German developers Fiedler Audio have announced the immediate availability of Dolby Atmos Composer Essential to all DAW users for free.

What Is Atmos Composer Essential?

Atmos Composer Essential is the little brother of Atmos Composer, both products deliver a Dolby Atmos workflow to DAWs which don’t feature an integrated Atmos Renderer. This solution is popular with users of DAWs such as REAPER and other DAWs which at present lack Atmos features.

Dolby Atmos Composer was released in April 2023 and offered a way for creators to work in Atmos from the very beginning of a project, regardless of the DAW they used as part of the creative workflow rather than being added at the mix stage as an afterthought and avoiding the risk of Atmos mixes that were technically correct but might lack some relation to the musical and artistic content.

The required investment in a Dolby Atmos monitoring environment was a barrier to entry for musicians as well. With the Dolby Atmos Composer it is possible to start an Atmos mix during the production, at any time and even anywhere. Just with a laptop, any DAW, and a pair of headphones.

Fiedler Audio decided to make Dolby Atmos Composer Essential free for everyone to make it the easiest and barrier-free path to try, and take the first steps in, mixing for Dolby Atmos.

What is the difference between Dolby Atmos Composer and Dolby Atmos Composer Essential?

For a full feature comparison between the two versions follow this link to a comparison table on the Fielder website. Some key differences are no downmixing, timecode features, loudness measurement or 96kHz operation in Essentials.

Availability

Dolby Atmos Composer Essential is a free download from the Fiedler Audio Website from January 18th 2024.

Special Upgrade Offer For Existing Customers

Customers who have previously purchased Dolby Atmos Composer Essential will be able to upgrade to the full Dolby Atmos Composer for USD/ Euro 50,-. This upgrade offer starts on January 18th, 2024, and is valid until January 31st, 2024.

Feature Overview

Approved by Dolby Labs, the Dolby Atmos Composer Essential removes the need for manual setup for your Atmos workflow as well as the need to use a DAW capable of immersive audio production.

Dolby Atmos Composer Essential comes with a versatile panning plugin, Dolby Atmos Beam Essential. Automate complex movements and circumvent your DAW's limitations.

Integrating with world-class 3D reverb: From version 1.5 onwards the renowned 3D reverb Fiedler Audio Spacelab connects directly to the Dolby Atmos Composer bringing immersive reverberation to Dolby Atmos mixes on your DAW of choice.

Publish on all major platforms: Export your work as ADM/BWF for direct distribution to platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, and Netflix.

Load, playback, and edit ADM files: With Dolby Atmos Composer Essential it is possible to load any ADM file for monitoring with speakers, and headphones, editing the Binaural settings, and performing basic level optimizations.

See Dolby Atmos Composer in use in this jumpstart tutorial video: