Top Atmos Mixer Emre Ramazanoglu On Why He Relies On Acon Digital Verberate Immersive
In immersive formats, reverb stops being a decorative effect and becomes a structural one. Once sound is no longer anchored to a fixed left–right image and allowed to move through space, reverberation plays a critical role in keeping elements coherent, believable, and connected. Used without intent, it can exaggerate separation and pull attention away from the mix. Used carefully, it helps immersive productions feel grounded rather than fragmented.
Few engineers have more practical experience navigating those trade-offs than Emre Ramazanoglu. Based in London, Emre works across major label releases, independent experimental projects, film and television scores, and large-scale immersive productions. He has completed well over 2,000 immersive mixes to date, including the Dolby Atmos mix of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust alongside original engineer Ken Scott.
In this interview with Acon Digital, Emre explains how he approaches reverb in immersive mixes, why neutrality and speed matter under real-world constraints, and why Verberate Immersive has become a dependable part of his Atmos workflow.
Tying Things Together in Three Dimensions
When Emre talks about reverb in immersive mixing, he is careful to separate immersion from excess.
“Oh, it’s super important,” he explains. “It’s tying things together. It’s not making things immersive, it’s tying things together in an immersive way, and being creative when you get to the object level.”
Rather than treating reverb as a shortcut to scale or spectacle, he sees it as a connective tool. Immersive formats already introduce movement and spatial complexity. Adding reverb without intention can make that complexity harder to control.
“Some people put a stereo thing in and whack reverb around and state it is immersive, and I would argue that’s troublesome on a lot of levels.”
“If you’re moving something in space and you want it to echo naturally, to feel like it can be heard in other parts of the mix, then reverb’s very useful. That’s a great use for immersive reverb.”
Preserving Stereo Integrity
Despite working extensively in Atmos, Emre’s starting point is still the stereo mix. Much of his immersive work is built around preserving that foundation rather than replacing it.
“Yeah, to a degree, that’s it,” he says when describing reverb as glue. “I’m preserving the stereo mix most of the time. In most of the professional jobs I’m doing, they’re mainly about preserving stereo integrity.”
That mindset shapes how and where reverb is introduced. Rather than defining the sound, it supports continuity as elements move beyond the traditional stereo field.
A Truly Natural Reverb
This emphasis on preservation explains why Emre gravitates towards reverb tools that stay out of the way unless asked to do otherwise.
“Verberate Immersive is really good because it doesn’t sound like anything if you don’t want it to. You can make it really neutral.”
“It doesn’t add personality unless you want it, which is really handy when you’ve got a lot of baked-in reverbs already.”
If he is looking for a very specific colour or plate-style sound, Verberate Immersive is not always his first choice. But when the goal is clarity, cohesion, and control, it consistently earns its place.
“If it’s for this gluing and shaping, it’s hard to beat.”
Beds, Objects, and Translation
How reverb is deployed depends heavily on the listening context. In many Atmos sessions, Emre places reverb within object beds to support translation, particularly over headphones.
“Most of the time, for headphone translation, I’ll have an object bed and then the reverb will probably be in that.”
At other times, reverb is applied directly to discrete objects, especially in more experimental or design-led work.
“That can get quite complicated if I’m doing frequency splits as well, which I often do, separating parts into different frequency ranges and then moving that around spatially.”
In some situations, reverb even replaces more conventional upmix techniques on a stem level within a mix.
“Sometimes I’ll use reverb, possibly instead of the upmix, depending on what sounds best and what I’m aiming for.”
Speed Under Pressure
Immersive mixes are rarely made under relaxed conditions. Large track counts, complex automation, and tight deadlines all place a premium on speed and clarity.
“The ease of tonal control is really useful,” Emre says. “It’s so quick to use. Feature-wise it’s really simple.”
Design decisions that prioritise immediacy matter more than long feature lists.
“You’ve got input and output EQ on one tab. That’s just what I want. You’re not mining down into menu after menu. It’s visual, it’s in front of you.”
“I don’t often like that kind of control,” he says of separate dry, early reflection, and reverb level faders, “but on this it’s perfect because of the way I use it.”
Keeping Movement Grounded
One of the biggest challenges in immersive mixing is preventing movement from becoming distracting. Reverb plays a key role in keeping rotating or travelling elements anchored in the mix.
“If I’m rotating something, I will definitely use this to either chase it in reverse fashion or just fill out the room a little bit, so everywhere is slightly excited as the rotating object is going around.”
The goal is subtle reinforcement, not attention-grabbing effect.
“It really helps tie it together.”
Rather than leaning into movement for its own sake, Emre approaches immersive work with the discipline of a cinema-style mix, where coherence and perspective take priority.
Design Choices and Working Fast
Emre also appreciates that Verberate Immersive has not followed the skeuomorphic design trend common across many plug-ins. Rather than replicating the look of physical hardware, its interface is focused on clarity and function.
“I would absolutely assume that some people write it off because of how it looks.”
For Emre, that restraint is a strength rather than a drawback.
“For me it’s like a pop-up in a digital console. Completely functional professionally.”
In high-pressure immersive sessions, visually complex or hardware-styled interfaces can slow things down. Tools that place essential controls clearly in front of the user make it easier to focus on the mix rather than the interface.
“I’ve never noticed it ever, which is a good sign.”
One Page, One Job
Ultimately, what keeps Verberate Immersive in Emre’s template is immediacy.
“Everything’s there. I love one-page plug-ins. I really do.”
“I even end up using touch control with it, which I don’t normally do with plug-ins at all.”
In immersive work, where complexity escalates quickly, clarity is not a luxury. Tools that prioritise speed, restraint, and coherence often do the heaviest lifting.
Doing the Heavy Lifting
For Emre, Verberate Immersive is not about spectacle or signature sound. Its value lies in how quietly it supports complex immersive work, helping moving elements feel connected, believable, and controlled without drawing attention to itself.
In formats where spatial freedom can easily become distraction, tools that prioritize clarity, speed, and restraint often end up doing the heaviest lifting. Reverb becomes less about effect and more about structure — and that role keeps Verberate Immersive at the center of his Atmos workflow.
Verberate Immersive is available now as an individual plugin priced at $199, with upgrade versions available for users of the stereo version of Verberate 2 and Acoustica.