SOUND ON SOUND

[Nived M]

Hi everyone, first of all im a newbie in dolby atmos and here as well. So please pardon my doubt Iam a sound designer / editor working for various commercials actually. Currently i have a basic 7.1 setup for sound designing, editing and premixing my works.

My current 7.1 setup includes :
Pro tools ultimate.
7 x Jbl 308p powered studio monitors.
1 x Jbl lsr 310 subwoofer.
Focusrite scarlett 18i20 3rd gen audio interface.

Now im planning to upgrade this setup to dolby atmos 7.1.4 configuration using dolby atmos production suite. Adding 4 more jbl 308p for overheads also.
So my doubt is; for 7.1.4 setup i need 4 more individual analog outputs (for overhead speakers) from my interface right ?
But my current interface scarlett 18i20 only have 8 individual analog line outputs.
So im planning to connect a new scarlett octopre interface or behringer ADA8200 (or any interface with ADAT i/o and 4 or more line outputs) with my 18i20 via ADAT. So that i will get 8 more individual line outputs from the newly connected interface; and a total of 16 individual line outputs from both these interfaces right ?
So can i use any 4 line outputs from my ADAT extended interface for my overhead speakers ?
I mean first 8 outputs from scarlett 18i20 for L,R,C,LFE,Lss,Rss,Lrs,Rrs and 4 more individual analog outputs from ADAT extended interface for Ltf,Rtf,Ltr,Rtr (overhead speakers).

Will this technique works well for a 7.1.4 setup ? and can i route audio (both bed and objects) properly from protools and dolby production suite to these outputs ?
Please provide your valueble suggestions guys...
I dont have enough budget to go with avid interfaces or something like that thats why im planning to do this setup...

[Hugh Robjohns]

Yes, yes and yes...probably in that order.

You just need extra analogue outputs, so your solution will work fine. I'd keep all of the height (ceiling) speakers on one interface, and all the horizontal speakers on the other, just to avoid any small converter latency issues confusing the alignments.

[Nived M]

Thank you so much for you reply Hugh Robjohns...

one more thing...is it necessary to use any bass management system and monitor control system for this 7.1.4 setup ? Actually for my 7.1 setup im not using any bass management system; thought all monitors are 8" in size and can go upto 45hz in low end so i just avoided.
But in this case is it necessary to use any external bass management system and monitor control system ? (For monitor control im planning to use the DAPS's internal options itself. dont know whether it will work or not.)

[Hugh Robjohns]

is it necessary to use any bass management system and monitor control system for this 7.1.4 setup ?

Strictly, yes... but as a pre-production/editing suite: in practice, no, not really.

The LF extension of the 308Ps is specified as 45Hz (-3dB) and 37Hz (-10dB), so they are almost 'full range speakers' and certainly have a wide enough range for most purposes.

However, without bass management any very low frequencies carried in the main channels below the region that the JBLs can reproduce meaningfully will go unheard... which could lead to some surprises when replayed in a theatre or cinema.

If you have the option in your software monitor control system (and most do) I'd engage bass management and set the filter somewhere down around the 45Hz area, just so that anything the 308s miss can be routed over to the subwoofer.

[Nived M]

Okay Hugh Robjohns...

can you suggest me any better interface to connect with my scarlett 18i20 via ADAT.
Is it better to take the same 18i20 or any other from focusrite itself ? Or can i use behringer ADA8200 or something like that from any other brand ?

[Hugh Robjohns]

You can use whatever you like and whatever suits your budget and quality requirements.

[Nived M]

Thanks a lot Hugh Robjohns (y)

[Gyzmo34]

Wow! I can't believe I found this thread, it's exactly what I was looking for!
I have a noob question to add. With a setup like this, if I'm not using it for production, how might I be able to play atmos media (blurays, maybe games)?
I might be going the wrong way about this. It's just something I can't seem to wrap my head around, so any help would be much appreciated!

[Hugh Robjohns]

You would need a player/decoder that provides separate discrete decoded outputs for each channel encoded in the Dolby Atmos material, which you could then route into your monitoring system.

Most (if not all) consumer players with Dolby Atmos are designed to connect via HDMI to a TV or home theatre decoder.

[lgabor]

Hi everyone, first of all im a newbie in dolby atmos and here as well. So please pardon my doubt Iam a sound designer / editor working for various commercials actually. Currently i have a basic 7.1 setup for sound designing, editing and premixing my works.

My current 7.1 setup includes :
Pro tools ultimate.
7 x Jbl 308p powered studio monitors.
1 x Jbl lsr 310 subwoofer.
Focusrite scarlett 18i20 3rd gen audio interface.

Now im planning to upgrade this setup to dolby atmos 7.1.4 configuration using dolby atmos production suite. Adding 4 more jbl 308p for overheads also.
So my doubt is; for 7.1.4 setup i need 4 more individual analog outputs (for overhead speakers) from my interface right ?
But my current interface scarlett 18i20 only have 8 individual analog line outputs.
So im planning to connect a new scarlett octopre interface or behringer ADA8200 (or any interface with ADAT i/o and 4 or more line outputs) with my 18i20 via ADAT. So that i will get 8 more individual line outputs from the newly connected interface; and a total of 16 individual line outputs from both these interfaces right ?
So can i use any 4 line outputs from my ADAT extended interface for my overhead speakers ?
I mean first 8 outputs from scarlett 18i20 for L,R,C,LFE,Lss,Rss,Lrs,Rrs and 4 more individual analog outputs from ADAT extended interface for Ltf,Rtf,Ltr,Rtr (overhead speakers).

Will this technique works well for a 7.1.4 setup ? and can i route audio (both bed and objects) properly from protools and dolby production suite to these outputs ?
Please provide your valueble suggestions guys...
I dont have enough budget to go with avid interfaces or something like that thats why im planning to do this setup...

HI, I am doing exactly what you are planning to do and researching the subject. What i learned is that with the 18i20 or in this case 2 of them you wont have a monitor control. So you cannot control all 12 channels from the 18i20. Is that something you do not worry about?

[Gyzmo34]

You would need a player/decoder that provides separate discrete decoded outputs for each channel encoded in the Dolby Atmos material, which you could then route into your monitoring system.

Most (if not all) consumer players with Dolby Atmos are designed to connect via HDMI to a TV or home theatre decoder.

Thank you for your answer! It makes sense to have an av receiver in the chain. I mostly do sound design for games and I want to experiment with Atmos at home. That being said, I could justify the purchase more if I could use it as a home entertainment system from time to time for watching films or playing on a console.
Regarding my initial question, I did more reading starting from your answer, and it seems you can use HDMI passthrough from the PC to the decoder.

[Nived M]

Yeah, we cant control all 12 channels together. Iam planning to do it internally via DAPS itself or from DAW. Also searching and thinking for a better option.

Hi everyone, first of all im a newbie in dolby atmos and here as well. So please pardon my doubt Iam a sound designer / editor working for various commercials actually. Currently i have a basic 7.1 setup for sound designing, editing and premixing my works.

My current 7.1 setup includes :
Pro tools ultimate.
7 x Jbl 308p powered studio monitors.
1 x Jbl lsr 310 subwoofer.
Focusrite scarlett 18i20 3rd gen audio interface.

Now im planning to upgrade this setup to dolby atmos 7.1.4 configuration using dolby atmos production suite. Adding 4 more jbl 308p for overheads also.
So my doubt is; for 7.1.4 setup i need 4 more individual analog outputs (for overhead speakers) from my interface right ?
But my current interface scarlett 18i20 only have 8 individual analog line outputs.
So im planning to connect a new scarlett octopre interface or behringer ADA8200 (or any interface with ADAT i/o and 4 or more line outputs) with my 18i20 via ADAT. So that i will get 8 more individual line outputs from the newly connected interface; and a total of 16 individual line outputs from both these interfaces right ?
So can i use any 4 line outputs from my ADAT extended interface for my overhead speakers ?
I mean first 8 outputs from scarlett 18i20 for L,R,C,LFE,Lss,Rss,Lrs,Rrs and 4 more individual analog outputs from ADAT extended interface for Ltf,Rtf,Ltr,Rtr (overhead speakers).

Will this technique works well for a 7.1.4 setup ? and can i route audio (both bed and objects) properly from protools and dolby production suite to these outputs ?
Please provide your valueble suggestions guys...
I dont have enough budget to go with avid interfaces or something like that thats why im planning to do this setup...

HI, I am doing exactly what you are planning to do and researching the subject. What i learned is that with the 18i20 or in this case 2 of them you wont have a monitor control. So you cannot control all 12 channels from the 18i20. Is that something you do not worry about?

[david menezes]

Hi Nived M,

i'd like to know: Your setup works fine with focusrite? i'm thinking to do de same!
I'm looking to other interfaces like Motu 16A or Clarett.

Thats it.

Best,

[Sonny85]

Hi Nived, did you work out a solution for your setup in the end? I'm looking to do the same and would like to make use of my scarlett 18i20 to save on costs.

Have you seen the Fosucrite R1? Wondering if it could work with the scarlett as a monitor controller...