Apple’s introduction of streaming Dolby Atmos music format on Apple Music was a real game-changer in the industry. Though immersive 3D sound technologies have been around for watching movies and playing games for a long time already, streaming songs with such qualities is a new step and is about to change the world of music production as we know it.
Immersive 3D sound technology is now invading the music industry, and this promises to completely change the world of sound engineering. Launching on Apple Music means that the audience is huge, and every Apple Music listener can soon prefer songs mixed in a Dolby Atmos studio.
The question will arise for engineers and artists as well, are you keeping up with the technology, or are you falling behind? Because, as usual, the world is going to change, no matter with or without us.
Here, at Major Mixing, with our Dolby Atmos studio, we are committed to moving with the cutting-edge flow, and we will be happy to help you sound as modern and hi-tech as possible.
When you are looking for a Dolby Atmos mixing studio, pay attention to the following questions:
Major Mixing team meets all the requirements for a great Dolby Atmos studio. We are approaching this new technology in music as professionals, aiming at great quality and amazing sound.
Every one of us is a sound engineer with more than 10 years of experience in stereo mixing, and we have been working with Dolby Atmos from the moment iTunes started using it.
Move with the Masters, and trust us with your music.
Order a Dolby Atmos mix for your song, or ask us any questions, we’ll be happy to answer.
Apple’s introduction of streaming Dolby Atmos music format on Apple Music was a real game-changer in the industry. Though immersive 3D sound technologies have been around for watching movies and playing games for a long time already, streaming songs with such qualities is a new step and is about to change the world of music production as we know it.
Dolby Atmos is the innovation in an enveloping sound technology with which we can have the most realistic immersive sound experience ever. Not only does it create amazing 3D surround sound, but it also contains a revolutionary file format. Once mixed in Dolby Atmos, the song with 3D surround sound can be listened to using almost every device.
Dolby Atmos will very soon become the most popular sound format in the music industry, more and more artists will do Dolby Atmos mixing for their songs. Are you ready to keep up with the changes? Have you already found your Dolby Atmos studio that strives for your success?
The innovation of Dolby Atmos
The main achievement is that music put in this format can be played on any speaker set-up and headphones if the system supports Dolby Atmos. How was this made possible?
Dolby Atmos is an object-based system and is different from the speaker-based encoding which we are used to. When you perform the Dolby Atmos mixing and create a Dolby Atmos file, it stores information of where in the virtual space around you all the sounds are placed.
Dolby Atmos listening experience
You can listen to this outstanding music not only in a Dolby Atmos studio. The new technology allows applications that support Dolby Atmos to play the best possible version of the mix for any device.
A 3D surround sound song in Dolby Atmos format can be played on any speaker set-up or headphones! So, Dolby Atmos now brings 3D sound to every home and every listener.
Music production has stayed far too long on the level of stereo mixing and mastering, hardly evolving for the past half of the century. And now a gigantic leap of immersive 3D sound and Dolby Atmos sound mixing is coming to the industry and it is going to rebuild the mixing and mastering approach from the ground up.
The turning point in the music industry was the summer of 2021 when Apple Music started streaming songs in Dolby Atmos format. With it, the amazing illusion of the listener being placed in the center of your music can be created, and the experience is really unforgettable. The sound, shaped in a Dolby Atmos studio is dancing around the listener, creating the illusion of the listener dancing inside the concert hall that’s filled with music.
Starting with Apple Music and TIDAL, which is also streaming in Dolby Atmos now, other platforms will definitely follow the trend soon as well. 3D sound is now becoming a new standard for an album release.
In order to upload your song to Apple Music in a 3D surround sound format, you need a Dolby Atmos mix file. Dolby Atmos music format is a completely new type of audio file that can not be created from your stereo mastered record and needs to be formed in a Dolby Atmos studio. You need to perform Dolby Atmos mixing with a virtual space, object-based Dolby Atmos approach, using the corresponding software and equipment.
To help the audience choose your song now, you need to create it in a Dolby Atmos studio, using the 3D format. Your listeners will feel as if they are in the center of the music that unfolds all around them. Dolby Atmos’ exciting sound format for music is conquering the audience now and you surely want to be a part of this new wave in music evolution.
Apple’s Spatial Audio
How does Apple create the 3D theater experience using AirPods? The company has recently implemented its own head movement detection called spatial audio head tracking. With it, Apple headphones are able to track your head movements and your device is adjusting the sound accordingly. All this emulates your presence in the theater where the sound stays in place no matter what direction you turn your head.
For example, when you are watching a movie, and you hear footsteps coming from the right as you see someone walking on the right side of the screen. When you turn your head to the right, you will hear footsteps coming from in front of you. So the spatial audio technology emulates the stationary space around you even if you are moving your head, which gives an amazing impression.
Following the video, the spatial audio with head tracking became available for listening to Dolby Atmos songs on Apple Music. Using AirPods or Beats Fit Pro, you are now able to experience an outstanding 3D immersive sound.
There are several reasons why many top artists now choose a Dolby Atmos studio to make and release songs in Dolby Atmos. Some musicians are even writing pieces, especially for Dolby Atmos format.
New quality of sound
3D surround sound is a whole new level of music. Every instrument and vocal exists separately in the virtual space that surrounds the listener. With this, the music evolved from 2-channel stereo sound to a 3-dimensional composition that has incomparably more space, dynamics, and expressiveness.
Each source of sound lives its own life and can move around the listener, fade far away, or fly right up to the front of the composition close to the listener. This gives additional spatial means to create and express in music.
Channels don’t need to be united in stems and then fight for being heard. The music gets wonderful dynamic range and is “breathing”.
With this new format, over-compression and following distortions come to an end, as well as the loudness war where everyone wanted to sound louder. Now it sounds more harmonious, natural, and high-quality.
The sound becomes much more beautiful and spacious in Dolby Atmos studio, similar to how it appears in real life. So, releasing your music in Dolby Atmos has a huge advantage compared to the old stereo format.
More than just a trend
Dolby Laboratories rapidly develop innovations. They will support their Atmos format with more and more features. The sound quality will improve more and more. New devices will surely emerge in the near future to support it, they will be used by any Dolby Atmos studio engineers and by listeners throughout the world.
Dolby Atmos format for songs is not just a temporary fashion, it came to signify the new era in music development, the new quality of sound. People will more and more listen to 3D surround sound music in their homes, cars, everywhere. Do you want it to be your songs?
Mixing for Dolby Atmos in a Dolby Atmos studio, the sound engineer uses a completely different approach than the one applied for mixing stereo files. Dolby Atmos is an object-based sound system, and the engineer can put every instrument and sound in a virtual 3D space around the listener.
For Dolby Atmos mixing, a sound engineer can choose from these options:
This Dolby Atmos studio approach is completely different from standard stereo mixing and mastering services. Consider at least these major differences:
•In Dolby Atmos mixing, stems will not be created, because each instrument may have its individual place in the 3D space.
•There will not be a solid mix suitable for mastering, because the objects stay separately in space and we can not perform operations on them altogether. That is why mixing Dolby Atmos includes also Dolby Atmos mastering and final preparations for production.
•Reverbs and other effects are created differently while Dolby Atmos mixing, because the virtual space is already present.
For the same reason of virtual space being the basis, in a Dolby Atmos studio, we don’t have to create the stereo image using different plug-ins.
This list can be continued, but the main point is that Dolby Atmos mixing is a completely different process with a result on a whole new level of object-based 3D audio.
Working on Dolby Atmos mixing, our sound engineers use 7-1-4 Dolby Atmos speaker set-up and the Dolby Atmos professional software for mixing. Every one of us is a sound engineer with more than 10 years of experience in stereo mixing, and we have been working with Dolby Atmos from the moment iTunes started using it. We created big music production projects, and have an ear for good sound. We’ll place the instruments and vocals in your mix creatively in the virtual 3D space, in a Dolby Atmos studio, moving them around the listener for the best immersive experience.
Dolby Atmos mixing format makes a song alive in space, the music receives more colors and opportunities to develop and express the feelings and emotions, more channels to interact and engage with the listener. Working in a Dolby Atmos studio is a challenge, but at the same time, a great opportunity to bring to the listener much more than a stereo sound can do.
One Dolby Atmos mix will cost about 10 times less than the creation of a surround sound mix has cost before. How is it possible? With Dolby Atmos mixing you automatically create music that can be played on all audio speaker set-ups and headphones. Previously, however, you would need at least five mixes for your 3D song. You would need separate mixes for each system like 7.1.4, 5.1, 4.0, 4.1, make a binaural recording for listening with headphones, and more. Now you just need one mix in Dolby Atmos. So remember, the price includes it all.
