Best Sound Design Studios in Toronto (2026)

Introduction

Toronto's sound design market splits into two groups that often share talent. Music and sound shops compose, design, cast and mix for the city's agencies and their national clients, while post houses handle sound editorial, ADR, foley and Dolby Atmos mixing for features and series shot in Ontario. The 10 studios below cover both, chosen for recent work, named people and an active Toronto base in 2026.

Several of these shops have reshaped themselves over the last few years. Grayson Music opened a new studio in the Fashion District in February 2026, with three commercial recording rooms, and now runs teams in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles as well. Vapor Music, which absorbed RMW Music in 2016, added a long-form brand and a game audio division with a Dolby Atmos certified mix room. Pirate Sound, more than 30 years old, rebuilt its team and now produces podcasts alongside commercial work. On the long-form side, Jane Tattersall, who founded Tattersall Sound & Picture and now runs Picture Shop Toronto, receives the Canadian Society of Cinematographers' Bill Hilson Award on 25 October 2026.

Every studio here has an active Toronto office in 2026. The list runs in no fixed order of merit, because the right studio depends on the format, the budget and whether you need original music, sound design, a final mix or all three.

The best sound design studios in Toronto

1. Grayson Music

Independent · Fashion District · wearegraysonmusic.com

Grayson Music has made music and sound for advertising since 1997 and has more than 460 credits on LBB. Founder and chief creative officer Tom Westin leads it with executive producer and partner Kelly McCluskey. In February 2026 it opened a new Toronto studio with three commercial recording rooms, writing rooms and a performance stage, designed by the late architect Terry Medwedyk.

Its services run from original composition and licensing to voiceover and audio post-production. The company lists an AICP win in 2025, a Clio Music Silver and Silver and Gold at the Shots Americas awards in 2025. It also runs Grayson Catalog, a licensing library, and launched The Living Room, a performance series that opened with Chantal Kreviazuk, in 2026.

2. Vapor Music

Independent, founder-owned · Toronto · vapormusic.com

Vapor Music is led by co-founder and owner Joey Serlin, with Lindsey Bates as managing partner, and runs six studios across Toronto and Vancouver. Its 2016 acquisition of RMW Music made it one of the larger audio post firms in Canada. Services cover composition, licensing, sound design, voice casting and direction, and sonic branding.

In 2023 it launched Long Division for television and film, with a Dolby Atmos certified mix room and a casting studio, and Vapor Game Audio, whose credits include Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Long-form work includes the Emmy-winning series Hilda and Spin Master's Unicorn Academy. In February 2026 it scored Toyota Canada's RAV4 spot "The More We Get Together" for Saatchi & Saatchi Canada, producing a new recording with Dallas Green of City and Colour.

3. Pirate Sound

Independent · St. Lawrence · piratesound.com

Pirate Sound started in radio more than 30 years ago and grew into film and TV, with 18 awards and more than 200 credits listed on LBB. Vanya Drakul, who marked 20 years at the company in December 2025, leads a team of sound directors, producers, casting directors, composers and music supervisors from a studio on Front Street East. A 2023 rebuild added Dolby Atmos expertise and podcast production.

Recent work includes Rogers' Blue Jays campaign with Michael Cera for Publicis Canada, Canadian Blood Services for Diamond, North York General Hospital for Courage, Nature's Way for Broken Heart Love Affair and Petro-Canada for McCann Canada. Its film and TV credits include Netflix's Hot Frosty and PBS Kids' Let's Go Luna, and in 2026 it helped select music for Canada's Juno Awards.

4. Eggplant Music & Sound

Partner-owned · Queen East · theeggplant.com

Eggplant is a partner-owned music and sound house on Queen Street East, run by executive producer Nicola Treadgold, director Rocco Gagliese, Adam Damelin and Dave Conlon. It offers original composition, music supervision and licensing, sound design, voice direction, foley and mixing in 5.1, for commercials, film and video games. Its sister company, Eggplant Picture & Sound, handles picture post.

It is credited on a steady run of Toronto agency work. Recent jobs include Sephora Canada and KitKat for Courage, McDonald's Canada's Raptors poutine campaign for Cossette, Mackenzie Investments for The Garden and In the Raw for Broken Heart Love Affair. Award-winning work credited to Eggplant on LBB includes HomeEquity Bank's "If These Walls Could Talk" and KFC Canada's "Hockey Smile" in 2026.

5. TA2 Sound + Music

Independent · Leslieville and Ossington · ta2music.com

TA2 is a music and sound company led by president and audio director Steve Gadsden, with executive producer Dana Gadsden, working from studios on Eastern Avenue and Ossington Avenue. It covers recording, voiceover and ADR, sound design and mixing, sonic branding, composition, licensing and casting, with remote sessions over Source-Connect. Audio director Joseph Frustaglio joined in 2023.

Clients include Coca-Cola's FUZE Iced Tea, Boston Pizza, Real Canadian Superstore, Co-operators, Easy-Off and The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. TA2 also works in podcasts: its site lists five Signal Awards in 2025 for "Sorry About the Murder", and it has been named Music and Sound Company of the Year at The One Show.

6. Boombox Sound

Independent, partner-led · King West · boomboxsound.com

Boombox was founded in 2005 and is run by partners Umber Hamid, chief executive, and Roger Leavens, executive creative director, from a studio on Adelaide Street West. It handles voice direction and casting, music production and composition, licensing and sound design across advertising, film, TV, games and VR. The studio lists Cannes Lions Golds in 2021 and 2022 and a One Show Gold in 2022.

Much of its recent work is with Courage, including KFC Canada's "SPICEMAN" and Cheetos chicken campaigns and CIBC's launch spot for the Toronto Tempo. Other 2025 and 2026 credits include the Canada Revenue Agency for Feast and the Hockey Diversity Alliance for Felon. Earlier clients include Dove, RBC, Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire.

7. Berkeley

Independent · Corktown · berkeleyto.com

Berkeley is a sound and music company for advertising, founded by Jared Kuemper and named after its address on Berkeley Street. It offers composition, voiceover casting, sound design, licensing, sonic branding and mixing, with 5.1 surround studios, and works on everything from national TV campaigns to social content.

Its client list includes Capital One, Audi, Scotiabank, Canadian Tire, Walmart, Four Seasons, Casey House and the Royal Ontario Museum's "T-Rex Drive Thru". In September 2025 it worked on CIBC's Run for the Cure film, directed by Celine Song for Courage.

8. xylo audio

Independent · Riverside · xylo.audio

xylo is a smaller Toronto studio making sound for moving image from Carroll Street, east of the Don River. It offers original music, sound design, audio post-production, music supervision and sonic branding across commercials, film and branded content.

Clients include The Ordinary and Deciem, ecobee, Canada Goose, TD, Grubhub, Under Armour and Audible. It suits brands and production companies that want one small team to carry music, design and the final mix.

9. Urban Post Production

Independent · Leslieville · urbanpost.ca

Urban Post has worked from Toronto's film studio district since 2000, and its Boston Avenue building handles sound and picture for features, drama series, documentaries and animation. Sound editorial uses in-house and freelance supervising sound editors with custom libraries, and the facility has two ADR rooms with remote connections and an on-site foley stage.

Mixing runs in Dolby Atmos theatrical and nearfield, 7.1 and 5.1. The company's work has been recognised by the International Emmys, the Canadian Screen Awards and the Motion Picture Sound Editors, and Tatiana Maslany recorded ADR there with John Laing for all five seasons of Orphan Black. It is a practical choice when picture and sound need to finish under one roof.

10. Picture Shop Toronto

Streamland Media · Toronto · pictureshop.com

Picture Shop's Toronto studio offers editorial, colour, sound and mastering for film and episodic work. Managing director Jane Tattersall founded Tattersall Sound & Picture, a long-running Toronto sound and picture facility, and has more than three decades in sound post, starting with a Genie Award for David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch.

She continues to take select sound editing projects, with recent credits on AMC's The Vampire Lestat and Hulu's The Testaments. She shared the 2023 Canadian Screen Award for sound editing on Clement Virgo's Brother. Ask which mixers and stages will be assigned, since Picture Shop's Toronto sound offer sits inside a larger finishing business.

What to look for in a Toronto sound design studio

Start with the format. Commercial music and sound shops such as Grayson, Pirate, Eggplant and Boombox are set up for 30-second spots, cut-downs and fast agency approvals, often with voice casting in the same building. Long-form houses such as Urban Post and Picture Shop run sound editorial, ADR, foley and theatrical mixing on a schedule built around a series or a feature. A few, including Vapor through Long Division, work on both.

Book the people. Sound design depends on a sound director's ear and a mixer's judgement, so look at reels close to your job, ask who will sit in the session and check whether the composer, the sound designer and the mixer are the same person or three. If you need a new Dolby Atmos mix, confirm the room is certified and that the mixer has delivered Atmos for your platform.

Settle music rights early. Many Toronto shops compose, license and supervise music, and the cost of a track depends on media, territory and term. Agree whether the score is original, a licensed track or a re-record, and who holds the masters, before the edit locks.

Finally, plan how files and feedback will move. A single spot can produce several mixes, stems for each version, separate VO takes and loudness-specific deliverables for broadcast and online. Clear naming, one place where agency, client and studio can find the current mix, and a record of which notes were addressed in which pass will shorten each review round.

How Fabric helps sound design teams

Fabric gives a sound studio one workspace for session files, stems, reference tracks and client feedback, with AI search across all of it. Each job can have a shared space holding the script, the music brief, VO takes, every mix sent for review and the final deliverables. There is more on the underlying problem in your audio sessions are scattered, and a short primer on what a stem is for producers new to delivery specs.

Session folders and stems sit in Fabric's cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space, and the built-in viewer plays files without other software. Audio and video transcription turns uploaded WAV, MP3, M4A and video files into searchable text with clickable timestamps, so a producer can find the VO take where the talent says a particular line. Search works by meaning across scripts, briefs, notes and transcripts.

For review, a mix or a folder of versions can be published as a web page with password protection, and link analytics shows when each named recipient opened it and for how long. Agency and client teams can leave threaded comments through a shared link without creating an account. Timestamped comments on audio and video are coming soon; today annotations cover PDFs and documents such as scripts and cue sheets.

The mix itself stays in the studio and the DAW. Fabric keeps the material around each session organised and easy to share, with AES-256 encryption for files in transit and at rest.

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 Toronto?

It depends on the work. For advertising, Grayson Music, Pirate Sound, Eggplant, TA2 and Boombox are among the most credited music and sound shops on Toronto agency campaigns. For film and series, Urban Post Production and Picture Shop Toronto run sound editorial, ADR and Dolby Atmos mixing.

Which Toronto studios mix in Dolby Atmos?

Urban Post Production mixes in Dolby Atmos theatrical and nearfield, and Vapor Music's Long Division has a Dolby Atmos certified mix room. Pirate Sound also has Dolby Atmos expertise on staff. Confirm room certification and the mixer's delivery experience for your platform before booking.

Do Toronto sound studios work on games and podcasts?

Yes. Vapor Music runs a dedicated game audio division, and Eggplant lists video games among its services. For podcasts, Pirate Sound has a production team and TA2's work on "Sorry About the Murder" won five Signal Awards in 2025.

Should sound be booked separately from editing and colour?

On most Toronto commercials it is: the agency or production company books a music and sound shop alongside a separate editorial house and colour studio. For long-form work, a single facility can be simpler. See our list of the best post-production companies in Toronto for houses that cover edit, colour, VFX and sound together.

What happened to RMW Music?

Vapor Music acquired RMW Music in 2016. Its work now runs through Vapor's Toronto studios.

Related lists

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

More in Toronto: Creative agencies · Post-production · Editing · Color grading · Video production · Animation

Run your sound studio on Fabric: Fabric for music creators · Best cloud storage for music production · How to organise audio project files