The economy may still be sluggish but audio house POP Sound isn't about to turn down the volume. On the contrary, the Santa Monica shop is spending $2 million US to gear up for more business, and there's a three-letter reason: DVD.

A subsidiary of Ascent Media, POP has been on the cutting edge of digital mixing and recording since it opened its doors 10 years ago as Pacific Ocean Post. Back then it was one of the industry's few all-digital sound studios. These days, POP's sights are set on Dolby 5.1 surround sound, a phenomenon the company believes will be part of our everyday television experience in the not-too-distant future. While surround is already standard on the newest DVDs, POP is incorporating it into a legion of classics, including Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Raiders of the Lost Ark . The company has added more facilities to record and edit DVD commentary bonus tracks.

All that takes space, and POP has expanded its 17,000-square-foot HQ, which resembles a 1930s-era Mediterranean villa, to 12 studios including two new commercial rooms and - once converted from existing rooms - a pair of home theater studios. The additional facilities have 5.1 playback and large-screen projection with a speaker wall that can achieve the level of sound pressure required for theatrical playback.

The expansion not only serves new areas, it also augments POP's core business of film and TV commercial mixing, according to managing director William Feil. "We're able to expand in home theater and at the same time have nice commercial rooms [on a par] with our three largest existing rooms." The older studios will be upgraded to match the new ones at a technical level, Feil adds.

While it's clear POP takes pride in the technology it deploys - such as the AMS Neve Logic MMC consoles, StarNet networking system and Fairlight V motion nonlinear video system - Feil says his company is built on more than bits and bytes. "Anyone can buy the equipment," he says. "We had core talent when we opened the doors, and we've brought in young people who have a passion for sound."

POP is home to audio experts such as Loren Silber, who mixed Fallon's United Airline spot "Pager", for which he won an International Monitor Award, and Mitch Dorf, who was recently named West Coast Mixer of the Year by The Association of Music Producers (AMP). Dorf also did sound work for Oliver Stone's Fidel Castro documentary Comandante, and for Crime & Punishment , a reality series helmed by Law & Order's Dick Wolf.

The company has also proven its film restoration chops on projects such as Singin' In The Rain and the non-music audio of The Beatles' Yellow Submarine . As well, it does some radio work and TV audio post-production on programs such as Bonnie Raitt's Emmy-nominated Road Tested and Ellen Degeneres' HBO special.

Despite such diversity, POP's bread is still largely buttered by commercials, particularly by mixing theatrical ads such as Leo Burnett's Nintendo GameCube campaign. "We're aware of developments in the various delivery formats - such as interactive television and video-on-demand," Feil says. "Our engineering departments discuss technologies, and that gives us a leg up on anticipating these things becoming mainstream."

While it pays to have a handle on the future Feil is enjoying the present as well, particularly the unprecedented importance of sound's role in entertainment. "We used to feel like sound was the last thing, after budgets had run out," he recalls, "but it has evolved to the point where sound can [either ] make something or cause it to fail."

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POP sound> http://www.popsound.com