Carl Tatz Design's Revolutionary PhantomFocus™ System Teaches Students a Lesson at Vaughan Music Studios

— "The PhantomFocus™ System (PFS) monitor tuning protocol is the holy grail of studio monitoring - period... I've never had mixes translate as well as they do from this system and I feel like I have grown exponentially as a mix engineer since Carl brought his genius to our facility in Ohio." - Chief Engineer, Mark Abrams —

Nashville, TN: Cindy Vaughan, CEO of Vaughan Music Studios (VMS) in Columbus, Ohio, and Chief Engineer, Mark Abrams, began their new studio project by driving down to Nashville to experience the PhantomFocus™ System (PFS) at a few of Carl Tatz Design LLC (CTD)'s award winning studios. As is often the case, CTD's services were hired on the spot to help VMS design a studio for their beautiful new school that would feature the PFS as a major teaching tool. CTD was able to provide a control room design for this vibrant music school ensuring the success of the PFS.

"We're implementing the PFS in more and more educational facilities because the recording department heads realize that there is nothing more important in the recording process than accurate monitoring," comments CTD principal Carl Tatz. "Students are paying substantial tuition fees for their specialized educations and they really deserve to experience state-of-the-art monitoring as part of that education, so that they can carry this knowledge into the real world.
It doesn't matter how great or expensive the monitors are - they can never approach the accuracy of the PFS because of the various boundary and modal issues in a control room - no matter how well designed by me or any other designer. What we are doing with the PFS using any brand of monitors is quite revolutionary, and there is nothing offered that compares to it."

Chief engineer Mark Abrams goes on to say, "I am able to make mix decisions with more precision in less time. It has literally cut my mix time in half. I never go to the car with the fear of saying 'where did X go?!' anymore. It's all about enjoying the music on the way home now."

Abrams gleefully recalls, "During a recent open house, we had a line similar to a new roller coaster at an amusement park. Just like a roller coaster, the facial expressions were priceless. Typically within the first five seconds, the listener will turn around with their jaw wide open. I actually had to show one listener that there was not a center speaker placed behind the video monitor!"

Commenting on the student experience, Abrams points out, "As a teaching facility we benefit greatly from the PFS as it allows students to hear the changes they make on an EQ or compressor with ease. So many instructional facilities try to teach their students about the sonic subtleties of specific pieces of gear using inadequate monitoring. Our students are knocked out by the incredibly responsive performance of the PFS when they put their hands on the gear and make even the slightest adjustments. They can hear what they are doing, which ultimately leads to a better educational experience."


About Carl Tatz Design

Carl Tatz Design (CTD) is an award winning studio design firm offering design and consulting services to homeowners and entertainment industry professionals in areas of: Recording Studios, Monitor Systems, Home Screening Rooms, Dedicated Listening Rooms, Acoustic Analysis, Tuning, and Sound Isolation. Carl Tatz is also the inventor of the industry acclaimed proprietary PhantomFocus™ System (PFS) monitor tuning protocol. CTD’s many resources combine knowledge, experience and expertise in sound, picture and design to serve its clients worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.carltatzdesign.com.

About the PhantomFocus™ System
Once the basic acoustic treatment has been accomplished, Carl Tatz Design’s proprietary PhantomFocus™ Monitor System offers clients a unique opportunity to have a truly world-class monitoring experience in their room, no matter how modest they may perceive it to be. The PhantomFocus System allows their monitors of choice to perform accurately at a full 20Hz-to-20KHz frequency response with pinpoint imaging in an almost holographic sweet spot — this enables their mixes to travel anywhere with a new level of sonic accuracy. There are approximately fifty steps in the proprietary PhantomFocus System implementation protocol, some of which may include phase and laser alignment, damping, isolation mounts, careful assessment of engineer/speaker placement relative to their room’s primary axial modes, proprietary speaker distance and angle, crossover points for pass filtering, and finally parametric equalization. Hardware can include monitor stands, concrete, sorbothane and other isolation materials, custom floating plenum mounts, subwoofer system, custom crossover, parametric equalizers and the monitors themselves (passive or active). The evaluation and implementation is a full two-day process and can be applied to near-fields, mid-fields, and large soffit mounted monitors, regardless of manufacturer. Carl Tatz Design can install the PhantomFocus System in existing control rooms or in studios that are designed and built from the ground up by CTD. The result is like the aural equivalent of HD TV. Once you experience a PhantomFocus System, you can’t go back.

Pictured L-R: Vaughan Music Studios' Chief Engineer Mark Abrams, Carl Tatz and Vaughan Music Studios CEO Cindy Vaughan in front of their PhantomFocus™ System - Four, featuring Dynaudio M1 Professional monitors