Dolby Atmos for the rest of us...

[AudioBabble]

Yes - home theater was what i was thinking of - especially the smaller systems, otherwise you'd be watching a movie.. everything would sound tinny until there's an explosion or something, then suddenly the room would shake!

This would explain why 7.1.4 systems for audio production are so expensive since all 12 speakers would need to be reference quality.

So... for anyone like me considering a rough n ready DIY system - I imagine a home-theater style approach would be more realistic where the sub is acting like a true sub for the whole system, enabling less capable (i.e. cheaper) speakers to be used as tops. As for the LFE side - for music production I suppose this could be ignored. For video production, the sub could perform dual duties although without a suitable 7.1.4 decoder handling things on the amplification side it could get a bit complex and maybe a 2nd sub would be a better solution.

[mgw38]

I have seen people in the industry recommend a 2nd sub for subwoofer duty in addition to the lfe speaker. If you have good reference monitors (and yes, 12 of those tends to be expensive), this might be overkill though.

[AudioBabble]

To be honest, I can't quite take myself seriously talking about car speakers!

The cheapest monitors I can find (that aren't complete rubbish) are M-audio BX5 D3's at £79 a pair, so 6 pairs of those would be about £380. [EDIT: £470 - bad maths day! and wrong anyway (looking at single not pair price!) ]

They're powered so on the one hand, less worries about multiple amps to configure, but some fun to be had running power to them and also fixing the ceiling speakers so they don't fall down!

Other than that, it would be necessary to address the sub frequencies. Assuming I'm not going to worry about the LFE for music production, the only slightly ham-fisted approach I can think of here is to leave the sub of my main L/R mix on but with the main studio monitors off (maybe as easy as enabling a low pass on the master stereo track in DAW). There would be a fair bit of experimentation to get a balanced sound of course - and I couldn't claim to have a true 7.1.4 "reference" mix - but hopefully something accurate enough to make decent 3D mixes as an extra 'string to my bow'.

As for routing outputs, personally I'm intending an upgrade to my interface at some point anyway (currently I only have 6 outs). Was going to go for an RME digiface (€299 "seller refurbished" on ebay.de) and two used Behringer ADA8000s (very cheap and easy to pick up used, not more than £150). 16 outs.. more than enough. [the proviso here is that I feel confident that there's nothing "iffy" about the used/seller refurbished gear]

I'm mixing up the currencies a bit but ball park $900 - $1000 to get a "workable" 3D sound setup - and of course in with that price is a major I/O upgrade anyway.

...oh yes - and $20-$30 for a DIY head tracker!

[mgw38]

Cool! I particularly like your interface solution. Are you sure that’s £79 a pair for the monitors though? I see them at about twice that price.

[AudioBabble]

oops! that was the single unit price
https://www.amazon.co.uk/M-Audio-BX5-D3 ... r=8-1&th=1

£189 for the pair... Jeff Bezos not feeling as generous as I thought!

so... £1134 for 6 pairs M-audio monitors = $1500
€300 for RME digiface = $ 340
£200 for a pair of used Behringer ADA800s (a bit more realistic than 1st estimate) = $ 270

Total: $2110

So... your $2k estimate was pretty accurate

[fairlyclose]

oops! that was the single unit price
https://www.amazon.co.uk/M-Audio-BX5-D3 ... r=8-1&th=1

£189 for the pair... Jeff Bezos not feeling as generous as I thought!

so... £1134 for 6 pairs M-audio monitors = $1500
€300 for RME digiface = $ 340
£200 for a pair of used Behringer ADA800s (a bit more realistic than 1st estimate) = $ 270

Total: $2110

So... your $2k estimate was pretty accurate

I'm not sure your goal tho - i don think you will be able to market or sell what you make as Dolby Atmos. Are you thinking to gain some experience to then target Atmos production in the future as a professional career move?

[mgw38]

I think it is one of these first mover advantage opportunities. Mixing in Atmos is tricky and what I have seen from pros did not really impress me that much. There is definitely room to make a mark and setting up an experimental “bedroom Atmos producer” studio might make sense if you don’t mind the costs.

[fairlyclose]

I think it is one of these first mover advantage opportunities. Mixing in Atmos is tricky and what I have seen from pros did not really impress me that much. There is definitely room to make a mark and setting up an experimental “bedroom Atmos producer” studio might make sense if you don’t mind the costs.

I can see first mover advantage to get some experience and then broker that into a move into a production house. But say for a video producer I dont think it possible to use the "bedroom atmos audio" and claim the movie is Dolby Atmos. I think Dolby control that pretty closely.
Where do you think the market might emerge for non-Dolby Atmos-like audio?

[mgw38]

I think it is one of these first mover advantage opportunities. Mixing in Atmos is tricky and what I have seen from pros did not really impress me that much. There is definitely room to make a mark and setting up an experimental “bedroom Atmos producer” studio might make sense if you don’t mind the costs.

I can see first mover advantage to get some experience and then broker that into a move into a production house. But say for a video producer I dont think it possible to use the "bedroom atmos audio" and claim the movie is Dolby Atmos. I think Dolby control that pretty closely.
Where do you think the market might emerge for non-Dolby Atmos-like audio?

I don’t see the opportunities as much in the movie production world. But audio streaming services are starting to accept Atmos Music and systems such as Apple’s spatial audio can take advantage of the object oriented music format with fairly standard consumer gear. And there is not that much gate keeping with Atmos Music. Once you have it in ADM format created by a Dolby certified DAW it is as Atmos as it can get.

[AudioBabble]

I'm not sure your goal tho - i don think you will be able to market or sell what you make as Dolby Atmos.

ah... but is this strictly true? A big question in my mind at the moment... provided the audio is encoded correctly, there's nothing to stop me publishing through distributors such as CD baby, DistroKid or Avid. [and even if I don't I'm sure others will!]
Obviously it would be a bit gung-ho to publish stuff that was only ever mixed on a pair of headphones or stereo monitors... but with a workable home setup I'm not sure I'm being "dishonest" in any sense.
The reality of self-publishing is there is no quality control beyond "specs" - it's the same in book and audiobook publishing - which is both a blessing and a curse!

Are you thinking to gain some experience to then target Atmos production in the future as a professional career move?

Well.. that would be another thing - yes, I'd be taking the mick a bit if I advertised my services as fully "Atmos" certified for music or film. No... I have no intentions of going that way.

...this is all a way off for me anyway - for now I'll be concentrating on headphone mixing with a tracker and getting the hang of it all. By the time I'm ready to publish anything there's a good chance a bona fide 7.1.4 system would be available for less than the $2k mentioned. Well, I hope anyway!

[AudioBabble]

But audio streaming services are starting to accept Atmos Music and systems such as Apple’s spatial audio can take advantage of the object oriented music format with fairly standard consumer gear.

Which, if you think about it, kind of reduces the whole thing to a bit of gimmick in some ways...

I checked out some dolby atmos mixes myself on Amazon HD with normal headphones. All I noticed was a nice stereo "spread".

[mgw38]

But audio streaming services are starting to accept Atmos Music and systems such as Apple’s spatial audio can take advantage of the object oriented music format with fairly standard consumer gear.

Which, if you think about it, kind of reduces the whole thing to a bit of gimmick in some ways...

I checked out some dolby atmos mixes myself on Amazon HD with normal headphones. All I noticed was a nice stereo "spread".

That is because producers have not yet tapped into its full potential.

[AudioBabble]

Where do you think the market might emerge for non-Dolby Atmos-like audio?

This is an unknown of course at this time... some of it, perhaps most, comes down to consumer "perception" which of course has nothing to do with actual reality or anything creatively rewarding!
Much the same as people wanting 24 bit 96 or even 192khz "ultra HD" music when there's no actual difference in the ears, but rather in the mind.

Like many creative types (I think)... I don't like to think too long and hard about markets or marketing. It makes me feel a bit wobbly!

[fairlyclose]

for the third time today KVR has deleted rather than submitted my longish post
anyway, I dont use streaming services for consumption or production so did not know spatial audio was becoming practical in a popular sense. Really pleased to hear that and if it takes off I will start composing into that space. My experience as a producer (composer) and listener is for art/museum installation and very large speaker arrays in concert and academic settings

[BertKoor]

Which, if you think about it, kind of reduces the whole thing to a bit of gimmick in some ways...

History has the tendency to repeat itself, but we all fail to notice it while it is unfolding. Look up historical sales figures for Quadrophonic, SuperAudioCD...

Even 7.1 surround sound is passed its heydays for home use. The last few movies I saw in a theatre did not impress me in this regard. They could have been simple stereo without missing out much.

In recent years people have chosen to consume video from inferior devices (phones, tablets) just for the convenience. Installing 12 speakers is the opposite, so niche. But the compatibility with other setups is surely an appeal in Dolby Atmos.