Where can I get my hands on amazing .ADM files?

The Fairlight Training has Dolby ADM File which you can download and play with.
NaturesFury
You can also use one of Nuendos own demo project Fractured and make it Atmos ready. And you will be surprised how easy it is to recreate Atmos from a 5.1 project.
And its fun too.

Logic comes with a full demo project of Billie Eilish’s Ocean eyes in Stereo as well as Lil Nas X - MONTERO in Atmos, you can simply export it as ADM.

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hello everyone.

I have tried this demo, and when i import the “adm” file, the tracks are created but. there are no audio files on them. Any idea why?

postscript:
The audio files are in the audio files folder. And I have to be manually moving them to the project.

The timeline may not start at 00:00:00 but at 01, fast forward 1 hour as Davinci resolve and others default to 01

Netflix ADM file

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Oh indeed!!
1000 thank´s

Wow. How have I not responded in almost a year?
At the time I asked, I didn’t have an Atmos reference streaming device yet and was still cutting my teeth on applying my experience in stereo to Atmos.
Our studio was also the first 7.1.4 studio Im aware of in the area, so it seemed like the easiest way for me to see what an Atmos project should look like.

Dolby, thankfully, did end up sending me some projects to tinker with and we got the reference tracks streaming squared away.

It took a lot of practice to do it well, plenty of trial & error to develop an effective workflow, but I’ve gotten really good at mixing music in Atmos now.
It would have been impossible to consistently achieve professional results if we were working in only 7.1.4 or only headphones, but I’ve developed a routine that gives beautiful results in any playback configuration now.

I wasn’t sure Id actually need to shell out all the money for PMC monitors all the way around, because I thought Id be handling all the detail in stereo then “just” panning in 7.1.4, but I’m sooooo glad I didn’t go cheap on the 7.1.4 monitors. Ive found that detail and accuracy to be indispensable when it comes to creating an exciting immersive mix that still sounds great in binaural. It turned out to be its own separate artform, like mastering is to mixing. I feel they named DAMS appropriately because Ive found the importance of the finest details in Atmos to be even more important than they are in mastering, which I hadn’t expected.

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^^^^^^^^^^^^ This!!

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No problem, I don’t take it personally. (I still disinherited you. :rofl:)

My point of view is that it is very often an advantage to work out a thing / a topic / a project yourself. I really value collaboration and exchange. But teaching yourself can sometimes lead to a deeper understanding. (And sometimes a headache.)

I think the biggest misconception has always been that surround is some kind of “enhanced” stereo. And with immersive audio, it’s even more wrong.

I agree and disagree with your 2nd statement. Experimentation goes a lot further when you have a solid foundation beforehand to build from. I found my education, training, and experience in stereo and (to a lesser extent) surround, to be a huge help. I also went through Dolby’s training, which was a little helpful too. Seems logical to assume that, if I’d been able to go back to college for a semester revolving around working in Atmos, that my experimentation that wouldve followed would have been even more valuable.

Yes. Atmos is its own beast, apart from stereo. All my prior knowledge and skills were tremendously helpful, but it was still almost like starting over.
It was kind of like trying to transition from the NFL to the NHL. An NFL player’s skills and physical abilities (lets assume he’s at least an average skater) would be big advantage over me if we both tried out for the Detroit Red Wings next season, but its still gonna take a lot of work for him to make that transition.

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Im starting out with atmos, and would love to get some references tracks ADM, is there a way to get the ones dolby sent you? right now I cant shell out more cash on a reciever, monitor controller etc etc. and my clients are starting to ask about spatial mixes. I rely a lot on references in the stereo domain to qc my mixes and would love to properly hear my full setup with a properly mixed atmos song.

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welcome - i would too

I have no idea what you’re talking about. :smiley:

I’m Canadian, I understand it. :sunglasses:

Knowledge never hurts. (Rarely, anyway. :wink:) And basic knowledge is always helpful. However, the creative aspect should not be neglected: We have career changers who produce wonderful surround mixes. They may have dropped out, but they have a natural talent and intuition for the subject.
On the other hand, we have people with degrees who shine with exquisite expertise and do great work in their field, but are as creative as a dried potato. Depending on the circumstances, I prefer to work with people who have a “natural gift”. (Without wanting to generalise.)

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You will DEFINITELY need to have your reference rig operational quite awhile before accepting work. Stereo references wont do and having an Atmos project to look at wont help set your aim. I had the same thought in my head initially and it doesn’t work. Youll need that reciever or whatever device you had in mind.

The files simply gave me the opportunity to practice on something that I could then compare my work to the same project that I knew was done well, in the months I took before re-opening the studio to learn how to mix in Atmos. Even with them, references worked out, an external renderer to make MP4s I could check on consumer rigs, help from other professionals who made the switch before me, and a training course, it still took several more months to translate my training and experience from stereo to Atmos.

My advice is to get everything in order and expect to put off doing work for clients for quite awhile while you master the workflow.
Also, as someone advised me before I began the build, expect to lose your ass off financially for quite awhile. Its an investment toward the future. The industry needs to catch up and don’t undercharge. There’s a decent premium for it right now because its too expensive for amateurs to ruin like the have everything else in audio thus far lol. The systems wont be worth the investment if we cant charge a fair rate. Not my message. Just passing along an abridged version of what I was told when i began lol.

It’s kind of frustrating having a capable audio interface and many speakers and still being unable to reference Atmos content without having to spend even more money, Dolby needs to loosen this up if they really want the format to be mainstream. Even if I buy a mac mini and use apple music to stream content in 7.1.4 through my interface, I still would need a monitor controller for adjusting delay and eq of the speakers. Is just ridiculous for me, something as easy as delay and eq can be easily down in software. There’s a wall everywhere I look. I have a day job and my studio, and my studio is like 1/3 of my income, I know one should invest in their business, but it just hurts having to spend 3000 plus dollars for being able to do something as simple as eq and delay for speakers.
I’m still learing how to mix in atmos, and will wait a bit more to see what will be my best option to reference atmos content, in my country every dollar counts, thankfully spotify still does not demand an atmos mix, I just want to be ready for when the day comes.

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NFL = American-football
(National Football League)
NHL = Hockey
(National Hockey League)
The point is that a professional athlete already possess certain talents that would be relevant to another sport and give them a significant advantage over someone who’s only mediocre at sports to begin with, BUT the transition from one sport to another is still a very big leap… The same can be said about a professional engineer moving from stereo to Atmos.

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I think Dolby is doing it the smart way. They dont want every YouTube University student creating Atmos content on a shitty Yamaha HS5 5.1.2 rig. If amateurs start flooding the Spatial Audio world with 100k problematic mixes for every 1 great sounding song, like they’ve done to stereo, it will kill Atmos before it has a chance to take off.
Dolby is focusing on the consumer.

Dolby is pushing binaural right now to get Atmos off the ground. The reality is that stereo is generally equal or greater than binaural. What is gonna propel Atmos to replace stereo (like stereo did to mono long ago) is ¹audiophiles enjoying music in 5.1.2/7.1.4 on home entertainment systems and ²immersive car audio systems and that is gonna require blowing the minds of audiophiles. Any consumer looking to add an immersive system at home for music, is doing so in search of an incredible listening experience.

Dolby doesn’t have to worry about whether or not there’s enough content. They’ve already got the major labels re-mixing their catalogs in Atmos. Allowing Atmos to be unaffordable for home studio amateurs/hobbyists, keeps the bull$#!+ to a minimum. Any song released in Atmos/Spatial Audio could potentially be the first song someone hears in 7.1.4. That “holy $#!+” moment when people first hear it on an immersive system is what’s gonna make them invest in 11 full-range speakers, a sub, and an Atmos reciever, so getting their first experience to be Elton John’s “Rocket Man” or something that sounds amazing like that is incredibly important and the best way to ensure that experience is to prevent amateurs from releasing shitty mixes in the format; so I think they’re going about it wisely.

Sidenote:
We built our system with the understanding that we’d be taking a massive loss that would keep us in the read for years. It was worth it only because we were opening a new studio in an area near much bigger and much more established studios and wanted something they didn’t have yet. Most of the Atmos work we do is creating Atmos versions of songs that were tracked and mixed at another studio. So, if you don’t want to spend the money right now and take a massive loss that will take years to pay itself off, just send the stems to us. Inbox me and we can work out a lower rate for you.

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My issues is how do I play back Atmos Binaural for myself. And know it is right. Test track?

Let alone tell not computer literate friends how to do it!

IMHO what is needed is a usb plugin - plug in your headphones and wala you are immersed. Needs to work on any phone or brand PC.

Someone is missing the boat here…

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