Applying that to Dolby Atmos music consumption, you could end with 80% of headphone listening (in binaural mode), maybe 19% listen for some sort of speaker virtualization (smart speaker, soundbar, etc.) and maybe 1% over a dedicated 7.1.4 system. It is estimated that 80% of music is listened to over headphones.
Now let's look at how the end consumer listens to the Dolby Atmos content. So that would be our second answer:Īnswer 2: Yes, you can mix in Dolby Atmos using headphones because that is the only available choice for many users. So if you ask any of those users if you can mix in Dolby Atmos, their answer would be, "Yes, that's all that I have". They will mix their song in Dolby Atmos using headphones and upload it to DistroKid to get it on Apple Music as soon as possible. Most Logic users definitely won't think about upgrading to the recommended 7.1.4 system to mix in Dolby Atmos.
Nuendo and DaVinci are two DAWs with Dolby Atmos integration already however, Logic Pro is the first DAW with a vast user base from top producers and film composers down to the bedroom producers.
Now, many studios are crunching the numbers and looking at their crystal ball to decide if it is feasible to upgrade to DolbyAtmos.īut then, in October 2021, Apple changed the game with the Logic Pro update 10.7, providing Dolby Atmos Renderer integration built into Logic Pro (free of charge). The first Atmos mixes for music were done in big studios like Blackbird or Capitol Records by a handful of top engineers.
Now with Dolby Atmos being the standard also for smaller productions and TV shows, it has trickled down to smaller studios.Ī similar development is happening with Dolby Atmos Music right now. Mixing in Dolby Atmos used to be something only a handful of sound engineers performed on big-budget movies on a few big dubbing stages. 2 - Bedroom Dolby Atmos Producerīesides the requirements, here is the reality. So this is then the first answer:Īnswer 1: Mix on 7.1.4 and only use Headphones to check your mix.
They provide some guidelines on how to set up a studio, and for the actual mixing in Dolby Atmos, they have the following recommendation: Mix with a discrete speaker layout of at least 7.1.4 while checking the binaural headphone mix during mixing. Dolby's requirements are now more like suggestions because they are not enforced. Dolby even ended the studio certification program in late 2020, so technically, you can mix in Dolby Atmos in any self-proclaimed Dolby Atmos studio. The requirements for mixing in Dolby Atmos are less restrictive when mixing for music than for film. 1 - Requirements From Dolby For Mixing Dolby Atmos