Dolby Atmos

[cyrilblanc]



Hello
I am new on this forum.
I am French, excuse my bad English.
I am a composer and I write Pop Orchestral music, film orchestral music.
I just made my move to Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 with Adam's A series monitors and 2 x Presonus Quantum 2626 audio interface.

I am on MacBook Pro MAX (M3 128GB) and I use Logic Pro

I have MIR PRO and Dolby renderer AU plug-ins as well as most VSL instruments, quite a few Kontakt plug-ins and most of the Arturia's

What is the best way to go ?
- Do I use the Atmos plug-ins of Logic ?
- Do I use the plug-ins of DOLBY ?
- Do I use MIR PRO ?
- Do I use MIR X ?
- Do I use the 7.1.4 Reverb of Logic ?

Thanks in advance for your advise.

Musically
Cyril Blanc

[jimjazzdad]

I regret I cannot answer your questions as I don't mix in atmos but I am sure somebody here on the forum does. I am just replying to your post to 'bump' it up to the top of the queue again. Bonne chance!

[The Red Bladder]

There is an absolute wealth of information within this website right here and this article from 2023 gives you a good jumping-off point to more and more articles https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/atmos-capable-daws

[Hugh Robjohns]

Hello
I am new on this forum.

Hello, and welcome.

I am French, excuse my bad English.

It's a lot better than my French, n'est pas?

- Do I use the Atmos plug-ins of Logic ?
- Do I use the plug-ins of DOLBY ?
- Do I use MIR PRO ?
- Do I use MIR X ?
- Do I use the 7.1.4 Reverb of Logic ?

The answer is yes!

By which I mean use whatever delivers what you need and suits your workflow preferences. The aim is to create a multichannel mix comprising the requisite beds and objects which you can pass into the renderer. How you get there, with what tools is entirely down to you.

[ManFromGlass]

Perhaps start with the tools you have in Logic. If those don’t have the right feel for you then expand into what other companies offer.

[Luke W]

As Hugh says, try them all and see what works for you!

That said, if you're doing lots of orchestral work then I think MIR Pro 3D is well worth exploring. I've not used it myself, but it's a clever bit of software and has been designed specifically for creating spatial/immersive mixes with orchestral instruments. The interface looks very intuitive, too.

Disclaimer: I don't mix in Atmos!

[cyrilblanc]

> that said, if you're doing lots of orchestral work then I think MIR Pro 3D is well worth exploring. I've not used it myself, but it's a clever bit of software and has been designed specifically for creating spatial/immersive mixes with orchestral instruments. The interface looks very intuitive, too.

Yes MIR PRO 3D is very good plug-ins but it gives an immersive sound, you cannot direct a sound to a defined HP, all instruments goes in the whole 7.1.4 speakers and you cannot move a sound around
They need to make a venue specialised for Dolby Atmos

[cyrilblanc]

Hello
Many thanks for all your replies
I am back to my studio after holidays.

Is there is somebody mixing in Dolby Atmos that can share it's experience ?

Musically

Cyril

[James Perrett]

Is there is somebody mixing in Dolby Atmos that can share it's experience ?

I think that there are far fewer people using Atmos than the marketing people would like you to believe. My son, who is very technically literate and generally receptive to new technology, was very disappointed when he heard Focal's Atmos demo at Gearfest last year. He felt that any system that only works when you are in one small sweet spot simply isn't sensible.

Binaural audio on headphones makes more sense - although the standard Neumann dummy head doesn't work well for me.

None of my clients have ever asked me about doing an Atmos mix (or any other surround format) - in fact I'm probably more likely to be asked to do a mono mix than an Atmos mix.

[ManFromGlass]

A few quick thoughts from what I’ve been learning -
I’ve heard some fantastic immersive mixes but I struggle with the sweet spot issue too. Under headphones up and down and behind sound is disappointing as well.
But compare stereo to immersive under headphones and there is some of the magic happening that is hard to put your finger on but it is very nice. I want to say somehow fuller but that may not be the right word. That being said you wouldn’t notice if you didn’t listen to each mix side by side.
If the track is released on Apple then Apple will prioritize that track in it’s playlist suggestions over stereo mixes so theoretically more plays for that track.
Then the issue of Atmos choosing the right mix for your listening environment of choice - whether earbuds or multi speaker system, might make mixes go faster because you mix once, not multiple mixes if you were doing that.
To my ear Atmos is still a bit of a gimmick for “traditional” popular mixes, but there are some people doing wonderful surprising ear candy things with it. I’m looking forward to experimenting with it!

[Hugh Robjohns]

I think that there are far fewer people using Atmos than the marketing people would like you to believe.

It depends enormously on which market you're working in.

If you're composing for mainstream theatrical film, or final mixing a film release, Atmos is the default format now.

It's also starting to become a more common requirement for big budget TV productions, and especially for computer games.

For music releases, it tends to be an artist driven thing, rather than a commercial requirement, not least because the audience equipped for Atmos playback is still pretty tiny.

Apple earbuds is probably the biggest Atmos outlet via binaural translation... but I've not used them in earnest so I've no idea how successfull they are. Most binaural systems are inconsistent unless personalised HRTFs are used in the encoder... and that is still very rare.

For loudspeaker playback there shouldn't be a sweet-spot issue with Atmos if it's done properly... as it usually is in big cinemas.

But most music systems — especially those crammed into demo booths — don't have enough speaker locations or enough physical space to provide a genuine 3D experience.

Sadly, that was also the problem with Quadraphonics and 5.1, too.

[MOF]

I struggle with the sweet spot issue too. Under headphones up and down and behind sound is disappointing as well.

I have the same experience, maybe that would improve if I had the custom ear scans done but it’s not a priority right now.

Do you have to deliver a surround mix or are you creating more work for yourself i.e. just provide stems of each strings, brass etc section and leave the dubbing engineers to sort out the levels, reverb etc?

[The Elf]

I've done a few mixes in Atmos, but I'm a Cubase user, so I can't be specific.

It depends on what you're wanting to achieve. For music mixes it's all about the Bed, not Objects. It pays to set up a good template as a starting point and work from there each time.

[cyrilblanc]

I have just watch :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UejCQvbCTJY

Very interesting

[The Elf]

So are you mixing for film?

[ManFromGlass]

Newer iphones have an app that will create a personal HTRF profile for you.

[cyrilblanc]

So are you mixing for film?

For the moment I am mixing for music, but I have music that can be considered like a music for film.
From what I understand is the Dolby Atmos mixing have to forget about rules of the past ; rules that are defined for the Orchestra.
He says "why not putting 1st Violin on the right and second one on the left or vice and versa"
He is doubling tracks, adding delay
The panning has to be done very slowly
He use a plug in called "Density"
He give a lot of tricks
He has MIR PRO but he does not use it
It is very helpful to download the video so you are able to ZOOM IN on the tracks

[cyrilblanc]

Newer iphones have an app that will create a personal HTRF profile for you.

HTRF ; what does it mean ?

[The Elf]

So are you mixing for film?

For the moment I am mixing for music, but I have music that can be considered like a music for film.
From what I understand is the Dolby Atmos mixing have to forget about rules of the past ; rules that are defined for the Orchestra.

I'm really only interested in Atmos for music. In that context the 'rules' still apply helpfully as far as I am concerned.

I use Atmos to make a good stereo mix sound like a more immersive stereo mix. The last thing I need is a violin sweeping around my head. But if you like the idea, then try it.

[Drew Stephenson]

HTRF ; what does it mean ?

Head Related Transfer Function. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-rela ... r_function

[Sam Spoons]

AKA TSOYE