit buttons and clear metering on its display, plus a small set of hardware controls to supplement the software experience. It’s a boon to have digital, recallable gain for each preamp but also an input mute function at the press of a button (this cannot be achieved in the software). Lovely.

Meters toggle between the various output and input banks, with the most common view being the surround outputs. This is far clearer than interfaces that attempt to display all ins and outs simultaneously in minuscule detail.

To the right of the meters, there are further buttons for monitor controls. Volume reverts the control wheel’s function to master output volume and there’s a handy Profile button to toggle between configuration profiles you’ve set up. A programmable Function button (like those found on EVO and iD interfaces) accesses controls like dim, talkback and Return to Reference, which restores the master output to a pre-set reference monitoring level.

Finally, a Downmix button interacts with Dolby’s Atmos Renderer, if it’s being used, to switch between different down-mixed speaker configurations. A neat touch, but it would be far more useful to have an extra function button instead that could be programmed to follow this behaviour; a single function button is limiting on such a complex interface (the iD44 has three, plus three further monitor control buttons, after all). What’s more, many DAWs have an integrated, free-of-charge Atmos renderer, or many are forced to explore third-party renderer/panners such as Dolby Atmos Composer because their DAW of choice doesn’t support 3D object track-widths.

Who should buy Audient’s ORIA?

ORIA has an impressive combination of features for its relatively modest price point. Its shortcomings are few, but integrating analogue outboard gear could be a challenge, if that’s your thing.

For studios with an in-the-box mixing workflow, small post-production outfits and creative composers wanting to get started with immersive mixing, ORIA offers an intuitive, impeccable-sounding and highly capable entry point. It’s pretty much a ‘must-buy’ if you’re in one of these camps.

Key features

• USB-C audio interface and monitor controller for immersive audio
• Multichannel Sonarworks integration
• D/A converter dynamic range: 126.5 dB
• 16 analogue surround speaker outputs
• 16 digital AES surround speaker outputs
• 2 pairs of analogue stereo outputs
• 2 independent headphone outputs
• 2 mic/line/instrument preamps
• 2 ADAT in ports
• Wordclock in/out
• Hardware monitor controls
• Optional AoIP card for 16 Dante input channels
• Sonarworks calibrated measurement microphone included in box
• iPad remote control app coming soon

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