Surround & Dolby Atmos Masters
An immersive production still has to become an album in the end: with a coherent sequence, a consistent sound and a master the distributor accepts. We prepare Dolby Atmos and surround productions for release in our Dolby Atmos Music certified control room, from our own mixes as well as from sessions you bring along.
Is there such a thing as mastering in Dolby Atmos?
In the sense of stereo mastering: no. An Atmos mix consists of channel beds and individual objects that are only rendered for the particular system at playback. There is no finished sum, and so no point at which a mastering engineer could step in as usual. Anyone promising Atmos mastering as a separate step after the mix usually means something else. The tasks mastering fulfils do not disappear, though.
From mix to album
What happens in mastering for stereo, we do for Atmos within the session itself:
- Album assembly: order, pauses and transitions between tracks and movements
- Lengths: every track is matched to the stereo master so both versions line up on streaming services
- Tonal adjustment: tone and loudness stay consistent across the whole album
- Matching the stereo version: the Atmos version should be recognisable as the same album
Bring your prepared session
Have you already set up your Atmos mix? Then bring the prepared session to us or send it via secure upload. We listen to it in a certified 7.1.4 room, adjust it tonally and assemble the tracks into an album. We work with sessions from Pro Tools, Pyramix, Nuendo and Sequoia, or with BWAV stems. If the mix itself still has to be made, you will find everything under Dolby Atmos for classical music and mixing.
Delivery in Dolby Atmos
Streaming services and distributors require the Atmos master as an ADM BWF, a single file containing beds, objects and metadata. We deliver it to Dolby's specifications for music, with an integrated loudness of no more than -18 LKFS and a true peak of no more than -1 dBTP. Because most people hear Atmos on headphones, we also check the binaural rendering. Every file goes through our quality control before handover.
5.1 surround masters
Channel-based surround works differently from Atmos: there are fixed channels, and therefore mastering in the familiar sense. Today the 5.1 master is needed mainly for the multichannel version of an SACD. We create it on its own or derive it from an existing Atmos production.
Do you have an Atmos session or are you planning an immersive album? Send us the key details and we will talk through the route to the finished master.