Dolby Atmos - the NEW Surround-Sound
Dolby Atmos was developed by Dolby Laboratories and is a surround-sound technology.
“It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels, allowing sounds to be interpreted as three-dimensional objects.”¹
The first instances of Atmos were in the movie theaters, but now it’s making huge inroads into recorded media.
EVENTUALLY – to your recorded music!!
In order to mix in Atmos correctly, you really should have a calibrated multi-speaker system, and a room with which to set up that system.
Certification is not required, unless you wish to compete with the bigger, cutting-edge studios, but calibration is necessary for accuracy and the ability to insure the music “translates” across various systems (including stereo speaker, earbuds and headphones).
As the groovy lil’ home studio that it is, Rogue’s Hollow Recordings is not currently offering Atmos mixes.
BUT – and one very important thing to understand is that –
Atmos utilizes stems from the actual stereo mix. (IE: Drums, Bass, Vocals, etc. are rendered as individual files, or - stems.)
And if the Atmos mix is done correctly, it will “fold down” to that stereo mix in a complimentary fashion.
What all that means is: You can still record here, and have your music mixed here, then your stems can be sent to an Atmos mixing house for the full surround-sound treatment!
Apple is already streaming Atmos music mixes:
June 2021: “Apple announced Apple Music is bringing industry-leading sound quality to subscribers with the addition of Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos. Spatial Audio gives artists the opportunity to create immersive audio experiences for their fans with true multidimensional sound and clarity. Apple Music subscribers will also be able to listen to more than 75 million songs in Lossless Audio — the way the artists created them in the studio. These new features will be available for Apple Music subscribers starting next month at no additional cost.”²
If you are already a subscriber to Apple Music, your Apple device and Apple earbuds are essentially playing in binaural when listening to a Dolby Atmos mix. (TIP - If the original song was NOT mixed in Atmos, turn off that setting in your Apple device!! Apparently Apple is starting to play everything in Atmos/Binaural as the default setting - whether you want it or not!!)
Binaural mixes for headphones have been around for a long time, and when done right area very cool “immersive” experience.
Though, it is still a subjective experience - as some people’s ears hear differently, and do not have the same experience!
(It’s actually been known to make some people dizzy, or even nauseous!)
Dolby Atmos may be the path to a standardized representation for earbud and headphone listening. Eventually.
It will be some time yet before bands and composers start to create within the Atmos environment, but the way things are taking off, it will happen at some point in the not-to-distant future.
(And as with all things cutting edge - it will most likely be the national acts getting in first, since they have the bigger bank accounts!)
Also interesting to note is that the consumer technology, as with all new innovative technologies, isn’t quite ready for prime time just yet -
As mentioned - what sounds good in binaural to one person, may not to the next person.
This all stems from how our ears hear our surrounding environment.
Until earbuds and headphones can read our ears and adjust the EQ curves proportionately to each and every pair of ears, it may be some time before everyone has the same experience…
And the same can be said of home systems as well - as yet, there is no standard for home Atmos systems.
What sounds amazing in the studio that mixes in Atmos, will not likely translate to your home system - even if calibrated!!
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Here are some links if you’d like more information -
² Apple:
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/05/apple-music-announces-spatial-audio-and-lossless-audio/
Dolby:
https://www.dolby.com/technologies/dolby-atmos/#gref