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Latin Grammy-winning engineer Luis Villa has integrated Audient ORIA into the heart of his daily mixing process at Unomusic, making the immersive audio interface and monitor controller an indispensable part of his setup for over a year.
Throughout a career spanning nearly 30 years, Luis (pictured below) has built an impressive credit list as a producer and engineer, earning multiple Latin Grammy nominations alongside two American Grammy nominations. Working from Unomusic Studios in Seville, his portfolio features collaborations with high-profile artists including Pablo Alborán, Ana Mena and Café Quijano.
After relying on ORIA across a broad range of high-profile mixing projects, Luis has developed complete faith in the consistency and accuracy it brings to his listening environment. His experience has been so positive that, as he puts the finishing touches on a brand-new mixing room, he is planning to install a second ORIA to maintain the same trusted monitoring workflow across both spaces.
A Solid Foundation
Working on projects that need to translate flawlessly across a vast array of playback systems requires absolute trust in the room. In Luis’s case, he tested ORIA against the highest possible standard. His primary space was already calibrated by the team at Dolby Laboratories Spain, providing a professionally tuned environment. Even so, he decided to use ORIA’s SoundID Reference integration to create a secondary calibration profile, to compare both approaches.
“The result honestly surprised me,” Luis explains. “The calibration ORIA achieved was extremely impressive, and the difference between that and the room calibration carried out by Dolby was much smaller than I expected. That gave me even more confidence in the system, and in the fact that the decisions I’m making during a mix are based on a very solid monitoring foundation.”
Streamlined Workflow
Beyond room correction, the speed and simplicity of switching between different monitoring formats has transformed his creative flow.
“Since installing ORIA, my day-to-day workflow has become much smoother and, above all, much more reliable when it comes to making decisions,” he says. “Being able to control ORIA directly from my Stream Deck using ORIA Control integration means I don’t have to deal with complicated setup changes every time I change formats. This is a big advantage for me. I also really value how easy it is to organise and manage the different monitoring references I use during an Atmos mix. Having everything centralised like that means I can focus much more on the mix itself and less on the technical side of the monitoring setup.”
In an Atmos session, checking different listening perspectives without breaking momentum is vital. “I think the thing I would miss the most is the speed and simplicity of switching between different monitoring environments, especially between stereo, Dolby Atmos, and binaural headphone monitoring,” he notes. “I would also really miss the feeling of having the entire monitoring system organised and under control from a single point. Once you get used to working like that, going back to a more fragmented or complex setup really does feel like a step backwards.”
Direct hardware control has proved to be another highlight. “Being able to control it directly from my Stream Deck using the ORIA app means I have a lot of key functions literally at the press of a button. It might sound like a small detail, but when you’re mixing and need to quickly switch between monitoring references, jump into binaural headphone monitoring, or adjust the monitoring setup, that level of direct control becomes incredibly useful.”
Looking Ahead
With a second studio space nearing completion, maintaining consistent references across both environments is his top priority.
“Monitoring consistency is absolutely key for me,” Luis says. “When you’re working across different rooms, any variation in the monitoring chain can easily slow you down or make you second-guess whether what you’re hearing is actually in the mix or just the room. Having the same system in both studios would give me a much more consistent reference and allow me to move between spaces with a lot more confidence.”
Looking to the future, Luis aims to continue the work he has enjoyed for nearly 30 years while supporting the ongoing growth of immersive audio.
“What I hope is to keep doing what I’ve been doing for almost 30 years: working with loyal clients, incredible artists and a very wide range of musical styles. At the same time, I’d love to see the number of Dolby Atmos mixes continue to grow. It’s a format that’s slowly but surely becoming more established, and it’s something I genuinely enjoy working in. So looking ahead, my main goal is simply to keep working at the same level, keep learning, keep enjoying the mixing process, and see Unomusic continue to grow alongside the Atmos format.”
Follow Luis on Instagram @unomusicstudios