Daft Punk - Random Access Memories in Atmos

[marpow]

I have updated Daft Punk in my Apple library. Unfortunately no Atmos in California, yet?

 

[PurpleMoustache]

I have updated Daft Punk in my Apple library. Unfortunately no Atmos in California, yet?

If it's the one with bonus tracks, it *is* in Atmos, but just the original album + "The Writing of Fragments of Time". The rest of the new bonus tracks are stereo only, and as a result the Apple Music page doesn't get the Atmos badge.

 

[marpow]

If it's the one with bonus tracks, it *is* in Atmos, but just the original album + "The Writing of Fragments of Time". The rest of the new bonus tracks are stereo only, and as a result the Apple Music page doesn't get the Atmos badge.

Oh, many thank you, you are correct, I just looked and did not play, now palying, cool.

 

[edisonbaggins]

If it's the one with bonus tracks, it *is* in Atmos, but just the original album + "The Writing of Fragments of Time". The rest of the new bonus tracks are stereo only, and as a result the Apple Music page doesn't get the Atmos badge.

I have updated Daft Punk in my Apple library. Unfortunately no Atmos in California, yet?

As covered in my recent video!

 

[ted_b]

And covered ad nauseum in several of the other Daft Punk and Atmos threads ( not sure why this thread exists).

The all-or-nothing Dolby Audio and Dolby Atmos labeling has created a large hidden treasures trove that we need to catalog somehow, but our uncovering of them individually is at least a good start

 

[PurpleMoustache]

And covered ad nauseum in several of the other Daft Punk and Atmos threads ( not sure why this thread exists).

The all-or-nothing Dolby Audio and Dolby Atmos labeling has created a large hidden treasures trove that we need to catalog somehow, but our uncovering of them individually is at least a good start

Allegedly (and I swear this was the rumor LAST year and nothing ended up happening) the main iOS/tvOS/etc etc update for this year is more of a “refresh” update rather than a features update, including changes to Apple Music. Here’s hoping they find a solution for this.

 

[dobyblue]

What's up with the mixing on so many Atmos releases where the centre channel and LFE are almost 100% devoid of any content. Listening to a couple tracks of this one, if you're on a 5.1 system you're listening to a quad mix. The rears sound pretty good as far as surround content goes (being different to the front), but nothing in the LFE and virtually nothing in the C? Same as the Coldplay Spheres mixing. Are all the new Atmos mixers going to the same school where they tell you, "those channels marked C and LFE? Don't bother with them"

 

[PurpleMoustache]

What's up with the mixing on so many Atmos releases where the centre channel and LFE are almost 100% devoid of any content. Listening to a couple tracks of this one, if you're on a 5.1 system you're listening to a quad mix. The rears sound pretty good as far as surround content goes (being different to the front), but nothing in the LFE and virtually nothing in the C? Same as the Coldplay Spheres mixing. Are all the new Atmos mixers going to the same school where they tell you, "those channels marked C and LFE? Don't bother with them"

I wonder if it may have something to do with the Headphone side of Atmos...

 

[sjcorne]

Listening to a couple tracks of this one, if you're on a 5.1 system you're listening to a quad mix.

Funny, I thought this one had more center activity than most streaming-exclusive Atmos mixes - "Give Life Back To Music", "The Game Of Love", and "Within" all have the lead vocals isolated in the center speaker.

 

[mandrix]

What's up with the mixing on so many Atmos releases where the centre channel and LFE are almost 100% devoid of any content. Listening to a couple tracks of this one, if you're on a 5.1 system you're listening to a quad mix. The rears sound pretty good as far as surround content goes (being different to the front), but nothing in the LFE and virtually nothing in the C? Same as the Coldplay Spheres mixing. Are all the new Atmos mixers going to the same school where they tell you, "those channels marked C and LFE? Don't bother with them"

It gets even more curious with the RA360 stuff. i.e. if you do not have the means to decode 22 channels via your AVR. (I don't have MPEG-H decoding on my AVR)

Thanks to "our" author of MMH, we can convert RA360 to various incarnations of FLAC. Most people probably I'm guessing to 5.1.
If you go a step further, convert to 7.1.4 wav and then on to Atmos encoding, it often feels like C & Lfe are MIA.
I was asked today why this is so. My response, right or wrong, is that RA360 follows a different pattern than Atmos, and that to decode all channels to wav, then remix how you see fit is probably your best recourse.
With no predefined file to direct how all those channels are mixed down, such as with Atmos, it's intimidating to work with so many channels of music for we that just want a "quick fix" and make it so.

As for the various people mixing Atmos for the streamers, I have no idea why some of them think they are doing a good job. Yet others do superbly well. Is it because they did the best they could with what they had, or are they merely just not very good at it? I have no clue, no answers, and doubtful we'll ever get any.

 

[dobyblue]

Funny, I thought this one had more center activity than most streaming-exclusive Atmos mixes - "Give Life Back To Music", "The Game Of Love", and "Within" all have the lead vocals isolated in the center speaker.

Just loaded up Within and the only thing in the centre channel is some keys at a very low volume beginning at the 0:43 mark, total silence to that point..but that's a lot more content than Moroder and Doing It Right. Are you sure you heard vocals in Within and you just don't have your rig set-up in that sweet spot where vocals sound like they're coming from the centre? lol (or are there two different mixes floating about)

Life Back to Music has some synth in the opening, then a very reverby echo of the vocal in the mains with just the backing vocal "give life back to music" coming through the centre...everything at a very low volume...almost like the LFE issue with the Seal I DVD-A. That one vocal motif ("give life back to music") is showing -42dB when listening solo to the centre channel, but it's doubled in the rear surrounds where it's at -16dB. Looking at the image below, the slightly larger waveform around the 3:00 mark is the "bubbling synth" effect, not vocals (in case anyone was wondering whether this screenshot is of the wrong timecode)

 

[sjcorne]

Are you sure you heard vocals in Within and you just don't have your rig set-up in that sweet spot where vocals sound like they're coming from the centre? lol (or are there two different mixes floating about)

Must be two different mixes (360RA & Atmos). If I mute my center speaker on those aforementioned tracks, nearly all the dry vocals disappear.

 

[himey]

Must be two different mixes (360RA & Atmos). If I mute my center speaker on those aforementioned tracks, nearly all the dry vocals disappear.

View attachment 95273

Wouldn't that apply to every album in both formats?

 

[sjcorne]

Wouldn't that apply to every album in both formats?

It depends on the title - some are exactly the same 7.1.4 experience in both formats (Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation, Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing, etc), while others are completely unique in terms of the spatial positioning and other mix decisions (David Bowie - Space Oddity, Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia, etc).

 

[himey]

It depends on the title - some are exactly the same 7.1.4 experience in both formats (Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation, Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing, etc), while others are completely unique in terms of the spatial positioning and other mix decisions (David Bowie - Space Oddity, Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia, etc).

I wonder what the work flow was for the ones that are the same 7.1.4 output. Is there software that simply outputs both formats? I would think that the ones that are completely different, used different DAW's for the mixing, and were mixed in different sessions.

 

[sjcorne]

I wonder what the work flow was for the ones that are the same 7.1.4 output. Is there software that simply outputs both formats?

Yes, Fraunhofer's MPEG-H encoder allows for a one-step conversion from ADM BWF to an MP4 file encoded with MPEG-H.

 

[MrSmithers]

Yep the 360RA RAM mix is different to the more adventurous Atmos mix... Not sure why that is, but they're quite different...

 

[himey]

Yep the 360RA RAM mix is different to the more adventurous Atmos mix... Not sure why that is, but they're quite different...

Wow. I have only listened to the 360 mix and I consider it reference AND adventurous.
I would find it surprising if it was done in different sessions considering it was released simultaneously.

 

[MrSmithers]

Yeah I'm not sure where the differences are? But I felt the Atmos mix was reference level and the 360 mix was a little 'handbraked' in comparison...

To be fair - I've only been able to listen to a 5.1 downmix of the 360 (sans height channels) - but even still I don't think that was a compelling factor...

The good news is we got a great mix out of a great album...

Slightly off topic but I was recently watching a YouTube video of how the Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You song came to be... I had no idea one half of Daft Punk was involved, nor that the iconic riff was a sample of a Chaka Khan song!

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Yeah I'm not sure where the differences are? But I felt the Atmos mix was reference level and the 360 mix was a little 'handbraked' in comparison...

To be fair - I've only been able to listen to a 5.1 downmix of the 360 (sans height channels) - but even still I don't think that was a compelling factor...

The good news is we got a great mix out of a great album...

Slightly off topic but I was recently watching a YouTube video of how the Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You song came to be... I had no idea one half of Daft Punk was involved, nor that the iconic riff was a sample of a Chaka Khan song!

Thanks! That was a fascinating video to see. I've never heard of DJ Mag but I'll keep eyes on it now!