10-Minute Dolby Atmos Mixing Setup Challenge

Elevate your mixing game and take control of your sound like never before!

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[mountainlabelmusic]

I am nowhere near an "expert" with Dolby Atmos, but one thing I feel like most people should consider is the True Peak you had mentioned in the video. Depending on your fold-down settings will determine your True Peak, since the loudness reading is based off of a 5.1 render. Most people should ALSO check True Peak for binaural, which (to me) is more important than Average LUFs. I don't know why UMG and Warner are obsessed with an average loudness, instead of True Peak and Range (The difference in loudness between different parts of the song). Nobody mixing in Stereo to an averaged integrated loudness, but rather pushing the limits into limiters and bus compression, etc. In my opinion, as long as you aren't pushing into the binaural limiter, you should be good for the most part in terms of getting your song "loud". Great video either way!!

[NyssaRay]

Far out! this is the most comprehensive, no fluff tute on Dolby I’ve seen so far. Thanks so so so much

[matthewteden]

Such a valuable resource! Quick, concise, and direct. One stop shop

[JavierRivas]

Best video I’ve seen for this subject. Thanks!

[FeistySavage]

I use studio one 6 and Dolby is integrated. This video was really helpful

[bobbyzadeh]

Much appreciate the value you provide! So thank your for that first of all!

Could you do a video on using Dolby Atmos in Logic as well? That would be very great and helpful 🙏🏽

Saying thank you and hello from Germany 🙋🏽‍♂️

[g_bavera]

Super informative, thanks for all this content! Would be amazing to see your set-up in more details (hardware and stuff). Also, what has been your experience transitioning from stereo to atmos? Cheers

[famousarmystudio]

FYI for those that have updated PT or the Renderer - using 129 no longer works. You have to sacrifice obj buss 128 to use it now. Not sure why this is, but the recent update to PT broke using 129

[viewledger]

Audio signal question were all wondering about: Does placement of speacer (inside receiver) change what Audio the speaker get?

Showrom is limited to 7.2.4

2 options:
1. Height wall front
2. Heiht top front

Do the speakers get the same audio or is there a difference in What audio is sent to the different positions?
Or do height speakers get the same audio regardless of wall, top front or top middle instructions to the receiver?

[yocanon]

Can't thank you enough for this video! Trying to figure out how to audition the Apple spatial on the AirPod Max's has been a pain.

[erickbardales]

When playing your MP4 file on your iPhone make sure to play it using your iPhones built in Files App. Also, even if you’re mixing with headphones only please make sure to turn Speaker Outputs ON so that you can see the meters for all of the channels, that way you keep an eye on those meters and know that you’re not distorting your surround and height channels. Those channels are not as audible or perceived in headphones.

[audiokemestry]

Nice breakdown. So are you going to continue doing Atmos mixing on headphones, or do you plan on investing in a proper 7.1.2 Atmos monitoring system?

[shawnyvibes]

Good day can you sent me the link for the dolby Atmos template?

[memeswillneverdie]

Cubase has one of the tightest integrations with Dolby atmos and the renderer is baked in, if you get nuendo you’ve go no limit to the number of beds or objects you can have

[owlmuso]

Thank you for another awesome video! I think this set up is only available on mac, if I am not mistaken

[magnusrecords]

Hey Nicholas, Thank you for the great and insighful video! What do you usually set your binaural redermode settings to in the plugin and how do you usually utilise those settings within your mix? e.g. do you usually set certain objects to a certain distance?

[bigstewdio]

What a great video, thanks so much for doing this.

What really struck me was how Dolby Atmos is unbelievably complicated from a mixing point of view. Okay, I'm not familiar with Pro Tools so some of it may simply be to do with that, but oh my word it adds a layer (or layers) of complexity to the mixing process. Again, being fair, some of this is a one time setup thing but you can't hide from the "Surround Sound on Steroids" nature of Dolby Atmos with all the complexity that involves.

My own personal view is that this is not going to be adopted. I think the huge extra cost in production and in playback systems (which can take advantage of it) is not going to make this any more than a niche market. And being honest, I don't think it makes listening to music a tangibly better experience in the way that stereo sounds simply better than mono. It's different, but not necessarily better. In fact, I think many people will consider it worse. So this is definitely pushing something that consumers don't need and don't really want. Although there's a huge amount of effort being put into convincing people otherwise. Which may work.

Crystal ball gazing to one side though, I have to say I just desperately hope that this doesn't become the new musical standard. From a personal point of view it would involve a huge investment in time and money. But from a "world of music" point of view it makes the barriers to entry so much higher and that will inevitably squash creativity.

[saardean]

Doing the Lords work my friend!
When I read "so you...." even with my non native English I knew what follows :-)
I must say that Atmos has not convinced me . I have also high doubts it will stay. Same as surround music a few years back or "super audio" music etc etc.
Somehow a simple but good Stereo setup is a already almost the pinnacle of sound reproduction. 
Multiple speakers is something very few people will actually do resulting in a very niche product and market.
I mean its crazy I know but people have moved backwards from using stereo to Bluetooth speakers somewhere in the corner of a room. 
Who exactly is going to install multiple speakers and where? I really don't believe it. Same goes for headphones. I don't have statistics but I think Headphone 
audiophiles are a small percentage of the population also. 
Maybe it will be cool in the Cinemas.

Of course I might be wrong, who knows.

Thanks for your constant work and quality content.
Cheers !

[gius_taakstudio]

Great tutorial ! I am missing how to export the atmos wav(s) from Ableton Live? thanks!

[romanx]

Hey can u make a video on file delivery formats? Do you export on mp3/aac at all?