How can we listen to Dolby Atmos on services like Netflix or Apple Music through our studio based Dolby Atmos monitoring? It turns out that it can be an expensive solution, but does it need to be? We explore…
As a result of the growing uptake of Dolby Atmos for home entertainment and more recently Dolby Atmos for music, we have seen a corresponding search for ways to listen to Dolby Atmos content, for reference purposes, from brands such as Apple Music, Netflix, Tidal and Amazon in our studios in full Dolby Atmos.
One of the commonly suggested solutions is to use an AV Receiver that has at least 7.1.4 XLR preamp outputs like the Marantz AV7705 or AV8805.
The AV7705 has been discounted and replaced by the AV7706, which offers a 7.2.4 set of XLR preamp outputs, priced at £2,399/$2599. The AV8805 is a current model, which offers either a 9.2.6 or 7.1.8 set of XLR preamp outputs and is priced at £3,599/$4499 with a new version, the Marantz 8805A, priced at £3899/$4999.
Is There A Lower-Cost Solution?
Do we really have to spend this kind of money, just to be able to listen to Dolby Atmos reference content, whether it’s music or Home Entertainment? Perhaps not.
What if we look at AV receivers that offer preamp outputs on phonos, will that bring down the cost? So we did some research and this is a list of units we have been able to find that will deliver a 7.2.4 set of preamp outputs albeit on phonos…
Denon AVC-X3700H - price around £1099/S1299
Marantz SR6015 price around £1199/$1699
Denon AVC-X4700H price around £1449/$1799
If you then turn to eBay, you can get an older model for much less, with units going for around £600 here in the UK.
What About Connectivity To The Studio Equipment?
‘But it’s only phonos, I need XLRs’. No problem, look at unis like the Sonifex RB-LU4, which offer 8 channels of phono to XLR conversion with units going for around £450/$540 and even better, are available on eBay secondhand for around half that, or less.
This means is you can source a secondhand AV receiver for around £600 and 2 Sonifex units for say £150 each and so for less than £900 you could be all sorted, which is nearly a third of the price of the cheaper Marantz unit with XLRs.
But do you need XLRs? If like me, you have an Avid MTRX Studio, you could get a pair of Fostex VC8 units that take phono analogue audio and convert it into ADAT. They are discontinued now but sell for around $85 each and you would need 2 units. This would enable you to use the ADAT ports instead of tying up precious analogue ports.
Or if you wanted to go for Dante instead, then the Tascam ML16D could be an option but we are back up in the expensive zone, with this unit priced around £1440/$1799.
Whilst are talking Dante, there is another option if your budget will stretch and that is to go for a unit like the JBL Synthesis SDR35, an AV receiver with Dante built-in, but it’s not cheap, priced at around £7500/$7500!
It’s Not Cheap
This seems to be the order of the day here. There is no doubt that equipping yourself with a way of bringing in Dolby Atmos content to use as reference tracks, delivered from providers like Apple Music, Amazon and TIDAL is an expensive job, even with the low-cost options we have listed in this article.
But as more and more of us start working in Dolby Atmos, there is going to be a demand for something and it needs to be more cost-effective, because as we outline in our article Dolby Atmos - What Hardware And Software Do You Need To Work In Atmos? it’s not cheap to upgrade your studio for Dolby Atmos. Having a way to reference Dolby Atmos content on your studio monitoring looks like it will be another significant expense.
Maybe Dolby should develop a cost-effective solution? They are clearly very keen for us all to work in Dolby Atmos.