Toei Studios KyotoPremier Audio Post Facility Upgrades to ADAM Audio Monitors

Toei Studios Kyoto is among Japan’s oldest and most reputable film and TV production facilities.

Established all the way back in 1926, Toei arguably built the foundation for Japan’s domestic cinema industry and, later, was formative in developing TV drama as a medium for Japanese audiences. Today, the hectic production schedule at Toei encompasses around 60 projects per year. In 2018, Toei revamped its entire audio post production facility across all its foley and ADR suites as well as editing and preview rooms. Seasoned audio post professionals Ms Yoshimi Sakurada and Mr Shinichi Yokoyama were among the team that selected ADAM Audio S2V, S3H and A3X monitors and matching subwoofers as part of its extensive refurbishment and upgrade programme.

But why change a winning system? According to Ms Sakurada and Mr Yokoyama, one goal was to concentrate all sound production rooms in one area; previously, various suites had been dotted around the Toei lot, hindering a smooth, efficient workflow. After moving the audio post facilities onto the same floor and hooking each room up to a new central server system, Ms. Sakurada and Mr. Yokoyama took the opportunity to dramatically improve the performance and consistency of the speaker solutions used at Toei.

“When I heard the ADAMs in the new studio for the first time, I was amazed.”

“When I heard the ADAMs in the new studio for the first time, I was amazed”, recalls Ms Sakurada. “The sound was so beautiful! I was so happy that I almost did a fist pump! The resolution, the wide sweet-spot, the pleasing sound character that doesn’t tire your ears. I still remember how much I was motivated by just thinking that this will be my working environment from then on.”

At Toei, clarity of dialogue is the key component to which music and effects are matched to ensure best possible audio quality on each production. “The reproducibility of the original sound and high resolution are important factors for a monitor speaker”, explains Ms Sakurada. “The accuracy of the sound image and the separation of sound as well as a good phase response are all important. With the ADAMs, everything is just the way I like it.”

“The accuracy of the sound image and the separation of sound […] are all important. With the ADAMs, everything is just the way I like it.”

Mr Yokoyama adds: “We also installed the ADAM S3H for doing the mixing work in the preview room, and when we were adjusting the acoustic frequency characteristics, we were surprised by the measurement results, as we could visually see how high the speakers go in terms of reproducing the high frequencies.”

Find out more about Toei Studio Kyoto’s audio post facilities here.