I noticed Logic recently got an update for Dolby Atmos. I'm wondering, is this the future that music production will take? I have a hard enough time mixing in stereo so I can't imagine having multiple channels to work with. I'm just not sure if this will only be used for stuff like movie and game soundtracks or will it apply to general music consumption as well. If I do need to learn it, will it be a steep learning curve requiring new hardware?

 

In this live stream luca pretolesi talks about spatial audio incl dolby atmos. sorry i can't remember the exact timestamp.

 

I don't know the stats, but a wander through a consumer electronics store seems to indicate that people listen to music through their audio/visual surround system, which with its DSP magic turns top notch studio mixes to a side show. Hi-Fi stores are a rarity and don't cater to those seeking a good stereo system on a budget. So, maybe Dolby Atmos will be a thing, but it won't be my thing. I'm a Logic user and this is the first time since emagic days that I won't be upgrading. I have no desire to mix a song where somebody appears over my right shoulder banging on a cowbell.

 

Agree, it's still not the time, maybe in future? lot of people in my region don't have atmos verified sound systems most of them have hi-fi speakers or mostly headphones. my target is that audience then why do i need to mix my compositions for dolby atmos? and it also consumes much processing power.

But when considering the future i don't think that spatial audio is too far. it's better to be equipped.

 

just because there is a packet of atomic hotsauce in your take out curry doesn't mean you have to put it on your food. DAWs have have multichannel outs for a long time now, the Atmos LPX is a facility for mux with FCP.

Before Atmos it was DTS and so on.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

I have a dolby atmos setup in my living room, sounds great for action movies and the like, but listening to the spatial / atmos stuff through the apple music app isn't really appealing to me. I'd take my tower speakers in the basement and a vinyl or master for music any day.

 

Atmos is fine, no pretty awesome, for home and even theater applications, but the logistics for club venues or concert venues to get the controlled environment that shows off the Atmos glory is a bit much. I don't think music will go the way of atmos (or any other multichannel format) for a long time. Music never really adopted 5.1 mixing, Atmos is no different.

 

Atmos is the future... As 7.1 was, as 5.1, as Quadraphonic was... as 3D TVs... Multichannel SACDs, DVD-Audio...
It really doesn't matter. What works? What sticks with the consumer? Plain old stereo. And mono.

 

You do know that opens you wide for the 'more cowbell' joke?

Agreed. I can certainly enjoy a great sensurround film like anyone but in that scenario, the music is a support for the story and not the primary focus. When people record music they have written, I think it will always remain that they intended it to be heard how they did. When we go to a concert, the only 3D surround aspect is not the music it is everyone seated around us and if any unrelated sound above us (a bird flying over our head). The music comes at us perhaps in stereo but it is still one-directional. I guess if they change all live concert sound to surround (unlikely), then perhaps a recreation of what people hear live might become more prominent. Not in the immediate future though. For now and in the past, and I agree, quite likely the future, you are spot on.

 

I am more concerned about what comes after Atmos???
I would suggest "24.8 Spacious 3D Atmos" whereas 3D is old school... I would suggest 6D..
...and BAMMMMMMMM

But like Braka said.. 7.1, 5.1, Quadraphonic and whatever they came up with it never pushed through
it's good for Cinema but for the main consumer Stereo will it...
Ort maybe Apple will come up with I-Atmos-VR-3D-Headphones

 

Some peope already compose FOR surround sound of various types, where the space, the movement of instrumental or electronic passages in space, even the movement of space itself, are all part of the composition. This is far beyond just a cowbell over the shoulder, it seems to me. The main problem is cost and space at home for listening. Will Atmos become inexpensive enough to permit a domestic market? Who knows. I only know 3 people with 5.1 home entertainment systems. The immediate listening venue is streaming, such that what is needed is a GOOD binaural reduction of the surround or Atmos environment. So far, there is not yet a good one that really captures the sounds coming from behind or alongside. Maybe Atmos headphones will offer a viable solution if they are not outrageously expensive. I certainly hope so. For now the only place to hear real multi-channel work is still the suitably equipped concert hall (together with many academic institutions that have multi-channel installations for concerts and composition). Certainly adding the manipulation of space as a fundamental compositional element makes for a genuinely new and expressive musical experience.

 

Last edited: Oct 23, 2021

For movie scores and live concerts yes. For regular produced music no.

 

what about a church bell?