Will Dolby ATMOS usher in a new age in high fidelity for music lovers? Maybe.

[This was my weekly column for GlobalNews.ca. – AC]

VAN NUYS, CALIFORNIA — Just off the freeway in the Valley is the Sound City Complex, a horseshoe-shaped building in the middle of an industrial zone. The site once featured the famed Sound City recording studios where everyone from Fleetwood Mac to Nirvana to Johnny Cash made some of the world’s famous records. Across the parking lot is another studio, but it’s devoted to something entirely different.

I’m here at the invitation of Will Kennedy and Matt Wallace, a couple of audio alchemists whose current job is turning stereo mixes into something bigger and grander. Why have just two channels of audio when you can have 13?

The main room of the studio is covered in carpets on the floor and walls. A small console sits near the middle, surrounded by a tall metal structure that holds four speakers at the top pointing down at the floor. The console, which features little more than a keyboard and a couple of monitors, is totally surrounded by more speakers. Everything operates from a wild computer interface. This is where Will and Matt work on Dolby ATMOS and Spatial Audio versions of songs.

“Listen to this,” says Will, poking at the keyboard. “We completely dismantled Love Shack by The B52’s and rebuilt it into an ATMOS mix. I know you’ve heard it a million times, but just listen.”

The song starts — and it sounds nothing like I expected.

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