3 ms·

Related question, but does spatial audio actually send Atmos separate audio streams with positioning data to the client? How does this impact data sizes? I hav

Related question, but does spatial audio actually send Atmos separate audio streams with positioning data to the client? How does this impact data sizes? I have listened to some of the SA samples and they sound good, but I still don't get the technology. If it's sending separate streams and spatially mixing them at the client, it's still ending up with two channels of audio, so why would it differ from normal stereo audio which can be mixed in such a way? And if it doesn't, then it's just a production process? Indeed, it reminds me a bit of Q-Sound of the Madonna Immaculate Collection. Still the most impressive stereo headphone experience I've enjoyed. Dolby Atmos makes loads of sense for oddball speaker arrangements -- you tell it that you have three speakers layered above, five spread out across the back, etc, and it can process to that arrangement optimally (versus say 5.1 that was geared for a very specific arrangement). I don't understand how it is relevant for headphones, which is specifically what it is targeting in this case.

Cybotron5000 5y ago
This article does an okay job of explaining the idea: https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/05/18/apples-spatial-audio-and-dolby-atmos-explained https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/05/18/apples-spatial-au... Apparently the sound source positions will be calculated relative to the position of the iphone/ipad/mac… ..Yes, I’m guessing it will potentially greatly increase the size of audio data downloaded/streamed to the listener, as the spec. for Atmos can have up to 128 different tracks + metadata: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Atmos https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Atmos
- londons_explore 5y ago
  > Yes, I’m guessing it will potentially greatly increase the size of audio data downloaded/streamed to the listener, Most music only has say 10 instruments, so it's only a 5x worst case blowup. And many of those instruments will be silent a lot of the time... And even when not silent, there will be a lot of easy to compress repetition. It's simply a matter of having good enough compression algorithms.
  - Cybotron5000 5y ago
    Indeed - depends on the material/scope/playback quality of the track/characteristics of the compression method I guess… On the other hand, if you were to record/encode each member of a symphony orchestra separately and place them in a soundfield playing back with lossless quality? …but then you could mix them in sections, or even by rougher positional areas and have far fewer individual tracks… If it’s just one man and his knee/spoon accompaniment then… This article is informative: https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/30/apple-spatial-audio-indie-artists-distributors/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/30/apple-spatial-audio-indie-art... …also: https://professional.dolby.com/create-in-dolby-atmos-music/ https://professional.dolby.com/create-in-dolby-atmos-music/ from: https://professional.dolby.com/music/support-faq/ https://professional.dolby.com/music/support-faq/ “The Renderer can operate at 48 or 96 kHz. Master files can be created at these rates and stored for archive purposes, and are then sample-rate converted to 48 kHz for encoding purposes. Keep in mind that when working at 48 kHz, the Renderer supports 128 input channels (ten bed only and 118 object/bed), whereas at 96 kHz, 64 input channels are available (ten bed only and 54 object/bed). …If you work with audio in an 88.2, 176.4, or 192 kHz session, you need to create a 48 or 96 kHz version of the session for use with the Renderer. …For music use cases, we recommend setting trim controls to zero so that your mix is preserved when played back as a 5.1 or 7.1 re-render. Additionally, to hear how encoding your Dolby Atmos mix will sound, set the spatial coding emulation element count to 16… …Objects can be mono or stereo. The sonic content of the source material and creative considerations about how that content will be reproduced in a 3D soundfield will influence the number of objects used in any given mix.”

Cybotron5000 5y ago

This article does an okay job of explaining the idea: https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/05/18/apples-spatial-audio-and-dolby-atmos-explained https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/05/18/apples-spatial-au... Apparently the sound source positions will be calculated relative to the position of the iphone/ipad/mac… ..Yes, I’m guessing it will potentially greatly increase the size of audio data downloaded/streamed to the listener, as the spec. for Atmos can have up to 128 different tracks + metadata: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Atmos https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Atmos

londons_explore 5y ago
> Yes, I’m guessing it will potentially greatly increase the size of audio data downloaded/streamed to the listener, Most music only has say 10 instruments, so it's only a 5x worst case blowup. And many of those instruments will be silent a lot of the time... And even when not silent, there will be a lot of easy to compress repetition. It's simply a matter of having good enough compression algorithms.
- Cybotron5000 5y ago
  Indeed - depends on the material/scope/playback quality of the track/characteristics of the compression method I guess… On the other hand, if you were to record/encode each member of a symphony orchestra separately and place them in a soundfield playing back with lossless quality? …but then you could mix them in sections, or even by rougher positional areas and have far fewer individual tracks… If it’s just one man and his knee/spoon accompaniment then… This article is informative: https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/30/apple-spatial-audio-indie-artists-distributors/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/30/apple-spatial-audio-indie-art... …also: https://professional.dolby.com/create-in-dolby-atmos-music/ https://professional.dolby.com/create-in-dolby-atmos-music/ from: https://professional.dolby.com/music/support-faq/ https://professional.dolby.com/music/support-faq/ “The Renderer can operate at 48 or 96 kHz. Master files can be created at these rates and stored for archive purposes, and are then sample-rate converted to 48 kHz for encoding purposes. Keep in mind that when working at 48 kHz, the Renderer supports 128 input channels (ten bed only and 118 object/bed), whereas at 96 kHz, 64 input channels are available (ten bed only and 54 object/bed). …If you work with audio in an 88.2, 176.4, or 192 kHz session, you need to create a 48 or 96 kHz version of the session for use with the Renderer. …For music use cases, we recommend setting trim controls to zero so that your mix is preserved when played back as a 5.1 or 7.1 re-render. Additionally, to hear how encoding your Dolby Atmos mix will sound, set the spatial coding emulation element count to 16… …Objects can be mono or stereo. The sonic content of the source material and creative considerations about how that content will be reproduced in a 3D soundfield will influence the number of objects used in any given mix.”