Dolby Atmos 7.1.4
Since 2025, I have been working in my studio with a fully equipped Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 system. For me, it is a major step forward: away from purely two-dimensional stereo and towards an immersive listening experience that makes music and sound worlds tangible in every dimension.
The new system is not simply an extension with additional loudspeakers. It changes the way I think about depth, movement, proximity and space—and opens a field for productions between intimate detail work and expansive sonic environments.
01 / Immersive sound
Inside an acoustic environment
Immersive sound is the idea of embedding listeners within an acoustic environment rather than presenting sound only from the front or sides.
Loudspeakers placed not only around but also above the listening position create an additional height layer. Sounds can approach, recede or travel across the room with convincing movement.
The goal is not to distribute as many effects as possible. What matters is a spatial composition that serves the music and guides attention where it makes sense emotionally and musically.
02 / Dolby Atmos
Objects instead of fixed channels alone
Dolby Atmos is one of the best-known formats for immersive sound. Traditional surround relies mainly on fixed channels such as left, right and rear. Atmos adds audio objects that can be positioned and moved within three-dimensional space.
A voice, instrument or effect is given not only a level for specific speakers, but a position in space. The renderer then translates that position for the playback system—from a multichannel studio and soundbars to a binaural headphone version.
Separating the artistic spatial idea from the specific loudspeaker layout creates flexibility, while still requiring careful decisions about balance, movement and depth.
My setup
7.1.4—three layers, one coherent space
7 / Ear level
Seven loudspeakers around the listening position
Front, centre, sides and rear form a continuous horizontal layer. It provides precise localisation and a stable connection between the front and back of the room.
1 / Low frequency
A dedicated channel for low bass
The subwoofer carries the LFE channel and supports the lowest frequency range. The key is not sheer volume, but controlled integration into the complete system.
4 / Height
Four loudspeakers above the listening position
The height layer enables movement and depth above the traditional speaker plane. It is what makes the format’s vertical dimension directly audible.
The new dimension
This allows me to create sound worlds that move freely through space—without spatiality becoming an end in itself.
03 / Ambisonics
A complete sound field instead of individual objects
While Dolby Atmos uses a channel-based foundation with freely positioned objects, Ambisonics describes a coherent spatial sound field.
The technique is especially suited to nature recordings, ensembles, concerts, VR and 360° applications. The recording can later be decoded for different loudspeaker arrangements or as a binaural headphone version.
I use both approaches in my work. The appropriate choice is determined not by format alone, but by the material, the intended space and the artistic idea.
Playback
Spatial sound is not confined to the studio
01 / Headphones
Binaural rendering
For headphones, the spatial scene is rendered so that direction, proximity and height can be perceived psychoacoustically. This makes an immersive production accessible outside a multichannel room.
02 / Playback devices
One mix, different systems
The renderer adapts the spatial information to the available playback system. The production can therefore work on large Atmos systems as well as compatible home devices and headphones.
03 / Quality control
Stereo remains part of the process
An immersive mix must remain musically coherent in reduced playback formats. I therefore check spatial decisions repeatedly in stereo and binaural versions.
For the music
More space for expression and arrangement
- Instruments and voices can be separated spatially without merely making them quieter or narrower
- Complex arrangements can become more transparent as depth and height become part of the composition
- Movement can serve the dramaturgy—subtle, static or deliberately perceptible
For release
One production for different listening situations
- Dolby Atmos versions are supported by several streaming services and compatible devices
- Binaural playback makes spatial mixes accessible through ordinary headphones
- A carefully prepared stereo version remains an independent and important reference
04 / Loudspeakers
Individually adapted for a coherent sound image
Few devices in the Refugium remain untouched, and the loudspeakers of the new system are no exception. To ensure that the additional channels function as one coherent monitoring system rather than merely being present, I adapted the speakers individually.
The tweeter crossovers were revised with high-quality capacitors. I also adjusted tweeter polarity so that the high- and low-frequency sections work together more coherently in phase at the crossover point.
The result is more linear, detailed playback and more consistent imaging between positions. This agreement is essential in immersive work: a moving sound should be perceived as movement, not as a change between differently sounding speakers.
