![]() ![]() And if we’re really tight on cash – or space – we might choose a soundbar that fires left, right and centre channel information directly at us but attempts to bounce sounds off the side walls and ceiling so that we only need rears and subwoofer. Alternatively, we can have upward-firing modules stand in for ceiling speakers. The Atmos processor in our A/V receiver will relocate sounds destined for our absent channels to those that we do have. If we return to our live concert parallel, we are now on the stage with musicians who no longer play in front of us but all around us.Īnd if we want to cut some corners, we can cut some speakers from the scene to hopefully hear the object-based Atmos mix collapse gracefully. Why? In case you hadn’t yet worked it out, Atmos mixes cause sound to come at the listener from all directions (and not just the front). To hear a Dolby Atmos mix as the artist intended, we need a similarly-configured loudspeaker array in our lounge room: two in the front, a centre channel, two at the back, two at the sides and (at least) two in the ceiling plus subs. Clear here to see what an Atmos studio setup can look like. A 7.1.2 array sums to ten loudspeakers – that’s eight more than is required to create a stereo mix. That Atmos loudspeaker array will likely put a pair of loudspeakers in front of the mixing engineer (per stereo) – but also a centre channel between them – and then two more speakers behind her, two at the sides, two (or four) in the ceiling and one or two subwoofers. ![]() For that, the band will have to pay a studio engineer to take the digital stems of the stereo mix into a studio kitted out with a Dolby Atmos loudspeaker array to create a second ‘immersive’ mix of the album. Streaming services such as Apple Music now ask musicians submitting a new album (or single) to their service to supply a Dolby Atmos mix alongside the stereo mix. ![]() Promoters of Dolby Atmos want to mess with this symmetry. You could say that there’s a certain stereo-based symmetry between a live concert, a studio recording, and how we as fans listen to music at home or out in the street. A band’s live sound might also be mixed in real-time this way – usually at a desk at the back of the room – so that it plays from the loudspeakers that flank the stage in front of the audience in a similar fashion. A typical four-piece might put the vocalist in the centre, the bass guitarist off to the left and the lead guitarist off to the right with drums coming in from behind. Just as our loudspeakers at home play in front of us, so too does the band on stage (rarely does it sit behind us or to the side). ![]() These listening experiences in stereo also mirror what we see on stage at a live rock concert. Some of us might use headphones instead but the principles of stereophony remain similar (if not identical): our brain processes left and right channel information to create the illusion of a soundstage sitting slightly in front of our eyeline or, a couple of metres in front of us, between our loudspeakers. We then listen to the result – as a stream or from a CD or vinyl record – at home using two loudspeakers. Let’s talk about stereo - where music is mixed and mastered on two loudspeakers in a studio. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |