How to Prepare Your Files for Dolby Atmos / Spatial Audio Mixing
Dolby Atmos is an immersive audio format. Rather than placing your record across two speakers, it positions each element in three dimensional space, so a listener on headphones, a soundbar or a full speaker system hears the mix open up around them.
An Atmos version is an addition to your record, not a replacement for it. Your stereo master stays exactly as it is. On Apple Music, listeners on supported devices are served the Atmos version by default.
This page covers everything we need from you. Work through the checklist that matches your project and the process runs smoothly from the start.
Atmos mixing file preparation
Read this guide before you start exporting, because most of it is about how you export rather than what you export.
Before you export
- Your stereo master is signed off.
Everything below is built to line up against it, so nothing in the mix should change after this point. - You have the session as you last left it.
We would rather pick up where you finished than rebuild your balance from scratch.
Export settings
- WAV format, 48kHz, 24 bit.
- Every single file printed from the same start point, from the very top of the session. This matters more than anything else on this page. Files that begin at different points cannot be lined up against each other.
- All stems lined up to the stereo master file.
- Do not normalise anything. Your stems should add up to sound the same as your final stereo mix. Normalising breaks that relationship.
- Leave bus processing on. Take the final loudness limiter off.
- Export individual tracks at the levels you currently have them set to. Leave the plugins on your instrument tracks, and keep your volume automation on the wet versions. Your balance decisions are part of the record, and we want to start from them.
What to send. Four folders
Put these inside one master folder.
- Dry multitracks. No effects, no volume automation.
- Wet multitracks. Insert effects printed and volume automation included. Insert effects only. If a reverb sits directly on the track as an insert, print it. Anything on a send belongs in the next folder.
- Send FX printed. Reverbs, delays, modulation, parallel drum compression, distortion, and anything else living on a send.
- Rough mix. The version you have been listening to, with all effects, balance and mix bus processing intact.
Everything in all four folders starts from the same point.
A quick way to check yourself: your wet stems plus your printed send effects should roughly add up to your rough mix. If you had a lot of parallel or bus processing running they will not match exactly, and that is fine.
How to name the files
Use this format:
Track number_Instrument_Wet or Dry_Significant FX (if any)
The track numbers matter. They tell us the order the tracks sat in your session, and they let us confirm nothing went missing in transit.
Wet example
1_Kick_Wet
2_Snare_Wet
3_HH_Wet
4_Ohs_Wet
5_Bass_Wet
6_E Gtr 1_Wet
7_E Gtr 2_Wet
8_Keys _Wet
9_Lead Vox_Wet
10_Harm 1_Wet
11_Harm 2_WetDry example
1_Kick_Dry
2_Snare_Dry
3_HH_Dry
4_Ohs_Dry
5_Bass_Dry_Distorted in Wet NB
6_E Gtr 1_Dry
7_E Gtr 2_Dry
8_Keys _Dry_Stereo Mod in Wet
9_Lead Vox_Dry_Saturated in Wet NB
10_Harm 1_Stereo Dly in Wet
11_Harm 2_DryLook at tracks 5, 8, 9 and 10 in the dry list. Where something significant happens in the wet version that is not in the dry version, note it in the file name. It saves us guessing.
Song information
Include a text file in the master folder with the following.
- Song title and artist
- Writers and performers
- Producer, mix engineer, additional engineers, additional musicians
- Genre
- Song structure with bar numbers, for example: Intro, V1, PreCh1, Ch1, Tag1, V2, PreCh2, Ch2, Tag2, Breakdown, PreCh, Ch3, Outro
- Key
- Tempo, and whether the recording was made to a click
- File format and sample rate
- The total number of files we should receive, and the number of tracks in the recording. If something does not arrive, we need to know before we start rather than halfway through.
- One or two reference songs per track, similar in genre and tempo, whose mix you love. Titles and artists are enough, we will find them. A Spotify playlist works just as well.
- Any other notes you want us to have
Final checks before you send
- Import everything back into a blank session and listen.
Check nothing is missing, silent or out of place. Almost everyone skips this step, and some programs are unreliable when exporting. Five minutes here saves days of back and forth. - Zip the master folder.
On a Mac, right click the folder and choose Compress. A zip either unpacks cleanly or it does not, so there is no ambiguity about a partial upload. - Confirm the file count in your notes matches what is actually in the zip.
Sending it to us
Upload the zip to your preferred file service and send us the link, or ask us for an upload link and we will provide one.
FAQ
Do I need to remix my record for Atmos?
No. An Atmos version is built from the stems of the record you already have, and your stereo master stays untouched.
What is an ADM BWF file?
It is the standard delivery file for a Dolby Atmos mix. It holds the audio and the positional metadata for every object in a single .wav, which is what streaming platforms need in order to serve your Atmos version.
Why do you need both dry and wet stems?
The dry stems let us place elements freely in three dimensional space without effects that were designed for a stereo image getting in the way. The wet stems tell us how the record is meant to sound, and preserve the balance and automation decisions you already made.
Why does everything have to start at the same point?
Because Atmos mixing works by lining up every element against the same timeline. If one file starts two bars later than the rest, nothing lines up, and finding out which file is offset takes far longer than exporting them correctly the first time.
Can you work from a stereo master alone?
No. Atmos needs the individual elements in order to place them in space. A stereo file has already combined them.