Share an Atmos Mix with Head Tracking?

[Rufuss Sewell]

 

Hi,

I’m doing the score for a film and mixing in Atmos. My studio is equipped with a 7.1 speaker system and I’m double checking my mixes in Logic on AirPods Pro. 

I need to be able to send a mix to the director that he can hear in Atmos with head tracking on his Airpods Pro. 

Anything short of actually distributing the song on an Atmos friendly platform? 

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Rufuss Sewell

[Simon Morrison]

If your target platform is a Dolby Atmos equipped movie theater, don't bother with head tracking - the audience will be sitting still and facing the screen. Placement and movement should be baked into the mix, assuming a static listening position. Send your director a Dolby Digital Plus JOC MP4 and have him/her play it through an actual Dolby Atmos system. Head tracking will work with the MP4 when played on a Dolby Atmos compatible device (Mac, iPhone, iPad) with Spatial Audio aware AirPods / Beats. Convert your ADM BWF export to a Dolby Digital Plus JOC MP4 using the Dolby Atmos Renderer application.

[Rufuss Sewell]

12 hours ago, Simon Morrison said:

If your target platform is a Dolby Atmos equipped movie theater, don't bother with head tracking - the audience will be sitting still and facing the screen. Placement and movement should be baked into the mix, assuming a static listening position. Send your director a Dolby Digital Plus JOC MP4 and have him/her play it through an actual Dolby Atmos system. Head tracking will work with the MP4 when played on a Dolby Atmos compatible device (Mac, iPhone, iPad) with Spatial Audio aware AirPods / Beats. Convert your ADM BWF export to a Dolby Digital Plus JOC MP4 using the Dolby Atmos Renderer application.

This seems to be a common misconception about Spatial Audio with head tracking. 
 

The head tracking is only for headphones in order to simulate a surround speaker system. The mix sounds great on an Atmos speaker  system and I want the director (and the audience) to be able to hear the Atmos mix on their Airpods with head tracking. The point is to cover all of these bases. 
 

I have solved this one. I can render an MP4 with the Dolby Atmos Renderer and email that. Works well. 

[Simon Morrison]

Head tracking is used to actively pan spatial audio based on head position - it is not required for spatial audio playback. Using the Fixed Spatial Audio setting (versus Head Tracked)
will provide a more accurate representation of your Dolby Atmos mix.

[Rufuss Sewell]

2 hours ago, Simon Morrison said:

Head tracking is used to actively pan spatial audio based on head position - it is not required for spatial audio playback. Using the Fixed Spatial Audio setting (versus Head Tracked)
will provide a more accurate representation of your Dolby Atmos mix.

I can’t disagree more. 

The fixed Spatial Audio just sounds like stereo with some imaging effects. It sounds nothing like my actual 7.1 Atmos speaker mix. 
 

With head tracking turned on, I can place a violinist in the corner of the room, and the actual sound of the violinist becomes fixed in that location regardless of where my head is pointed, just like with my real speakers. 

Your comment shares a common misconception that I think is due to a lack of detail in Apple’s marketing. 
 

 But the bottom line is that I’ve been mixing with Atmos for couple years now, and head tracking makes it seem like the objects are in the room with you much like an actual surround speaker system. Spatial Audio without head tracking makes the objects sound like they are in your head just like regular headphones, because the psychoacoustics do not react to your position in the room. 

And most importantly, my clients understand that and are paying me specifically to deliver an Atmos mix with head tracking. I’m not quite sure why Apple is making that last part so difficult. Just let me bounce an MP4 and send it in an email direct from Logic.

Maybe Dolby is holding that back, not sure