Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 at Longplay Studio Zagreb
Launched in 2012, Dolby Atmos™ is a widely supported object-based system with up to 128 individual tracks and 64 speaker feeds. The system installed in Longplay Studio Zagreb features a PMC 6-2 XBD main stereo monitoring system complimented by the flawless Genelec The Ones.
Just like with a human ear, so with the conventional monitors; the coloration of direct sound and its reflections is not possible. With The Ones, Genelec managed to avoid that issue, which makes these point source monitors belong to their uncompromised category.
Dolby Atmos™ 7.1.4 is a satisfactory binaural delivery for the music industry, film, gaming, and VR, as it does more than rely on expressing sources in alignment with azimuth, but also depicts reflections perceptible in natural environments of three dimensions. In that regard, the monitored sound in the Longplay Studio control room is an impeccably accurate and referent representation of its source.
The understanding of sound and hearing
We perceive the world around us through the five senses; taste, smell, vision, touch, and hearing. Lock a man in a deaf room, where the sound is fully absorbed, and the absence of sound will drive him crazy … just like the excess of sound will do, especially in a large volume. We understand most of the world through sound; through its meaning, position, source, and direction.
The research of immersive aural content, which is the basis of the Dolby Atmos™ system, began with the understanding of how a human ear receives sound, and how the human body reacts to that reception. Because sound gets colored by the outer ear, called pinnae, depending on azimuth, which is the direction of its arrival, listeners constantly adapt by making head movements, trying to evaluate and distinguish the true form of the sound as opposed to the one from reflections in the room. The two aspects help gain control over the immersive content; one is to position sounds in a spherical shape, and another is to influence the sense of the listener’s space.
The Dolby Atmos™ philosophy is that a well-aligned loudspeaker system in a great room has the best chance of translating well to a variety of playback situations and that the sound designer can make full use of the outer ear features and head movements, and work for long hours with reduced listener fatigue.