WHY IS DOLBY ATMOS THE FUTURE OF MUSIC?
To answer this question, we need to understand how Dolby Atmos works in comparison to previous surround formats.
With formats such as 5.1 and 7.1, sounds get assigned to a specific channel. For example, if you’re watching a movie and there’s a person on-screen speaking, that dialogue will be assigned to the centre channel. If someone speaks off-screen to the left, that will be positioned in the left-side surround speaker. The issue with these surround formats is that they’re channel-based. This means that every sound has to be assigned to output from a specific channel. Therefore, you can only listen to that mix on a speaker configuration with the right number of channels for that mix. If you try to listen to a 7.1 mix on a 5.1 system, whatever content was in the two channels you don’t have will be lost.
To answer this question, we need to understand how Dolby Atmos works in comparison to previous surround formats.
With formats such as 5.1 and 7.1, sounds get assigned to a specific channel. For example, if you’re watching a movie and there’s a person on-screen speaking, that dialogue will be assigned to the centre channel. If someone speaks off-screen to the left, that will be positioned in the left-side surround speaker. The issue with these surround formats is that they’re channel-based. This means that every sound has to be assigned to output from a specific channel. Therefore, you can only listen to that mix on a speaker configuration with the right number of channels for that mix. If you try to listen to a 7.1 mix on a 5.1 system, whatever content was in the two channels you don’t have will be lost.
Enter Dolby Atmos. Dolby Atmos is not a channel-based format. It is object-based. What this means is that rather than assigning a sound to output from a specific channel, it is assigned a position in a virtual 3D space. These virtual positions can be replicated on any listening device that is Atmos-enabled. The device will decode the Atmos metadata and decide where it’s best to position sounds for your specific listening configuration. So whether you’re listening on a 9.1.6 system or a pair of headphones, you can listen to the same mix. A specific mix for your speaker configuration is no longer required.
The addition of height speakers to the previous surround formats takes the listening experience from a 2D one, with all speakers positioned on the same level, to a 3D one, with the sound fully immersing the listener. The ability to adapt the immersive mix into a binaural render to experience in headphones is the key factor here. This binaural technology, which is constantly developing and improving, makes immersive audio accessible on a consumer level. It means it can be experienced by anybody, anytime; not just those with an expensive speaker configuration.
This is why it’s the future of music. Immersive audio is available to everyone already, with no additional expense required. If you have a subscription to Apple Music, Deezer, TIDAL, or Amazon Music, then you can already experience it via your headphones. And the immersive experience will only get better as the binaural rendering technology improves.
From a musician’s perspective, this is really exciting. For 60 years, artists have been writing and recording songs knowing they can only be experienced two-dimensionally. But now there’s a whole extra level of creativity that can be explored. Voices and sounds can be moved around the listener; they are no longer tied to the strict boundary between the left and right channels. Dolby Atmos also has very strict rules for loudness levels, and songs that exceed the level will be rejected by DSPs. This is in contrast to stereo mixes where, although there are loudness guidelines provided by DSPs, they can be exceeded without meaningful consequence. This means that things don’t need to be compressed or limited so aggressively because creating a super-loud mix isn’t a factor. But also because there are so many places to position things in the virtual 3D space, things don’t need to be EQ’d so aggressively either because frequency masking is far less of an issue.
It’s also true that DSPs that already support Dolby Atmos are prioritising it on their platforms. For example, Apple Music is now only playlisting songs that have a Spatial Audio mix available.
So, all this means that if you want to future-proof your music, an Atmos mix is essential.
GLOSSARY
An immersive audio technology that allows sound to be positioned in a virtual 3D space instead of assigned to a specific channel, making it accessible on any listening device that is Atmos-enabled.
Traditional surround sound formats that assign sounds to specific channels, requiring a speaker configuration with the same number of channels to experience the mix.
A sound mixing technique where sounds are assigned to specific channels.
A sound mixing technique where sounds are assigned a position in a virtual 3D space, making it possible to replicate the sound on any listening device.
The ability to position sound in three-dimensional space, allowing the listener to feel fully immersed in the sound.
The process of adapting an immersive mix into a format that can be experienced through headphones.
The perceived loudness of a sound, which can be measured in LUFS.
Digital Service Providers, such as Apple Music, Deezer, TIDAL or Amazon Music, that offer streaming music services to consumers.
A feature in Apple Music that allows listeners to experience Dolby Atmos mixes.
A phenomenon where one sound can make it difficult to hear another sound in the same frequency range.
