Manny Marroquin

Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Rosalía, the Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Post Malone, Bruno Mars, John Mayer, 2Pac, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Sia, Lana Del Rey, SZA, Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo, and Glass Animals, among others. Marroquin has won 14 Grammy Awards from 43 nominations, as well as four Latin Grammy Awards. He has worked from Larrabee Studios since 2001.

Life and career Marroquin's family relocated to Los Angeles, California when he was nine years old due to the Guatemalan Civil War. As a student at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, Marroquin had access to the school's recording studio, where he recorded demos for other students, and decided he wanted to pursue mixing. Despite college scholarship offers, he followed a teacher's advice to take an entry-level studio job instead; after graduating, he began working at Enterprise Studios as a runner and worked his way up to an engineering position. His professional breakthrough occurred during a late-night studio session when a producer asked him for a rough mix. Impressed by Marroquin's work, the producer entrusted him with mixing the entire album, though it ultimately went unreleased.

In 2001, he started working out of Larrabee Studios, and as the studio sought new ownership in 2005, Marroquin assumed control and has since operated the facility. In 2015, he began building a sound studio with the intention of putting a restaurant inside of it.

Marroquin won his first Grammy in 2000 for Mary Mary's album, Thankful. In 2004, he received two Grammys for Album of the Year for Kanye West's The College Dropout, and Alicia Keys' The Diary of Alicia Keys. He won another Grammy for his work on the album Get Lifted by John Legend in 2005, and Battle Studies by John Mayer in 2011. The Grammy Museum, which opened in Los Angeles in December 2008, acknowledged Marroquin's musical achievement with its mixing exhibit. The interactive exhibit allowed players to mix a track under the guidance of Marroquin.

In 2013, Marroquin collaborated with Waves Audio, a developer of audio plugins and signal processors. Together, they launched a collection of virtual instrument effects. Each plugin was designed to reflect Marroquin's approach to sound design.

In 2022, Audeze, a manufacturer of high-end audio equipment, announced a partnership with Marroquin, resulting in the release of a line of headphones designed for both studio and personal use. The MM-500s and MM-100s were the flagship products of this collaboration.

Marroquin has also worked with Sonos since 2012, assisting the manufacturer of smart speakers and sound systems with the audio tuning of their products.

Selected discography

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards are presented annually by The Recording Academy. Marroquin has received 14 wins from 48 nominations as of 2023.