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Dolby cannibalizes the audio world and nobody says anything

markus

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Hi.

It's my first post in the forum, hopefully it will help.

Dolby and Apple have been pushing "space music" for some time. Although I have nothing against the format, if against companies. Well, music, in its creative process, It was completely free, to be created, but now with Dolby sticking its nose in, now you have to follow very specific criteria, as well as recording, mixing, (I don't include mastering, because Dolby has made it clear that its format does not need to be mastered).

I give an example, AS A STUDIO OWNER,BEFORE I COULD USE ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE I WANTED, NOW I HAVE TO STOP USING HARDWARE TO GO DIRECTLY TO ITB.BEFORE I JUST PRESSED BOUNCE AND I HAD A WAV FILE, NOW I HAVE TO BUY A PLUGIN FROM DOLBY TO BE ABLE TO RENDER THE AUDIO. NOW I HAD TO BUY 14 SPEAKERS, 2 PLUGINS, PAY DOLBY FOR THE FUCKING CERTIFICATION AND EVERYTHING FOR PEOPLE ENDS UP BY CONSUMING THE MIX ON YOUR CELL PHONE AND WITH HEADPHONES. AND THIS DOES NOT ONLY AFFECT THE CREATORS, ALSO THE CONSUMERS, THEY HAVE STARTED TO THINK HOW MUCH THE PRICE OF A SIMPLE DAC WOULD RISE FOR THE DOLBY CERTIFICATION OR HOW MUCH WOULD A HIGH QUALITY DAC WITH 14 CHANNELS TO DECODE ATMOS.I KNOW THAT THE POST IS A LITTLE LONG, BUT IT IS SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO ME, I WAIT FOR YOUR OPINIONS.

Welcome to the real world! :) Quite honestly I feel your pain. But on the other hand one has to acknowledge that Dolby's strategy for "world dominance" is brilliant. Something you can and should learn from. Right now nothing can be done against it, unless you come up with something that could supersede Dolby's tech.

It could go something like this: Create a production tool that can deliver real audio objects and not just a highly watered-down object-based format like Dolby Atmos, i.e. a recording technique that captures the full spatial properties of a sound source without the room. Some kind of 3D sound scanner which can capture sound dispersion of something like a violin for example. All other spatial information which is related to the room/space is metadata. Such a system could and would need to be backwards compatible.
 

ZolaIII

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Ofcourse it can be enforced. if the EU can force apple to implement USB Type-C then they can force them to implement the EBU R 128 on their streaming service.

I'm not perfectly comprehending your argument to be honest, hitting 'stats for nerds' button on most music video clips on Youtube will show you that the majority of mainstream music is still compressed and is still normalized during playback to -14 LUFS. the loudness war is not over, and until all streaming services enforce it like Youtube did no significant change will actually happen.
You fail to understand that what's done is done and that there is no magical hocus pocus to suddenly undone it. The EBU R128 is just a tool but when you have done proper mastering, it will level the overlay sound field presentation that all is there and sound as it should and on same loudness level, what isn't in the master won't magically pop up but what it whose bad it will just be little better leveled.
 

audio2design

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People not being able to make money doing what they want to do .... I wanted to be a hockey player. Wasn't good enough. So I did something else. The current music model forces touring. I feel for older musicians forced into touring but born into a different model. For new ones this is currently it. Try being a new product company and needing to dump $20000 into UL, then FCC, then your industry standards compliance /. compatibility testing, liability insurance, $10's of thousands of equipment, any number of design software packages, etc. Guaranteed profit = 0.
 

audio2design

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Well you sort of need a new avr every 5 years as they keep inventing new proprietary formats. Yet never quite solve any important problems.

Need? No, want.

I have had AVRs/processors 10+ years old. They did and do work just fine. Most stuff is pretty backwards compatible. You may not get 4K/8K, whatever, or the latest surround, but it works just fine.
 

ZolaIII

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Need? No, want.

I have had AVRs/processors 10+ years old. They did and do work just fine. Most stuff is pretty backwards compatible. You may not get 4K/8K, whatever, or the latest surround, but it works just fine.
Yes but it ain't upward compatible and they won't give you new materials on old standard they already sold you. :)
 

audio2design

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Where do I buy a movie in a format that can be played back in/on the software and hardware of my choosing like I can with an album?

I guess pointing out you are buying a license is pointless?

Unlike music, people tend not to watch the same movie 20 times over, in their car, phone, etc. .... though most streaming services do support multiple platforms and if you "buy" you can use across multiple authorized playback services. I don't fault them for wanting to be paid for their intellectual property.
 

maverickronin

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I guess pointing out you are buying a license is pointless?

Unlike music, people tend not to watch the same movie 20 times over, in their car, phone, etc. .... though most streaming services do support multiple platforms and if you "buy" you can use across multiple authorized playback services. I don't fault them for wanting to be paid for their intellectual property.

:facepalm:
 

chelgrian

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Ignoring the cost of hardware such as speakers, roughly how much $ does software, certification and licensing for Atmos and 360Reality cost?
Dolby got rid of the certification program for Home / Music Atmos so nothing.

Theatrical Atmos is an entirely different ball of wax.

You are supposed to monitor Atmos on a speaker array but frankly given the cost and faff in doing so a lot of indies are going to monitor a binaural render on headphones and if you are lucky render an MP4 using DAPS and try it on a sound bar.

Atmos for music is a huge mess at the moment and most of the issues (except for Apple screwing up binaural rendering) are of Dolby's own making.
 
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