Last Month I visited Sensound a Dolby Atmos certified mix room in Worcestershire UK. I had  already planned on writing one of my entries for this fantasy Christmas present series on Atmos monitoring but after that extremely informative afternoon at Sensound I have definitely doubled down on the idea.

I first heard a Dolby Atmos mix only about five years ago. I was an instant convert. The envelopment and, for want of a better word, ‘immersion’ of a good Atmos mix was addictive. The way a well thought out mix could add to the listening experience without straying into novelty or gimmick is powerful and, while we are clearly in a ‘wild west’ stage of Atmos mixing for music, the best of the work being done is really great.

I became aware of Dolby Atmos at a time when there was increasing interest in immersive formats, it must be remembered that Atmos is just one of a variety of immersive formats. Of particular interest to me at the time was Auro 3D. The value of introducing a height element to audio was intriguing and having heard Auro playback I can confirm it’s very effective. It wasn’t until some time later that I was in a conversation with Ceri Thomas (at that time with Dolby) and mix engineer Steve Genewick that the penny dropped about what it was about Dolby Atmos which was so cool. Since then I’ve been sold on Object-based audio formats, of which Dolby Atmos is only one, check out MPEG-H for an alternative approach to Object-based audio. The approach, the channel agnosticism of the format and the creative applications all made sense. And it sounded great.

The Cost Of Entry To Atmos

The problem was that there was such a significant barrier to entry. My concerns that the format might never be more than of niche interest, like 5.1 for music, Ambisonics or binaural recording. If it was only of interest to audio enthusiasts and engineers then there would never be any demand, wider relevance and ultimately budget. Since then streaming platforms offer Atmos, Apple have introduced Spatial Audio (both a good and a bad thing) and DAWs and plugin manufacturers have integrated Atmos into their products to a greater or lesser extent. There is still work to be done but unlike the situation a few years ago, Atmos is established enough in music production for it to be a safe bet that it’s not going away any time soon.

For consumers binaural renders mean a meaningful playback option exists for anyone with a pair of headphones. Good quality Smart Speakers and Soundbars offer an immersive experience which, while inferior to a proper speaker installation, is still worthwhile. Automotive audio is a very promising area for consumer-accessible Atmos playback over loudspeakers and Dolby recently published a product update announcement which widens the base of vehicles suitable for Atmos significantly.

These very consumer-friendly playback options mean that Atmos isn’t doomed to be a ‘never-going-to-happen-in-the-real-world’ proposition like domestic 5.1 is in every domestic environment other than dedicated home theatre rooms.

The situation isn’t the same for production however. There remains a significant barrier to entry. To mix Atmos you need a minimum of a 7.1.4 install. Headphones or smart speakers can be used as supplementary monitoring but proper loudspeaker monitoring is mandatory and placement, setup and tuning of the system have to be correct for the install to work properly. The demands on the room are more challenging than they are for stereo and then there is the inescapable fact that an Atmos monitoring system is expensive. And while most of us can justify the expense of an at least reasonably nice stereo monitoring system. The cost of a 7.1.4 is very significantly greater. Twelve speakers inevitably cost more than two.

For this reason I still, nearly 3 years after moving into my current studio, have cables dangling from my ceiling awaiting my Atmos speakers, which if I’m honest are further away than ever from being bought and installed. However on my fantasy Christmas morning I will be walking up to a conveniently completed studio replete with extensive full range bass trapping and carefully installed treatment, and a full set of monitors ready for installation.

OK, So Which Monitors?

Exactly what they are changes periodically. One theme which is constant however is that they are always unrealistically expensive. I’m a longtime fan of ATCs and I can’t imagine ever feeling like I’d compromised if I had an ATC install but having had some time with the PMC 6 series I’m very, very impressed. I understand enough about the setup process to know that calibrating an Atmos install is far more complex than setting up stereo monitoring and my experience of the Genelec ‘The Ones’ monitors with the GLM software has been second to none. If I were looking at the process beyond just opening the cardboard boxes I’d be looking very seriously at Genelec’s ecosystem approach. Then there is the call of the esoteric and as we’re talking fantasy I might as well imagine a full 9.1.6 setup of Kii Threes…