Bob Clearmountain Talks Atmos in Sweetwater‘s New Atmos Room

[@sweetwater]

All things Atmos! Thanks to Bob Clearmountain for spending some time with us! 🎶

[@TheGiftof7PRESENTS]

Thanks to you both. Started my setup in 2021’ and this is my complete ATMOS setup : #MuSétiś MusicSurroundsUs© Equipment for 5.1.2/ Dolby ATMOS : [2022] Computer : APPLE M1 MAX STUDIO 1.) Logic Pro X 2.) Apogee Symphony IO 2a.) Apogee Symphony 64 PCIe 3.) 5.1 Heritage RAM 5000 monitor controller 4.) (5) FOCAL Alpha 50 EVO 4a.) (2) FOCAL CSM 40’s 4b.) FOCAL SUB ONE 5.) Apple AirPods Max*

[@kenrader4984]

Love and respect Mr. Clearmountain, but I still remember getting the SACD machine and waiting for the eventual explosion of surround music...it never happened. It won't happen now, either.

[@michaelschiessl8357]

Glad that the sound engineers of our time are starting to get the hang of Atmos. As a surround sound gearhead I've seen formats come and go but if you've listened to a Great Dolby Atmos soundtrack or DTS X at the movies you'll know this is the wave of the future object based surround that moves around into different zones and doesn't just stay in 1 place in the soundfield of a track. Thanks for taking this cool subject on Bob and thanks Mitch for interviewing the legendary Bob Clearmountain.

[@stevevealey605]

Stereo Blazers is all I need

[@ernestbuckley8671]

I've been enjoying Atmos mixes on my headphones but the reality is, most people who listen to music are listening on headphones so we will not enjoy it the same as Mr. Clearmountain. Thats the reality so this will remain technology for the elite.

[@privacyhelp]

but most elite are not listen to these genre

[@jacobharley7117]

The Center speaker isn't centered in the room (assuming the acoustic treatment is perfectly symmetrical). That would drive me nuts.

[@alex_madeira]

The speaker box isn't aligned because they centered the tweeters of that speaker box to be dead center since the high frequency drivers are most directional.

[@danymalsound]

How is the stereo version created simultaneously?

[@richrich7825]

It’s not. The stereo is mostly done first as normal and then the Atmos is done after but time aligned with the stereo version.

[@Cmd901]

@@richrich7825 not true. You mix in Atmos and the renderer will fold the Atmos mix down to a stereo version as well. One mix

[@michaelkundon9651]

How does AKAI 8 assist in enhancing music

[@pthouston69]

Who owns Apogee?

[@fatsosb6379]

I like the way Bob is talking but teaching in this video he is an original hands-on taught guy that's give you good advice /But still haven't like many original music producers figured out that analog and digital are the same in the end

[@d3vp131]

They are not the same in approach. When we first went from SSL to trying ITB, many couldn’t get the depth and subtle width ITB that we could on the console. The physics of the console led to depth and width on GP. Insert some hardware and more depth. Saturation/Distortion on the console from pushing channels, and then tape saturation. We used less compression as saturation/distortion are forms of compression. Things glued together easier. ITB we had to learn to create that front to back depth differently. Some still can’t. That’s why there are so many flat 2d mixes these days. Different processes to get to the same end goal.

[@chriswulff]

It seems that this is not so much what we can use Atmos for, but more "you can use (buy) every speaker to mix in Atmos, and by the way Apogee have a good converter to"

[@simongregory3114]

released pre backlash

[@BenjaminGib]

Sadly every song I listen to as Dolby Atmos on Apple Music through AirPods Pro, sounds like literal dump, super weak volume and no punch and poor instrument separation. The vocal I’m listening to right now on a country hit sounds like the vocal is down the hall or in the next room, as opposed to stereo with Atmos off, that brings her and other instruments pure and clean right in front that is much more pleasing. I have to turn it off. I even tried it again recently across many genres that are officially mixed Dolby Atmos music and it’s horrible. Maybe I haven’t heard a Bob Clearmountian mix yet.

[@DolbyAtmosMixing]

Atmos is best experienced in speakers, no doubt.

[@Sleemzz]

Apple’s Spatial Audio is inherently different than Dolby Atmos. They use the atmos ADM file to playback with their own binaural renderer. Apple’s renderer places each “speaker” at ≈ 3m from the listener, leading to a more ambient effect than Dolby’s renderer. The key is to make it sound good across speakers in the room, Dolby Binaural, and Apple Spatial Audio

[@tk-zh3dd]

+1 . I really dislike how my masters sound through Apple's spatial audio. And knowing that this and head tracking are enabled by default for iOS users really makes me cringe.

[@ellmusic769]

Maybe the destiny of Atmos is the same as Dolby Digital, DTS, 5,1? Which never worked out commercially..... Just saying

[@ernestbuckley8671]

Yup. This technology is nice on paper but realistically, very few will invest in it and even fewer will sit in the sweet spot to enjoy it.

[@ellmusic769]

Hello, how are you?

[@batmanreturns7655]

Atmos sucks on music

[@busywl69]

Who can afford the speakers neccesary for the atmos experience at home? And on headphones it just isn't possible as much as they try, no matter what kind of gimmick app they have. This reminds me of 4k gaming. On paper it sounds nice but the reality to get ti to work is so expensive (for the true 4k ultra 60+fps experience) and game designers can't even get games (after 6+ years of development) out without a ton of bugs and performance issues. Rush to future tech can be dangerous. Meanwhile Ninendo sells its last gen twice over Switch like hotcakes because its an affordable great solution just to play games, which come out to 720p mostly. Seems Atmos is a theater thing and when I talk to people about sound they really don't get it. Maybe in 10 years atmos will be important and affordable enough to be a home standard, especially when wireless easy to mount speakers are a thing. Atmos vids are still so much fun to watch though 😁🎧🎵

[@DolbyAtmosMixing]

Atmos mixes can be experienced on headphones, soundbar with surround, and home theater systems. The great thing about Atmos masters is they are scalable, so when creating a mix in Atmos it folds down into stereo. From a creative standpoint, creating mixes in Atmos gives producers and engineers so much sonic fidelity for being creative.

[@ernestbuckley8671]

Exactly. Atmos is a technology only a few will enjoy to its fullest.

[@busywl69]

@@DolbyAtmosMixing I've heard it in headphones and soundbar (bouncing sound off ceilings.....reminds me of the VHS dolby surround effect) with both average consumer headphones and soundbars and the higher up up hardware. Its gimmicky. Not ready for prime time, like a lot of new tech today. I'm sure it will be something to have 10 or 15 years from now when the common consumer can adapt to it but right now even in theaters it just isn't up to par which sucks, they need to really follow up on theaters that claim to use dolby atmos and make sure its set up right. So many theaters out there are calibrated so poorly and have no shame charging what they do.

[@hannibalbarkas1350]

Been 4k gaming for idk how many years now and would also enjoy this atmos thing. You Dont need to project your inability to afford it on the wider world mate. It mostly depends on what people prioritize. I dont own a car or house or a family (lol), the most expensive thing I have is a guitar and I would not mind to spend 10k on speakers either.

[@ernestbuckley8671]

@@hannibalbarkas1350 The difference is when you're gaming, you're sitting in one location. Most people do not sit in one location when listening to music. Music is often a background track while they do something else. Most people will not invest in Atmos systems. This is going to go the same route as surround systems. Very few will invest in it and very few will enjoy it.

[@elpmettsol]

Atmos has (IMHO,) a better application in mixing for picture than strictly for music. But what I would like to know is how does it compare to Auro 3D? Also (one of the things I like about Nuendo,) the Atoms render is built in. No external renderer needed!😊

[@robertw1871]

Atmos seems like a tool with little application, other than higher end theaters I can’t really see any demand for it… especially considering the extreme complexity and cost associated.

[@octilliondollars]

Logic and headphones is all you need. It's released on streaming platforms as easily as stereo. Anyone can get into Atmos

[@tk-zh3dd]

But that's not what you say when you're an engineer and a label offers to pay you to remix their catalog in Atmos ;-)

[@robertw1871]

@@octilliondollars Kinda defeats the purpose of 10 to 15 channels when listening on cans no? We would have never done that in the 5.1 days and when I worked on the 7.1 tech for the StarWars film something like that would have been unthinkable… I can’t imagine how it’s possible to mix the new height channels in stereo only… Unless it’s just a stereo track released as such. There’s only so much psychoacoustic information that can be encoded unless the drivers are are timed far better than anything I’ve ever seen… interesting though…

[@robertw1871]

@@tk-zh3dd yeah that pretty much nails it…. Hopefully it pays well when you’re justifying that extra hundred grand in additional room treatment and monitors for that full out Atmos rig… Too rich for me, and I suspect that’s what they’re really after, an edge to knock out all the thousands of little guys that aren’t able to fund a certified Dolby mixing environment….

[@DolbyAtmosMixing]

With Apple Music now supporting Dolby Atmos there’s been a surge of Atmos remasters being published in almost every genre. This is only going to continue to grow as the demand for back catalog and new music comes into play. The opportunity for home studio owners is to work with indie labels and artists who are requesting their new material be mixed in Atmos. The future is bright!

[@pthouston69]

Mix your song in stereo , output stems of Drums ,guitars,ect. Take that to a Atmos room. You dont need to buy the Farm!

[@waytospergtherebro]

Remember when aural exciters were cool.

[@pthouston69]

Who here has a Atmos at home?

[@MiguelNoyola1]

Atmos is a hefty investment for the average producer and mixer. Unless comes standard in a Honda it’s too early.

[@VelocityRecordingStudio]

I believe it’s just a marketing ploy to separate the home producers from the pros who have the expendable cash to get the set up. Warren Huwart has been talking about atmos for almost 2 years now. Just like the other surround sound setups atmos is intended for movies or when the listener is listening with so many speakers and most people still use AirPods and headphones

[@ErickT_MX]

It's the biz way to make music making expensive again...

[@DolbyAtmosMixing]

It is an investment, but being an engineer that can offer Atmos it opens up a whole new category of music services to indies and labels.

[@MiguelNoyola1]

@@DolbyAtmosMixing true but I don’t think it justifies the amount of work that is being charged to cover your investment. This is one of those things that if clients overtime cover the costs then happy to do it but studio owners shouldn’t get into a 10-15k investment just to offer a service.

[@wildbird78]

@@ErickT_MX that might be a good thing.

[@NRVE8]

Yeah but for music this would be a game changer in the car lol

[@KelonRush]

Does Bob Clearmountain have a Book?

[@TheMuffinMan01]

04:30 i watch a fair amount of talk about mixing and this simple turn of phrase is the coolest most badass thing I may have ever heard. huge props to bob clearmountain who just went way up in my books (not that he needs my praise)

[@NRVE8]

The problem is the cost right now...

[@houtenklaas]

The problem is the amount of speakers and a fixed sweetspot to listen from.

[@markallen381]

I avoid almost anything Apple. I don't know why, but I just don't like Apple music. The sound quality for phone calls might be the best, but again, music, no good!

[@PuRe_AdDicT]

Just a couple of legends shooting the most modern breeze..

[@KKMcK1]

So, the Dolby Atmos Mastering Suite requires a secondary, dedicated computer? And only on ProTools and Nuendo? So, we're talking about another $20,000.00? YIKES!!!