Best Sound Design Studios in Chicago (2026)

Introduction

Chicago has a compact, experienced audio scene, most of it clustered in River North within walking distance of the agencies it serves. The 11 studios below cover sound design, mixing, voice recording and original music for advertising and content. They were chosen for current work, recent recognition and the depth of their client lists.

The agencies commissioning this work have been through a busy period. Omnicom's acquisition of IPG at the end of 2025 reshaped several of the city's network offices, while Publicis's Leo keeps its headquarters in the city. Chicago craft talent still wins attention nationally: at the AICP Awards' Chicago event in November 2025, Camp Kuleshov gave its Lev for sound design to Lucas Hansa of Another Country. National music companies keep courting the market too, and Butter Music and Sound signed Marni Reps for Midwest representation in September 2026. The Cinespace studio campus on the West Side has also pulled long-form audio work into the city, with BAM and Periscope both running rooms there.

Every studio here has an active Chicago base in 2026. The list runs in no fixed order of merit. Chicago is a smaller audio market than New York or Los Angeles, so we have listed 11 studios we could verify rather than padding the page to a round number.

The best sound design studios in Chicago

1. Another Country

Part of Cutters Studios · River North · anothercountry.net

Another Country is the audio post arm of the Cutters Studios group. It was founded by John Binder and is run by managing director Tim Konn, who joined in 2007. The studio works from the 25th floor of 515 N State Street, with a second studio in Oak Park, Michigan, outside Detroit. Sound designer Lucas Hansa won Camp Kuleshov's 2025 Lev for sound design, a year after Cutters Studios' Cliff Fitch took the same prize.

Its clients include State Farm, Allstate, Jeep, Wayfair, BetMGM, Rocket Mortgage and Netflix, and agency partners have included Leo, Highdive and VaynerMedia. By 2024 the studio had mixed the top-rated spot on USA Today's Super Bowl Ad Meter four times in five years. A 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos room was added in 2024, which is useful if a film or documentary needs an immersive mix.

2. Noisefloor

Independent · River North · noise-floor.com

Noisefloor Sound Solutions started in 2005 with two sound designers. It now has a team of eight sound designers, composers, producers, mixers and Foley artists at 320 W. Ohio Street. Alongside mixing, it offers voice casting, original music and sonic branding for advertising.

Its credits run from brand work for Coca-Cola, Warner Bros. and Big Ten Network to game audio on the Halo series and Injustice: Gods Among Us. The studio works with agencies of every size, from boutiques to global networks, and runs remote sessions for clients outside the city.

3. BAM Studios

Independent · River North and Cinespace · bamstudios.com

BAM was founded in 1999 and runs two Chicago sites: its headquarters at 1 E Erie Street and CineBAM inside the Cinespace campus. Between them it has four ADR stages and five mixing suites, with rooms security-cleared for Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Amazon. It describes itself as the Midwest's leading ADR facility.

Credits listed on its site include Toy Story 5, Stranger Things, Alien: Earth and Beef. On the advertising side it has worked with Ford, Nike and Porsche, and with agencies such as VML and Cramer-Krasselt. It suits campaigns that need celebrity voice sessions or remote ADR run to film-studio standards.

4. Chicago Recording Company

Independent · the Loop · chicagorecording.com

CRC dates from 1975, when founder Alan Kubicka moved the former Sound House Studios to Michigan Avenue. It is the largest recording company in the Midwest and now operates from 55 W Wacker Drive and 205 N Michigan Avenue under managing director Dave Dakich.

Commercial work covers voice-over recording and casting, sound design, custom Foley and music, with McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Samsung and Toyota among its clients. The film and TV side handles ADR for HBO, Netflix, Disney and ESPN. Remote sessions run over Source-Connect and Zoom, which helps when talent is out of town.

5. Earhole Studios

Independent · River North · earholestudios.com

Earhole is an original music and audio post house that has worked in Chicago for two decades, from 11 W Illinois Street. Its services cover composition for TV, radio, film and digital, music supervision, sonic branding, voice casting, mixing, sound design and 360-degree audio. The studio was a sponsor of the AICP Awards event in Chicago in November 2025.

The studio cites Cannes Lions, Clios, Effies, ADDYs and Radio Mercury Awards among the recognition its work has received, and says that work has run everywhere from Spotify to the Super Bowl. It does not publish a client list, so ask for a reel matched to your category.

6. Comma Music

Independent · Chicago · commamusic.com

Comma was founded in 2001 and co-founded by creative director Larry Pecorella. In 2018 it folded its post-audio brand, Particle Audio, into the main company, so music, sound design and mixing sit under one name. Today much of its business is a boutique production music library with one-stop licensing, alongside original composition, music supervision and audio logos.

Recent placements include Serta, Rocket Mortgage, Jersey Mike's, Peacock, Jim Beam, Jeep, the NHL, BetMGM, Reese's and Olive Garden. One-stop licensing makes it a quick option when a spot needs cleared music on a short schedule.

7. Sonixphere

Independent · Chicago · sonixphere.com

Sonixphere is a music production company led by president and creative director Greg Allan. It writes original music, audio branding, library and TV music and sound design, drawing on a broad composer roster.

Recent work includes Ozempic's "They're Back" in 2026, along with spots for Dick's Sporting Goods, Breathe Right, Naked Juice, Abbott, Jeep, Columbia Sportswear and La Quinta. Its scores for Abbott, Breathe Right and La Quinta won Communicator Awards for original music.

8. Slang Music Group

Minority-owned independent · Chicago · slangmusicgroup.com

Slang is a music and sound house led by founder and CEO Vince Lawrence, one of the pioneers of Chicago house music. It makes music for recording artists, commercials, film and television. It recently signed Grammy-winning producer Anthony Kilhoffer and launched SlangMusicVault, a stock music licensing platform.

Brand work includes Nissan's "PRIDE Partners of Progress" and Biktarvy's "I Can't Believe It's Me", with earlier work for KFC, Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola and Kellogg's. Agency partners have included Burrell Communications, OKRP and Leo. Its music films on Chicago's Black music history have received Webby and Telly recognition.

9. Periscope Post & Audio

Independent · Cinespace, West Side · periscopepa.com

Periscope is a sound and picture post house at 2602 W 16th Street, next to the Cinespace campus, owned by Mike Nehs. Audio is central to the business, with mixing, sound editorial, game audio and an online sound effects store, alongside editorial, colour and VFX.

Its credits include The Bear and The Chi, and its client list covers Netflix, Disney, NBC, HBO and Hulu. Long-form branded content and documentaries are a natural fit. In 2020 it partnered with Unlock Audio to offer complete audio packages for game developers.

10. Harbor Chicago

Part of Harbor · River North · harborpicturecompany.com

Harbor, founded by Zak Tucker in New York, opened a full-service Chicago studio at 358 W Ontario Street in October 2023. Sound design and voice-over recording sit in the same building as editorial, colour and VFX. New York mixer Brian Battersby relocated to the Chicago studio in 2023.

Battersby's commercial credits include Pantene, Nintendo, Citi, Olay and Pepsi, for agencies including BBH, Ogilvy and Grey. The Chicago studio's launch projects included Tide and Goldfish for Saatchi & Saatchi and Levi's for Droga5. Harbor suits brands that want the mix handled alongside the picture finish.

11. Diplomacy Music

Independent · Chicago · diplomacymusic.com

Diplomacy is the studio of composer, sound designer and engineer Daniel Brunelle, who previously worked with Chicago Recording Company's OneSun Entertainment. It covers composition, sound design and post mixing, including interactive music and sound for games.

Podcast credits include Marvel's Wastelanders: Black Widow, Gimlet's The Two Princes and SANDRA. Brand work includes Kellogg's, Maytag, Secret and Exelon. It is a good fit for audio-first projects and smaller budgets that still need a composer and mixer in one person.

What to look for in a Chicago sound design studio

Start with the rooms and what they are cleared for. A radio spot or social cut can be mixed almost anywhere, but a Dolby Atmos documentary mix or an ADR session with a studio-protected title needs the right facility. Chicago has both kinds within a few blocks of each other, so match the studio to the deliverable.

Ask who will sit at the console. Much of a studio's reputation rests on two or three mixers and sound designers, and people move between Chicago shops more often than the studio names suggest. Book the person whose reel you liked, by name.

Be clear about music rights before the first session. Library music with one-stop licensing is quick and predictable. Original composition costs more and takes longer, but gives the brand something it can own. Agree on terms, territories and buyouts early, especially for work that may run nationally.

Finally, ask how the studio handles files. A single spot can produce dozens of stems, alternate mixes and versions for broadcast, social and cinema. Studios that name, store and deliver these cleanly, and that keep a clear record of which mix was approved, save agencies a lot of time on revisions and re-edits later.

How Fabric helps sound design teams

Fabric gives audio teams one workspace for session files, stems, reference tracks and client feedback, with AI search across all of it. For studios juggling several agencies at once, the music creators setup keeps each project's files, briefs and notes together.

Session folders and stems sit in Fabric's cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space. Shared team folders always hold the latest versions, and the built-in viewer plays files without a download. There is more on why this matters in your audio sessions are scattered.

Audio and video transcription turns uploaded WAV, MP3, M4A and video files into searchable text with clickable timestamps. Combined with search, that means a producer can find the take where the voice artist read a particular line, or every spot that used a certain phrase, without scrubbing through hours of audio.

For client delivery, any mix or folder of versions can be published as a web page and shared with password protection. Link analytics shows when each named recipient opened it and for how long. Agency producers can leave threaded comments through a shared link without creating an account. Timestamped comments directly on audio files are coming soon.

Password protection and link analytics are included on Pro and Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best sound design studio in Chicago?

It depends on the job. For commercial sound design and mixing, Another Country has the strongest recent awards record, including the 2025 Camp Kuleshov Lev for sound design. BAM Studios and Chicago Recording Company lead on ADR and voice sessions, and Comma, Sonixphere and Slang focus on music.

What is the difference between a music house and an audio post studio?

A music house writes or licenses the music for a spot. An audio post studio records voice-over, builds sound design and mixes everything to broadcast or streaming specifications. Several Chicago studios, such as Earhole and Noisefloor, do both, which can simplify scheduling.

Where do Chicago productions go for ADR?

BAM Studios runs four ADR stages across River North and Cinespace, with rooms cleared for the major film studios. Chicago Recording Company also handles ADR for television networks and streamers, and both support remote sessions.

Can Chicago studios work with agencies in other cities?

Yes. Most studios on this list run remote sessions over Source-Connect or similar tools, so agency teams can direct voice talent and approve mixes without travelling. Another Country also has a studio near Detroit.

Which Chicago studios handle picture and sound together?

Harbor Chicago and Periscope Post & Audio both offer editorial, colour and sound under one roof. For more full-service options, see our list of the best post-production companies in Chicago.

Related lists

Sound design studios in other cities: New York · Los Angeles · London · Atlanta · Toronto

More in Chicago: Creative agencies · Advertising agencies · Post-production · Video production · Editing · Colour grading

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for music creators · Best cloud storage for music production · Fabric for creative teams