This 2-part article will focus on setting up a multichannel mix room and monitor system for music mixing. Post-production and game audio mixing setups follow the same principles but may have expanded speaker setups. This article will focus on Dolby Atmos, which is currently the most popular format for commercial music. Sony 360 Reality Audio and other formats utilize similar setups, although with slightly different speaker positions and numbers. This first article will guide you through the planning and physical setup of an Atmos playback system, and the second part will guide you through calibrating and fine-tuning the setup. Most music rooms utilize a 7.1.4 speaker setup along with headphones, so we will discuss that setup.

Mix translation, as always, is a primary goal of any audio work, and following these will help ensure that your room matches the specifications suggested by Dolby. Many, if not most, listeners will consume Atmos and Apple’s Spatial Audio variant on headphones, so referencing immersive mixes on headphones is extremely important. Dolby provides a best practices document with their guidelines for setting up music mixing rooms, which this article will follow. However, Dolby recognizes that every room is unique and allows slight variations in speaker placement to allow for doorways, furniture, and other obstacles. Try your best to follow these guidelines and then through calibration and critical listening, you can make small adjustments to suit your situation. 

Budgeting an Atmos Room

Expanding from a stereo mix room to Atmos can be a daunting task and the cost can be considerable. Start by systematically breaking the system into the following categories: DAW and computer system, audio interface monitor control, speakers and subwoofers, stands and mounting hardware, power and audio cabling, and acoustic treatment. You may already have some of these categories covered, but as you read this article, you can decide what may need to be added or upgraded to meet the needs of an immersive room. 

The cost of a ground-up immersive monitor system starts from as low as $5,000, but can quickly become much more expensive with more high-end speakers and hardware choices. Read our article Atmos on a Budget to review the price ranges for various system options. Don’t forget to budget for audio and power cabling and consider where audio cables and power need to route for aesthetically pleasing cable runs. Before you start buying or installing, make a road map and task list for this journey. We have a worksheet at the end of this article to help map out your plan of attack.

Room Size and Dimensions

Before installing an Atmos system in your studio, be sure that you have the required space to fit the speaker layout. A 7.1.4 system requires a lot of speakers. Seven sit at ear height while four are mounted overhead firing downward. One or more subwoofers reproduce the LFE channel, though many systems may use the same or additional subwoofers that work as part of the main speaker system. To fit all these speakers in a usable array, Dolby suggests a minimum speaker layout of 3.5m long x 3m wide x 2.4m high (11.5’ x 9.8’ x 7.9’ ). The layout defines the area between the speakers, so the room must be larger than the speaker layout.

In every room, there is one best listening position, regardless of the speaker setup. This position can be predicted to be about 37% of the distance from the front wall to the back wall, midway from left to right. This position provides the optimum frequency response and imaging, so we should mix from the best-sounding seat in the room and the speaker system must be set up based on that listening position. Since most rooms are rectangular, we will describe a setup with an orthogonal (rectangular) layout, rather than an equidistant (circular) layout.

Dolby specifies speaker locations and distances, but some variation is allowed to accommodate architectural and practical obstacles, like doors. The speaker layout should fit comfortably inside the walls of your room providing enough extra space for proper acoustic treatment. If you are building a room from the ground up, you may choose to save space and hide the speakers by installing them inside the walls and ceiling. Some speaker manufacturers offer low-profile “wafer” speakers for ceilings and surrounds. 

PMC’s cI30 speaker provides full-range response for overhead or surround speakers while only requiring 10cm (4”) of depth.

Best DAW for Atmos

Now that we know how to place our speakers, let’s look at the necessary equipment. We will need a DAW, and almost every professional DAW supports Dolby Atmos, either natively or with the addition of the Dolby Atmos Renderer Application. Sonly 360 users will need Sony’s Walkmix app and their DAW. Each DAW provides a slightly different workflow for Atmos panning and the assignment of bed tracks vs. object tracks, so some study of your DAW will likely be necessary. In my experience, a computer that is powerful enough to handle your DAW under normal use should have no problem running your DAW along with the Atmos or Sony renderer.

The Dolby Atmos Render application provides features beyond that of your DAW, such as re-renders, speaker calibration, and album mastering capabilities, so many studios choose to use the Dobly Renderer regardless of their DAW choice. The Renderer runs on Mac computers and can run on the same machine as the DAW or on a dedicated rendering computer connected via AoIP or digital connections.

Choosing Speakers for Atmos

The speakers you choose should meet Dolby’s specifications, and many affordable speakers are built with these specifications in mind. Of the 11 speakers, the three front speakers (left, center, right) should be the same make and model. The other four ear height and the four overhead speakers (left surround, right surround, left rear surround, right rear surround, right top front, left top front, right top rear, left top rear) can be the same model as the front speakers, or you may choose smaller speakers from the same brand and series as the front speakers. For instance, if you choose Kali LP8s for the front speakers, you may choose Kali LP6s for the surround speakers. Keep in mind that Atmos monitors may be mounted farther away from your listening position than typical nearfield stereo monitors, so larger speakers may be required for immersive rooms.

Each speaker should be able to reproduce 40 Hz to 18 kHz, ±3 dB, and each speaker should be capable of generating 85 dB SPL at the listening position with a max SPL rating of at least 105 dB SPL. The LFE subwoofer should be reach down to at least 31 Hz and up to 150 Hz. If you choose to use small main speakers that do not have a suitable low-frequency response, a subwoofer can be added for bass management. 

Below are the specifications for Kali’s LP6 monitors, which meet the Dolby specifications. You can see from the specifications that the LP6s are appropriate if the speakers are less than 2.5 meters from the listening position, while the LP8s can be placed up to 3.5 meters away.

Positioning Atmos Speakers

The Dolby Atmos Room Design Tool (DDART) is a free download that assists you in laying out a speaker system based on your room’s dimensions and the specific brand and model of speaker you choose. A word of advice: Do not skimp on the stands or mounts, as speakers will be placed in positions around the room that are more likely to be bumped into by visitors. Overhead speaker mounts require special attention for obvious safety concerns. Many speaker manufacturers recommend specific solutions for floor, wall, and ceiling mounts. 

[Insert image of Triad-Orbit mounting system or Genelec mounting system]

Most rooms will utilize an orthogonal layout (rectangular) vs. an equidistant layout (circular), so here is how the orthogonal layout works (as shown in Fig. 1). The front left and right speakers will be located at 60˚ from the listening position, creating an equilateral triangle with the listening position, just as standard stereo speakers. The center channel should be the same height as the left and right and the face of the center channel should be on the same plane as the left and right speakers. 

Figure 1. Orthogonal layout for Dolby Atmos music mixing room. All measurements are from the center of the speaker’s faceplate.

The side surrounds should also be the same height as the front trio and they should be placed 20˚ behind the listening position, slightly wider than the front speakers. See Fig. 1 for Dolby’s recommended distances and angles. The rear surrounds should be in line with the front left and right speakers and all the ear-height speakers should be focused towards the listening position.

The overhead speakers create a square around the listening position with each top speaker at 45˚ in front of (or behind) the listening position and 45˚ to the outside of the listening position. The overhead speakers should be a minimum of 2.36m (7 ft. 9 in.) from the floor and all the overhead speakers should be the same height. The overhead speakers should be aimed to cover the listening position.

The LFE subwoofer(s) should be placed to provide a balanced frequency response, usually in line with and between the front left and center or right and center speakers. If the subwoofer is also providing bass management for the main speakers, care should be taken to optimize the sub’s location for the best integration with the main speakers.

Remember that each speaker requires cabling. Power plus audio and possibly ethernet (for control) for active speakers or traditional speaker wire for passive speakers. As you can see, setting up stands, mounting hardware, audio, and power connections for twelve speakers require some forethought and budgeting.

Choosing an Interface or Monitor Controller for Atmos

To route audio to all these speakers, we require an audio interface with a minimum of twelve analog outputs, but at least 16 would be useful to provide alternate stereo monitor and headphone outputs. Additionally, the monitor controller or audio interface needs to provide speaker calibration features to ensure the proper frequency response and timing for each speaker channel. 

Some newer audio interfaces provide monitor control and the necessary speaker calibration for immersive systems. but you may already own an audio interface with enough outputs. In this case, a separate monitor controller may work with your current interface. Many companies, including Audient, Genelce, Grace, and Trinnov produce stand-alone immersive monitor controllers that allow you to keep your current interface(s). If you are interested in updating your audio interface, many companies offer interfaces with integrated immersive monitor control.

Planning An Immersive Mix Setup

  1. What format do you want to mix in (e.g., 7.1.4, 9.1.4, etc.)?
    1. Cost: 0$ (Research)
  2. Measure your room to see how the recommended layout fits within your room’s shape. Consider what speaker stands, wall mounts, and ceiling mounts you may need.
    1. Cost: Price out speaker stands and mounts as recommended by the speaker manufacturer. Typically $100 – $300 per speaker, but may be higher.
  3. Take note of power outlets and the ability to run audio cables to each speaker.
    1. Cost: Audio cabling ranges from $15 per speaker (DIY) up to $75 for decent retail cables. Power strips, and extension cords as needed.
  4. Analyze your room’s acoustic treatment, particularly if you have never treated the rear or ceiling areas, since sound will now be coming from all directions.
    1. Cost: DIY acoustic treatment starts at a few hundred dollars, while retail products may cost $1000 or more.
  5. Investigate the immersive capabilities of your DAW to see if you might need to update to a newer version that supports Atmos.
    1. Cost: DAW Upgrade prices vary. Investigate the Dolby Atmos Renderer or Sony WalkMix Creator software
  6. Assess the output capability of your current audio interface to see if you need to upgrade to one with more outputs.
    1. Cost: Interfaces with 16 analog outputs range from $1000 up to several thousand dollars
  7. Assess your need for a dedicated monitor controller or an audio interface with built-in room calibration abilities
    1. Cost: Immersive monitor controllers with calibration start from $2000 and up
  8. Choose the speaker make and models that fit your budget and needs.
    1. Professional immersive systems start at around $4000 and the sky is the limit
  9. Allocate time to install the speakers and mixing software. This can take several days and possibly assistance from a carpenter since mounting speakers from the ceiling and on walls can be tricky.
    1. Cost: Free (DIY) up to a few hundred dollars if a carpenter is preferred.
  10. Setup and test that your DAW can properly send audio to each speaker channel
    1. Cost: Free (DIY) 
  11. Calibrate your speaker setup either using software like SoundID Reference Multichannel or via another method.
    1. Cost: Free up to $549 for SoundID Multichannel with measurement mic
    2. Up to a few hundred dollars if consultation is preferred.
  12. Spend some time enjoying immersive music from Amazon, Apple music or Tidal!
    1. Cost: $10 – $20/month (Subscription)

Tuning Your System

In the second installment, we will cover room calibration, acoustic considerations and fine-tuning the performance of your immersive monitor system. After completing these two articles, you should be pumped and ready to dive head-first into building out your own immersive mix room!