Dolby Atmos & Sweetwater Studios
Your resource for all things immersive audio.
The Basics
01. What is Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is a immersive sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. In speaker based systems, it expands on traditional surround sound systems by adding height channels, allowing sounds to be interpreted as three-dimensional objects. In everyday consumer devices like phones and tablets, the technology is available for just about everyone to experience Dolby Atmos in one form or another.
02. Why is it important?
Atmos was originally designed for film and TV, limiting its first few years to movie theaters and home entertainment systems. In 2018 things began to shift when Capitol Studios installed the first Dolby Atmos mixing room. Shortly after, the format was adopted by major labels. With Apple’s release of Spatial Audio in 2021, immersive audio established itself as a permanent format in the landscape of music production.
03. Staying Ahead of the Curve
Because Atmos is challenged by a plethora of variables (room size, speaker choice and placement, acoustic limitations, and more), the installation and mixing process has been subject to frequent changes. Sweetwater works closely with Dolby, Apple, and industry-leading immersive equipment manufacturers like Avid and PMC Speakers to stay up to date on the latest best practices.
04. Exclusive Education
Utilizing our partnership with artists and manufacturers, Sweetwater periodically hosts recording and mixing workshops with industry-leading Atmos engineers like Steve Genewick, Brian Lucey, Shawn Dealey, Mike Miller, Nick Reeves, and more.
05. Mixing Services
Chief Engineer Shawn Dealey is a veteran engineer whose Atmos mixing work can be heard on tracks from Animals As Leaders, The Doobie Brothers, Collective Soul, Bootsy Collins, and many more.
06. Studio Rental
Choose from two world-class Atmos mixing rooms for mixing your next project. Studio B features a 9.1.4 system with PMC speakers, while Studio C hosts 9.1.4 on Focal and ATC, both with full compliments of speaker and headphone monitoring options.
