Music mixed in Dolby Atmos (for free)

[sk3lph]

Just thought I'd post this for the unaware as there are a fair few people on here that have Dolby Atmos setups and may appreciate this.

I like the additional benefit that the extra speakers offer for music and have several surround sound mixes of my favourite artists and love the extra dimension that it gives although I have friends who insist that stereo only is the way to listen to music.

Matt Darey is a DJ and producer and he has produced an album and he is in the process of mixing it in Dolby Atmos as well as other surround sound formats and he is also offering it for free via his download page here.

It's a work in progress and I can only see one Atmos track so far but the rest is apparently on the way soon. I think it sounds great but would be interested in opinions from you on how you got on and what you think of the music and if there is a future for the format in this way.

 

[sk3lph]

Wasn't Atmos, but my existing processor can create a variety of "mixes", including trifield, dolby and THX music modes. Having played on and off with them for several years now, am currently running the same processor in just stereo mode, which probably says something.

Possibly, but what you've got there is a pseudo surround mix of a stereo input, I'm talking about music that is mixed specifically for multi channel formats such as Dolby Digital or Dolby Atmos which sounds way better than that.

 

[sk3lph]

Sorry, silly me. Forgot to mention that I also tried BD-audio and SACD via my processor, i.e. fully discrete channels. Preferred them in stereo only too.

Ok, I think I'm going to find that I'm in the minority. Matt Darey reckons that this is the future of music but I think most people like yourself are happy with their music in stereo.

Still recommend you give the Atmos track a whirl and see what you think if you have the kit though

 

[sk3lph]

It's purely down to personal preference. I found it a bit "odd" to have performers behind me. That's simply not how most concerts and live playing is. Chances are that there's lots of people who might like full surround and I've heard good things about atmos applied to a stereo mix.

It's also how the music has been put together - the surround mix of Tubular Bells sounds like the Mike had his running spikes on when he was playing all the instruments however with Pink Floyds Endless River the focus is on the front three channels and of course the sub - the surrounds are used more for atmospheric effects.