Apple’s announcement of Dolby Atmos support has caused an explosion of interest in the format - after all, it means almost any iOS user can stream immersive audio, even if they only have a pair of earbuds to listen on. But how does that even work? And for that matter, what is Dolby Atmos, and why should we care? And what about mastering for Atmos? Is it possible, or even necessary?
In this episode we talk to Mike Hillier from Metropolis, and producer and mixer Emre Ramazanoglu about all things Atmos, including:
Dolby Atmos: Binaural rendering - Surround-sound on headphones ?
Dolby Atmos Dynamics - stereo versus binaural comparison video
Dolby Atmos workflow tutorials
Dolby Atmos Post Production Learning (Includes setup guides for a variety of DAWs)
Time for another Q&A show! Thanks for all your comments, reviews and questions, please keep them coming.
In this episode we tackle:
New tools we like: SplitEQ, Entropy EQ, iZotope RX, Leapwing StageOne, Nova EQ
TMS #60 - The loudness technique you need to start using TODAY (Loudness automation)
Julian Krause’s YouTube Channel (Converter comparisons)
Building a Home Mastering Studio - The end result
The Home Mastering Masterclass course
This post contains affiliate links to help support the podcast.
What is non-linear processing, and why does it matter?
In this episode we dive deep into the topic with our guest Dan Worrall, and talk about: what non-linear processing is, why it can sound great and when it can sound terrible, and how to know the difference. Along the way, we also discuss
Dan’s video: WTF is a non-linearity?
And I Won The Loudness War
TMS #14 Distortion (The good, the bad and the ugly)
TMS #9 Analogue Versus Digital (More about intermodulation distortion & high sample rates)
The Audio Engineering Society has just released new recommendations for the loudness levels streaming services should distribute their audio at - but they’re not for you and me.
Having said that, understanding how they work is a powerful tool for predicting what will happen to your music when it's streamed. In this episode we talk about:
AES TD1008 - Recommendations for Loudness of Internet Audio Streaming and On-Demand Distribution
Streaming Loudness – the AES TD1008 Recommendations, and why you should care
TMS #27 - Mastering audio for games
TMS #41 - The problem with loudness normalization – and TIDAL’s solution
TMS #77 – Spotify disable their limiter (and other loudness news)
Loudness Penalty
We round up a few different “loudness news” topics this episode, including:
What's new in REAPER 6.30
Spotify disables their limiter - the devilish details
TMS #52 DON’T aim for LUFS targets online
TMS #67 Minus 14 LUFS – or NOT ?
TMS #44 Loudness Units 101
TMS #74 Spotify begins the move to LUFS normalization. So what ?
People are interested in mastering for vinyl again - and stereo bass is a big problem, right? You should always mono it to avoid problems? Well actually, no. There are some challenges raised by a very wide stereo image on vinyl, especially in the bass, but as always it’s not as simple as it seems.
In this episode we talk to our guest Ian Stewart in-depth about this issue, and dig into some of the juicy detail on the topic, including:
TMS #25 - Mid-side, stereo and more
Center that sub ! (A guide to mono-ing your low end) - by Ian Stewart
What Artists Get Wrong With Their Vinyl Releases - by Scott Hull
Nugen Monofilter
Noisebud Leaky2
Hidden messages in anti-phase (track 10 end)
It’s either the most powerful mastering technique known to man, or it isn’t really mastering at all, depending who you ask. Some people love it, others hate it, and some are mortally offended just by it’s name.
Why does stem mastering provoke such passionate debate ? In this episode we dig into the topic to figure out the answers to these and other questions...
TMS #28 - Restoration and re-mastering
Stem Mastering: How and When to Use Stems in Audio Mastering - by Ian Stewart
TMS #57 - With great power… (the ‘ethics’ of mastering)
It’s happening. Spotify are switching to using LUFS for their loudness normalization. If you’re thinking ‘I thought they already used it', that’s understandable - but they didn’t.
They will in future though, and in this episode we talk about why the change matters, especially in the short-term. But also about when it doesn’t matter, and why it will hopefully matter even less as time goes on.
Topics include:
Why we don’t use Spotify
What we use instead, and why - and some of the differences
How normalization on Spotify used to work
How it’s going to work
What happens in the meantime
Why we mostly ignore the numbers, despite all this !
TMS #73 – Are you having a LUF ? – more about LUFS
Qobuz – Lossless, high spec audio streaming service
Wikipedia page about MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) encoding - used by TIDAL
Spotify Begins the Move to LUFS Normalization - Ian’s blog post
TMS #67 – Minus 14 LUFS – or NOT ?
TMS #44 - Loudness Units 101
r128x-GUI – Free loudness measurement app for OS-X
TMS #52 – DON’T aim for LUFS targets online
TMS #67 – Minus 14 LUFS – or NOT ?
This is so good it just needed it’s own episode.
It’s a groundbreaking, unique new way to make music online - and everyone should try it out ! It’s not just bleeps and beats, either - there are plenty of people using it to make fantastic acoustic and sample-based live-looping music as well.
I’m talking about Endlesss, the new live-looping-jam-with-friends-online iOS app developed by musician Tim Exile that I mentioned at the end of the last episode - and now it’s going to be available on Mac & PC !
I loved chatting to Tim for this episode, and there’s a ton of interesting ideas here even if you’re not that interested in the idea of Endlesss. We talk about:
Links
The Endlesss site
The Endlesss Studio Kickstarter
Tim Exile performing live with the Flow Machine
Ian singing his praises (along with many others) at Music Tech Fest in 2014
More info on the Flow Machine and Tim’s other projects
