paulo m (Customer) asked a question.
Arrays in Renderer HE
Hi, looking for advice on the following: I have a client that has a Dolby Atmos Music enabled studio. Now he wants to build a second larger room for HE. The future room is 8x6x3.20 mts(LxWxH).
As far as I understand, the HE version of the Renderer only allows a 9.1.6 speaker configuration. He has doubts if only a wide, a side surround and rear surround on both sides and rears will be enough in this room size and asked for the possibility of adding 2 speaker arrays on this positions. Meaning that wides, sides and rears will be comprised of two speaker arrays. Is this advisable? In my opinion I think it can widen too much those speaker positions and induce in panning errors and for instance Object size. I presume that when working with arrays on the Render, all speakers within an array will be playing the same source input.
I believe that only the Theatrical version of the Renderer has more individual outputs and larger Room Setup. I filled the Theatrical DARDT and it recommended 8 speakers for the sides and 6 for the rears, if for Theatrical of course. I presume that on this scenario, the Theatrical Renderer will output an individual signal for eack speaker, right?
So and if my above considerations are right, the best way to have a proper speaker setup with a larger configuration than the HE Renderer allows, would be to try a certification process for Theatrical, even if only for HE mainly. Or will the arrays as above will work just with the HE version? Considering the room is intended for HE only of course.
Many thanks.
As far as I understand, the HE version of the Renderer only allows a 9.1.6 speaker configuration. He has doubts if only a wide, a side surround and rear surround on both sides and rears will be enough in this room size and asked for the possibility of adding 2 speaker arrays on this positions. Meaning that wides, sides and rears will be comprised of two speaker arrays. Is this advisable? In my opinion I think it can widen too much those speaker positions and induce in panning errors and for instance Object size. I presume that when working with arrays on the Render, all speakers within an array will be playing the same source input.
I believe that only the Theatrical version of the Renderer has more individual outputs and larger Room Setup. I filled the Theatrical DARDT and it recommended 8 speakers for the sides and 6 for the rears, if for Theatrical of course. I presume that on this scenario, the Theatrical Renderer will output an individual signal for eack speaker, right?
So and if my above considerations are right, the best way to have a proper speaker setup with a larger configuration than the HE Renderer allows, would be to try a certification process for Theatrical, even if only for HE mainly. Or will the arrays as above will work just with the HE version? Considering the room is intended for HE only of course.
Many thanks.
The best option is to use 'Array Mode' which is available in the Dolby Atmos Mastering Suite or the Dolby Atmos Renderer v5.x (latest version). This can be found in the 'Setup' menu then 'Room setup' (see the toggle switch in the top right). Array mode allows you to add an additional 2 side surround each side, as well as 2 to each side of the rear surrounds (a total of 8 additional speakers).
In array mode, you can pan an object along - for example - the side wall and get sound out of each speaker of the array individually . And/or send audio to the relevant bed input and get sound from ALL speakers in the array.
When you come to sign off the audio, you can turn array mode off and check the mix back.
And to confirm, we don't recommend creating pseudo arrays outside of the renderer as this will introduce falsely wide object pans, and spatial distortion as you say.
thanks for your explanation. That´s great.
Just two small questions, based on your response:
1-Regarding spacing between the speakers within an array, any recommendation? Or can I just evenly space the additional 2 extra speakers let´s say for the sides, between the Wide and Side Surround (one extra speaker) and the second one between the Side Surround and the side wall back corner?
2-Do I need to provide an output from the source (renderer/interface) to each speaker in the array or is one per array?
Many thanks.
Paulo
You need to have a signal path from the Renderer to each of the speakers in the array.
Using the speaker naming used by the Renderer application (see attached), first optimise the position of your Lw/Rw, Ls/Rs, and Lrs/Rrs speakers.
Now place Ls1/Rs1 between 15°-20° forward from Ls/Rs and 15-20° back from Lw/Rw.
Now repeat this for the placement of Ls2/Rs2: 15-20° forward of Lrs/Rrs and 15-20° back from Ls/Rs).
For the additional rear surround speakers, follow the same concept and place each one between 15-20° from the adjacent speaker.
If there is a conflict between these angles, then a degree of compromise shouldn’t pose an issue.
Thanks,
Matt
all is clear now, thank you very much. The client upgraded from Production Suite to the DAR 5.x on the existing room, so I can check it out when I go there with the guy that does the room acoustics.
I was going to ask about addon speakers to the ceiling but I can see on your Room Setup picture that is also possible.
All the best,
Paulo
Yes, you can add additional ceiling speakers as well. Most rooms of the size you mentioned will work very well with 6 overhead, and not really benefit from the inclusion of the front most or rear most pairs.
Thanks,
Matt
The client would like to have the mixing position as far as between 4,70 and 5,00 meters, emulating a cinema mixing room, as there will be a projection screen and plans to have a front space for a small ADR spot and some foley if needed.
But taking in consideration the arrays/layout that you´ve sent from the HE Renderer room setup, the side surrounds will be too close to the back surrounds. Any advice on this? Should we move the mixing position more to the front, closer to the wides so that the side surrounds and back surrounds have a more even separation ? Thanks.
For optimal mixing positions, it's advisable to place yourself in the centeroid of the room, (occasionally slightly towards the rear around one-third of the way back from the median in rare cases). This central position serves as a reference listening mix point, ensuring that your mixes are crafted without unintentional spatial bias.
If you desire a more evenly distributed sound field with equidistant speaker positions to fill your room uniformly, you might consider a larger configuration like 11.1.8. However, a 9.1.6 in array mode setup should suffice for your room's dimensions.
Best regards.